Freney wins top female award

Gold star ... Jacqueline Freney has won the the Prime Minister's 2012 female sports award. Source: Paul Ellis / AFP

After carving her place in Paralympic history, swimmer Jacqueline Freney has received the Prime Minister's top award for women in sport.

Freney, one of Australia's most successful Paralympians, was awarded the Prime Minister's women in sport award on Tuesday night at an Australian Women's Health ceremony in Sydney.

The 20-year-old Queenslander's gold medal haul numbered eight, one for every event she competed in London.

Two of the performances were under world record time.

Freney also created Paralympic history beating Siobhan Paton's record of six gold at the Sydney Games. Sports Minister Kate Lundy presented the award to Freney, on behalf of the Prime Minister.

Freney is the first recipient of the award since 1996 after the Gillard government reinstated the award earlier this year.

Last month Freney took out the 2012 Australian Paralympian of the Year Award.

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Your team's BBL signings

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Kieron Pollard ... West Indies star is returning to Adelaide. Source: Aijaz Rahi / AP

Which players have your KFC T20 Big Bash League team signed for the 2012-2013 season?

2012-2013 KFC T20 BIG BASH LEAGUE SQUADS

Adelaide Strikers
Johan Botha, Theo Doropoulos, Callum Ferguson, Jon Holland, Phillip Hughes, Michael Klinger, Nathan Lyon, Andrew McDonald, Michael Neser, Kieron Pollard, Gary Putland, Nathan Reardon, Kane Richardson, Saeed Ajmal, James Smith, Shaun Tait

Brisbane Heat
Joe Burns, Ben Cutting, Daniel Christian, Peter Forrest, Cameron Gannon, Ryan Harris, Chris Hartley, Nathan Hauritz, James Hopes, Mitchell Johnson, Chris Lynn, Alister McDermott, Luke Pomersbach, Kemar Roach, Dale Steyn, Shane Watson, Daniel Vettori

Hobart Hurricanes
George Bailey, Travis Birt, Aiden Blizzard, Doug Bollinger, Xavier Doherty, Ben Dunk, Michael Hogan, Jason Krejza, Ben Laughlin, Tim Paine, Ricky Ponting, Owais Shah, Timm van der Gugten, Jonathan Wells

Melbourne Renegades
Meyrick Buchanan, Tom Cooper, Brendan Drew, Aaron Finch, Daniel Harris, Jayde Herrick, Michael Hill, James Muirhead, Muttiah Muralitharan, Peter Nevill, Aaron O'Brien, Darren Pattinson, Nathan Rimmington, Ben Rohrer, Will Sheridan, Marlon Samuels

Melbourne Stars
Shane Warne, Jackson Bird, James Faulkner, Pete Handscomb, John Hastings, Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Alex Keath, Glenn Maxwell, Clint McKay, James Pattinson, Rob Quiney, Matthew Wade, Cameron White, Luke Wright, Lasith Malinga

Perth Scorchers
Ashton Agar, Tim Armstrong, Michael Beer, Jason Behrendorff, Hilton Cartwright*, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Ben Edmondson, Herschelle Gibbs, Brad Hogg, Michael Hussey, Simon Katich, Shaun Marsh, Joe Mennie, Albie Morkel, Marcus North, Marcus Stoinis*, Tom Triffitt, Adam Voges

Sydney Sixers
Brad Haddin, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Josh Lalor, Brett Lee, Michael Lumb, Nic Maddinson, Jeevan Mendis, Ian Moran, Sunil Narine, Stephen O'Keefe, Kurtis Patterson, Daniel Smith, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Dominic Thornely, David Warner

Sydney Thunder
Sean Abbott, Cameron Borgas, Ryan Carters, Michael Clarke, Mark Cosgrove, Adam Coyte, Scott Coyte, Luke Doran, Jason Floros, Chris Gayle, Rhett Lockyear, Azhar Mahmood, Dirk Nannes, Gurinder Sandhu, Chris Tremain, Usman Khawaja, Chris Rogers, Martin Guptill, Matt Prior, Adam Zampa

* Hilton Cartwright and Marcus Stoinis were late injury replacements for Patrick Cummins and Mitchell Marsh. 

** Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal were originally signed by Sydney Thunder and Sydney Sixers respectively but have since been withdrawn from the tournament. **

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Aussie pacemen set for bowl-off

Bowl-off ... Mitchell Starc (R), Ben Hilfenhaus (L) and Mitchell Johnson vying for two spots. Source: Adam Head / News Limited

John Hastings faces the prospect of becoming a one-Test wonder, with Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc and Ben Hilfenhaus set for a selection showdown for the series opener against Sri Lanka next week.

