Gaelic games: Former All-Star Ciaran Carey has confirmed in writing to Limerick hurling manager Eamon Cregan that he did not wish to be considered for the next 12 months.
Carey intimated that he wanted a break from inter-county hurling and that that could extend to his club hurling with Patrickswell. Limerick selector Michael Fitzgerald admitted that Carey would be a loss. "He has a lot of hurling mileage on the clock. There can be no questioning his loyalty to Limerick and the burn-out factor has now probably caught up with him."
Cricket: Former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin, banned for life after being accused of match-fixing, will challenge the decision in court, his lawyer said yesterday. Former federal law minister Hans Raj Bharadwaj, who is representing Azharuddin, said his client wanted him to contest the life ban imposed by the Indian Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI).
"The case is almost ready and will be filed soon," Bharadwaj said, adding it will be put before the Andhra Pradesh High Court in Azharuddin's home city of Hyderabad.
The BCCI banned Azharuddin - who burst onto the international scene in 1984 with three centuries in his first three Tests against England - and former Test star Ajay Sharma for life and suspended Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar for five years, after they were found guilty of wrongdoing by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The BCCI's own internal inquiry, headed by former CBI director K Madhavan, endorsed the CBI's charge that 37-year-old Azharuddin - who appeared in 99 tests and a record 323 one-day internationals - was involved in matchfixing and found Sharma, Prabhakar and Jadeja of hobnobbing with bookmakers.
Awards: India's only medal winner at the Sydney Olympics, weight-lifter Karnam Malleshwari, has been named Time magazine's South Asian of the Year.
The 25 year-old Malleshwari, who hails from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, was chosen by a poll organised by Time's Asia's web column.
Malleshwari became the "first woman from South Asia to stand on an Olympic podium. She won a bronze in the 60kg competition.
She polled the maximum number of votes from readers, beating Velupillai Prabakharan, the leader of the Sri Lankan Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Chandrababu Nadu, the chief minister of Malleshwari's home state. Malleshwari has been representing India in weightlifting since 1990 and has won a number of medals at several international meets.
Motor sport: Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo would like to take a year's break and has considered leaving the 2000 Formula One champions, the Financial Times reported yesterday.
"I really would like to take a year's sabbatical," the newspaper quoted 53year-old Montezemolo, whose wife is expecting a baby in May, as saying.
But the paper added that, while the Ferrari boss occasionally thought of leaving Ferrari, he was "resigned to the fact that he will not be allowed to do so."
Montezemolo, speaking at his family estate outside Bologna, said it had been an extraordinary year.
`'I got married, Ferrari won the Formula One championship after 21 years. Our sales of Ferrari sports cars will hit 4,000 for the first time this year."
However, he added that the team's success on the track, with Germany's Michael Schumacher winning nine races and taking Ferrari's first drivers' title since South African Jody Scheckter in 1979, had some negative aspects.
"The head hunters are swirling around Ferrari making offers for our best people," he said. "We've already lost two."
