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Live Report - India v New Zealand

Published in Cricket
Tuesday, 09 July 2019 00:56

The World Cup knockouts are here! First up, India v New Zealand at Old Trafford. Get all your live updates and analyses on ESPNcricinfo's blog (if it doesn't load for you, please refresh your page).

CLEVELAND -- On the night he hit more than seven miles' worth of home runs, a night that showed the world that he's far more than the name he inherited from his famous father, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. launched himself into the annals of Home Run Derby history by smashing baseballs in never-before-seen fashion. And that, it turns out, was tiring. Vlad Jr. just wanted a moment to himself, and when he finished answering the final question about his 91-home run performance at the 2019 Derby, he took a breath and said, "Ay dios mio."

Which, actually, summed up the night pretty well. Whether it was his record-setting first round, his epic second-round duel or his going-on-fumes final round, Vlad Jr., the 20-year-old Toronto Blue Jays rookie, will be the enduring memory of the 35th Derby. It would've been nice for him to beat the actual winner, New York Mets rookie Pete Alonso, and take the $1 million prize that came with the victory. Guerrero, like Mark McGwire and Josh Hamilton before him, instead settled for inspiring countless fans and viewers to utter the English translation of what he said exhaustedly as the evening neared its end: "Oh my God."

It's the most succinct summation of what took place on Monday at Progressive Field. Guerrero started the day with eight career major league home runs and questions about whether he belonged in the field when 181 big leaguers have hit more homers than he has this season. He erased some doubts when he deposited the first pitch he saw 462 feet off the scoreboard in left field, cleared them for good when he set a single-round record with 29 home runs in the first round and made them seem laughable after he outlasted Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Joc Pederson in a triple-overtime second-round battle he won 40-39.

Yes, Vlad Jr. hit 40 home runs in a single round: 29 of them in the standard four minutes with 30 seconds of bonus time for hitting balls so far, eight in the minute-long extra period, one in a three-swing tiebreaker and two more in another tiebreaker that Pederson simply couldn't match.

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0:46

Vlad Jr. ties his derby record, celebrates too soon on potential 30th

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hits a Home Run Derby-record 29 home runs for a second straight round but falls just short of his 30th long ball.

By the time Alonso hit his final home run to win the final 23-22, Guerrero's numbers almost defied belief. He saw 207 pitches. He swung at 195 of them. He homered on 91. He hit 38,641 feet worth of home runs -- the longest 488 feet, the shortest 373, the average more than 424. He finished with 34 more homers in his three rounds than Alonso. He had the seven hardest-hit balls. After one night, he has the second-most home runs in Derby history -- and nearly five times as many as his father, the Hall of Fame outfielder who won the 2007 Derby.

"He was the star of the show," said John Schneider, the Blue Jays coach who might have had the greatest vantage point in the stadium: He was pitching to Guerrero. Schneider didn't exactly take time to admire the balls like the crowd of 36,119. He did, however, see the fruits of his labor flying high into the sky again and again and again from a right-handed swing that is equal parts pretty and ferocious. Five times in the first round Vlad Jr. hit four consecutive pitches for home runs. He dispatched Matt Chapman, a last-second replacement for the top-seeded Christian Yelich, 29-13.

During a practice round this week, Guerrero hit 17 home runs. He wasn't satisfied with the result, Schneider said, but wasn't worried either. Guerrero, Schneider said, declared that he was going to hit 30 in the first round and knock out Yelich. He came close to 30 against Chapman and blew past it in his slugfest with Pederson.

Guerrero's most impressive stretch of the night came in the middle of the second round. In a 2-minute, 1-second window, he swung at 25 pitches and homered on 19 of them. It was reminiscent of Hamilton, who, in a previous format that didn't pit players head-to-head, homered 28 times on 38 swings.

"It's pretty standard for him," said Marcus Stroman, Guerrero's Blue Jays teammate. "It's easy. It's very easy. Didn't surprise me in the slightest."

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0:30

Vlad Jr. finally takes down Pederson in second swing-off

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hits two homers in the second swing-off, and Joc Pederson cannot match him, sending Vlad Jr. to the finals.

Pederson's matching Guerrero's 29 home runs to force the minute-long overtime was a tad surprising, and his following Guerrero's eight home runs with eight of his own was perhaps even more so. Pederson was taking the volume approach, swinging 84 times to Guerrero's 73 in those five-and-a-half minutes. Given the advantage of going second, Pederson could only tie Guerrero's one home run in the first swing-off and had two chances to force a fourth tiebreaker but didn't homer on either.

