Troubled Hawks midfielder Travis Tuck returned to training with the team today.

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson promised the club would do all they could to help Tuck, who was suspended for 12 matches after he was discovered passed-out in a car while under the influence of illegal drugs last week.

Titans player Luke Bailey will not be able to play in tomorrow night's NRL clash against the Wests Tigers after surgery on his thumb earlier this week.

Bailey and the team were hoping he would make it onto the pitch wearing a protective thumb guard but this was ruled out today.

The Titans need to win their last regular season match tomorrow at Skilled Park to get their home final.

Titans coach John Cartwright has confirmed Anthony Laffranchi will replace Bailey, while interchange utility Greg Bird will move into the backrow and O'Dwyer will take the bench.

Shane Warne is calling for the world cricket's governing body to issue life bans for the members of Pakistan's national cricket team if they are found of spot-fixing the recent Test matches in England, as revealed by British tabloid News of the World last Sunday.

Australia's Samantha Stosur has finally managed to get past a second round at the US Open after seven years of trying.

She powered her way to victory playing against fellow Aussie Anastasia Rodionova, 6-1 6-4.

Stosur will unseeded Italian Sara Errani on Friday for a place in the last 16 at Flushing Meadows. 

Last year's Melbourne Cup winner Shocking is the favourite to win this year's Cup to make it two years in a row.

Racing Victoria chief handicapper Greg Carpenter raised Shocking 6kg from his winning weight last year to 57kg.

Lloyd Williams owned pair - 2007 Melbourne Cup winner Efficient and European import Alandi - lead the weights at 58kg each for the 2010 BMW Caulfield Cup (2400m) and Emirates Melbourne Cup (3200m).

Alandi was purchased late last year with the specific intention to win Australia's most coveted racing prize - the Melbourne Cup.

Starspangledbanner will be raced in Saturday's Group One Haydock Sprint Cup on Saturday with a new jockey.

Trainer Aidan O'Brien will make the decision today, but it is thought that Colm O'Donoghue will probably ride the four-year-old Australian import.

Tony Noonan-trained four-year-old prospect Kutchinsky will not make the spring carnival’s major events as it has contracted a virus.

First declarations for the Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup are taken next Tuesday.

Top jockey Glen Boss returns to NSW to ride Grahame Begg's Ilovethiscity in the Group III Spring Stakes (1600m) at Newcastle on September 15.

He will also ride the gelding in the Group I Caulfield Guineas (1600m) on October 9.

The horse is one of the state’s most promising three-year-olds.

Predatory Pricer's spring carnival is finished before it even begun.

The five-year-old suffered a staph infection around his hock area and has been on a strong course of penicillin.

Allowing 28 days for the penicillin to clear means that spring will be over before the horse can return to racing.

He will now be aimed at next autumn.

The president of Hawthorn Hawks, Jeff Kennett has written to the AFL requesting it change its policy regarding illegal drugs.

Hawks midfielder Travis Tuck was banned for 12 games yesterday after his overdose at the weekend.

The Hawks believe the young player would have been better off if the club had been made aware the first time he'd tested positive.

Tuck has been struggling with depression and receving treatment for drug use for almost a year.

Socceroos golkleeper Mark Schwarzer did not get his dream transfer to English premier league legends Arsenal.

He had been hoping that Fulham would sell him, but the transfer window closed yesterday at 6pm and Arsenal's $7 million offer was turned down.

Rafael Nadal had to work hard for his first round win in the US Open at Flushing Meadows yesterday.

He beat his Russian opponent Teymuraz Gabashvili  7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.

Brazilian football star Robinho signed for Serie A giants AC Milan on Tuesday after a hectic day of trading as the transfer deadline closed today.

AC Milan were looking good as the Serie A season kicked off last weekend.

Robinho joins Zlatan Ibrahimovic who was also recently recruited to the club from Barcelona, as they attempt to overcome their fiercest rivals - Inter Milan.

An Icelandic football team has come up with some novel and creative ways to celebrate their goal-scoring.

Three players from the Stjarnan Football Club form a toilet shape which a teammate when sits on and pretends to read a magazine.

He dismounts, closes the lid and flushes, then runs off to rejoin the game.

The team's first hit involved a fishing scenario on the pitch which became a hit on Youtube.

Last year's Cox Plate winner So You Think is the Caulfield and Melbourne Cup topweight from the Bart Cummings stable. So You Think was allocated 56kg in both races. Bart will be aiming for his 20th win in these races.

Luca Cumani-trained grey Bauer is making his racing comeback in the Persian Punch Stakes at Salisbury on Thursday.

It will be his first race since he narrowly missed out on winning the Melbourne Cup in 2008.

His trainer wasn't getting any hopes up however, saying the horse hadn't raced for 2 years due to a leg problem.

He said they would give him a couple of runs before making any decisions about Melbourne this year. 

Top jockey Damien Oliver has a busy weekend at Flemington ahead of Melbourne's Spring Carnival.

He will ride Bart Cummings-trained Queensland Derby winner Dariana in Saturday’s Group II Let’s Elope Stakes (1400m) at Flemington.

Oliver will also ride for Caulfield trainer Mick Price aboard dual Group I winner Heart Of Dreams in the Group II Makybe Dive Stakes and Mark Riley-trained Gold Salute in the Group III Bobbie Lewis Quality.

Then on Smokin’ Joey for Lee Freedman in the Group II Danehill Stakes and for Tony Vasil aboard blueblood colt Altius in the Listed Henry Bucks Best Dressed Stakes.

Trainer Danny O’Brien has taken the decision to employ a dedicated stable jockey.

Starting at Saturday’s Makybe Diva Stakes meeting, ex-Hong Kong rider James Winks will be riding for O'Brien.

Legendary trainer Bart Cummings is back in hospital with a fractured pelvis.

His son Anthony said he had tripped over and damaged his pelvis. It is thought he will be in hospital for a few days.

Cummings is apparently very eager to get out as soon as possible. He was hospitalised with pneumonia in April this year and had just returned to his beloved training. 

Australian rachorse Northerly, Dual Cox Plate winner, has been revealed as one of seven new entrants into the 2010 Australian Racing Hall of Fame.

Northerly was joined by one other racehorse to be inducted - Golden Slipper and Victoria Derby winner Sky High, a prevalent champion during the early sxties. 

Champion racehorses such as Phar Lap, Carbine, Tulloch, Kingston Town and Makybe Diva are all in the Hall of Fame.

The official induction ceremony will be held at the Australian Racehorse of the Year and Hall of Fame Awards on Sunday night the Crown Palladium in Melbourne.

Trainer David Payne's plans to aim for the Spring Champion Stakes with last Saturday's favourite for the Golden Rose - Masquerader - have changed since the colt failed to do well on Saturday.

The race was troubled by interference on the track but Payne still has faith in the horse and has spoken to the owner and they have agreed to aim him at the Caulfield Guineas instead.   

Lleyton Hewitt has made his earliest ever exit from the US Open as he was thrashed 6-3 6-4 5-7 4-6 6-1 by Paul-Henri Mathieu in the first round.

Hewitt admitted he was unable to compete fully against the Frenchman due to the after-effects of surgeries to his hip and knee earlier this year which are still resricting his movements. 

He has also not been able to play and practice much since the operations, and in fact, has only played three and a half matches since the Australian Open back in January.

Samantha Stosur - Australia's main hope for this year's US Open - narrowly avoided disaster in her first round yesterday against Russian Elena Vesnina.

However she managed to regain her form and beat her opponent  3-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-1.

Seven members of Pakistan's national cricket team face an investigation by police into allegations they fixed the outcome of the fourth and final Test match in England and a Pakistani lawyer has actually filed treason charges against them.

The spot-fixing scandal was exposed by British Sunday tabloid The News of The World this weekend. 

The lawyer said that the spot-fixing was tantamount to treason as it was a dishonesty against the nation.

He said if the players were found guilty they should be banned for life and have their assets confiscated.

Treason is punishable by death in Pakistan.

Travis Tuck of the Hawthorn Hawks has been named by the media as the AFL player who required hospital care after a suspected drug overdose on Friday night.

Tuck's older brother Shane plays for Richmond and their father is AFL games record holder and Hawthorn legend Michael Tuck.

Neither the Hawks nor the AFL have confirmed it was Travis however.

Mark Webber's performance for Red Bull in practice sessions has been disappointing so far, but the Aussie remained upbeat saying it had been a bit of a messy day but some good had come out of it and he was looking forward to the race tomorrow.

The championship leader ended up seventh and 18th fastest in the two opening practice sessions at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium.

Fremantle Dockers' rested players policy paid off when they beat Carlton by six points at Subiaco Oval last night.

They will play in the AFL final at their home grounds next week.

Japan's leading spring carnival contenders both suffered serious setbacks this week and look unlikely to make it to Australia for the Melbourne Cup.

Stayer Meiner Kitz was discovered to be lame after trackwork in Japan on Thursday and is currently being assessed by a vet.

Jaguar Mail's trip is also in jeopardy due to unsuitable quarantine arrangements.

Cox Plate favourite Shoot Out would make history if it wins today's Group Two Memsie Stakes at Caulfield.

Shoot Out would become the first horse to complete the Bletchingly Stakes-JJ Liston Stakes-Memsie Stakes treble in the same year.

Trainer David Payne's bidding to win his first Group One race since 2003 with today's Golden Rose favourite Masquerader and Praecido. Both colts drew favourable barriers earlier this week - barriers two and five respectively.  

Racing Victoria stewards questioned the Bart Cummings stable on Friday regarding the condition of last year's Cox Plate winner So You Think, following a corrective procedure on its larynx six months ago.

The stable are pleased with the horse's preparation ahead of today's Memsie Stakes at Caulfield.

Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari know there is everything to go for with just seven races left on the F1 calendar.

This weekend's Grand Prix takes place at the Spa circuit in Belgium.

Nigel Blackiston-trained gelding  Littorio has sustained an injury and will not race in this year's spring carnival.

The six-year-old was due to resume in tomorrow's Group 2 Memsie Stakes (1400m) and was set to target the Cox Plate and Caulfield Cup, but a strained suspensory ligament was discovered after trackwork today putting an end to those hopes. 

Glen Boss has been granted a stay of proceedings effective to midnight on Sunday after appealing a careless riding suspension which saw him suspended for 13 meetings.

He will ride Valdemoro for the first time in Saturday's Group Two Memsie Stakes at Caulfield.

Sherpa Tenzing returns to Sydney tomorrow to run in the Premier's Cup (1800m) at Rosehill.

Trainer Jim Conlon is looking for a strong showing to open more options for the lightly-raced stayer this Spring and does not intend to repeat his flawed tactics from the AJC Australian Derby.

Class mare Illuminates begins her final round of races before retirement next month.

She will get her preferred track conditions in the Group One Mudgway Stakes (1400m) at Hastings in New Zealand tomorrow.

Illuminates will be retired to Westbury Stud near Auckland where she will be mated with Oakleigh Plate winner Swiss Ace.

Trainer Mick Tubman's dream filly Chance Bye races her first 1400m tomorrow in the $1 million Golden Rose at Rosehill but he is very confident in her capabilities.

Tubman bought the horse for $15,000 and has already won more than half amillion dollars in prize money since she began her acreer.

Her only problem is her tendency to strike herself with her front hooves when in full gallop, but she is now allowed to race wearing special protective boots. 

Jockey Michael Rodd believes Whobegotyou may struggle with the inside barrier in tomorrow's Group II Memsie Stakes at Caulfield. 

He has never started from the inside in any of his races and will be racing in the worst part of the track, due to the wear and tear from the previous races that day.

Australia's leading bloodstock auctioneers Inglis have announced they will be moving into Asia.

They will be based in Singapore and Sydney based member of the group, Peter Twomey, will relocate in November to become the representative for Asia.

American golfer Jim Furyk overslept yesterday and arrived late for his pro-am in The Barclays PGA Tour at Ridgewood Country Club, which resulted in him being disqualified from the first of four FedEx Cup playoff events.

Furyk who is No.3 in the standings, had set his alarm on his mobile, but awoke to discover the battery had died and the alarm had not gone off.

He was in such a hurry to make it to the course, he arrived without socks and belt, but alas, was still too late and was automatically disqualified.

Corey Jones, the North Melbourne forward has announced his AFL retirement.

He will play one final game against Melbourne at the MCG this Sunday.

Australian tennis players Jelena Dokic and Bernard Tomic's attempts at qualifying for the US Open were thwarted by rain yesterday.

They will now have to try to win three matches in order to get into the main draw which commences on Monday.

Fellow compatriates Sally Peers and Olivia Rogowska were treated more kindly by the elements and went through to the second round of women's qualifying. 

Just 50,000 tickets have been sold to date for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi starting in just over 6 weeks.

A total of 2.3 million are available, so just 2% have been purchased. Organisers estimate around 22% of tickets will not sell at all.

Tickets went on sale June 4 online only, but sales were expected to increase dramatically once over-the-counter sales became available - yesterday.

However, tickets did not arrive at the designated sales counters in time due to a techinical glitch, so organisers are hoping it will all be sorted today.

Another concern is that the tickets sold so far have been for the opening and closing ceremonies, as opposed to the sporting events themselves.

Organsisers will be banking on a late rush on sales.

An exciting new beginning is about to take place for Royal Randwick with the launch of the Carousel precinct to co-incide with Sydney's Spring Carnival. 

The Carousel is situated right beside the racetrack and will play host to Sydney's social and racing butterflies.

It will offer a number of premium facilities including a private betting pavillion, music and entertainment, a pamper palace for the ladies to refresh their look, and a number of themed bars and lounge bars, including a champagne bar as befits such an environemnt.

The Carousel really has taken on board racegoers wishes, and aims to provide all the creature comforts anyone could desire, offering something for everyone, all hosted in a beautiful setting.

The arrival date of a few international racehorses travelling to Australia to compete in the Melbourne Spring Carnival has been pushed back as AQIS has still not approved the operating manual for the quarantine centre at Werribee International Horse Centre, which has taken over from Sandown.

International horse Imposing, bought from the UK by the Lloyd Williams bloodstock portfolio, was due to arrive on Saturday but is now likely to be accepted on Sept 4.

Two horses from Macau - Luen Yat Forever and Good Control - may not come at all, as their plans to arrive next Monday have been thrown into disarray.

Formula One returns this weekend after a four week break.

Mark Webber leads the championship table by just 4 points ahead of British Lewis Hamilton.

There are now only seven races left on the calendar and Webber says he feels fully refreshed and ready for the task in hand.

This weekend's race take splace at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium.

It is thought to be ideal for the McLarens with its long straights, but Webber believes Red Bull will be strong and will do well there.

He said every driver looked forward to racing there as it's an incredible circuit.

Wests Tigers forward Jason Schirnack had part of his ear bitten off during a scrap in a rugby league game between Wests Tigers and North Sydney on Sunday.

Schirnack revealed his shock and horror when he realised what had happened. He said he had become involved in a bit of a set-to with a player and when other players came running in he felt him bite a chunk of his ear off.

He said it actually wasn't very painful but he was in shock when he realised a piece was missing.

Schirnak was replaced, but when Balmain became short of players he went back on.

His girfriend drove him to Liverpool hospital after the match, where he saw a plastic surgeon, but there wasn't much he could do as they did not have the missing piece.

The Pakistan Test cricket team has pledged half the bonus the players received for beating England last weekend at The Oval to their country which is suffering the appalling effects of flood.

Over 1,500 people across Pakistan have been killed and hundreds of thousands stranded due to flash floods triggered by the ongoing spell of monsoon rains. These are the worst floods the country has faced in a number of decades.

The team donated over $30,000, and last week PCB officials, staff and national team players together donated over $150,000.

V8 Supercars will race at Sandown circuit until at least 2020, it was announced yesterday.

The deal will see the track's paddock and pit lane refurbished.

This year's race at Sandown will commemorate 50 years of the Australian Touring Car Championship.

Sacked Western Bulldogs player Jason Akermanis has attempted to manage comments he's made recently at two fucntions about gay players and players who take drugs.

Akermanis insists that all he did was confirm what the crowd was asking him when questioned about certain names rumoured to be involved.

He told the Nine Network he was always asked these types of questions and all he did was acknowledge he'd heard the same rumours.

Chris Gleeson, who fell from grace in 1996 over his involvement in the Coloresque scandal, has had his lifetime ban lifted by Harness Racing NSW.

Members voted in a meeting yesterday, and decided he had paid his dues.

He will however, need to make an application to the board if he wishes to get a licence to train again.

Injured jockey Danny Brereton’s future is still uncertain as doctors are unable to provide a prognosis on his injuries due to substantial bruising around his spinal chord.

Brereton is still in intensive care and doctors will wait until swelling subsides before making any commitments as to his possible recovery time.

The inquiry into the incident last Saturday at Moonee Valley has been adjourned until such time as the 2 jockeys involved can give evidence.

Champion jockey and ex triple winner of the Melbourne Cup - Glen Boss has been suspended for 13 meetings at yesterday's Geelong Synthetic meeting.

The ban begins at midnight tonight until September 8.

Boss will miss this Saturday’s Group II Memsie Stakes and more poignantly, he will also miss the Makybe Diva Stakes on September 5 - the race named after the very horse he rode to Melbourne Cup victories three years in a row.  

Tooheys sponsorship of the Golden Rose has been confirmed for another five years.

The Sydney Turf Club today announced the race would still be known as the Tooheys New Golden Rose until 2015.

Tooheys has been the sponsor since it began in 1978 and has helped build it into one of Australia's premier racing events for three-year-olds. 

Rockstardom, son of legendary Makybe Diva, has shown promising signs in his first race in a three-year-old maiden event over 1300m at Geelong.

The colt finished fourth - about three lengths behind the winner Eclair Surprise.

Rockstardom is Makybe Diva's first foal and was sired by 2001 English and Irish Derby winner Galileo.

Ben Cousins' last AFL match is in jeopardy after he injured his hamstring on Saturday's game against St Kilda.

He has been unable to train since and has said he is in "a race against the clock" to be able to play.

He will find out later this week after undergoing fitness tests.

Cousins' documentary - Such is Life: The Troubled Times of Ben Cousins - will be screened on Wednesday and Thursday nights this week.

Australian player Lleyton Hewitt has been given the 32nd and final men's seeding for the US Open tennis championships next week.

Samantha Stosur has to wait to hear her seeding after women's seedings were delayed due to a wash-out at the Rogers Cup in Montreal.  

North Melbourne's Sam Wright has won the AFL's round 21 Rising Star nomination.

He has played 19 matches this season, kicking 21 goals and averaging 12 possessions.

A delegation of inspectors from FIFA yesterday began their four-day visit to the UK to assess England's World Cup bid for 2018.

The team were due to meet Fabio Capello for a guided tour of Wembley Stadium.

They will go on to inspect venues and facilities in Manchester, Sunderland and Newcastle.

England's bid is competing with those of Australia, Russia, the United States, and joint bids from Spain and Portugal, and Holland and Belgium.

The winning bids for both 2018 and the 2022 World Cups will be announced on December 2.

The barriers have been drawn for Sydney's first premier race of the Spring Carnival - the $1 million Golden Rose over 1400 m at Rosehill this Saturday.

Ex-carpet layer Michael Tubman's fairytale filly Chance Bye will jump from barrier 3, Golden Slipper winner Crystal Lily drew barrier 10, and the two pre-final field favourites, Masquerader and Toorak Toff drew barriers two and nine respectively.

Gerald Ryan’s star colt Hinchinbrook drew barrier four, and stablemate Top Drop drew gate 12.

Kim Clijsters believes she will be fit in time to defend her US Open title next week although she suffered a hip injury while playing in Montreal at the weekend.

She said she would be taking a few days to rest-up and was due to have a scan on the injury on Monday.

Injured jockey Danny Brereton has undergone spinal surgery in a Melbourne hospital following his horrific fall in the McKenzie Stakes at Moonee Valley on Saturday.

Brereton's horse - Marquee Player - appeared to clip heels and them took a tumble, dismounting the jockey and rolling onto him as he fell.

The jockey was severely concussed, suffered a hairline fracture in his neck, a punctured lung and broken ribs, along with the spinal problems.

His injuries could well put-paid to his riding career.

Nominations have been released for the Group I Epsom Handicap (1600m) and The Metropolitan (2500m), to be run at Randwick October 2.

A total of 87 entries have been received for the Epsom, including nine from Gai Waterhouse, while The Metropolitan has 98 nominations - 22 of those from Macedon Lodge, which is home to high-profile owner Lloyd Williams and trainer Robert Hickmott.

The winner of the Group 2 Prix Kergorlay at Deauville in France on Sunday - Americain - is looking set for a start in the Melbourne Cup. 

Americain made a great challenge and managed to hold off the Luca Cumani-trianed Manighar, who could also be making his way over for the Cup.

Another tennis player has been forced to withdraw from the US Open.

Last year's men's champion Juan Martin del Potro will not defend his US Open title because he is not able to compete at the top level following surgery on his right wrist in May.

Serena Williams announced on Friday she would miss the Grand Slam as she has not fully recovered from surgery on her right foot.  

A Gold Coast jockey has won an incredible six races in one day yesterday.

Daniel Griffin won the opening race on the Gold Coast on Silva Nova, then had 2 more wins aboard Haslington and Miss Burger.

After coming second in a fourth race, he went on to win another three in a row on In A Tangle, Tamose and Itstheritz.

A serious fall occurred at Moonee Valley yesterday in the Listed McKenzie Stakes (1200m), for three-year-old colts and geldings, causing two jockeys to be hospitalised.

It appeared that Marquee Player, ridden by Danny Brereton, clipped heels and fell, causing Hollowlea and jockey Nick Hall to also tumble.

Both riders were taken to hospital where Brereton was discovered to have back injuries after his horse fell on top of him. 

He is conscious though heavily concussed, but appears to have feeling and movement in his limbs.

