Sydney, Dec 10 : Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson, who opted out of the inaugural IPL ballot to shore up his position in the national team, will seek a contract with an Indian franchise for the next tournament which can only include Australian players if the rescheduled limited-overs tour of Pakistan is again put off for security reasons.

His manager, Sam Halvorsen, said the left-arm paceman was ready to add the extra demands of the rich Twenty20 league to his workload and would nominate for the February auction.

Melbourne, Dec. 10 : Thanks to the bonanza offered by the Lalit Modi-led Indian Premier League (IPL), which was launched in April and May this year, seven cricketers are in the top 50 sport earners list.

Australian cricketers Ricky Ponting (3.05 million dollars) and Brett Lee (2.5 million dollars) lead the way.

But with fringe Australian players like David Hussey and Cameron White just missing out, list compiler John Stensholt predicts Aussie cricketers will be the big movers in the near future.

"Expect to see a few more cricketers in the list next year. IPL is changing the way cricketers think about earning money," The Age quoted Stensholt, as saying.

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.