* Tyson invited to give fillip to Mumbai cricket

Former England speedster Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson has been invited to have a look at Mumbai's stable of fast bowlers at the Wankhede Stadium from May 5. Mumbai Cricket Association joint secretary Ratnakar Shetty told PTI on Thursday that Tyson's advice to the boys would be the first step towards boosting Mumbai cricket.

Tyson had played a role in the resurgence of Mumbai as a fighting force on the domestic scene in the early 1990s through the BCA- Mafatlal bowling scheme. "When he was here in 1991, he did a fine job with the boys and bowlers like Abey Kuruvilla, Paras Mhambrey and leg spinner Sairaj Bahutule benefited a lot and we are hoping for the same kind of change to take place this time around as well" said Shetty.

Mumbai's Ranji Trophy title triumph under Ravi Shastri's captaincy in 1993/94, after an eight year drought, owed much to Tyson's guidance. In the current season, Mumbai succumbed to Punjab in the quarter finals and proceeded to lose all three one-dayers in the Champions Cup in Perth.

"The MCA plans to have Tyson's services over a longer period as we are very keen about him. We will discuss about his availability after he arrives and might have a sponsored scheme similar to the earlier one", Shetty added.

* Five Indian players vanish in Australia

Five Indian players who arrived in Adelaide on March 25 en route to the Australian Cricket Academy have disappeared, said the academy on Thursday according to AFP. The unnnamed players - three medium pace bowlers, a batsman and a wicketkeeper - were reportedly from the Karavali cricket clinic, based in Karnataka.

The chief coach of the Australian Cricket Academy, Wayne Phillips, said he could not find the players when he went to receive them at the airport. Nothing has been heard of them since and Phillips was stumped about their whereabouts. "That's not up to me to comment on ... we have passed it over to the Department of Immigration and the Department of Foreign Affairs. We're obviously concerned about their safety, so it was appropriate to go to those departments." The former Australian Test wicket keeper, who has just returned from India on an exchange program to the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai, said he had reached the clinic but they had not heard from the players either.

AFP quoted an Australian immigration official as saying the trainees could be deported when they surface. "If they've just gone underground and gone to do something else it could well have contravened the conditions of their visa and that could well lead to cancellation," a spokesman for Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said.

* Bradman Foundation sends gifts for Indian team

The Indian cricketers are still enjoying the success of their Test series win over Australia. Everywhere they are being praised. However, the best gift for them is probably Sir Don Bradman's Art of Cricket coaching manual. The Bradman Foundation, has recently gifted 15 CD- ROMs of the manual to members of the Indian team.

The gift has been received by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and will be distributed to the players once they meet for the conditioning camp for the Zimbabwe tour. A similar CD has also been sent for the coach John Wright.

The Bradman Foundation has also presented three red coloured county caps with the autograph of Sir Don to Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman and Harbhajan Singh for their outstanding performance in the Test and One-Day series against Australia. The three are thrilled to have been honoured in such a manner.

The CD-ROM has important coaching tips in batting, bowling, fielding and captaincy. Sir Don Bradman has also addressed a number of problems faced by cricketers in his own voice. Apart from that it also has significant footage of some of Sir Don's innings.

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