Pakistan have ended England's winning streak as they defeated the Brits in the third Test at The Oval on Saturday.

The hosts lead the four match series 2-1, so next week's fourth and Final Test will be nerve-racking.

The Sydney Swans put on a cracking performance last night, lashing the Western Bulldogs with a 44-point victory 17.12 (114) to 10.10 (70) at the SCG.

The Swans are now on track for a home final, placed 5th in the ladder, they just need to beat the Brisbane Lions who are 14th, in the final round at the Gabba next week.

It would be a fitting farewell for the Swans captain Brett Kirk who retires, and coach Paul Roos who is going to be head coach at the Swans Academy, identifying up-and-coming new talent.

Brisbane Broncos are a whisker away from missing the NRL finals for the first time in 19 years after Newcastle beat them 44-18 last night.

Coach Ivan Henjak is praying that skipper Darren Lockyer will be fit enough to return to the side next week and do battle with the Warriors.

If they lose in New Zealand next week, they will be out of the finals.

Paul the Psychic Octopus is apparently taking on a new role as ambassador for England's bid to host the World Cup in 2018.

Organisers say that as Paul is British born and bred, he is delighted to back England's bid,

Paul officially retired from predicting matches after he correctly predicted the results of seven Germany games and knew that Spain would win the finals.

Representatives of FIFA arrive in England on Monday to assess it's bid.

It is competing with Australia, also Russia, the United States, and joint bids from Spain and Portugal, and Holland and Belgium.

The winning bids for both 2018 and the 2022 World Cups will be announced on December 2.

Six Aussies haven't made the cut for the US PGA Tour's play-off series at the Wyndham Championship this week.

Rod Pampling, Mathew Goggin, Jarrod Lyle, Cameron Percy, Mark Hensby and David Lutterus all left the tournament after the second round yesterday.

Serena Williams announced yesterday she is withdrawing from the US Open.

She said she is still recovering from the surgery she had last month to repair cuts on her right foot.

Doctors have advised her not to play in order to allow her foot to heal. 

 In her statement released yesterday, Williams said she was frustrated and deeply saddened at having to pull out of the Grand Slam, and said it was one of the most devastating moments in her career.

Williams has not missed a major since Wimbledon 2006.

The US Open takes place in New York and starts Monday 30th August.

Andy Murray has failed to reach the Cincinnati Masters finals after being defeated by the unlikely-sounding named Mardy Fish - an unseeded player from the US.

Murray was not happy with organisers for the midday start in sweltering temperatures - and it was his third day of playing in a row and under such conditions.

The match lasted almost three hours and temperatures on court reached 38C. Murray was visibly drained at points and admitted after the match that he almost threw in the towel.

Fish, a reformed fast-food addict who has lost almost 13kgs, also looked exhausted at times, but managed to pull through and defeat the Scotsman 6-7, 6-1, 7-6.

He will now play Andy Roddick in the semi finals today.

Broncos captain Darren Lockyer is intent on playing next week's match against the Warriors in Auckland on Friday, despite his rib cartilage injury.

Lockyer wants to give his squad their best chance of getting through to the finals and reckons he will play whether he is in pain or not. He will just need top get through next week's training first.

The Broncos slipped to eighth on the ladder last week when they played without Lockyer and lost heavily to Parramatta.

Brisbane Lions skipper Jonathan Brown is set to play his 200th AFL game this Sunday, which will be against the Bombers at the Etihad Stadium, Melbourne.

He was forced to withdraw from playing the historic 200th in front of his home team last weekend at the Gabba due to injury, but reckons he is 100% fit to play this Sunday.

He said he was proud to reach his 200th game.

Fremantle Dockers are resting seven players this weekend due to general soreness, including captain Matthew Pavlich.

Fremantle wish to rest their key players ahead of  next week's round-22 home game against Carlton.

They will play the Hawthorn Hawks in Launceston tomorrow.

The Hawks' assistant coach said it was a normal tactic at this time of year. 

Leading three-year-old Brightexpectations will be checked out by vets at his Randwick stable today after the Gai Waterhouse team advised Racing NSW stewards the colt sustained facial lacerations when he reared up in his stable on Monday night.

Brightexpectations has been since passed by its own vet and has not missed any work during the week.

Gai Waterhouse trained colt Al Aseel has recorded his first win at Hawkesbury yesterday.

Judges predict it is the first of many. 

British fourth seed Andy Murray yesterday went through to the ATP Cincinnati Masters quarter-finals after beating Latvia's Ernests Gulbis 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-4).

Roger Federer is also through after a walkover in his match against Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber, who has a shoulder injury.

In other tennis news, former world No. 1 Justine Henin announced she was finishing her 2010 season with immediate effect.

She has not recovered since injuring her right elbow during Wimbledon, and after undergoing medical tests, she now has to be patient and allow the healing process to take its time.

Henin says on her website that this is not the end of her career and she wil be working on her comeback for 2011.

Australian swim star Stephanie Rice has tearfully announced she is unable to compete in the Commonwealth Games in October as she is still suffering an inflamed right shoulder.

Rice won three gold medals at the Beijing Olympics in August last year, but the shoulder problem has not gone away since, and she has been forced to withdraw from the Games, and also the Pan Pacific Championships in California which are taking place now.

She said she was sorely disappointed to miss the Games as they only come around once every four years, but she had to focus on the bigger pictuire which is the London Olympics in 2012.

She is set to fly back to Australia and will undergo surgery in Melbourne in the next week or so.   

Brendan Fevola last night came clean about his drunken behaviour on the night of the 2009 Brownlow Medal Awards.

He was appearing on The Footy Show last night when he described the circumstances which lead to his disgrace.

He said he had just had an operation and should not even have been drinking, but ignored medical advice and started to drink at lunchtime. By night time, he was very much the worse for wear and several people told him he should go to bed, but in his drunken state of mind he thought he knew best and carried on.

As we know, he then decided it would be humourous to urinate on himself while at the table during the televised awards show, and was encouraging others to urinate on him as well. Thankfully nobody accepted his invitation.

The ensuing fallout from his antics resulted in him being traded from Carlton to Brisbane and he credits his move there along with the help of a psychologist for turning his life around.

He said he had paid the biggest price by losing the club he'd played at for 11 years.

Fevola said he believes he has now conquered his drinking problem but did admit he was still dealing with a gambling problem.

Lleyton Hewitt will go through to the next round of the ATP Cincinnati Masters after his first round opponent - Lu Yen-Hsun from Taiwan - retired. 

Hewitt was looking likely to win teh match anyway, leading 6-4, 4-0.

He will now face Swedish fifth seed Robin Soderling in round two.

Brisbane Cup winner Crossthestart will miss the Melbourne spring carnival after it was discovered he has a bowed tendon.

Trainer Bevan Laming was preparing him for the Group One Caulfield Cup (2400m) in October.

He said he didn't know how it had happened, how serious it is, or if the horse will be able to race again.

Disappointing news for all concerned. 

Laming will still be going to Melbourne however with up-and-coming three-year-old Ringa Ringa Rosie for the Group One Thousand Guineas (1600m) at Caulfield.

Concerns over the condition of the racecourse proper at Randwick have finally lead to next Tuesday's meeting to be transferred to Hawkesbury.

Randwick has borne the brunt of Sydney's soggy winter and the course is showing the effects signs of all the rain, with concerns that it may not be recovered in time for the forthcoming Spring Carnival

Jockey Danny Nikolic has had his 13-meeting suspension reduced by more than half.

The Victorian Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board decided to reduce the penalty although the charge for careless riding aboard Schilling in the Corps of Commissionaires Handicap at Caulfield was still upheld.

Nikolic will now be able to ride in Saturday's Warwick Stakes meeting at Warwick Farm.

The finalists for the 2010 Australian Racehorse of the Year Awards were released yesterday.

The awards are voted on by senior racing administrators from all Australian principal racing authorities and metropolitan racing clubs, along with members of the Australian Racing Writers Association.

Following the collation of their votes, based on performances on the 2009-10 racing season (1 August – 31 July), the top vote getters in each category have been announced as the finalists.

The award winners will be unveiled at the Australian Racehorse of the Year and Hall Of Fame Awards ceremony presented by Sky Racing World, Tabcorp and Staging Connections on Sunday night, 5 September at Melbourne’s Crown Palladium.

Champion Sydney jockey Nash Rawiller's return to racing today was triumphant, as he won his very first race aboard Gazza Guru at Randwick, Kensington after being sidelined for the past two weeks with pneumonia.

Ben Cousins - Richmond midfielder - today announced he will retire from the AFL at the end of the season.

He broke the news at a packed media conference at Punt Road this morning.

Cousins, who is still a recovering drug addict, said he felt the time was right and he had worked too hard over the last couple of years not to leave on his own terms and wanted to walk away in a positive light.

He paid tribute to the Richmond Football Club for taking him back even after his drug problems became known and public, saying he was forever indebted to them.

He also indicated he may enter into some type of community work to repay those who helped him with his drug troubles.

His last game will be on Sunday August 29 against Port Adelaide at Etihad Stadium.

Top jockey Damien Oliver will team up with Mornington trainer Mark Riley as he is booked to ride Innocent Gamble in the Listed McKenzie Stakes (1200m) and Gold Salute in the Open Plate (1000m) at Saturday’s Moonee Valley meeting.

Award-winning champion jockey Nash Rawiller will return to racing this Wednesday for the Kensington meeting at Randwick, after recovering from a spell of pneumonia since the end of July.

He will ride the Stephen Farley-trained Gazza Guru in the www.racingjobs.com.au Handicap (1800m), followed by 2 rides for boss Gai Waterhouse; Memorable Moments in the Zetland Handicap (1150m) and then Pureness in the Paddington Handicap (1400m). 

Diego Maradona is after a coaching job at Premier League club Aston Villa, according to a UK regional newspaper report on Sunday.

Maradona was sacked as Argentina manager last month, after his team's disastrous 4-0 loss to Germany in the World Cup quarter finals.

Aston Villa's manager Martin O'Neill quit last week, just days before the 2010/11 Premier Season League was due to begin.

According to the local newspaper, Maradona's official European representative said Maradona is currently consisdering several options with British teams, and called for Villa's boss to make Maradona a serious offer, which he believes would be accepted.

Andy Murray finally broke his run of bad luck in finals when he defeated Roger Federer 7-5, 7-5 on Sunday and won the Toronto Masters title for the second year running.

He also become the first man since Andre Agassi in 1994-1995 to win the Canadian trophies back-to-back.

Kim Clijsters will face Maria Sharapova in the Cincinnati Open.

Socceroos goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer desperately wants to move to Arsenal, but Fulham manager Mark Hughes is not budging and says they have discussed Schwarzer's wishes, but wants him to remain at Fulham for the benefit of the team.

Shwarzer did not play in yesterday's match against Bolton, which was a 0-0 draw. Hughes said he was unable to play due to injury.

Blake Spriggs rode Squamosa to win in the Group III Run To The Rose (1300m) at Rosehill yesterday but conceded he will probably not to get to ride him again in the Golden Rose.

The inexperienced rider said he would love to ride him again, but thinks the weight target of 56.5kg will mean that Nash Rawiller would be more suitable.

Apprentice jockey Spriggs stood in for Rawiller who is still recovering from pneumonia. 

Shoot Out yesterday won the Group II Liston Stakes at Caulfield and is being hailed as Australia's best racehorse by trainer, jockey and even the competition.

The four-year-old was absolutely superb in the class weight-for-age field and trainer Mick Price who prepared two other horses in yesterday's race was so full of admiration, he said he didn't think there was a better horse in Australia at the moment.

Shoot Out's trainer John Wallace even went so far as to say he would win the Cox Plate. He said the horse was not even fit yet, and they were just playing around with him.

Jockey Stathi Katsidis said he was an awesome horse.

Morsonique has won today's Grand National Steeplechase (4530m) at the Betfair Park Hillside meeting.

The 10-year-old veteran of seven years of racing and 95 race starts, only had three steeplechase runs before today, having just begun steeplechase racing this season after a long career as a successful flat handicapper in Tasmania.

Trainer Michael Trinder couldn't bear to watch the race, as Morsonique lead from the start, but listened to the call intently as he paced the top grandstand.

Trinder praised his son Adam after the race, as he rode him to victory and was also instrumental in the horse's preparation.

Andy Murray will once again face Roger Federer in a final - this time at the Toronto Masters today.

The semi-finals had a class line-up with Murray v Nadal and Federer v Novak Djokovic.

Murray hopes to become the first man since Andre Agassi in 1994-1995 to win back-to-back Canadian trophies, but considering his recent form against Federer, it doesn't look too promising! 

The Cats are back to their ruthless best after beating the Western Bulldogs 25.11 (161) to 9.6 (60) at Etihad Stadium last night.

Geelong coach Mark Thompson says the aggression, risk-taking and ruthlessness is back after a worrying period that saw them lose three of the last seven rounds.

The Cats still lead the AFL table.

World No.4 Venus Williams has been forced to pull out of next week's $US2 million WTA event in Montreal due to the persistent pain in her left knee which has dogged her for some time.

Both Venus and Serena will now miss the Montreal and Cincinnati tournaments, which usually serve as preparations for the US Open - the final Grand Slam event this year - on August 30 in New York. 

The Brisbane Lions will play without their captain Jonathan Brown in tomorrow's game against Adelaide at the Gabba.

Brown realised during a fitness test this morning that his knee had still not fully recovered.

It would have been Brown's 200th match tomorrow, but he will now have to wait another six days to play the landmark match - against Essendon at the Etihad Stadium.

With Ice today claimed her fourth victory in Sydney ridden by Nathan Berry in the Mounties Group Handicap (1500m) at Rosehill.

She has won four out of her last six starts.

Trainer Tony Sergi was very happy with her and siad she was a real trier, good in any conditions.

Anthony Cummings is hoping for a good start to Zavite's spring campaign which kicks off at today's Liston Stakes at Caulfield.

The eight-year-old hasn't raced since the Group One Sydney Cup 16 weeks ago, but Cummings has been trying to strengthen the horse's hindquarters using a water-walker.

Cummings said he was very pleased with the horse's progress and he had strengthened up nicely.

 In Sydney the trainer will produce VRC Oaks prospect Chula Vista and Epsom Handicap-bound Recoup De Fortune.

The Blues' hopes of making it to the AFL finals depend on their form continuing in last week's vein, when they smashed Essendon.

They must beat the Richmond Tigers at the MCG tomorrow to stay in with a good chance, but they have suffered from inconsistency recently.

Assistant coach Brett Montgomery said the squad felt like it was on the way back up again and the motivation this week has been all about backing up the ferocity and effort displayed in last week's match.

Two-time Derby winner Rebel Raider is back on track for this year's Melbourne Cup and his trainer says the horse is more than fit and ready to go, and so is starting him two weeks earler than planned.

Last year saw his Cup campaign ruined by leg injury, but he underwent successful surgery and is now back with a vengeance.

Top jockey Craig Williams is hopeful that race day will fire up Monaco Consul's instincts to win in the Group Two Liston Stakes at Caulfield.

Williams said last year's Victoria Derby winner felt indifferent in a jumpout at Flemington last Friday.

He said the horse was not a morning horse for certain, and had not felt like a Group One horse.

The Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board has fined a pair of Melbourne jockeys on charges relating to attempts to falsify their riding weights.

Ryan Maloney pleaded guilty to conducting an improper action by deliberately removing the girth from his saddle and hiding it inside his helmet and weighing in without the girth at Geelong on July 16.

He was fined $500.

Brian Higgins pleaded guilty to two charges under AR 175 (a) after stewards found he had placed his riding gear against the head of the scales to affect the weight recorded after he rode in the Height Insurance Agency Maiden Plate (1309m) at Seymour on July 29.

Higgins also weighed in 1.5kg over his riding weight after the same race.

The RAD Board fined him rider $600 on the improper action charge but decided not to apply a penalty on Higgins’ other charge.

Sunday’s big Grand Nationals meeting at Betfair Park Sandown, Melbourne will most likely undergo a bit of a reshuffle due to the heavy rainfall in the area this week.

The steeplechase track is currently unsafe for racing, so Racing Victoria have come up with a back-up plan in the event the track remains unsafe for racing, which would see the J J Houlahan Hurdle, the Grand National Steeplechase and the Grand National Hurdle run on the course proper.

The jumps features have been brought forward from races three, four and five to become the first three races on the card to enable the jumps to be erected and taken down with no disturbance to the flat program.

A further track inspection will be conducted tomorrow when a decision will be reached on whether the steeple track can be used.

Trainer Robert Hickmott was visibly pleased after Resetable’s outstanding debut win at Thursday’s Geelong Synthetic meeting.

The son of Zabeel sat near the tail of the field before blowing away his rivals with a blistering turn of foot to easily win the Eddy Elias Menswear Maiden Plate (1300m).

Jockey Nash Rawiller has been rewarded for his best season to date with two awards at the NSW Racehorse Owners Association’s ‘Night of Champions’ held at Rosehill’s - The Grand Pavilion last night.

Firstly he scooped the Bart Cummings Medal winning by seven points from Rosehill trainer Chris Waller with Corey Brown in third spot.

Rawiller also took home the George Moore Award for winning the Sydney Jockeys' Premiership.

Racing NSW chief executive Peter V'landys said that Rawiller had worked hard to keep an eye on his weight all season and the dedication he showed made him a deserving medal winner.

New Socceroos coach Holger Osieck got a taste of things to come as he watched Australia get thrashed by Slovenia 2-0 in their friendly at Sportni Park, Ljubljana.

The new boss from Germany, was a surprise successor to Pim Verbeek - having not been mentioned among the many other candidates which included former South Africa coach Carlos Parreira and Cameroon coach Paul Le Guen.

He does however have an impressive resume, having coached Fenerbahce in Turkey and Urawa Red Diamonds in Japan and as coach of the Canadian national side, leading it to victory in the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2000.

England coach Fabio Capello has once again forgotten to communicate news to a player directly before making it public.

This time it was one of football's most loyal and well loved superstars - David Beckham - who has apparently been given the shove from the national team, but without so much as a phone call from the England manager.

Before England's friendly against Hungary at Wembley yesterday, Capello said there was no chance Beckham would be recalled for the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign.

He said he was grateful for his help during the World Cup, but said he was probably a little old.

This will no doubt come as a huge shock and crushing blow to Beckham - who was unable to play in this year's World Cup due to an Archilles injury - and who had worked so hard to prove himself this year playing for LA Galaxy and also Milan.

Beckham currently has 115 caps, the most number for any England outfield player but 10 less than Peter Shilton's overall national record.

The Australian Jockey Club is asking a number of provincial race clubs to host a Randwick meeting later this month to give it time to recover for the spring carnival.

More than 600mm of rain has fallen at Randwick since May 1 which is almost 190mm more than the corresponding period last year.

The Randwick meeting on Tuesday was run on track described as one of the heaviest for 30 years.

Talented three-year-old Buffering showed he was on course for a big spring in Sydney with a convincing comeback win at Eagle Farm.

Buffering, having his first start since finishing third to Pressday in the Group Two Champagne Classic (1200m) at Doomben in May, made it five wins from six starts with a 1-1/4-length victory over Slice And Dice in Wednesday's Mirvac Hotels & Resorts Handicap (1000m).

Today’s Warwick Farm barrier trials have been abandoned but the four “Group and Listed” heats have been rescheduled.

The four high-quality trials, heats 1, 4,5 and 6, will now be run at Warwick Farm on Monday morning while the Australian Jockey Club had also added an additional set of trials to the schedule on Monday, August 23.

Horses due to compete in Monday’s rescheduled “Group and Listed” trials include proven Group I gallopers Metal Bender, No Wine No Song, Tickets, Skilled, Triple Honour and Divorces.

Perth Racing has launched an internal investigation into a bizarre incident, which caused a no-race to be declared by stewards at Wednesday’s Belmont meeting.

Belmont’s infield warning system alerted jockeys to a problem on the track at the top of the straight resulting in riders quickly pulling up their mounts at the 600 metres.

It was established a misjudgement by the barrier operator caused the gates and the tractor towing them to crash through the outside fence.

Nobody was hurt in the incident but stewards had no option but to abandon the Westspeed Stayers’ Handicap (2100m). The rest of the card was able to go ahead on schedule after the second set of barriers were called into action.

It's official, Greg Inglis is leaving the Storm to go to the Brisbane Broncos next season.

Although Melbourne could have afforded to keep him and remain under the salary cap, Inglis has decided to head off to play for the Broncos and be closer to his fiancee who lives there.

Coach Craig Bellamy really wanted Inglis to stay at the Storm, and everything was done to keep him, but in the end it was his decision, and his heart ruled so Melbourne finally released him from the remaining two years of his contract.  

Prop Brett White has also left to join Canberra.

On the plus side, the Storm can now look to sign up new players and remain under the salary cap for 2011.

It is expected that the Socceroos new head coach will be announced this afternoon as Football Federation Australia chairman Frank Lowy has called a press conference for 4.00pm (AEST).

Cameroon coach Paul Le Guen seems to be the man most heavily favoured despite his squad failing to win a game during the World Cup.

Other names in the mix are Frenchman Phillippe Troussier, Dutchmen Arie Haan, Osvaldo Ardiles, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard and Argentinian youth coach Jose Peckerman.

Socceroos captain Lucas Neill said the squad was excited to discover who it was and thought the choice would've been a difficult one.

He hoped whoever it was would buy into the Australian ethos and represent them for Asia and Brazil in the future.  

The Socceroos begin a new chapter in international football as they play their first match since the World Cup tomorrow.

They face Slovenia in a friendly at a new boutique stadium in Ljubljana. The match is fully sold out with all 16,000 tickets bought in just half an hour after going on release, but only a small number of Aussies have managed to obtain tickets.  

