Vigilance officials raid KCA office

Thiruvananthapuram: Vigilance Department officials on Monday raided the headquarters of the Kerala Cricket Association in connection with a case registered against some office-bearers on charges of misappropriating funds.
Certain files, computer hard-discs and some other documents were confiscated, official sources said.

Smith injury

Calcutta: South Africa captain Graeme Smith on Monday had a successful visit to the surgeon in Melbourne who has treated him throughout his stay in Australia. According to information forwarded by the Cricket South Africa (CSA) Smith’s finger was re-x-rayed and put in a new plaster cast.

Novel bat

Melbourne: A double-sided bat is going to make its debut in Australia’s domestic Twenty20 tournament. Hard-hitter David Warner of New South Wales and Aiden Blizzard of Victoria will try out the new bat that is bound to give batsman an edge.

Mitchell feat

Melbourne: Australia pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson has been awarded the McGilvray Medal for the ABC’s Test cricketer of the year 2008. The bowler, who claimed 63 wickets and scored 360 runs at an average of 22.5 last year, topped the poll ahead of Ricky Ponting and Simon Katich.

Ana wins

Sydney: Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic survived a testing encounter with Czech teenager Petra Kvitova to win her opening match of the new year at the Brisbane International on Monday. Ivanovic win the first set before pulling away in the second to win 6-4, 6-2. Marcos Baghdatis suffered a 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 first round loss to Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen.

US lose

Sydney: Defending champions US and hosts Australia lost their opening Hopman Cup ties in Perth on Monday against Slovakia and Germany respectively.

However, Dominika Cibulkova beat Meghann Shaughnessy 6-2, 6-2, while Dominik Hrbaty tamed James Blake in a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 tussle. The Slovakian duo completed a 3-0 rout with a 6-4, 7-6 win in the doubles.

Germany beat Australia in the other Group A clash.

Alonso delay

London: Renault’s Fernando Alonso has had to delay his return from holiday in Kenya after being involved in a minor plane incident, the team said on Monday. A spokeswoman said the Spaniard and his family were preparing to fly to Nairobi from team boss Flavio Briatore’s vacation home in Malindi on Sunday when their private plane touched an airport building and damaged a wing.

Downing offer

London: Middlesbrough turned down a transfer request from England midfielder Stewart Downing on Monday. “We received a written transfer request from Stewart this morning. It was considered before being rejected,” chief executive Keith Lamb told the Premier League club’s website.

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