The Indian cricket team will leave for South Africa, to participate in the ICC World Cup, on January 29.

Board of Control for Cricket in India executive secretary Sharad Diwadkar said on Friday the players would assemble in the Mumbai on January 27 and leave for the mega event, to be held from February 8 to March 23, two days later.

"Indian coach John Wright, who did not come back with the team after the 43-day tour of New Zealand as he wanted to be with his family for a few days, will return to India on January 20," Diwadkar said.

The Indians, who are in Group-A along with World champions Australia and arch rivals Pakistan, will be in South Africa 15 days before their first match against Holland at Paarl on February 12.

Inspite of all the frenzy that has marked the run-up to the World Cup, organisers said on Friday not all tickets put on sale had been taken up, including those for the opening ceremony and the semi-final matches.

While the final match at the Wanderers in Johannesburg was sold out, there were still some seats available for the February 8 opening ceremony and the semi-final encounter in Port Elizabeth on March 18, ICC media officer Rodney Hartman said in a statement.

These tickets will go on sale next week on a first-come-first-serve basis in World Cup stadiums, on the ticket hotline as well as on the official web site of the World Cup, he added.

Besides, tickets for the Pakistan-Australia clash, the match between hosts South-Africa and New Zealand as well as those at 11 other venues have not been sold out.

The 54-day mega event will see 210 of the world's best players converging in South Africa in their quest to take home cricket's most coveted trophy.

The ICC established an Anti-Corruption Unit in June 2000, in response to match-fixing and the betting crisis that followed the revelations.

The ICC's six-man Anti-Corruption Unit, assisted by security personnel, will be on hand to ensure that the tournament, to be held from February 8 to March 23, goes off without a smear.

Lord Paul Condon, former commissioner of London police, was elected director of the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit.  He will leave his central London office and camp in Johannesburg, where he will be based throughout the tournament.

Said an ICC spokesperson from London, "Because of the volume of matches at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 and the number of different venues, all five of the Regional Security Managers will be working at the tournament."

The five regional security managers have been drawn from the police or the army as part of a global recruitment drive. They are Arrie De Beer from South Africa, Lt Colonel Nuruddin Khawaja from Pakistan, John Rhodes from Australia, Bob Smalley from the UK, and N S Virk from India.

Pakistan cricket chief Lt General Tauqir Zia spoke candidly about the problems in the Pakistan team leading up to the World Cup but still retained confidence that the team would come through eventually.

Zia also confirmed that team coach Richard Pybus had offered to resign if the players would not listen to him.

"Yes Pybus did offer to resign and told the players at a team meeting if they didn't want him he would step down and they can bring anyone they want.

But the players rejected it outright."

Referring to the increasing reports about differences in the team contributing to the poor performances in South Africa and the results and role of Pybus when the board was appointing specialists in nearly every field in the team for the World Cup, Zia defended the South African coach.

"Pybus, I would say, is a highly qualified coach for the job. And we brought him on the recommendation of the boys.

"But I don't think it is fair to expect him to deliver in just a few series and what can the coach do if the players are simply not performing?"

Zimbabwe's main opposition party linked a police crackdown on its members to the forthcoming Cricket World Cup and said the tournament's organisers must accept blame after allowing the country to host some matches.

The International Cricket Council ruled last month that it is safe to play World Cup matches in Zimbabwe after a visit to monitor the security situation in the light of the economic and political crisis gripping the country.

Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) condemned both the ICC ruling and the England Cricket Board decision this week to play its Zimbabwe fixture in defiance of pressure from the British government to boycott the match.

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Sri Lanka have not yet confirmed that their leading players will be at the World Cup because of a row over pay.

The Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) has seen a performance-related pay offer turned down by the national side.

And the International Cricket Council has warned that the 1996 World Cup winners could face trouble should it fail to settle the dispute.

"We have been in regular contact with the BCCSL and expect to receive the signed Player Terms on Friday," said ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed.

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