London, Feb. 19: England Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairperson Giles Clarke has been accused of prostituting cricket with the help of controversial Texan billionaire Sir Allan Stanford.

Clarke is in for a tough few weeks in the wake of Stanford's arrest for fraud and the breakdown of ECB agreements with the billionaire.

Hampshire chairman Rod Bransgrove, a long-time critic of Clarke, insisted: "I'm not surprised the Stanford agreement with the ECB has broken down. From day one, it was a tacky relationship with a tacky man.

Antigua (West Indies), Feb. 19: West Indian batsman Shivnaraine Chanderpaul is among some players who fear they have lost some or all of their Stanford millions.

According to The Sun, Chanderpaul is thought to have been persuaded to re-invest his prize money with Sir Allen Stanford companies and is now concerned he may never see it again.

Each of his Stanford Superstars team was paid $1million for beating England in the Twenty20 for 20 match in Antigua last November.

Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting said that his inexperienced side would do all it can to hang on to their number one spot when they would take on South Africa in the upcoming test series.

Speaking with the reporters, Ponting said, “We have had quite a few injuries, but we have brought a fully fit squad to South Africa. We always enjoy playing here. The conditions are fairly similar to those at home, and we know the series will be challenging. We just hope Australia come out on top this time.”

Sydney, Feb 18 : Senior umpires, Daryl Harper and his South African colleague Rudi Koertzen, have embraced the move to allow players to challenge decisions, as Australian players prepare to exercise the right for the first time during the Test series against the Proteas.

The results of the trial will determine whether the review system is adopted permanently, although England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke has already indicated he does not want it used for the Ashes series.

The domestic cricket bans on Imran Farhat, Imran Nazir, Humayun Farhat, Riaz Afridi, Arshad Khan and Taufiq Umar has been suspended.

In a major relief to these players, the Sindh High Court on Monday has allowed them to play in the domestic matches in Pakistan.

With this, the Court, has so far cleared the names of 17 players in total in the local tournaments.

Melbourne, Feb 18 : Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds has been assured that his career is not at risk with a knee injury, which flared again last week.

Symonds visited a Melbourne specialist after spending long periods off the field during Queensland's Sheffield Shield loss to South Australia in Adelaide.

There were fears that Symonds could need further surgery to the right knee he that had been surgically repaired on New Year's Eve after Australia's MCG Test loss to South Africa, FOX Sports reported.