Indian news round-up

The Australian Cricket Board (ACB) media manager, Brian Murgatroyd on Wednesday termed as false press reports that former Australian wicketkeeper Rodney Marsh is likely to replace Kapil Dev as the Indian team coach.

Press Trust of India reported that Murgatroyd termed the reports as hypothetical and said it was highly unlikely that Marsh would replace the former Indian captain. He said that no one had so far offered Marsh the job as team coach. Marsh is at present the chief coach at the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy in Adelaide.

Kapil Dev's future as the coach was discussed at the Board of Control of Cricket in India's (BCCI) at Bangalore. The working committee meeting had left the decision making to its president AC Muthiah. The BCCI move follows Kapil Dev's statements to the media regarding the board officials' handling of the match fixing scandal.

Commander Arshad Gillani of the International Management Group (IMG) announced on Wednesday that the 2000 edition of the Sahara Cup in Toronto had been cancelled.

Quoting Gillani, Agence France Presse (AFP) said that IMG, the official organisors of the tourney, had tried to get other countries like Australia, Sri Lanka, South Africa and New Zealand to take India's place but these efforts were unsuccessful. The tournament was scheduled to be held from September 9 to 17.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) passed the itineraries of the visits of Zimbabwe and Australia during the 2000-2001 season during the recently concluded working committee meeting in Bangalore.

The final ratification of the itinerary is expected during the AGM which is slated to be held in Chennai during the last week of September.

Itinerary: Zimbabwe in India - November, 2000 to December 2000

5 November 2000: Arrival in India; 8-10 November: v National Cricket Academy at Indore; 13-15 November: v Board President's XI at Faridabad; 18-22 November: 1st Test at Delhi; 25-29 November: 2nd Test at Nagpur; 2 December: 1st ODI at Cuttack; 5 December: 2nd ODI at Mohali; 8 December: 3rd ODI at Jaipur; 11 December: 4th ODI at Ahmedabad; 14 December: 5th ODI at Chennai; 15 December: Departure.

Australia in India - February 2001 to April 2001

14 February 2001: Arrival in India; 17-19 February: v India-A at Baroda; 22-24 February: v Mumbai at Mumbai; 27 February to 3 March: 1st Test at Mumbai; 6-8 March: v Board President's XI at Kochi; 11-15 March: 2nd Test at Chennai; 18-22 March: 3rd Test at Calcutta; 25 March: 1st ODI at Guwahati; 28 March: 2nd ODI at Delhi; 31 March: 3rd ODI at Gwalior/Indore; 3 April: 4th ODI at Pune; 6 April: 5th ODI at Bangalore; 7 April: Departure

Indian captain shirked off media criticism to score 42 runs while being involved in an unbroken 89-run fourth wicket partnership with centurion John Crawley to guide Lancashire to 334 for three at stumps on the second day of the PPP Healthcare County Championship Division One match against Leicestershire at Grace Road in Leicester on Wednesday.

In reply to Leicestershire's 372, Lancashire started in right earnest with openers Michael Atherton (48) and Michael Chillton (21) putting on 59 before they fell to Phillip Defreitas. Then Crawley (129 not out) and Andy Flintoff (55) took the score to 245 when Anil Kumble dismissed Flintoff. This brought Ganguly to the crease and the two made sure of no further causalities for Lancashire.

In the other match at the St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury, Rahul Dravid's poor form with the bat continued as he fell leg before to Morris for 10 as Kent struggled to 83 for 5 in reply to Hampshire's 156 in their first innings.