Clarke's emotional AB medal win

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Winners are grinners ... Michael Clarke won his fourth Allan Border Medal. Source: Joe Castro / AAP

For once, Michael Clarke suffered from stage fright.

After collecting a record-equalling fourth Allan Border Medal, the Australian Test captain struggled to contain his emotions at the award ceremony in Melbourne.

Allan Border Medal: Michael Clarke

Test player of the year: Michael Clarke 

One-day international player of the year: Clint McKay

T20 international player of the year: Shane Watson

Belinda Clark Medal : Jess Cameron

Domestic player of the year: Phil Hughes

Bradman young cricketer of the year: Joe Burns

After being left alone on stage by compere Mark Nicholas, Clarke even half-jokingly asked for the commentator

to join him in front of the audience.

Clarke's misty-eyed response was one of few surprises on the night with the brilliant right-hander rightly awarded for a stunning 12 months in the baggy green.

He paid tribute to recently-retired teammates Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey and conceded their departures might have finally got to him.

"I really hope this team can do you guys proud," he said before trying to compose himself.

"Emotional ... it has been too many times this year ... have a great night."

If Clarke was looking for a role model for the testing 12 months he has ahead of him, he need look no further than the man that handed him the prize.

Not since Border carried the national team in the mid-80s has an Australian batsman been so central to side's success.

Instead of being daunted by the tour of India and back-to-back Ashes series, Clarke said his men were excited by the challenge and urged the Australian public to be patient.

"I think on the Test side of things, we are certainly improving," Clarke said.

"I think we are heading in the right direction.

"We have got plenty of players that are just making a start in international cricket and they need time to adapt to international cricket."

Clarke (192 votes) edged out Hussey (165) and Shane Watson (165) with the consistent seamer Clint McKay a surprise winner of the one-day award.

The honour saw Clarke match Ponting's haul of four Allan Border Medals.

Watson was named T20 player of the year while Phil Hughes collected the domestic gong.

Queensland batsmen Joe Burns picked up the Bradman young player of the year while Jess Cameron took out the women's award.

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Blues chasing former boss Mourinho

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Welcome home Jose? ... Chelsea are interested in bringing Mourinho back. Source:AAP

Rafael Benitez may have dropped hints he wants to extend his tenure as Chelsea boss beyond this season but it seems the struggling Blues have already set their sights on his replacement.

England's Daily Mail is reporting the club have contacted former manager Jose Mourinho, with a view to bringing him back to Stamford Bridge in the English off-season.

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The newspaper says that talks have only just begun, but billionaire Russian owner Roman Abramovich would back a swoop for the self-appointed 'Special One'.

Mourinho has endured a testing season at the helm of Real Madrid, whose shock loss to Granada on the weekend saw them fall 15 points behind great rivals Barcelona in La Liga.

Things aren't much better for European champions Chelsea and interim boss Benitez.

		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Man United	25	20	2	3	29	62
2	Man City	25	15	8	2	26	53
3	Chelsea	25	13	7	5	24	46
4	Tottenham	25	13	6	6	13	45
5	Everton	25	10	12	3	10	42
6	Arsenal	25	11	8	6	20	41
7	Liverpool	25	9	9	7	12	36
8	Swansea	25	8	10	7	6	34
9	West Brom	25	10	4	11	-1	34
10	Stoke	25	6	12	7	-6	30
11	West Ham	25	8	6	11	-8	30
12	Sunderland	25	7	8	10	-5	29
13	Fulham	25	7	7	11	-6	28
14	Norwich	25	6	10	9	-15	28
15	Newcastle	25	7	6	12	-11	27
16	Southampton	25	5	9	11	-11	24
17	Reading	25	5	8	12	-14	23
18	Wigan	25	5	6	14	-18	21
19	Aston Villa	25	4	9	12	-26	21
20	QPR	25	2	11	12	-19	17

A 3-2 loss to Newcastle United on the weekend saw them fall 16 points behind Barclays Premier League leaders Manchester United.

Already bundled out of the Champions League, the Blues were last month sent packing from the Capital One Cup by Swansea, and only a late Fernando Torres leveller against Brentford in the FA Cup spared Benitez's side further embarrassment.

Now it appears Abramovich is ready to entice Mourinho - the man he sacked in 2007 - back in a bid to get the most out of his star-studded squad.

Mourinho enjoyed tremendous success in his three years at Chelsea, delivering two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups to Blues fans.

Chelsea's defence – a major weakness this campaign- was rock-solid during his reign and conceded a stingy 15 goals in the 2004-2005 season while they never lost an EPL home match with the Portuguese boss in charge.

If the two-time Champions League winner leaves the Bernabau, Chelsea won't be the only club vying for his highly-prized signature.

Mourinho is reportedly interested in the project at Qatari-backed Paris-Saint Germain while the Portuguese manager has never hid his desire to replace Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.

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As it happened: Allan Border Medal

The best ... Michael Clarke took home the AB Medal for the fourth time. Source: Fox Sports

Michael Clarke took home his fourth Allan Border Medal in Melbourne on Monday night.

