Cricket: Australian Joe Dawes was yesterday named as India’s new bowling coach to replace South African Eric Simons following the cricket team’s dismal overseas Test performance in recent months. The decision to hire Dawes, 41, comes after India were whitewashed 4-0 by Australia to record eight successive overseas Test defeats following a similar hammering in England last year.
Basketball: Dirk Nowitzki scored 22 points as Dallas Mavericks stretched their NBA win streak to four games on Monday with a 96-92 victory over Los Angeles Clip-pers. Shawn Marion added 16 points for the Mavericks while Delonte West, Brendan Hay-wood and Vince Carter each contributed 10. The team impro-ved to 18-11, 1.5 games behind first-place San Antonio in the Southwest division.
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Rugby Union: John Kirwan (picture) will coach the Barbarians in a three-match tour. Kirwan, previously in charge of Italy and Japan, will lead what is set to be a star-studded squad for the non-cap internationals against England, Ireland and Wales. The Barbarians are rugby union’s most famous invitational side and their most celebrated win came back in 1973 when they beat New Zealand 23-11 in Cardiff.
Six Nations: Scotland flanker Alasdair Stro-kosch could miss the rest of the Six Nations with a broken hand. The 28-year-old suffered the injury during Scotland’s 27-13 loss to Wales in Cardiff on Sunday and, in a statement issued by the Scottish Rugby Union, team doctor James Robson said: “Recovery from such an injury takes typically between four to six weeks.” The Six Nations is due to end on March 17, when Scotland are away to Italy.
Snooker: Mark Williams squeezed past Andy Hicks 4-3 in the first round of the Welsh Open in Newport yesterday. The two-time world champion trailed three times to the Devon cueman, but the Englishman was unable to get over the line. A 53 break put Hicks 3-2 up but Williams scraped back level and then a solid deciding frame saw him sneak into round two, where he will face Ronnie O’Sullivan or Marco Fu.