Cricket: Captain Michael Clarke trumped Ricky Ponting as Australia’s highest run scorer in a calendar year with another century as his team clamped an iron grip on the second Test against Sri Lanka yesterday. Clarke eclipsed Ponting’s previous national record of 1,544 runs and went on to score 106 to continue his stellar 2012 as another heavy defeat loomed for the hapless Sri Lankans in Melbourne after losing the opening Test by 137 runs. At the close on the second day, Australia were 440 for eight with 200-wicket paceman Mitchell Johnson enjoying a great all-round match with his seventh Test half-century on 73 and Nathan Lyon yet to score.
Basketball, NBA: Corey Brewer came off the bench and drained six three-pointers as the Denver Nuggets defeated Los Angeles 126-114 and snapped the Lakers’ NBA winning streak at five games. Brewer led the Nuggets with 27 points. Kenneth Faried added 21 points and 15 rebounds and Ty Lawson chipped in 17 points and 14 assists for the Nuggets, who bounced back from a 112-100 Christmas Day loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. To do so, the Nuggets had to overcome 40 points from Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant. Pau Gasol added 19 points for the Lakers – who were coming off a 100-94 victory over the New York Knicks in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
Baseball: Japanese baseball club Rakuten Eagles, who recently signed former US major league star Andruw Jones, said yesterday they had no plans to cancel the deal after he was arrested on suspicion of beating his wife. The Curacao-born outfielder, 35, was held early Christmas morning at his home in suburban Atlanta, Georgia, after police were called following a dispute between him and his wife, according to reports. He was released on $2,400 bail. “There is no such possibility for now,” Rakuten Eagles public relations director Yoshiki Sato said when asked if the one-year contract, signed earlier this month for an estimated $3.5million, could be annulled.
Tennis: Maria Sharapova (picture) and Serena Williams will be fit to play at the Brisbane International, which begins this weekend, after injury scares, organisers said yesterday. French Open champion Sharapova pulled out of an exhibition match against Caroline Wozniacki scheduled for today in Seoul because of a sore collarbone. But the Russian, along with Williams one of the biggest draws in women’s tennis, is due to arrive for the December 30-January 6 tournament tomorrow. Sharapova withdrew from the Australian Open warm-up event last year. Williams, who won a fifth Wimbledon title, Olympic singles gold and a fourth US Open crown in 2012, also pulled out of an exhibition against China’s Li Na in Thailand last week.
Rugby League: Australian trialist Joe Vickery is set to land a contract with Leeds after catching the eye in the Super League champions’ festive challenge win over Wakefield. The 23-year-old utility back, whose proposed move to Hull fell through last year, is two-thirds of the way through a trial spell with the Rhinos and boosted his chances of securing a permanent deal with a two-try display in their 40-26 Boxing Day victory over the Wildcats. The Exeter-born Vickery seized his chance while deputising for an ailing Ben Jones-Bishop, touching down twice in the opening quarter while playing on the wing, and he looked equally accomplished after switching to full-back.