Nadal set to make his return

Abu Dhabi ... Rafael Nadal set to make his return from a knee injury. Source: Anja Niedringhaus / AP

Rafael Nadal will make his long-awaited return to tennis after an agonising six-month knee injury battle in the Gulf this week, but has warned he is not expecting any title-winning pyrotechnics.

The 26-year-old Spaniard joins world No.1 Novak Djokovic and third-ranked Andy Murray in the six-player, three-day Mubadala Championships ahead of his return to the ATP circuit at Doha from December 31.

Nadal hasn't played since his shock second round exit to 100th-ranked Lukas Rosol at Wimbledon in June, missing the Olympics, the US Open as well as the Davis Cup final against the Czech Republic which his country lost.

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Although desperate to play again, Nadal is equally keen to play down expectations.

"Abu Dhabi is a test. My goal is not this week, not Doha or the Australian Open. My goal is to get fit, recover all my feelings. The only thing I care about is the knee,'' the seven-time French Open champion said.

"The idea is to go from there. I won't give much value to what will happen next month or in two months.

"My real goal is to start in perfect condition at Indian Wells and Miami and reach Monte-Carlo with good feelings, to face the clay season in good condition.''

Nadal, an 11-time grand slam title winner, has been plagued by knee injuries throughout his career, a legacy of his all-action style.

But he shrugged off any fears that despite falling to number four in the world rankings, he is no longer a threat to Djokovic, Murray and world number two Roger Federer.

"I haven't forgotten how to play. I have played over 600 ATP matches and I have spent two years without playing. My feeling is good. I won Roland Garros and those emotions are still me,'' he said.

"I know I'm going to play in Abu Dhabi without the knee being great, but I feel better. The doctors say it is fine and that is great news for me. I still feel something, it's not perfect.''

Nadal insisted he is not bitter over his recent experiences.

"I have accepted it as normal, as part of my career, part of my job. It's another challenge,'' he told marca.com.

"All I can do is try. But people have to realise that when you're so many months without competing you need time to progress.''

The tournament in Abu Dhabi also features world number five David Ferrer of Spain, world number six Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic and Serb Janko Tipsarevic, the world number nine.

Nadal is expected to make his bow on Friday against either Olympic and US Open champion Murray or Tipsarevic.

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Reds want Boxing Day redemption

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Redemption ... Adelaide United keen to erase memories of their 6-1 loss last week. Source: Gregg Porteous / News Limited

While Christmas couldn't come quick enough for most, Boxing Day can't come soon enough for Adelaide United.

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The A-League club is itching for Wednesday night's home fixture against Brisbane Roar, hoping to put to rest their woeful 6-1 loss to Western Sydney last Friday night.

"The boys are just wanting to play this game against Brisbane as soon as possible,'' Reds captain Eugene Galekovic said.

"Obviously we were disappointed with the (Western Sydney Wanderers) result and on the training track this week was quite fiery and the boys were willing to throw their bodies around.

"We just can't wait for Wednesday night.''

Adelaide had let in just 10 goals in 11 games prior to the Wanderers loss, with Galekovic uncertain why they copped six to the league newcomers.

"It was one of those games where everything went wrong for us,'' he said.

"We know we're better than that and we have just got to prove it against Brisbane and improve a lot to be honest.

"You have got to show some respect to Western Sydney, they are a very good team, very organised team, and we just didn't know how to break them down and how to keep the ball.''

Brisbane coach Mike Mulvey was also surprised by the Reds' heavy loss.

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Watch Adelaide United take on Brisbane Roar, Live and Exclusive, on Fox Sports 3HD from 7.30pm (EDT) on Boxing Day.

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"If they would have lost 2-1, 3-1, then people would have said 'oh ok' but 6-1 and everyone's taking notice of that,'' Mulvey said.

"It was out of character and I don't expect there will be any problems with them backing up in terms of being at home in front of a parochial crowd.''

The Roar have their own problems with seven losses in 12 games in an off-key championship defence.

"I have got great belief in the playing staff here and as I've said before we're just one or two degrees off,'' Mulvey said.

"The key is to get the first goal of the game and bring a bit of confidence back in the team and the slick passing will come back.''

