India to South Africa

Sourav Ganguly was retained captain for India's tour of South Africa. Ganguly had been under pressure following the recent 2-1 Test series loss to Sri Lanka which followed a 1-1 draw in Zimbabwe. The Indian skipper has endured a wretched run of form, scoring just one half-century in his last 16 Test innings.

Asian Test Championships

Sri Lanka easily bowled out Bangladesh for 90 and then piled on 246 runs by close on the first day of their Asian Test Championship match on Thursday. Sri Lanka moved into a comfortable 156-run lead for the loss of just one wicket, with Marvan Atapattu unbeaten on 99 and Kumar Sangakkara on 49. Captain Sanath Jayasuriya scored 89 before being out leg before.

Bangladesh, in their first ever Test against Sri Lanka, were all out shortly after lunch as spinner Muttiah Muralitharan took five for 13 off 9.4 overs. The previous lowest score for Bangladesh, the newest Test-playing nation, was 91 against India in November.

Sri Lanka won the toss and put Bangladesh in to bat.

South Africa in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwean captain Heath Streak was in bullish mood on Thursday despite his team being clear underdogs for the first Test with South Africa starting on Friday.

South Africa are ranked second in the world and Zimbabwe ninth.

The home side have had their attack weakened by injuries to left-arm swing bowler Bryan Strang and pacemen Andy Blignaut and Brighton Watambwa. Medium pacer Doug Hondo makes his debut.

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South Africa arrived in Zimbabwe for a Test tour overshadowed by political violence. South African captain Shaun Pollock was asked at the airport if he was worried about the safety of his team. "Well, we will just have to see, won't we," he said. The team was taken to a city hotel to receive a security briefing from Zimbabwean cricket officials given to all teams that visit the country.

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Uncapped Andre Nel is set to step into Allan Donald's boots for the first Test between Zimbabwe and South Africa, which starts at the Harare Sports Club on Friday.
Veteran fast bowler Donald pulled out of the two-Test series and the first of the three one-day internationals that South Africa will play in Zimbabwe because of influenza.

Miscellaneous

The West Indies Cricket Board's planned expansion for this year's Red Stripe Bowl competition will not go ahead due mainly to financial constraints. The WICB is on record as wanting to expand the competition to include 20 teams, up from the 10 teams which have participated over the years.

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Indian batting ace Sachin Tendulkar says missing out on the Sri Lanka tour was most disappointing. "I wanted to go to Sri Lanka as well. I did not want to miss any cricket. It was a big disappointment. Initially, I knew that playing the one-day series in Sri Lanka was going to be out of the question. Later, I planned to go for the Test series but it (the fracture) wouldn't heal," he said.

SCORES AT A GLANCE

Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh - 1st Test
at Colombo (1st Day)
Toss: Sri Lanka
Bangladesh: 90 (Mohammad Ashraful 26, Mehrab Hossain 23)
Sri Lanka: 246/1 (Atapattu 99*, Sangakkara 49*, 51 overs)

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