Disgraced sprinter Ben Johnson has claimed superstar rival Carl Lewis played a part in a conspiracy to sabotage his drug sample at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, costing him his 100m gold medal. Johnson set a world record of 9,79 seconds to win the 100m at Seoul but was stripped of his gold medal and world record when he tested positive for the banned steroid stanozolol.
Australia and New Zealand have been urged to put national rivalries aside and do what many say is unthinkable — merge to form a single nation. A committee of Australian lawmakers said in a report that the Tasman Sea neighbours should consider legal and monetary union with a view to eventually becoming one country.
Australia beat England by six wickets with 19 balls to spare on an extraordinary final day to win the second Test and take a 2-0 lead in the Ashes series on Tuesday. Australia needed 168 for victory off 36 overs after England’s batting inexplicably crumbled, the touring side losing their last nine wickets for 60 runs to be all out for just 129.
England collapsed to 129 all out, handing Australia the chance to steal an unexpected victory in the second Ashes test at Adelaide Oval on Tuesday. England lost their last nine wickets for just 60 runs to leave Australia chasing 168 from a minimum of 36 overs to win the match and take a 2-0 lead in the series.
A stylish century by youngest team member Michael Clarke defused the prospect of a series-levelling victory by England in the second Ashes cricket Test at the Adelaide Oval on Monday. Clarke claimed his third Test century and first in Ashes cricket with 124 as Australia whittled England’s innings lead down to just 38 runs.
Michael Clarke scored his first Test century in two years as Australia inched their way towards England’s total in the second Ashes Test on Monday. Clarke followed up his 50 from last week’s first Test in Brisbane with an unbeaten 121 as Australia crawled to 502 for seven at tea on the fourth day at the Adelaide Oval.
Ricky Ponting passed Steve Waugh as Australia’s most prolific century maker when he chalked up his 33rd hundred in the second Ashes test against England on Sunday. Ponting survived a dropped catch on 35 and a missed run out to reach 101 not out at tea on the third day at Adelaide Oval with Australia 185 for three in reply to England’s 551 for six declared.
Paul Collingwood became the first Englishman to score a Test double-century in Australia in 70 years on a record-breaking day for England in the second Ashes Test at Adelaide Oval on Saturday. Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen shared in England’s highest fourth-wicket partnership in Ashes Tests as they pushed the tourists towards an unbeatable target on a benign pitch.
England’s slow and cautious batting game plan invokes memories of the attritional era of the 1960s Ashes cricket as they try to set a platform to level the series, Australian media said on Saturday. England, one-nil down in the series, went to stumps on Friday’s opening day at 266 for three with Paul Collingwood poised for a century on 98 and Kevin Pietersen not out 60.
Kevin Pietersen won his battle with Shane Warne as England escaped from Australia’s clutches into a sound position on the opening day of the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval on Friday. Paul Collingwood was poised for a century and Pietersen hoisted a lusty six over long-on off Warne in a hustling century stand for the tourists.
Australian cricket authorities told England’s Barmy Army on Thursday that its trumpeter cannot perform during the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval. Police hit a sour note with England fans when they ejected classically trained trumpeter Billy Cooper from the first Test at Brisbane’s Gabba last week.
Matthew Hayden has warned England’s batsmen they face a torrid examination from master leg-spinner Shane Warne on a cracking Adelaide Oval pitch in Friday’s second Ashes Test. Opening batsman Hayden, who regularly stands at slip when Warne comes into the attack, believes he will be particularly tough work for the left-handers, Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook, out of the foot marks late in the Test.
Wayward fast bowler Steve Harmison lingered under a stay of execution on Wednesday as England gravely weighed their bowling options ahead of the second Ashes cricket Test against Australia, starting at the Adelaide Oval on Friday. England have been able to make only running repairs, mental and physical, since Monday when Australia completed a 277-run first Test win.
Mike Hussey has warned his Australian teammates to watch out for Monty Panesar’s ”Doosra” should he form a two-pronged spinning attack for England in Friday’s second Ashes cricket Test in Adelaide. England coach Duncan Fletcher said on Tuesday he was considering playing both left-arm spinners, Ashley Giles and Panesar, in Adelaide.
Australian selectors on Tuesday unveiled an unchanged 13-man squad to face England in the second Ashes Test in Adelaide later this week after thrashing the visitors in the opener. With all-rounder Shane Watson ruled out through injury, there was no place for second spinner Stuart MacGill, allowing batsman Michael Clarke to retain his spot.
Elton John’s latest Australian tour got off to an inauspicious start when the British pop superstar had to leave the stage briefly to be sick, local media reported on Monday. John was about to perform Crocodile Rock, one of the most popular songs of his four-decade career, on Sunday when he felt unwell and left the stage in Brisbane for about five minutes.
