The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced that it has withdrawn elite panel umpire Asad Rauf from the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 that will be staged in England and Wales from 6-23 June.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has introduced a new playing condition for Tests, One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 Internationals (T20s) that instructs the umpires to call ‘No ball’ whenever a bowler breaks the non-striker’s wicket during the act of delivery.

This playing condition will come into effect on 30 April, and the first international match to be played under the new regulation will be the first ODI between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in Bulawayo on Friday 3 May.

Centurions of the Wellington and Mohali Tests have made impressive gains in the latest ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen released on Tuesday.

In Wellington, England’s Nick Compton’s 100 was his second successive century, and his teammate Jonathan Trott scored 121 in a drawn encounter against New Zealand. In Mohali, openers Murali Vijay scored 153 and debutant Shikhar Dhawan hit 187 to set up their side’s six-wicket victory over Australia, which gave India a 3-0 lead in the four-Test series.

Cricket Scotland and Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond (KNCB) have become the second and third Members of the ICC, respectively, to finalise a Targeted Assistance and Performance Programme (TAPP) agreement this week in Dubai, guaranteeing a significant increase in the performance support for both countries.

Cricket Scotland and KNCB have each been awarded US$1.5 million over the next three years under this targeted initiative, which is aimed at developing more competitive teams at the higher levels of international cricket.

The International Cricket Council today inducted Glenn McGrath into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame during the lunch interval of the third Test match between Australia and Sri Lanka in Sydney.

McGrath becomes the 68th male member of the Hall of Fame and joins fellow 2012-13 inductees West Indian Brian Lara and England’s Enid Bakewell in being recognized by the ICC and the living members of the Hall of Fame.

The International Cricket Council today announced that former Australia bowler Glenn McGrath will be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame on 4 January 2013 during the lunch interval of the third Test match between Australia and Sri Lanka in Sydney.

McGrath becomes the 68th male member of the Hall of Fame and joins fellow 2012-13 inductees West Indian Brian Lara and England's Enid Bakewell in being recognized by the ICC and the living members of the Hall of Fame.

Australia's Meg Lanning has been rewarded for her record-breaking efforts with the bat in the Rose Bowl series against New Zealand with a jump of four places to sixth position in the latest Reliance ICC Women's ODI Player Rankings for batters, which were released on Thursday. The 20-year-old Lanning also achieved a career-best rating of 635 points.