Coach Han Berger who is caretaking  until the new coach is announced, is expected to play a strong side including captain Lucas Neill, Mark Schwarzer, Luke Wilkshire, Brett Holman, Carl Valeri, Richard Garcia and Vidosic.

Tim Cahill and Mark Milligan will miss out due to injuries however.

The Socceroos' thoughts will now be on the 2011 Asian Cup and the World Cup in Brazil in 2014. 

Fabio Capello's attempts start anew with the England team appear to have fallen a little flat.

The England manager suffered a double knock-back from Blackburn goalkeeper Robinson and Manchester United defender Brown when they decided to end their England careers as soon as Capello selected them. 

It appears to some that England players have lost respect for their manager, especially when Ashley Cole seemed to refuse to shake his hand in the royal box after a game on Sunday.

Cole however, claims he did not notice Capello.

Capello remains convinced he retains the confidence of the team and said he understood Robinson's and Brown's decisions to retire.

A joint director for the Commonwealth Games has been dismissed by the organising committee amid news of alleged irregularities in funding for an event in London.

The sacked director - T.S.Darbari - was already suspended for alleged corruption during the Queen's Baton Relay launching ceremony in London, but the sports committee decided this wasn't enough and have axed him completely.

All is not well in the forthcoming games, with delays in construction of venues and infrastructure. The games commence in just two months. 

England scored a nine-wicket second Test win against Pakistan at Edgbaston yesterday, despite captain Andrew Strauss dropping three catches.

England, set 118 to win, finished on 1-118 to take an unbeatable 2-0 up in this four-match series.

Opening batsman Strauss and Jonathan Trott were both 53 not out as England won their sixth Test in a row, with one day still to go.

Strauss said credit should be given to Pakistan for their performance as England had to work hard to win the Test match.

But Pakistan made just 72 - their lowest score against England - in the first innings.

England off-spinner Graeme Swann took a Test-best 6-65 runs in Pakistan's second innings and was named man-of-the-match.

Pakistan's new captain Salman Butt said that credit should be given to England's bowlers and claimed Anderson to be in the best form of his life.

The third Test starts at The Oval on August 18.

England manager Fabio Capello has dramatically axed almost half the World Cup squad as he attempts to draw a line under their dismal campaign and start afresh by injecting some new blood.

A total of 13 players who were selected for the World Cup have been excluded from the new line up.

Fumble-fingered goalkeeper Robert Green has been left out, along with David James, Jamie Carragher, Michael Carrick and Ledley King.

Disappointing World Cup wingers Aaron Lennon and Shaun Wright-Phillips have also been kicked out.

Peter Crouch, who barely had a chance to play in South Africa is out, as is Steven Warnock, who was a last minute call up for the World Cup.

Lacklustre Emile Heskey has retired since the tournament anyway.

Instead, Arsenal youngsters Jack Wilshere and Kieran Gibbs are in, along with Aston Villa's Ashley Young, Manchester City's Adam Johnson and Fulham's Bobby Zamora.

They'll play their first match for the national team in this week's friendly against Hungary

Gibbs and Wilshere are the most prominent selections and both are expected to play key roles as England bid to qualify for Euro 2012.

Distressing news in the world of horseracing as the world's highest ranked racehorse, Harbinger, has suffered a career threatening injury during a routine workout.

The horse immediately went for x-rays after the incident which happened yesterday morning, and was found to have a fracture to his near fore cannon bone. 

Harbinger was officially rated the best horse in the world after his 11 length victory in the King George in record time.

His syndicate owners and all those who have taken them into their hearts after his stunning race performances will be sorely disappointed if his career is indeed finished.

He was next scheduled to run in the Juddmonte International at York later this month, after which the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe was on the agenda, for which he was the hot favourite to win.

The four-year old has won his past four races and many believed he had amazing potential.

What a shame for such a star studded career to be over already. 

Mohammad Yousuf - who was recalled to play for his national team last weekend after sensationally quitting in  protest at his suspension after last winter's Australia tour - will not play in today's second Test against England after all.

The experienced batsman is suffering from jetlag and also has not had sufficient time to prepare for the match as recent monsoons in Pakistan have prevented him from practicing outdoors in over a week.

Yousef has not played senior cricket since March when he played in two domestic Twenty20 matches.

The Pakistan management in England felt he needed more time to get up to speed before taking to the pitch.    

He may now feature in the third of a four-Test series starting at The Oval on August 18.

American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr's promotions company has been evicted from its office in Las Vegas and the boxer is being sued for unpaid rent and breach of contract.

His lawyer has stated that the company intended to move anyway as the building was sub-standard, and it has  re-opened somewhere else, although he declined to say where.

The company racked up over $68,000 in unpaid rent despite Mayweather earning over $21 million from his fight against Shane Mosley in May this year.

Brendon Fevola isn't hanging about after retiring from his AFL with the Lions this week due to a prolonged groin injury.

He is having surgery on his groin in Sydney today and is expecting to be fully fit for the pre-season training with his team.

The Lions will certainly miss him when they take on West Coast at Subiaco this Saturday - a game which will most likely decide the wooden spoon.

The Lions are second to last on the ladder despite Fevola's 48 goals in 17 games.

The Bridgestone Invitational begins at the Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, USA, today and Tiger Woods is hoping for his first win of the season.

If you rewound just 12 months, you would hardly question that he could win, but so much has happened in the last year that his game of golf has taken a backseat, both with him personally and with the world's media.    

But he does have a great track record at this event, having won 7 out of 10 starts there.      

He has played a limited schedule this year but stands ninth in the World Golf Championships, which is just one place outside automatic entry to the American Ryder Cup team which will defend its trophy against Europe in October.

An AFL president wants a major review of the playing surface at the Etihad Stadium to be undertaken this summer.

Jeff Kennett of Hawthorn Hawks believes the ground is unfit for finals to be played on it.

He was furious last week after watching his side slipping and sliding their way around the pitch in their match against St Kilda.

He said the summer would make an ideal time for a thorough inspection and review to take place.

However he has not been asked by the AFL or Etihad Stadium management for advice on improving the controversial stadium.

Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade said the ground held up well enough for their match against North Melbourne on Sunday, though staff had worked into the small hours of Sunday morning to repair turf after the Bledisloe Cup match on Saturday night.

Carlton coach Brett Ratten is urging his team to give it their all in their remaining four games and turn their AFL season around.

They lost to Collingwood on Saturday and face Essendon this weekend, who have won the last six times these two sides have played.

The Blues are currently in the top eight, but a loss this weekend would damage their standing considerably.

Coach Brett Ratten reckons it could be their biggest defining moment of the season to date.

He said there could be 4 changes to the side this weekend and captain Chris Judd will be back on board after suffering a bruised chest against the Magpies.

The Melbourne Cup is already shaping up to be the best one yet.

This year is its 150th anniversary and it has attracted stellar entries from Europe, Japan and Hong Kong, along with the creme de la creme of Australia.  

Cups king Bart Cummings has 12 nominations lined up in an attempt to win the race for the 13th time, including last year's Cox Plate winner So You Think, VRC Oaks winner Faint Perfume and Queensland Derby winner Dariana.

With a total of 253 nominations, RVL Racing and the VRC are delighted with the outstanding calibre of entries this year.  

Major nominations from overseas include this year's Ascot Gold Cup winner Rite Of Passage, Goodwood Cup winner Illustrious Blue and Japanese stars Jaguar Mail and Meiner Kitz who were first and second in Japan's top staying race, the Tenno Sho.

Godolphin has nine nominations this year which include last year's English St Leger and Italian Derby winner Mastery, 2009 Arc De Triomphe placegetter Cavalryman and Group One winner Campanologist.

The three are also entered for the Caulfield Cup.

Luca Cumani has entered Purple Moon, Bauer, Drunken Sailor and Australian-owned duo Manighar and Becqu Adoree.

Past Cup-winner Irish trainer Dermot Weld is entering Profound Beauty who came fifth in 2008, and UK trainer Sir Mark prescott is going for the Melbourne Cup for the first time with Fortuni.

Mark Savanagh is hoping to repeat last year's success with last year's Melbourne Cup winner Shocking along with Shamoline Warrior.

Lloyd Williams is nominating 20 stayers, including veteran Zipping and rising star Linton.

The Caulfield Cup has attracted 235 nominations including 36 internationals, and the Cox Plate has got 186.

Brendan Fevola will not play for the Brisbane Lions again this season after it was confirmed today he has torn his groin muscle during Saturday's game against the Melbourne Demons.

The injury will put him out of action for about 4 weeks, which means the season will be over for the Lions by the time he is fit again.

The Lions sit second-last on the ladder with four rounds remaining, as they have lost 13 of their past 14 games.

They have now lost eight times in a row.

On top of his injury, Fevola has been fined $3000 for misconduct.

He pleaded guilty to putting Melbourne's Colin Garland in a headlock during the first quarter.

Mark Webber's 150th Grand Prix saw him take first position in the race in Hungary and also in the championship overall.

It was another eventful race, with crashes, an errant tyre going hell-for-leather down the pit lane and Michael Schumacher making a crazy move which very nearly caused Rubens Barrichello to crash, there was hardly a dull moment.

The chaos started initially when piece of debris on the track from Vitantonio Liuzzi's Force India caused the safety car to come out.

The majority of the field took the opportunity to pit for a change of tyres, except Webber who was third and ahead of the safety car.

At this point, the Mercedes team failed to fit Nico Rosber's right rear tyre correctly and as he pulled out onto the pit lane the tyre came off and gathered momentum down the pit lane, narrowly missing a Sauber mechanic.

This possibly caused a distraction to Renault's team, as Robert Kubica was then released too early by his lollipop man and immediately ran into the side of Force India's Adrian Sutil as he was on the verge of pulling into his pit entry box, putting paid to Sutil's race there and then.

Kubica incurred a 10 second stop-go penalty for his unsafe release from the pits.  

Poor Rosberg could only limp his way down the pit on his three tyres and as the crew were unable to retrieve him, he retired.

The safety car seemed to be helpful to the McLarens at first as it enabled Hamilton to move up to fourth and Button tenth.

Mark Webber was completely unaffected by the safety car the ramefications unfolding and kept his cool.

But Vettel allowed a gap of more than 10 car lengths between him and Webber which is against regulations, and was punished with a drive-through penalty, which clearly enraged him as it took effect on lap 31 he was seen clenching his first in anger and actually let go of the steering wheel momentarily.

Hamilton's bad luck struck in lap 24 when his gearbox gave out, and he was forced to retire.  

These incidents paved the way for Webber to take his lead and he calmly managed to extend his lead by enough to take his pit for tyres and rejoin the race still in front where he stayed until the end.

Webber has now won more races this season than any other driver and Grand Prix now takes a short break until the end of August when it returns to Belgium.  

Sebastian Vettel has earnt his seventh pole position of the Grand Prix so far, clocking the fastest time of 1 minute 18.773 seconds, which was just 0.4 seconds faster than his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber, who starts in second position today.

Ferrari drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were almost a second slower, and will start in third and fourth.

Lewis Hamilton for MacLaren is sixth and quipped the Red Bull cars were now so fast he could only laugh at the threat they pose.  

German Nico Rosberg was sixth quickest for Mercedes, while there was a surprise for team Renault as Russian Vitaly Petrov recorded quicker times than teammate Robert Kubica, who start seventh and eighth respectively.

Pedro de la Rosa for Sauber will start ninth, and Williams driver Nico Hulkenberg is tenth.

Button wasn't very happy with his car during practice yesterday, saying there was something wrong with his grip, but still hopes to collect some points for the team this weekend.

He will take eleventh place on the grid in Hungary today.

Legendary French footballer Thierry Henry has said he will never go back to his national team again.

Henry quit international football after the World Cup this year, which saw France put on a shameful display both on and off the pitch.

He was asked if he would consider returning to help out during the 2010 European Championship whcih begins in September, but replied he would not and that it was finished there for him.

He retained a diplomatic tongue when the subject of his coach's decision to keep him mostly on the bench in South Africa came up. 

Quite aside from his feelings about his home side, Henry is off to begin a new future playing for the New York Red Bulls in the U.S.

He can hold his head high too, having scored a record 51 goals over 12 years for Les Bleus and won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 with France.

Jockey Daniel Ganderton was yesterday suspended for one month at Warwick Farm for a "dishonest action" and also copped a $500 fine for providing a false statement to stewards when asked to prove his actions.

Ganderton missed his ride at Wyong on Thursday as he said he had been waiting for the NRMA.

However, when asked to provide proof the NRMA did attend, he produced a tax invoice which was apparently 1 year old.

So Racing NSW stewards issued the jockey with 2 charges - one for his false statement to a steward on Thursday, and one for the dishonest action relating to providing of the old tax invoice.

Ganderton pleaded guilty to both charges but said the one month suspension was 'ridiculous' and he would be appealing against it.

British betting behemoth Ladbrokes is in the running with 2 others from Australia - Tabcorp and Tatts Group - to take over Victoria's multi-billion dollar wagering licence.

Ladbrokes is renouned for being the world's largest fixed-odds betting company and has 120 years of history as a bookmaking firm along with all the latest technology for sports and race betting.

The shortlist of just three means a number of other key players were overlooked, such as Hong Kong Jockey Club, Ireland's Paddy Power and Australia's Betfair.

The winner of the licence will be granted sole authority to carry out wagering and betting through off-course agencies, and also to offer pari-mutuel and fixed-odds betting on all sports.

Tabcorp, previously the TAB, has had a monopoly on off-course betting in Victoria for 50 years.

It is thought the government will announce the winner of the licence by the end of the year.

Racing Queensland Limited yesterday became the official organisation controlling thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing in Queensland.  

Employees, assets, liabilities and responsibilities of all these bodies will now be controlled by the one organisation.

Racing Queensland chairman Bob Bentley said the change will have extensive and positive consequences for all stakeholders, including improvements to how prize money is allocated.

The new organisation will receive $80 million over four years from the Queensland government.

Defending champion Jenson Button is firing himself up for a podium finish at this weekend's Grand Prix in Hungary.

He said his Mclaren team must be aiming for the podiums at this stage of the championship to maintain their lead.

Button acknowlegded they'd had a helping hand in some of the races recently, but believes both himself and Lewis Hamilton must produce better finishes to stay in with a chance.

He said anything could change, particularly with the Red Bull and Ferrari teams, as Red Bull hadn't taken too many points off them recently

He's hoping his closest competitors will not have such a significant speed advantage as they had last weekend in Germany.

Lewis Hamilton, who won at last year's race in Hungary, is also hoping that his car will profit from the high-downforce nature of the track, and has firm belief in the reliability of the McLaren cars.

Australia's Samantha Stosur yesterday beat American qualifier Christina McHale 6-1 7-5 in the second round of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford University, California.

Stosur now stands at No. 5 in the world, said she was very happy to receive her highest ever ranking.

Her goal had been to get to No. 10, and then No.5 had happened really quickly for her.

She said it was a case of all the hard work she'd been putting in over the years really coming together.

She said she's still been working on the same things but is just getting better at them.

Stosur will face Belgian Yanina Wickmayer who is World No 17, on Friday to compete for a place in the semi-final.

This weekend's Grand Prix in Hungary is bound to bring back some haunting memories for Felipe Massa who came so close to losing his life there last year.

Massa was struck on the head by a loose part that broke off Rubens Barrichello's Brawn GP car during qualifying, causing Massa to lose control of his Ferrari and crash into a protective barrier.

His injuries were so serious he spent nine days in hospital and was induced into a coma with multiple skull fractures and also had plastic surgery on his cranium.

But despite all of this, Massa remains positive about the weekend ahead, and said the fisrt thing he will do when he arrives at the track will be to thank the marshals and medical staff who so carefully got him out of the cockpit last year.   

He said the accident had made him more mature as a human being, but nothing had changed professionally, he will just be getting on with the job in hand and not think about the accident.   

The AFL Commission announced this morning that Greater Western Sydney has been awarded the 18th playing licence after meeting all their criteria.

$60 million have been pledged for the redevelopment of the Sydney Showgrounds - the home of GWS - who will enter the league in two years time in 2012.   

AFL Commission chairman Mike Fitzpatrick said the granting of the 18th licence was an historic decision.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) and Cricket Australia (CA) have until 31 August to find a new candidate for the ICC Vice presidency after their joint nomination of John Howard was rejected by cricket's governing body last month.

The former Australian prime minister's candidacy was seemingly all positive and Australia had invested much time and effort getting him on board but six of the ten Test-playing nations opposed Howard's joint nomination from NZC and CA.

To make matters worse, NZC's original preferred candidate - Sir John Anderson - last week said he would not be reapplying for the role.

An inspection team from FIFA yesterday began a three-day visit to Australia to check out stadiums and other facilities for the country's 2022 World Cup bid.

Chilean Football Federation President Harold Mayne-Nicholls who is part of the FIFA delegation, said it was a real pleasure to be in Australia and they looked forward to learning about our country, our bid for the World Cup and our ability to host big events.  

They will submit a report to FIFA's executive members at the end of the visit which will will aid them in their decision to choose a host nation for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments.

Australia is the third country the delegation has visited, out of a total of nine bidding. 

Australia is competing with bids from South Korea, Japan, and the USA.

The 2018 tournament is expected to be awarded to one of four European bids: England, Russia, and the joint bids of Spain-Portugal and Netherlands-Belgium.

Sebastian Vettel has secured pole position for Red Bull in today's Grand Prix in his homeland Germany.

Red Bull have now started out in pole 10 times out of 11 races.

Fernando Alonso for Ferrari was just two thousands of a second slower, so will start second on the grid, while his team mate Felipe Massa was third fastest.

Mark Webber didn't fare so well, messing up his chances in the final lap when he cut a kerb and had to abandon his lap, but is still in fourth spot.   

McLaren drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton will start fifth and sixth respectively but are concerned that  they are not as fast as the Red Bulls.

But Alonso was surprised to be so close to the Red Bulls at this point in the championship.

Robert Kubica for Renault will start seventh with Rubens Barichello for Williams eighth.

The remaining 2 in the top 10 on the starting grid are Germans Nico Rosberg of Mercedes and Nico Hulkenberg for Williams.

Pakistan yesterday broke Australia's 13-Test winning streak and achieved their very first Test victory against the Aussies in 15 years.

Australia's slide into decline commenced on Wednesday when skipper Ricky Ponting took the decision to bat first at Headingley. 

But the British pitch was deceptive and after handing the opposition a fresh field, Pakistan made the most of their luck and routed Australia for just 88 in 33.1 overs.

Ponting is taking the blame but in all fairness, since the series-turning Edgbaston Test in the 2005 Ashes series, he has always chosen to bat first after winning the toss.

The two-Test series finished up tied at 1-1.

Australian tennis players Samantha Stosur and Lleyton Hewitt have both decided against entering this year's Commonwealth Games in India.

The Games clash with the China Open, concluding just the day before Stosur will defend her title in Osaka from October 11.

Stosur would have been top seed and gold medal favourite for the women's singles in Delhi but has decided to focus on her efforts in China. 

This year's games mark the first time that tennis has been featured as it so popular in the host nation.

Sania Mirza will be aiming for singles glory for her country and grand slam doubles champions Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes will be hoping to win medals there too.

Draws for the men's and women's singles will be very weak for the event however.

Hewitt's absence, along with potentially Andy Murray for the UK and Marcos Baghdatis for Cyprus also refraining from the Games - leaves Australia's world No.81 Peter Luczak as most likely to be the men's top seed.

Many of the world's leading players will also not be entering which really ramps up the Australian contingent's chances of winning some medals.  

Australian singles hopefuls are Jarmila Groth, Athens Olympic bronze medallist Alicia Molik, Anastasia Rodionova and Sophie Ferguson.

Marinko Matosevic, Chris Guccione, Matthew Ebden, Brydan Klein, Sam Groth and Paul Hanley have all nominated for the men's singles or doubles.

Jarryd Hayne last night put on a belter of a performance for the Eels against the Bulldogs at the ANZ Stadium.

Outshining even his incredible feats of 2009, Hayne took it to a whole new level in the opening 30 minutes and made it one of the most jaw-dropping starts to an NRL match ever seen.

Hayne scored two tries in the first six minutes, one in the first set of the match, and was instrumental in two more as the Eels streaked to a 28-4 lead at halftime.

He also produced one of the try saves of the season to put paid to the Bulldog's retaliation with a desperate tackle on David Stagg in the 67th minute.

The Eels won 32-16.

Hayne has certainly proved his mettle and many are now wondering what on earth he will do next.

The first day of this summer's Ashes series at the Gabba in November is almost sold out with less than 100 tickets remaining on sale.

Queensland Cricket boss Graham Dixon said he was pleased with their decision to extend a priority sales period for the Australian Cricket Family followed by a set date for sales to the general public.

He said it had been a much fairer and more organised process than the Ashes four years ago, when the rush for tickets was overwhelming.

He said there were still a decent amount of tickets left for the second, third and fourth days.  

Mark Webber said he should probably try swearing next time he feels the urge to make a sarky comment.

After winning the British Grand Prix at Silverstone two weeks ago, he quipped "not bad for a number-two driver" over the team radio, referring to how Red Bull had regarded him that weekend - when they took a new front wing off his car and gave it to Vettel, who was ahead of Webber on points overall at that stage.

The comment went around the world and demonstrated once more that all is not hunky dory within the team.

Webber said he had no regrets, but realising that swearing would be censored, he should have put a few in and his comments wouldn't have been aired. 

Team boss Christian Horner acknowledged they could have done a better job in their communications with Webber on the day.

The Footy Show last night played host to an uncomfortable clash between sacked Western Bulldogs star Jason Akermanis and Bulldogs' CEO Campbell Rose.

Akermanis was finally given the push this week after his outspoken views on gays in the AFL code were published in a newspaper column he wrote in May this year and the club also became angry when private details of a player meeting involving him were leaked to the press. 

