Sporting briefs

Bogdanovic: Malta striker Daniel Bogdanovic was on the mark last night as he came off the bench to score Barnsley's only goal in a League Cup first round match against Lincoln City. Bogdanovic was introduced on 67 minutes and hit a scorcher past the Lincoln keeper five mintues later for Barnsley's match-winner.

Maradona: Diego Maradona's visit to Russia for a friendly got off on the wrong foot when the Argentina coach cancelled a news conference yesterday. A large international media turnout was turned away from a hotel in the centre of Moscow after being told Maradona had no interest in meeting them. "No, absolutely not," said Argentina media officer Andres Ventura when asked if Maradona would hold a news conference ahead of today's friendly against Russia.

Xerez: The Spanish football league (LFP) have backed newly-promoted Xerez's right to compete in the Primera Liga next season. Real Betis, who were relegated to the second division in May, had written to the LFP asking them to investigate media reports of alleged irregularities linked to a capital increase Xerez undertook in 2002. Xerez said in a statement the LFP and the Spanish sports ministry had rejected the challenges from Betis.

Luis Garcia: Racing Santander have agreed to sign former Spain winger Luis Garcia from Atletico Madrid subject to a medical. The 31-year-old has been a peripheral figure at Atletico since moving from Liverpool two years ago. He is set to sign a two-year deal.

Ronaldo: Cristiano Ronaldo has returned from Real Madrid's pre-season tour of North America with the flu and has been ruled out of Portugal's friendly against Liechtenstein today. The 24-year-old will be replaced by Lazio striker Eliseu for the match in Vaduz.

Carlsberg Tournament: Hibernians vs Qormi 1-1; Birkirkara vs Marsaxlokk 3-0.

Cricket: Australia vice-captain Michael Clarke moved up to second place in the International Cricket Council's test rankings for batsmen after hitting 93 in the fourth Ashes test at Headingley. Clarke, Australia's highest run-getter in the series with 445, replaced India's Gautam Gambhir in second place behind Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara. South African fast bowler Dale Steyn retained the top spot among test bowlers.

Basketball: Los Angeles Lakers star Pau Gasol broke a finger of his left hand during a practice with the Spanish national team and will be sidelined for three weeks. Gasol, who helped the Lakers win the NBA championship last season, is part of Spain coach Sergio Scariolo's 12-man squad for the EuroBasket tournament which will take place from September 7-20 in Poland.

Athletics: Olympic women's pole vault silver medallist Jenn Stuczynski has pulled out of next week's World Championships with an Achilles injury. Stuczynski's withdrawal leaves the August 15-23 championships without two of Russian world record holder Yelena Isinbayeva's top challengers. Svetlana Feofanova, of Russia, earlier pulled out with a leg injury.

Boxing: WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko will defend his title against American Chris Arreola in Los Angeles on September 26. Klitschko retained his WBC crown in March when he defeated Cuban Juan Carlos Gomez. The Ukrainian, who has 37 wins and two defeats, first won the WBC title in 2004 before reclaiming it late last year against Nigerian Samuel Peter. Undefeated Arreola has scored 24 of his 27 wins with knockouts.