Guerrero laughed as they embraced at home plate following Pederson's final swing. Even if he wouldn't go on to win, he had won by surviving.

"That was elite hitting," Alonso said. "That was some of the best rounds of BP I've ever watched. That was up there with -- I think that was even better than the Josh Hamilton round because both of them going back and forth, and clawing back the way that Joc did, he had his work cut out for him. ... I don't know if we're ever going to see that again. That was special."

Guerrero tried to summon that magic in the final round. Whereas Schneider previously fed him pitches over the heart of the plate, in the final round Guerrero asked him to leave the ball slightly inside so he could cheat to his pull side. Schneider tried to elevate pitches to keep Guerrero from needing to use his tiring legs.

"Kind of did it on adrenaline, I think," Schneider said. "His last round was better than my last round, to be honest. After that second round, it was so mentally and physically exhausting, and he still put up 22, which not many people did that at all."

It more than validated Major League Baseball's choice to invite Guerrero, who entered the season as the most well-regarded hitting prospect in years. Now he has an indelible moment to attach to his name and pedigree, which is the very sort of thing the Derby should serve to do.

"My 15-year-old was all for it," New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia said. "Even my girls. They're really not that into baseball, and they were into the Derby."

How couldn't they be? Vlad Jr. vs. expectations in the first round was a resounding KO. Vlad Jr. vs. Joc in the second round turned an exhibition that runs the risk of redundancy into grand theater. Vlad Jr. vs. Alonso was two rookies playing for a prize nearly twice their $555,000 salaries. However high the expectations, the 2019 Derby exceeded them.

Schneider knows. Earlier this week, his wife filled out a Derby bracket and picked Vlad Jr. She asked Schneider how many to choose. Bryce Harper won the previous year with 45, so, Schneider said, probably 55.

He chortled. How quaint. How naïve. He's a coach on the Blue Jays' staff. He knows Guerrero's power. He should've seen something like this coming.

Then again, come on. This was the sort of night even dreamers can't imagine. Home runs upon home runs, miles and miles of them, from a kid with a cherubic face and blond-dyed dreadlocks and a charming smile, and the captured hearts of everyone who saw Vladimir Guerrero Jr. do what he did Monday and couldn't help themselves when they said, "Oh my God."

Konta seeks place in Wimbledon semi-finals

Published in Tennis
Monday, 08 July 2019 13:36

If Britain's Johanna Konta finds herself in a third set in Tuesday's Wimbledon quarter-final, she can draw confidence from the fact that on recent form she is likely to pull through.

The British number one came from behind to beat two-time champion Petra Kvitova to win her 13th of 15 three-setters in 2019 and faces Barbora Strycova next.

"That's something I can be really proud of," the 28-year-old said.

"It comes with match fitness, as well, with playing a lot of them."

Konta will face Strycova on Centre Court after 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams takes on fellow American Alison Riske at 13:00 BST.

The Briton is one win away from emulating her 2017 feat of reaching the last four and two away from becoming the first British women's singles finalist since Virginia Wade won the title in 1977.

"The experience that I had in 2017 was a magnificent one. It was something that is incredibly special to me," Konta said.

"Equally how I'm doing so far, I'm just really pleased with the level I'm playing, how I'm competing, how I'm really just trying to find a way in each match that I play."

She has faced Czech world number 54 Strycova just once before, losing in straight sets on a hard court in Tokyo in 2017.

"She's a very crafty player," Konta said. "She knows how to mix up the game. She knows how to play on this surface.

"To know... that I have the capability to stay there as long as I need to for however long, even if losing the first set, I know I have every opportunity to get back into the match."

Analysis - 'Konta has a shot at winning'

Three-time Wimbledon singles champion John McEnroe on BBC TV

I admire Konta's fighting qualities. Everything about her game is very meticulously planned out. To me she is a better player now than when she got to the semi-finals at Wimbledon in 2017.

She is mixing up her serve nicely. The team has looked back on her career and realised that variety is the spice of life and that could help her in the end.

I'm not going to say she's the favourite to win this but she's got a shot at it, for sure.

