Auckland, Sep 10: Former Australian coach John Buchanan, who is the Director of Cricket for New Zealand Cricket (NZC), has defended the decision to appoint another Australian for a key role in New Zealand Cricket.

It comes after Kim Littlejohn was appointed as the national selector manager, who will be responsible for the selection of men's and women's squads from under-19s through to the Black Caps and White Ferns.

Auckland, July 11: A popular rugby club in New Zealand has been facing criticism for using topless models at a fundraising event.

The stunt led to calls for the New Zealand Rugby Union to confront sexist attitudes within the game. The Auckland University Rugby Football Club hired semi-naked women to parade around at its annual pretest luncheon

The last week event was also attended by former Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters.

Former All Black captain Murray Mexted, who delivered the keynote address, described the women who stripped to raise money as "PR girls for rugby", The New Zealand Herald reported.

Auckland, Feb 7: The wife of slain Indian-origin taxi driver Hiren Mohini has said that his death is still hard to believe for the family, including her two young daughters.

Speaking about the tragedy for the first time, Falguni Mohini said she had kept the gruesome details of the murder from her two daughters, five-year-old Yashvi and three-year-old Hetvi.

“We told them Papa has gone to stay with God, but that is still hard for them to understand. Both children are so young and innocent so we are taking it slowly, day by day. But we told them his soul is free,” The New Zealand Herald quoted Falguni, as saying.

Auckland, Jan 9 : Belgian Yanina Wickmayer Saturday won the ABS Classic title to continue her emergence from the shadow of celebrated compatriots Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin.

With that high-profile pair of former number one players - both engaged in comebacks to tennis following retirement - US Open semi-finalist Wickmayer blazed her own trail with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of top seed Flavia Pennetta to earn the Auckland title.

The third-seeded Wickmayer claimed the third title of her career dating back just over eight months.

"This week will stay in my heart and my soul for the rest of my life," she said. "I'm just really happy to bring this trophy home. It's the most important one till now.

Auckland, Jan 5 :  India's Sania Mirza rallied from a set down to beat Swiss teenager Stefanie Voegele 5-7, 6-1, 7-5 in the opening round of ASB Classic tennis here Tuesday. She, however, lost in the doubles opener with new partner Virginia Ruano Pascual.

Sania and Pascual, seeded second, bowed out to Dominika Cibulkova and Yanina Wickmayer 6-1, 7-6 (6).

In the singles, an erratic first set saw seven breaks of serve before Voegele closed it in her favour.

Auckland, Jan 5 : Second seed Li Na crashed out Tuesday from the ASB Classic in a shock start to her season, with Estonian Kaia Kanepi producing a 6-1, 6-3 victory over the Chinese.

Three other seeds advanced as number four Italian Francesca Schiavone beat Stephanie Cohen-Aloro of France 6-2, 6-3, fifth-seeded Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano ousted Monica Niculescu of Romania 7-5, 6-4 and sixth-seeded Russian Elena Vesnina defeated Italy's Alberta Brianti 6-1, 6-4.

Auckland, Jan 4 : US Open semi-finalist Yanina Wickmayer celebrated the overturning of a 2009 ban for missing drug testing dates by earning an opening-day victory to advance Monday at the ASB Classic.

Wickmayer, a wildcard entry after her sanction was reversed only weeks ago, joined Italian top seed Flavia Pennetta in powering through to start the new season.

Third-seed Wickmayer, the world number 16, defeated German Julia Goerges 6-3, 7-5 as play began an hour late due to bad weather.

Top seed Pennetta, who last played the event seven years ago, produced a 6-2, 6-4 success over veteran American Jill Craybas.

Auckland, Nov 20 : New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond and batsman Peter Fulton have been included in the 13-man squad for the first of Three tests against Pakistan, starting in Dunedin on Tuesday.

This will be the first Test match for Bond after two years, as his career was first stalled by persistent injuries and then by his decision to play from 2008 in the Indian Cricket League tournament, The New Zealand Herald reports.

Auckland, Nov 17 : New Zealand fast bowler Kyle Mills has been ruled out of action for at least four months following a shoulder and knee injury.

The 30-year-old will be required to have a surgery on his knee this Friday and an operation to repair a torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder the following week.

Mills said that he is targeting the ICC Twenty20 World Cup next April for his comeback to international cricket.

