India's tour of West Indies

West Indies skipper Carl Hooper hopes to capitalise on India's supposed weakness against fast bowling in the forthcoming Test series between the two sides.

Only five Indian players have previous experience of Caribbean conditions, but Hooper acknowledges that his young side still has plenty to learn about the international game.

"Since we don't have world-class spinners like Indian have in Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, we'll go for pace.

"India have very good batsmen in Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly, but most of their guys are making their first trip to the West Indies. We'd like to take advantage of that," said Hooper.

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India have departed for their five-Test tour of the West Indies without captain Sourav Ganguly, whose wife is unwell.

Ganguly is expected to join the squad ahead of their three-day tour match with a Guyana Board President's XI side, starting in Georgetown on 5 April.

"Sourav asked to delay his departure by a couple of days. He will be with the team soon," Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Niranjan Shah said.

Coach John Wright is expected to join the squad when it stops in London on the way to the Caribbean.

England's tour of New Zealand

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said the umpires should have allowed more play on day three of the Auckland Test.

Fleming, who celebrated his 29th birthday on Monday, said: "I would've liked to seen more cricket - the bottom line is we're in the entertainment business.

"We should be careful about getting too precious about areas that are going to cause concern."

Play did not get underway until after 1pm local time, and in all only 28 overs were played.
Scorecard | Images

Australia's tour of South Africa

Batsman Michael Bevan is tired of playing the patient and hopes to return to the Australian team for tomorrow's fifth one dayer with South Africa.

Bevan has been sidelined since hurting his hamstring in the first match of the series, watching Australia take a 3-0 lead with three matches to play in the coastal cities of Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.

Bevan is hopeful of playing in all three matches to end an otherwise frustrating tour on a high note.

"I did it on my last run of the first game when I was run out and fingers crossed that I'm ready to come back," Bevan said.

"I will do everything I possibly can to play and, all things going well, I'll make myself available."

Miscellaneous

Surrey are ready to begin the new county season without captain Adam Hollioake, whose return from Australia may be delayed because his wife is due to give birth next month.

They were due to fly to England last week but remained when Adam's younger brother, Ben, was killed in a car crash.

Surrey's chief executive, Paul Sheldon, has confirmed that the delay has complicated the matter.

"His wife is due to give birth in May and the medical cut-off point for air travel is mid-April," Sheldon explained.

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