Williams faces debutant - and has a Murray debate to settle

If Konta can beat Strycova, she would face the winner of the match between Williams and Riske, who beat world number one Ashleigh Barty to reach her first Grand Slam quarter-final.

Williams will play two matches in one day on Centre Court, playing her singles quarter-final before returning to action after Konta's match to continue her high-profile mixed doubles partnership with Britain's Andy Murray.

They face American Raquel Atawo and Frenchman Fabrice Martin in the second round as former world number one Murray continues his comeback following hip surgery.

They gelled well in their first crowd-pleasing display on Saturday, but they still need to sort out one issue - their nickname.

"He did tweet Ser-Andy. I was like, 'I like Murena. My vote is still for Murena'," Williams smiled.

Seventh seed Simona Halep is the highest ranked player left in the women's singles after defeats on Monday for Barty and third seed Karolina Pliskova.

She faces China's Zhang Shuai, who is ranked 50th in the world but who has posed the Romanian problems in the past, including a stunning upset in the 2016 Australian Open first round.

"Things are different now," Halep said. "I don't want to think about the past that much. I'm different and I'm feeling different on court. This is what matters."

In the other quarter-final, Ukrainian eighth seed Elina Svitolina takes on Czech world number 68 Karolina Muchova.

Ding Ning: On the upswing down under

Published in Table Tennis
Monday, 08 July 2019 12:57

by Blythe Lawrence

The performance of the world no.3 at this week’s Korea Open was reason to celebrate for Ding fans, who before Busan had not seen the Queen of Hearts grace a World Tour final since the 2018 Australian Open. Even if she wasn’t able to penetrate World no.1 Chen Meng’s armour in the final in Busan, the left-hander took full advantage of the opportunity to send a message to the rest of the world: Don’t count me out.

That’s already a strong improvement from the beginning of the year. After a triumphant 2018, including wins at the Bulgaria Open and Women’s World Cup and strong contributions to China’s golden success at the World Team Championships and Women’s Team World Cup, assured that the Rio Olympic champion in women’s singles would enter 2019 as the world’s top-ranked player — not bad for someone who had started the year ranked no. 20. There was every reason to think that 2019 would be the same. 

But from the beginning, things didn’t go according to plan. Ding withdrew from January’s Hungarian Open, citing “the purpose of protecting my physical condition.” Filled with accolades yes, but the year of intense competitions had taken their toll.

“At the end of last year, I participated in a series of international and domestic events, seeing me expend a lot of physical strength and energy,” she wrote on Weibo. “For me, at 29 years of age, it is key that I protect my body properly and I must arrange my training regime more reasonably. I hope that I can avoid accidental injuries caused by fatigue and I hope that I can adjust better to reach competitive shape.”  

And then the customary appearances in finals stopped materializing. There was her semi-finals elimination at the hands of Wang Manyu in Doha. At April’s Liebherr 2019 World Championships in Budapest, she bowed to Liu Shiwen. Then there was the quarter-finals exit due to Mima Ito in Shenzhen and finally a round of 16 elimination by Hitomi Sato in Sapporo last month. 

But Ding Ning is a fighter. In Korea last week, she showed flashes of the inimitable Queen of Hearts, ploughing through He Zhuojia and Singapore’s Feng Tianwei in the early rounds before ejecting Korea’s Jeon Jihee in straight games in the quarter-finals. The toughest confrontation came against Sun Yingsha: down 3-1, Ding rallied beautifully, skillfully employing her time-outs to stifle Sun’s effectiveness while mounting an offensive comeback that stopped Sun in her tracks. 

When the dust cleared, Ding had turned the tables in one of the hardest fought matches of the tournament (8-11, 11-5, 8-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-8) — and earned her first trip to a final in a year. Even though she didn’t prevail, she signalled that she remains a formidable contender, full of possibility.

In Australia this week, at the same tournament where she last made the final before Busan, Ding will try again. And this time, the Queen of Hearts is coming in on a high.

Liu and Miyu roll on

Chinese Liu Weishan and Japan’s Miyu Kato were in top gear in their first matches of the 2019 Australian Open, recording swift victories in around 30 minutes.

Up against Singaporean Yu Mengyu, Liu was relentless and took the match 4:0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-3, 11-5). For Miyu, it was the host nation’s Jee Minhyung who could not handle Miyu’s speed of serve in another straight games win (11-9, 11-7, 11-9, 11-4).

