Jamaica International footballer Damani Ralph is recuperating in the United States after undergoing a third consecutive knee operation six weeks ago in a desperate attempt to iron out the career hampering injury.   Ralph, now 27, has been sidelined for the past 2 1/2 years after picking up the injury while playing for Russian club Rubin Kazan early in 2005. Two prior surgeries on the joint, the first which took place in Germany in February of 2006 and then another in Switzerland in the same year have both failed to alleviate the problem.  Once battling for a regular spot in Jamaica's Reggae Boyz squad, the striker last represented the national team in a 5-0 loss to Australia in October of 2005. Ralph has netted once for the national team, that goal coming against Panama in the 2004 World Cup qualifying campaign.

It took less than three months, but after a finish that surprised many at the 2007 World Netball Championships (WNC) in Auckland, New Zealand, and floating in the euphoria of its aftermath, Jamaica's Sunshine Girls came crashing down to earth faster than you could say 'World No 4'.  For after a performance which saw them beat England by one point to win the bronze medal at the WNC and consequently ranked the world's No Three netball team, that's where the team finds itself after the revamped rankings by the sport's world governing body, the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA).  Previously, countries were ranked every four years based on their final positions at the WNC, but IFNA approved the change to its ranking system at its last congress prior to the start of the world championships to "provide a more accurate reflection of the current form of countries competing internationally".  The IFNA world rankings take into account the last eight games a team plays. Six matches last year in Asia against Iran, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, and Hong Kong.  Of the six, only Malaysia seriously plays netball. Malaysia are ranked No 20 in the new system, an even worse position than their 16th-placed finish at the WNC.  The world ranking will be released twice per year, so there is every likelihood that if the Sunshine Girls play no international games before the end of the year, they would have slipped to No Five or Six by the time the next world rankings are published.