Sydney, Dec 15 : Australian vice-captain Michael Clarke has reinforced the worth of a spinner in Perth, despite the WACA's reputation as a spin bowler's graveyard.

Clarke insisted, though, that the decision on whether to play Jason Krejza instead of a fourth paceman would not be coloured by the result of last January's Perth Test, in which the home team fielded four quicks only for India to win by 72 runs, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

History has not been kind to spinners in Perth, where Indian legend Bishan Bedi is the only slow bowler to have claimed 10 wickets in a match, and the great Shane Warne did not gather more than six victims in a Test.

Sydney, Dec 15 : The withdrawal of Australian pace bowler Stuart Clark from the three-Test series has provided a huge boost for South Africa, but coach Mickey Arthur has warned his batsmen of the dangers of complacency against an attack that still features Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson.

The Proteas had identified Clark as Australia's main pace weapon, and with good reason, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The 33-year-old shredded the South Africans in his debut series, taking 20 wickets at 15.85 in three Tests and removing Jacques Kallis on four occasions.

Melbourne, Dec 15 : South African pace spear head Dale Steyn has vowed to knock down Australian opener Matthew Hayden by targetting his head during this week's first Test in Perth.

Skipper Graeme Smith has identified Hayden as the key target for the Proteas, as it can be revealed that Steyn has made it his personal mission to blunt Australia's batting bruiser, the Courier Mail reports.

Hayden has long been the cornerstone of Australia's batting fortress but chinks have been appearing in the armour of the 37-year-old opener, who has averaged just 26 in his past six Tests.

Steyn, in his extensive handwritten study notes on Australia's batsmen, has noticed that Hayden's feet are not moving as quickly as they once were.

London, Dec. 15 : Chelsea coach Phil Scolari was rushed to hospital on Saturday after fears arose that he had suffered a heart attack.

According to The Sun, the 60-year-old Brazilian suffered agonising chest pains at the club's training ground on Saturday.

Wife Olga, 58, drove him to The Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford, where medics initially thought he had been stricken by an attack.

But later it was diagnosed that he was suffering from painful kidney stones.

Shrugging off the drama in typical style, Scolari took charge of his team for the Blues' home clash against West Ham on Sunday, which they drew 1-1.

Sydney, Dec 15 : Injured Australian fast bowler Stuart Clark can learn from the experiences of former state and national teammate Stuart MacGill as he faces the prospect of elbow surgery that may bring his career to an end.

MacGill twice went under the knife to have bone spurs removed from his bowling elbow and returned to international competition on both occasions, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Los Angeles  - Nearly seven weeks into the season, the San Antonio Spurs have finally hit their stride, though they nearly stumbled at the finish line.

Tony Parker scored six of his 22 points in the last two minutes of Sunday night's game as the Spurs held off a late charge to slip past the Oklahoma City Thunder 109-104 for their sixth-straight victory.

"We know NBA teams are going to make a run, and they did in the second half," Parker said. "At the end, it was really ugly, but we got the win."

Tim Duncan had 20 points and 12 rebounds, Matt Bonner scored 17 and Roger Mason fired in 14 with four three-pointers for San Antonio (15-8), which moved atop the South-West Division after a dismal 1-4 start.