Africa

The Cricket World Cup has finally got underway in South Africa - but the shadow of rows over co-hosting continues to blight the tournament.

The England & Wales Cricket Board's appeal against the ICC's decision to reject their request to move the scheduled World Cup game in Zimbabwe will be heard by the ICC-appointed South African judge, Justice Albie Sachs, in Cape Town today.

The International Cricket Council's Cricket World Cup Technical Committee, chaired by ICC president Malcolm Speed (pictured), will meet in Cape Town today to consider the England & Wales Cricket Board's request to move England's match against Zimbabwe from the latter country.

Rivals Digital Media (RDM) is launching a new SMS service to tie up with the start of the Cricket World Cup.

In a dramatic u-turn, the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is to request that England's match in Zimbabwe be moved to South Africa.

Despite confirming Kenya and Zimbabwe would host Cricket World Cup games, the sport's governing body the ICC is set for new calls to shift games out of the politically sensitive countries.

Concerns in the Australian government are growing over the scheduled Cricket World Cup matches in Zimbabwe.

New Zealand cricket chiefs have defied a ruling by the sport's world governing body the ICC and confirmed they will not play World Cup games in Kenya.

Cricket's world governing body the ICC has confirmed matches in Zimbabwe and Kenya during next month's Cricket World Cup will go ahead.

The latest stage in the saga which is dominating the run up to the Cricket World Cup takes place today as the ICC braces itself for new calls to move games out of Zimbabwe.

Live Aid pioneer Bob Geldof has emerged as the unlikely figure who could prompt the England cricket team to boycott playing its controversial World Cup game in Zimbabwe.

The rows over the staging of games during this year's Cricket World Cup show no sign of abating after New Zealand called on the game's governing body, the ICC, to scrap Kenya as a venue for the tournament.

England's cricket team has called for its World Cup match against Zimbabwe to be moved amid growing fears over safety.

Despite the ICC confirming Cricket World Cup games will take place in Zimbabwe last week, England may yet boycott the country as its players prepare to issue a statement latter today.

The International Cricket Council has confirmed that the Executive Board of ICC Development International Ltd (IDI) will meet tomorrow morning to discuss the outstanding issues relating to the forthcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2003.

Media sources close to the International Cricket Council's World Cup sponsorship contract negotiations with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have suggested that the governing body has offered a 'large olive branch' in a bid to resolve the row.

ICC chief executive, Malcolm Speed, is travelling to Zimbabwe today with the chief executive of the ICC Cricket World Cup Organising Committee, Dr Ali Bacher, to make a final security check.

An overwhelming majority of industry figures taking part in the latest sportbusiness.com online poll have called on the ICC to switch games from Zimbabwe to South Africa during this year's Cricket World Cup.