Perth, Jan 9 : Tommy Robredo and Maria-Jose Martinez Sanchez paced Spain to a third Hopman Cup title Saturday with a 2-1 victory over Britain.

Robredo, who played on the 2002 Spanish side which also lifted the trophy at the mixed team event, sent a return winner down the line to clinch the week's work in the concluding mixed doubles rubber.

The 27-year-old old - only man to be ranked inside the top 20 in both singles and doubles - improved his record at the event to 21-6.

Overall victory on third match point of the wrap-up rubber was added to the first Spanish triumph in 1990 along with that of eight years ago.

Perth, Jan 2 : Lleyton Hewitt returned to tennis after a break of two-and-a-half months, producing a fighting 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) defeat of Victor Hanescu to pull top seed Australia level at 1-1 with Romania Saturday's opening day of the Hopman Cup.

The 28-year-old former number one, now ranked 22nd, put on his hero performance at the Burswood Dome as he began his fifth appearance at the international mixed competition featuring men's and women's singles and a mixed doubles rubber.

The victory in two and a half hours kept host Australia alive with a deciding mixed doubles to come.

Perth, Dec 29 : Lleyton Hewitt is due to put five weeks of training in Sydney to the test Saturday when the two-time Grand Slam champion begins Australia's campaign at the Hopman Cup mixed team event.

The former number one is to team up with French Open semi-finalist Samantha Stosur as the host nation bids for only its second title at the eight-nation team event.

Australia, the top seeds, begin on the opening day at the Burswood Dome against Romania with Victor Hanescu and teenage talent Sorana Cirstea, ranked 45th on the WTA.

Perth, Dec 18 : West Indies spinner Benn Suleiman has been handed a two ODI ban while Australians Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson were fined match fees for their on-field altercation during the second day of the ongoing third Test here Thursday.

Match Referee Chris Broad found all the three players guilty of conduct contrary to the Spirit of Cricket. Haddin was fined 25 percent and Johnson 10 percent of their match fees.

Benn will miss the opening two ODIs against Australia in Melbourne and Adelaide slated for Feb 7 and Feb 9.

Perth, Dec 17 : Sulieman Benn, Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson face suspension by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after having been involved in an on-field altercation on day two of the third Test between Australia and West Indies here Thursday.

The drama began when West Indies spinner Benn and Johnson collided as the Australian set off towards the keeper's end for a single and Benn tried to field the ball off Haddin.

Perth, Dec. 12 : West Indies middle order batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan has said the harsh criticism coming the team''s way after the first Test in Brisbane hurt him personally, but it also helped the side as a whole to turn things around during the Adelaide Test.

He said the visitors did a lot of soul searching and even engaged in heated arguments after the Gabba Test defeat, but the sum total at the end, was the emergence of a mentally stronger side.

Perth, July 23 : Baby clothes with inappropriate slogans like "The condom broke", "I''m a tits man", "Pardon my nipple breath", and "I''m living proof my mum is easy", are said to have caused outrage with family groups.

Perth, July 23 : Mothers are constantly urged to breastfeed, for numerous studies have shown that it helps to keep a host of problems including obesity, allergies, asthma and diabetes at bay. Now, a leading paediatrician has said that the benefits of nursing have been greatly exaggerated.

Professor Michael Kramer, from Montreal''s McGill University, has claimed that much of the evidence we hear about how good it is to breastfeed our babies is either wrong or out of date.

Perth (Australia), June 17: It was bad enough that Indian students were being racially abused, but reports have now surfaced that racial taunts have also been directed at aboriginal students in the town of Narrogin in Western Australia''s south-east.

According to news. com. au, 25 children have been asked by their parents to stay at home because of what they claim are racial slurs against indigenous students.

Perth (Australia), June 11 : Former Sri Lanka and currently Western Australia coach Tom Moody is confident that off-spinner Nathan Hauritz will play the first Ashes Test next month.

