Friday saw an announcement coming from Pakistan sports minister Aftab Jilani that the ministry has no objection to its cricketers competing in the Indian Premier League.

Jilani said, "We feel it's a private league in which Pakistani players compete in an individual capacity."

It was confirmed by the sports minister that President Asif Ali Zardari, patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Cricket Board, had asked the opinion of the ministry on players' participation in this year's IPL, a highly profitable twenty20 tournament that commences 10th April.

Islamabad, Jan 31, : Sources in the Pakistan Cricket Board said on Saturday that former director-general and captain Javed Miandad resigned over a pay dispute.

According to sources, Miandad was offered Rs. 5,00,000 per month, which he refused.

A local newspaper published a handwritten letter from PCB's human resources director Wasim Bari to COO Salim Altaf after discussing the contract with Miandad.

In letter, Bari supported Miandad completely and asked the PCB to pay him on the same terms as agreed with ex-Pakistani coach Geoff Lawson.

Dubai, Jan. 31 : India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has reclaimed the top rank in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player rankings for ODI batsmen from the West Indies Chris Gayle.

Dhoni's 61 not out against Sri Lanka in his side's first ODI of a five-match series has enabled the 27-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman to regain his place at the head of the table. There will be ample opportunity for Dhoni to put daylight between him and the chasing pack as the rest of the series unfolds in Colombo.

Jamaica (West Indies), Jan. 31 : West Indies skipper Chris Gayle is generally regarded as cricket's coolest dude, but is a seriously dangerous customer on the field.

Gayle, 29, puts his success down to having in-depth conversations with himself.

Dubai, Jan. 31 : New Zealander Jeff Crowe of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees has reached another landmark.

Today, as Kenya hosts Zimbabwe at the Nairobi Gymkhana for the third match in a five-game series, Crowe will notch up 100 One-Day Internationals as an ICC match referee.

To mark the occasion, ICC's High Performance Manager Richard Done made a presentation to the New Zealander before the game on behalf of the ICC.

"I would like to congratulate Jeff on his achievement," said ICC Umpires' and Referees' Manager Vince van der Bijl.

Brisbane, Jan. 31: Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds failed for a second day in his first-class cricket comeback to leave his South African tour hopes hanging by a thread.

Symonds lasted just eight balls on Saturday as he was caught behind for three, hot on the heels of his first-innings five, on return from knee surgery for Queensland at the Gabba.

The wayward all-rounder edged a forward defensive push to a good length ball by Steve Magoffin, giving gloveman Luke Ronchi a regulation catch low down.