European and Asian derbies end the same

There were early continental domestic battles involved here in Geelong, as Indian Madhurika Patkar lost out to Hong Kong’s Ng Wing Kam in a one sided match (8-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-8, 12-10).

Europe had it’s own derby with Austrian Yui Hamamoto seeing off Czech Dana Cechova in five games (11-5, 11-5, 11-7, 9-11, 11-1). Despite the best efforts of Dana, Yui had to sweat little in a match that lasted less than 30 minutes. In other news, Portuguese Yu Fu had to withdraw because of injury, sending her Japanese opponent Shiho Matsudaira through to the next round.

Lind and Cho advance

Coming off the back of a rather impressive Korea Open, Danish Anders Lind had to channel his previous best in taking down Huang Chien-Tu of Chinese Taipei in seven games (11-5, 6-11, 9-11, 11-3, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8).

Korean Cho Seungmin had a much smoother qualification, defeating Hong Kong’s Kwan Man Ho in five, taking Cho no longer than 36 minutes (11-4, 11-8, 10-12, 11-5, 11-9).

Chinese duo impress

China’s Xue Fei and Sun Wen both impressed in their opening preliminary round men’s singles matches when facing formidable Japanese opposition.

Xue Fei beat Shunsuke Togami (11-9, 13-11, 7-11, 11-6, 5-11, 6-11, 11-6); Sun Wen accounted for Takuya Jin (3-11, 7-11, 13-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-8).

Don’t be confused

The host nation’s Ma Lin experienced defeat in the opening preliminary round of the men’s singles event; he was beaten by Thailand’s Supanut Wisutmaythangkoon (11-4, 11-7, 13-11, 11-6)

No, Ma Lin, the Beijing 2008 Olympic champion, has not suddenly picked up his racket and emigrated to Australia; the player in question is a para athlete who alongside Lei Lina and Yang Qian has moved down under. However, like his namesake he has enjoyed major success; he won men’s singles class 9 at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

 First round defeats for para pair

Recently moved to Australia, highly successful at para tournaments, both Lei Lina and Yang Qian experienced first preliminary round women’s singles defeat. Lei Lina was beaten by Korea Republic’s Shin Yubin (11-2, 11-6, 11-2, 11-2); Yang Qian suffered at the hands of Audrey Zarif from France (11-5, 11-7, 7-11, 11-8, 11-4).

Born in Sichuan, most notably at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, Lei Lina won class 9 gold; in London four years later she successfully defended her title. Meanwhile, Yang Qian, a class 10 athlete, succeeded at the Asian Games in both 2010 and 2014.

Follow the Austrailia Open live on ITTF TV and click here for the daily schedule:

Daily schedule

Porsche Debuts New 911 RSR Racer

Published in Racing
Monday, 08 July 2019 17:48

GOODWOOD, England – Porsche will put its faith in a new 911 RSR to defend its FIA World Endurance Championship titles and continue the German marque’s ongoing success in the GT Le Mans class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship here in North America.

The race car, which complies with all FIA LMGTE regulations, is a completely new development over the present generation car which has raced since 2017.

The machine has undergone improvements in all areas and will replace the successful 911 RSR, with which Porsche won the manufacturers’ and drivers’ world championship in the FIA WEC, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and eight IMSA races, including major endurance events at Sebring and Road Atlanta during its platform life.

“Since 2017, the 911 RSR has yielded us more than 20 class wins in the world championship as well as at long-distance series in North America and Europe,” said Fritz Enzinger, Vice President Porsche Motorsport. “Our job in the development was to make a very good car even better. The engineers at Weissach have perfectly implemented this in every aspect.”

The Porsche GT Team will field two works cars in eight rounds of the 2019/2020 calendar with 2018/2019 FIA World Champions Michael Christensen and Kévin Estre (France) as well as Gianmaria Bruni and Richard Lietz.

“We never rest on our laurels. We’ve extensively analyzed all factory and customer campaigns with the Porsche 911 RSR. Our engineers noticed room for improvement in a number of areas,” said Pascal Zurlinden, Director GT Factory Motorsport. “We have made significant progress in the development of our car for the next three-year homologation period, especially in the complex areas of drivability, efficiency, durability and serviceability. Ninety-five percent of the car is new. The only components that we’ve kept unchanged from the predecessor are the headlights, brake system, clutch, driver’s seat and parts of the suspension. Tests so far have run excellently. We’re already looking forward to the first races of the 2019/2020 FIA WEC season.”