He had also failed to see out his final year at the Bulldogs, playing only nine games for them this year.

The Bulldogs said Akermanis was sacked for "repeated breaches of trust", and Rose said on the show last night that there had been a loss of trust, a loss of faith, and also respect. 

Akermanis tackled Rose's comments  by asking him to prove that the whole club, particularly the players, were behind the decision to get rid of him.  

He suggested the club had not been trustworthy by taking two weeks to fire him, when they could have done it before, but had instead waited for a selection meeting to do the deed.

Two English Premier League clubs have banned vuvuzela horns from their stadiums this season.

Tottenham were the first to ban them, quickly followed by Arsenal, another north London club.

Officials at Tottenham believe the noisy vuvuzelas will destroy the atmosphere and pose a safety risk in that they could drown out any emergency safety announcements at the grounds during a match.   

Arsenal agreed and the horns are banned from their Emirates Stadium immediately.

Melbourne Storm's captain Cameron Smith has re-iterated his innocence in the salary cap scandal, saying he signed two identical contracts which he was sure were going to be under the salary cap.

He vehemently denied knowing anything about payments outside the cap and said his job was to sign the contract and play football thereafter.

Smith said he was relieved to have been cleared after the Deloitte investigation last week, and his manager Isaac Moses has told him they are innocent of any knowledge of the cheating.

What was disappointing, he said, was that people thought the players were involved and knew what was going on with the salaries.

But the outcome of the report showed they were not involved and News Limited boss John Hartigan backed this.

World No. 1 Serena Williams is laying low as she recovers from an operation on her right foot.

She had surgery in Los Angeles last week to repair deep cuts on her foot.

She is hoping to be fully recovered in time to play at the US Open in New York at the end of August.

Serena injured herself not long after winning her fourth Wimbledon title at the beginning of this month, while she was playing in Munich.

She has been forced to withdraw from three hard-court tournaments this month - in Istanbul, Ohio and Montreal  - which would have made up part of her preparation for the US Open.   

Cronulla Sharks NRL coach Ricky Stuart has apparently quit his post there seven weeks before planned.

The final straw for Stuart was the Sharks massive loss to Manly on Saturday night.

He said he has been beating himself up for ages over the team's performance but there was nothing more he could do to lift them and he felt it was in everyone's best interests all round if he left now, rather than later, and let Shane Flanagan take over as coach.

A formal announcement is expected some time today.

It seems that talk of Greg Inglis moving to the Brisbane Broncos could be premature, as Storm's manager Frank Ponissi said nothing could be further from the truth as Inglis still has a two year contract with the Storm. 

The club has also started on the process of cutting salaries to come in under the cap level, which means slashing $1.325 million worth of talent.

Three of their players have just signed deals with English club Wigan - Ryan Hoffman, Jeff Lima and Brett Finch - which has accounted for half of the money.

They will all leave Melbourne at the end of this NRL season and reunite with ex-Storm assistant coach, Michael Maguire, the current head coach at Wigan.

Hoffman has spent eight years with the Storm and said it was a very tough decision to go, but hoped it would open the door for someone else to come on board and have the same great experiences he had with the Storm.

He said he was proud and honoured to have been able to play for them.

Their coach Craig Bellamy said it was very hard saying goodbye to such esteemed players.

A ref in Chile really copped it at the weekend when a player tried to strangle him on the football pitch.

England coach Fabio Capello is livid that an index he formulated after England's World Cup effort has been made public on the internet.

The index rates each player for their performance during the tournament.

It uses a statistical system devised by the veteran coach, awarding players a score out of 100.

Fumble-fingered goalkeeper Robert Green - who gave away the opening goal to the US - unsurprisingly received the lowest score of just 51.57.

Disappointing players such as Wayne Rooney (58.87), Joe Cole (55.45) and Gareth Barry (57.50) did not do much better and striker Jermain Defoe the top-ranked England player on 62.47.

At the top of the Capello Index was Uruguay striker Diego Forlan, who won the Golden Ball award for the tournament's best player - with a score of 65.77.

But Capello was left fuming, demanding it be removed from the web as he did not authorise its publication.

It was originally intended to be published during the World Cup, but after talks with the FA, Capello decided against it.    

A statement from the FA said that immediate steps were being taken to remove the index from public viewing.  

Pakistan's captain Shahid Afridi has stood down after his first Test in four years, saying he didn't have the temperament for the longest format of the game.

He has been replaced by Salman Butt, who will be Pakistan's fifth Test captain in the past 18 months.

The troubled team will be hoping this is their last captain for some time.

To put their situation into context, Australia have had just four regular Test captains in the past 25 years.

Wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal will be Butt's deputy but proven performers  Mohammad Yousuf and Younus Khan are not expected to be called back to the national side despite the team's shortfalls in the middle order.

The second Test starts at Headlingley in Leeds, on Wednesday.

The Jobulani football used in the World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands has fetched a staggering $84,000 on ebay yesterday.

All proceeds will go to 46664, Nelson Mandela's campaign to prevent HIV/AIDS.

'Jobulani' means 'to celebrate'.

Many players in the World Cup said the ball's flight was like a 'supermarket ball - unpreditable.

Ruth Szyszkowski of eBay said "interest in this particular piece seems not only heightened by the controversy surrounding it, but also the proceeds benefiting such a great cause."

Melbourne superstar Greg Inglis could be breaking up the Storm's 'fab four' to go to the Brisbane Broncos.

He had initially turned down Brisbane's one-off offer of $400,000 per season for a two year contract, but in a massive u-turn, it is understood his manager Allan Gainey has contacted the Broncos' football operations manager to re-open negotiations.

Brisbane officials are remaining silent on the matter, but the news is expected to be confirmed on Monday unless something drastic occurs in the meantime.    

Australia have won the First Test against Pakistan at Lords yesterday with 150-run Test win.

Up and coming all-rounder Steve Smith really found his moment to shine when he was called into bowl late in the proceedings and pulled off a classic spinner's wicket to disptach Kamran Akmal at a crucial point in the match.

Skipper Ricky Ponting praised Smith's performance and said he believed Smith will continue to grow in confidence.

Meanwhile, Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi announced to BBC Radio that he will retire from Test cricket after the second Test against Australia at Headingley, which starts next Wednesday.

He said he no longer had the temperament for the five-day game - this was his first Test in four years and he said he was still not feeling fully fit after a previous injury.

The Pakistan tour manager however said they will talk to him and then decide.

Rumours that Melbourne Storm players will boycott the rest of the NRL season have been strongly denied by Storm officials.

They are set to play the New Zealand Warriors tomorrow, but Melbourne radio station 3AW had reported a rumour they may pull out after the independent investigation into the salary cap rorting was made public yesterday.

But Club officials have spoken out saying the rumours are untrue. The team were due to board the Auckland flight this afternoon and all met this morning before their training session.

It is thought a leading player will address the media this afternoon.

James Winks returns to the saddle today after being sidelined for 10 weeks when he suffered multiple injuries in an horrific fall at Flemington on May 8.

He was riding The Fugitive when the horse clipped heels and blundered badly, tossing the jockey through the inside running rail.

Winks suffered lacerations to his spleen and liver, along with a punctured lung, cracked ribs and thumb fractures. 

He wasn't allowed to exert himself for one month and consequently lost a great deal of his fitness, but Winks said he has been training intently for the last 3 weeks and is keen to do well on smart South Australian sprinter Arinos in Saturday's Sir John Monash Stakes at Caulfield.

Winks returns to race riding on the Geelong synthetic track today for the David Hayes stable. He has three mounts there, two at Caulfield on Saturday and four at Seymour on Sunday for trainers Peter Snowden, Danny O'Brien (two) and Mark Kavanagh.

David Beckham has expressed his wish to play for Britain at the London 2012 Olympics.

In two years he will be 37 and he said that if he is still playing well then and can make a difference, he would 'love to be involved'.

The UK will be represented by English players only at the Olympics.  Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish players will not be included so as not to put their voting risks within FIFA at risk. 

Becks also said he dreamt of ending his career at the 2014 World Cup by scoring the winning goal in the final.

He missed out on this year's tournament due to an Archilles tendon injury.

Michael Schumacher's return to Formula One at 41 years of age was a mistake, according to the man who gave him his first break. 

Eddie Jordan signed him up for his Jordan team back in 1991 when Michael was just 19.

But he doesn't believe Schumaker can compete physically and medically against men who are 20 years younger than him. 

Schumacher finished ninth at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday, while Mercedes teammate Rosberg came second.

Schumacher has struggled to finish in the top 10 throughout the championship to date and currently sits in ninth spot with just 36 points from 10 races.

Rosberg is more than 50 points ahead, while Lewis Hamilton, who leads the table, is 100 points ahead of Schumaker.

Schumaker has already admitted that this will not be his year, but hopes for better come 2011.

Shane Watson was more shocked than anyone to collect five-wickets at the Test at Lord's yesterday.

After a disastrous first day for the Aussie side on Tuesday, Watson said he had taken inspiration from Australia's greatest all-rounder Keith Miller before the match.

Watson had been looking up at names of bowlers and batters on the honours boards and was particularly impressed with Miller's ten wickets in a Test match, which later became known as Miller's match, before taking to the field.

Watson's performance helped to dismiss Pakistan for 148 with Australia 4-100 at stumps in their second innings on day two, a lead of 205 runs, with Simon Katich (49no) and Mitchell Johnson (2no) unbeaten.

After his feat, Watson said he was still struggling to get his head around it, especially as his bowling had been on the backburner of late.

He will be awarded his own name etched into a new honours board at the north London venue. 

Howard Webb, the English ref at the World Cup Final on Sunday, copped a load of criticism from Netherlands players and their coach, but said he is satisfied with how he handled the game.

Dutch players complained about the decisions he made during the game and their coach said that Webb had been too much in favour of Spain, after being criticised by them for his refereeing of them during Spain v Switzerland.

But Webb defended himself and his linesman saying they did a tough job in very demanding circumstances, adding it was one of the toughest matches he would ever handle.

He said they had tried to use some common sense in officiating, taking into account the gravity of the occasion for both teams. They had advised players early on for some of their tackling, sent players away when they were crowding the officials, and spoken to their senior colleagues in an attempt to calm down situations.

Webb booked a total of 13 different players and sent off Dutch defender John Heitinga.

But Dutch players were livid that he didn't send off Spain's defender Carles Puyol after he appeared to obstruct goal-bound Arjen Robben in the 82nd minute.

An audit of Melbourne Storm's salary pay-outs which was commissioned by owners News Ltd and conducted by accounting firm Deloitte has found their breaches totalled almost double what they were expecting at a sum of $3.2 million from 2006 until the end of this season.

News had originally predicted breaches of $1.7 million.

Deloitte concluded that the Storm would be $1.3 million over the cap in 2011 with their current players.

However, Storm's chairman Rob Moodie put the validity of the audit into doubt, saying it serves the best interest so News Ltd, rather than the Storm.

An unnamed Storm official also questioned how the report could be independent when News had paid for it and also voiced concern about Deloitte's findings when most people won't deal with them.

The Australian cricket team were struggling during yesterday's day one of the First test at Lord's.

The heavy and overcast conditions in the UK, plus the rain which affected play yesterday, hindered their bowling and batting skills with a string of collapses, while Pakistan seemed to relish the conditions with Mohammad Asif (3-53), Mohammad Aamer (3-66) and Umar Gul (1-24) all making the most of it.

Pakistan's quicks put on a sterling bowling performance which reduced Australia from 2-171 to 9-229.

It was the fourth time out of their five Tests in England their batting has been decimated. 

Paul the Psychic Octopus is retiring from the world of fortune-telling and going back to what he loves best - and that is making children happy when they visit him at his home at the Sea Life Aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany.

Was it a coincidence the eight-legged wonder correctly predicted all eight World Cup matches?

Paul was presented with a golden cup by aquarium employees, which was decorated in his favourite treat of mussels. But Paul was none too excited - he ignored it as it was lowered into his tann as a thank you for his efforts.

Bye bye Paul, we shall miss you.   

Mark Webber has won yesterday's British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

He started from second position on the grid and quickly moved on his teammate to pass on the very first corner.

Vettel tried to fight back, but suffered an unfortunate puncture which put paid to his hopes of winning. He finished seventh overall.

There had previously been a touch of bad feeling between the two Red Bull drivers, after a special front wing had been removed from Webber's car the day before and given to Vettel, who had damaged his.

Webber could not resist a jibe at the Red Bull chief Christian Horber, as he did his slowing down lap after winning the race, saying  over the team radio "Fantastic guys - not bad for a number two driver."

He is now back in the room with the points he achieved on Sunday. On 128 points he is third behind McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, who are first and second respectively. 

Hamilton had been the favourite to win in the UK, but finished second for McLaren 1.3 seconds behind Webber.

There was a big gap of 21 seconds between second and third however, with German Nico Rosberg for Mercedes.

Hamilton's McLaren team-mate Button came home fourth after starting 14th on the grid and was just six-tenths of a second behind Rosberg at the finish.

Spain scored just once to achieve their victory of the world in last night's match against Holland, 1-0.

Up until the final moments of extra time, both teams were 0-0 but it was an ugly game, rather than the beautiful game, which unfolded to the world as the Dutch resorted to arguments and fouls and a scrappy attempt to claim the world's most coveted football trophy. 

British referee Howard Webb was kept busy, handing out five yellow cards in the first half alone.

A total of eight and one red went to the Netherlands throughout the course of the game, and the arguing was heated and even continued aftre teh final whistle as the Dutch team's aggrievances towards the referee boiled over.

Netherlands forward Dirk Kuyt afterwards said although they couldn't blame anyone else, the ref was more favourable to spain.

Spain however, played a dignified game throughout and after a nail-biting 116 minutes, Andres Iniesta's goal rewarded them with the win they deserved.  

Germany beat Uruguay 3-2 yesterady to claim third place in the World Cup for a second time running.

It was an exciting match and Uruguay almost managed to force extra time. Forlan's free kick crashed against the crossbar in injury time, the last kick of the match.

It had looked like there would be extra time as both teams were drawing 2-2 inthe final minutes, when Sami Khedira suddenly scored a late header and so ended Uruguay's hopes of beating Germany for the first time in 82 years.

Forlan remained positive after the game, saying it was great they had surpassed expecatations and were in the top four.

Germany's coach Joachim Loew, said they had every reason to be happy with their World Cup tournament and there was no room for disappointment.

Fans of Paul the Psychic octopus will also be pleased to hear the octopod correctly predicted the Germans would win yesterday.

Dissent continues in the Red Bull camp as Mark Webber appeared to make a sarcastic remark when his new rear wing was removed and given to Vettel for qualifying beacuse he had broken his during final practice. 

Vettel went on to record fastest times and secured pole position for today's Britsh Grand Prix at the new Silverstone track.

Webber was second fastest and remarked  "I think the team is happy with the result today."

But Red Bull were quick to quell any negativity towards Vettel saying they had decided to give the wing to him purely on a matter of points, as he has more in this year's title race than Webber.

Team boss Christian it was an unfortunate situation with only one front wing of a certain spec and it was a difficult decision - whichever you looked at it, one driver would not be happy.  

The new track attracted a fair amount of criticism from some the drivers during practice, but Vettel seemed quite happy with it, saying it was fun and he liked the new section and was hoping to repeat his winning success of last year.

British favourite Lewis Hamilton will start fourth on the grid, but said that no-one could match the Red Bulls' pace right now, however their cars were not as reliable as the Mclarens.

England got a shock yesterday when they were beaten by Bangladesh for the first time in any format in the second one-day international.

Not only were Bangladesh delighted to beat the Brits with a stunning five-run success, but they broke their losing streak of 24 losses in all formats since November last year.

Bangladesh defended a below par total of 236 to bowl England out for 231 with three balls to spare.

They can now dare to hope to win the three match campaign which concludes tomorrow at Edgbaston. 

Their captain Mashrafe Mortaza said there was hope in the dressing rooms once again after suffering so many losing games.

Coach Jamie Siddons, said he was stunned his team had beaten England, who had recently beat World Champions Australia 3-2 in a one-day series.

He said they would be incredibly motivated after this win. 

Honda have announced that Casey Stoner will return to race for them in the MotoGP World Championship from next season.

He has been racing for Ducati for the last four years and won the world championship with them in 2007.

Stoner made his debut with the satellite LCR Honda outfit in 2006 and Honda Racing Corporation vice-president Shuhei Nakamoto said they were very happy to have Casey back on board.

It is thought he will be teamed with current factory riders Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso next year - who are currently second and third respectively in this year's World Championship - making a very forrmidable team for Honda. 

The current world champion Valentino Rossi is expected to switch from Fiat Yamaha to Ducati when Stoner has left.

The new Silverstone circuit in the UK has been met with a lukewarm reception by F1 drivers during practice sessions yesterday.

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel was not impressed, saying the track was very bumpy and even made him feel like he was falling out of his seat while driving. He said some drivers had struggled more than others with it. 

He was also underwhelmed by the new layout, saying it doesn't suit the traditional Silverstone as it is pretty low speed.

Robert Kubica for Renault was similarly unimpressed as he thought the new track would be more challenging, but he thinks the old circuit was better, though there are some nice sections to it.

A well respected British referee will ref the World Cup final between the Netherlands and Spain at Johannesburg's Soccer City.

Howard Webb, 39, is from Rotherham in northern England, and is a former policeman who has been a FIFA-listed referee since 2005.

He is known to be one of Europe's top referees  and was also at the heart of a Belgian documentary film called The Referees, which recorded his movements at Euro 2008.

A top dog at FIFA yesterday announced radical changes will be made to refereeing at the next World Cup.

After the number of goals missed by the refs this year, pressure has been piled onto FIFA to address the problem and there is now talk of using goal-line technology and/or extra officials.

Frank Lampard'a goal against Germany was completely missed by the referee and his assistant, and Argentina had an 'offside' goal allowed in their match against Mexico. 

FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke said the Lampard goal had initiated FIFA's discussions about the new technology and he conceded that the pace of modern day football demanded a new initiative.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said the only principle they would be bringing back to discuss was goal-line technology.

He said a new global plan to improve refereeing would be revealed in Oct/Nov this year. 

Queensland whitewashed the Blues in last night's Origin III at ANZ Stadium, Sydney.

It promised to be an exciting match as NSW were desperate to redeem themselves, but despite a valiant effort, the Maroons were victorious in the end, 28-13.

Queensland captain Darren Lockyer was suitably pleased with his boys last night and even had the decency to commend the opposition saying the Blues could hold their heads up high - they'd had a real go last night.

NSW Wales captain Trent Barret was understandably disappointed at the end saying he thought they had them, but he was very proud of the fight they put up.  

He also gave credit to his four new players and said it looked like they had a team now.   

Paul the "psychic" octopus is still a winner after correctly predicting Germany would be beaten during last night's World Cup semi-final against Spain.

The English born octopus has been making headlines around the world as he has correctly predicted the winners of 6 matches in the World Cup tournament.

The two year old octopod now lives in a tank at Aquarium Sea Life in Germany and has been predicting match winners by selecting a container from which to feed.

Two identical containers holding mussels are lowered into his tank, one bearing the Germany flag, and the other with the flag of their opponents.

Paul then selects which container to feed from - each time had been Germany until this time, when he chose Spain.

The Germans were hoping he had got it wrong this time, but he was just telling things as they were, as Spain went on to win last night.

Many Germans are now calling for the octopus to be made into paella, but we hope he has a long future ahead of him.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Paul-The-Psychic-Octopus/119035754807982

It's a Spain v Netherlands World Cup final after Spain beat Germany 1-0 in last night's semi-final.

It will be their first final  - their previous best attempt was fourth in 1950.

Spain was the dominant team from the start and finally they were rewarded when Carles Puyol reached high and headed in their goal in the 73rd minute.

Germany seemed to be playing the waiting game, hoping to launch a counter attack which never happened.

Their game was a stark contrast to all their previous World Cup matches this tournament, when they had scored four goals per match.

They certainly felt the absence of suspended winger Thomas Mueller, who had scored four of those goals and was good at outrunning his opponents.

Sunday's final proposes to be an interesting one with two teams which have never previously won the World Cup title.

Tonight's final game in the Origin series will most likely be the last for the Blues' captain Barrett, and their coach Bellamy.

Bellamy has admitted there is little chance he will extend his contract, while Barrett has said this will probably be his last game, and has maintained he wanted to quit while he was still a good player.

Tonight is the team's last chance to save some face and end their record losing streak to Queensland.

The Blues team will see four players make their debuts as they desperately try to build a winning team.

Bellamy believes the NSW spine of fullback Jarryd Hayne, halfback Mitchell Pearce and hooker Michael Ennis is a good basis around which to build a future Blues side.

Meanwhile former Queensland captain Gorden Tallis has urged the Maroons to show NSW no mercy tonight.

Coach Mal Meninga took a swipe at NSW saying they should 'try playing some rugby league'.  

The Netherlands are through to the World Cup final on Sunday after beating Uruguay 3-2 last night.

Wesley Sneijder scored his fifth goal of the tournament, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Arjen Robben also scored.

The Dutch were on fighting form, refusing to give up when Diego Forlan equalised in the 41st minute.

They never looked to be outdone, though there was a late attack from Uruguay and Maximiliano Pereira scored for Uruguay in injury time, but the Dutch battled on and could not be beaten.

They will face the winners of Spain v Germany which takes place tonight.

Pakistan yesterday completed a 2-0 Twenty20 series triumph over Australia with an 11-run win in the second and final match at Edgbaston.

Although Pakistan are hosting their games in England after last year's attacks in their country, they are enjoying incredible support in Birmingham, where there is a very large Asian population. 

Pakistan had ended Australia's winning streak on Monday, after they had 12 consecutive wins in all formats of the game.

Aussie captain Michael Clarke, said his team had some work to do after three straight losses but he was happy with how they'd performed in the field.