Galekovic was wary of Brisbane, describing the Roar was "very dangerous''.

"Brisbane is a very good team,'' Galekovic said.

"They're struggling at the moment in terms of results but football-wise they're still a quality team.''

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Lankans expect hostile MCG crowd

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Backlash ... Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene expects a hostile MCG crowd. Source: William West / AFP

Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene is expecting a hostile reception at the MCG for Wednesday's second Test against Australia amid ongoing tensions over the ball-tampering accusation made against Peter Siddle.

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Sri Lanka made an unofficial complaint to ICC match referee Chris Broad during the first Test in Hobart last week

The allegation was dismissed and Siddle was furious at how his name had been dragged through social media during day five of the match in which he claimed nine wickets.

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The Victoria and Australia pace bowler is a crowd hero at the MCG and can expect his home-town fans to be in full voice on Wednesday in support of their man. However Jayawardene is expecting several thousand Sri Lankan fans to also pack into the ground and make their feelings known in defence of their team.

Australia's major concern is the fitness of skipper Michael Clarke, who completed a series of sprinting and fielding drills and declared he felt good but would wait until Wednesday morning to assess how his injured hamstring was feeling.

"My fitness test ... was really (Christmas Day). Now I need to see how I pull up from that before we make a decision on whether I am 100 per cent fit to play,'' Clarke said on Tuesday.

Despite his side's 137-run loss in Hobart, Jayawardene was in a confident mood on Tuesday.

He said not only would the tourists have strong support in the crowd but they would also be going after Australia's offspinner Nathan Lyon, who failed to take a wicket in Sri Lanka's second innings in Hobart.

Jayawardene needs no reminding about what happened the last time Sri Lanka played a Test at the MCG in 1995, when spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was no-balled seven times in three overs for throwing.

"We have been through a lot of hostile things in the past. 1995 was one and even after that,'' Jayawardene said.

"I don't think that fazes our team. It might give us something extra.

"You have to remember there will be a good partisan Sri Lankan crowd as well so that will be good. It might go against him (Siddle).

"We can't control what happens out there. All we can control is what happens in the middle.

"A lot of the younger guys probably won't even understand what the crowd's going to tell them.''

Jayawardene took aim at Lyon, saying that Sri Lanka's batsmen were playing for a draw in Hobart on a wearing pitch.

"We would definitely have gone after Nathan Lyon if the wicket was half-decent,'' Jayawardene said.

"The way the wicket was behaving we thought if we played shots that would have made life tougher to bat on.

"On a different surface or a different day things may have been different. These are the situations we want to get into in a Test match and see if we can capitalise on that.''

While the Lankans see Lyon as a potential problem area for the home side, the Australians could also be unsettled if Clarke is a late withdrawal through injury.

Clarke is Test cricket's leading runscorer in 2012 and his vice-captain Shane Watson has never led the side at Test level.

Former Test No.3 Usman Khawaja is on standby for Clarke.

Tasmania's Jackson Bird will make his debut in place of injured quick Ben Hilfenhaus while Mitchell Johnson returns for his fellow left-armer Mitchell Starc who has controversially been rested.

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League's biggest moment in 2012

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Another huge year ... what was sport's biggest moment in 2012? Source:FOX SPORTS

Foxsports.com.au has gathered the five moments that defined rugby league in 2012 and it's up to you to decide which was the biggest.

Check out our highlights video of the five big moments before heading to the bottom of the page to tell us if the decision was right or wrong.

Have we missed any of rugby league's defining moments for 2012? Leave a comment with your most memorable moments at the bottom of the page!

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TOOTHLESS TIGERS
It wasn't one moment that consigned Wests Tigers' 2012 season to the scrapheap but the cumulative effect of a number of poorly managed issues. Favourites with the bookmakers prior to round one, the Tigers lost five of their first six games and never fully recovered. First it was big-name signing Adam Blair who copped the treatment for failing to justify his price-tag in a forgettable start to the season then it was talk of a rift between Robbie Farah and Benji Marshall that caused a distraction in Concord. The rumoured power struggle was brought to a head by NRL on Fox, with Farah furiously describing the show as an ambush on Twitter after Matthew Johns probed the Tigers skipper on his relationship with the Kiwi superstar as well as a perception that the team was soft in defence. The Tigers briefly turned things around, winning seven in a row mid-season, but fell away again and failed to qualify for the finals, costing premiership coach Tim Sheens his job at the end of a train wreck of a year. 

