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On This Day in Sport (17 December 2008): 1927: Bill Ponsford, playing for Victoria against Queensland at Melbourne, scored 437 runs to beat his own world record of 429 set nearly five years earlier. 1937: Australian media magnate Kerry Packer, who turned the world of cricket upside down in 1977 by announcing plans to launch a world series on his television station, was born. 2000: Danny Murphy scored the goal which ended Manchester United's two-year unbeaten home record in the Premiership as Liverpool recorded a famous 1-0 victory over their fiercest rivals at Old Trafford. 2001: Liverpool striker Michael Owen became the first Englishman to be named European Footballer of the Year since Kevin Keegan in 1979. Headlines (17 December) : Souness favourite to replace Ince Former Blackburn boss Graeme Souness has emerged as the leading candidate to take over at Ewood Park after Paul Ince was sacked on Tuesday. Lawrenson: Gerrard thinks Keane will go Steven Gerrard believes Robbie Keane will leave Liverpool in next month's transfer window, according to former Reds star Mark Lawrenson. Eduardo eyes cup comeback Eduardo hopes he could be back in action for Arsenal when they kick off their FA Cup campaign at the start of January. Berbatov out of cup clash Dimitar Berbatov will miss Manchester United's Club World Cup semi-final with Gamba Osaka on Thursday after picking up a virus. Misun close to Hoops switch Milan Misun has described the prospect of joining Celtic as the perfect Christmas present. ECB 'unaware' of Stanford reports The England and Wales Cricket Board insisted on Wednesday they were "unaware" of reports suggesting Texan Billionaire Sir Allen Stanford was set to end his five-year deal with English cricket. Cook promises 'surprises' at City Manchester City executive chairman Garry Cook has promised there will be some surprises in the January transfer window and has not ruled out a marquee signing. Proteas hit back South Africa took two crucial wickets before tea to wrest the momentum back from Australia on the opening day of the first Test at the WACA ground. Shah hopes to get his chance Owais Shah will aim to exploit England's disappointment at their failure to win the opening Test and force his way into their selection plans for Friday's final match against India. Harmon: Tiger must roar on return Butch Harmon is hoping Tiger Woods comes back from knee surgery stronger than ever but expects the world number one to have a tougher time on his hands as the standard in world golf continues to improve. International Results Roundup Dateline 16 December 2008 FOOTBALL Football League Trophy Northern Section - Semi Final Rotherham 1 Darlington 1 Rotherham won 4-2 on penalties Scunthorpe 2 Tranmere 1 Southern Section - Semi Final Luton 1 Colchester 0 Shrewsbury 0 Brighton 0 Brighton won 5-4 on penalties FA Challenge Cup Second Round Replay Blyth Spartans 1 Bournemouth 0 Scottish Division One Clyde 1 Airdrie Utd 0 SNOOKER 2nd rd: Stephen Maguire (Sco) bt Neil Robertson (Aus) 9-8 Stephen Lee (Eng) bt Mark King (Eng) 9-5 BADMINTON England lost 3-2 to Poland in their international in Warsaw. Just last month they had beaten the same opponents 5-0 in Swindon but Ian Wright's squad found it far harder going this time. EQUESTRIAN Dutch National Champions Adelinde Cornelissen and Parzival headed the opening class of Olympia The London International Horse Show winning the grand prix World Cup Dressage qualifier supported by Horse & Hound. The Dutch combination - winners of the first World Cup Qualifer at Stockholm - headed off the British duo of Laura Bechtolsheimer and Mistral Horjis but by just 1%.