St. Lucia (West Indies), Apr. 3 : England cricket captain Andrew Strauss has insisted that any rifts between players or between players and the team management have been sorted out. He sincerely believes the team is pulling in the same direction.

Ahead of today's deciding fifth one-day clash, The Sun quoted Strauss as saying: "There was potential for us to go off the rails but that hasn't happened. Losing the Test series was bitterly disappointing. But the guys have stuck together very well and that bodes well for the future."

Durban (South Africa), Apr. 3 : Australia captain Ricky Ponting has warned his players not to be distracted by the build-up for the Indian Premier League (IPL) that is to be played in South Africa.

The IPL caravan for the five-week event is about to hit town, led by Shane Warne''s defending champions Rajasthan Royals.

London, Apr. 3: Former England international Alan Shearer has laid down the law at Newcastle.

Shearer has hit his players with a series of strict rules.

According to The Sun, he has banned all nights out on the Toon after games, told his squad they must stay behind after training and eat lunch together as a team and challenged anyone to say if they do not like the new regime — and said they can go if they are unhappy.

Los Angeles  - The lowly Washington Wizards haven't had many highs this season, but they seem to rise to the occasion against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Caron Butler scored 25 points, Antawn Jamison had 19 and the Wizards regrouped after blowing a 14-point lead to snap the Cavaliers' franchise-best 13-game winning streak, with a 109-101 home-court victory on Thursday night.

Durban, Apr 3 : Australian captain Ricky Ponting is sure that pacer Mitchell Johnson's bone-breaking powers will be playing on Graeme Smith's mind when the South African skipper returns to open in the first one-day international being played here today.

Left-armer Johnson fractured Smith's left hand's little finger in the Sydney Test match in January, and two Tests later in Durban he completed the double, cracking the opening batsman's right hand little finger.

London, Apr 3: Cricket bible Wisden has broken with 120 years of tradition by naming a woman as one of its players of the year.

England women’s star batsman Claire Taylor has been selected along with four male players as the magazine’s Five Cricketers of the Year for 2009.

It is the first time since the highly respected accolade started in 1889 that it has been conferred on a female player, the Daily Express reports.