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/ 12 January 2008
Australian coach Tim Nielsen said one of the biggest issues facing his side as it prepared for the third Test against India at the Waca Ground was confronting the bitter fall-out from the controversial second Test in Sydney. The Australians have been subjected to accusations of poor sportsmanship, following their 122-run win over the Indians.
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/ 12 January 2008
Environmental group Greenpeace said on Saturday one of its protest ships has located the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean and is pursuing it. ”Our primary objective is to stop the Japanese fleet from whaling in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary,” said spokesperson Sara Holden, who was on board the ship Esperanza.
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/ 11 January 2008
A drunken Australian man who took a nap between railway tracks has had a miraculous escape after he was run over by a freight train and received only minor injuries and a bump on the head. The 20-year-old, whose name was not released, fell asleep at a level crossing at Port Augusta, in South Australia state, newspapers said on Friday.
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/ 11 January 2008
A bull swept into a raging river during floods in Australia earlier this week survived a 90km trip downstream before being rescued, his owners said on Friday. Barney, a two-year-old Brahmin bull, was washed away on Sunday morning by the rain-swollen Tweed River.
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/ 10 January 2008
Australian Open organisers on Thursday said there would be a heavy police presence at this year’s tournament to prevent the brawls and sexually related offences that marred the event in 2007. Police were caught off-guard in 2007 when locally based Serbian and Croatian fans clashed on the first day of the tournament.
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/ 10 January 2008
India’s cricketers arrived in Canberra on Wednesday hoping to put the drama of the past week behind them and resume playing after being cleared to continue their troubled tour of Australia. The tour was suspended for two days when the Indian board ordered the players to remain in Sydney.
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/ 10 January 2008
Andy Roddick continued his bid for a Kooyong Classic hat-trick on Thursday with a 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Marat Safin to reach his fourth consecutive final. Roddick braved 41°C temperatures for the quickfire win, which sets him up for Saturday’s final against either Marcos Baghdatis or Fernando Gonzalez.
World number one Justine Henin goes into the Australian Open as the overwhelming favourite after an inspired 2007, but there is no shortage of challengers. Among them is superstar defending champion Serena Williams, who stunned the tennis world by winning the title last year in her comeback event following an injury-plagued 2006.
India resumed its cricket tour of Australia on Wednesday, arriving in Canberra two days behind schedule after the International Cricket Council brokered a peace settlement. The Indians are in the Australian capital for Thursday’s tour match against an Australian Capital Territory XI.
Roger Federer is poised to advance to within one Grand Slam of Pete Sampras’s record of 14 in the year’s opening major tournament at the Australian Open, which gets under way in Melbourne on Monday. Federer has been unchallenged as world number one since February 2004 and won three of last year’s four Grand Slams for the third time in four years.
West Indian umpire Steve Bucknor has been dropped for next week’s third Test between Australia and India, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Tuesday. ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed told a news conference that New Zealand umpire Billy Bowden would stand in the West Indian’s place.
Roger Federer’s Australian Open preparations suffered a blow on Monday as the defending champion was forced to withdraw from the Kooyong Classic warm-up event owing to a virus. Federer said that he came down with the bug on the weekend after arriving in the city on Friday from Dubai, where he trains in the off-season.
An internet video accusing Australians of opposing Japanese whaling because of racism while brutally killing animals such as kangaroos and dingoes drew sharp government criticism on Monday. Foreign Minister Stephen Smith announced that Australia would deploy a ship to gather evidence for possible legal action.
Australia captain Ricky Ponting has been urged to hold peace talks with Indian skipper Anil Kumble to try and resolve the escalating crisis between their teams. Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland wants the rival captains to hold a private meeting to avert any threat of the tour being cancelled as tensions threaten to boil over.
Australia beat India by 122 runs in an amazing finish to the second test on Sunday to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and equal their own world record of 16 successive victories. Part-time spinner Michael Clarke captured three wickets in five deliveries to wrap up an incredible victory with just seven balls remaining after India looked to have done enough to salvage a draw.
Matthew Hayden scored his second century of the series on Saturday to equal Don Bradman’s career tally of 29 Test hundreds and provide Australia with a glimmer of hope of pressing ahead for victory over India in the second Test. The left-handed opener hit a stylish 123 to guide Australia to 282-4 at stumps in their second innings.