Glory ... Cam Smith holds the Origin shield aloft. Source: AAP

THE TRY THAT WASN'T
In a year that can only be described as forgettable for NRL officials, the Michael Oldfield try in the semi-final between Manly and North Queensland Cowboys was the straw that broke the camel's back. With the Sea Eagles leading 16-12 with just under 20 minutes remaining, a bomb in Manly's attacking zone was contested by Kieran Foran and his opposing five-eighth Johnathan Thurston. Neither was able to come down with a clean catch and the ball spilled towards the Sea Eagles' try line before being scooped up by Jamie Lyon, who offloaded in a tackle to send Oldfield over. The decision went upstairs and, not for the first time in 2012, video referee Sean Hampstead thrust himself into the spotlight by awarding the try despite vision showing Foran propelling the ball forward in the lead-up. The wrong decision condemned the Cowboys to another failed finals appearance and, ultimately, cost referees bosses Bill Harrigan and Stuart Raper their jobs.

STORM REDEMPTION
Melbourne Storm's history was unpleasantly re-written in 2010 when they were stripped of two NRL titles as punishment for rorting the salary cap. But it didn't take them long to get their name back on the premiership honour board with a stirring finals campaign in 2012. The Storm were written off in some quarters after a post-Origin slump. But the Storm's star-studded line-up rose for the big occasion, first with a stunning thrashing of finals nemesis Manly in the preliminary final, then with a near-flawless grand final against Canterbury-Bankstown to claim ultimate redemption with a 14-4 victory. 

Hindy ... the 330-game veteran bids farewell to Eels fans. Source: AAP

MIGHTY MAROONS
After winning an epic battle in 2011, Queensland started the 2012 series as favourites to clinch a remarkable seventh series in a row and they didn't disappoint. Lauded as one of the best teams of all-time, the Maroons soaked up everything a valiant New South Wales side could throw at them before eventually clinching victory by a solitary point in the decider through a 40-metre Cooper Cronk field-goal. It was a fitting way for a series full of controversial moments - headlined by the Greg Inglis try in game one - to end. The seventh series win in a row extended an already history-making dynasty and guaranteed another year of soul searching for the Blues.

FAREWELLING A LEGEND
Almost since the day he started his NRL career, Nathan Hindmarsh was a fan favourite and that status only grew the longer the Parramatta legend's career lasted. So when he announced towards the end of the 2012 season that the round 26 match-up with St George Illawarra would be his last, a sentimental build-up to his finale began. Alas, Parramatta couldn't match the occasion with a fitting performance, going down to the Dragons 29-8 to give another duo of retiring champions, Ben Hornby and Dean Young, the fairytale farewell. While Hindmarsh and his good mate Luke Burt instead went out with their first wooden spoon, it mattered little to the adoring fans, with 45,000 present at ANZ Stadium to scream themselves hoarse in appreciation of all of the decorated retirees.

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AFL's biggest moment in 2012

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Another huge year ... what was sport's biggest moment in 2012? Source:FOX SPORTS

Foxsports.com.au has gathered the five moments that defined AFL in 2012 and it's up to you to decide which was the biggest.

Check out our highlights video of the five big moments before heading to the bottom of the page to tell us if the deicision was right or wrong.

Have we missed any of AFL's defining moments for 2012? Leave a comment with your most memorable moments at the bottom of the page!

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GIANTS JOIN THE PARTY
The AFL's newest franchise, led by the competition's oldest coach, stepped out for the very first time in 2012. Kevin Sheedy guided the young Giants to two victories but couldn't avoid the wooden spoon. A number of exciting youngsters, headed by Toby Greene, Jeremy Cameron and Stephen Coniglio, looked at home in the big time. Israel Folau, however, didn't. The big-money former NRL star turned his back on the code after a trying year.

