Sports

Steve Waugh once told his team during an Ashes campaign in England: 'attitudes are contagious, so make sure yours is worth catching'. Ricky Ponting's men would do well to follow that advice for the rest of the series. Swanny's Diaries (available on YouTube) tell us that the English team is relaxed and raring to go for the third Test at Perth that commences Thursday morning.
The latter might be true for the Aussies as well but no one is sure how relaxed they are. Steven Smith has

LAHORE: Veteran tennis player Rashid Malik staged a big upset when he beat former national champion Heera Ashiq in the nerve-wrecking semi-final of the Servis Cup Tennis Tournament here at the Bagh-e-Jinnah Courts on Tuesday. The 49-year old former Davis Cupper will now face upcoming star Samir Iftikhar in the men's singles final today (Wednesday).
The veteran star showed he still has the power to upstage the best of the players in business with his experience and could also

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has finally permitted its five leading players to travel to Malaysia for a commercial shoot regarding the 2011 World Cup. An official of the board confirmed that Shahid Afridi, Younus Khan, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul and Abdul Razzaq had been given permission to travel to Malaysia for two days for the shoot.
"The board has allowed them permission after the national training camp ended in Lahore. Another reason is that the beverages company

SINGAPORE: China's Liang Wenchong has topped the OneAsia Tour order of merit after two wins and a second-place finish in 2010, the Tour announced Tuesday.
Liang finished at the top of the money list with winnings of 560,737 dollars after wins at the Luxehills Chengdu Open and Thailand Open and a runner-up finish in the Indonesian Open.
"I am very happy and honoured. This is something that China supports and that gives me even more pride to take this trophy home," he said.

PERTH: The groundsman in charge of the pitch for the crucial third Ashes Test at the WACA says the wicket is close to regaining its status as the fastest in world cricket.
The Perth pitch was once famed for lightning pace and bounce, making it a firm favourite with fast bowlers, but in recent years the wicket has lacked anything like its old venom. Ground curator Cam Sutherland said Tuesday he expected a lively wicket with a good covering of grass for the third Test, which

LAHORE: Pakistan's young tennis player Iman Qureshi outplayed her Indian opponent in a marathon quarter-final match of the Qatar Asian Junior Tennis Championship in Doha and has also reached the doubles final. Iman, one of the few Pakistani girls on international tennis circuit, surprised everyone when she beat her much superior opponent from India Rakeetha Pariera in a three hour long match.
Iman stunned the tournament's top seed and Asian Junior champion Rakeetha Pariera in

SYDNEY: Warne is confronted by media as he returns to his Brighton home, amid allegations of an affair with Elizabeth Hurley.
Shane Warne's nocturnal activities have landed him in hot water in the past, but this time his off-field exploits are yet to bowl him over. Cricket Australia yesterday said it had no interest in his private life, and his dalliance with Liz Hurley would not threaten his standing as the organisation's spin ambassador.
''Our only interest in Shane is in

LAHORE: Pakistan chief selector Mohsin Khan said Monday that the selection committee was not under anybody's influence and was working independently. He said that the player were selected on merit and those dropped had disciplinary or fitness issues.
Former captains Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik along with wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal and leg-spinner Danish Kaneria were not included for the New Zealand tour. "Things are being blown out of proportion as the selection committee

SYDNEY: Australian spin bowler Shane Warne Monday confirmed he had split from his ex-wife, amid reports of an alleged "affair" with British actress Liz Hurley.
Warne and his former wife Simone Callahan, who have three children together, divorced some time ago but had rekindled their romance and shared a home together in his home town of Melbourne.
But after video and photographs of Warne and Hurley apparently kissing and cuddling together in London last week were published,

LONDON: Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has said thousands of pounds of cash discovered by police searches of his hotel room during spot-fixing inquiries was all part of his legitimate tour allowances.
Butt and pacemen Mohammad Asif and Mohammed Aamer were all provisionally suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) following allegations resulting from a 'sting' operation conducted by Britain's News of the World newspaper that they'd all conspired in the bowling of

SYDNEY: Discarded Australian spin bowler Nathan Hauritz has marked his failure to return to the Test team by giving away some of his cricket gear during a yard sale, a report said Monday. Hauritz, overlooked for inclusion in the Australian team taking on England in the Ashes, was seen sitting in front of a cardboard box on Saturday outside his apartment in Sydney's Coogee area, The Daily Telegraph said.
The 29-year-old gave away some of his heavy woollen Test sweaters during the

LAHORE: Pakistan Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq has said that every member of the team has to give his hundred percent to win the series against New Zealand.
Talking to journalists here on the sidelines of the training camp, Misbah said that Pakistan have the ability to win against any team and they can beat New Zealand. He further stated that the opening combination used during the series against South Africa should not be changed, and also said he wanted to play in all formats of

SYDNEY: England could go through the entire tour of Australia unbeaten according to wicketkeeper Matt Prior, who scored a century to help the tourists grind out a draw against state side Victoria over the weekend.
England have won three and drawn three of their matches since they arrived in Perth at the end of October, including a comprehensive victory over Australia in Adelaide last week that gave them a 1-0 lead in the five-test Ashes series.
Wicketkeeper Prior, who

LAHORE: The first phase of the Lahore Premier League concluded here on Monday, with Pak Asia, Bank Alfalah, Hajvari Juices, Lahore Tigers, Fazal Sweets, Sufi Lahore, Mega Events and Chohan Estate reaching the quarterfinals.
In the pre-quarterfinals, Lahore Shapes beat Lahore Shaheen Gourmet by seven wickets. Fazal Sweets defeated Coca-Cola Lahore Thunders by six wickets. Pak Asia beat Hajvari Juices by 34 runs, Fazal Sweets beat Sufi Lahore by 65 runs, Pak Asia beat Lahore

LAHORE: National singles and junior champion Samir Iftikhar, Heera Ashiq, former Davis Cupper Rashid Malik and junior Davis cupper Faizan Khurrum reached the semi-finals of the Servis Cup Tennis Tournament here at the Bagh-e-Jinnah Courts on Monday.
All the top seeded players in the all the categories advanced to the semi-final stage of the tournament. Heera, Samir, Mohammad Abid and Faizan also reached the last four of the under-18 category. Mehak Khokhar, Sara Mahboob, Annosha

LONDON: John Higgins produced what he said was his "finest hour" in snooker as he marked his return to top-flight competition by staging a remarkable rally to beat Mark Williams 10-9 in the UK Championship final in Telford, central England, on Sunday. Higgins had been five frames down and was on the brink of defeat at 9-5 behind, with Welsh left-hander Williams needing just one more frame.
The UK Championship winner in 1998 and 2000, Higgins was playing in his first major

JOHANNESBURG: India captain MS Dhoni downplayed the role of batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar Monday ahead of a three-Test series against South Africa.
Much of the media hype before the first Test from Thursday at Centurion Park centres on the showdown between Tendulkar, seeking his 50th Test ton, and South Africa pace ace Dale Steyn.
But Dhoni told a media conference at the match venue that the clashes between the Tests sides ranked first and second in the world with India