SYDNEY: Australian batting great Greg Chappell has been appointed the country`s first full-time selector, Cricket Australia said on Monday.Chappell, 62, will leave his current position as head coach of the national centre of excellence to take up the official role of national talent

WELLINGTON: New Zealand cricket chiefs on Monday backed the idea of fundraising matches for flood-ravaged Pakistan but ruled out the prospect of the Black Caps travelling there.Reports from Pakistan indicated New Zealand had offered to play there to raise funds for flood victims, but New

TOKYO: Defending champion Maria Sharapova will return to Tokyo next month, spearheading the star-studded Pan Pacific Open women`s tennis tournament, organisers said on Monday.Twenty-seven players out of the current world top 30 will take part in the two-million-dollar hard court

LONDON: Pakistan`s teenage fast bowling sensation Mohammad Aamer has insisted he remains unaffected by the "pressure" of playing international cricket.The 18-year-old left-arm quick was named man-of-the-match in Pakistan`s four-wicket third Test win at The Oval for his impressive

LONDON: Andy Flower has told Salman Butt to mind his own business after the Pakistan captain backed Australia to deny England a successful defence of the Ashes.Butt`s men beat England by four wickets at The Oval here on Saturday to reduce the hosts` series lead to 2-1 ahead of the fourth

CINCINNATI: World number two Roger Federer won his second ATP Cincinnati Masters crown in a row on Sunday, outlasting American Mardy Fish 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 for his 63rd career title.The Swiss superstar, who is bidding for a 17th Grand Slam crown when the US Open begins on August

London: Manchester United and Fulham served up a frantic 2-2 draw at Craven Cottage on Sunday while Newcastle United stunned Aston Villa 6-0 with a hat-trick from Andy Carroll on another dramatic day of Premier League action.In their top flight home return, Newcastle ran riot at St James`

DAMBULLA: Thisara Perera bagged a maiden five-wicket haul to help Sri Lanka storm into the triangular one-day series final with a crushing eight-wicket win over India on Sunday.The 21-year-old seamer, playing his first match of the tournament, finished with 5-28 off 7.4 tight overs as

MONTREAL: The Montreal Cup was headed towards a rare Monday finish after persistent rain Saturday allowed only 10 minutes of the semi-final between Denmark`s Caroline Wozniacki and Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova to be played.After six hours of delays, tournament officials finally threw in

ROME: Italy`s Serie A was once the European superpower in football, the richest league in the world that attracted the best and highest paid players on the planet.But while it has been well documented that Serie A has been over-taken by both the English Premier League and Spanish La Liga

MASON: World number two Roger Federer comfortably beat Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 6-4 6-3 on Saturday to set up a meeting with American Mardy Fish in the final of the Cincinnati Masters.Fish had earlier pulled off a surprise turnaround win over fellow American Andy Roddick to claim a 4-6

LONDON: Pakistani captain Salman Butt believes the presence in the dressing room of former fast bowling great Waqar Younis as coach is inspiring his young players to try and replicate the country`s golden era.Waqar combined with Wasim Akram to form a fearsome pace bowling duo that carried

ROME: Inter Milan won their fourth trophy of the year as they added the Italian Supercup to their Champions League, Serie A and Italian Cup triumphs with a 3-1 win over AS Roma on Saturday.Inter may have changed coaches in the summer with Rafael Benitez replacing Jose Mourinho but there

LONDON: Theo Walcott was back to his scintillating best with a hat-trick as Arsenal thrashed 10-man Blackpool 6-0 to bring the promoted side crashing back to Premier League reality on Saturday.Walcott scored two in the first half before adding a superb third while an Andrei Arshavin

BARCELONA: Inspired by a Leo Messi hattrick, Barcelona landed the Spanish Super Cup on Saturday in thrashing Sevilla 4-0 to win the battle between Ligta and Spanish King`s Cup winners 5-3 on aggregate.The Catalan club dominated the encounter at the Nou Camp once Abdoulay Konko had put

LONDON: Pakistan beat England by four wickets in the third test at the Oval on Saturday but not before some nervous moments as they lost three quick wickets in their pursuit of a modest winning target of 148. The Pakistanis were earlier cruising at 124 for three after ending England`s

LAHORE: A tribunal has adjourned an appeal by allrounder Rana Naved-ul-Hasan against a one-year ban and heavy fine, an official said Saturday.Naved was one of seven Pakistani players who were handed bans and fines on March 10 following an inquiry into team defeats in Australia and

CINCINNATTI: Americans Mardy Fish and Andy Roddick posted quarter-final victories at the three million dollar Cincinnati Masters tournament on Friday.Former world number one Roddick defeated Serb second seed Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5 in a 83 minute match."Novak probably didn`t play his best

IRVINE: Park Tae-Hwan threw down the Asian Games gauntlet Friday with an impressive 400m freestyle victory at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships.The 20-year-old swimmer, who won South Korea`s first Olympic swimming gold with a scintillating victory over China`s Zhang Lin in the 400m

GREENSBORO: India`s Arjun Atwal posted a three-under 67 to maintain at least a share of the lead after the second round at the USPGA Wyndham Championships on Friday.Former champion Brandt Snedeker, of the US, shot a five-under 65 and is tied with Atwal, the first-round leader, at 12-under