Dubai, Feb. 9 : India has slipped back to third in the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship table following defeat in the fifth and final match of its away series against Sri Lanka.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team had moved ahead of Australia and to within four ratings points of leader South Africa when it went 4-0 up in the series but a combination of Sri Lanka's strong showing in the final ODI and Australia beating New Zealand in the third ODI of its ongoing five-match series has meant they have returned to third position.

Karachi, Feb. 1 : Pakistan will be playing a three nation one-day international series in Dubai in April 2009.

Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will be the other two teams taking part in the tournament, The Nations reports.

According to the Pakistan Cricket coach Intikhab Alam, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dubai Sports City, and the proposed tri-series is a part of the same.

Commenting on the refusal of the Australian cricket team to tour Pakistan due to security concerns, Alam said the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is ready to host the Kangaroos on any neutral venue also.

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.

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.

Dubai, Jan. 29 : The resignation of the Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) Director General Javed Miandad has still not been accepted by the PCB, the board's Human Resources (HR) chief Wasim Bari said.

According to The Nation, PCB chairman Ijaz Butt is expected to urge Miandad to continue on the post.

"PCB chairman Ijaz Butt, who is in Perth to attend the ICC meeting, is likely to speak to Miandad before deciding taking any decision over the resignation," Bari said.

Dubai, Jan. 29 : The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed that the ongoing trial of the umpire decision review system will afford each side two unsuccessful reviews per innings rather than the three that have been available up to now.

An ICC media release said that the change to the playing conditions of the trial has been made after receiving initial feedback from players and match officials and will apply to the upcoming Test series between the West Indies and England.