Indian news round-up

If the recommendations of Sir Paul Condon are accepted, then the cricket records of former skippers Mohd. Azharuddin, Hansie Cronje and Salim Malik will be erased from the Bible of cricket - the Wisden. This is one of the 20 rules proposed by Sir Paul, who heads the ICC's anti-corruption unit.

A report published in The Sunday Times says that Condon believes such an action will help clean up the game in his report submitted a few days ago, quotes PTI. "My ambition is to make it so tough for the few bad guys still left that the risks are not worth it," Condon said. Some of the other recommendations suggested are to make players sign forms accepting to face prosecution if found guilty of match-fixing, restricting use of mobile phones within the dressing room and higher pay and more prize money.

The daily has also said that Condon has evidences of about 20 players, umpires and administrators allegedly involved in the scandal. However, because of legal restraints they are unlikely to be named in the interim report, the daily said.

The Indian coach John Wright said that ace Indian leg spinner Anil Kumble has to `fight' back to regain his place in the side. He said this while chatting with reporters during the preparatory camp in Bangalore which began on Sunday. The six-day camp began ahead of India's tour of Zimbabwe.

Kumble returned from South Africa last week after undergoing treatment to his injured shoulder and practiced at the camp along with Venkatesh Prasad, who is also not among the list of probables. Both the players said they would attend the camp on all days and would avail the training benefits. In an interview last week, the Karnataka leg spinner had said that he was feeling much better but was not yet match-fit.

The Mumbai Cricket Association has proposed to re-name the North Stand at the Wankhede Stadium as the Sachin Tendulkar stand in honour of the Indian batting maestro.

Tendulkar joins other Bombay and India greats like Vijay Merchant, Polly Umrigar, Vinoo Mankad and Sunil Gavaskar who have stands named after them. The proposal is said to have mooted by the Mumbai Cricket Association president Sharad Pawar.

The MCA will also felicitate Tendulkar at a function on May 23 at the Wankhede Stadium. He will be presented with a cheque of Rs 2.5 lakhs (approx US$5300) and a silver bat. The function has been got up to felicitate Tendulkar for being the first player to cross the 10000-run mark in ODIs.

A coaching camp under the watchful eyes of former England fast bowler Frank Tyson will be held in Pune from May 21 to June 5. The camp will be jointly organised by the Mumbai Cricket Association and the Maharashtra Cricket Association at two levels. The first will be for young state players and the second camp will be for those selected by former Test player Balwinder Sandhu. Former Indian bowler Paras Mhambrey will assist Tyson during the camp.

The joint secretaries of the MCA, AH Mate and Avinash Ghatpande told reporters in Pune on Sunday that the first camp, consisting of 25 players who have represented Maharashtra in the under-19 and under-22 teams, will commence on May 21 and will end on May 27. The second camp will commence on May 28 and will go on till June 3. This will be for players, who have represented Maharashtra in the under-14 and under-19 teams. The coaching camp named MCA-Frank Tyson Clinic will be held at Shirke ground at Mundhwa in Pune.

The coaching will consist of video analysis, explanations of bio mechanics and correction of faults. There will be a separate seminar for coaches between June 3 and 5 which is open for all prominent cricket coaches in the state, MCA sources added.