South Africa won the Surf Ski World Cup in Perth in emphatic style this weekend, headed by back-to-back victories in both legs of the event by 43-year-old Durban ace Oscar Chalupsky, who romped home to win the 30km second-leg event from Rottnest Island to Hillary Harbour outside Perth on Sunday.
England’s players hope to erase memories of the demoralising defeat to Australia by getting it right for Friday’s second Adelaide Test, captain Andrew Flintoff said. Flintoff welcomed the back-to-back scheduling of the first two Tests because it meant his players could not dwell on their 277-run caning in the first Ashes Test.
Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen were leading the resistance as England battled to save the first Ashes cricket Test against Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane on Sunday. The tourists were recovering after the loss of three wickets to enjoy their best period in what has been a lopsided opening Test of the five-match Ashes series.
A bus driver who was 13 times over the legal alcohol limit while driving a bus load of schoolchildren had a simple request for police who arrested him for drunken driving, an Australian court heard on Wednesday. ”Can I finish my run, at least to drop these kids off?”
England lost three wickets in the last hour before stumps to crash to 53-3 in reply to Australia’s commanding 602-9 declared on the second day of the first Ashes Test on Friday. Glenn McGrath dismissed England openers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook in successive balls before Stuart Clark removed Paul Collingwood to leave the tourists reeling.
Ricky Ponting completed his 32nd Test hundred as Australia dominated the opening day of the first Ashes Test against England at the Gabba on Thursday. The Australian skipper batted magnificently to reach the close unbeaten on 137 with Mike Hussey on 63 and the world champions in cruise control at 346-3.
An infrared camera reportedly designed to track fighter jets has become the latest hi-tech gadget used to cover the Ashes series between Australia and England. Host broadcaster Channel Nine said the device, known as the ”hot spot”, could show whether a batman was out or not with 100% accuracy.
The waiting is almost over, with the much-hyped Ashes cricket series between Australia and England finally getting under way in Brisbane on Thursday after 14 months of mounting expectations. England’s magnificent series win over the Aussies last year has generated interest and ticket sales not witnessed down under since the halcyon days of Don Bradman and the 1932/33 ”Bodyline” series.
England’s Barmy Army of travelling supporters drew first blood in their Ashes campaign down under on Wednesday, trouncing Australia’s Fanatics in a 20/20 match. In a result they will hope is an omen for the Test series starting on Thursday, the English supporters set their Australian rivals a target of 214 then skittled them for 151.
England received a welcome boost on the eve of the first Ashes Test when injured batsman Ian Bell completed a net session to boost his chances of selection. The in-form Bell, who scored a century in England’s last warm-up match against South Australia at the weekend, had been in danger of missing the opening Test after he was struck on the wrist by teammate James Anderson.
The Australian state of New South Wales is willing to help South Africa stage the 2010 Soccer World Cup if it is unable to meet its commitments, Premier Morris Iemma said on Wednesday. Iemma told reporters that he was ”salivating at the prospect” of the state acting as emergency host to one of the world’s biggest sporting events.
Michael Vaughan arrived in Brisbane, Australia, unannounced on Monday and laughed at suggestions he will play for England in Thursday’s first Ashes Test against Australia at the Gabba. The sidelined England captain told reporters at the airport he was in Brisbane only to receive treatment from England’s medical staff on his knee, reports said on Tuesday.
An indignant Glenn McGrath says Australia doesn’t need an all-rounder to ease the workload on his 36-year-old body in Thursday’s Ashes Test opener against England at the Gabba. There have been suggestions that the selection of all-rounder Shane Watson, now in doubt with a hamstring injury, was made to reduce the bowling burden on McGrath and 37-year-old leg-spinner Shane Warne.
Tributes were flooding in for Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe after he announced his retirement on Tuesday at the age of 24. Political figures, former swimmers, coaches and officials all joined in acknowledging the achievements of a man who won 11 world titles, five Olympic gold medals and set 13 individual long-course world records in a glittering career.
One of Australia’s largest umpiring associations has publicly criticised the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) decision to sack Darrell Hair from the elite panel of umpires. The New South Wales Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association of which Hair is a life member, ran a full page advertisement in a Sydney newspaper on Saturday, describing the ICC’s decision as a travesty of justice.
Protests against a summit of the world’s financial leaders in Melbourne turned violent on Saturday when activists overturned barricades, pelted police with bottles and smashed a police riot truck. Police locked down several blocks of Australia’s second biggest city to stop protesters reaching the meeting of the group of 20 (G20) economic powers.