Sydney, Jan. 8 : Forgotten Australian opener Phil Jaques has declared that he is available to return for next month''s tour of South Africa.

With Hayden showing no signs of retirement, Jaques, 29, declared his availability for the crunch tour as he tries to return from back surgery on a bulging disc.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the left-hander thinks he has the runs on the board after scoring 108 in his last Test against the West Indies in Barbados last year.

He will play club cricket next week and then return to the first-class scene when NSW play Tasmania in Newcastle on January 30.

If his back shows no signs of more problems, Jaques appears a must-have selection for South Africa after averaging 47 in his 11 Tests.

Sydney, Jan. 8 : Australian cricket's chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch has given opener Phillip Hughes a ringing endorsement as Australia looks to replace Matthew Hayden

Hilditch''s comments are a sign the selectors are seriously considering the 20-year-old for higher honours in the not too distant future.

"As far as Phillip Hughes is concerned, he is a very fine player and showing great potential," the Courier Mail quoted Hilditch, as saying.

Sydney, Jan. 8 : Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting has said that Graeme Smith's decision to come out to bat on the last day of the SCG Test with a broken finger, is the bravest thing he has ever seen.

Smith had to be dressed by teammates before batting in extreme pain with a broken left hand and a busted right elbow to try to salvage a draw in an amazing climax to the SCG Test.

Melbourne, Jan 8 : Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice has put all her partying ways behind and thrown herself into training for national selection trials in eight weeks.

The 20-year-old Olympic winner was seen partying at the Paris Hilton's New Year Eve bash and was later seen letting her hair down at the 21st birthday bash for fellow swimmer Kenrick Monkat The Eastern in Bondi Junction.

Washington, Jan 8 : Avoiding detection just got harder for drug cheats, for German researchers have developed tests for a class of performance-enhancing drugs that they believe could be used in the near future.

While Beijing Olympics were remarkably drug free with only six athletes being caught during the games, rumours are rife that many athletes were actually using performance-enhancing drugs that could not be detected using standard tests.

It is suspected that some athletes were using compounds that have not yet been tested in humans, but have shown performance enhancing properties in animal trials.

Because these compounds are in the early stage of development and no test has been developed, so their use will go undetected.

Perth, Australia - German Nicolas Kiefer was rushed to hospital for treatment of an ankle injury suffered as the Slovak Republic backed into a fifth final at the Hopman Cup teams event on Thursday.

The 31-year-old fell victim to the worst possible luck as he suffered a freak mishap while leading Slovakia's Domink Hrbaty 3-1.

The Europeans, winners in 2005, earned their Friday title shot 2-0 after teenager Dominika Cibulkova had beaten Sabine Lisicki of Germany 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 to start the tie.