Auckland, Nov 16 : New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori has been cleared to take part in the upcoming three-match Test series against Pakistan.

Vettori had earlier suffered a mild concussion after being struck in the helmet, while batting in the ODI series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.

“He is feeling significantly better and will be available to play in the first Test starting on 24 November,” The New Zealand Cricket said in a statement.

Three years back, Air New Zealand received a branding overhaul, and now the airline is re-looking its uniform and livery. Also, economy class flyer might soon be able to sleep comfortably during flights. Air NZ might be revamping a lot of things, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.

A new research by the Auckland City Council has established that event industry has played significant role in the city's economy, contributing at least $479 million of consumption in 2008.

The research, a first ever drafted study, has analyzed the impact of various events held in the city over its economy.

Councillor Greg Moyle, chairperson of the Arts, Culture and Recreation Committee, said, "This assessment of the economic contribution of Auckland's entire events portfolio has demonstrated the importance of the events industry to our region."

Auckland, Oct 23: Playing down the controversy over Coach Andy Moles's role in the New Zealand cricket team, skipper Daniel Vettori has said the there is no point raising questions over the coach before a crucial series.

When asked if he would be happy for Moles to continue, Vettori said: "I think we have to be. There''''s no point me making statements to the contrary. I think we have to prepare to take a team away and get the best out of them."

Auckland, Oct 20 : An Indian group in New Zealand has come up with a proposal to build a Kiwi version of the Taj Mahal in the Auckland suburb of Eden Tce.

The planned 20 million dollar replica will rise on the site of the existing Mahatma Gandhi Centre in Auckland, and could include a marble mausoleum, reflection pool and gold-plated ornaments.

Auckland (New Zealand), Oct. 16 : Recently retired New Zealand Test all-rounder Jacob Oram has hit out at detractors who have questioned his commitment to the national team.

The 31-year-old injury-prone Black Caps allrounder on Tuesday announced his retirement from test cricket in a bid to extend his longevity in shorter forms of the game.

His decision was yesterday still being dissected by sport fans on radio talkback phone lines and by media commentators around the country.

Auckland, Oct. 16 : The search for the missing Indian–origin Auckland-based student Srikanth Rayadurgam has intensified, with police now turning their attention to Karangahape Rd after earlier searches at the Westhaven Marina and Pt Erin area proved futile.

Rayadurgam, 23, was last seen at midday October 1 when leaving his Mt Albert home

Srikanth made two international phone calls from his cell phone after 10 pm on the night he went missing, police say.

Auckland, Oct. 7 : New Zealand taekwondo practitioner Logan Campbell, who opened a brothel to finance his 2012 Olympic Games bid, may not be allowed to qualify for the championship, as he has “violated the Olympic movement''s values.”

The New Zealand Olympic Committee has written to Campbell, threatening legal action.

“Based on the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect, we would place your actions as totally inconsistent with these values,” stuff. co. nz quoted the NZOC, as saying.

Auckland (New Zealand), Aug 17 : Former Indian Cricket League (ICL) rebel Daryl Tuffey has expressed delight at being called up to play for the New Zealand Test team on its tour of Sri Lanka.

“A year ago, I would never have thought that I would ever play for New Zealand again. I''m really excited, though, that I am and that I have another chance to improve my Test and one-day figures over the next year,” stuff. co. nz quoted Tuffey, as saying.

The top seeded Indian pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas has won the title of the New Zealand Open Grand Prix on Saturday. The Indian pair fought hard to defeat Japanese duo of Hirokatsu Hashimoto and Noriyasu Hirata in the final in Auckland.

Rupesh-Thomas duo ousted the fourth seeded pair of Hashimoto-Hirata in a three setter match by 21-16 15-21 21-13 in 53 minutes. This title win will boost their morale ahead of World Badminton Championships, which will be held at Hyderabad from 10th August.

Emily Perkins' psychological thriller 'About My Wife' has won the prestigious $10,000 Montana Medal for Fiction or Poetry this year.

Montana New Zealand Book Awards were presented at a festive dinner ceremony at the Auckland War Memorial Museum last night.

The panel of judges for the awards included Dr Mark Williams, from Victoria University, journalist Margo White and novelist Jane Westaway.

Mark says: "Novel 'About My Wife' is sophisticated and urban, with characters that inhabit crabbed and threatened worlds. It registers the minute nuances of class, concealment and reserve in domestic English life."