Pakistan coach Waqar Younis expressed his team's delight at the support they had received in the UK, and said it had been some time since they'd had such great backing, having played away from home for the last two years.

AFL star Ben Cousins has discharged himself from a Melbourne hospital after treatment for a suspected adverse reaction to a prescribed sleeping pill.

It was thought Cousins would be making a statement this morning, but a Richmond official said the club would release a written statement later today.

The club said it believed Cousins suffered an adverse reaction to a prescribed sleeping pill, after the player's girlfriend has been unable to wake him yesterday morning and he was then examined by a Richmond doctor.

Cousins is a recovering drug addict and although Richmond have denied this incident is connected to his past, it does not exactly set a good example, and Victorian Premier John Brumby said it was not ideal, as footballers are role models.

Roger Federer has slipped down to No. 3 in the ATP rankings for the first time since November 2003.

He was No. 1 earlier this season but Nadal surpassed him after winning the French Open last month, and then secured No. 1 when he won Wimbledon on Sunday. 

Novak Djokovic is the new No. 2.

The UK's Andy Roddick dropped two spots to No.9 after losing in the fourth round.

Australian Sam Stosur has dropped from fifth to No.6.

Rafael Nadal has claimed the men's singles title at Wimbledon yesterday, beating Tomas Berdych in straight sets 6-3 7-5 6-4 in just under 2 and a quarter hours.

Nadal was on brilliant form playing some of the best tennis of his career.

He said he had been a bit more nervous than usual prior to the game, but there was no need, as he claimed his second Grand Slam victory this year and his eigth major of his career.

Nadal has achieved the French Open-Wimbledon double twice since 2008.

Fremantle Dockers up and coming midfielder Michael Barlow suffered an horrendous broken leg in yesterday's winning match against Port Adelaide, putting the kybosh on the player's debut season which had been going so well.

Teammate Rhys Palmer accidently slid into Barlow's left leg and when the injured player tried to stand up, his leg wobbled severely and he crashed to the ground in absolute agony. He was then stretched off the pitch and rushed to hospital.

Fremantle's concerned coach Mark Harvey said the injury had upset the club and outlined the impact such an injury can have on a player's a career.

Barlow had been second favourite to win the Brownlow Medal this year.

Everyone will be hoping he is able to recover and work to get his career back on track as some players have been able to do in the past, but what a shame for such a promising young player who had been recruited to the Dockers just this year through the rookie list. 

Fabio Capello will stay in his job as England's manager until his contract runs out. 

There was much talk that the English FA would relieve him of his position after the UK's disastrous World Cup, but the governing body dismissed that idea and maintained he is still the best man for the job.

His contract runs out after the 2012 European Championships.

Capello said he is more determined than ever to succeed now, assuring fans he is now completely focused on the European qualifying fixtures, which begin with a friendly against Hungary next month.

He said they should use their World Cup disappointment as a motivation to succeed and said they will be introducing fresh blood into the team to re-energise it.

The Club of England Board stated that Capello is one of the world's best football managers and they believe he will make the national team stronger for the Euro 2012 campaign.

The Brits' dreams of winning at Wimbledon have been crushed yet again as Rafael Nadal won in straight sets yesterday - 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.

Top seed Nadal is now on track for an Open double if he can win and add it to his French Open victory.

Murray put up a strong fight but ultimately it wasn't enough to stop the Spanish ace.

Nadal paid tribute to his Scottish opponent saying you had to play at your very best to beat Murray and that he was one of the toughest players in the world. He reckoned  Murray would win a Grand Slam very soon. 

Nadal will meet Czech Tomas Berdych in the men's finals on Sunday. 

Brazil's World Cup hopes have been dashed as the Netherlands made a remarkable comeback in last night's match, claiming a 2-1 victory.

Brazil had started off strongly enough and at half time, it looked like the five-time world champions were to set to win comfortably.

But then Brazil's Felipe Melo gifted a goal to the Dutch team with an own goal - and Wesley Sneijder headed a shot into the net and suddenly the tables were turned.

Brazil were in shock at how they had given the lead away.

Coach Dunga said they were aware it would be a tricky game, but they had not expected this.

He defended Melo, saying it wouldn't be fair to blame him for their loss, but the media is bound to go for the jugular.

Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk reminded everyone that they had set out to win the World Cup two years ago and reiterated his belief that his team were fit to lift the World Cup.

Sneijder was man of the match, his header was his third goal of the tournament.

He said it was his first header and joked the ball had slipped on his bald head and gone into the net.

Brazil's defeat means their World Cup campaign has ended at the quarter-final stage for the second time running.

The Netherlands will play their semi-final against Uruguay who beat Ghana on penalties in a nerve-wracking game.

The divorce settlement between Tiger Woods and his wife Elin Nordegren is apparently almost finalised.

In an effort to protect her children from Woods' womanising ways, Elin has stipulated that Tiger cannot let their children meet any of his girlfriends, unless he marries them.

She is set to receive a record-breaking sun - an incredible $750 million - which is the largest divorce settlement in history.

In return, she must remain silent about her life with the errant golfing superstar.  

She will keep their home in Windermere, Florida, plus another Florida property they own and their properties in Sweden will all go to her.  

It is thought Elin will file for divorce at Orlando County Court within a week.

Tiger Woods has been interviewed by authorities investigating the Canadian doctor Anthony Galea, who is under suspicion of providing performance-enhancing drugs to professional sportsmen in the US and Canada.

When asked about the matter by media present at the AT&T National Tournament, Woods confirmed he had ''answered all questions" put to him regarding the matter.

Woods said that Galea had provided treatment for an injury to his left knee, which consisted of platelet-enriched plasma - which is a ''blood spinning' treatment which aids a speedy recovery.

Woods denied taking any performance-enhancing drugs.

Baseball players Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran said earlier this year that they had also been contacted by investigators.

Galea's former assistant has already pleaded guilty to one count of lying to border agents.

She claimed that Galea had instructed her to do so when bringing in medical equipment and drugs, including HGH, into the US.

Thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing in Queensland have been merged to form one controlling organisation.

Queensland Racing Limited, Harness Racing Queensland and Greyhounds Queensland Limited became Racing Queensland Limited as of today.

Racing Queensland chairman Bob Bentley said the change will have positive impacts for all stakeholders and prizemonies will be improved, both in the raising and allocation of.

All employees, assets, liabilities and responsibilities will now be controlled by the new organisation, which will receive $80 million funding over four years from the Queensland government.

Last year's champions Venus and Serena Williams were knocked out of the women's doubles quarter-finals at Wimbledon yesterday.

They were beaten by Russian duo Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonareva 3-6 6-3 6-4.

It was their first loss this year after winning the Australian Open, along with the Madrid and French Open championships.

Serena is still in the competition for the women's singles, but Venus was knocked out by the unseeded Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova.

Roger Federer's hopes of beating Pete Sampras' record seven Men's Singles Championships at Wimbledon have been dashed to the ground in a shock loss against Czech 12th seed Tomas Berdych yesterday.   

He was beaten in the quarter finals 6-4 3-6 6-1 6-4.

His loss means that Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and England's Andy Murray will all be looking to win the crown.

No 1 seed Federer has not missed out on a Wimbledon final since 2002. He will fall two places to 3rd seed for the first time since 2003. 

The Brits have not won the Wimbledon Men's title since Fred Perry in 1936.

This will be the second time that Murray has reached the Wimbledon semi-finals.  

England have the series in the bag ahead of Saturday's final match at Lord's - they are leading 3-1.

But the Aussies did fight back and saved face by preventing a series whitewash, with a 78-run one-day victory over the Pommies yesterday at The Oval.

Quick Ryan Harris and batsmen Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting were the key players in their success with  Clarke 99no, Ponting 92 and Harris 5-32 in 8.4 overs.

The England football team touched down in Heathrow yesterday morning.

Looking pretty miserable after their disappointing World Cup efforts, they would be expecting a cold reception from their country and the media no doubt.

England manager Fabio Capello is waiting to hear from the Football Association whether he can keep his job.

He has said he would like to stay, but has to wait two weeks for a decision from officials.

His contract ends in 2012.

The referees who made the most controversial decisions in the World Cup are not being kept on for the remainder of the tournament. 

Italian Roberto Rosetti - who red carded Australia's Harry Sewell and also allowed the offside goal by Argentina's Carlos Tevez against Mexico at the weekend - has been sent home along with three others.

Jorge Larrionda who missed Frank Lampard's 'goal' in England's 4-1 defeat to Germany, Stephane Lannoy missed the double handball of Brazil striker Luis Fabiano in the match against Ivory Coast and Koman Coulibaly disallowed Maurice Edu's late strike which would have given the USA a 3-2 win over Slovenia.

Spain have made it through to the quarter finals after beating their arch enemies Portugal, 1-0 last night.

They will now face Paraguay on Saturday. 

Barcelona striker David Villa scored his fourth goal of the World Cup in the 63rd minute of the match.

His first shot was saved by Portugal's goalkeeper Eduardo, but it rebounded and he shot it right back and it hit the mark that time. 

It was a game that saw many opportunities, but Villa's was the only goal in the end.

Paraguay earlier defeated Japan in a nail-biting 5-3 penalty shoot out.

NSW Blues selectors have drawn criticism for the big changes they've made to the team line-up for next Wednesday's third State of Origin clash against Queensland.

With a total of eight changes, four players will be debuting, they have in effect a totally new front row.

But Queensland hooker Cameron Smith thinks it's the wrong move and they haven't learned from their past mistakes by chopping and changing the team up so much.

The Blues are beyond desperate to win this clash, having lost all games so far, it would be a total whitewash if the Maroons win again. 

They have also named Trent Barrett as the new captain.

Smith believes it will be too difficult for the team's coach to get the new side settled and adjusted in time for next week's match.

The furore over the World Cup referee errors on Sunday night continues to rumble on.

Two goals were incorrectly judged by refs in two separate incidents; England v Germany and Argentina v Mexico.

England's goal would have put them on an equal footing with Germany, who were leading 2-1 when Frank Lampard's shot bounced off the crossbar and down over the goal line, but the referee waved it off.

Later on in the Argentina Chile match, Argentina's first goal scored by Carlos Tevez was offside, but the ref allowed it.

TV replays instantly told the truth of each matter and the football world is demanding that FIFA use technology to prevent such monumental and match-changing errors from happening again.

Ex Socceroos coach Guus Hiddink is adding his voice to the outcry, challenging FIFA President Sepp Blatter to bring in video technology or resign.

But the football behemoth is refusing to be drawn into discussion over it and in the past Blatter has repeatedly rejected video technology, saying it would slow the game down and interfere with the romance and tradition of the game.   

The 'Red Bull gives you wings' strapline was taken a little too literally yesterday as Mark Webber's car became airborne during the European Grand Prix.

Webber provided the most jaw-dropping action of the race yesterday, but for all the wrong reasons.

He was attempting to overtake Heikki Kovalainen for Lotus in lap nine, when he clipped the Lotus, sending the Red Bull into the air, the car flipped itself right over before landing and veering into the tyre barriers.

Incredibly, he walked away unhurt. At 200km an hour, this is a great testimony to the safety of F1.

Teammate Sebastian Vettel fared much better, winning the race after starting out in pole position, he lead the way for the entirity of the race.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton finished second, despite incurring a drive-through penalty for overtaking the safety car after Webber's crash.     

Jenson Button was third. Hamilton is still championship leader with 127 points, while Button is second on 121.

Vettel's second win this year placed him at third on 115 points and Webber is now fourth on 103.

FIFA has announced it will address complaints made about the Jabulani World Cup ball, but not until after the World Cup has finished.

Players have complained that the ball is too light and unpredictable, similar to a cheap supermarket ball, and although World Cup balls always attract criticisms from the goalkeepers, this time coaches and forwards are joining in.    

FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said that FIFA will discuss the problems with coaches and teams after the World Cup, before addressing them with the manufacturer Adidas.

It is thought the Jabulani could create more trouble in the scenario of penalty shoot outs, as they are so light and fast, and therefore more difficult to control, especially at high altitudes such as in South Africa.  

Uruguay last night became the first country to go through to the World Cup quarter-finals with a 2-1 win over South Korea at the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium.

Luis Suarez scored both goals - one in each half of the match  - and secured their fate in the final eight.

Ghana brought pride to the whole of Africa by beating the USA when Asamoah Gyan broke the 1-1 draw with his goal in the third minute of extra time.

This is just the third time an African team has reached the world Cup quarter finals.

Tonight will see England play their arch enemies Germany, and North America face South America as Mexico play Argentina. 

Maradona's headstrong ways continue as he called for an apology from the press who once doubted him.

He defied his critics by leading Argentina into the knockout phase of the World Cup and he wants due respect and apologies from the media if Argentina continue their World Cup journey.

The colourful coach has attracted much criticism since taking over the national team 2 years ago, when most said he was not up to the job, having no previous coaching skills.

In October last year he gave a foul mouthed rant when Argentina qualified for the World Cup and made headlines around the world. It also earned him a ban from FIFA for 2 months when he told his doubters they could ''suck his ----''.

But he was always grateful to the  Argentines for keeping their faith in him.

Now he expects an apology. The press had said his team were a disaster, the worst they'd ever seen, and now they're saying they're an excellent team. He thinks it's time the press said they're sorry.

Tim Cahill and Harry Kewell have both pledged to be part of Australia's 2014 World Cup, although they will both be on the borderline age-wise.

Cahill would be 34 and Kewell 35. Kewell will have to hope he has more luck and less injuries during the next four years. Both players believe they can continue their international careers until their mid-30's.

Cahill said he was very proud to be Aussie and would keep playing as long as he possibly could - the only thing which would stop him would be serious injury.

While a number of other veterans are set to retire from international football after the World Cup, Socceroos' captain Lucas Neill has also pledged to keep going and is also looking towards the Asian Cup.

England's Twenty20 captain Paul Collingwood is trying to provoke the Aussie cricket team and fans by saying his side is growing in confidence before this year's Ashes series and they're in a great position to win it.

However, it is worth noting that England haven't won the Ashes on Australian soil since Mike Gatting's men conquered Allan Border's side in 1986-87.

But the Brits' recent successes against Australia have given them reason to believe they can fight back and win, having  beaten them in the World Twenty20 final and not forgetting they hold the Ashes. 

England lead the five-match series against Australia 2-0 ahead of the Old Trafford encounter. Add to this that they've won their past 10 matches in all competitions, since the start of the World Twenty20 and have had seven successive wins in 50-overs cricket - their best run in 13 years.

Collingwood said they are in a great position to win. They want to be the best one-day side in the world and win the World Cup next year.

He did concede that Australia's record over the last year was formidable however.  

Italy have crashed out of the World Cup in another shocking episode as they were beaten 3-2 by underdogs Slovakia.

The fact that the reigning world champions have lost to a nation new to the tournament, and failed to qualify from such an unthreatening group overall, must be very bitter indeed.

Italy as a nation, so proud and in love with the beautiful game, must surely be in mourning today. 

The Italian side could only accept its fate and concede that such is the state of football in their country right now.

Veteran midfielder Gennaro Gattuso said Italy had hit a new low.

"When we won the World Cup they made us 'Knights of hard work', now they will make us 'Knights of shame'," he said.

"That's normal. Italian football needs to examine itself because we've hit rock bottom. We need more talent, we need something more

Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who missed the game due to injury, said the problem lay in a lack of creative players in the country and that there was no-one left behind in Italy who could have brought what they needed to win.

Coach Marcello Lippi took full responsibility but AC Milan playmaker Andrea Pirlo insisted that everyone was at fault.

Mark Webber is once again feeling confident of Red Bull's chances in this weekend's Grand Prix in Valencia.

Although he lost his chamipionship lead position in Canada two weeks ago when the Mclarens pulled another 1-2, he said it's par for the course for it to be so competitive.

Webber now stands in third position overall behind Hamilton and Button respectively.

Jenson Button said he was surprised that Red Bull were not leading as their cars are so fast and have been very quick at every race.

But he said Mclaren have been quick also and have done a great job, especially in the last two races.

As a team, Red Bull have started from pole position in every Grand Prix until Montreal, and have won three out of eight races.

Tennis and sporting history was made at Wimbledon last night as the longest tennis match ever played took place.

Nicolas Mahut of France and John Isner of the United States played for a superhuman ten hours, and were locked at 59-59 in the final set, before play had to be suspended as darkness set in.

Isner wanted to continue, and the crowd were shouting for more, but the umpire pulled the plug due to visibility.

The fifth set was unfinished but incredibly it in itself, lasted longer than the previous longest match ever played which was six hours thirty three minutes.

Roger Federer joined other tennis stars, all incredulous about the events on Court 18.

He said it was beyond anything he had ever seen and he could barely speak after watching, it was just so incredible.

Mahut and Isner will return to finish the match today.

England came back from the brink last night as they beat Slovenia 1-0 and took second spot in Group C behind the USA.

Fabio Capello replaced Emile Heskey for Jermain Defoe this time, which was a risky move that paid off as Defoe was the only goal scorer of the match.

Defoe looked on game to score at least once more, but didn't manage it.

Wayne Rooney continued to under perform, although he was much improved on their last two matches.

He had near misses with the goal on at least three occasions, but was unable to meet his target.

England were on great form during the first half of the match, giving fans great hope for this last ditch effort to stay in the World Cup, as they threatened to over-run Slovenia.

But Slovenia's goal keeper Handanovic, managed to keep them at bay by saving shots from Defoe and Gerrard.

Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole made his 2010 World Cup debut, coming on for Rooney, with Defoe later making way for Heskey.

But a second goal eluded the Brits, and it was a tense end to the game as England waited for the safety of the final whistle.

England will now face Germany at Bloemfontein on Sunday with a World Cup quarter-final place at stake.

The Socceroos are out of the World Cup despite a 2-1 win over Serbia in Nelspruit last night.

At least they can hold their heads high after a fantastic performance in the second half and a decent win.

Unfortunatley, Germany's 1-0 victory over Ghana in the other Group D last night put paid to their dreams. 

Australia finished on four pounts, as did Ghana, but goal difference meant they missed out on second place and qualification.

Tim Cahill and substitute Brett Holman both scored during a hectic five minute period which had everyone fired up and believing that maybe, just maybe, they could turn this thing on its head.

But it wasn't to be, and their dreams truly bit the dust when Serbia scored a late goal through substitute Marko Pantelic in the 83rd minute.

Coach Pim Verbeek was full of praise for his team saying they stood up and fought when everyone thought it was over. They had played all or nothing, but ultimately the opening match against Germany had cost them dearly.

Serbia finished bottom of the four-team group.

Australian test cricketer Brad Haddin will miss next month's two-Test series against Pakistan in England.

Haddin is still feeling pain from an elbow tendon injury, despite intensive treatment and is disappointed he will miss the series.

But he is confident that with the amount of time he has now, he will be fully recovered to play their next tour in India in October. 

Tasmanian wicket-keeper Tim Paine has been chosen to replace him as the Chairman of selectors said Paine had been in great form at state and one-day international level and they feel he has the right skills and temperament required to do extremely well in Test cricket for his country.

The two Tests against Pakistan will take place at Lords (13-17 July) and Headingley (21-25 July).

France and South Africa both went out of the World Cup last night.

The host nation managed to beat ailing France 2-1 but it was not enough to keep them in the cup, as they became the first host to crash out at the first stage of a World Cup.

SA coach Carlos Alberto Parreira  said he was disappointed they didn't qualify but their country would be proud of their achievements.

France had come into their final match of the first round in a bad way after star striker Nicolas Anelka had been expelled under a cloud at the weekend and the players had then formed a strike over the incident.

They were reduced to 10 men midway through the first half and conceded two goals to South Africa during the first-half.

Domenech's six years at the helm now comes to an end, but he managed to sound pretty upbeat, saying he wished the team had played with as much spirit and fight in their earlier two matches as they had last night.

Sam Stosur had a shocker at Wimbledon yesterday, losing  6-4 6-4 in her first round to Estonian qualifier Kaia Kanepi, and is out of the tournament already.

However, there was good news for other Australian players as five made it through to the second round;

Anastasia Rodionova, Alicia Molik, Jarmila Groth, Lleyton Hewitt and Peter Luczak.

Stosur, who was runner-up at the French Open had no excuses for her performance, saying simply she had been outplayed. But she insists she will come back to Wimbledon again and wants to do well there.

World No.6 Stosur's early departure gives her a less than impressive  5-8 Wimbledon win-loss record, but coach David Taylor told Aussie fans to take heart from all the great achievements Sam has had so far this year, which has been over a very short amount of time.  

Timana Tahu looks set to miss the third State of Origin rugby league match next month as he faces a four to five match suspension.

He was charged with a grade three reckless high tackle after he appeared to make a high swinging arm hit on Newcastle winger James McManus during his Parramatta team's 6-4 NRL loss to the Knights at Energy Australia Stadium last night.

The hit came in just the seveth minute and a scuffle then ensued which ended in Tahu being sinbinned.

It was his first match since he walked out over racist remarks made by coach and veteran player Johns. 

But he denied this had anything to do with his behaviour last night, saying that's just the way he plays, and he is an aggressive player.

Tahu has points carried over from a previous offence, so he will miss four matches if he gives an early guilty plea or five matches if he contests the charge at his hearing and is unsuccessful.  

Chile managed a 1-0 defeat of 10-man Switzerland on Monday, and Spain went on to beat Honduras, 1-0. 

The Swiss defence was very tight, and it took until the 75th minute for second half substitute Mark Gonzalez to finally break it.

Carmona had earlier ensured he would miss Chile's closing Group H match with Spain on Friday by picking up a yellow card for a challenge on Behrami in the 21st minute to add to the one he received last week.

Further penalties were dished out as referee Al Ghamdi then handed three yellow cards in the space of one minute to Swiss defender Reto Ziegler and Chilean duo Gary Medel and Matias Fernandez to take the tally to eight with one red and still 20 minutes on the clock.

