India's tour of West Indies

Spin bowler Anil Kumble could miss out again when India meet West Indies in the third Test in Barbados on Thursday.

Kumble was surprisingly dropped for the second Test with Harbhajan Singh preferred as support for the three seam bowlers.

And skipper Sourav Ganguly has indicated that the attack will have a similar make-up this time as India try to build on their 1-0 lead.

"We have to go with three pacemen when we're playing abroad.

"On these wickets the spinners just get no assistance early on. That again leaves us with a choice between Harbhajan and Kumble, which is not easy," said Ganguly.

India's tour of England

Indian players will not be given the same levels of security on their tour of England as the England players received on their winter tour of India.

On Monday, Indian officials said high-profile players like Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly should be treated like diplomats and granted personal guards.

But John Read, director of corporate affairs at the England and Wales Cricket Board, said that would not be on offer.

Who's the fastest

The debate over who is the fastest between Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar developed like a soap opera on Tuesday.

Shoaib clocked 100.04mph (161kph) during last weekend's third one-day international against New Zealand in Lahore.

At the time, he was widely credited with being the first to transcend the magical 100mph barrier. Then Lee's agent, Neil Maxwell, claimed he was sent a video showing Lee sending down a 100.54mph (161.8kph) delivery during a Test match against West Indies in Brisbane late in 2000.

Match fixing

The lawyer representing Salim Malik has criticised the Pakistan Cricket Board for holding up his appeal against a life ban from the game.

The case was first brought before the High Court in Lahore last November, but has yet to be heard in full.

"The PCB is employing delaying tactics," claimed lawyer Raja Jahanzeb Akhtar.

"My client is left frustrated while the PCB's lawyer asks for adjournment after adjournment. We have requested the court to take account of this."

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Spin bowler Shane Warne has reached an out of court settlement with the Melbourne-based Herald Sun newspaper over a false match-fixing allegation.

As part of the agreement, the newspaper published an apology over a front page article in January 1999 in which it alleged Warne had accepted money to fix a match.

"The Herald Sun accepts that this assertion was incorrect and unreservedly withdraws it and apologises to Shane Warne for the hurt and upset caused by the article," the newspaper said.

Miscellaneous

Zimbabwe's attempts to persuade opponents that it is safe to tour the country have taken a blow with the news that Henry Olonga was recently taken at gunpoint from the centre of Harare by thieves attempting to steal his car.

The 25-year-old seam bowler was dropping off his girlfriend after a visit to the cinema on April 4 when four men, one wielding a gun and another a knife, punched his girlfriend and stole her handbag. Olonga was then threatened with his life and driven 15 miles out of town in the thieves' car, also stolen that evening.

He was abandoned at the roadside with a cut below a shoulder blade requiring stitches, from where he called the emergency services. The thieves let down the tyres of the original car and made off with Olonga's sponsored 4 x 4 off-road Nissan, as well as his watch, mobile phone and wallet.

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Teenager Mali Richards, the son of West Indies Test legend Sir Viv, is considering the possibility of seeking a future in international cricket with England.

The 18-year-old, who was born in Somerset while his father was playing for the county, is currently studying at Cheltenham College.

He is a promising left-handed batsman who scored 958 runs in schoolboy cricket last summer at an average of more than 56, and has attracted interest from Gloucestershire and Worcestershire.

"My ambition is to play international cricket, for the West Indies hopefully. But if the chance did come along for me to play for England, I'd probably take it," Richards junior told the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

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