Ferguson eyes post-managerial role at Man Utd

This he said in an interview to be broadcast on Monday. "I will remain active. I think there will be a role for me at United after I finish," he told the BBC in an interview, extracts of which were published on the corporation s web site. Ferguson, now 70, began his managerial career at Old Trafford in 1986 and has won an array of honours, including 12 Premier League titles, two European cups and five FA cups. He had been due to retire at the end of the 2001-2002 season but changed his mind. He said in the interview that he could feasibly continue for two or three more seasons, depending on his health. One possible role he could fulfil at the current Premier League champions after stepping down is as a club ambassador, he added.

John Fairfax, who crossed oceans in rowboats, dies

He has his Las Vegas-area home. He was 74. The self-described "professional adventurer" died Feb. 8 of an apparent heart attack in Henderson, his wife, Tiffany, said. Fairfax gained international attention in 1969 when he became the first person in recorded history to cross the Atlantic alone by rowboat. He dealt with sharks, storms and exhaustion on the six-month, 5,000-mile (8,046-kilometer) journey from the Canary Islands to Florida. In 1972, he and his girlfriend, Sylvia Cook, became the first known people to row across the Pacific Ocean. He survived a shark attack and cyclone on the yearlong, 8,000-mile (12,875 kilometer) trek from San Francisco to Australia. Fairfax wrote separate books about his ocean crossings that were both published in the 1970s. "He was a man of unbelievable strength and courage and confidence in everything he did," Tiffany Fairfax told The Associated Press. "He thought nature was a worthy challenge, and he loved nature." John Fairfax used two different custom-made boats on the ocean journeys, she said, and used the stars to help him navigate. He survived by eating up to eight pounds of fish a day. He had a system to convert ocean water into drinking water. "On the Pacific, a shark took a big chunk of his arm out" when he was spearing fish, Tiffany Fairfax said. "There you are on the Pacific Ocean and there s no hospital, and you need to row. He was an amazing, amazing human being." John Fairfax enjoyed many other adventures, including a trip to the Amazon jungle and a stint as a pirate. He also spoke five languages, was a talented chef and regularly played the card game baccarat at Las Vegas casinos, his wife said. "He believed a human could accomplish anything if they had confidence," she said. "When he would get an idea in mind, he would pursue it and say,  I can do it. " Cook, 73, who lives near London, remained lifelong friends with John Fairfax. "He s always been a gambler," Cook told The New York Times after his death. "He was going to the casino every night when I met him it was craps in those days. And at the end of the day, adventures are a kind of gamble, aren t they?" His only immediate survivor is his wife of 31 years, who moved with him to Las Vegas in 1992 after a hurricane in Florida where they had lived. No public services were planned.

Ponting’s ODI career over?

Former captain Ricky Ponting’s one-day international cricket career appeared over after he was dropped Monday from Australia’s team for the tri one-day series against India and Sri Lanka. Chief selector John Inverarity said Ponting, the second all-time leading runscorer in ODIs, was axed because of his poor batting form. Ponting, 37, said earlier that he wanted to battle through his current slump after scoring just 18 runs in five knocks in the tri-series for a meagre average of 3.60. But Inverarity, while praising Ponting’s contribution over a glittering 17-year ODI career, seemed to shut the door on any future for the veteran player in Australia’s one-day side. “The team will not seem the same without him, but moving on from the omission of players who have been outstanding over a long period of time is the nature of elite sport,” he said. The selectors dumped Ponting as they announced a 13-man squad with all-rounder Shane Watson returning for Australia’s next two tri-series ODIs, against Sri Lanka in Hobart on Friday and India in Sydney next Sunday. Questions had mounted over Ponting’s future in Australia’s ODI team following his lean run in the tri-series, where he has failed to reach double figures in any of his innings. His sacking came a day after he led Australia to a crushing 110-run win over India in Brisbane as stand-in for injured regular skipper Michael Clarke. Ponting said after Sunday’s victory that he had no intention of seeking a break to freshen up after his poor tri-series run. “It’s fair to say I’ve struggled in the first five games,” Ponting told reporters. “(But) at the end of the day I’m available for selection for Hobart’s game (against Sri Lanka on Friday). “I’m not going to put my hand up and say I want a break, because when you are going through a lean trot like I’ve had the last couple of games, you want to turn that around.” Clarke will return from a strained hamstring to again take over the Australia captaincy in the tri-series, with Watson as his deputy. Ponting ranks second only to India’s Sachin Tendulkar with most ODI runs (13,704) from 375 matches, while he has also played 162 Tests. But selectors signalled that time was up after his dismal run of late. “Ricky Ponting has been dropped from the squad due to his lack of form in the five tri-series matches to date,” Inverarity said in announcing the squad. “Ricky’s record speaks for itself,” he said. “He is one of the truly great performers in the history of Australian ODI cricket, with his reputation enhanced further by him captaining Australia to two World Cup victories.” Inverarity said that Ponting’s contribution to the Australia ODI team went far beyond his batting statistics and brilliant fielding. “The example he sets in every respect and his extraordinarily positive influence in the dressing-room is acknowledged by all,” he said, while hailing Ponting’s “selfless” willingness to stand in for Clarke recently. Ponting’s sacking comes less than a month after his dominant role in Australia’s 4-0 clean sweep of the home Test series against India. He was second for most series runs only to Clarke, scoring 544 at 108.80 with two centuries and three half-centuries. Ponting is still considered an obvious selection in the Australia side for the coming Test series in the West Indies in April, although he is now likely to miss the five ODIs that precede the Test series.