Sport in Brief

Collins joins Surrey

Cricket Pedro Collins, the former West Indies left-arm seam bowler, has joined Surrey on a two-year contract as a Kolpak player. Collins, the 31-year-old half-brother of Fidel Edwards, has taken 106 wickets in 32 Tests, but was overlooked for this summer’s tour to England. “We have been looking for a quality left-arm seamer and Pedro fits the bill,” Alan Butcher, the Surrey cricket manager, said.

New deal for Lemi

Rugby union David Lemi has signed a contract extension with Bristol that ties him to the West Country club until 2011. The Samoa wing has scored 27 tries in 41 appearances for Bristol and was the leading tryscorer in the Guinness Premiership last season. Richard Hill, the head coach, said that Lemi’s transition from sevens specialist to the 15-aside game has been “sensational”.

Whatmore India role

Cricket Dav Whatmore, the former Sri Lanka and Bangladesh coach, has accepted an offer to become director of operations at India’s national cricket academy. Whatmore, 53, had been seen as a successor to Greg Chappell, who resigned as coach of the India team after their first-round exit at the World Cup in the Caribbean in March. India have yet to fill that post.

Fielden cut adrift

Rugby league Tony Smith, the Great Britain coach, has dropped Stuart Fielden and Gareth Hock and included only one Wigan Warriors player – Sean O’Loughlin – in his training squad for the forthcoming series against New Zealand. Hock has been handed a two-match ban after a dangerous tackle in his side’s 36-6 defeat by Leeds Rhinos in last Friday’s Grand Final eliminator.

Torre feels the heat

Baseball Joe Torre’s future as manager of the New York Yankees is in doubt after they were knocked out of the MLB play-offs by the Cleveland Indians. Torre took the Yankees to the play-offs for 12 successive years, but they have not won the World Series since 2000. Before Cleveland’s 3-1 series win, George Steinbrenner, the Yankees owner, said that Torre’s job was “on the line”.