Chile will face Spain on Friday for a thrilling final group match, as Spain and Switzerland are both on 3 points each, while Chile leads the group with 6 points.

Italy was the latest of the big teams to have a World Cup shocker last night as they only managed a 1-1 draw against New Zealand.

Shane Smeltz scored the NZ goal just seven minutes into the game and there was a sense of total disbelief as defending champions Italy fought back.

It took until the 29th minute of the first half for Italy to equalise, when Vincenzo Laquinta put away a penalty.  

There was no doubt that Italy were the strongest team, they were all over it and held possession of the ball for the majority of the game.

They produced 23 shots to New Zealand's three and led 7-1 in shots on goal, but they just couldn't hit the target.

New Zealand were overjoyed with the end result and their football chairman Van Hattum said the team was ecstatic with the tresult.

He said the world would take notice of them now and they had definitely earned their stripes with 2 points in their first World Cup.

Meanwhile Italy coach Marcello Lippi lamented that his squad wasn't able to follow his orders in the shocking 1-1 draw.

He said something was clearly not right if the team was unable to put the ball in the net. He said as soon as they grew nervous, they started to boot the ball too high rather than keeping it low as they had been practising all week.

As Italy also drew 1-1 with Paraguay in its opener, the pressure is really on as they now need to beat Slovakia in their final Group F match Thursday to be sure of advancing.

France, who are struggling as hard as England with their World Cup campaign, suffered a massive blow as their striker Nicolas Anelka was sent home from the World Cup for insulting coach Raymond Domenech.

Further embarrassment was heaped upon the team as details of the incident, which happened in the privacy of their dressing room during the half-time team talk at the match against Mexico on Thursday, was leaked to the public and is causing more stress now amongst the players.

Anelka ranted and swore at Domenech in the changing rooms after being reproached by him for his less than thrilling performance against Mexico in the first half.

He refused to apologise for his outburst and was then sent home.

This will not help France in their attempts to go through to the next stage and they could now be set for another massive fail at a major tournament, coming after their group-stage elimination from the European Championship two years ago.

France's captain, Patrice Evra, said there must be a traitor in the team, as the spat happened in their changing rooms, and this is another worry which will not help the team's cohesion. 

Australia are hanging onto their chances in the World Cup after last night's match against Ghana, where they drew 1-1.

A far more respectable performance than last week's whitewash by Germany, the Socceroos fought on determinedly, even when they were a man down.

It had all started off quite promisingly, with an early goal by Brett Holman in the eleventh minute, but disaster struck when Kewell was given the red card by Italian referee Roberto Rosetti in the first half of the match.

Ghana's Jonathan Mensah struck the ball which hit Kewell - who was standing on the goalline to defend a corner - on the upper arm and the ref deemed it a penalty, flashing the red card at Kewell who then had to leave the game. 

Asamoah Gyan then equalised from the penalty spot for Ghana.

The Socceroos battled on with 10 men for the remainder of the match, and managed to create some great opportunities, but somehow none could find their way to the back of the net.

For Kewell, it looks like it could be the end of his only World Cup, and the hapless player had only spent twenty five minutes on the pitch.

Kewell was indignant he had not caused a penalty. Short of cutting off his own arm, he said there was no way the contact from the ball could've been avoided.

Coach Pim Verbeek was equally unhappy with the ref's decision, supporting Kewell's plea that it was an innocent mistake, and it has to be said that playback of the incident shows there was no foul play by Kewell.

But Verbeek said he was pleased with his players and their spirit on the pitch yesterday.

They must now meet Serbia in their final match of their Group and hope that Ghana beat Germany for a chance of making it through to the final sixteen.

It was a night of shocks in the World Cup matches last night and Serbia v Germany was no exception as Serbia beat the Germans 1-0.

Milan Jovanovic scored for Serbia in the first half, and Germany just weren't up to scratch and luck was not on their side as striker Miroslav Klose was sent off in the 37th minute and Lukas Podolski had a 60th-minute penalty saved by Serbia goalkeeper Vladimir Stojakovic.

Germany coach Joachim Loew said it had been a disappointing performance, but thought they would still make it through to the last 16.

The truth is, they could be eliminated, as could England. Two veteran international teams on the precipice of disaster.

England failed to make any positive impression in their match against Algeria last night, drawing a pathetic 0-0 and incurring the wrath of their fans as they were booed off the pitch after the game.

A totally lacklustre performance, it was not of World Cup calibre by any stretch of the imagination.

This was a match which England really should have won, and easily. But instead, they made simple passes and showed no aggression or even passion for the game in hand.

Wayne Rooney was one of the worst culprits, and there were many.

England manager Fabio Capello said Rooney didn't play like Rooney last night.

And of the whole team, he said he did not recognise the team who had qualified for the World Cup. They had missed a lot of balls and opportunities to shoot or pass had been interpreted badly.

England are now in real danger of not making it through to the final 16, as they are left with just two points from two games.

They must win against Slovenia next week to stand any chance.   

USA clawed their way back into the World Cup last night in their match against Slovenia when they drew 2-2, and ended on a controversial note when a third goal was disallowed by the referee, with a full explanation of his decision still awaiting.

Slovenia scored two goals during the first half - by midfielder Valter Birsa and striker Zlatan Ljubijankic.

But USA fought back as first right-wing Landon Donovan scored a beauty in the 48th minute, followed by an equaliser by striker Jozy Altidore.

Nearing the final whistle, and a free kick for the US resulted in a goal by Maurice Edu, but Malian referee Koman Coulibaly then disallowed it, preventing the Americans from winning outright, and igniting a furore over exactly why the goal was disallowed.

The group concludes next week when the US will play Algeria, who drew 0-0 with England, while the Brits will play Slovenia.

Timana Tahu returned to training with NRL club Parramatta Eels for the first time today since the racism row kicked off one week ago.

He is preparing to play against the Newcastle Knights on Monday night.

Tahu yesterday met with NRL boss David Gallop and has agreed to a mediation session with Johns which will be overseen by Human Rights and Equal Opportunity commissioner Mick Gooda.

It is thought the meeting will take place next Wednesday.

Queensland's Greg Inglis - who was th ebutt of Johns' racist remarks - was fully supportive of Tahu's actions, saying he didn't think racism should be tolerated in any sport.

Johns' position as a coaching consultant at the Eels is under review.

His brother, Matthew Johns, was openly critical, using his tv show last night to blast his brother and said these types of remarks were prehistoric.

Argentina are almost certain to go through to the next stage of the World Cup after thrashing South Korea last night, 4-1.

Poor South Korea didn't stand a chance as Maradona's men showed they have all the moves, power and determination to win.

The Koreans even gifted the enemy their first goal in the 16th minute as Messi hit a low ball which bounced off Park Chu-Young's right shin and landed in the net.

Gonzalo Higuain scored a hat trick to make the Koreans' misery complete.

Midfield superstar Lionel Messi was superb throughout. The only fly in the ointment was when Jonas Gutierrrez got his second booking of the tournament which means he will miss the next game with Greece. 

South Korea's only goal came from Lee Chung-Yong at the end of the first half, which gave them hope - at that point the score was 2-1.

But Higuain's further goals put paid to that as he scored twice in four minutes, the second goal came in the 80th minute.

France's World Cup hopes hang in the balance after being defeated 2-0 by Mexico last night.

France and Uruguay are now level on 4 points, ahead of their clash on June 22. If the draw, they will both advance to the next stage.

France now faces South Africa on the same day. Both sides have 1 point each so France will have to deliver next week to make sure they go through.

France captain Patrice Evra was suitably angry after the match, saying he felt like France had become "a small football nation, and it hurts."

They were eliminated from the European Championship two years ago at the group stage without winning a match, and he's concerned history could repeat itself in South Africa.

He said he would be dishing out some harsh words to certain players over the next few days. He was shocked his team didn't know how to react in last night's game, and also by their inability to equalize before Mexico scored their second goal.

It was a stark contrast to Evra's words before the game where he had sounded defiant when talking about his team's spirit.

Many believed that France's hopes were poor this tournament, as they only just scraped through qualifying and the finger has been pointed at coach Raymond Domenech's coaching.  

Switzerland last night managed to pull off the unthinkable when they beat World Cup favourites Spain in their tournament opener last night in Durban. 

The 1-0 defeat sent shockwaves around the football-loving world.

Gelson Fernandes scored the winning goal, and no-one was more surprised than him.

After the game he said he wasn't used to scoring goals, and he was very happy to make such a special moment for his country.

Spain were on great attacking form, and as the final whistle drew ever-closer, there was desperation on the pitch as they tried - and failed - time and time again to get a ball in the back of the net.

Even the commentators seemed certain Spain would pull one out of the bag at the last second, but it just didn't happen for them.

Last night's Origin II clash in Brisbane was vicious as NSW took on the Queensland Maroons in a very heavy handed way.

And all to no avail, as they were once again humiliated in defeat and Queensland have now won a record-breaking five consecutive matches with this 34-6 victory.

A crowd of 52,000 watched the Maroons score six tries to one as the Blues made some ugly moves on the pitch and refererees were forced to stop the match on several occasions to sort out the brutal wranglings.

NSW lock Paul Gallen and second row forward Luke O'Donnell were both placed on report as a result fo their actions.

A terrible end to what must be one of the worst weeks in the history of Blues

They really didn't stand a chance of winning, considering their previous form this season and the week's events leading up to the game. 

Queensland captain Darren Lockyer did an outstanding job last night and was named man of the match. 

The next clash takes place on July 7 at the ANZ Stadium Sydney.

NSW have some tough times ahead and need to stop the Maroons from scoring a 3-0 series victory.

Tim Cahill will find out tomorrow if his appeal against his red card is successful, or whether he will have to sit out the next match when the Socceroos play against Ghana on Saturday.

Cahill incurred the red card for a late tackle during te match against Germany on Sunday, but many believe the ref was too harsh, and he should have handed out just a yellow.

Even Australia's Foregin Minister is getting involved, and is publicly supporting Cahill's appeal.

He told reporters in a press conference in Parliament House today that he was never critical of referees, but he believed that the Cahill challenge was a yellow card rather than a red.

He added he hoped the appeal would be successful. 

Brazil opened their World Cup campaign with a 2-1 win over North Korea last night.

But despite having some daunting veteran players such as Kaka and Robinho, the five times world champions found themselves having to work hard against the North Koreans, who showed incredible resilience.

They finally cracked it with a goal from Maicon and another from Elano, both in the second half.

North Korea scored a consolatory goal in the 89th minute.  

Brazil's coach Dunga said he was not entirely happy with the result, but said his team's pirit was strong and everyone was willing to learn. He also acknowledged that the first match of the tournament is always stressful.

North Korea's coach Kim Jong Hun was pleased with team's performance, saying he thought his players had fought very well.  

Premier Kristina Keneally has backed NSW winger Timana Tahu's decision to leave the team over racist comments.

She said it was a courageous act to stand up to racism, which has no place anywhere in Australian society, and she respected his actions.

Tahu quit last Friday on the Gold Coast after taking offence at remarks the assistant team coach Andrew Johns made about a member of the Queensland Maroons.

Tahu released a video statement through his NRL side Parramatta saying Johns' racial slur was not a one-off incident.

Johns has since quit the team also.

The Blues will have to battle on tonight in the second Origin game, which kicks off at 8pm (AEST) at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

The Socceroos are not giving up hope on their World Cup campaign just yet.

With two group games ahead, against Ghana and then Serbia, they're still giving themselves every chance of winning these two.

Their opening match against three-times world champions Germany was never going to be pretty, and admittedly their 4-0 thrashing by the Germans was a complete and utter nightmare, but Socceroos senior players still believe they can get through the group stage with comeback victories over Ghana and Serbia.

Unfortunately, they have to wait until next Saturday to try and redeem themselves and the harsh fact is that nothing less than a win will do. 

To add to the pressure - they must do it without star player Tim Cahill, who was (unfairly) red carded in the opener.

Three other players are also on yellow cards - captain Lucas Neill, defender Craig Moore and midfielder Carl Valeri.

Right-back Luke Wilkshire summed up the team's sentiments when he said they have the character and team spirit required to win the next two games.  He added they can do better and they will be fighting 'til the end. 

Italy didn't manage a winning start to their World Cup campaign this morning.

Playing against Paraguay, the best they could muster was a 1-1 draw, but the Italians are known for not usually getting off to the best of starts at the World Cup, and look where they ended up last time.

The pressure was certainly on the reigning champions as Paraguay shocked everyone by scoring the first goal.

In pouring rain, Antolin Alcaraz outjumped Italy's captain Fabio Cannavaro and Daniele De Rossi to head home a cross in the 39th minute.

A tense period folllowed as Italy struggled to set up the right opportunity but it came eight minutes into the second half, as De Rossi scored a cracking goal and so they salvaged a point.

The Italians cranked it up after that, but Paraguay somehow managed to fend them off.

Coach Marcello Lippi, who led them to the World Cup victory last time in 2006, said he was disappointed not to take all three points, but thought his team proved they have the goods.

Lewis Hamilton for McLaren has won the Canadian Grand Prix for the second time in four years on Sunday.

Hamilton is in fine form now after also winning at Turkey two weeks ago.

It was also the second consecutive 1-2 for McLaren as Button again came home right behind his teammate.

The Canadain racetrack made for an enthralling race and the tyre strategy once again added some extra pressure to the mix. Tyre degradation was far greater than anyone expected, and it was McLaren's strategy here which won them the race.  

Hamilton had started out in pole position racing on Bridgestone's super-soft compound tyres, but pitted in the seventh lap to change for the more hard wearing medium compound tyres.

Vettel took the lead, followed by Webber but it wasn't long before the McLarens were battling for top positions, and Hamilton was already in 5th place by lap 12.

Hamilton eventually took the lead from Red Bull's Webber on the 50th of 70 laps as the Australian pitted for the second time after battling on with badly worn tyres for some time.

Hamilton had also been warned he would be making his tyres last a 'very long time' by the McLaren team. The big question was, would he make it to the end on them?

So it was another great result for the Brits. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso finished third, followed by Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and Webber in fourth and fifth respectively.

Lewis Hamilton has got pole position for the third year running in the Canadian Grand Prix which takes place today.

Hamilton used super-soft compound tyres in the final 10-car qualifying session, while Webber and Vettel used medium compound.

The top 10 drivers have to start the race on the tyres they used in the final session.

Mark Webber has got 2nd position on the grid and teammate Vettel has third.

Fernando Alonso for Ferrari was fourth, Jenson Button fifth, then Force India's Tonio Liuzzi, Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Renault's Robert Kubica.

Michael Schumacher had to pull out of the second session, so is out of the top 10 at 13th. 

England had a disappointing start to their World Cup campaign when goalkeeper Robert Green gave away a goal to the United States and made it a 1-1 draw in Rustenburg on Saturday.

England captain Steven Gerrard gave his side an amazing start when he scored just four minutes into the game.

England were very strong throughout, but when Clint Dempsey for the US attempted a goal, Green slipped and let go of his catch, the ball rolled nightmarishly into the net.

It was a lame goal, but it was all they needed.

The second half was a good battle, with England taking control of the ball for the majority of the time, and a number of good attempts at scoring again, but none hit their mark, so they had to be happy with a draw.

England coach Fabio Capello was surprisingly kind about the gifted goal, saying Green had made a mistake, but he had pulled off a great save in the second half.  He added there were lots of positives about the game, though he conceded the result was not positive.

NSW's State of Origin squad have suffered an unexpected blow as winger Timana Tahu sensationally walked out  after taking offence to remarks made by assistant coach Andrew Johns.

Johns is said to be devastated and has stated that comments he made earlier in the week had been misinterpreted as inappropriate and offensive by Timana.

He said the comments weren't directed at his colleague and old friend and he was most upset that he had offended him. 

Timana walked out yesterday telling the team he was leaving for personal reasons and has been uncontactble since then.

Shocked team officials have called up Canberra Raiders winger Joel Monaghan as an emergency replacement.

With just four days left until the Origin II clash at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium, this will really throw the team into disarray.

Socceroos reserve goalkeeper Brad Jones yesterday officially withdrew from the World Cup, as his four-year old son was diagnosed with leukaemia.

The awful news has hit the close-knit team hard.

Coach Pim Verbeek will replace Jones with Eugene Galekovic from Adeliade United, after FIFA gave the Socceroos special dispensation to add him due to the circumstances.

Reading keeper Adam Federici is now elevated to Mark Schwarzer's understudy and Galekovic will be the third-string keeper.

Australia's World Cup opener is against Germany in Durban on Sunday (MON AEST).

The moment the world had been waiting for finally arrived last night as host nation South Africa met with Mexico in the first of 64 matches in the World Cup tournament at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg.

It was a spirited match, with South Africa surprising Mexico as Siphiwe Tshabalala scored the first goal of the World Cup in the 55th minute and ignited the home nation's crowd, bringing them to their feet.

Mexico were easily the more confident side and had several chances at goals throughout, particularly in the first half, but they just didn't quite hit their mark.

Mexican veteran Rafael Marquez finally equalised in the 79th minute but South Africa almost scored again at the last minute when striker Katlego Mphela's shot hit the post.

The sound of South Africa's supporters' vuvuzela trumpets was deafening throughout the match, but reached a crescendo at that point.

South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira praised his side - who are ranked 83rd in the world - for holding their nerve in a match many had expected them to lose.

He was impressed at how quickly the players adapted to playing at that grand a scale, as most of the team are home-based and un-used to large environments and atmospheres.

Meanwhile, France had a goalless draw against Uruguay even after they were 1 man down after Nicolas Lodeiro became the first player to be sent off at this World Cup.

France and Mexico will meet on Thursday, and South Africa will play Uruguay on Wednesday.

Good news for the Socceroos as concerns over midfielder Tim Cahill's fitness are quashed.

Cahill said he trained fully with the squad on Wednesday and was planning to train again yesterday.

It is expected he will join the line up for Australia's World Cup opener against Germany on Sunday (Mon AEST).   

He said he was very confident he will be able to play if he is selected.

Midfielder Brett Emerton, who has been coping with a calf injury, has also declared himself fit.

Meanwhile, Hollywood star John Travolta arrived in South Africa yesterday and was due to meet the team today.

Travolta been interested in the Socceroos since their World Cup qualification in Sydney in 2005, and is a company ambassador with their major sponsor Qantas.

A motorcycle racer from New Zealand has died taking part in the Isle of Man TT.

39 year old Paul Dobbs lost his life in a Supersport race yesterday after being involved in a 'racing incident' on the Ballagarey section of the track.

More than 200 racers have now died on the Isle of Man road course since the event began there over 100 years ago.

He leaves a wife and two children.

NSW's Brett White is looking forward to causing some trouble on the field in next week's Origin II clash against Queensland at the Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday.

It will be the first time he's played there last year's controversial Origin III match when White knocked Maroons prop Steve Price unconscious and some very unsporting scenes then unfolded.

He said he hoped NSW would tackle Queensland with the same brutal approach again this year and he is expecting plenty of baiting from the crowd.

But he conceded he is more than used to it of late, since the Storm salary cap rort, opposition's fans have grown ever more vocal with their jibes against him and the team.

It doesn't seem to faze him at all, he said it is part of it all and shows the fans are passionate.

He said that NSW needs to concentrate on a tough physical and mental approach to footy to win Origin II. 

The International Cricket Council has announced plans to expand the World Twenty20 qualification tournament, to open it up to more countries.

The move will take place in 2010 and will expand into a 16 team competition.

The ICC's development committee has pledged two million dollars towards the development of cricket facilities in leading junior cricket nations and priority target countries such as China and the United States.

ICC funding will match whatever each member association is putting into the pot.

Nations hosting ICC events will also be able to apply for funding.

ICC boss Haroon Lorgat from South Africa, said that cricket has never been stronger with three viable formats of the game at international levels - something which is unparalled by any other sport.

He said the sport's popularity is continuing to grow everywhere around the world. 

The aftermath of Israel Folau's defection to the AFL next year continues to rumble on as ARL's chief executive Geoff Carr is still angry that Queensland Rugy League have gone back on their decision last week by selecting Folua for the second game of Origin II, at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane next Weds.

Carr is thinking about asking his board to consider rules which would forbid a player who has signed a contract with another football code to play in league's showpiece series.

His major beef is that Folau's appearance for Queensland next week could turn into a marketing coup for the AFL and its Greater Western Sydney franchise.

QRL's chairman John McDonald says he is willing to discuss whether rules should be introduced preventing Israel Folau playing in the third Origin match.

But he re-iterated that as far as the QRL are concerned, Folau is eligible throughout the 2010 season.

Whobegotyou has drawn barrier 9 for this weekend's Group One Stradbroke Handicap, which is an ideal start for the firm favourite.

Trained by Mark Kavanagh, the stable was over the moon at the draw and their second 'stinger' Catapulted drew barrier 13.

Rider of Whobegotyou - jockey Michael Rodd, was delighted to take a step closer to achieving his dream of winning his first Group One Stradbroke Handicap. 

Whobegotyou has been the Stradbroke favourite ever since Kavanagh decided to bring the four-year-old to Queensland.

Catapulted would make history if he wins Queensland's premier sprint.

Rodd is an esteemed jockey, having won a Melbourne Cup, Cox Plate and a string of feature races around the country.

Meanwhile, Kavanagh's rival trainer Tony Noonan drew a horror barrier 21 for his mare Ortensia, who he is aiming at becoming the first mare to win the race over seventy years.

The Gerald Ryan-trained Melito is the new second favourite after drawing ideally in gate four.

Last year's Stradbroke winner Black Piranha drew badly in 15 but trainer Con Karakatsanis is confident jockey Nash Rawiller will be able do the best job possible from that position.

Karakatsanis rates this year's Stradbroke field as one of the best ever.

