Cricket-Australia recall Clarke for Sri Lanka ODIs

Jan 14 (Reuters) - Australia captain Michael Clarke is one of three big names to return to the squad for the third and fourth one-day internationals against Sri Lanka after a disappointing showing by stand-ins on Sunday.Opening batsman David Warner and wicketkeeper Matthew Wade were the others to be recalled for the matches in Brisbane on Friday and Sydney on Sunday, with all-rounder Moises Henriques...

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Sharapova starts Australian Open with 6-0, 6-0 win

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Maria Sharapova finished her first match of the year in 55 minutes Monday, cruising to a 6-0, 6-0 win over Olga Puchkova to start proceedings on center court at the Australian Open without showing any signs of trouble with her sore right shoulder.The No. 2-ranked Sharapova, who lost the final to Victoria Azarenka here last year before going on to win the French Open, faced...

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Tennis-Australian Open order of play - day two

MELBOURNE, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Order of play on the mainshowcourts at the Australian Open on Tuesday (play starts at0000 GMT on all courts, prefix denotes seeding):Rod Laver ArenaRobin Haase (Netherlands) v 3-Andy Murray (Britain)1-Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) v Monica Niculescu (Romania)Benoit Paire (France) v 2-Roger Federer (Switzerland)From 0800Bernard Tomic (Australia) v Leonardo Mayer (Argentina)20-Yanina...

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New Zealand show fight against South Africa

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa (Reuters) - New Zealand fought bravely to move to 157 for four in their second innings, following on and still 247 runs behind South Africa, at the close of the third day's play in the second test on Sunday.Unbeaten pair BJ Watling (41) and Dean Brownlie (44) provided stern resistance and the duo looked relatively untroubled as they added an unbroken fifth-wicket partnership...

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Australian wildfires spare observatory, uncover bush drug lab

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Raging wildfires destroyed at least another 28 homes and licked at Australia's leading optical space observatory on Monday, officials said, but spared giant telescopes that have mapped far-away galaxies and discovered new planets.Less fortunate were a father and son who police arrested after a fire was lit deliberately to destroy illegal drug laboratories they were alleged to...

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Will game live up to hype in BCS championship?

MIAMI (AP) — Sometimes, the buildup to a game can overwhelm what actually happens on the field.Certainly, No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 2 Alabama would have to play nothing less than a classic to live up to all the hype for Monday night's BCS championship.Before either team stepped on the field in balmy South Florida, this was shaping up as one of the most anticipated games in years, a throwback to the...

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Riddick, Wood interchanging for Notre Dame

MIAMI (AP) — Notre Dame tailbacks Theo Riddick and Cierre Wood showed how interchangeable they are in the final two games of the regular season for the Fighting Irish.Game 11 against Wake Forest, Wood ran for 150 yards, while Riddick had 20.Game 12 against USC, it was Riddick running for 146 yards, and Wood for 20.And so has been the theme for the Irish this season: Two running backs — and sometimes...

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Alabama AD made a brief stop at Notre Dame

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Mal Moore's career was adrift.A quarter century of winning games and titles as an Alabama player and assistant to Bear Bryant had ended, and Moore was passed over to succeed the famed coach.He was thinking about getting out of the profession altogether before Notre Dame's Gerry Faust called one Sunday morning to gauge his interest in a job."At the time, I kind of felt...

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Lakers guard Bryant finally joins Twitter world

(Reuters) - Los Angeles Lakers All-Star guard Kobe Bryant finally succumbed to the social network Twitter when he opened his own verified account on Friday."The antisocial has become social #mambatweets," Bryant, who is nicknamed "Black Mamba", said in his first tweet.Within five hours of his account being open, the 14-time All-Star and five-time NBA champion had attracted nearly 300,000 followers.One...

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Kobe Bryant: I'm on Twitter now

against the Los Angeles Clippers, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013, in Los Angeles. (AP …more LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kobe Bryant is no longer a holdout. He's on Twitter.With five words — "The antisocial has become social" — the Los Angeles Lakers guard sent the first tweet from his account Friday. About 270,000 people followed his verified account, (at)kobebryant, within a few hours and he was up to 365,000 late...

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