Sydney, Mar. 19: The Australian cricket team has not resolved all of their difficulties and nor is the side settled, but it is hungry for success, not to speak of it being fearless and hard to subdue, claims cricket columnist Peter Roebuck.

In an article for the Sydney Morning Herald, Roebuck says that while at present, the scoreline stands at 3-2 in favour of Australia, there is a need to carry out a fair reflection of the play.

Hamilton, Mar. 19 : A dominant India on Thursday were just a run short of New Zealand's total of 279 in their first innings in the first Test being played at Seddon Park in Hamilton, thanks to three half centuries from the blades of Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar.

At close of play on the second day of the Test, Sachin Tendulkar was unbeaten on 70, with eleven boundaries, while southpaw Yuvraj Singh was keeping him company on eight.

Sydney, Mar 19: Sri Lankan batsman Thilan Samaraweera is undergoing counselling to deal with the trauma of nearly losing his life in the attack, which rocked the cricket world to its core

Samaraweera says his career is far from over and has not ruled out the possibility of returning to play in Pakistan, where he and teammates came under fire two weeks ago in the first terrorist attack against a cricket team.

London, Mar 19: English selectors have snubbed Kevin Pietersen once again and named Paul Collingwood to lead the side for ODI series against West Indies in place of injured skipper Andrew Strauss.

The move has ended Pietersen’s hopes of getting another chance to lead the side, even as a stand-in captain, The Sun reports.

Essex opener Alastair Cook has already been appointed Strauss’ No. 2 in Test cricket.

Pietersen, sacked as skipper in January, has said that he would like to lead England again.

Hamburg  - The world economic crisis appears to be a blessing in disguise for Formula One racing.

Not only have the grim economic realities drastically sped up major cost-cutting, they have also led to unique harmony between teams for the common goal of a bright future.

Luca di Montezemolo, the boss of Ferrari and the newly founded F1 team organisation FOTA, spoke of "an unprecedented moment in the history of Formula One" after the teams agreed to various measures to improve the sport.

"We do believe we can make it (F1) stronger and better in the future, and certainly if we work together we can really achieve some of those goals," said McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh.

Hamburg - Sebastian Vettel certainly isn't getting carried away by all the hype surrounding him ahead of the 2009 Formula One season.

The 21-year-old German had a stand-out 2008 with Toro Rosso, finishing seventh in the drivers' world championship and becoming the youngest grand prix winner in the sport at the Italian GP in Monza.

Vettel's performances saw Toro Rosso's mother team Red Bull quickly move to sign him up for 2009 and led many commentators to say he is a world champion in the making.