Dubai/ Cape Town, Dec. 10 : The International Cricket Council (ICC) has sent out a clear signal to sledgers by indicating that it is seriously considering the imposition of harsher penalties for verbal abuse.

"There was also a feeling among CEC members that a stronger stance needed to be taken against players guilty of verbal abuse," The Age quoted an ICC statement, as saying.

Harsher interpretations and penalties for players would be a bitter pill for the Australian players to swallow, given their tradition of "mental disintegration" to unsettle opponents.

Mohali/Chandigarh, Dec 10: Security has been beefed up in Mohali ahead of the second cricket Test match between India and England, as six persons were arrested with explosives in nearby Chandigarh city.

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Security Advisor Reg Dickason, who assessed the security arrangements at the Stadium with the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) officials and security agencies, said that a a detailed meeting would take place on Wednesday.

PCA President I S Bindra asserted that ECB had suggested Mohali as the venue for the second Test match and there was no doubt about hosting the match there.

Chennai, Dec 10 : The England cricket teams will donate half of their match fees from the first Test against India starting on Thursday to victims of last month''s attacks in Mumbai, opening batsman Alastair Cook said.

"To extend our sympathies to the families of those who have lost their loved ones in the Mumbai attacks and as a cricketer, we are here to win a Test match series in India. The England players will pay half their match fees from the first Test match to the families of the victims of the Mumbai attacks," said Cook.

Melbourne, Dec. 10: Former Australian leg spinner Shane Warne has said that the musical about him, which attracted rave reviews, has left him with a warm and proud feeling.

Revealing his thoughts on the musical for the Herald Sun, which he saw recently, Warne said that at the first instance, he was angry and wondered how anyone could possibly do this.

Melbourne, Dec. 10 : Former South African off-spinner Pat Symcox has criticized the current team's moves to excessively talk about their talent and skills ahead of their cricket series against Australia as pathetic.

Symcox insisted that the Proteas are living in false hope by believing that their recent 2-0 Test series romp over minnows Bangladesh is an adequate form line for tangling with Australia, the current world champions.

Dubai, Dec. 9 : India will go second in the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship table if it beats England in the upcoming two-Test series that gets underway in Chennai on Thursday.

By winning the series 1-0 or 2-0, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team will overtake South Africa and recapture second, a position it had briefly enjoyed after its 2-0 home series victory over Australia recently.

South Africa will have an immediate opportunity to take back that place with a three-match series in Australia on the horizon. The first match of that series begins in Perth on
17 December.