CRICKET: Former South African all-rounder Brian McMillan has been severely reprimanded and ordered to publicly apologise for racially offensive `sledging' during a match.
McMillan advised Western Province team-mate Claude Henderson to bowl another "coolie creeper" to non-white KwaZulu Natal batsman Ashraf Mall in a match earlier this month.
The phrase is South African cricketing jargon for a ball that shoots along the ground after pitching. "Coolie" is an apartheid era term for a labourer of Indian descent.
A United Cricket Board of South Africa disciplinary committee statement said McMillan was found guilty of indulging in conduct detrimemtal to the game.
He was severely reprimanded but escaped harsher punishment after he was ordered to make a public apology at the close of the first day's play in Western Province's Supersport Series game against Border in Cape Town.
Tennis: Greg Rusedski kept the home flag flying in the London indoor tournament at Battersea Park yesterday. The British number two made up for exit of Tim Henman on Wednesday by defeating controversial Czech Petr Korda 6-3 7-6 (7/4) in 81 minutes to set up a clash with Sweden's Thomas Enqvist.
Athletics: James Nolan of UCD replaced his former coach Noel Carroll on the Irish in-door record list last night. Nolan ran an 800 metres time of 1.47.26 in Stockholm. Carroll's record of 1.47.6 had stood since 1968.
Athletics: Ireland's Eugene Farrell finished runner-up in the 400 metres B race at the Melbourne grand Prix in Australia yesterday. With victory going to local man Mark Landbrook in 47.50 seconds, Farrell took second in 48.01, beating World junior championship relay gold medalist Dan Batman into third.
But there was disappointment for Emily Maher travelling and training with the Lindford Christie squad. The Kilkenny junior finished sixth in an otherwise domestic Australian field. She clocked 24.51 seconds behind sprint double winner Lauren Hewitt who was timed at 23.06.
Olympics: More Olympic leaders implicated in this month's report on the Salt Lake City bribery scandal will be quizzed this weekend by International Olympic Committee (IOC) chiefs investigating alleged corruption. But observers believe there is unlikely to be a repeat of the bunch of suspensions which resulted from last month's dramatic IOC meeting.
