Latest - The Breakers have confirmed the signing of French shooting guard Hugo Besson as the Australian basketball league club's second import.
Breakers owner Matt Walsh. Photo: Alan Lee/Photosport Ltd 2021
The 20-year-old will join the Breakers from the French second division, where he was the scoring champion.
Compatriot Ousmane Dieng has already signed with the club as their NBL Next Star player.
"Just like RJ [Hampton], I expect both Hugo and Ousmane will be first-round picks in next year's NBA draft following a season playing for the Breakers and being coached by Dan [Shamir]," Breakers owner Matt Walsh said.
Besson will partner American point guard Peyton Siva in the Breakers' back court.
They effectively replace Corey and Tai Webster, who have left the club in the past month.
Tai Webster walked away from a new two year deal as he refused to get vaccinated against Covid-19.
Mixed fortunes for Chelsea and Manchester United in League Cup
A much-changed Chelsea side crept into the fourth round of the League Cup as they beat Aston Villa 4-3 on penalties after the Stamford Bridge clash ended 1-1.
Photo: AFP
Manchester United crashed out though as West Ham United avenged a weekend loss in the Premier League to claim a 1-0 victory at Old Trafford with Manuel Lanzini scoring early.
Tottenham Hotspur surrendered an early 2-0 lead at Wolverhampton Wanderers but eventually won 3-2 on penalties as manager Nuno Espirito Santo claimed his second win of the season against his former club.
Arsenal cruised into the fourth round with a 3-0 home win against third-tier AFC Wimbledon while Leicester City put aside their stuttering league form to win 2-0 away at Millwall.
Brighton and Hove Albion's impressive start to the season continued as they cruised past Swansea City 2-0.
Fourth round draw:
Chelsea v Southampton
Arsenal v Leeds United
Stoke City v Brentford
West Ham United v Manchester City
Leicester City v Brighton & Hove Albion
Burnley v Tottenham Hotspur
Queen's Park Rangers v Sunderland
Preston North End v Liverpool
- Reuters
Diamonds name new captain
Liz Watson has been named Australia's new netball captain.
Photo: John Davidson/Photosport Ltd 2021
The 27-year-old mid-courter has been appointed to the role by a selection committee following a vote from her teammates.
Watson effectively replaces Caitlin Bassett, who has led the Diamonds since 2017.
Goal attack Steph Wood has been named Australia's vice-captain.
Liz Watson won't be able to lead the Diamonds in next month's series against England as she's still recovering from foot surgery.
Williamson returns to cricket
Black Caps captain Kane Williamson has made his long awaited return to the crease.
Black Caps captain Kane Williamson who players for the Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL side is one of ten New Zealand cricketers involved in the competition. Photo: Photosport
Williamson has captained the Sunrisers Hyderabad in their first game since the resumption of the Indian Premier League in Dubai.
Williamson hasn't played since the Test Championship final victory over India in June as he rested an elbow injury.
He made 18 as Hyderabad posted 134, which Delhi reached in the 18th over.
Sunrisers Hyderabad bowler T. Natarajan didn't play after testing positive for Covid-19.
The BCCI said its medical team has identified six close contacts, including all-rounder Vijay Shankar, and all of them have been isolated.
"The rest of the contingent including the close contacts underwent RT-PCR tests at 5 A.M. local time this morning and the test reports are negative," the BCCI added.
Delhi remain top of the table, while Hyderabad are bottom.
Pakistan blames India for threat to Black Caps
Pakistan has accused an unnamed individual in India of sending threatening emails that caused New Zealand to abandon its cricket tour of the country.
Pakistan cricket captain Babar Azam and New Zealand captain Tom Latham hold the trophy the two sides were supposed to compete for in the one day series which was abandoned. Photo: Photosport
New Zealand scrapped its plans last Friday, citing a specific security threat to its cricket team without sharing the details of the threat.
England has since called of tours by their men's and women's teams scheduled for next month.
"The email was sent from an associated device in India using VPN [a virtual private network], showing IP address location of Singapore," Pakistan information minister Fawad Chaudhry said.
Chaudhry claimed that New Zealand received threatening emails before it arrived in Pakistan on September 11, including an email sent to the wife of Martin Guptill in which the cricketer received a death threat.
Yesterday, Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ramiz Raja lashed out at what he called the "Western bloc" who he said "used and binned" his country.
Teams stopped touring Pakistan after the Sri Lankan team bus was attacked in Lahore in 2009, but some teams resumed touring in 2019.
- Aljazeera
MCC decides to drop 'batsman'
The term 'batsman' has been amended to the gender-neutral term 'batter' in the Laws of Cricket to stress the importance of the women's game.
Maddy Green Photo: PHOTOSPORT
England beat India in the 2017 women's World Cup final in front of a capacity crowd at Lord's while the women's World Twenty20 final between Australia and India last year attracted more than 80,000 to the Melbourne Cricket Ground in increasing signs of popularity of the women's game.
The International Cricket Council, the world governing body of the sport, requires all 12 of its full members to have a national women's team.
The Lord's-based MCC, the sole authority on the laws of cricket since it was founded in 1787, said the changes are effective immediately.
Women's cricket will feature at the Commonwealth Games for the first time at the 2022 Games in Birmingham, England.
The MCC, the most esteemed club in the sport, welcomed its first female full member in 2018, 20 years after a vote to allow women to join.
Former England captain Clare Connor, the England and Wales Cricket Board's managing director of women's cricket, will become the first female president in the club's history next month when she takes over from Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara.
- Reuters
Issac Luke retires
Kiwis veteran Issac Luke has decided to retire.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Luke made his NRL debut with South Sydney in 2007 and racked up 286 games across stints at the Rabbitohs, Warriors, Dragons and Broncos, as well as 43 Tests for New Zealand.
The 34-year-old hooker played nine games for Wynnum Manly in the Intrust Super Cup in 2021 after going close to securing more NRL time with the Broncos earlier in the season.
He played 188 matches for the Rabbitohs but missed out on the 2014 grand final after he was suspended for a dangerous throw on Rooster Sonny Bill Williams in the preliminary final.
Luke joined the Warriors in 2016 and played 83 games for the club before heading to St George Illawarra in 2020.
A handy goalkicker, he booted 205 goals in the Premiership while racking up 50 tries for a career haul of 610 points.
Luke was a member of New Zealand's 2008 World Cup victory and the 2010 and 2014 Four Nations triumphs.
- NRL
Football fans will be allowed to stand in Britain
Supporters will be allowed to stand in selected English Premier League and Championship grounds from next year as part of a pilot programme.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The introduction of designated standing areas would mean an end to the ban on standing in the top two divisions of English football that has been in place for more than 25 years. Such spaces were outlawed by legislation following the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.
"We have been clear that we will work with fans and clubs towards introducing safe standing at football grounds providing there was evidence that installing seating with barriers would have a positive impact on crowd safety," said Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston.
Clubs would have to meet certain criteria to get approval, including having "the necessary infrastructure" in both home and away areas of their stadium, and allowing fans to sit or stand in the standing areas with the seats not locked in the "up" or "down" position.
- Reuters