Australia's captain got quite emotional after receiving the most prestigious award in Australian cricket, while he also took out the Test player of the year gong.

It was a colourful night all round at Crown Casino, and foxsports.com.au was there for all of it, bringing our users interactive coverage of the AB Medal.

We were lucky enough to be joined by former Aussie ODI bowler and general funny guy Brett Geeves, who brought his unique insights to the proceedings despite nearly running out of Cornettos halfway through the ceremony.

Read on to check out how the night panned out, and how the world reacted via social media, and have your say by leaving a comment at the bottom of the page.

For all the best pics from the glitz and glamour of the red carpet, check out our red carpet gallery here.

[View the story "Allan Border Medal Live Blog" on Storify]

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Aussie denies Armstrong bribe

Phil Anderson ... denies seeing Armstrong offer bribes to teammates. Source: Aaron Francis / News Limited

Australian cycling legend Phil Anderson has denied witnessing Lance Armstrong offer a bribe to help fix a race.

Two other former cyclists have alleged Armstrong offered inducements to rival competitors during a lucrative 1993 race series in the United States.

Armstrong scored a $1 million bonus by winning three successive races in the series.

New Zealander Stephen Swart gave evidence in a court case seven years ago that Armstrong offered his team $50,000 to not ride aggressively in the second race.

The ABC's Four Corners program asked Anderson if he was in the room when Armstrong made the offer to Swart's Coors Light team.

At the time, Anderson and Armstrong were riding together on the Motorola team.

"I don't recall being in that meeting," Anderson told the program. "I mean nah, it's ... $50,000, substantial amount, I'd remember that you know."

When contacted by AAP, Anderson strenuously denied witnessing the offer.

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"I have thought long and hard about it and I cannot remember it at all," Anderson said.

American Frankie Andreu also alleged that Armstrong offered money to two rival Italian riders during the third race.
Andreu said he saw Armstrong give the two Italians "a shoe box filled with money" after the race.

Anderson also said he did not recall Armstrong trying to bribe rivals during the third race.

Up until now, Armstrong's downfall has focussed on his doping and bullying of people who tried to expose him for using banned methods.

Australian anti-doping scientist Mike Ashenden again savaged Armstrong in the same program, calling him a professional and pathological liar.

Ashenden has insisted Armstrong doped during his 2009-11 competition comeback, something the disgraced cyclist strenuously denied during last month's Oprah Winfrey interview.

"He's a professional liar, for 15 years? - I don't think anyone should even blink at the prospect of maybe he told one more fib," Ashenden said.

He also disputed Armstrong's denial about making a payment to cycling's world governing body the UCI to cover up a positive test during the 2001 Tour of Switzerland.

"Armstrong would have us believe, even today, that he gave that money to improve the fight against doping," Ashenden said.

"I mean he's a doper, giving money to improve the system to try and catch himself, that's like a robber giving money to a bank to improve their security system.

"When you have a pathological liar telling you a story as farcical as that, you can be pretty sure there's something he's trying to hide."

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Brilliant Proteas rout Pakistan

Deadly quick ... Dale Steyn took 11-60 as South Africa hammered Pakistan. Source: AP

There were landmarks for AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn as South Africa beat Pakistan by 211 runs in the first Test.

De Villiers, who also made an unbeaten 103 in South Africa's second innings 3-275 declared, matched England wicketkeeper Jack Russell's Test record of 11 dismissals in a match while Steyn bagged his fifth 10-wicket haul in Tests.

The Proteas had set Pakistan an unfeasible 480 for victory following the tourists' hapless first innings 49 - their lowest ever Test score.

1st Test - New Wanderers Stadium

1 February 2013 - Day 4, Session 1

Pakistan 2nd Innings

J. Khan	9	23	2	0	39.13
R. Ali	3	9	0	0	33.33
D. Steyn	28.4	10	52	5	1.81

However, South Africa's attempt to end the match inside three days at the Wanderers in Johannesburg had been stifled by an unbroken 101-run stand between visiting skipper Misbah-ul-Haq and half-centurion Asad Shafiq on Sunday.

Asad and Misbah took their stand to 127 when they resumed battle with the South African bowlers on Monday but perished within a run of each other as Steyn had the former caught by Jacques Kallis for 56 and the latter by de Villiers for 64.

Facing a hopeless task, Pakistan's late order batsmen decided to go down swinging but Sarfraz Ahmed was bowled for just 6 by Vernon Philander and Saeed Ajmal became de Villiers' 10th victim behind the stumps as he nicked one from Morne Morkel having made 22.

Steyn and de Villiers combined again to remove Umar Gul for 23 and the Proteas paceman wrapped up victory by having Junaid Khan leg before for 9.

It gave Steyn, who took an incredible 6 for 8 in Pakistan's first innings, career-best Test figures of 11 for 60.

The second match of the three-Test series gets under way in Cape Town on February 14.

Read more: http://www.skysports.com/cricket/match_report/0,,11066_13539_1,00.html

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