■ Cricket
Rashid ready to bowl
Teenage leg-spinner Adil Rashid, the first Yorkshire-born Asian to play for the English county, is ready to start bowling again after being diagnosed with a stress fracture of the back. The 18-year-old, who made a sensational Championship debut last season by bagging six wickets for 67 runs in an innings victory over Warwickshire, will turn his arm over for the first time since the injury in the nets in January. "I'm really looking forward to getting in some practice," Rashid told Yorkshire County's official Web site.
■ Tennis
Rafael Nadal raring to go
Rafael Nadal is determined to kickoff next year at full throttle and make up for the bitter disappointment of his injury-ravaged start to this year. A crippling foot injury ruled the world No. 2 out of the first six weeks of this year, an absence which also included the opening Grand Slam event in Australia. But next year, the French Open champion is wasting no time in his build-up to Melbourne where the Australian Open begins on Jan. 15. Nadal will begin his season next Monday at the Chennai Open and then travel to Sydney for the Medibank International. At both events he will be top seed.
■ Soccer
Banide happy at Monaco
At just 38 years old, Monaco coach Laurent Banide can call upon plenty of expert guidance if required -- his father Gerard twice occupied the hot seat at the principality club. Banide, the youngest coach in the French championship, took over from Laszlo Boloni two months ago when Monaco slumped to second-from-bottom of the table after a 3-1 home defeat to Toulouse. Banide was Boloni's assistant and he was offered the chance to succeed him.
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