The BCCI, struggling to cope with the players' rebellion over signing the ICC contract for the Champions Trophy, braced for the worst on Wednesday and readied a list of 25 team probables - a B-pool that excludes those now in England.
The board, however, left the door ajar for the 'rebels' to return, saying it would not make the list official until 10 days before the team is scheduled to leave for Sri Lanka.
"We will not announce the list now and will wait for the main players - who are currently in England for the Test series - to sign the contract. We are hopeful that the players will relent," a BCCI official told.
"If they don't, we will announce the probables' list and call for a camp. The final 14 will be announced a couple of days before the team's departure."
The BCCI will ask all state associations to get the players named in the probables' list to agree to sign the ICC contract, sources said.
Meanwhile, the chances of a resolution of the crisis were significantly boosted after the ICC said the controversial contract would be valid only for the Champions Trophy.
A mass boycott of next month's prestigious ICC Champions Trophy edged a step closer on Wednesday as leading players across the world refused to back down in a row with cricket's authorities over sponsorship rights.
The International Cricket Council (ICC), however, remained firm in its stance of retaining the "ambush marketing" provisions for ICC events, including next year's World Cup in South Africa, to protect official tournament sponsors.
India's cricket board tried to buy time in an attempt to persuade its top players at the centre of the row to put patriotism before their bank balances and take part in the tournament in Sri Lanka.
India captain Sourav Ganguly, however, failed to respond to the olive branch and won backing from England counterpart Nasser Hussain, his rival in their current Test series.
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Jagmohan Dalmiya told reporters in Bangalore on Wednesday that an expanded squad of 25 unnamed "probables" had been picked for the event as a safeguard after the country's top players refused to sign a tournament contract restricting their individual sponsorship rights.
But he added that the rebels would be welcomed back into the team at the 11th hour before the start of the Champions Trophy on September 12.
"Anybody with a change of heart is welcome," he said. "There is no deadline for anything."
Australia will send a full-strength lineup to next month's Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka after the players accepted an International Cricket Council contract on sponsorships for the tournament.
The Australian Cricket Board and the Australian Cricketers Association met Thursday in Melbourne, in the southern Victoria state, and announced that the players and the national governing body would sign the participation agreement.
However, the players will only sign subject to the ICC consulting with them on sponsorship deals, ACA chief executive Tim May said.
A boycott of the 2003 World Cup and the Champions Trophy loomed when the ICC sought to prohibit players from endorsing companies that rivaled its commercial sponsors for a period extending from a month before to a month after major international tournaments.
India in England
Nasser Hussain says his England side will have pulled off one of their "major achievements" if they can complete a series win by beating India in the third Test.
"It's important we win this Test series," he said. "We've put in a lot of work this summer against a very fine side and we've been pushed to the maximum with injuries."
And the latest of those injury problems provides Hussain with another selection problem at Headingley.
The hosts face a tough decision over whether to field a half-fit Andrew Flintoff to ensure a balanced line-up.
England are not short of runs - their three Test innings against India have so far yielded 1,405 runs.
But Craig White's side injury has robbed the team of a player who has made 153 of those.
And Flintoff's batting prowess should see him retained, even though he requires surgery on a hernia in the next few weeks.
"He might not play. His groin is probably at the worst it's been this summer," said Hussain.
Arjuna Award
Stylish middle order batsman VVS Laxman, whose stupendous knock of 281 was rated by cricket almanac Wisden as the best Indian batting performance of the century, has been named in the list of 14 Arjuna award winners for the year 2001 announced by the Government in New Delhi on Wednesday.
The list, chosen by the new selection committee headed by former badminton star Prakash Padukone, also includes the present Indian hockey captain Dilip Tirkey, shooter Samaresh Jung, tennis player Sandeep Kirtane, footballer Bruno Coutinho and cager Parminder Singh for their consistent performance last year.
Micheal Fereira (billiards and snooker) and Sunny Thamas (shooting) have been confered with the prestigious Dronacharya Award for outstanding performance as a coach for the year 2001.
The awards will be presented by the President of India at a function on August 29.
Morocco cup
Morocco Cup Final, Tangiers: Sri Lanka 235-7 (50 overs) beat South Africa 208 all out (48.3 overs) by 27 runs
Favourites Sri Lanka cruised to a 27-run victory over South Africa in the Morocco Cup final thanks to Sanath Jayasuriya.
The Sri Lankan skipper hit 71 from as many balls to get the innings off to a blazing start.
But there was bad news for the islanders when Jayasuriya dislocated his right shoulder in the field, dismissing opener Herschelle Gibbs.
