Having picked injured stars hoping they would recover in the shortest possible time, the tourists are left with few options in DelhiYou go to war with the army you have – so goes a piece of unintended wisdom from Donald Rumsfeld as cycled through Natasha Lyonne on Russian Doll. Like any good motto leaning towards truism, it’s something you can take beyond the literal and apply to the trivial. It’s a phrase that you can mutter as you plough into the passport queue at a seething airport, or glance at the other adult trying to control an eighth birthday party.For our purposes, it can apply to any sporting situation dealing with a lack of resources. Billy Beane could have slotted...
With the global showpiece on home soil looming the three-team mini tournament is crucial for coach Tony Gustavsson’s planningTony Gustavsson possesses an undeniable stage presence. Enthusiastic – almost earnest – he arrives in Matildas camp from the air via umbrella, toes out-turned, ready to dance in dreamed-up settings with a smile and some catchy quotes. Five months before a World Cup for which Australia is still not convinced his national team is adequately prepared, he is in dress-rehearsal mode. “Everything we do now is like a World Cup rehearsal,” Gustavsson said on Wednesday, the eve of the Cup of Nations tournament – effectively a series of friendlies against Czechia, Spain and Jamaica.Whether the main act turns out to be Mary...
The cricket deals offered in India and recent financial developments in other sports are progress of a kind not seen beforeIt was only a few days ago that members of the Australian women’s cricket team were contemplating how best to navigate the impending “distraction” of the inaugural Women’s Premier League auction, scheduled during the first week of the T20 World Cup. “It’s a little bit awkward,” captain Meg Lanning said in South Africa last week. “But it’s just trying to embrace that and understanding it’s actually a really exciting time and you actually don’t have a lot of control over most of it, so you’ve just got to wait and see.”What a pleasant distraction it turned out to be. Lanning...
Already there have been allegations of secret recordings, two players wrestling in the street and the union threatening to strikeIn rugby league’s roaring ‘70s, players readied themselves for a big game with a jogged lap of the oval and a Rothmans in the car park. Back then, unconventional ‘warm-ups’ such as these were acceptable, just as these days rugby league fans accept unconditionally the need for the NRL to be fired up for a new season with controversy, melodrama, skullduggery and farce.Already we have allegations of secret recordings of a conversation between NRL chief Andrew Abdo and players, two stars of the game wrestling in the streets of Canberra and being arrested on camera, and the players’ union threatening to...
Despite a rare defeat in their final warm-up match the five-time champions’ pedigree and form point to a sixth titleThe air of invincibility around Australia as they head into tournaments is such that the prospect of any opponent with hopes of standing in their way might seem like an exercise in futility from the outset. The eighth edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup, which begins this week in South Africa, nears its kick-off hinged on a similar premise.Five-time winners in the showpiece 20-over event, current holders of the ODI World Cup and inaugural Commonwealth Games gold medallists, Australia saunter into the tournament as firm favourites. Since the start of 2018, they have placed first at all major events, scripted...