Miscellaneous

Talented England opening batsman Marcus Trescothick reiterated his commitment towards his county Somerset by signing a fresh five-year contract with them. Trescothick added that signing the new contract took a while as he wanted to ensure the financial aspect was secure enough for him. He said he was now looking to concentrate on taking on the Australians in the Ashes series.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board General Tauqir Zia has made a few changes to the Board's structure. Looking to run the PCB on the lines of the ICC, Gen Zia dissolved the five-member advisory committee and formed a judicial committee that will look after betting, gambling and match-fixing allegations.
The chief investigator of the PCB Israr Ahmed along with Asif Shah will be members of the review committee. The General said that the formation of committees was done with the sole intention of making the people in charge more responsible towards their work. A management committee under former Pakistan batsman and coach Javed Miandad has also been formed for the sole purpose of looking after Pakistan's domestic cricket.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Sachin Tendulkar, was reportedly questioned by the BCCI anti-corruption commissioner K Mahavan, before he left for the Zimbabwe tour. The questioning was related to Tendulkar not enforcing the follow on despite having a lead of 275 runs against New Zealand in Ahmedabad in 1999. Apart from Tendulkar, coach Kapil Dev was also questioned on the issue.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The chase for securing the telecast rights to the Asian Cricket Council's (ACC) various tournaments for the next three years is hotting up. The rights will be awarded for the year 2002-2005 and include the Asian Test Championships (ATC), that is to be played across the subcontinent in September this year.
The main contenders are ESPN-StarSports, Sony TV, Zee, TWI and WSG. The coverage will also include all under-19 and under-17 competitions under the aegis of the ACC. The telecast rights for the Asian Test Championships (ATC) will be awarded soon as the ACC's earlier contract with TWI expired in June.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The lawyers of the banned South African skipper Hansie Cronje have gone on the offensive searching for indemnity for their high profile client from prosecution. Cronje's lawyers insisted that the final report of Justice Edwin King released last week revealed nothing new and hence indemnity has to be assured to their client. Justice King on the other hand has refused to grant Cronje indemnity from prosecution saying he was not convinced if the former skipper had come out with the whole truth.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

South African batsman Herschelle Gibbs who was at the center of the match fixing scandal and then later the drug scandal will begin a two-week programme on life skills at the Sports Science Institute in Cape Town. The program conducted by former South Africa rugby captain Morne du Plessis will cover several aspects of life like stress management, self management, media training, life skills training, leadership skills and work experience. The program has been chalked on the request of the Disciplinary Committee of the South Cricket Board to help Gibbs to cope with the pressures of competing in top level sport.

Coca-Cola Triangular

The West Indies ensured themselves a place in the final of the Coca-cola triangular by keeping a cool head. Chasing a reasonably challenging total of 256 for a win the West Indies began slowly, but surely, with the openers Daren Ganga (34) and Chris Gayle (76) putting on 93 runs. A cautious approach in the middle overs by Wavell Hinds (54) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (24) resulted in the visitors having plenty of wickets in hand to launch the onslaught in the last five overs despite the required run rate, at one stage, having climbed up to eight runs per over. It was finally keeper Ridley Jacobs's 22 that enabled the visitors to win with just one ball to spare.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Zimbabwe having lost all their matches of the Coca-Cola tri-series now has a two-week rest before they regroup to face the West Indians in two-match Test series.

The Ashes tour

The Australians opting for batting practice in the their tour match against Essex at Chelmsford, batted the whole of the third day to reach 569-9, before declaring their innings. After Hayden (98) and Slater (58), who made fifties on the second day, it was the turn of Brett Lee and Ricky Ponting, both making 79 runs each and Colin Miller (62) to enjoy some time with the bat on the last day. The match ended in a tame draw.

QUOTE

"Perhaps I need to take the umpires out to dinner" - Sourav Ganguly on being given out wrongly in the Bulawayo match against the West Indies on Saturday.

SCORES AT A GLANCE

West Indies vs Zimbabwe (5th match)
Played at the Queen's Sports Club, Bulawayo
Toss: West Indies
Zimbabwe:255-5 in 50 overs (CB Wishart71, G Flower 94, GJ Whittall 39 not out; C Cuffy 2-30, M Dillon 2-46)
West Indies: 258-5 in 49.5 overs (D Ganga 34, C Gayle 76, WW Hinds 54; G Flower 2-46)
Result: West Indies won by 5 wickets
Man of the match: G Flower (ZIM)

Points Table:
Team	P	W	L	Abd	Points
India	3	3	-	-	6
West Indies	3	2	1	-	4
Zimbabwe	4	-	4	-	0

Yesterday's News