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CRICKET: AUCKLAND: Lou Vincent has recovered from injury and will join the New Zealand team when it moves on to Pakistan after the Sharjah triangular tournament, New Zealand Cricket announced on Tuesday. Vincent sustained a bruised lung and ruptured his left airway after being struck in the chest by England's Andy Caddick in the third Test between the countries two weeks ago. ``It was always our stated intention to have Lou join the squad as soon as he was fit,'' said chairman of selectors Richard Hadlee. Travelling with Vincent to join the squad will be wicketkeeper Robbie Hart, the retired Adam Parore's replacement in the Test team. One-day wicketkeeper Chris Nevin injured a hamstring in Sharjah and Hart will now be available for the three one-day matches as well as the two Tests in Pakistan. The first match of New Zealand's delayed tour of Pakistan is on April 21 in Karachi.

FOOTBALL: CARNAGO (ITALY): Stefano Fiore will be handed a second chance to persuade Italy coach Giovanni Trapattoni he is worth a place in his World Cup squad when he lines up against Uruguay in a friendly on Wednesday. Injuries to midfielders Francesco Totti and Demetrio Albertini have reopened the door to Fiore, who looked to have been cast aside by Trapattoni after a disappointing Serie A campaign with Lazio. Fiore was the surprise element in Italy's run to the final of Euro 2000 after he burst in to Dino Zoff's side just four months before the tournament began and helped guide the side to a runners-up medal. But after being dropped for Italy's World Cup qualifier against Lithuania in March of last year, Fiore has featured just once in the starting line-up and did not even make the squad for the recent friendlies with the United States and England. Fiore has endured a tough season at Lazio, where results have not gone well and he found himself at the receiving end from the Rome club's frustrated supporters.

GOLF: GEORGIA: Tiger Woods, who won the seventh major of his career at the U.S. Masters on Sunday, is determined to play down speculation about how many more he will chalk up before he retires. But the world number one, who became the seventh player to win at least three Masters crowns with his three-stroke victory at Augusta National, says he would dearly love to win all four majors in one calendar year. "It would be nice to win as many majors as Jack did,'' the 26-year-old replied, when asked if he had targeted the 18 major titles achieved by Nicklaus between 1962 and 1986. ``That would be great. And if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. I think the thing I keep saying to myself every year... is that I want to become a better player at the end of the year than I was at the beginning of the year. And if I can keep doing that year after year for the rest of my career, I'll have a pretty good career.'' Woods became the youngest winner of the Masters when he won at Augusta in 1997 aged 21. He won it again in 2001 and retained the coveted title this year. The 2000 U.S. and British Opens and the U.S. PGA championship in 1999 and 2000 complete his seven majors. With his victory at last year's Masters, he became the first professional to hold all four majors at one time. ``I've done four-in-a-row before, but it would be nice to do it four-in-a-row in the same year,'' he said. ``It would be different than how I did it the last time.''

ATHLETICS: SYDNEY: Olympic 400 metres champion Cathy Freeman was on Tuesday chosen for the 4x400m relay for this year's Commonwealth Games but could still compete in her individual specialities if she can prove her fitness. Freeman, who needed a lifeline by selectors after failing to meet the qualifying standards since return from injury, was named as one of an 80-strong Australian track and field team for the Manchester event. However, the selectors left the door open for her to claim a spot in both the 200m and 400m individual events as long as she can prove her fitness and form before the Games start in July. Freeman's place in the team was in some doubt after a thigh injury forced her out of last weekend's national championships, which doubled as the Games trials. Under Australia's tough selection policy, that meant Freeman could not be named, but public pressure forced the selectors and Athletics Australia officials to find a compromise.

LONDON: Like many great notions, the London marathon, described by race director Dave Bedford as a cross between the Olympic Games and a street carnival, resulted from a convivial chat over pints of bitter in an English pub. After talking to harriers who had drifted in from nearby Richmond Park to The Dysart Arms, Chris Brasher, the 1956 Olympic steeplechase champion, was persuaded to run in the 1979 New York marathon. Brasher entered, ran, finished, flew home and wrote an article in The Observer about the inspirational effect of taking part in the ``greatest folk festival the world has seen''. Could, Brasher wondered, London stage such an event? ``We have, of course, a wonderful course,'' he wrote. ``But do we have the heart and hospitality to welcome the world?'' The answer was a resounding yes. The first London marathon was staged in 1981 and the race has gone since from strength to strength. Sunday's race saw Brasher's dream fully realised. Khalid Khannouchi broke his own world record in the men's race and Paula Radcliffe clocked the second fastest women's time in her marathon debut. More than 33,000 people started the 42.195-km race winding around and through some of London's more famous landmarks. Of them, 32,874 finished, more people than in any other big-city marathon apart from the Boston centenary race. The number should rise to 32,875 some time this Friday when a man in a diving suit is expected to finish.

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