Melbourne, Nov 21: Former skipper Steve Waugh has said that Ricky Ponting now needs to draw a line through the Nagpur Test and not defend his actions, as it will detract and make the Australian team vulnerable to attacks from sides now sensing a fragility not seen since the mid-1980s.

“If he continues to defend his actions, his mind will be distracted and his team vulnerable to attack from sides now sensing a fragility not seen since the mid-1980s,” Waugh said.

Taipei - Taiwan, still reeling from its defeat at the hands of China at the Beijing Olympics, is aiming to advance to the top eight at the 2009 World Baseball Classic, a baseball official said Friday.

"In the first World Baseball Classic held in 2006, Taiwan failed to make it into the top eight. So our goal is to beat either Japan or South Korea and advance into the top eight," Lin Tzung-cheng, secretary-general of the Chinese-Taipei Baseball Association, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Sydney, Nov 21: Former Australia cricket captain Allan Border has reportedly strongly criticised the practice of cricketers writing books, which, according to him, were nothing more than a medium to create controversies.

The comment comes in the wake of the recent controversy triggered by a book “Captain’s Diary” written by Aussie captain, in which he said that former Indian Test Sunil Gavaskar was “no angel” when it came to on-ground controversies.

London - The Croatian wife of Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone has filed for divorce, a statement issued by her lawyer in London said Thursday.

Lausanne, Switzerland - The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) partially upheld Thursday a ruling by UEFA against Atletico Madrid, but reduced the size of the club's fine and halved the number of Champions League matches it must play behind closed dooors.

UEFA's appeals body originally fined Atletico 150,000 euros (dollars) and also ordered that two matches be played in an empty stadium (the second match behind closed doors was deferred).

However, Atletico appealed and CAS reduced the fine to 75,000 euros and held that only one match be held behind closed doors, the upcoming Champions League group match against PSV Eindhoven set for November 26.

Madrid - Traditionally, Spanish football has always revolved around the country's big clubs rather than the national team.

Mighty clubs such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla, Deportivo lA Coruna, Athletic Bilbao and Zaragoza have, with their strong regional identifications and European achievements, monopolized the football sentiments of Spaniards - as well as the newspaper headlines.

The national team, by contrast, has always been a poor relative, forever raising expectations because of its talented players, but usually flopping on the big stage.