‘Arsenal Henry won’t be seen’
Striker Thierry Henry has admitted he is not performing as well for Barcelona as he did for Arsenal and needs more time to adapt to his Spanish club's style of football.

"The Arsenal Henry was at Arsenal, now I'm at Barcelona and you won't see the Arsenal Henry any more," the France forward told a news conference at the Nou Camp on Tuesday.

Yousuf cleared for India tour
Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf has been passed fit for the tour of India, reports Reuters from Karachi.
"He had a precautionary MRI scan (on his knee) but the reports have shown nothing serious and he will be going to India on schedule (on Thursday),” Pakistan Cricket Board spokesman Ehsan Malik said on Wednesday.
Yousuf had complained of knee pain after being struck by a ball during the recent one-day series against South Africa.

Warne-Murali Trophy
In a move to honour two of the greatest spinners of modern era, Sri Lanka and Australia are all set to fight for the Warne-Murali trophy when they lock horn in a two-Test cricket series starting next week, reports PTI from Melbourne.

The Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) mooted the idea to name Sri Lanka-Australia series after spin greats Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan and Cricket Australia’s (CA) response to the proposal has been positive, said SLC secretary K Mathivanan.

India recover to hold Iraq
India fought back from a two-goal deficit to hold Iraq 2-2 in the AFC Under-16 championship qualifiers in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, reports PTI from New Delhi.

India scored twice in the final 10 minutes through Bikramjit Singh and Tanmay Ghosh. Waleed Al Lami gave Iraq the lead in the 29th minute and Ahmed Kueam doubled the margin in the 50th. India are joint second in the group with Iraq on four points, two behind hosts Saudi Arabia.

S’kkara doubtful for first Test
Sri Lankan vice-captain Kumar Sangakkara is a major doubt for next week’s opening Test against Australia at the Gabba here with a hamstring injury, reports AFP from Brisbane.

The tourists have other concerns ahead of the November 8 Test, with senior opening batsman Sanath Jayasuriya recovering from a virus and veteran seamer Chaminda Vaas nursing a foot complaint. Spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan will be rested from the three-day tour game against Queensland starting on Friday as he recovers from a bicep injury.

Elite panel to be expanded
The International Cricket Council has accepted the recommendation of the Umpires’ Task Force, which met in September, that the Elite Panel to be expanded from 10 to 12 to cope with busy periods in the cricket calendar. Five regional umpire coaches/mentors will be appointed to work under the ICC Umpires’ Manager. They will be responsible for working with Elite and International Panel umpires from their region as well as all visiting umpires. A four-man Recruitment Committee was also appointed to lead the search for a successor to current CEO Malcolm Speed. The Committee comprises ICC president Ray Mali, president-elect David Morgan, vice-president Sharad Pawar and the chairman of the Governance Review Committee, Creagh O’Connor.

‘Ind series bigger than Ashes’
Pakistan’s Australian coach Geoff Lawson said he was looking forward to the challenge of touring India and that clashes between the great rivals were “bigger than the Ashes,”reports AFP from Lahore. “Having toured India on a number of occasions I know people follow an Indo-Pakistan match with extreme passion and at times it is little bit more than the sport, bigger than the Ashes, so I look forward to it,” he said.