Other sports stories in brief

Pistorious delighted to  be competing in Milan

ATHLETICS:Oscar Pistorious yesterday expressed his delight that he will return to action against able-bodied athletes at the Notturna di Milano meeting in Milan tonight.

The South African will compete against an international field in his first race since the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decided in May his prosthetic legs did not give him an unfair advantage.

The opposition at the Italian meeting will be headed by Great Britain's Martyn Rooney, a superb winner of the recent European Cup 400 metres title.

Pistorius, hoping to make his national Olympic team in either the 400m or 4x400m relay in Beijing next month, said: "I am really excited to be back on track. It's my first competition of the year. When I wake up tomorrow, I will have a smile on my face. It's going to be extremely difficult to qualify for Beijing in the 400. The 4x400 relay will be more realistic.

"It was difficult to focus on training. I worked very hard but I had not a lot of time to prepare."

Stiff knee won't stop Vaughan

CRICKET:England captain Michael Vaughan is having treatment on a stiff right knee - but Yorkshire insist the problem will not affect his availability to face South Africa in next week's first Test at Lord's. Any reports of knee problems, for a player who has undergone four operations on the same joint, are bound to raise concerns. Yorkshire director of cricket Martyn Moxon said: "His knee is a little bit sore, but there's no danger of him missing the Test."

Hamilton seeks consistency

MOTORSPORT:Lewis Hamilton believes he needs to rediscover the consistency of his rookie season if he is to bounce back in the battle for this year's drivers' championship.

Hamilton has thrown away points at three race weekends this season after mistakes in Bahrain, Canada and France, and the McLaren driver admits better performances are needed as the season reaches its midway point with this weekend's British Grand Prix.

Superb wins in Australia and Monaco have kept the 23-year-old in the title hunt, however, and he sits just 10 points shy of championship leader Felipe Massa after eight rounds.

The Ferrari driver tops the standings on 48 points, two clear of BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica and five ahead of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, but Hamilton believes there is everything still to play for ahead of his home race.

"There isn't one driver who's comfortably ahead; I've had a few no-scores but so also have the two Ferrari drivers," said Hamilton.