Matthew Fleming won a vital toss on a flat, easy wicket, and just enough breeze ruffled the air to prohibit outrageous swing. ANDREW SYMONDS is on a year's contract with Kent, and next week joins the Australian squad for a knockabout tournament in Sri Lanka. He will then return to county duties, and the way he batted yesterday suggested that he would rather like to be invited back to Canterbury next year as well. Doncaster's Darryl Derose was found guilty of abuse to a referee but was not disciplined.Rochdale's Jon Aston was found not guilty of use of his forearm and elbow to the head of an opponent, while his team-mate Danny Sculthorpe was found not guilty of punching.Huddersfield, immediately above Wakefield in the table, are trying to sign a scrum-half to replace Bobbie Goulding, who is out for the season with a broken leg.Salford, the other team that could be dragged down in the dogfight, have recalled their longest-serving player, Mark Lee, at scrum-half against London on Saturday.. But the side can now press ahead with their preparations.Money taken over the turnstiles at The Boulevard last night has gone to Hull players in order to make up the shortfall in their wages when the club's owner, David Lloyd, cut their salaries last week.Receipts from the game against Wakefield and the home match against Halifax this Sunday would be used to reimburse the players, Lloyd said.The club's back-row forward Steve Barrow has been banned for three matches for a high tackle in a reserve game against Wakefield, taking him out of the reckoning for the next stage of the bottom club in Super League's battle against relegation.Sean Richardson, of Dewsbury, was banned for one match for reckless use of the knee. Great Britain will then face New Zealand in Auckland on 29 October with the final at the Sydney Football Stadium on 5 November. If Andy Goodway's side does not qualify for the final, they will play an Oceania team as part of a double-header that night. "We are delighted to confirm the dates and bring to an end any speculation that the tournament would not take place," the Rugby League's chief executive, Neil Tunnicliffe, said.The cancellation of the World Nines and an exhibition game in South Africa, plus the Australians' apparent lack of enthusiasm for the Tri-Series, had raised doubts over its viability, with plans in place for Great Britain to tour New Zealand instead.

FEARS FOR this autumn's Tri-Series have been allayed with the confirmation of dates and venues of the tournament. Australia will play New Zealand in Auckland on Friday 15 October, before meeting the Great Britain and Ireland side in Brisbane the following Friday night. An IOC probe ruled Kim's case as minor and closed the case with a "severe warning".. He has said that his son worked with Simmons on purely business terms and that he was unaware of any wrong-doing.Ten IOC members either resigned or were expelled for receiving cash and other improper inducements from the Salt Lake City committee who were trying to win the right to hold the Olympics. The secretary distributed copies of a statement Kim's American lawyer, Howard Graff, issued after the guilty plea in the first criminal case stemming from the US federal investigation into Salt Lake City's winning bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics."It is indeed unfortunate that by implication, Dr Kim [Un-yong] has once again been dragged into a story concerning the alleged misdeeds of others," it said.David E Simmons, the businessman, has admitted that he used fake contracts and phoney invoices to conceal the fact that John Kim's salary was being paid by the Salt Lake City Olympic Bid Committee.Kim, who is also the president of an international confederation of Olympic sports, has denied any wrong-doing in the Salt Lake City scandal. It will be a terrible wrench for Enzo to leave after almost 20 years in his corner.".

AN INFLUENTIAL South Korean Olympic official yesterday refused to comment on a United States criminal case implicating his son in Salt Lake City's bribery scandal. A businessman pleaded guilty to tax fraud on Tuesday, saying he had helped the son of Kim Un-yong, an executive member of the International Olympic Committee, obtain lawful permanent resident status by setting up a sham job at his now-defunct communications company. "Mr Kim Un-yong will have no comment," his chief secretary, Baek Sung- il, said in response to repeated requests by reporters for an interview. He won on points but blamed a hand injury for his poor performance. He makes his United States debut next month and could have veteran trainer George Francis in his corner.Warren's statement added: "Enzo is a sensible man and he only wants what is best for his son. although it's not Frank Warren."Calzaghe Jnr was accused of being lacklustre during his last fight against the Australian Rick Thornberry. I'm a very realistic guy and a positive guy but he has hurt me.

If I was asked if this has been instigated by someone else, then I would say `yes'... This stuff about being too close because we are father and son is a joke. I said I would not have taken the job on if I could not take him to the top. Also, I've said if I was not capable of doing this job, I would be the person to get out Why this has happened, I don't know. When I first took on training boxers at Newbridge, I was asked how far could he go.

Despite Warren's statement claiming "there is no rift between the two men," that is unlikely to be the case.Enzo was fuming yesterday, adding: "To me, this makes me out to be incapable in my job. He's not hungry anymore."Enzo guided Joe to three Amateur Boxing Association titles at three different weights and has been training him for the past 17 years. He would not say how the change was likely to affect his relationship with his son. How much further could I take Joe? He is unbeaten as a professional and is world champion." And the Italian-born trainer, whose seven professionals at his stable in Newbridge, South Wales, have never been beaten, added: "The bottom line is that he is fighting like a champion and not a challenger. A statement from Joe Calzaghe's manager, Frank Warren, said that the Welsh fighter's father had taken him "as far as he can and someone else should take over" But Calzaghe Snr argued: "That's a load of rubbish. Eddie Irvine, the team's No 2 driver, won his second race in a row on Sunday in Germany and now leads the championship.Schumacher said at the weekend that he would be willing to drive behind Irvine if it helped Ferrari to win their first drivers' title in 20 years.. ENZO CALZAGHE launched a furious counter-attack last night after being dropped as trainer to his son, the world super-middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe.