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/ 17 January 2006
South Africa won the toss and elected to bowl first in their tri-series one-day cricket match against Sri Lanka at the Brisbane Cricket Ground on Tuesday. The South Africans, already hit by injuries, suffered a further blow when all-rounder Jacques Kallis was ruled out of the match with an elbow injury.
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/ 16 January 2006
Wimbledon champion Venus Williams crashed out of the Australian Open on Monday, joining ninth seed Elena Dementieva as a first-round flop, as sister Serena narrowly avoided the same fate. It was the former world number one’s worst performance since she exited the French Open at the opening hurdle in 2001.
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/ 16 January 2006
A hyped-up and relieved Serena Williams said she felt like dancing on Monday after keeping her Australian Open defence on track with a testing three set win over China’s Li Na. Responding to criticism of her fitness in the lead up to the tournament, Williams insisted she was full of energy after surviving a scare to grind down the fiesty Li 6-3, 6-7 (1/7), 6-2.
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/ 16 January 2006
David Nalbandian and Ivan Ljubicic led the top men’s seeds safely into the second round of the Australian Open on Monday, but there were some wobbles en route. Nalbandian looked to be cruising to a straight-sets victory before he encountered turbulence from the 121th-ranked Danai Udomchoke.
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/ 16 January 2006
South Africa have issued a warning to both Australia and Sri Lanka that they deserve respect in the tri-series one-day competition, using power-hitter Justin Kemp to deliver the message. Australian all-rounder James Hopes said on Monday that Kemp had lived up to his billing as the new Lance Klusener.
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/ 16 January 2006
Australia’s summer of discontent with arch-rivals South Africa continued on Monday when yet another of their players was cited for dissent. Hard on the heels of misconduct charges against pacemen Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath, wicketkeeper and limited-overs opener Adam Gilchrist is now in trouble with officialdom.
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/ 16 January 2006
The Australian and Japanese governments weighed in on Monday in the escalating struggle between whalers and activists in the Antarctic, with Canberra urging restraint before someone is killed. The call by Environment Minister Ian Campbell came after a Japanese harpoon narrowly missed a Greenpeace dinghy trying to protect a minke whale on Saturday.
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/ 16 January 2006
Mark Boucher and Justin Kemp combined for an unbeaten 69-run partnership on Sunday to give South Africa a thrilling five-wicket win over Australia in a tri-series limited-overs cricket match. South Africa, with its first win on its Australian tour, scored 231-5, chasing Australia’s 228 with seven balls to spare.
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/ 15 January 2006
South Africa’s injury-weakened bowling attack humbled the much-vaunted Australian top order on Sunday, leaving the world champions struggling to reach a modest total of 228 in their tri-series one-day international at the Brisbane Cricket Ground.
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/ 14 January 2006
Serena Williams has hit back at critics who say she is out of shape as she prepares to defend her Australian Open title, starting in Melbourne on Monday. Williams, who beat world number one Lindsay Davenport in last year’s final, said opponents who underestimated her fitness would do so at their peril.
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/ 14 January 2006
South Africa’s injury woes worsened ahead of Sunday’s tri-series clash with Australia as seamer Charl Langeveldt joined fast bowlers Andre Nel and Makhaya Ntini on the sidelines with a groin strain. Langeveldt (31) was able to bowl in the nets on Saturday but he was unable to shake off the problem which has hampered him since the end of the Test series.
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/ 14 January 2006
The father of former world number four Jelena Dokic has revealed his daughter paid him nearly one million United States dollars last year, a report said on Saturday, calling it a ”divorce-style settlement”. Damir Dokic told The Daily Telegraph he had received the money last year but that he had not spoken to his tennis star daughter.
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/ 13 January 2006
Justine Henin-Hardenne survived a three-hour dogfight with Italian Francesca Schiavone to win the Sydney International tennis tournament on Friday. The Belgian eighth seed fought back from dropping the opening set to win a titanic battle 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, her second Sydney title, in a see-sawing struggle.
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/ 13 January 2006
World champions Australia, propelled by a whirlwind 106-run partnership from Damien Martyn and Andrew Symonds, overwhelmed Sri Lanka by 116 runs in the opening tri-series limited overs cricket match at Melbourne’s Telstra Dome on Friday.
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/ 13 January 2006
South African strike bowler Makhaya Ntini could make a surprise return for the triangular one-day series in Brisbane after Andre Nel was found to have a severe stress fracture in his left foot on Friday. Nel, South Africa’s leading wicket-taker in the 2-0 Test series loss to Australia, will fly home early on Saturday, missing the upcoming series which also includes Sri Lanka.
