Melbourne, Mar. 4 : Left-hander David Warner will make his first-class debut for New South Wales in a Sheffield Shield match after opener Phil Jaques dropped out due to back soreness.

The 22-year-old Australian opener in Twenty20 matches will bat in the middle order, with Ed Cowan filling the opening position.

In 2009, Warner became the third player in the history of Australian cricket to make an international début before playing a first-class game.

Warner made a sensational international debut against South Africa in the Twenty20 game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Hamburg - Bode Miller, the defending overall World Cup champion, has decided not to race the rest of the 2009 season and has hinted at retirement.

"Due to a number of factors, it makes sense to call it a season," Miller said in a statement published by the US ski team late Tuesday.

Miller, 31, has had a frustrating season hampered by an ankle injury and failed to win either a World Cup race or gain a medal at the world championships in Val d'Isere, France in February.

However, he was only 35 points behind Austria's Michael Walchhofer in the World Cup downhill standings ahead of two downhills in Kvitfjell, Norway on Friday and Saturday and the season-ender in Are, Sweden next week.

Johannesburg, Mar. 4 : Cricket Australia (CA) has indicated that next year''s scheduled cricket Tests between Australia and Pakistan could be held in England. The discussions had been going on for several weeks before Tuesday's terror attack in Lahore.

"Pakistan has accepted for some time that we aren't able to visit because of the safety and security concerns in that nation. Pakistan has started the discussion about playing three Test matches at neutral venues in England in 2010," CA spokesman Peter Young said.

Los Angeles  - The Cleveland Cavaliers, looking to beef up their front court for the playoff push, will sign recently-released veteran forward Joe Smith on Wednesday.

"After careful consideration of his options, Joe has decided that the Cavs are the best fit," Smith's agent, Dan Fegan, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Smith was released by the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the 14-year veteran must wait to clear waivers before signing what is believed to be a one-year contract.

London, Mar 4 : Football heartthrob Cristiano Ronaldo's new girlfriend is reportedly a gym instructor.

Apparently, the Brazilian beauty, named only as Gabriela, 27, waved a poster of him at an international. According to reports, Ronaldo, 24, invited her to watch him play after meeting at a nightclub in Portugal.

Friends say the stunner then jetted to England to spend 7 days with the Manchester United star at his 4million-pound home, reports The Sun.

Melbourne, Mar 4 : Sri Lanka's Australian coach Trevor Bayliss is expected to return home later this week after being caught in the terrorist attack in Lahore.

His wife Julie said the father of two had flown back to Colombo with the rest of the Sri Lankan team after 12 masked gunmen attacked their convoy en route to the Gaddafi stadium for the second Test against Pakistan.