London, Jan 8 : England's new cricket captain Andrew Strauss has tough tasks on hand of getting his teammates united in the present scenario and make the team perform as it has scored victories only against lower-ranked opponents in the last 18 months.

Melbourne, Jan 8 : Former Australian cricketer Greg Blewett wants fiery bowler Shaun Tait to use this summer's limited-overs cricket season to re-launch his international career.

Tait, who has struggled with injury and motivation since spearheading Australia's 2007 Cricket World Cup triumph, was selected in the national squads for the coming Twenty20 and one-day international series.

Perth, Australia  - Nicolas Kiefer was taken off in a wheelchair on Thursday, victim of a freak ankle injury as Slovakia reached the final of the eight-nation team competition when Germany could not go on.

Kiefer, 31, was watching a return from Dominik Hrbaty sail out over the baseline when he put his weight wrongly on his right ankle and crumbled to the court at the Burswood Dome.

The German, leading 3-1 and with advantage in the fifth game, lay there in pain until he was taken away for treatment.

Wellington  -

Melbourne  - The Australian Open has lost injured world number five Nikolay Davydenko as the Russian withdrew due to a nagging heel injury.

The opening Grand Slam of the season suffered its first high- profile defection through the pullout. Also on the possible danger list are Maria Sharapova and world number two Serena Williams.

Neither have played for months - Sharapova has missed six months - but both insist they will be ready for the major, which begins in 11 days.

London  - Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said he believed his side will reach the Carling Cup final despite their 1-0 defeat at Derby in the first leg of the semi-final on Wednesday.

United were beaten by Kris Commons' superb shot after half an hour, but Rob Hulse missed a good chance to extend their lead later on.

Ferguson said the Championship side could live to regret their missed opportunities.

"I think we are lucky," Ferguson said. "We could have lost by more.