Sports News in Brief
First woman
SYDNEY - Australian rugby's governance review is still months from completion but the game took an historic step yesterday when it was announced a female director would join the ARU board for the first time. Ann Sherry joined ARU Chairman Michael Hawker as the second independent director nominated by the board. Sherry, the chief executive of cruise ship operator Carnival Australia and a former CEO of Westpac New Zealand, will vacate a board position on the Australian Sports Commission to take up her new role in rugby.
Pietersen out
LONDON - Kevin Pietersen's dream of helping England defend their World Twenty20 title appears to have been dashed after he was left out of a provisional 30-man squad. Pietersen, England's man of the tournament when they won the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean two years ago - their first major limited overs title - recently retired from all white ball internationals.
Tests positive
PARIS - Tour of Turkey champion Ivailo Gabrovsky of Bulgaria has tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin), the International Cycling Union (UCI) says. Cycling's world ruling body said on Wednesday a sample taken from Gabrovsky, who rides for the Konya-Torku Seker Spor team, had tested positive for the banned hormone.
Narrow win
DURBAN, South Africa - Manchester United have started a six-game pre-season world tour with a 1-0 win over AmaZulu before a capacity 50,000 crowd at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. Federico Macheda scored the winner midway through the first half for the Red Devils, who came closest to increasing the lead just before time when another Italian, substitute Davide Petrucci, rattled the crossbar.
Tiger warning
LYTHAM, England - British Open favourite Tiger Woods has warned his challengers they'll need to be on their game from the get-go when the 141st championship gets underway on today. There will be no gentle introduction at Royal Lytham and St Annes' demanding links layouts, with players greeted on the opening hole by a daunting 205-yard par-3. The hole is protected by seven greenside bunkers and a railway line to its right. Any stray tee shots will be punished.
Tour dream ends
BAGNERES-DE-LUCHON - A stomach bug, a brutal stage through the Pyrenees and unrelenting opposition combined to fracture Cadel Evans' Tour de France defence. With four stages left, Evans' Tour is now a salvage operation after he dropped from fourth to seventh overall. He finished an exhausted 35th in stage 16 from Pau to Bagneres-de-Luchon, a day that featured some of the Tour's most iconic climbs and a temperature into the 30s.
Kasiano cleared
SYDNEY - Canterbury prop Sam Kasiano will be free to face Manly on today after being found not guilty of a grade-two careless high tackle by the NRL judiciary on Wednesday. Kasiano was placed on report after collecting Parramatta prop Fuifui Moimoi across the head with his right arm in the opening 10 seconds of the Bulldogs' 32-12 win over the Eels last Friday.