The rules for the ICC Champions Trophy have been criticised by leading Indian cricket figures after rain twice denied the team the chance of victory over Sri Lanka.
India were set 245 to win Sunday's final but the weather allowed only two overs of their innings to be bowled.
Although Monday had been set aside as a reserve day, competition regulations meant that a new game had to be started, instead of allowing India to resume from where they had left off.
Sri Lankan police on Tuesday sought help from Interpol in an investigation into match fixing during the just concluded Champions Trophy tournament.
The move followed the discovery that two women who were entertained by West Indies cricket team manager Ricky Skerritt had forged identity papers.
A third woman had produced an Australian driving licence and the authorities here wanted to track down her background details, a police spokesman said.
"With the discovery of the forged papers carried by the women we are now expanding the inquiry to find out if they were involved in match fixing," the spokesman said.
He said the police were not pointing fingers at any particular team or players.
Sourav Ganguly, the Indian captain, could not help but praise South African-born trainer Adrian le Roux for his outstanding work which has resulted in his team reaching the pinnacle of their fitness.
Ganguly was speaking of Le Roux's input after the second washout of the ICC Champions trophy final between his team and Sri Lanka at the Premadasa Stadium on Monday night.
"We've had a stunning 10 months of cricket. It has been an amazing run for us and there are a few people who have been responsible for this," the "Prince of Calcutta" said.
The Indians have been on the road since their tour of the West Indies where they drew the Test series but won the one-dayers and then went on to England, held Nasser Hussain's team to a 1-1 draw in the four-match Test series and won the NatWest Triangular Series final, beating the home side in the decider at Lord's.
And, coming to Sri Lanka amid all the ICC contract controversy, the Indians were forced to share the Champions Trophy with the home side because of the weather.
ICC contract
Cricket's world governing body is to review the disputed participation contract that almost led to a players' boycott of the Champions Trophy.
A five-member committee of the International Cricket Council (ICC) will resolve issues such as ambush marketing and player images terms to prevent the possibility of a repeat at next year's World Cup in South Africa.
ICC president Malcolm Gray, CEO Malcolm Speed, Ehsan Mani, the ICC's president-elect from Pakistan, Bob Merriman, chairman of the Australian Cricket Board, and Jagmohan Dalmiya, the Indian board president, will complete their work by mid-November.
"We will work over the next month and try to resolve those issues to the agreement of all interested parties," Speed told reporters after a meeting of the ICC's executive board.
WI tour of India
When India went to the Caribbean earlier this year, the expectation surrounding the battle between Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar ended in an anti-climax.
This time, it will be a no-show.
The world's two best batsmen looked ordinary in the five-Test series with Tendulkar edging the personal duel by virtue of scoring 117, his only century of the tour, in Trinidad.
West Indies, led by Carl Hooper, arrived in India late on Tuesday for a three-Test return tour hoping to combat the spin duo of Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble on turning tracks.
But without Lara who was taken ill after scoring 111 against Kenya at the Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka last month, it will not be easy.
The 33-year-old left-hander from Trinidad, suffering from suspected hepatitis, scored 688 runs at 114,66 in a three-Test series in Sri Lanka last year.
Australia-Pakistan Test series
Australia's fearsome pace attack intends to leave early psychological scars on Pakistan's inexperienced batting line-up in the hope of kickstarting a crushing Test series win.
Missing veterans Yousuf Youhana, Saeed Anwar and Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan's top order is likely to consist of five young batsmen who have yet to play Test cricket against Australia when the series starts tomorrow.
Making Pakistan's situation even tougher is that Imran Nazir, Taufeeq Umar, Imran Farhat and Misbah-ul-Haq have just 21 games of Test experience between them while only Younis Khan, averaging 44.20 in 20 Tests, has shown he is capable of dominating the world's best attacks.
Australian spearhead Glenn McGrath said last night he and fellow pacemen Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee would look to exploit this vulnerability and "leave a few scars on them" in the series opener at R. Saravanamuttu Stadium.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has refused to play any future home Test series at neutral venues.
The news came after the two-day meeting of the International Cricket Council's (ICC) management committee in Colombo.
"The board chairman Tauqir Zia has said this will be the last tour where Pakistan will be agreeing to play at a neutral venue," ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed commented.
The Pakistan problem was discussed at length as it affected the ICC's 10-year Test programme, Speed added.
He told the meeting that the PCB had incurred heavy revenue loss due to the shifting of its home games.
Teams have refused to travel to Pakistan since New Zealand called off a tour in May following a bomb explosion in front of the team hotel, which claimed 11 lives.
Previously to that, a two-match series against the West Indies had been held in Sharjah with worries about the stability of the region following the war in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Australia's redoubtable Waugh brothers go into a Test series against Pakistan from Thursday battling to prolong their careers after being put on notice by the selectors.
Steve and Mark Waugh need runs against their names to prevent the unthinkable - an Australian Test side without either of them for the home Ashes clash against England next month.
The 37-year-old twins have been a constant feature in Australian Test teams since Steve made his debut 17 seasons ago.
