Sydney, Feb. 2 : Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting has said that he is missing the next two one-day internationals against New Zealand "reluctantly", adding that the decision was made by the selectors alone.

"My absolute priority is to the Australian cricket team. I wanted to play on through the coming week and continue to lead the team in the series against New Zealand. However, the decision was made by the national selection panel as part of their plan to rest all players at appropriate times during this year," Fox Sports quoted Ponting, as saying.

Melbourne, Feb 02 : Schools should allow the use of mobile phones in classes, says an Australian researcher.

University of Tasmania researcher Martin Beattie said that school rules to stop students text messaging have little effect so teachers should embrace the technology instead of trying to ban it.

Over 90 per cent of high school students surveyed used their mobile phones at school.

Melbourne, Feb 2 : `Sexting', sending nude or semi-nude pictures of oneself to others via cell phone, has become increasingly popular among girls Down Under.

The New South Wales cops have revealed that the number of girls taking part in the practice has increased because of the popularity of mobile phone cameras.

NSW sex crimes squad commander Detective Superintendent John Kerlatec expressed his apprehension with the rising popularity because young people weren''t taking the consequences of their actions into account.

Sydney, Feb 2 : Men in Sydney are all set to become the first in the world to try a contraceptive, which can give them control over their own fertility.

ANZAC Research Institute, at Concord Hospital, is starting the trail of a new two-monthly male contraceptive injection.

The jab shuts down the reproductive function just like the female contraceptive pill does.

It works by tricking the brain into thinking that it has already produced sperm, and that too without affecting men''s sexuality.

Melbourne, Feb 2 : Can you think of speeding up your vehicles just because your shoes were too heavy? Well, this was one of the excuses made by an Aussie woman who tried to get out of paying a fine and actually pulled it off successfully.

Latest figures from the NSW State Debt Recovery Office (SDRO) have revealed that about one in 10 motorists penalised for an offence appeals to authorities for gaining an exemption.

It was found that last year, 220,000 out of 2.5 million fines processed by the department requested for the offence to be waived.

Melbourne, Feb. 2 : Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal refuses to believe he has Roger Federer''s number just yet, despite continuing his grand slam dominance over the so-called greatest player ever.

Nadal''s gripping 7-5 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-2 Australian Open final triumph on Sunday night not only denied Federer a record-equalling 14th career major - but also took the
22-year-old''s own tally to six.

The Spaniard has taken just 20 tournaments to accrue his half-dozen, with only Bjorn Borg - who needed 18 events - stacking up his first six slams in quicker fashion.