India in South Africa

The ICC has given the BCCI until Friday 30 November to decide about whether they will include Virendra Sehwag in the team for the Mohali Test.
The ICC chief Malcolm Speed said he would be holding discussions with the Indian Board before that. Speed said it was good that there was a bit of time to sort out the entire matter.

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The South Africa skipper Shaun Pollock has called for the establishment of more clear guidelines on player offences. He felt that former players should have a greater say in running the affairs of the game. He said he felt the ICC should prescribe specific punishments for specific offences and not leave it to the match referee.
The Indian skipper Rahul Dravid said in the meanwhile said his team had approached this as an official Test and was disappointed to come out second best.

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The Government of South Africa stood by the decision of its cricket Board over the entire Mike Denness episode. The South African High Commissioner to India M E Nkoana Mashbane said her country was keen to stand by the truth and money was not at all a factor.

England in India

The England bowling came good on the 1st day of their tour match against India A at Jaipur yesterday. Some good bowling by Flintoff (3-47) and Johnson (3-56) had the hosts tottering at 4-8 before Abhijeet Kale (122) of Maharashtra and Gagan Khoda (64) of Rajasthan staged a fightback. India A finally declared at 233-9 and the tourists were 37-0 at stumps

West Indies in Sri Lanka

West Indies coach Roger Harper has blamed the umpires and the Sri Lankan cricketers for his team's loss in the closely fought second Test at Kandy.
He said Lara's dismissal was crucial to the fortunes of the game and replays showed that the decision was a wrong one.
West Indies skipper Carl Hooper too echoed the sentiments of his coach. The coach and skipper could find themselves in trouble as ICC regulations prohibit any comments to be made on the umpiring

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Sri Lanka have named the team for the third and final Test beginning at Colombo tomorrow. Russell Arnold replaces middle order batsman Michael Vandort.
The full team is:
Sanath Jayasuriya (captain), Marvan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Russel Arnold, Hashan Tillekaratne, Tilan Samaraweera, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Niroshan Bandaratillake, Nuwan Zoysa, Charitha Buddhika Fernando, Upul Chandana, Suresh Perera

Miscellaneous

Javed Miandad former Pakistan cricketer known for his misbehavior on the field as much as or his batting skills has slammed both India and South Africa on the Denness issue. He hit out strongly at these two boards for 'taking the law into their own hands' over the entire episode.

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The Pakistan cricket Board in the meanwhile is also taking up the ICC over the ruling on Shoaib Akhtar's bowling action. The PCB declared his action legal after a team of experts appointed by the PCB comprising of former cricketers Iqbal Sikander, Ejaz Fakih and Mohsin Kamal viewed television footage of the recently held Sharjah matches. The committee has rubbished the reports of the ICC appointed umpires at Sharjah and ruled Shoaib's action as legal.

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Craig Spearman of New Zealand will be a Gloucestershire player from the next season. Spearman who holds a British passport will thus be eligible to play for the county as a player Australian Ian Harvey will continue to be the overseas player for Gloucestershire. Spearman has played 19 Tests and 51 one day matches for New Zealand

SCORES AT A GLANCE

India vs South Africa (3rd Test Unofficial, Day 5)
Played at Centurion
Toss: South Africa
India:

232-9 (SS Das 46, D Dasgupta 36, A Kumble 27, Harbhajan Singh 29; Hayward 4-74)
261 (SS Das 48, CC Williams 42, SR Tendulkar 40, Harbhajan Singh 30,; M Ntini 2-27)
South Africa:
566-8 decl (H Gibbs 59, G Kirsten 90, J Kallis 110, N McKenzie 33, S Pollock 113 not out, M Ntini 34 not out; J Srinath 2-94)

Result:South Africa won by and innings and 73 runs
Man of the match: S Pollock(SA)
Man of the series: HH Gibbs(SA)

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