Motor rallying: Two of the pre-event favourites, Markko Märtin and Petter Solberg, retired early on the opening leg of Rally Australia, the season finale in Perth, leaving a two-horse race between Marcus Grönholm, the leader after the first day, and Sébastien Loeb, the world champion. The Finn and the Frenchman were last night separated by 21 seconds. The rest of the field is more than a minute adrift.

Märtin, of Estonia, retired at the Perth service park after engineers found serious piston damage on his Ford Focus.

Johnston on form

Bowls: Margaret Johnston, three-times world outdoor singles winner, made a good start to the Greenmaster World Outdoor Champion of Champions event in New South Wales with an 8-7, 9-3 win over Lon Yew Foong and a hard-earned victory over Alison Merrien.

Smith mourned

Cricket: Mike Smith, the former Middlesex and England one-day batsman who has been the county’s scorer since 1994, has died after suffering a heart attack. Smith, 62, played five limited-overs internationals in the 1970s and spent 22 seasons on the staff at Lord’s.

Net profit

Tennis: The Wimbledon Championships, owned jointly by The All England Lawn Tennis Club and the LTA, has announced a surplus of £26.8 million this year — an increase of £1 million on 2003 — which will be invested back into British tennis at junior, club and international levels.

India celebration

Cricket: About 120,000 spectators are expected at Eden Gardens, Calcutta, today for Pakistan’s first match on Indian soil for five years. The one-off game is being held to celebrate the Indian cricket board’s 75th anniversary and is a result of the easing of political tensions.

Towers revenge

Basketball: London Towers won 101-99 away to Newcastle Eagles in the BBL Championship last night to gain revenge for their defeat in the first round of the Cup. Leicester Riders won 96-93 away to the Thames Valley Tigers to move off the bottom of the table.

Nadeem leaves

Cricket: Nadeem Shahid, 35, has left Surrey after nine seasons with the county. He was captain of the second team and became frustrated after playing only four county games in two seasons. Scott Newman, the opening batsman, has signed a new three-year contract.

Fahey's challenge

Real tennis: Robert Fahey, the British Land National Open champion from Australia, faces tough competition as he prepares to defend his title this weekend. Among his main rivals will be three in-form British players, Ruaraidh Gunn, Chris Bray and Nick Wood.