In the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the switch to the latest model will take place for the 2020 season as the two-car program fights for the GT Le Mans title. The first public laps of the car in North America will be at the 2020 IMSA Roar Before the Rolex 24 at Daytona Int’l Speedway in early January. The first competition laps will come later in the month at the Rolex 24. For customer teams, the vehicle will be available for purchasing beginning with the 2020/2021 FIA WEC season.

“First of all, I’m really pleased that nothing serious happened to the driver in the terrible accident involving the prototype car,” said Steffen Höllwarth, Program Manager, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. “That’s the most important thing. As far as our race result is concerned, I’m simply proud of everyone. We very deliberately implemented two different strategies to be prepared for all eventualities. In terms of the team and the drivers, the race was perfectly executed. Five wins in a row is the well-deserved reward for the great work over these intense weeks.”

In terms of the drivetrain, Porsche remains faithful to its chosen path. The latest 911 is powered by a six-cylinder naturally aspirated engine. The highly efficient boxer unit positioned in front of the rear axle has a capacity of 4.2-liters (256 cubic in / 4,194 cc) and – depending on the size of the air restrictor mandated by each sanctioning body – produces approximately 515 horsepower.

The new power unit is the largest boxer engine to be mounted in a Porsche 911 to-date, and offers stronger drivability over a wider rev-band compared to the predecessor’s proven four-liter unit. Power is delivered to the rear wheels via a weight-optimized, sequential six-speed constant-mesh gearbox which has been made more rigid for the new model.

The new powertrain in the Porsche 911 RSR ensures faster gear-shift times and increased efficiency. Two exhaust pipes now exit on each side of the iconic 911-shape in front of the rear wheels. The new exhaust gas ducting saves weight and is aerodynamically advantageous over previous generation 911 race cars which had exhaust pipes that exited at the rear of the car.

With the repositioning of the tailpipes, space has been made for an aerodynamically optimized rear diffuser. The distinctive component at the rear of the Porsche 911 RSR now generates more downforce from the airflow under the car. Thanks to the optimization of airflow at the front and the sides, aerodynamic efficiency and stability have increased significantly, thereby further improving the use and durability of the Michelin tires during racing.

Drivability and serviceability are critical factors in long-distance racing. For this reason, Porsche placed particular emphasis on these aspects when developing the new 911 RSR. The cockpit has been reworked with the focus on better usability for drivers and technicians alike. In this regard, extensive feedback from the Porsche drivers proved invaluable. Like with its predecessor, the body made of carbon-fiber reinforced plastic can be swapped out quickly and thus ensures efficient pit processes in long-distance racing.

To give drivers further added protection, the active and passive safety elements in the Porsche 911 RSR have been further updated. The proven collision warning system introduced on the previous generation 911 RSR, allows drivers a better overview to detect approaching prototype vehicles earlier to minimize incidents during overtaking. The optimized roll cage, the FIA side impact panel in the door and cage as well as additional impact protection for the legs improve the passive safety in the event of an accident. Other features include the removable roof hatch and the rigidly-mounted racing seat featuring a six-point safety harness for the driver.

Women's WC final viewers top men's final in U.S.

Published in Soccer
Monday, 08 July 2019 18:22

The United States' 2-0 victory over Netherlands in Sunday's FIFA Women's World Cup final averaged nearly 15.6 million U.S. viewers on English- and Spanish-language television.

It was the most-viewed match this season, but a decrease from the 2015 final.

The match averaged 14.27 million viewers on Fox, according to the network and Nielsen, and peaked at 19.6 million. It was a 22 percent increase over last year's FIFA World Cup men's final between France and Croatia, which averaged 11.44 million.

The audience was down 43.8 percent from the 2015 final between the U.S. and Japan, which averaged 25.4 million viewers. That match, though, was played in Canada and started at 7 p.m. ET, compared to Sunday's final in France, which kicked off at 11 a.m. ET.

The Telemundo broadcast averaged 1.3 million and peaked at 2 million as the match concluded.

The match averaged 589,000 viewers online -- 289,000 on Fox apps and 300,000 on NBC and Telemundo apps -- which makes it the most-streamed Women's World Cup match ever.

