Zimbabwe in India

Indian captain Sourav Ganguly admitted on Thursday that his team might have to shuffle their batting order to prevent the wobbles seen in the recent one-day series against England.

Speaking the day after his tenure as captain was renewed by the selectors for the visit of Zimbabwe, Ganguly said that the team must try and win consistently "rather than show individual brilliance".

India drew their series against England at the beginning of the month despite taking a 3-1 lead. Their inability to cope under pressure saw them lose the last two games by tight margins.

Ganguly acknowledged his team's recent weaknesses saying, "I think we have got to sit and work out the formation of the eleven, placement of people at different places."

England in New Zealand

England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Lord MacLaurin says players ought to be able to opt out of tours with no strings attached to prevent burn-out.

MacLaurin was speaking as England's selectors look set to ask paceman Darren Gough to stay on in New Zealand for the Test leg of the tour.

Gough is keen to play but was not picked for the squad initially after making himself unavailable for the Test series in India.

But MacLaurin fears that Gough-gate will become common as players become overstretched as the amount of international cricket increases.

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England coach Duncan Fletcher has publicly admitted his fears over Andy Caddick's form with the ball in New Zealand.

And if his worries escalate then it will only be a matter of time before Darren Gough is retained after the one-day series to play in the Test matches, where he would share the new ball with Yorkshire colleague Matthew Hoggard.

Caddick was criticised by coach Duncan Fletcher on Thursday for his lacklustre performances so far in New Zealand.

His latest effort was no wicket for 51 off 7.3 overs in the first ODI in Christchurch on Wednesday when New Zealand won by four wickets.

The old habits of dropping the ball short when under pressure have come back to plague him and he looks a liability at present.

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The mercurial Graeme Hick believes he could be the answer to England's current middle-order problems.

England experienced difficulties with their middle-order in the recent one-day series against India when in several matches promising positions were thrown away.

The trend continued on Wednesday when England collapsed from 156 for two to 196 all out in the first of five one-day internationals against New Zealand.

Hick last played for England during the series against Sri Lanka in the spring of 2001 but speaking in an interview with Wisden Cricket Monthly, he said:
"This will sound big-headed, but I do feel I can offer more in the one-day environment than the majority of people playing in the side now."

Australia in South Africa

Australia arrived in South Africa on Thursday with the cricket world still reeling from the shock dismissal of Steve Waugh as one-day captain.

Waugh admitted after touching down that his dismissal had affected him but he vowed to carry on with the Test side.

"There's never a good time to be dropped and this is not an ideal time leading up to this series," Waugh commented.

"My job is to get us playing good Test match cricket.

"We're the number one side in the world, and we don't want to slip down to number two."

Pakistan and West Indies in Sharjah

1st one-day international, Sharjah:
West Indies 190 all out (48.3 overs) lose to Pakistan 193-6 (46.1 overs) by four wickets.

Pakistan sweated to a victory over a West Indies team they were expected to beat convincingly in the first of three one-day matches in the Emirates.

Waqar Younis's side had earlier limited the West Indies to 190 all out after successfully weathering Chris Gayle's blazing 50 at the start of the match.

But they slumped to 15-3 before establishing a few decent partnerships and in the end the Caribbean men's efforts were not quite enough.

Australia's new captain

Ricky Ponting has become the first player to throw his hat into the ring for Steve Waugh's job as captain of the Australia one-day side.

Ponting, Shane Warne, Darren Lehmann and vice-captain Adam Gilchrist have all been linked with the job.

And the Tasmanian says he would love the position for the forthcoming series against South Africa.

He said: "I'd feel comfortable in either role - as Test captain or the one-day team.

"I got a few games under my belt for Tasmania at the start of the season and I really enjoyed the challenge. It's something that sits really well with me.

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