New Zealand
ICC SET TO APPROVE PORTABLE PITCH
The International Cricket Council hopefully will approve the use of a portable pitch for international one day games after a trial match in late November, New Zealand Cricket has said.
ROOF SET TO STAY OPEN AT SHOWPIECE VENUE
Rugby World Cup chiefs are unlikely to answer calls to shut the retractable roof on Cardiff's new Millennium Stadium for Saturday's World Cup final and stage the first indoor test unless the players' safety is threatened.
HTV SNARE EXCLUSIVE TERRESTIAL UK TV RIGHTS TO PLAY-OFF
The Rugby World Cup third-place playoff between South Africa and New Zealand will be shown live on terrestial television in Wales, but nowhere else in Britain.
RWC CHAIRMAN BLASTS ITV COVERAGE
The beleaguered organisers of the Rugby World Cup have criticised ITV's coverage of the event as a "disgrace" according to a report in the UK?s Guardian newspaper.
SA BID ? TO LEARN FROM OLYMPIC MISTAKE
South Africa's 2006 World Cup bid committee will concentrate on the "nuts and bolts" of staging the event in its campaign rather than an emotional appeal for Africa.
VENTURE CAPITAL CO BUYS MAJORITY STAKE IN NZ SPORTS SITE
IT Capital Ltd, a New Zealand venture capital concern and private investor Lindsay Fergusson, have paid NZ$1.9 million for a 68% stake in Virtual Spectator Ltd, the web site established to deliver real-time footage from the Louis Vuitton Cup, the challenger series for yachting's America's Cup.
RUGBY UNION-EMBATTLED LUYT REFUSES TO RESIGN
South African rugby boss Louis Luyt has announced he would defy a black-led demand for his head, setting the stage for another period of isolation for white South Africa's favourite sport.
ENGLISH RFU TOLD TO CONTROL ITS CLUBS
Dick McGruther, the Australian Rugby Union chairman criticised the English rugby establishment yesterday, demanding that they pull their clubs into line after three years of inertia
WINTER GAMES TV FIGURES EQUAL LILLEHAMMER SAYS IOC
An IOC report says preliminary results indicate that the XVIII Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, were broadcast in more countries than ever before and that the global cumulative audience is likely to equal Lillehammer's record??.
WELLINGTON LANDS $62M IN STADIUM CONTRACTS
Businesses from the Wellington region have been awarded $62 million of the $71 million of contracts let so far for supply and construction of the WestpacTrust Stadium.
TOURS IN DOUBT DESPITE LUYT RESIGNATION
South Africa's National Sports Council said on Sunday it was too soon to abandon plans to call for an international boycott of the rugby Springboks despite white rugby boss Louis Luyt's resignation.
SOUTH AFRICAN RUGBY PLAYERS FORM ASSOCIATION
Springbok captain Gary Teichmann and the majority of South Africa's leading rugby union players have announced they were forming a players' association.
RUSSELL WOLFF JOINS ESPN STAR SPORTS
Russell E Wolff has been appointed Vice President, Programming at ESPN STAR Sports.
INTERNATIONAL RUGBY ROW SPARKED BY ENGLAND TOUR SELECTION
International rugby union is again in turmoil after England announced an under strength party to tour the Southern hemisphere, leaving the Australian union fuming and sponsors concerned about the series.
CBC TO BROADCAST COMMONWEALTH GAMES
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has become the latest to sign up as a rights holder for the KL Commonwealth Games.
ENGLAND?S RFU GRANTED REPRIEVE
The International Rugby Board withdrew its threat to expel England from world rugby when it broadly approved on Monday an agreement between the Rugby Football Union and 12 leading clubs.
MAORI TRIBE BID FOR WARRIORS
One of New Zealand's most powerful tribes, the Tainui tribe who are worth at least $NZ157 million ($134m), have joined forces with former Kiwi coach Graham Lowe in a bid to buy the Auckland Warriors.
NO BUSINESS LIKE SNOW BUSINESS
THE High Court has ordered an insurance company to pay about $5 million to a ski-field operator in compensation for lost profits during Mt Ruapehu's 1995 and 1996 eruptions.