■Cricket
Waugh eager to play on
Australian test captain Steve Waugh has said he wants to play in next month's series against Bangladesh, effectively ending speculation he might retire. "I'm preparing as if I'm going to keep playing," Waugh said. Waugh, 38, had considered hanging up his bat after leading Australia to success over England in the last Ashes series but opted to play on. He led Australia to victory in West Indies and dispelled any concerns about his form with a series average of 75. "I haven't made a final decision but it's all very positive. I'm pretty keen," he said.
■ Baseball
Matsui dropped to seventh
Slumping Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui was dropped to seventh in the batting order on Thursday, the lowest he's hit since arriving in New York. Known as "Godzilla" in Japan for his prodigious homers, Matsui has had trouble producing even a modest single lately. He was in a 2-for-22 slump when manager Joe Torre decided to move him down for the final game of a series against the Cincinnati Reds. He had not hit lower than fifth this season. He misplayed a single to center field for an error in the first inning, but hit a two-run homer in the third -- his first since May 7.
■ Cycling
Van Bon wins German stage
Dutchman Leon van Bon resisted a chasing pack to claim Thursday's third stage of the Tour of Germany cycle race. Van Bon, Frenchman Christophe Agnolutto and another Dutch rider, Remco Van der Ven, escaped 55km into the day's relatively undemanding 191.7km ride from Coburg to Ansbach. The trio built a lead of up to six minutes on the main bunch and reached the finish narrowly ahead of the pack, Van Bon beating Agnolutto and Van der Ven into second and third. The peloton finished just behind, German Erik Zabel winning the sprint for fourth place in the same time as the leading trio. Switzerland's Gregory Rast came in with the pack to retain the overall lead.
■ Cycling
Dead cyclist free of dope
A doping lab failed to find any drugs or banned substances in the body of promising young French cyclist Fabrice Salanson, who was found dead next to his hotel bed, the Dresden district attorney's office said yesterday. The lifeless body of the 23-year-old rider for team Brioches La Boulangere was discovered in his Holiday Inn room on Tuesday by a teammate. There were no visible signs of injury. Dresden police asked the International Olympic Committee doping lab in Kreischa to investigate, but the lab failed to find any substances that could have contributed to Salanson's death, district attorney Juergen Schaer told the German news agency DPA. The Frenchman was preparing to race the Tour of Germany with his team.
■ Cycling
Directors under house arrest
Two cycling team directors have been placed under house arrest and 22 other people are being investigated as part of a probe into doping, Italian police said on Thursday. Olivano Locatelli, team manager of Landbouwkrediet and William Dazzani, manager of the women's Team 2002 Aurora, were both arrested. "I can confirm that Olivano Locatelli and William Dazzani were arrested and 22 other people were formally placed under investigation and 35 locations [were] searched in eight different regions of Italy as a continuation of the investigation started last May," Lieutenant Mario Cavaretta, who is from the customs section of the Italian police, said.
Agencies
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