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/ 13 January 2006
It’s tipped for Oscar honours and stars one of the country’s biggest screen hunks — but gay western romance <i>Brokeback Mountain</i> is unlikely to be seen by those in Australia’s own "cowboy country". The film will not be shown in parts of north and central Queensland state when it opens later this month because it has "limited release" status.
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/ 12 January 2006
South African cricket coach Mickey Arthur believes out-of-form captain Graeme Smith is ready to show his true form in the upcoming limited-overs series with Australia and Sri Lanka. Smith failed to deliver during South Africa’s three-Test series loss to Australia, scoring just 155 at an average of 25,83 as his team went down 2-0.
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/ 11 January 2006
Australian police said on Wednesday that they will counter an SMS service that tips off motorists about the location of random breath testing (RBT) patrol cars by constantly shifting their location. Road Spy provides subscribers with SMSs alerting them to the locations of RBT patrols as well as radar and speed-camera traps.
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/ 11 January 2006
Some of the world’s worst polluting nations launched a controversial conference with international business chiefs in Sydney on Wednesday to seek high-tech solutions to global warming. Ministers from the United States, China, India, Japan, South Korea and Australia were meeting with executives from major mining and energy companies including Exxon Mobil, Rio Tinto and Peabody Energy.
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/ 10 January 2006
Thailand’s sporting hero Paradorn Srichaphan believes that a week he spent meditating as a monk in a Buddhist temple will help him cope with the highly competitive world of professional tennis. Paradorn said the experience helped him advance to the second round of the Sydney International on Tuesday.
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/ 10 January 2006
An Australian man had to be rescued after becoming wedged in a washing machine while playing with his children, a newspaper reported on Tuesday. Robin Toom (38) had to be pulled from the 8kg-capacity machine by a local fire officer after he became trapped while playing hide-and-seek with his children.
Damien Martyn blazed 96 runs from 56 balls as Australia thrashed South Africa by 95 runs on Monday in the first Twenty20 international on Australian soil. Martyn clubbed seven fours and two sixes but fell agonisingly short of the first-ever Twenty20 century when he was caught at point off Monde Zondeki in the last over.
More than 1 500 people were evacuated on Monday as Cyclone Clare began to pummel Australia’s north-west coast. Communities in the Pilbara region have been placed on red alert as meteorologists predicted winds of up to 195kph and waves high enough to breach coastal defences.
Police closed several beaches in eastern Australia on Sunday after a 21-year-old woman was mauled to death by a shark in waist-deep water. The woman, whose identity was not immediately released, died of severe injuries after the attack near North Stradbroke Island, east of the Queensland state capital, Brisbane.
All-rounder Jacques Kallis will miss South Africa’s Twenty20 cricket international against Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane on Monday. Kallis will be rested along with pacemen Andre Nel and Charl Langeveldt and all-rounder Justin Kemp, coach Mickey Arthur said on Sunday.
South African offspinner Johan Botha was reported for chucking in his Test debut, which ended in an eight-wicket defeat on Friday to Australia. The 23-year-old from Johannesburg bowled 12,3 overs on Friday, taking the wicket of Matthew Hayden (90) and returning 1-77 as Australia cruised to 288-2 chasing 287 for victory.
Ricky Ponting became the first cricketer to score two centuries in his 100th Test, guiding Australia to an unlikely eight-wicket victory on Friday over South Africa and a 2-0 series win. Graeme Smith, seeking a series-levelling win, declared South Africa’s second innings at 194 for six an hour before lunch, setting Australia 287 to win and giving his attack 76 overs to bowl the hosts out.
Comedian John Cleese owes a lot to the animal kingdom after building a career around the surreal Monty Python and achieving mainstream movie success with A Fish Called Wanda — now he’s decided to return the favour. The lanky Briton said on Friday that he had become a passionate supporter of zoological gardens in recent years and wanted to help their conservation work.
Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath was officially reprimanded for his behaviour during the third cricket Test against South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday. It was his sixth disciplinary hearing in eight years but it was the first time he had been reprimanded for his behaviour during a Test match.
Herschelle Gibbs’ dashing 67 ended in a run-out just before rain set in on Thursday as the third cricket Test between Australia and South Africa headed for a draw. After the start was delayed an hour because of showers, play was restricted to less than 21 overs on the penultimate day.
Herschelle Gibbs clouted nine boundaries in an unbeaten half century on Thursday that lifted South Africa’s second innings from 6-2 to 65-2 on day four of the third Test against Australia. At lunch on the penultimate day, the Proteas had an overall lead of 157 runs with five sessions remaining.
Australia will rest fast bowlers Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath along with wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist for next week’s Twenty20 international cricket match against South Africa in Brisbane. Chairperson of selectors Trevor Hohns said the plan was to keep the trio fresh ahead of the triangular one-day series against South Africa and Sri Lanka, starting in Melbourne on January 13.