Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting said that his inexperienced side would do all it can to hang on to their number one spot when they would take on South Africa in the upcoming test series.

Speaking with the reporters, Ponting said, “We have had quite a few injuries, but we have brought a fully fit squad to South Africa. We always enjoy playing here. The conditions are fairly similar to those at home, and we know the series will be challenging. We just hope Australia come out on top this time.”

Liberec, Czech Republic  - Xu Wenlong of China and Morgan Smyth of the United States won cross-country qualifying races and Frenchwoman Coline Mattel had the longest ski-jump as the Nordic skiing world championships were set to get underway.

The women's 10km cross-country ski race and the Nordic combined mass start event kick off the championships on Thursday.

The domestic cricket bans on Imran Farhat, Imran Nazir, Humayun Farhat, Riaz Afridi, Arshad Khan and Taufiq Umar has been suspended.

In a major relief to these players, the Sindh High Court on Monday has allowed them to play in the domestic matches in Pakistan.

With this, the Court, has so far cleared the names of 17 players in total in the local tournaments.

Oslo/Stockholm  - Norwegian cross-country ski star Marit Bjoergen and her Swedish rival Charlotte Kalla were considering not competing in the 10-kilometre classic event on Thursday at the world championships in the Czech resort of Liberec.

Bjoergen, 28, told broadcaster NRK on Tuesday that she had recovered from a stomach infection that she came down with over the weekend and on Wednesday would decide definitely if she would compete in the event.

Rome - Struggling Serie A side Torino took home one point from Lazio Saturday, holding the Rome side to a 1-1 draw after taking a first-half lead.

Ignazio Abate, an international defender with Italy's youth team, livened up a dull first half at 36 minutes, drilling a smashing drive into the lower-left corner after seizing a short clearance from Ousmane Dabo.

The Rome hosts saw a first chance go begging at 44 minutes as defender Sebastiano Siviglia had his close-range shot blocked by goalkeeper Matteo Sereni with the tip of his boot.