BUDDY BOOTS A BAKER'S DOZEN
AFL crowds are used to Lance Frankling doing the seemingly undoable, but the game's most mercurial player took it to another level in round 10 against North Melbourne. Heading into the match with just 21.36 from the opening nine rounds, the Hawthorn hero slotted home 13 majors in a career-best performance. Buddy's performance helped his side crush the Kangaroos by 115 points, a record for the Hawks against the Kangaroos. Are you really surprised that, according to IMG Sports Technology Group, Franklin is the AFL's most popular player and more than twice as popular than the second-ranked player, teammate Cyril Rioli? Didn't think so.

Swans ... flew to the flag in 2012. Source: AAP

RATTEN OUT, MALTHOUSE IN
Carlton great Brett Ratten never really won over Blues fans as coach. The likeable Ratten helped the club return to the finals after a seven-year drought in 2009. They were bundled out by a kick, then again in 2010, before thumping the Bombers in an elimination final in 2011. Big things were expected in 2012 - a premiership, perhaps - but when Gold Coast rolled them in round 22, that was it for 'Ratts'. Mick Malthouse got the nod in no time and the former Footscray, West Coast and Collingwood coach will be paid handsomely to do so.

THE TIPPETT SAGA
He's not the biggest name in the game but Kurt Tippett has commanded more column inches than anyone in 2012. The off-season - and much of the season itself - was dominated by the former Adelaide Crows big man. Would he stay or would he go? Then, where would he go? And, then, what would the AFL commission decide. Collingwood superstar Travis Cloke did his best to keep pace with the Tippett for headlines before opting to sign a new deal with the Magpies.

SUPER SWANS
Hands up if you tipped the Swans to make the top four? Didn't think so. And forget it if you claim you had them as your pick for the flag. Sydney, powered by a blue-collar midfield, a dependable defence, and honest attack, upset the more-fancied Hawks in a classic grand final. Lewis Jetta's run down the wing with Cyril Rioli in pursit, Nick Malcesski's stunning goals, and Lance Franklin's third quarter were memorable.

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Sixers need some Lumb luck

Call up ... Batsman Michael Lumb will play for Sydney Sixers on Boxing Day. Source: Stephane de Sakutin / AFP

Sydney Sixers have called upon star batsman Michael Lumb in a bid to revive a flagging KFC T20 Big Bash League title defence ahead of their Boxing Day clash with the Hobart Hurricanes at the SCG.

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Sydney suffered a heavy nine-wicket loss to the Adelaide Strikers on Sunday and with just one win from the opening four games sit in second-last place, ahead of only winless rivals the Sydney Thunder.

The Sixers lost just two games on their way to winning last year's title, and have so far come up with few solutions as to how they halt their current three-game skid.

They've already fallen three games behind competition leaders the Melbourne Renegades, and have just four games left to improve their position to fourth to secure a finals berth.

But star allrounder Steve Smith insists they haven't given up hope yet.

"It is obviously going to be hard work from here on in. We are going to have to play some good cricket and turn it around,'' he said.

Helping matters significantly will be the return of English batsman Lumb, who arrived on Christmas Eve after missing the start of the tournament and has been named in a 13-man Sixers squad.

Lumb starred for the Sixers in their triumphant Champions League campaign, finishing as the tournament's leading scorer with 226 runs and a top score of 82 not out.

Much of the Sixers' troubles this summer have stemmed from a lack of runs at the top of the order, highlighted by their scores of 113 and 135 in losses to Perth Scorchers and the Strikers.

Young pair Kurtis Patterson and Daniel Hughes have also been added to the Sixers' squad after missing the first half of the season through injury.

Hobart enter the clash in strong form having belted the Thunder by 30 runs for their second win of the season, leaving them in fourth spot on the ladder.

Sydney Sixers: Brad Haddin (capt), Luke Feldman, Moises Henriques, Daniel Hughes, Josh Lalor, Brett Lee, Michael Lumb, Sunil Narine, Stephen O'Keefe, Kurtis Patterson, Dan Smith, Steve Smith, Dominic Thornely (12th man to be named, one to be omitted)
Hobart Hurricanes: George Bailey (capt), Tim Paine, Aiden Blizzard, Scott Boland, Doug Bollinger, Travis Birt, Xavier Doherty, Michael Hogan, Jason Krejza, Ben Laughlin, Ricky Ponting, Owais Shah, Jon Wells (12th man to be named, one to be omitted)

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