Legendary Pakistan paceman Wasim Akram Saturday urged the country's top fast bowlers to be aggressive and adapt to new rule changes in order to excel at the international level. The 46-year-old, regarded as one of the best left-arm paceman ever to play the game, is holding a ten-day training camp for top 20 fast bowlers in the country ahead of the eight-nation Champions Trophy in June in England. Wasim said the change in rules in one-day cricket which allow only four fielders outside the inner circle throughout the 50-overs, were tough for bowlers.

Former England captain Mike Denness died aged 72 on Friday after a long battle with cancer. Denness was the only Scotsman ever to captain England, leading the team in 19 of his 28 Tests between 1969 and 1975. He also played 12 one-day internationals and went onto become an ICC match referee. Denness was awarded an OBE in this year's New Years Honours for services to sport. His reign as England captain was marred by a strained relationship with Geoff Boycott, then one of the team's star performers.

LONDON (Reuters) - Mike Denness, the only Scotsman to captain England, has died of cancer at the age of 72, the BBC reported on Friday. Denness, a stylish right-hander who led England in 19 of his 28 tests, dropped himself for the fourth test at Sydney on the 1974-75 tour of Australia after he was unable to cope with the pace and fury of quick bowlers Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson. He scored 188 in the final match at Melbourne but Thomson was absent through injury and Lillee bowled only six overs before breaking down.

Graeme Smith's first innings as Surrey captain ended in disappointment as the South Africa star was dismissed for just two runs against Somerset at the Oval on Thursday. Smith had been forced to watch South African team-mate Alviro Petersen hit 167 after losing the toss on the opening day of the English County Championship First Division clash 24 hours earlier. And the Proteas skipper's luck was out again on day two as he was dismissed by Peter Trego off the third ball he faced when he edged a wide delivery to James Hildreth in the slips.