The Waughs have played 103 Tests together, almost double the next best of 57 by Zimbabwean siblings Andy and Grant Flower.
All that could, however, change if the Pakistan series does not go according to plan.
Steve could still retain the Test captaincy if his team defeat Pakistan in the three-Test series in Colombo and Sharjah.
County news
Leicestershire have targeted Indian batting star Virender Sehwag as one of their overseas players for next season.
BBC Radio Leicester reports that the county are currently in discussions with Sehwag, who recently starred for India at the ICC Champions Trophy.
Sehwag also scored 98 from only 85 balls for India during a 50-over match against Leicestershire at Grace Road in June.
Australian one-day batsmen Michael Bevan was the county's overseas player in 2002, but his deal has now expired.
Bangladesh tour of South Africa
One-day match, Soweto: South Africa A 279-5 (50 overs) beat Bangladesh 207-8 (50 overs) by 72 runs
Bangladesh suffered a setback ahead of the one-day international series as they were outplayed by South Africa's second XI.
Skipper Neil McKenzie, Ashwell Prince and Martin van Jaarsveld made half centuries for the home side.
And David Terbrugge then took four for 23 as Bangladesh came up well short of their target.
There was consolation for the tourists with five batsmen spending valuable time in the middle, including Khaled Mahmud, whose enterprising 49 not out took just 44 balls.
World Cup
Teams at next year's World Cup will share points if their matches cannot be played because of security reasons, International Cricket Council president Malcolm Gray has announced.
"If any of the matches are disrupted in the World Cup or can't be played because of safety reasons the points will be shared," Gray said after an ICC executive board meeting.
The World Cup will be played in South Africa in February and March next year but six matches are scheduled in politically volatile Zimbabwe as well as two in Kenya.
Gray said any dispute between teams over sharing points would be adjudicated by an ICC commissioner.
The ICC has also decided there will be no reserve day during the preliminary stages.
Gray said an ICC delegation would travel to Zimbabwe next month to study the security situation before a decision was taken on whether it could stage its World Cup matches.
The sport's most lucrative tournament -- and the one deemed at most risk from illegal bookmakers since the match-fixing scandal exploded -- has been declared clean by the game's top anti-corruption officers.
The International Cricket Council's $US1.15million ($2.2m) Champions Trophy tournament, which came to a soggy and anti-climactic end in Colombo on Monday night, was the scene of the game's biggest security crackdown.
Not only was it played near the sub-continent, where many of the big illegal bookmakers who prey on cricket are based, but it was the first event at which stringent anti-corruption practices could be employed since the Hansie Cronje affair rocked the sport two years ago.
The ICC's most senior policemen, including anti-corruption unit boss Lord Condon, have been in Colombo for the tournament and reported to an ICC executive meeting that no serious incidents had been uncovered.
Reports arose yesterday that Sri Lankan police launched a match-fixing related investigation after two women, who were entertained by West Indies cricket team manager Ricky Skerritt, were discovered to have forged identity papers.
But this allegation flew in the face of Lord Condon's positive review.It is understood the ICC meeting was told none of the most influential bookmakers known to the anti-corruption unit had been sighted in Sri Lanka, where security personnel kept a constant vigil on the teams' hotel and at all 16 matches.
Miscellaneous
Cricket's top players have won a concession from the game's governing body in their bid for a greater say in how it is run.
From now on five of the 10 members of the International Cricket Council's influential Cricket Committee-Playing will be elected by the players.
But the ICC's Executive Board has rejected a proposal to allow the Federation of Cricketers' Associations (FICA) to represent players in the decision-making process.
The Board met in Colombo at the conclusion of the ICC Champions Trophy tournament.
"The restructure of the Cricket Committee-Playing to include the direct input of players through representatives elected by the players, will improve the quality of decisions made by the ICC," said ICC president Malcolm Gray.
However, the representatives will be elected by the Test playing captains rather than FICA, and they must have international playing experience.
There are times when, in keeping with Buddhist philosophy, it is appropriate to pause beneath the Bodhi tree and spend some time in reflection.
And these days the cricket world revolves/evolves at such dizzying speeds it is good for the soul to stop for a moment and recall unhurried days when the game and its elite players were more open and joyful. Of course, in those days, they just wore white. Now there are darker colours.
It is especially pleasurable to be here at this time, as the people's belief that peace is at hand after 20 years of civil war is reflected in their faces. The welcoming smiles are broader, and the progress of the peace talks brokered by the Norwegian government in Bangkok are being watched as closely as the exploits of their many fine cricketers.
Before the war and its attendant horrors became so familiar to the world, this alluring island of 19 million people was known primarily for its natural beauty and, of course, for the quality of its tea. These days, Sri Lanka's foremost cricketers are as well known as the country's celebrated refreshment, even to the hordes of central and east Europeans who have long favoured the island as a holiday destination.
The game can be seen everywhere. So too, the images of its champion players. Given it is just 20 years and seven months since Sri Lanka played their first Test match, it is remarkable how the game has entered the consciousness of the people and become such a vital and binding element in an often fragile and fractured society.