Chasing 236 for victory, South Africa were in dire trouble, losing six wickets by the half-way mark.
And a seventh-wicket rescue job between Boeta Dippenaar and Mark Boucher was too slow to make a mark on a rapidly rising required run rate.
Boucher smashed 70 from 65 deliveries, with four fours and two sixes, but Dippenaar was pedestrian, his 53 taking 98 balls.
And when he was dismissed in the 45th over, the partnership having just crept past 101 runs, South Africa still needed 44, with 33 balls left.
Boucher, captain Shaun Pollock and Roger Telemachus all perished in the hunt for quick runs as the Africans were bowled out for 208.
Chaminda Vaas, Pulasthi Gunaratne and Muttiah Muralitharan took two wickets each.
Sanath Jayasuriya is likely to miss September's ICC Champions Trophy after sustaining a serious injury in the Morocco Cup final against South Africa in Tangiers.
The Sri Lankan captain dislocated his right shoulder when he fell to the ground while taking a catch off Herschelle Gibbs.
He was immediately rushed to hospital where X-rays revealed torn ligaments in the shoulder in addition to the dislocation.
At least he had the consolation of seeing his team cling on to lift the Cup, beating South Africa by 27 runs.
Team physiotherapist Alex Kontouri said Jayasuriya had a "50-50" chance of playing in the controversy-dogged tournament which Sri Lanka host from 12 September.
The injury is similar to the one Sri Lankan star spinner Muttiah Muralitharan sustained during a one-day match in Sharjah in April, which kept him out of the game for a month.
Realistically, Jayasuriya will have to see if he can get fit in time for Sri Lanka's two-Test tour of South Africa in October.
Australia-Pakistan Test series
Pakistan look set to play Australia in Sri Lanka and Sharjah after the game's governing body dropped its opposition to one of the Test venues.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has waived a regulation stipulating that no cricket can be played in Sri Lanka within seven days of the ICC Champions Trophy.
"We have received a fax from the ICC saying that we can stage the Test as planned," Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) director Chishty Mujahid said.
The PCB now plans to hold the first Test in Colombo, at a venue to be confirmed, from 4-8 October.
The side would then move to Sharjah for the second Test from 12-16 October and the third match just three days later.
Miscellaneous
Graham Thorpe has been given until next Wednesday to decide whether to make himself available for England's forthcoming Ashes tour of Australia.
The 33-year-old left-hander, regarded as one of the side's leading batsman, has taken a break from cricket after the collapse of his marriage.
And county side Surrey said this week that he would be unlikely to appear for them for the rest of the season, leaving him short of match practice.
"It will be up to Graham in the next week to get a phone call in to the England selectors to tell us that he's available," captain Nasser Hussain said.
Hussain said that even if Thorpe made himself available he could not be guaranteed a place for the trip, but he admitted that it would be a difficult decision.
"Australia will view it as a weaker England side with Graham Thorpe not there - he is one of our best players," he said.
"But we can't keep having the Graham Thorpe issue cropping up."
County news
National League, D1, Canterbury: Kent Spitfires 172-5 (44.4 overs) (4 points) beat Leicestershire Foxes 168-7 (45 overs) (0 points).
Steve Waugh made a dream debut for Kent as his unbeaten 59 propelled them to a five-wicket victory over Leicestershire.
Waugh came to the crease with the score at 40-2 and then lost two partners for the addition of just 12 runs.
But his gritty innings, which included a six, took his team to victory with two balls to spare.
Australia's Test captain also helped out in the field, catching a leading edge from Phil DeFreitas at mid-on off the bowling of Matthew Saggers.
Waugh shared useful partnerships with Mark Ealham and Paul Nixon before fittingly striking the winning boundary with the fourth four of his 86-ball innings.
Waugh's team-mate Martin Saggers made a vital contribution with the ball, his 3-22 just reward for a disciplined nine-over spell.
India captain Sourav Ganguly, however, failed to respond to the olive branch and won backing from England counterpart Nasser Hussain, his rival in their current Test series.
Nasser Hussain says his England side will have pulled off one of their "major achievements" if they can complete a series win by beating India in the third Test.
Stylish middle order batsman VVS Laxman, whose stupendous knock of 281 was rated by cricket almanac Wisden as the best Indian batting performance of the century, has been named in the list of 14 Arjuna award winners for the year 2001 announced by the Government in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Favourites Sri Lanka cruised to a 27-run victory over South Africa in the Morocco Cup final thanks to Sanath Jayasuriya.
Steve Waugh made a dream debut for Kent as his unbeaten 59 propelled them to a five-wicket victory over Leicestershire.