Latest- Stokes blasts boundary record, Venus shines in Madrid, Hamilton standing his ground with jewellery, Asian Games postponed, Spaniards caught in tennis scandal
Ben Stokes livened up the County Championship a week after being appointed England's new test captain when he smashed 161 off 88 balls for Durham against Worcestershire, in an innings that included a record 17 sixes.
The record for most sixes in a County Championship innings was previously shared by Andrew Symonds and Graham Napier, who both hit 16 in 1995 and 2011, respectively.
Ben Stokes Photo: Photosport
Stokes, who took over from Joe Root as England captain, notched up his ton in just 64 deliveries with a massive six that sailed into the stands.
The all-rounder bludgeoned 18-year-old Josh Baker for 34 runs in an over which included five sixes and a boundary -- the second time in his county career he had cleared the rope in five consecutive deliveries.
He was eventually caught in the deep going for his 18th six, finding the fielder a couple of metres inside the rope. Durham posted 580-6 before they declared.
Stokes will start his stint as test captain when New Zealand tour England next month.
-Reuters
Venus and Murray reach Madrid semi-finals
Michael Venus and his British partner Jamie Murray are through to their second straight ATP semi-final together.
The 8th seeds have advanced to the semi-finals at the Madrid Masters 1000 tournament after 7-6 (5) 7-6 (7) win over Italian Simone Bolelli and Croatia's Ivan Dodig.
Jamie Murray (L) and Michael Venus (R) Photo: Tennis NZ Media
The tight match in which there were no breaks of serve lasted an hour and 54 minutes.
Venus who is ranked 9th in the ATP doubles rankings and Murray (18th) will face 5th seeded Colombians Juan-Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah for a place in the final.
Venus and Murray are playing together due to the ankle injury suffered by the Kiwi's regular partner German Tim Puetz at the Monte Carlo Masters last month.
Venus and Murray will team up again at next week's Rome Masters.
Puetz is hoping to return to play with Venus at the Geneva Open, the week before the French Open which starts in just over two weeks.
Hamilton says jewellery ban could rule him out of Miami GP
Seven-times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton suggested he could be ruled out of Sunday's inaugural Miami Grand Prix if the sport's governing body enforced a ban on piercings and jewellery.
The Mercedes driver spoke after race director Niels Wittich issued a reminder to all teams and officials that wearing body piercings and metal neck chains was prohibited during competition and could be checked.
Hamilton, the sport's most successful driver and biggest name in America, has said he cannot remove some of his piercings.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The 37-year-old said he was prepared to sign a waiver instead to take personal responsibility and suggested all parties had "bigger fish to fry".
The Briton emphasised his resistance by wearing rings on every finger, three watches (set to different time zones), a bangle, strings of necklaces and studs in both ears.
A further nose piercing was hidden by his face mask.
"I couldn't get any more jewellery on today," he said, adding that he felt the clampdown was almost a backward step at a time when the sport and governing FIA should be focused on its latest big breakthrough in America.
"This is such a small thing," he said. "It seems unnecessary for us to get into this spat."
Asked what the solution might be to an apparent impasse, Hamilton indicated there was only so much he could do.
"I can't remove at least two of them," he said. "One I can't really explain where it is.
"But what I can say is it's platinum that I have, so it's non-magnetic, it's never been a safety issue in the past. I've had in 16 years so many MRI scans and not had to take out the platinum.
"And if they stop me then so be it. We've got a spare driver... there's lots to do in the city anyway so I'll be good either way."
Wittich had explained in his note that the wearing of jewellery underneath the mandatory flameproof clothing could reduce heat transmission protection and increase the risk of burn injuries.
He said it could also hinder medical intervention and treatment due to the risk of 'snagging' when safety equipment such as the helmet, balaclava or overalls were removed.
-Reuters
Hangzhou Asian Games postponed until 2023
The Asian Games scheduled to take place in the Chinese city of Hangzhou in September has been postponed until 2023 because of the prevailing COVID-19 situation, Randhir Singh, the acting President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), told Reuters on Friday.
The 19th edition of the multi-sports Games, second in size only to the Summer Olympics, was scheduled to take place from Sept. 10-25 in the capital of Zhejiang province, some 175 kilometres southwest of Shanghai.
Question marks had been raised over the event taking place with Shanghai having recently been locked down because of a COVID-19 outbreak.
The local organising committee did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The decision to postpone the Games was taken at a OCA executive board meeting in Tashkent on Friday.
Most international sporting events in China have been postponed or cancelled since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the notable exception of the Winter Olympics, which went ahead in Beijing under strict health controls in February.
Hangzhou organisers said in early April that all 56 competition venues for the Games had been completed and test events were continuing as the lakeside city prepared to host more than 11,000 athletes from 44 nations and territories.
-Reuters
Six players banned after Spanish courts find them guilty of match-fixing
Six players have received lengthy bans from tennis after Spanish courts found them guilty of match fixing and convicted them on criminal charges, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) said on Friday.
The ITIA said the players were convicted in Spain as part of a wider case involving organised crime and they have been handed bans ranging from seven years to more than 22 years.
Two players, Marc Fornell Mestres and Jorge Marse Vidri, are ranked while the other four -- Carlos Ortega, Jaime Ortega, Marcos Torralbo and Pedro Bernabe Franco -- are unranked. They had all received two-year suspended prison sentences.
Mestres received the biggest punishment and was banned by the ITIA for 22 years and six months while he was also fined $250,000, of which $200,000 is suspended. The bans prevent them from both playing or coaching.
"This is one of the most significant infiltrations of tennis by organised crime that we have seen," ITIA CEO Jonny Gray said in a statement.
"We welcome the involvement of law enforcement agencies and the prosecution of entire criminal networks, not just the players involved. This ruling sends a strong message that match fixing is a crime which can see criminal convictions."
-Reuters