The West’s crusaders, the United States and Britain, are giving less to help the tsunami victims than the cost of a Stealth bomber or a week’s bloody occupation of Iraq. The bill for President George W Bush’s coming inauguration party would rebuild much of the coastline of Sri Lanka. Bush and Tony Blair increased their first driblets of ”aid” only when it became clear that people worldwide were giving millions and a public relations problem beckoned.
”Fabulous” is how Graeme Smith described his feelings after South Africa beat England by 196 runs in the fourth Castle Lager/MTN Test at Newlands to level the series and bring to an end England’s 13-Test unbeaten run. England were all out for 304 an hour and 22 minutes after lunch to give South Africa their first Test win since March last year.
Test cricket’s second-most-successful bowler, Muttiah Muralitharan, is leading from the front to feed the poor in his native Sri Lanka who were rendered homeless by last month’s killer tsunami. Muralitharan has personally spearheaded convoys of trucks carrying food to the country’s remote corners where an estimated 30 000 lost their lives.
The memorial service of the late South African soccer great George Shigo will take place at Mbolekwa Sports Complex in Atteridgeville in Pretoria on Thursday between 5pm and 8am, according to Shigo’s former teammate Patrick ”Let Them Dance” Molala.
History indicates Tiger Woods could be in for a big year. Competition suggests it won’t be easy. There already have been a number of parallels with the last time Woods overhauled his swing at the end of the 1997 season, after he won four times and shattered records at Augusta National as the youngest Masters champion.
Roger Federer continued his unbeaten run since the Athens Olympics with another overwhelming performance and a win over former US Open finalist Greg Rusedski, which carried him to the quarterfinals of the -million Qatar Open on Wednesday.
Rusedski now flies to Sydney to continue his preparations for the Australian Open.
Dribbling wizard Emmanuel Ngobese gave Kaizer Chiefs a hard-earned 1-0 victory over Santos during their Castle Premiership match at the FNB Stadium on Wednesday night. It was a bad start for Marc Byrne, who was named as Santos’s new coach on Wednesday morning by chairperson Goolam Allie.
Reigning champion Stephane Peterhansel of France won the 492km sixth stage of the Dakar Rally between Smara, Morocco, and Zouerat, Mauritania, on Wednesday. Bruno Saby went into first place overall, profiting from the accident of overnight leader Colin McRae in a Nissan that put him out of the race.
Paddlers taking part in the 53rd edition of the Hansa Powerade Dusi, which takes place next week between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, can expect to be drug-tested. ”We will not tolerate drug cheats,” said Cameron Mackenzie, chairperson of the organising committee.
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