Dumped, not just as captain but as a player, after Pakistan's first-round exit from the World Cup. One of the world's finest fast bowlers of the last fifteen years, Waqar Younis has come to Sydney to ply his wares over the 2003-04 summer.

There is no more important international crisis in the world today than the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Forty million people are infected with the virus, including five million new cases in the past year. Three million people have died in the last twelve months.

The Sydney Test of January 1984 was a special event, as announcements came through during the match that both Greg Chappell and Dennis Lillee were to play their last Test for Australia. Although the match itself was nothing spectacular - Australia beat Pakistan by ten wickets - there was plenty of emotion as Chappell ended his career with a big century and Lillee ended his with a five-fer. Twenty years later, the Sydney Test of January 2004 will be no less special.

On the eve of the Rugby World Cup semi-final between Australia and New Zealand, it's worth looking another rivalry between the two countries that wasn't quite as intense as it should be.

Australia and New Zealand have completed their three meetings in the current, and protracted, ODI tri-series with India. Australia has swept the series-within-a-series 3-0. In the unlikely event that New Zealand can roll India in the final league match at Hyderabad on Saturday, Australia will get a fourth crack at them in the final at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Tuesday night.

Probably the most prestigious literary awards for sports non-fiction is the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year award. One cricket book, "Bodyline Autopsy" by David Frith, appears among the six shortlisted for the 2003 Prize, with the winner to be announced on November 24.

Frith's book is up against no less than four books about soccer ("Broken Dreams" by Tom Bower, "Ajax: The Dutch, The War" by Simon Kuper, "Foul Play" by David Thomas, and "Bob Wilson: My Autobiography"), and one about golf ("In Search of Tiger" by Tom Callahan).

Adam Gilchrist was playing populist for the media on Saturday when he aired his thoughts of having a one-day game between Australia and India held every January 26 for the "Waugh-Tendulkar Trophy".

With January 26 being both Australia Day and India's Republic Day, Gilly has claimed the bright idea of staging a game on that day to determine the limited-over supremacy between the two countries.

A bit more about the sudden name change for Australia's first-class cricket competition from Sheffield Shield to Pura Milk Cup in November 1999.

(For a bit of background, see the article I wrote at the time for CricInfo.)

JH appeared to show a displeasure at the confusion caused by naming rights sponsorship of sporting venues and tournaments in a radio interview with Liam Bartlett of ABC Radio in Perth on Friday October 10. In a discussion of the Rugby World Cup (of which I have used other excerpts elsewhere in this forum), JH got himself into the following tangle: