London, Apr. 10 : Former Zimbabwean cricketer and now assistant coach of the England cricket team appears set for taking up the role in a more permanent capacity.

Having just returned home from a tough 11 weeks in the Caribbean, Flower was preparing for the challenge ahead as he and national selector Geoff Miller watched a Durham Vs MCC match from one of the deserted broadcasting boxes in the Lord's media centre yesterday.

London, Apr. 10 : Spaniard Rafael Nadal has declared that he will defend the Aegon title at London's Queen's Club and head for a rankings war with Andy Murray.

Murray has also entered the tournament from June 8-14, to set up what could be one of the summer's most thrilling tennis rivalries, reports The Sun.

Last year Nadal, the world No1, used Queen's to prepare for his Wimbledon win.

Melbourne, Apr 10 : Australian batsman Callum Ferguson has earned plenty of praise for stabilising his team's rocky batting line-up.

The 24-year-old right-hander has quickly become the leading batsman in either team in the one-day series against South Africa, scoring 138 runs at 46.00 in three matches including two half-centuries.

London, Apr 10 : Manchester United's wage bill has increased to a whopping sum of 121million pounds in 2008, an increase of 29 million pounds.

The 30 per cent rise comes after improved deals for ace players Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.

United's Premier League and Champions League Double last season saw them splash 13.3 million pounds in bonuses, compared to 8.6 million pounds the previous year.

Lahore, Apr. 10: With uncertainty looming over the participation of Pakistan players in the second season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has sought information from the IPL management regarding their status.

According to Dawn, even though the players have an independent contract with the IPL, the PCB wants the league management to clarify its stand on the issue.

Lahore, Apr. 10 : Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam and captain Younis Khan have different views about playing conditions and pitches in the UAE.

While Alam, recently, visited Abu Dhabi and Dubai to inspect the pitches for the series against Australia, and said Pakistan will have an advantage over the visiting team, Khan made it clear that performance will matter even if provided home conditions in the UAE.