India's tour of England

Second Test, Trent Bridge: India 357 & 424-8 drew with England 617. Despite a mini-collapse straddling the tea interval, India held on to draw the Trent Bridge Test thanks to some defiant batting on the final day. Two big partnerships in the best weather of the Test, as Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly played key roles, meant England were unable to force the win. Dravid hit 115 in more than four hours and shared first in a stand of 163 with Tendulkar (92) before putting on 135 with Sourav Ganguly (99). Rahul Dravid's century was his first against England The series stands at 1-0 in favour of the home side with two Tests to come. Wickets were a real struggle to come by for England for much of the last day. Indeed, until 4pm, they had only claimed one scalp during the course of the day. Tendulkar was out after an hour-and-half's play, Michael Vaughan taking only his second wicket in Tests. England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff could miss the ICC Champions Trophy due to a troublesome groin problem. England captain Nasser Hussain, speaking after the drawn second Test against India at Trent Bridge on Monday, said the player was continuing to play despite a groin problem. "It's getting to the point where it's getting slightly unprofessional playing him," he said. "I don't know when he will be rested, perhaps for the ICC Champions Trophy or the last Test against India. "But it's not professional and wouldn't happen in other sports." But Hussain said the Lancashire player wanted to carry on as England chased victory at Trent Bridge. Michael Vaughan's man-of-the-match performance for England against India has seen him move into the top 20 of the PwC Test ratings. His opposite number Virender Sehwag's century in the Trent Bridge match, which ended in a draw, helped him climb six places to 46th, his first time in the top 50. India bowler Zaheer Khan, who took 3-110 in England's only innings in Nottingham, moved up two places to 30th, his best placing to date. Vaughan scored 197 against India and then took two wickets - including that of Sachin Tendulkar - as England looked to bowl out the tourists and clinch the match. That helped him climb 12 places in the ratings and become England's second highest rated batsman behind his usual opening partner Marcus Trescothick, who is likely to slip from 10th this summer as he is sidelined through injury.

Morocco cup

South Africa won the first ever international cricket match in Morocco by beating Pakistan by 54 runs. Set 285 to win, Pakistan crumbled to 229 all out in the 44th over in Tangiers. Herschelle Gibbs did the damage with the bat, notching up 116 after South Africa had won the toss and decided to bat. Nicky Boje smashed 52 off 45 balls and Jonty Rhodes put on 120 for the fourth wicket with Gibbs. Pakistan did their best to get into the match, but not of the batsmen starred. Imran Nazir and Younis Khan both made 40 apiece. Lance Klusener demolished the tail-enders, yorking last man Wasim Akram for four. South Africa skipper Shaun Pollock was pleased with his side's performance. "To beat Pakistan by 50-odd runs in any conditions is a great effort, so there are plenty of positives we can take from the game," he said.

ICC Champions Trophy

Leading Indian players could be missing from next month's ICC Champions Trophy following a row about endorsements. Stars such as Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly could be barred if they refuse to sign an ICC contract preventing them from endorsing products that conflict with authorised tournament sponsors. "It could come to the players being dropped," Niranjan Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said on Monday. "We are a part of the ICC, we don't want to confront them." The BCCI was set to announce the squad on Monday but was forced to delay it because the contracts have not been signed. The tournament in Sri Lanka is set to start on 12 September. "I am not announcing the team as our players have still not signed the ICC contract, which is required to be signed by all those selected for the event," Shah said. Three potential members of the New Zealand ICC Champions Trophy squad have declared themselves unavailable for the Sri Lanka event because of security fears. Leg-spinner Brooke Walker and batsmen Craig McMillan and Matt Horne have asked not to be considered for next month's one-day international tournament Chairman of selectors Sir Richard Hadlee confirmed the news as the Kiwis seek to defend the title they won in Kenya in 2000. Sri Lankan cricket officials have expressed surprise at the players' decision not to come on safety grounds. The situation in Sri Lanka has stabilised recently due to the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who are seeking a separarate Tamil state, observing a truce since February. "Sri Lanka is very safe and there is nothing to worry about," said Anura Tennakoon, chief executive officer of the country's cricket board "We would like to tell the participants that now we have a very good security situation," he added.

Australia's tour of Pakistan

Australia's Test captain Steve Waugh has said his team will play Pakistan in any neutral country. Waugh's players pulled out of their three-Test series in Pakistan, scheduled for October, last week because of safety fears. Australia also refused to tour Zimbabwe in April because of security concerns. "All I know is that as players, we want to play this series," Waugh was quoted as saying in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper on Tuesday. "If administrators can sort it out then we'll be very happy to play," he added. "We want to play cricket - we're Test cricketers, and that's our living. We've already missed out on a couple of Tests against Zimbabwe and we don't want to miss three more. "We're happy to play anywhere."

Miscellaneous

A maximum of 20 players will be awarded central contracts by the England and Wales Cricket Board. The game's First Class Forum met at Lord's on Monday and voted 18-1 to the increase in contracts from the current 12 players. Central contracts, introduced in 2000, have been seen as a significant part in England's recent improved results. They have allowed coach Duncan Fletcher to oversee his players' training and protecting them from playing too much. A maximum of 16 players will receive 12-month deals, which will run from 1 October. The remaining players, likely to be academy cricketers, will get six-month summer contracts. Those awarded 12-month central contracts can expect to earn about £250,000-a-year.

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