Australia speed king Brett Lee believes his international career has been prolonged because he stopped drinking beer.

An umbrella group for journalists on Thursday accused international cricket chiefs of ignoring what it called a pattern of violence against media and attempts by President Robert Mugabe’s regime to gag sports reporters who cover the World Cup cricket competition.

Ricky Ponting’s all-conquering Australia are overwhelming favourites to become the first team to successfully defend the cricket World Cup title, according to bookmakers Ladbrokes.

There is no reason at all to believe that South Africa will have a soft opening match as the 2003 World Cup gets underway at Newlands on Sunday. If anything, the South Africans might not have found a more awkward game to start their campaign if they’d asked for one.

He wouldn’t want to acknowledge this publicly, but the most anxious person at Newlands this weekend will be groundsman Christo Erasmus.

Australia’s World Cup squad attempted to make peace with South African fans on Friday, saying the team’s confidence was often mistaken as arrogance.

One of South Africa’s most senior judges will today hear the England and Wales Cricket Board’s appeal to get England’s controversial match with Zimbabwe switched to South Africa and avoid a damaging boycott on the eve of the World Cup.

More than a thousand million people are expected to watch at least some World Cup cricket on television. More than 600-million are likely to watch the action for hours on end.