Peter Siddle and Hilfenhaus are both fit to return for the first Test starting on December 14.

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However, Australia coach Mickey Arthur suggested Hilfenhaus isn't assured of a recall on his home deck in Hobart, saying he needs to continue working on his bowling action.

Selectors face a welcome selection headache over the attack, after Johnson and Starc performed well with the ball against South Africa in Perth, albeit in a resounding loss.

Attack leader Siddle is a certainty for Hobart, but Johnson, Starc and Hilfenhaus are all vying for two positions.

Johnson bowled with authority in his first Test in more than 12 months, while Starc overcame an expensive start to bag a career-first six-wicket haul, as well as smashing 68 not out with the bat.

"I thought Starc and Johnson were very good in this game," Arthur said of the left-arm duo.

"Obviously, Peter Siddle comes back in the mix.

"We've got to really discuss our attack as an attack and not in terms of individual bowlers.

"We've got to look at what the best attack is for us to get 20 wickets and we need to sit down again and make those decisions."

Captain Michael Clarke insists Siddle and Hilfenhaus were not fit to be selected in Perth so soon after completing a heavy workload in Adelaide.

Australia struggled with a brand new attack to what had been seen in the first two Tests, with debutant Hastings (0-102) in particular lagging in the second innings.

Arthur said Hilfenhaus was working with bowling coach Ali de Winter to iron out technical flaws in his action.

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Ogle's Australian Open picks

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Winner ... Graeme McDowell snapped a two-year winless drought to take out the World Challenge. Source:AFP

It was great to see Graeme McDowell end a two-year winless drought on the weekend, taking out the 18-man field World Challenge by three shots from Keegan Bradley.

The 32-year-old from Northern Ireland has built an affinity with California since winning the 2010 US Open at Pebble Beach. His record at the Sherwood Country Club now reads two victories and a runner up in three starts.

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Boy, what a record!

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Over in South Africa Martin Kaymer claimed the lucrative Nedbank Challenge by two shots from home town favourite Charl Schwartzel. It was the German's first victory since taking out the WGC-HSBC Champions event last year and like McDowell's victory, the win will give him a boat load of confidence heading into next season.

Peter Fowler took down the best seniors going around with an impressive six-shot win at the Australian Senior Open at Royal Perth Golf Club. His year was plagued with near misses too, including two runner-ups over on the European Senior Tour.

He's like a fine bottle of red Chooky, he's getting better as he's ageing!

21-year-old Matt Steiger from Narrabri took out the NSWPGA Championship at the magnificent Mt Broughton Golf Club which is located in the picturesque Southern Highlands (just near Bowral) on the weekend. Steiger fired an impressive four under-par 68 on the final day to win by three shots from another promising young gun in Queensland's Daniel Nisbett.

It's been an unbelievable past couple of months on our home Tour with a raft of young talent putting their hands up. Also joining Steiger in the winner's circle were amateurs Jake Higginbottom and Oliver Goss.

Gotta love the nerve of the young guys!

Congratulations to Daniel Gaunt and Cronulla Golf Club's Scott Arnold who were successful in gaining their Tour cards for the 2013 European Tour season, while on the US Tour Steven Bowditch and Matt Jones will be heading back for another crack next year.

The Australian Open hits the Lakes Golf Club in Sydney again this week with Greg Chalmers returning to defend his title. It's a crack-hot field led by eight-time Major winner Tom Watson. The veteran, now 63, has proven in recent times he can still mix it with the youngsters, almost winning the British Open.

I like two players this week. The first is Justin Rose; the Englishman has been in irresistible form the past couple of months posting five top-six finishes, including a win at the World Turkish Final.

And I think John Senden can go one better this year after his runner-up performance behind Chalmers twelve months ago. The Lakes Golf Club suits his game to a tee and I expect another bold run.

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Clarke at five is fine: Warne

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Clearly the best ... Shane Warne says Michael Clarke should get to bat wherever he wants. Source: Sarah Reed / News Limited

As Ricky Ponting's retirement leaves a hole in Australia's top order, Test great Shane Warne says skipper Michael Clarke is clearly the best player in the side and should bat wherever he pleases.

Cricket Australia's national talent manager and former skipper Greg Chappell has led calls for the in-form Clarke to promote himself from No.5 to No.4.

