Perth, Jan. 29 : Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting is confident that his team will come up trumps in 2009, but adds that he knows that now is the time to reflect, rebuild and regroup.

In an article for The Australian, Ponting says "As I look around the sporting world, there are all sorts of encouraging signs for the future which give me heart that we will soon be consistently back on the winners'' list again."

Melbourne, Jan 29 : Second seed Serena Williams gained entry to her third consecutive Grand Slam final, beating Elena Dementieva in straight sets at the final of the Australian Open on Thursday.

Williams, aiming for her fourth title at Melbourne and her 10th major championship, essayed a 6-3, 6-4 triumph over the fourth- seeded Russian and will now face either third seed Dinara Safina or seventh seed Vera Zvonareva.

Williams has won nine Slam singles titles and is likely to win a 10th on Saturday night, The Australian reported.

Melbourne, Australia  - Serena Williams will bid for her tenth Grand Slam title to mark a decade of play at the Australian Open when she faces Dinara Safina in the Saturday final.

Second seed Williams, who has lifted Melbourne trophys during odd-numbered years dating to 2003, is going after her fourth at the venue.

The American snapped a three-match loss streak to Elena Dementieva as she knocked the Russian out 6-3, 6-4 in the Thursday semi-finals.

Perth, Jan. 29 : Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting is confident that his team will bounce back from the reverses in the Test and one-day series against the South Africans, notwithstanding the poor form of "Mr. Fixit" left-hand batsman Michael Hussey.

Gone are the days when Hussey would routinely rescue Australia or add the late-order icing on the cake to formidable scores.

Hussey, 33, has two half-centuries in all forms of the game this summer.

Melbourne, Jan. 29 : Two cricketers from Australia have signed up to play a gruelling charity cricket match with a team of "Barmy Brits" on Mount Everest.

The two teams have been named Team Hillary and Team Tenzing will take on each other under the captainship of England captain Andrew Strauss and England vice-captain Alastair Cook in a bid to set a world record for playing the highest ever official sports match and raise 550,000 dollars for the Himalayan Trust and British children''s charity Lord''s Taverners.

Sydney, Jan. 29 : Australian fast bowler Stuart Clark has been ruled out of next month''s cricket tour of South Africa following a setback with his troublesome elbow.

National selectors'' chairman Andrew Hilditch said his panel wasn''t prepared to risk Clark''s fitness following recent surgery with such a heavy playing schedule for the national team over the coming 12 months.