Adrian Seconi

Twenty20 cricket is coming to ground in near you - that is if you live in Hamilton.

Otago Boys' High School will be joined by three other Dunedin schools at the country's premier secondary schools tournament in Palmerston North next week.

Dunedin made a solid start to the national championships with a 51-49 win over Kapiti-Manawatu in its opening game in Auckland yesterday.

Action Jackson. It has always had a nice ring to it and it is a nicknamed well-deserved.

New Otago coach Dimitri Mascarenhas has stamped his mark on the side even before the Volts take the field.

Queenstown will next month host the New Zealand boxing championships, an event expected to attract about 200 fighters. Sports reporter Adrian Seconi names three to watch.

For all the gains the Black Caps made over the summer, they still have not solved that old problem - who will open?

Anyone who has ever fancied themselves as a bit of a pool shark might have been tempted to try out the line: ''You set 'em up, I'll knock 'em down''.

Otago Cricket Association chief executive Ross Dykes is confident the pitch at the Queenstown Events Centre will remain one of the best in the country despite the departure of groundsman Peter Domigan.

Wellington has just been given a trademark inside pass from Andrew ''Joey'' Johns and might want to grab the ball and run with it.

The Black Fins have earned the right to sit alongside New Zealand's elite at the Halberg Awards, local surf life-saving identity Scott Weatherall says.

A month or so ago Taieri had ''nine or 10'' players confirmed for the season and the club was contemplating pulling out of the senior competition.

New Zealand Rugby League southern zone general manager Steve Martin has been handed an opportunity of a generation.

Former Silver Ferns captain Belinda Colling feels the inclusion of Australian-born shooter Ameliaranne Wells in the Silver Ferns squad is ''a little bit awkward''.

Jesse Ryder will miss four - perhaps five - one-day fixtures for Otago this season.

Otago cyclist Katie Schofield will ride for her future over the next three days.

Breakers coach Dean Vickerman hopes his side's defence will be tougher to break down this season.

Finding a suitable replacement for Tall Blacks coach Nenad Vucinic should be easy enough - he had two very able assistants after all.