India spinner Harbhajan Singh faces a charge of racial abuse against Australian player Andrew Symonds under the International Cricket Council’s code of conduct, the ICC said on Saturday. The citing follows an alleged incident during Friday’s third day of the second Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Sachin Tendulkar provided a masterful demonstration of batting to give India an unexpected but fully deserved lead in the second Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday. Tendulkar defied Australia’s bowling attack for almost seven hours, striking 14 boundaries and a six to chalk up his 38th Test hundred.
World tennis number one Roger Federer said he was fresh and motivated ahead of this month’s Australian Open as he arrived in the country on Friday in pursuit of Pete Sampras’s record 14 Grand Slam titles. Federer (26) is favourite to complete an Australian Open hat-trick at Melbourne Park from January 14 to 27, which would take him to within one slam of Sampras’s benchmark tally.
VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid evoked memories of two of India’s greatest comebacks with a scintillating 175-run partnership in the second Test against Australia on Thursday. Laxman smashed 109 and Dravid a watchful 53 to guide the tourists out of immediate danger to 216-3 at stumps on the second day at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Oil prices dipped on Thursday, after leaping to a lifetime high of the day before, fuelled by expectations of thinning United States stockpiles, the falling dollar and geopolitical risks. US light crude for February delivery fell 32 cents to ,30 a barrel in Globex electronic trading by 5.24am GMT. US crude touched a barrel in the previous session.
Australian police launched a criminal investigation on Wednesday after the Israeli, United States and British embassies were sent packages containing white powder, forcing evacuation of the Israeli and American missions. ”We are treating all three as linked until we can prove otherwise,” a police spokesperson said.
Oil rose above on Wednesday, bolstered by expectations United States government data would show crude stocks falling for the seventh consecutive week, and as fresh violence in major oil exporter Nigeria revived supply concerns. US light crude for February delivery rose 46 cents to ,44 a barrel by 7.08am GMT, while London Brent crude rose 48 cents to ,33 a barrel.
Andrew Symonds smashed a breathtaking century in a record partnership with Brad Hogg to put Australia in control of the second Test against India on Wednesday. The powerful all-rounder demolished India’s bowling attack with an unbeaten 137 after Hogg made a vital 79 to steer Australia out of danger to 376-7 at stumps on the first day.
An Australian government plan to filter the internet on Wednesday drew criticism from privacy advocates who said it represented the start of state censorship. Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, a member of the Labour team that ousted former prime minister John Howard in November, wants filters in place to shield children from online porn and violence.
Australian Skipper Ricky Ponting says there is more pressure on India to win Wednesday’s second cricket Test than on his team to equal the record of most consecutive Test victories. Ponting on Tuesday had the luxury of naming an unchanged 12 for the second match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.
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/ 31 December 2007
Sydney staged a spectacular curtain-raiser to the New Year on Monday with a massive fireworks display watched by more than one million people lining the harbour of Australia’s largest city. Organisers had promised the traditional fireworks show this year would be ”artistically risky”.
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/ 31 December 2007
Several Australian players may withdraw from next year’s tour to Pakistan even if Cricket Australia’s security team gives a positive account after its February pre-tour inspection, according to reports on Monday. The assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and subsequent unrest have placed a question mark over the tour.
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/ 30 December 2007
Australian skipper Ricky Ponting says leg-spinner Brad Hogg will be a better and more confident bowler in Wednesday’s second cricket Test against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Hogg, singled out as a weakness by the Indian team before the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, responded with four match wickets.
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/ 29 December 2007
Australia thrashed India by 337 runs to win the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series on the fourth day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday. The Australians claimed their 15th consecutive Test victory and will look to equal their world record of 16 wins set from October 1999 to February 2001 in next week’s second Test.
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/ 29 December 2007
Former Guantánamo Bay inmate David Hicks walked free from an Australian jail after completing a sentence for supporting terrorism on Saturday, vowing not to let down those who got him home. More than six years after he was captured in Afghanistan, the so-called "Aussie Taliban" was escorted from Adelaide’s maximum security Yalata jail.
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/ 28 December 2007
India will have to do what no other Test team has done before to come from behind and win the first cricket Test after Australia set them an historic run chase at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday. The Australians offered the Indians 499 runs to win with two days left after declaring their second innings at 351-7 late on the third day.