England’s holistic approach towards form and fitness during lockdowns and a hectic schedule is attracting attention from the rest of the cricketing worldTo Melbourne then and the final rounds of the Big Bash. If you’ve been wrapped up in following Test cricket, you might have missed that the Renegades finished last this year, four wins out of 14, a losing streak that has run in parallel with a dismal run of form from their captain, Aaron Finch.His season started with a bang, back-to-back innings of 114, 60, and 75 in the one-day series against India and finished in one long whimper – 18, eight, none, 14, 13, none, 10, four, six for the Renegades, (caught mid-on, strangled down the leg...
The year’s first grand slam will not produce a fair competition with many players forced to compete without a proper warmupNo tennis player across the world attracts drama like Yulia Putintseva. The story goes that at just 16, she lost in the finals of the US Open junior event, stormed off the court and when officials beckoned her to return she dramatically proclaimed: “It’s not safe to be around me.” She once flipped off an Australian Open crowd on her way out after a loss. Her deliciously petty handshakes, so entertaining for onlookers, are detested across the sport. Related: Extra women's tennis tournament scheduled for quarantined Australian Open players Related: Andy Murray 'devastated' as he shelves Australian Open plans Continue...
Carl Robinson and Bernie Ibini had a fiery return to McDonald Jones Stadium. Can a Covid-era crowd light up the first Sydney derby of the season?Three years ago Sydney FC fans endured what was, in their eyes, an unforgivable betrayal. Vedran Janjetovic, having lost his spot in goal to Danny Vukovic, defected to Western Sydney. The move, completed in December after much speculation, was sacrilege, a contravention of the golden rule: do not cross town.Janjetovic was seen as the ultimate deserter, a turncoat of the highest order, and supporters made their dissatisfaction known in his first Sydney derby as a Wanderer. Related: A-League's prodigies showcase local potential – but will the public respond? Continue reading...
Peter Jess represents a group of 135 former VFL and AFL players diagnosed with long-term neurological problems – ‘the most catastrophic events are the behavioural and mood issues’The last time I spoke to Peter Jess, he broke down midway through the conversation. Sorry, he said, in that reflexive way people do when they’re trying to fight back their tears, but it had been a long, hard day. Jess is a sports agent in Australia and his head was still wrapped up in a phone call he’d just had with one of his clients, a retired player suffering from a long-term brain injury and struggling badly with depression. It had been a tough conversation, and taken a lot out of both...
A year that began with a record T20 crowd ends with fears Covid may deepen inequalities in the women’s gameFive years ago in an Australian boardroom, Kevin Roberts, the current chief executive of Cricket Australia, scratched his chin and suggested it might be time to run men’s and women’s Twenty20 World Cups as separate entities. From that kernel came the idea that Australia should try to fill the Sydney Cricket Ground for the Women’s T20 World Cup final in 2020. A couple of years later, the aspiration grew again, the SCG became the MCG and the hashtag #FilltheMCG was born. It seemed a huge undertaking, some would say downright potty: Lord’s was sold out for the 2017 50-over Women’s World...