The Socceroos yesterday trained in private as they worked on tactics and set-pieces which will be essential when they attempt to beat Germany in their first World Cup match on Sunday (Monday AEST).

There is still uncertainty however, over Tim Cahill's fitness, after he sustained a neck injury last weekend, and Harry Kewell is still not 100% either.

Socceroos Vinnie Grella believes these two, along with Mark Besciano, will be the key to their best hopes of success in the tournament.

He said it is the team's job to put these players in the position to score goals and if they get them in the right spot, the Germans will be under a great deal of pressure.

Queensland Rugby's decision to keep Folau to play for the State of Origin II at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane next Wednesday has really rankled the NSW Rugby League as general manager Geoff Carr called it a 'disgrace'.

He said all the head honchos at Queensland had completely back-tracked on their decision last week, and had picked Folau to play now for convenience.

QRL's boss Ross Livermore denied they had gone back on their decision, saying they had been approached about Folau's eligibility last week and the coach came back to him and said they had had a re-think which resulted in them wanting to keep him in play as he will be in the NRL for the remainder of the year.

The selectors have the ultimate decision and they had picked him.

QRL's coach Mal Meninga believes all the ruckus will only serve to bind his team together stronger than ever.

Australian golfer Nathan Green has opted to stay at home and watch the World Cup rather than play a 36-hole Open qualifier in Memphis on Monday.

To be fair, the tournament does start just 15 hours after finishing the Memorial tournament in Columbus, Ohio.

Green would've had to have pulled out all the stops to get there, and he decided it just wasn't worth it for him - to play in a tournament he doesn't enjoy playing in anyway.

Green was apparently a keen soccer player before turning to golf. His attitude may not go down very well with golf purists but he says his game has been below par recently anyway and he would be better off spending a few weeks at home and working on his game. 

Nelson Mandela's grandson has confirmed the former South African president will attend the opening ceremony for the World Cup.

Zwelivelile Mandela acts as the family's spokesman and confirmed that he will attend, though only for a very short time.

It had previously been stated that Mandela was too frail to attend at all but his grandson said he will be coming to greet the fans before retiring home. 

The Socceroos have encountered another worriesome injury just as Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton returned to full training after getting the all clear on their injuries.

Star player Tim Cahill yesterday failed to train fully just five days away from Australia's World Cup opener against Germany.

Cahill injured his neck in Australia's 3-1 friendly loss to the United States on Saturday and was taken to hospital for observation.

Cahill shrugged off questions from the media saying he was fine, but he did fail to take part in yesterday's practice match.

The loss of Cahill, who also plays and captains for Everton, would without doubt be catastrophic for the Socceroos. 

His ability to score goals from midfield at a rate of one every two games for his country is something the Socceroos cannot afford to be without playing against a team of such high calibre as Germany.

Germany defender Per Mertesacker said that Cahill was one of Australia's most dangerous players.

Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek said scans of Cahill's neck had shown no serious injury.

Mark Webber has extended his contract with the Red Bull team for another year, ending speculation that it may not be renewed.

Webber explained they had been in talks early in the year and said it was an easy decision for him.

He said he was happy to take it one year at a time, he feels comfortable with the team and the factory at Milton Keynes in UK.

He also said he was happy with their success as they progressed from a mid-field competitor to one that is challenging for the championship.

Webber was hopeful of more success in the future and wants them to achieve their ultimate goal of winning the world championship.

Red Bull's second driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany will also be under contract with the team until next year.

Rafael Nadal yesterday beat Robin Soderling of Sweden 6-4 6-2 6-4, winning his fifth French Open title.

Nadal played like a machine throughout, winning seven consecutive games and holding every serve midway through the match.

He becomes the second man to win the French Open five times. Next year he will aim to match Bjorn Borg's record of six titles.

Soderling finished as the runner-up for the second year in a row. In 2009 he lost in the final to Federer.

Afterwards Soderling he said how much he loved the French Open and would come back next year and aim for third time lucky.

Federer was very emotional at winning, telling the crowd it was the most emotional day in his career.

With this victory, Nadal will reclaim the No.1 ranking on Monday back from Roger Federer.

For the second time in three years, Nadal won all 21 sets en route to the Roland Garros title.

What a terrible night for Australia as Sam Stosur lost the Grand Slam final to Italian Francesca Schiavone.

Schiavone pulled out all the stops in yesterday's match to claim her victory- 6-4 7-6 (7-2) in one hour 38 minutes.

Australia's hopes had been high leading up to the final as Stosur had been on such great form and beat some serious contenders along the way, including Justine Henin and Serena Williams.

The result was a shock, as Stosur had beaten the Italian hands down in four previous matches, but credit to Schiavone for playing a well-executed plan with a strong serve and a brilliance at returning the shots.

Stosur was in no way disgraced, she played her best and was even gracious enough after the match to say that Schiavone had been the better player.

She remained positive, taking pride in her efforts prior to the match.

Schiavone's win made her the first Italian woman to claim a grand slam singles title and the oldest female first-timer at Roland Garros.

The Socceroos are using the prospect of meeting England in the World Cup as motivation to do well in the tournament.

In the event that Australia gets into the top two in their World Cup group, they face a possible showdown with probable Group C winners England in the second stage of the tournament which starts later this week.

They have some way to go admittedly, before getting to that point, but midfielder Brett Emerton said they would love to play England again.

Last time they did was in 2003 when the Aussies beat them 3-1. But England has come a long way since then,  building up a formidable side and are hotly tipped as one of the favourites to win this World Cup.

Rafael Nadal will face Robin Soderling in the French Open finals on Sunday.

Soderling is the only player to ever beat Nadal at Roland Garros and so poses a formidable threat to Nadal's chances of the championship title.

Last year, he beat Nadal when they met in the fourth round, which was the only match Nadal lost out of 38 French Open matches.

Soderling yesterday took his place in the final by sweeping the last four games to overtake No.15-seeded Tomas Berdych 6-3 3-6 5-7 6-3 6-3.

Nadal then beat No.22 Jurgen Melzer 6-2 6-3 7-6 (8-6).

The No.2-seeded Nadal has won all 18 sets in this year's tournament, and is aiming to become the second man to win at least five French Open titles after Bjorn Borg, who won six.

If Nadal wins, he will reclaim the No.1 ranking from Federer next week.

Nadal acknowledged his opponent tomorrow saying he is a very dangerous player and one of the best in the world. 

Meanwhile, Venus and Serena Williams yesterday won their fourth consecutive Grand Slam doubles title and 12th overall by beating Katarina Srebotnik and Kveta Peschke 6-2 6-3.

First-time grand slam finalists Samantha Stosur and Francesca Schiavone play for the title in women's singles on Saturday.

Sunday's incident involving Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel has provoked a massive backlash from Red Bull fans after the Formula One team seemed to be on Vettel's side.

Red Bulls' company owner rep and the team principal defended his aggressive move to overtake Webber which resulted in Vettel spinning off the track and Webber losing his lead and dropping to third place.

They even had the audacity to blame Webber, but the majority of fans were having none of it, and F1 forums have been filled with angry comments with many threatening to boycott Red Bull's products unless an apology to Webber is issued.   

However days later, the team backtracked saying both drivers had to take responsibility for the incident.

The excitement is palpable - will Sam Stosur bring home a women's Grand Slam title for the Aussies for the first time in 30 years?

It's looking very good. Stosur has incredible form right now, and is probably playing the best tennis of her life. Certainly, she's never managed to put away two world class competitors as she has just done this week.

Yesterday's opponent in the semi-final, Jelena Jankovic, is even predicting Stosur will win the final tomorrow.

She demolished Jankovic 6-1 6-2 and will face Italian Francesca Schiavone, who had somewhat of a lucky break in her semi finals yesterday.

Her opponent - 2004 French Open finalist Elena Dementieva - was forced to retire with a calf injury, as she was in too much pain to continue, and Schiavone took the match after winning the opening set in a tiebreak.

The Italian has never progressed beyond the quarter-finals of a grand slam before this tournament despite playing at every major since the 2000 US Open.

Stosur has won her past four matches in straight sets against Schiavone, including twice on clay.

The Aussie is taking confidence from knocking off four-time champion Justine Henin, 12-time major winner Serena Williams and Jankovic in a row and thinks she should be able to win.

Australia will be keeping everything crossed that she does.

Aussie Rules star Jason Akermanis has been suspended by the Western Bulldogs over his homophobic comments in the press recently.

In his comment piece in Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper he urged gay players to 'stay in the closet'.

The Bulldogs had already banned Akermanis for two games because he had reneged on an agreement to let the club vet the piece before publication.

Today they gave a statement making it clear that they would not have allowed the article to be published had they seen it beforehand.

Akermanis incurred the wrath of gay and straight communities alike. Senior 'Aussie Rules' figures distanced themselves from his comments, and the player's house and car were pelted with eggs.

Akermanis did not directly apologise for his comments, but said he had accepted his suspension and that his focus was on keeping his place in the Western Bulldogs team.

Champion jumper Some Are Bent's plans for the Australian Steeplechase are uncertain after he pulled up lame during yesterday's lead-up race at Redleap Steeplechase.  

Jockey Steven Pateman wisely pulled him out of the race before the last fence, saying the horse didn't feel like he normally did.

He had been up there with the race leaders rounding the home turn but when the pressure came down, Pateman made his decision, saying the horse was on the outside rein from 100 metres which was not right.  

A veterinary examination discovered that the dual Australian Jumper of the Year was lame in the off-foreleg.

Trainer Robert Smerdon commended Pateman's decision and said he would assess the horse over the next few days before deciding whether to enter him for the Australian Steeplechase at Sandown on June 19.

Australian coach Pim Verbeek last night named his final 23 and as expected, Shane Lowry, Tommy Oar, James Holland and goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic did not make it, along with defender Rhys Williams.

Williams said he was "heartbroken" after missing World Cup selection that would have been his if not for a pelvic injury which has plagued him for much of the season.

In a media conference after the squad was announced, the player siad he was proud to have got this far and made it into the final 27.

The 23-man Australian squad for the World Cup tournament is:

Goalkeepers: Mark Schwarzer, Adam Federici, Brad Jones.

Defenders: Scott Chipperfield, David Carney, Lucas Neill, Michael Beauchamp, Craig Moore, Mark Milligan, Luke Wilkshire.

Midfielders: Vince Grella, Carl Valeri, Jason Culina, Mile Jedinak, Tim Cahill, Brett Holman, Dario Vidosic, Mark Bresciano, Brett Emerton, Richard Garcia.

Strikers: Nikita Rukavytsya, Josh Kennedy, Harry Kewell.

Sam Stosur yesterday fought her way into the semi finals, beating Serena Williams 6-2 6-7 (2-7) 8-6 in two hours and 24 minutes.

It was a nail-biting match as she looked to be ahead of her rival in the first game, but then lost her egde during the second, giving Williams the opportunity to come back into the game.

But she battled on and as Williams pushed her forehand just long, Stosur responded in the 13th game of the set with two brilliant ground strokes to set up the win.

And so a nation waits to see if she can topple her next opponent in today's match, fourth seed Jelena Jankovic.

The last Australian woman to reach the French Open singles final was Wendy Turnbull in 1979 and the last winner was Margaret Court in 1973.

V8 Supercar boss Tony Cochrane has announced The Beach Boys will headline in a music festival associated with the Gold Coast 600, after last year delivering its promise to rejunevate and regenerate the ailing annual racing event.

In 2009 Mr Cochrane's organisation stepped in at the last minute when the race lost it's main sponsor and attraction A1GP, cars just one week before raceday.

He performed the impossible and quickly brought together a major Gold Coast event last year, likewise with the Sydney Telstra 500 where he persuaded Cold Chisel to reform and play.

Cochrane said he wants to offer people a weekend with the wow factor, with motor racing, celebrities and entertainment.  Two stages are to be built in the new Braodwater parklands close to the race track.

The new area will hold 45,000 people.

The Gold Coast 600 runs from October 22 to 24 and The Beach Boys will be joined by other acts, including Baby Animals, Noiseworks, The Angels, Ministry of Sound, Empire of the Sun and Sneaky Sound System.

Pim Verbeek will announce the Socceroos' final 23-man World Cup squad tonight.

The decisions have already been made, as the final list was submitted to World Cup organisers this morning.

However, the coach delayed the official announcement as he wants to speak to players personally first and also to take advice from medical staff over any injuries incurred during yesterday's friendly 1-0 win agains Denmark.

Five players needed to be cut but as Eugene Galekovic, Tommy Oar and James Holland have already been told they didn't make the final squad, Verbeek will cut two more players tonight.

The NRL can't compete with superstar salaries being offered to lure their players over to the AFL, and this is why they are losing out to the code, according to NRL players.

Yesterday Folau signed a four-year deal with the new AFL team, Greater western Sydney, which was reportedly worth $6 million. Such lucrative sums are key to building up strong teams which will play for a slice of rugby league's audience.    

Canterbury veteran Luke Patten said Folau had done the right thing and it would have been crazy not to go for it.

He said he hoped the NRL would be able to sort itself out and stop losing players as he thinks they have the best product and rugby league has the potential to be so much more.

NRL chief executive David Gallop admitted the league was in the process of improving pay conditions for its players but admitted they wouldn't be able to compete with seven-figure salaries per season.

World No 1 Roger Federer has been beaten by Robin Sanderling of Switzerland at Roland Garros yesterday.

The shock defeat brings to an end Federer's 23 consecutive majors in a row and also means a tennis grand slam semi-final minus the tennis great for the first time in six years.

No-one saw it coming as Federer took control early on and won 22 of his first 24 aservice points, but he encountered his first blip in the second set, losing four points in a row. Soderling got his first break and contended to win the second set.

It was the first set Federer had lost all tournament.

Soderling continued his fighting exchange throughout the match, and eventually Federer found himself on the defensive and unable to move forward.

Soderling won the match 3-6 6-3 7-5 6-4  and will now play Czech Tomas Berdych for a place in the final.

Sam Stosur is doing the Aussies proud at the French Open.

She managed to defeat four-time champion Justine Henin 2-6 6-1 6-4 in one hour and 46 minutes yesterday.

Her win means she is in with a chance of becoming the first Australian to win the women's French Open singles crown in 37 years.

But she has a tough job ahead as she will next face 2002 champion Serena Williams in the quarter finals.

She said she will be taking confidence from her win over Henin.

Brisbane Bronco's player Israel Folau today confirmed he is leaving the NRL to take up a multi-million dollar offer from the AFL.

He will join the AFL's Greater Western Sydney side, which will play in the expanded competition in 2012.

In a press conference, he said he was very excited and was looking forward to the opportunity and challenges ahead.

Kevin Sheedy, ex Bombers coach, will be the new team's first coach and he described teh signing is a landmark decision. He said they were going to create a new path in the sport.

Folau's departure from the NRL has ruffled a few feathers, especially as he is the second rugby player to defect to the AFL.

Fullback Karmichael Hunt, signed a lucrative deal with the Gold Coast Football Club which will debut in the competition next year

Folau now has to learn how to play the game, acknowledging that this is one of the challenges he faces.

Folau has played eight Tests for Australia and six State of Origin games for Queensland in a stunning rugby league career.

Another exciting Grand Prix unfolded in Turkey yesterday.

Mark Webber for Red Bull started off in pole position and Vettel quickly made progress to take second place.

The MacLarens were fierce thoughout the whole race, the addition of the F-duct worked extremely well and gave them the extra speed to compete with the Red Bulls.

Soon Lewis Hamilton was snapping at the Red Bulls'  heels, but his attempts at this point were foiled.

The Red Bulls remained in front and it looked like another 1-2 for the team until lap 40 when Vettel made a controversial move to overtake Webber.

Webber held his line and did not budge. The cars made contact, both spinning around, Vettel was spun off while Webber regained control but was now in third place.

The Maclarens were out in front and with Webber having to pit to replace the nose which was damaged in the incident with his teammate, his chances of winning were over.

Hamilton and Button were now going for the 1-2, although they did receive orders to conserve fuel for the last 10 laps, so they had to lose a little speed, when suddenly Button overtook Hamilton. Hamilton was having none of it however, and immediately passed Button to regain his position.

After the race, there was much talk of who was to blame for the Red Bull fiasco. While it seemed blindingly obvious that Vettel made an inappropriate and aggressive move on his teammate, Vettel defended himself by saying he felt he was the faster of the two and that they were there to race.

Red Bulls' company owner rep and the team principal would appear to be siding with Vettel on this.

Poor Mark Webber must be incredibly dismayed and frustated as he is the one winning the races for them. It doesn't make for a good partnership at all.

Over on the podium, Hamilton did not appear too overjoyed at his win, perhaps still rattled by Button's attempt to thwart him.

Turkish Grand Prix Race Results

Position     Driver                          Team 

1              Lewis Hamilton              McLaren-Mercedes 

2              Jenson Button              McLaren-Mercedes

3              Mark Webber                RBR-Renault

4              Michael Schumaker        Mercedes GP

5              Nico Rosberg                 Mercedes GP 

6              Robert Kubica                Renault

7              Felipe Massa                  Ferrari

8              Fernando Alonso             Ferrari

9              Adrian Sutil                    Force India-Mercedes

10            Kamui Kobayashi             BMW Sauber-Ferrari

Hewitt and Stosur have both advanced to the third round of the French Open yesterday, making a total of four Aussies to go through.

Both players had a fight on their hands.

It took Hewitt five sets to beat Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin 1-6 6-3 6-4 2-6 6-2 in just over three hours and he will now face Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros.

It will be their fourth meeting in five years at the French Open.

Meanwhile world no. 7 Stosur struggled early on in her game against Rossana De Los Rios, before beating her  4-6 6-1 6-0.

She will face  Russian qualifier Anastasia Pivovarova in the third round.

Midfielder for Ghana - Michael Essien - has been ruled out of the World Cup after failing a medical on the knee injury he suffered on Africa Cup of Nations duty back in January.

Ghana are in Group D and commence their World Cup campaign against Serbia on June 13.

Red Bull will debut their F-duct wing in practice today ahead of the Turkish Grand Prix on Sunday.

The new aerodynamic part will induce greater speeds on straights and it is hoped the device will maintain the team's lead over rivals McLaren and Ferrari.

Mark Webber who is joint champion with teammate Vettel, believes McLaren is their biggest threat but is not taking anything for granted.

McLaren is the innovator of the F-duct wing and will be fitting it to their cars along with Ferrari.

Alonso believes Red Bull are the clear favourites to win on Sunday, but said they will try to close the gap and fight to stay ahead of the others.

Alonso is behind the joint leaders on 75 points, while Button has 70, Hamilton and Robert Kubica each has 59 points.

Red Bull has also changed Vettel's chassis for the race, as something apparently wasn't quite right with the car in the last two races.

Jarmila Groth and Anastasia Rodionova managed to play enough tennis between rain delays in Paris yesterday and are both through to third rounds of the French Open.

Sam Stosur and Lleyton Hewitt have had their games postponed however, the persistent rain putting paid to their second round playing schedules.

Groth, who was a wildcard entrant for the tournament, had to adapt her game to deal with her injured opponent who was limping throughout. Kimiko Date Krumm from Japan, had the entire part of her lower right leg strapped after sustaining a calf injury in her first round win over two-time finalist Dinara Safina.

Groth said she had a hard time playing against Krumm, as in practice it was actually quite difficult to adapt to play against someone whose movements were resticted.

She won through however, 6-0 6-3.

Randwick celebrates its 150th anniversary this Saturday and Gai Waterhouse is hoping the AJC will really mark the occasion, saying it was a great effort to have had 150 years of racing at the track.

Waterhouse has prepared 98 Group One winners out of Randwick since beginning her training career there back in 1992.

Her legendary father Tommy Smith was also based at Randwick and trained an incredible 282 wins during his career.

Waterhouse will only have a small team at the meeting but believes Polar Eclipse is a very smart juvenile and will prove hard to beat.

She said he is a very good horse in the making and could end up at the top.

Waterhouse will decide whether to take him to Brisbane after seeing how he performs this weekend. 

The Cricket Board for England and Wales has admitted that two players have reported attempts at bribery by bookmakers to fix the result of matches.

The ECB did not divulge the names of those involved nor the matches, but the details have been passed on to  the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption unit.

A national newspaper in the UK reports that it involved a player with a career spanning a decade who had told England's Professional Cricketers' Association about an attempted bribery by an Indian businessman. 

The newspaper also reported that an anonymous county player had told how he was approached by bookmakers and asked to name his price, and that other players had accepted money from bookmakers.  

The news comes on top of two cricketers - Danish Kaneria from Pakistan and Mervyn Westfield from UK - being arrested and bailed for alleged spot fixing.

The Socceroos were the first World Cup team to arrive in South Africa, landing in Johannesburg last night.

Some media were allowed brief access but there were no interviews.

The team starts training today. The squad of 28 must be pared down to 23 by June 1 when they will play a friendly against Denmark, followed by the US on June 5.

They will then face Germany, Ghana and Serbia in one of the toughest groups.

World rankings released yesterday placed Germany sixth, Serbia 15, Australia 20 and 2010 African Nations Cup runners-up Ghana 32.

Germany are hot favourites to win the World Cup, despite the loss of Michael Ballack in the FA Cup Final a couple of weeks ago.

Lleyton Hewitt managed to see off his oponent Jeremy Chardy from France, in the opening round of the French Open at Roland Garros yesterday.

The match took 2 hours six minutes, Hewitt won 7-5 6-0 6-4, making him the sixth Australian to go through to the second round as Anastasia Rodionova and Jarmila Groth also advanced, joining Sam Stosur and the lesser known Sophie Ferguson and Carsten Ball. 

Hewitt is in line to play Rafael Nadal for the fourth time in the past five French Opens after meeting world No.74 Denis Istomin from Russia in the next round.