The CONCACAF Gold Cup final between the U.S. and Mexico averaged 2.9 million on Fox Sports 1, making it the most-viewed non-World Cup match in the network's five-year history.

The Copa America final between Brazil and Peru averaged 3.1 viewers on Telemundo. The ESPN-plus streaming service had the English-language rights, but the network did not divulge figures.

Nicholas Pooran, Fabian Allen and Oshane Thomas have been handed Cricket West Indies central contracts for the first time and Darren Bravo returns with an all-format deal while the number of women on contracts has increased from 12 to 15.

Among the men's contracts there are now seven players on all-format deals, an increase from four, with Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer and Keemo Paul joining Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph and Kemar Roach.

The CWI deals for the men come in three categories of all-format, red-ball and white-ball contracts.

Pooran, Allen and Thomas were all part of the World Cup squad with Pooran, especially, impressing in the closing stages of the tournament with 118 against Sri Lanka and 58 against Afghanistan. Opening batsman John Campbell, who made his Test debut against England earlier this year, has also been handed his first contract in the red-ball category.

Left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican has been given a red-ball deal while Sheldon Cottrell gets a white-ball offer.

Six players who had deals for 2018-19 have fallen off the lists: Sunil Ambris, Devendra Bishoo, Miguel Cummins, Ashley Nurse, Kieran Powell and Raymon Reifer.

In the women's contracts, Reniece Boyce, Anisa Mohammed, Akeira Peters have not been offered new deals along with the retired Merissa Aguilleira.

"We believe the 2019-20 contract list provides us with a multi-talented group of players who can represent West Indies men and women across all formats over the contract period," interim chairman of the CWI Selection Panel, Robert Haynes, said. "We believe the mix of players selected are important for the development of our teams going forward and we have looked to award contracts to players who have shown commitment and performance during the past year."

CWI allows for up to 22 men's contracts to be offered each year so there is scope to add three more names. Currently, only verbal offers for the deals have been made to the players while negotiations continue on the new four-year Memorandum of Understanding with the West Indies Players Association. Jimmy Adams, the CWI director of cricket, said the contracts are subject to the players reaching minimum fitness standards.

"To assist in our drive towards a new fitness and conditioning culture, the CWI board of directors has approved our recommendation that the award of all new West Indies men's contracts this year will be conditional on each player achieving a minimum standard of fitness," he said. "This new policy will also be introduced to all men's regional franchise contracts and West Indies Women's contracts next year for the 2020-21 season."

CWI men's contracts for 2019-20

All-format Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Keemo Paul, Kemar Roach

Red-ball Kraigg Brathwaite, John Campbell, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Jomel Warrican

White-ball Fabian Allen, Carlos Brathwaite, Sheldon Cottrell, Nicholas Pooran, Rovman Powell, Oshane Thomas

CWI women's contracts 2019-2020

Retained Shemaine Campbelle, Shamilia Connell, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Hayley Matthews, Chedean Nation, Shakera Selman, Stafanie Taylor

New contracts Shabika Gajnabi, Shawnisha Hector, Chinelle Henry, Stacy-Ann King, Kycia Knight, Natasha McLean, Karishma Ramharack

Yardy named New South Wales batting coach

Published in Cricket
Monday, 08 July 2019 20:42

Michael Yardy, the former Sussex captain and England allrounder, has been named New South Wales batting coach, replacing Beau Casson who has decided to return to Western Australia for family reasons.

Yardy, 38, has been Sussex batting coach since early 2017 and has been combining that with his role as the 2nd XI coach since the 2018 English season, while also working with the England Young Lions. He will link up with New South Wales next month in preparation for the Australian domestic season which starts in October.

"I would like to thank the club for giving me the opportunity to coach at Sussex, a place which will always be very special to me and my family and which is deeply ingrained within me," Yardy said. "I'm immensely proud to have played a part in the emergence of a number of young batsmen, from players being called up to England to seeing talented young lads start their journey with debuts and achieving landmarks across all formats.

"Alongside my role at Sussex, I have immensely enjoyed my work with England Young Lions as batting coach. I leave both roles knowing the players I've worked with are in a good place to continue to progress. Now I am excited about and looking forward to the opportunity to work at New South Wales, which is an outstanding organisation. It was an opportunity I couldn't afford to let pass by."

