The Indians put an end to the torture of the young school-boys of the CFX Academy when they inflicted a massive 226 run win at Harare yesterday. Declaring at lunch with a lead of 384, the Indians went about taking the Academy wickets at regular intervals. It took an excellent spell from pace bowler Javagal Srinath who claimed three wickets for just 9 runs to start the initial slump. Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh then continued with his excellent form, that he displayed against the Australians, when he bamboozled the hosts to claim six wickets for 37 runs and for an tally of ten in all in the match. India have two days before the first Test which commences at Bulawayo on June 7.

Harbhajan Singh's bowling figures of 6-37 in the second innings against CFX Academy was the best for an Indian team on Zimbabwean soil. He bettered the previous best of 6-43 by left-arm spinner Maninder Singh for Young Indians against Zimbabwe at Harare in March 1984. However the best bowling performance by an Indian in the African continent belongs to leg-spinner Chandu Borde when he claimed 8-52 (and 12-178 in the match) for a Commonwealth XI against Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) at Kitwe in September 1962. With Harbhajan claiming 10-80 in the above match, the other Indians to take 10 or more wickets in a first-class match in Zimbabwe are: Borde (see above), 11-138 by Maninder Singh (see above) and 10-53 by Anil Kumble for the Indians against ZCU Presidents XI at Harare in October 1998.

Although India has won only two Test matches abroad since the last 15 years, the team however has managed to win at least five first-class matches against local teams on official tours since 1996. Here are the details of some the matches won by Indian teams abroad since last five years:
beat Guyana - by 91 runs at Georgetown in April 1997
beat ZCU President's XI - by innings & 71 runs at Harare in October 1998.
beat Wellington - by 8 wickets at Wellington in December 1998
beat New South Wales - by 93 runs at Sydney in December 1999.
beat CFX Academy - by 226 runs at Harare in June 2001

At tea England were comfortably poised to draw the Manchester Test and ensure a sixth straight Test series win. But by close of play it was a gloomy England camp after an inspired spell and a little luck turned the match around in Pakistan's favour. Eight wickets fell in the final session with Saqlain claiming 4-74 as England were bundled out for 261. England after tea were 201-2. It may be also mentioned that at least four of the wickets that fell were off no balls, which for some strange reason were not called by umpires David Shepherd (England) and Eddie Nicholas (WI). Pakistan won the Test by 108 runs to draw the series and now will get ready to don their coloured clothing as they meet Australia and England in the NatWest triangular tournament, which begins this Thursday.

The ball tampering issue raised its ugly head once again when television pictures showed Pakistan skipper Waqar Younis scratching at the ball. This pulling of the seam gives extravagant swing to the ball. This is not the first time Pakistan have been accused of ball tampering in England. Wasim and Waqar routed the Englishmen 2-1 about eight years ago when similar allegations were flying around. Pakistan have yet again denied the allegations with Waqar saying neither the players nor the umpires made any comments on the state of the ball during the Test match.

Australia after their comprehensive win against Worcestershire got down to the business of the one-day game, although retaining the Ashes is their number one priority. The Australians will play two warm up one-day encounters before their first game against Pakistan at Cardiff against Middlesex and Northamptonshire.

Australian skipper Steve Waugh surprised everyone when he picked out the least experienced player of his squad as the one who could be their trump card. Waugh was referring to the 23-year old left-arm pace bowler Nathan Bracken, who Waugh said could make all the difference since England haven't seen him as yet. Waugh while comparing Bracken to Wasim Akram said he hoped the youngster could talk to the Pakistani and get valuable tips from him during the tour.

South African wicket keeper Mark Boucher and all-rounder Justin Kemp - underwent surgeries in Johannesburg today. Boucher needed to remove a scar tissue from an old injury, while Kemp needed to remove a bony growth from under his right hand. Both are likely to be out of action for at least four weeks.

The former deputy chief minister of Goa and president of the Goa Cricket Association, Dayanand Narvekar was arrested for his role in the fake-ticket scam that marred the fifth one day international in the recently concluded India-Australia series. Huge numbers of genuine ticket holders were denied entry into the stadium for the match held on April 6. The Goa cricket officials had printed fake tickets for this match.

Former Indian pace bowler TA Shekar, the head coach at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai and a BCCI selector, concluded a five-day visit to Dhaka where he conducted coaching clinics. He has identified 10 players who would be sent by the Bangladesh Cricket Board to train at the MRF Academy.

India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will send a team to London this week to hold talks with the ICC officials regarding the allotment of television rights of cricket events from 1996-1999, while concentrating mainly on the 1999 World Cup that was held in England. The team also will collect information on the establishments, business interests and activities of Mark Mascarenhas, the chief of World Tel, against whom allegations regarding television rights have been made. The team will also meet Paul Condon, the chief of the ICC's anti- corruption cell.

Former Orissa State Ranji Trophy cricketer Sanjay Satpathy said local clubs and associations have appealed to the Orissa government to build a cricket stadium in Bhuvaneshwar. At present Cuttack's Barabati Stadium is the only international venue in the state, which does not have hotels of international standards. Satpathy said he felt building a stadium in the state capital would go a long way in encouraging budding talent in the state.