Tennis to pep up anti-drug laws

TENNIS: The International Tennis Federation are to stiffen their drug laws to fall in line with the International Olympic Committee list of banned substances.

The changes mean previously monitored substances such as ephedrine, commonly found in over-the-counter medicines, will be outlawed.

The ITF are also revising their definition of a positive test for testosterone, lowering the barrier for further tests to a ratio of six rather than 10.

Regulations regarding insulin will be made tighter, meaning only insulin-dependent diabetics with certification from a physician will be allowed insulin.

Asthmatics will need similar proof to use inhalers.

CRICKET: England have agreed to play an extra one-day international match during the second part of their Indian tour next month.

"The ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) has written to me saying they are ready to play the sixth match," said Indian cricket board secretary Niranjan Shah. The venue and date will be announced shortly.

England will fly home for Christmas after the third and final cricket Test against India, which started at Bangalore this morning, and then return on January 12th for a series of one-day internationals.

The tourists were scheduled to play five one-dayers at Calcutta (January 22nd), Madras (January 25th), Kanpur (January 28th), Delhi (January 31st) and Bombay (February 3rd).

CRICKET: The Australian Cricket Board yesterday announced the Test schedule for the Ashes series next winter, with two of the Tests just four days apart.

First Test: November 7th-11th, 2002, Brisbane; Second Test: November 21st-25th, 2002, Perth; Third Test: November 29th-December 3rd, 2002, Adelaide; Fourth Test: December 26th-30th, 2002, Melbourne; Fifth Test: January 2nd-6th, 2003, Sydney.

SAILING: Conditions were so rough in the 2000 Sydney-Hobart race that Ludde Ingvall, the skipper of winning maxi Nicorette, swore he would never sail the bluewater classic again.

Ingvall has changed his mind and said he is hoping for more of the same bone-crunching weather this year after the fleet departs Sydney on December 26th.

So why subject himself and his crew to more punishment? "Selective memory, only remembering the good parts," he said. He spoke of "the challenge of trying to do it again, to see if it was a fluke or whether we really were that good."