Sydney, Dec 28 : John Bracewell, who coached New Zealand in the Trans-Tasman Trophy series that began last month, has said that his team is responsible for beginning out of form Australian opener Matthew Hayden's slide this summer by revealing the flaw in his technique that could force him to retire from the game.

Bracewell said his team had identified that Hayden's "lazy" front shoulder, which made him susceptible to nicking the ball early in his innings.

Sydney  - Several beaches in Perth, Western Australia, were closed Sunday after a large shark was sighted by a helicopter searching for a missing man believed to have been attacked by the creature the previous day.

Authorities said the helicopter and search boats found only pieces of a wetsuit worn by Brian Guest, 51, who disappeared while snorkelling for crabs at a beach south of the city on Saturday.

A large shark was spotted and a witness reported seeing blood in the water at the place where Guest was last seen, ABC Radio reported.

Sydney  - A shark attacked a man who was snorkelling just six metres from the beach at Port Kennedy, south of Perth in Western Australia on Saturday, news reports said.

A search by police and emergency services with boats and a helicopter failed to find the 51-year-old man and at least one eyewitness reported seeing blood in the water, ABC radio reported.

It said a large shark had been spotted in the area and the man's family had requested that it should not be hunted and destroyed.

Sydney, Dec 26 : Scientific research has shown that countries in the Asia-Pacific region face an era of "mega-disasters" affecting hundreds of thousands of people as urbanization, climate change and food shortages amplify the impact of natural catastrophes such as earthquakes and cyclones in coming years.

According to a report in Sydney Morning Herald, scientists at Geoscience Australia conducted the research.

The research, which has prompted the Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, to establish a joint disaster training and research centre, identifies Indonesia, the Philippines and China as the countries most likely to experience large-scale disasters.

Sydney, Dec 26 : Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been selected to lead the team of the year for his fighting and match winning strategies. The other Indian to make it to the team is opener Gautam Gambhir, who scored heavily in 2008.

Sydney, Dec 24 : Indian born doctor Mohamed Haneef, who was wrongly dubbed as terror suspect, has said that he holds no grudges against Australia and may even return to live here despite a scathing report that exposes blunders by the country's top security officials and politicians.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland acknowledged on Tuesday that mistakes were made "at the highest level," and said he would not take action against any government officials, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.