Adrian Seconi

By anyone's standards, Ramnaresh Sarwan has been struggling on the tour of New Zealand.

The New Zealand Breakers entered the Australian National Basketball League with a hiss and a roar in 2003. Once the emotion died down, the franchise found the going tough. But clever recruiting and persistence has helped position the club as a genuine title contender this season. Basketball writer Adrian Seconi talks to head coach Andrej Lemanis about the turnaround.

Neil Broom's tag as "the next big thing" was officially recognised yesterday when the Otago middle-order batsman was named in the New Zealand squad for the first two one-day internationals in the current series against the West Indies.

Otago batsman Shaun Haig is starting to build an impressive record but success in the one-day game still eludes the aggressive right-hander.

What went wrong? Well, just about everything for the defending State Shield champion.

Disgraced former Otago Nuggets captain Nat Connell is looking to relaunch his basketball career with the newly formed Christchurch Cougars.

It might be premature to say Australian cricket is heading into a slump but the signs of decline are too strong to ignore. Cricket writer Adrian Seconi reports.

The Southern Steel will host a pre-season tournament at the Queenstown Events Centre in February with the ANZ Championship title holder making the trip across the Tasman.

The only thing harder than getting to the top is staying there.

Patience is a virtue and it is also the key for the New Zealand seam attack to improve on its first-up effort against the West Indies.

Former Pakistani international cricketer and commentator Billy Ibadulla slammed the standard of seam bowling during the test in Dunedin, labelling it little better than a first-class attack.

Silver Fern and Southern Steel defender Katrina Grant took a brief break from training yesterday to lead a coaching session at Mornington School.

Otago middle-order batsman Shaun Haig joined the Eden Park Outer Oval fan club when he became the 10th batsman in three first-class matches to post a century at the venue this season.

The University Oval will be considered for future tests but New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan has expressed reservations about the pitch and the ground's drainage.

West Indies fast bowler Jerome Taylor carved out a new identity yesterday - that of century-maker and dashing all-rounder.

The first cricket test between New Zealand and the West Indies has ended in a draw at University Oval today after showers forced play to be abandoned on the final day without a ball being bowled.

Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan is surprised by the fuss caused by the national side's new-look uniform.

West Indies skipper Chris Gayle waded into the debate about the umpiring referral system yesterday by saying he was not a fan.