Lausanne, Switzerland  - The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) Thursday dismissed cyclist Michael Rasmussen's appeal against the two-year ban he received for doping from the Monegasque Cycling Federation (FMC) last June.

"Consequently, Michael Rasmussen is suspended for a period of two years, starting on 26 July 2007," said CAS in a statement.

Rasmussen was kicked out of the 2007 Tour while leading after lying about his whereabouts in connection with doping tests. He told the International Cycling Federation

Sydney, Jan. 22: Australian pace bowler Stuart Clark is one of three star players who will ramp up their South African tour credentials via park cricket this weekend.

According to Fox Sports, Clark will line up for Sydney University on Saturday and test his troublesome elbow, which sidelined him before the Perth Test last month.

The right-arm seamer will clash with Sutherland, who have Aussie opener Phil Jaques ready to test out his back.

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been selected in India’s 15-member squad for the Sri Lanka tour while because of a hamstring injury off-spinner Harbhajan Singh had to be left out from the team.

Jadeja was rewarded for his fine performances in the Ranji Trophy in which he scored over 700 runs at over 67 per innings and picked 42 wickets.

However, right hand batsman from Delhi Virat Kohli was dropped from the team announced by BCCI joint secretary Sanjay Jagdale after a meeting of the selectors. Indian skipper MS Dhoni also attended the meeting.

Sania Mirza breezed into the second round of the Australian Open tournament by getting the better of Marta Domachowhska. The Indian dominated throughout and an improved serve saw her easily overcome the challenge put forth by Marta.

The Hyderabadi girl served with consistency and hit attacking groundstrokes to outplay her opponent, ranked 61 in the world, 6-1, 6-4.

The 22 year old Sania was raced away with the first set in less than half an hour.

After making a speedy recovery from last month’s knee surgery, Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds is now looking forward for the next month tour of South Africa.

Commenting over Symonds fitness, team physio, Alex Kountouris said, “I would be disappointed if Andrew wasn't available to go to South Africa.”

“Things are progressing well. At this stage it's hard to say when Andrew will be back but I'd expect it to be somewhere between three to five weeks”, added Kountouris.

Due to the visa-related problems, the authorities of the immigration department at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on Saturday evening detained the dope tainted fast bowler Mohammad Asif. Although the Pakistan High Commission’s intervened in this issue, but the airport authorities deported back Asif.

It is believed that Asif who played for Delhi Daredevils IPL team last season was coming to India to sort out some financial issues with the IPL authorities.