Sydney, Jan. 21 : Australia should persist with New South Wales batting sensation David Warner at the top of its one-day order despite the likelihood he will fail more often than he succeeds, says former leg spinner Shane Warne.

The NSW left-hander has made scores of seven and five in the two innings since his superb knock of 83 in his international debut 10 days ago.

Sydney  - Cycling great Lance Armstrong was on the pace Wednesday as Australia's Tour Down Under hit the Adelaide hills.

The 145-kilometre second stage winds up with three hilly 20-kilometre circuits and the 37-year-old Texan showed he was in his element as the gradients got steeper.

It's Armstrong's first stage race since announcing in September his three-year furlough was over and he would come back and try for an eighth Tour de France victory.

Sydney  - Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd said Wednesday that it would slash 6,300 jobs by June, with one third of them going in Australia.

The world's largest resources company will mothball its Ravensthorpe nickel mine in Western Australia. Over on the east coast of the continent, in New South Wales and Queensland, 1,100 coal mining jobs will go.

Sydney - Some applications posted on an Australian government website advertising a high-paying job looking after a tropical island on the Great Barrier Reef were fakes, red-faced officials admitted Monday.

A 60-second video applications for the position of Hamilton Island caretaker was of a young woman having a tattoo etched in her arm declaring her love for the Great Barrier Reef.

The woman was an advertising agency employee and the supposed tattoo was only a transfer. Media outlets around the world reported the bogus application as genuine.

Sydney, Jan. 19: Test hopefuls Phil Jaques and Stuart Clark have been told by Cricket New South Wales CEO David Gilbert that they will not be selected to play in NSW''s Sheffield Shield clash against Tasmania from January 30 unless they play grade cricket this weekend.

The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Gilbert as saying that there was too much at stake for the team to field underdone players. The Shield match is the last chance for players to impress before the South African touring squad is announced.

Jaques has already delayed his return after experiencing discomfort in his back last week, while Clark (elbow) chose Saturday as his return date. If Jaques does not recover in time, the door is open for David Warner to make his first-class debut.

Sydney, Jan. 19: A little less than a week ago, there was a debate raging in cricketing circles in Australia as to whether 50-over one-day internationals would have to make way for the more popular Twenty20 format.