SPORTS DIGEST

Today's other stories in brief

White will return for Six Nations

RUGBY: Scotland flanker Jason White should be fit for the Six Nations Championship after undergoing surgery on a dislocated finger.

White (30) suffered the injury in Sale's 31-3 Premiership victory over Wasps on St Stephen's Day.

But he is set to return before the end of the month, ahead of Scotland's opening Six Nations game against Wales on February 8th.

A Scottish Rugby Union spokesman said "Jason expects to be back in full training the week beginning Monday, January 26th."

White's injury is the latest setback for the player, who missed the entire 2007 Six Nations and most of last year's competition.

He also sat out his country's summer tour to Argentina after opting to undergo surgery on a long-standing knee problem.

CC explore day-night Test matches

CRICKET:The International Cricket Council (ICC) have confirmed that dwindling attendances at Test matches could speed up the possibility of day-night fixtures, if a suitable ball could be developed.

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat endorsed a call by Cricket Australia head James Sutherland for day-night Tests in an effort to improve attendance and television ratings.

The lack of crowd attendance at many grounds around the globe is a cause for concern, Lorgat said. In that was the possibility of exploring day-night cricket because there is no doubt James Sutherland has put that on the table.

The main technical difficulty is the ball, with wear on the ball a key factor in Test match cricket.

Day-night Tests would therefore need to find a method to replicate the wear when switching from a red ball during the day to a white ball at night, or develop a ball that was equally visible day or night.

Women to earn more than the men at Sydney event

TENNIS:Women competing at this year's Medibank International tournament in Sydney will be playing for a larger share of prize-money than their male counterparts.

In what is a unique situation for the professional circuit, the women will be fighting it out for a share of €433,000 while the men's prize-money totals €349,000.

"The reason for the difference is to do with category of event on the respective tours," said tournament director Craig Watson. The women's event is a Premier 600 which refers to the prize-money figure and the men's is an ATP 250 Series which refers to the ranking points the new champion will receive.

Meanwhile, former world number one Lleyton Hewitt is targeting a swift return to the top 10 after recovering from an injury that curtailed his progress throughout last year.Hewitt said his complete recovery might take six months but believes he is in good enough shape to challenge the top players and climb back up the rankings.

Aiken out of National tests

CYCLING:Defending national cyclo-cross champion Roger Aiken has decided not to take part in this year's contest, due to be held in Lurgan on Sunday, reports Shane Stokes.

The Banbridge CC rider beat 15-time champion Robin Seymour last year, but said this week he had done very limited preparation for Sunday's race. He has now decided not to take part because of his lack of form.

Aiken's absence sets things up for a big clash between Seymour and Conor McConvey, a 19-year-old mountainbike and road rider who recently signed a deal to ride for the FELT team this season.

McConvey finished second to Seymour in the Irish mountainbike championships last July and was also an excellent second in the under-23 classification of the UCI mountainbike World Cup race held in Bromont. In December he was a close runner-up in the final round of the Supercross league.

Blair out for  four weeks 

RUGBY:Cardiff Blues fullback Ben Blair (above) looks certain to miss the Welsh region's remaining Heineken Cup pool games this month.

The former All Blacks star suffered a small fracture to a bone in his right hand during the Blues' Magners League defeat against the Ospreys. His hand is now in a cast, and he will see a specialist on Monday.

The Blues anticipate their first-choice goalkicker will be sidelined for up to four weeks.