Yardy scored more than 10,000 first-class in a 15-year Sussex career alongside captaining the club from 2009 to 2012. He played 28 ODIs and 14 T20Is for England, and was part of the team which won the 2010 World T20 in the Caribbean, before his international career was ended due to clinical depression which curtailed his 2011 World Cup. He has since done much work to raise awareness of mental health.

Casson was appointed batting coach last August amid a backroom restructuring at NSW. He played an important part in the breakthrough season for Kurtis Patterson, who forced his way into Australia's Test team, scoring a century in his second match against Sri Lanka, and is now pushing for an Ashes berth. Casson has also worked with the state at a time when they have a number of emerging young batsmen including Jason Sangha and Jack Edwards.

Cricket NSW general manager of cricket performance, David Moore, said: "We've got seven or eight really good players under the age of 21 at the moment that we think are going to be good players and we think Mike is going to be able to add his experience, not just technically and tactically, but really how he thinks about the game, how he devises his innings.

"He's coached at Premier League level in the UK, he's coached Academy level, he's coached at 2nd XI level and he's also been involved with the Sussex first XI, so we're very lucky that we've got someone of such experience and development. We're obviously looking for Mike to come in and fit into the team beautifully, which we're sure he will and…to assist in the development of players that are going to play for Australia and help us win Shield titles."

Sussex director of cricket Keith Greenfield said: "Yards has been a hugely important and committed part of Sussex's journey for the best part of three decades in his roles as player, captain and latterly as coach.

"We wish him well with his new opportunity in Australia as he strives to become the best coach possible and, one day, a head coach. We're delighted at Sussex to have helped him on his way to those goals."

Handscomb will treat semi-final as 'any game'

Published in Cricket
Monday, 08 July 2019 21:19

It's been a strange year for Peter Handscomb. He started it recalled to the Test side, one game after being dropped, and was then dropped again. He was called into the ODI squad, scored plenty of runs, but was left out of the World Cup squad. Now he's in the World Cup squad after Shaun Marsh's broken wrist and is very close to coming straight in for a semi-final.

Handscomb's omission from the original 15 was the harshest, and toughest, call the selectors made - in the squeeze to include the returning David Warner and Steven Smith - after he tallied 479 runs at 43.54 in 12 innings, including impressive knocks in the away series in India which Australia came from 2-0 down to win. And, despite Australia comfortably making the semi-finals, there have been times in this tournament when the stuttering middle order has made Handscomb not being there look a misstep.

Having seemingly seen the chance of being part of this World Cup slip away, Handscomb now faces coming in when the pressure is at its greatest. "For me, I've played so many World Cup semi-finals and finals in the backyard with my mates and you are trying to be different guys as a kid. To actually come out here, it's cliché, but it's living the dream," he said. "It's about knowing what is required of me and then treating it as any game, go in with the same mindset I have for the last couple of years and hopefully do something towards winning the match."

Handscomb's breakthrough innings came in the fourth ODI of the away series in India when he struck 117 in Australia's record run chase of 359. That, coupled with several other useful innings, has left him confident of being able to step into the breach against England.

"Every time you take the next step up you try and get that self-belief that you actually belong there and that little period against India and Pakistan really helped me believe in myself," he said. "Now I can back my skills and know I have done it so can continue to make runs if required."

Although Handscomb is currently Australia's lone official replacement in the squad there are various permutations that potentially see him not lining up at Edgbaston with Matthew Wade and Mitchell Marsh currently acting as cover. If either are elevated to the squad they could leapfrog Handscomb depending on the type of player Australia want. Usman Khawaja has been ruled out of the remainder of the tournament, but Marcus Stoinis was doing all he could during training on Monday to try and keep himself in contention despite a second side strain in the space of a few weeks.

"He's pretty tough, Stoin," bowling coach Adam Griffith said. "He's played with the left side [strain] through the tournament and he bowled seven overs against England in a row and got through it okay. Scans show things, but it will be more around his ability to perform. We'll have a good look at that tomorrow when he bowls. It's pretty uncommon [to injure both sides], so I'm looking forward to seeing how he goes tomorrow. That's the best indication we'll have that he's not just fit to play, but fit to perform."

What the last week has shown is the benefits of the planning that Cricket Australia put into this World Cup - and the Ashes that follows - by having the Australia A team playing concurrently in the UK. Handscomb, Wade and Mitchell Marsh are all fresh off the one-day series which concluded last week rather than having to be flown in long distances at the crunch stage of the tournament.

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