The Socceroos are due to fly out to Johannesburg for next month's World Cup, leaving Melbourne Tullamarine airport at 1pm today.

They were officially farewelled at a ceremony at a Qantas maintenance hangar, with speeches from Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek and team captain Lucas Neill.

They will play warm-up matches against Denmark on June 1 and the USA on June 5, ahead of their opening World Cup match against Germany in Durban on June 13.

Neill addressed the audience telling them they would go out and do everyone proud, and they were hoping for an exciting ride as the 2006 event was.

Australia made it through the group stage in Germany then but were eliminated by eventual champions Italy in the second round.

Australian Sam Stosur has beaten her first opponent in the French Open at Roland Garros yesterday.

After a slow start, she bounced back to vanquish Romanian qualifier Simona Halep  7-5 6-1 in just over an hour.

Lesser known Australians Sophie Ferguson (qualifier) and Carsten Ball (wildcard) both won their first matches yesterday also.

Stosur will now play veteran Rossana De Los Rios of Paraguay and is on course to meet four-time champion Justine Henin in the fourth round.

The Socceroos beat New Zealand 2-1 in a friendly at the MCG last night, but coach Pim Verbeek was far from impressed by his team's performance.

Horrendous challenges from Tim Cahill and Vince Grella on NZ winger Leo Bertos saw him stretchered off the field and both Socerros players received yellow cards for their conduct.

However Verbeek said these would probably have been red if they were playing in the World Cup.

The coach was planning on giving both players a proper lambasting after the game.

He praised the New Zealand team for their professional behaviour and admitted his own team's win was fortunate.

They have just three weeks now to get ready for the World Cup and if last night's form is anything to go by, it looks as if it will be a major challenge.

Australian golfer Jason Day has become the youngest Aussie to win a PGA Tour Event, winning the HP Byron Nelson Event in the US yesterday.

He is just 22 years old, but has been marked for great things for a few years. Amazingly Day admitted that this hype made him lazy after arriving on the US PGA Tour in 2008.

He was lucky enough to get a couple of major sponsorships at just 20 years old, but instead of spurring him on, he became complacent, saying he didn't practice enough.

He said he had been questioning his abilities and progress just this year  but now it appears Day has the golf world at his feet.

He is exempt into next year's Masters, $US1.17 million ($A1.45 million) richer and fully exempt on the US Tour until the end of 2012.

The Bombers beat the Tigers in the sixth annual Dreamtime At The 'G indigenous tribute match last night by thirty five points and showed they meant business with a seven-goal burst in the first term.

The outcome 19.16 (130) to 14.11 (95) was aided by Essendon ruckman David Hille, who was best afield with three goals, 26 possessions, 14 marks and 23 goals.

The Tigers fought back and kicked six goals to five in the final term.

Richmond key forward Jack Riewoldt and Tigers midfielder Trent Cotchin were impressive on the pitch.

Essendon have won three out of four matches and are just outside the top eight with a 4-5 record.

They will now face the Western Bulldogs on Friday night at Etihad Stadium.

Four of Australia's top jockeys have been suspended for flouting the controversial new whip rules.

Sydney jockey Nash Rawiller has been suspended for five meetings after being found guilty of striking his mount Gold Water more than 11 times with the whip in a forehand manner over the final 100 metres of the Group One Doomben Cup (2020m) won by the Chris Waller-trained Metal Bender.

Rawiller will now miss the Group One Queensland Oaks meeting next month.

He was shocked by the punishment and has requested a transcript of the hearing from stewards.

Melbourne jockey Michael Rodd pleaded guilty to a careless riding charge aboard Dariana in the Group Three Doomben Roses and was suspended for six meetings, meaning he will miss out on next week's Doomben 10,000.

Stathi Katsidis was suspended for seven meetings but will be free to ride last year's Golden Slipper winner Phelan Ready in next week's Group One Doomben 10,000 as his suspension doesn't come into effect until midnight next Saturday.

Shane Scriven also copped a seven meeting ban.

Inter Milan won the Champions League last night, making the treble, having won the Serie A and the Italian Cup this year  

Diego Milito scored twice as Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich 2-0 in the final in Madrid and ended a 45-year wait for its third title, not having won the Champuions League since 1964 and 1965.

Inter's coach Jose Mourinho complete became the third coach to win the title with two different clubs after winning the competition with FC Porto in 2004.

Bayern's loss last night meant they missed out on the treble, having also won the domestic league and cups.

Inter played incredibly strongly last night, as they have done all season and their defence was rock solid throughout the game.

The Wests Tigers pulled themselves back from the brink last night, after last week's embarrassing 50-10 defeat by Souths which topped off 3 other prior defeats. 

They beat Newcastle 23-6 in torrential rain conditions at EnergyAustralia Stadium and collected 2 very much needed points to claw their way into the top eight.

Star player Benji Marshall proved his mettle this week when he kicked a field goal in the 70th minute and crossed under the posts with six minutes remaining to seal the win.

Centre Geoff Daniela managed to cross in the final minutes as well and so put paid to one of the club's worst weeks in its history.

Coach Tim Sheens had come under fire after their performance of late, but it looks as though he has managed to turn his team around and they are back on the winning road once more.

Australia's Sam Stosur has drawn four-time champion Justine Henin in the fourth round meeting of the French Open.  

Although Henin's two year absence from tennis meant her ranking has slipped to 22, Henin has a formidable record in Paris, having won the title there three years in a row from 2005-2007.

Stosur and Henin have met just once this season with Henin winning 6-4 2-6 6-1 last month in the final at Stuttgart.

The two are historically great friends and adversaries.

Stosur has her work cut out for her however, before reaching the fourth round. She will face a qualifier to open her campaign and then will meet the winner of a match between Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic and Rossana De Los Rios of Paraguay.

The third round could be against Australian Open and Wimbledon semi-finalist Zheng Jie.

Australia's Vic Darchinyan made history last night as the first boxer to ever win three IBO world titles.

Last night he defetaed Filipino Eric Barcelona in their clash for the vacant bantamweight title at Parramatta Leagues Club.

Darchinyan lives in Sydney but was born in Armenia. His win was decisive with judges scoring 120-103, 118-105 and 116-108.  

He can add the IBO's bantamweight belt to flyweight and superflyweight titles and will look forward to a major fight in the US this year.

The International Cricket Council yesterday confirmed it's anti-corruption unit has been investigating Pakistan's performance in their Sydney Test defeat against Australia in January.

Allegations of match-fixing were rife after Australia won by 36 runs despite conceding a first-innings deficit.

Video footage leaked to media at the time, showed players and former officials raised suspicions about fixing during the Australia tour

A parliamentary committee in Pakistan summoned top officials to answer questions, including Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt, tour coach Intikhab Alam and former captain Younus Khan.

The performance of wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal was of particular surprise and interest after he dropped three catches and missed a straightforward run out.

AFL footballer Jason Akermanis has landed himself in hot water after his outpsoken comments regarding gay players.

Akermanis yesterday suggested the league wasn't ready for gay players, saying they should 'stay in the closet' as teammamtes could be uncomfortable around them.

The backlash to his comments was immediate, with many articles now criticising him, and he may even possibly face a human rights complaint.

Akermanis argues that his critics have distorted his words and are 'missing the point'.

Several gay rights supporters, including openly gay Olympic swimmer Daniel Kowalski, have dismissed his comments as homophobic and Sydney gay rights activist Gary Burns said today that he intended to lodge a complaint against the player for his homophobic remarks with the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.

German player and Chelsea star footballer Michael Ballack has been ruled out of the 2010 World Cup finals after a scan revealed torn ligaments in his ankle, caused by a horrendous tackle during Sunday's FA Cup final. 

Ballack's lawyer now plans to lodge a complaint against the offending Portsmouth player - Kevin-Prince Boateng - saying it was an intentional tackle, made with the desire to injure.

Boateng obviously contends this and said he has now apologised three times to Ballack.

Unlucky Ballack stands no chance of playing now, and this World Cup would most likely have been his last.

His injury and inability to play for his nation's team has caused uproar in Germany.    

The Mercedes Formula One team  today decided against appealing the 20 second penalty imposed which was given to Michael Schumacher during the Grand Prix in Monaco on Sunday.

Apparently Schumacher believed he had acted within the new regulations when overtaking once the safety car had left the track, but Alonso's team Ferrari (who Michael used to drive for) contested this.

The 20 second penalty resulted in Schumacher dropping 6 places to twelfth on Sunday.

Team Mercedes stated that they were happy the FIA had accepted their reasons behind the move even if they weren't happy with the decision.

Swans coach Paul Roos, who is also finishing up at the end of the season, paid tribute to the player, saying he would leave behind an enormous legacy to his club.

He pointed out Kirk's extreme tenacity, having battled back from almost being finished in 2002, to becoming one of the top five players to ever play football for the Swans.  

Former FIFA World Player of the Year, Kaka, says he will be physically fit and ready to play for Brazil in the World Cup next month.

He said he has had a tough season this year after suffering a groin problem and a thigh injury which held him back and stopped him from playing a number of matches for Real Madrid.

But he said he will be 100% by June 11 and was backed up by a Brazilian doctor who said the groin injury was no longer causing the player problems and the thigh problem was nothing major.

Kaka is an invaluable member of the Brazil team, having played for them when they won the World Cup in 2002, and in the 2006 World Cup quarter finals.

But England cricket coach Andy Flower is remaining realistic about his team's chances of winning the Ashes again this year, in light of their World Twenty20 final win over Australia on Sunday.

They now face home series against Bangladesh and Pakistan, as well as several one-day internationals against Australia, before heading Down Under.

England haven't won a Test series in Australia since 1986/87 and Flower said that Australia has been an incerdible side for such a long time they are under no illusions and he believes they will definitely have a big fight on their hands.

She has reached five successive WTA quarter-finals this year and is enjoying her time on the caly courts - winning 14 out fo 16 matches played.

Her only defeats were against four-time French Open champion Justine Henin in last month's Stuttgart final and to Venus Williams in Madrid last Friday.

Venus and Serena are back at the top, in first and second respectively.

Stosur has also been shortlisted for the ITF's Fed Cup "Heart Award" after leading Australia back into the World Group for the first time since 2004 with 13 successive victories for her country in the prestigious teams' event.

Australian Mark Webber is finally reaching the much-anticipated heights for the Red Bulls, finishing first at Monaco yesterday. 

Vettel made it another one-two for the team, proving just how hard to beat these cars are this season.

Webber's win this weekend puts him in joint first place for the championship, along with Vettel.

Defending champion Briton Jenson Button was out of the race immediately when his engine failed as he ran slowly behind a Safety Car on the opening lap. He has now slipped down to fourth overall. 

Robert Kubica for Renault came in third, saying he tried to overtake Vettel at the beginning but was unable to and that was it for the rest of the race.

Brazilian Felipe Massa came home fourth for Ferrari, with Briton Lewis Hamilton for McLaren ,fifth.

Michael Schumacher was sixth for Mercedes but was later given a 20-second penalty after a controversial move behind the Safety Car to pass Spaniard Fernando Alonso on the final lap, which dropped him down to twelfth.

The race was not without some heart-stopping moments. Webber was almost involved in a crash late on when he came into the Rascasse hairpin to find Italian Jarno Trulli of Lotus colliding with Indian Karun Chandhok of the Hispania team in spectacular fashion.

Trulli's car flew into the air, just missing hitting Chandhok on the head. Luckily for Webber he was able to squeeze past without incident.

There were two other crashes - both involving Williams cars in separate incidents. Both were huge, causing a great deal of damage to the cars.

Chelsea yesterday won the UK FA Cup Final against Portsmouth at Wembley and made it a double as they won the Premier League also.

Beleagured Portsmouth never looked to stand much of a chance of winning, but Chelsea only narrowly defeated them 1-0.

By rights, the goal count for Chelsea should have been much higher, as they hit the goal post an incredible 5 times in the half first of the match. Finally in the 59th minute, Didier Drogba scored with a superb free-kick which went in off the foot of the post.  

Scandal-rocked Ashley Cole made history by becoming the most successful player in FA Cup history as the first defender to lift the trophy six times in more than 120 years of Cup competition

Cole has played in seven Cup finals with Chelsea and Arsenal and has overtaken the three men who won the trophy five times back in the 19th century.

You can bet there will be a few hangovers in London this morning. 

Aussie Rules Football has arrived in one of the world's most passionate about football countries - Italy.

In a land where Serie A heavyweights such as Inter and AC Milan rule - it seems there is a new flame being ignited as Rome and Milan yesterday played a friendly match ahead of the first ever AFL Italia Australian Rules premiership season, which will start next month with four teams; Rome, Milan, Genoa and Lugano.

The sport in Italy is backed by Australia's ambassador to Italy, Amanda Vanstone, and ambassador to the Holy See and former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer, who attended the match.

The new sport's organiser is Australian-born Italian lawyer Nicolai Giampaolo, who moved to Italy from Melbourne in 1983.

Venus Williams has beaten Sam Stosur at the Madrid Masters, 6-3 6-3 in their quarter-final yesterday.

Shes will now face the winner of the quarter-final between Israeli Shahar Peer and China's Li Na.

Stosur has been on fire playing on clay courts, winning 14 out of 15 matches until yesterday.

But the Stosur v Williams track record proved to be true again, Venus having beaten the Aussie on the last three occasions.  

Williams credited her opponent saying she had been playing well this season, and had served and hit hard during their game, making it a challenge. 

Australia made an incredible comeback in their World Twenty20 semi finals to win against Pakistan yesterday.

They needed 18 to win from the final over bowled by spinner Saeed Ajmal, Australia took a single to Mitchell Johnson, then Mike Hussey went 6-6-4-6 to post a career-best 60 not out from 24 balls.

Hussey hit three fours and six sixes and Australia finished on 7-197, which was a complete turnabout as Pakistan had appeared set to win.

Captain Michael Clarke was overjoyed at the chance to face the English side in the final (0130 Monday AEST).

He said they would be hoping to make history and win the World Twenty20, as they made the semi-finals in 2007 but crashed out in the first round in 2009.

He said their mindest was so strong right now and Hussey had been a fine example of that, never giving up.

The veteran batsman compared the win to Australia's victory in the Adelaide Test against England in 2006-07, and said it was the best feeling to hit the winning runs for your country.

Clarke said he was looking forward to playing England, as any opportunity to beat them was relished.

Teenaged sailor Jessica Watson is almost at her final destination - Sydney Opera House - completing her world trip solo and unassisted.

She has been delayed a little however, due to a tear in her main sail which is slowing down her progress. She was originally expected to sail through the Sydney Heads at around 11.30am (AEST), but latest estimations are closer to 12.30pm.

The tear was caused by winds of up to 30 knots early on Saturday as she sailed up the NSW south coast.

Her manager Andrew Fraser said she was battling rough seas and strong winds, and the tear had been caused by winds of up to 30 knots early today.

A large crowd is currently gathering around the Opera House foreshore to welcome her home and many boats are out in the harbour excitedly awaiting her arrival.

She is expected to dock at the Sydney Opera House at around 1.30pm.

Australia's Samantha Stosur has retained her awesome form of late and dispatched eighth seed Swiss Patty Schnyder 7-6 (7-3) 6-2.

This win makes 14 out of 15 for her on clay courts. 

Stosur joins China's Li Na in the last eight of the Madrid Masters, where she will now face fourth seed Venus Williams.

Li will play Israeli Shahar Peer, who defeated Spain's Arantxa Parra Santonja 7-5 6-2.

Stosur will arrive in Paris as the highest-ranked Australian woman since Wendy Turnbull was classed fifth in February 1984.

The independent directors for the Melbourne Storm have sensationally made a unanimous decision to start legal proceedings against the NRL.

Chairman Rob Moodie, Petra Fawcett, Peter Maher and Gerry Ryan today lodged a writ with the Victorian Supreme Court and a directions hearing will be held next Friday, May 21.

They will argue in court that the NRL acted unlawfully in handing down their penalties for the club's salary cap breaches, stating that they were made in breach of the NRL Rules and are therefore invalid.

They want an injunction restraining the NRL from imposing the penalties and are also seeking costs.

Their writ alleges that the NRL chief, David Gallop, had already made his decision regarding the breach of salary cap and the penalties he would impose, and so Gallop himself had breached rule 10 by not issuing a breach notice with the proposed penalty and had not  given the 5 day notice required for the club to respond in writing. 

Chairman Rob  Moodie said the pressure from players, staff, members, supporters and the Victorian public had prompted the legal action.

England have beaten Sri Lanka in their semi finals and now eagerly await the results of Australia v Pakistan.

England's captain Paul Collingwood reckons fans would love to see the final wind up as England v Australia.

But he added that a great deal of respect should be given to Pakistan also, as they are the world champions, and have a dangerous team.

Collingwood was pretty confident of his side in the eventuality of an Aussie/Pommie final, saying they were a very powerful side who were not far off Australia's brand of cricket.  

However, Australia has pace bowlers Dirk Nannes, Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson who are leading the way and with a deep batting line-up, are unbeaten in the tournament so far.

Last week's massive increase in track fees at the Gold Coast Turf Club has incensed trainers and owners so much they have set up a sub-committee to issue a request to place the fee increase on hold.

The rise in fees from $45 to $100 per horse per month was set to come into force from June 1.

Now more than 60 trainers, owners and officials from the Australian Trainers' Association (ATA) and the Queensland Racehorse Owners' Association (QROA) have unanimously supported a motion demanding the club undertake an immediate review of its decision.

Queensland Racehorse Owners' Association representative Grant Morgan said that they were fed up of being used 'political footballs'.

He said it was paramount that race clubs consulted with owners and trainers before implementing such huge increases.

The new committee they have formed will provide a channel for owners and trainers to raise their concerns and also work on the vital issues of upgrade proposals for the Gold Coast track and future prizemoney increases.

Matthew Stokes, the Geelong AFL premiership player who escaped conviction on drug trafficking charges last month - has begged the public for another chance. 

He pleaded guilty to possessing one gram of cocaine last month and avoided a potential life ban from football and a jail term. 

He was given a 12-month good behaviour bond, which made it possible for him to return to the AFL.

This Saturday will see him play for the first time since the incident, and he spoke candidly about what he'd been through, saying he had fallen apart and cried for hours.

He said he now realised what he had put his family, friends and team through by his actions. 

He said that his drug purchase was a one-off mistake, and he had been "silly, stupid and senseless".

He asked for understanding, as one silly mistake should not define who he is. He has also written a letter to Geelong members which is expected to appear on the club's website.

British football club Everton is to visit Australia in July to play against three A-League Aussie clubs in a series of pre-season matches.

Everton, who finished in eighth position in this year's Premier League table, will play Sydney FC on July 10, newcomers Melbourne Heart on July 14 and the Brisbane Roar on July 17 as part of their build-up to the 2010-11 season.

Australian Tim Cahill plays for Everton and the Socceroos and will most likely not be available to play for the Sydney match due to his World Cup commitments with Australia but expects to play in the Melbourne and Brisbane fixtures.

Cahill said he thought it was great for them to play here as there is a big following of Everton here.

Their manager David Moyes said starting his team's pre-season in Australia made sense as the facilities here are first class and the matches would make a good part of their pre-season training.

A former player for Melbourne Storm has blown the lid off the club's salary cap scandal, saying some players had received sums of cash in secret.

The ex player spoke anonymously to Rugby League Week magazine and told of his knowledge of illegal payments to several star players during his time at the club.

Further fuel was added to the fire with the results of RLW's annual poll indicating that this practice is not uncommon amongst the NRL clubs.

The 25th annual poll was brought forward from July to May in order to give the NRL’s footballers the chance to have their say on the biggest controversy to hit the League in at least 5 years.

62% of respondents said they believed that those at the centre of the saga were aware of their illegal payments, and the risks they were taking.

His win in Barcelona placed him fourth in the championship table and he said he wants to experience a win at Monaco, saying it is a special venue and a one-off on the F1 calendar.   

The boss at Red Bull - Christian Horner - said they are determined to do well at Monaco, despite not performing particularly strongly there last year. He said they had improved the car greatly in many areas.

But Webber conceded that nothing could be taken for granted as there are some very competitive cars and of course, decent drivers to contend with.

Australia are through to the World Twenty20 semi-finals after a six-wicket victory in their Super Eights clash with West Indies.

Spinner Steven Smith's 3-20 sealed the win and Australia will now play defending champions Pakistan in the second semi-final at the same ground in St Lucia at 0130 Saturday AEST.

Smith helped Australia bowled West Indies out for 105. Australia replied with 4-109 in 16.2 overs with Brad Haddin making 42.

Australian paceman Mitchell Johnson was in top form, taking 2-23 as the hosts were dismissed in 19 overs.

Smith was later named man of the match and siad he was really looking forward to the semi final.

Fernando Alonso reckons his team will struggle to match the speed of the pace-setting Red Bull duo Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, at the Spanish Grand Prix.

In practice yesterday he was fourth fastest for Ferrari behind the two Red Bulls driven by Vettel and Webber, and Michael Schumacher for Mercedes was third.

He said that in normal conditions it was going to be very difficult to beat the Red Bulls this weekend.

The team has made several modifications to his Ferrari car which they were evaluating on the track yesterday.

Socceroos striker Harry Kewell's World Cup chances are looking doubtful after a groin injury flared up again and has put paid to him playing the remainder of the season for Turkish club Galatasaray.

Galatasaray's assistant coach said he thought it would be very difficult for Kewell to be fit for Australia's opener against three-time champions Germany on June 13.

Kewell underwent surgery on his groin in January but has been feeling more pain there since.

It was thought he would play as a lone striker for Australia at the World Cup but this now looks increasingly unlikely.

This will surely have considerable impact on the team, as he is such an experienced player, having played in many countries and for different clubs.

Despite this, it is likely he will be named in the 27-man provisional squaad by coach Pim Verbeek on Tuesday and he will then have two friendly warm-up games to prove whether he is fit or not.