The New South Wales spinner has taken 14 wickets in four Tests, but is still regarded as a containing bowler rather than a big wicket-taking threat.

Hauritz, 27, who toured South Africa earlier this year, was overlooked for all three Tests.

Perth, Apr. 16 : A University of Western Australia bio-mechanist has said Proteas off spinner Johan Botha's action is similar to Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan.

According to Bruce Elliot, Botha has an action that looks "not quite as different as Murali but heading in that direction."

Perth, Australia  - With Jelena Dokic finally putting her life back together both on and off the court, the surprise Australian Open quarter-finalist may soon be back in contact with her younger brother.

The estranged Dokic family is now spread around the globe, with former tennis bad dad Damir involved in a Serbian vineyard near Belgrade and his Croatian ex-wife Ljiljana now based in Sydney.

Perth, Feb. 2: Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin has angrily denied claims by the New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori that he cheated during the one-day clash at the WACA yesterday.

The dispute centers around the dismissal of Black Cap Neil Broom at a vital stage of New Zealand''s two-wicket win.

Broome was given out bowled by Michael Clarke in the 36th over, but replays quickly showed Haddin had clipped off the bails with his gloves rather than the ball.

Perth, Feb. 2 : Australian cricket skipper Ricky Ponting is reportedly ready to urge the national selectors to pick Andrew Symonds for the tour of South Africa.

Ponting said he wanted the all-rounder in his squad for "all forms of the game" in South Africa after Australia lost the Test and one-day series at home for the first time in 16 years.

Perth, Feb. 1 : The International Cricket Council (ICC) has awarded the controversial 2006 Oval test match to England.

In a meeting of the ICC Board here today, England was declared the winner of the Test match against Pakistan played in 2006 at the Oval Cricket ground

"After reconsideration of the matter, which included consideration of legal advice and input from the MCC, the custodians of the Laws of Cricket, the Board decided that the original umpires' decision to award the match to England, should apply," an official statement from the ICC said.

Earlier in July 2008, the ICC had reversed the decision of the field umpires and termed the match as " abandoned as a draw".

Perth, Feb. 1 : In what may be seen as a major jolt to the Pakistan Cricket Board's hope of reviving international cricket in the country, the International Cricket Council
(ICC) has decided to relocate the 2009 Champions Trophy from Pakistan.

In a meeting of the ICC Board here today, it was decided that due to the reluctance of several teams to visit Pakistan, it would be prudent to relocate the event, scheduled for September/October 2009.

However, the ICC said that it would send a delegation to visit Pakistan and work with the PCB to find ways to bring back international cricket in the country.

Perth (Australia), Jan. 31 : The ICC Board on Saturday held the first day of its two-day meeting in Perth, the first of the four scheduled meetings it holds each year.

Among the matters discussed were the following:

Zimbabwe: A task team, headed by Dr Julian Hunte, the President of the West Indies Cricket Board, presented an interim report to the ICC Board. This followed a visit to Zimbabwe by Dr Hunte and ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat in November last year.

Perth, Jan. 31: Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting and other senior players will seek to boost the confidence of the younger players following Australia''s 4-1 one-day series loss to South Africa.

Ponting said it is important that the team starts afresh for their five-game series against New Zealand, which begins in Perth on Sunday.

Perth, Jan. 30 : Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting has played down workload issues regarding the IPL, and said that it will not affect the team's preparations for the Ashes this year.

Heading into his fifth month of international cricket without a break, Ponting denied there was too much cricket, but questioned the tightly packed scheduling of Test series with New Zealand and South Africa this summer.

Perth, Jan. 30 : South Africa will unleash one of their youngest pace attacks against Australia''s batsmen at the WACA Ground this evening in a bid to wrest the top spot in world rankings.

The Proteas pace trio on Friday will consist of two debutants, 24-year-old Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Wayne Parnell, 19, who will be led by 24-year-old Morne Morkel.

Tsotsobe will share the new ball with Morkel. It will be the first time South Africa will field two left-arm seamers in a one-day international.