Pakistan's tour of Bangladesh

Pakistan leave on Wednesday for their first ever Test tour of Bangladesh with a question mark over the action of one of their star pacemen.

Shoaib Akhtar, along with skipper Waqar Younis and veteran Wasim Akram, will head the fast-bowling attack during two Tests and three one-day internationals.

Dubbed the "Rawalpindi Express", Akhtar is under scrutiny from the International Cricket Council (ICC) after his action was questioned for a third time in a short career of four years.

The 26-year-old faces a one-year international ban if he is reported again for throwing.

Miscellaneous

Pakistan captain Waqar Younis has urged cricket's governing bodies to come up with a better ranking system for both teams and individual players.

They are currently ranked eighth out of the 10 Test-playing nations under the ICC Test Championship format, introduced last year.

"It is going to be a tough year for us but I think if we play to our potential we have the strength to finally confirm our ranking as a top three team and also improve our position in the world rankings," Waqar added.

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The West Indies pulled out of a scheduled tour of Pakistan on Tuesday to become the third international team to refuse to tour there since the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

A Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesman confirmed to Reuters from Lahore that the West Indies cricket board (WICB) has informed it that it is not willing to send its team to Pakistan in the current climate of tension.

The WICB said it would, however, be willing to play its forthcoming series against Pakistan at a neutral venue.

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England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Tim Lamb hopes Nasser Hussain will carry on as England captain after the 2003 World Cup.

Hussain said on Monday that he wants to stand down after the event, which will take place in South Africa from February and March next year.

"I took over from Alec Stewart after the last World Cup and it would complete a natural cycle," he said.

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The much-awaited cricket board's policy of players' rotation will be implemented with India's tour to the West Indies in April. "Since the next round of engagements with England and Zimbabwe will be played at home, we are looking at an April launch," board president Jagmohan Dalmiya said here on Tuesday.

Dalmiya said that the contract/graded payment policies for the players was likely to be implemented by April.

England Women in India

Anjum Chopra has taken over as captain of the Indian women's cricket team ahead of the home series against England.

The 24-year-old batsman replaces Anju Jain, who led the team to the semi-finals of the 2000 World Cup in England.

Chopra has an excellent one-day record with an innings of 100 against England at Northampton in 1999 and six half centuries to her credit.

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