Sydney  - With the eucalypts still burning and the cost in lives from Australia's worst forest fires climbing towards 200, the recriminations have begun.

Sonja Parkinson, whose Kinglake home was among more than 750 houses destroyed in Saturday's blaze north of Melbourne, blames state authorities in Victoria.

"We saw the fire and heard the roar over the hill. We saw the orange flame. There wasn't any warning," she said. "We were listening to the radio the whole time and they didn't know."

Sydney  - The body count reached 173 on Tuesday in Australia's devastating wildfires, more than doubling the death toll from the country's previous worst forest fires in 1983.

Authorities in the south-coast city of Melbourne said army bulldozers are clearing the path for forensic teams to enter hamlets cut off by Saturday's inferno.

In tiny Strathewen, which only had a population of 450, 26 bodies have been found so far.

Sydney, Feb. 9 : New South Wales batting tyro David Warner has been dropped from the Australian one-day side for the final two matches of the five-game series against New Zealand.

The 22-year-old left-hander paid the price for a string of low scores by being axed from the 13-man squad for matches in Adelaide on Tuesday and Brisbane on Friday.

Ponting said it was up to Warner to go back to state cricket and challenge again for a spot in the national side.

"I think he was picked in our one-day squad on the back of a couple of unbelievable innings for NSW and that magnificent 89 he made in the Twenty20 (against South Africa) down in Melbourne," Ponting said.

Sydney, Feb. 9 : Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting has said that wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin can open the batting for "as long as he likes" after scoring his maiden one-day international century to set up Australia''s victory against New Zealand at the SCG on Sunday night.

The victory, just Australia''s second win in eight one-day matches this summer, and their first in three against New Zealand, keeps alive the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy series with matches to come in Adelaide on Tuesday and Brisbane on Friday.

Sydney  - Kinglake was a picture-perfect high-country town 100 kilometres north-east of Melbourne that was home to 600 people.

On Saturday a forest fire barrelled through and now it's little more than a name on a map.

Survivor Christopher Harvey is convinced that "there was no chance of fighting or taking care of this fire." One minute the crimson ball of flame was on the ridge above the town, the next it was in their midst.