The retirement of No.4 Ricky Ponting on Monday has left a vacancy in the top four for the first Test against Sri Lanka in Hobart starting on December 14.

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Australia coach and selector Mickey Arthur has already indicated he wants to move Shane Watson from No.3 to No.4 and bring in a new player for the crucial No.3 role.

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South Australia's Phil Hughes, Queensland's Usman Khawaja and Victoria's Rob Quiney would be the main candidates to fill the slot, leaving Clarke and veteran Michael Hussey to bat in the middle order at No.5 and No.6.

"Out of Perth there's going to be a de-brief about what happened, what went wrong," Warne told reporters on Tuesday night of Australia's massive loss in the third Test to South Africa.

"With the loss of Ricky now, they have to work out what's the best batting order.

"To me it would be up to Michael Clarke what the best batting order is.

"He's the captain of the side (and a selector). He'll work in conjunction with the selectors.

"Michael Clarke's the best player in the side.

"You want your best player wherever he feels comfortable and wherever he feels is the best place to bat for him, that's where he should bat.

"You work your team around that because he's in such great form.

"Michael Clarke can bat anywhere from one to six. He's such a good player of the spinners too.

"Let's just work out who's the player they're going to pick for the next Test match and that will help dictate the side as well."

Warne welcomed the move to slide Watson out of the top three.

"I've always said Shane Watson should be down the order a little bit," Warne said.

"Even though he's done well opening, it suits him in the middle order better."

Warne, 43, will captain Melbourne Stars in the opening match of the BBL season against Melbourne Renegades at Etihad Stadium on Friday night.

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Warne leaves door open for Ashes

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Give me a call, Pup ... Warne says he would have to consider a personal request from Clarke. Source:News Limited

Shane Warne would consider answering an Ashes SOS from Australia captain Michael Clarke.

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The legendary leg-spinner, preparing for the Big Bash League opener on Friday night, said he was bowling as well as at any time since retiring from Test cricket in 2007.

Warne, 43, said he had "absolutely no doubt" he could bowl successfully at Test level again.

While he was "very happily" retired from international cricket, in light of Australia's bowling battle in Perth this week, the Victorian said if the call came from his best mate Clarke, he'd have to rethink.

"If your best friend says, 'Mate, I want you to seriously consider making a commitment to Australian cricket and coming back out of retirement', (to) make myself available for selection, that's a different scenario,'' Warne said.

"Especially with back-to-back Ashes coming up next year, it could be a 12-month thing where you take three spinners with you and say, 'Righto, work with these spinners and see how you go for 12 months.' That's a different kettle of fish.

"I'm definitely not asking for Michael Clarke to come out and say that - that's a different scenario.

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"You asked me if I think I could still play international cricket if I wanted to just turn up, do my bowling and if the first Test match was in three weeks, do you think I could play, (then) I'd have no hesitation in saying yes - and I think I'd do pretty well.

"From a purely bowling perspective, I don't think my form would be the concern, it's just the time and actually making that commitment again.

"My kids are turning 16, 14 and 12 next year and we're juggling two continents, (wife-to-be) Elizabeth's (Hurley) work and my work commitments.

"There's travel, sponsors, businesses, there are charities, so much stuff that I'd basically have to put it all on hold to make a commitment to international cricket.

"That's the reason I haven't for a while said I'm gonna make a comeback.

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"For me it's not a matter of whether I could do it or not - I have absolutely no doubt if I wanted to commit to try to make a comeback and go through grade cricket, first-class cricket and try to get selected ... that I could do it."

Warne, who has taken 195 Ashes wickets in 36 Tests at a staggering 23.25, said he felt the urge during the third Test against South Africa in Perth watching the Australia bowling attack hammered around the WACA Ground.

"I felt like I wanted to jump off the couch and grab the ball,'' he said.

"I really felt for Michael Clarke from a captaincy point of view.

"When you've got international bowlers bowling one or two full-tosses an over and half-volleys, I felt for Pup, I really felt for him."

Warne was delighted with his bowling at the MCG yesterday in the Stars' second practice match in as many days.

"The ball's coming out pretty good and I'm looking forward to fizzing them on Friday," he said.

"I think I'm bowling as good as I have for a long time - the best I have since I retired from international cricket in 2007.

"It's because I'm fresh. I don't bowl for 9-10 months of the year and bowl 5000 overs any more.

"My body's feeling fresh and strong and fit. My mind's fresh from it all and off the field is very happy, I'm content and looking forward to playing."

Do you want Warnie back in the Test team? Let us know.

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