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Cricket Australia asked the ICC about whether a reserve day could be added for the T20 World Cup semi-finals with the weather threatening to ruin the double-header day, which would send Australia and England out, but were told it was not possible to alter the tournament playing conditions.
Kevin Roberts, the CA chief executive, revealed the request had been made but understood why it was declined although added that it is an area of the tournament that could be reconsidered in the future.
A minimum of 10 overs per side is needed to make each semi-final a match - up from the usual five-over minimum for T20s - meaning that the weather will need to allow 40 overs for the two games to be completed. If either or both semis are abandoned, the teams that topped the group - India and South Africa - would progress to the final. Australia will play the second game of the day against South Africa and there is a suggestion that the weather may have improved a little by then, following the India-England semi in the afternoon.
ALSO READ: Explainer: What happens if the semi-finals are washed out?
"We've asked the question and it's not part of the playing conditions," Roberts told SEN Radio. "I respect that because we've said the same thing in tournaments that we run in Australia.
"It gives you cause to reflect on how you might improve things in the future absolutely, but going into a tournament with a given set of playing conditions and rules I don't think it's time to tinker with that as much as with an Australian hat on I might love that."
Earlier this season it was thought there was virtually no chance of staging the Big Bash final at the SCG amid a horrendous forecast, but the weather cleared for long enough to play a 12-over match
"We're optimistic based on the drainage of the SCG, combined with a weather forecast that's not perfect but not terrible either," Roberts said. "We're really hopeful and planning for different scenarios tomorrow night. It reminds me of the lead up to the BBL final a few weeks ago and by way of some miracle we got a 12-over match in. So I think with the drainage of the SCG there's every chance Australia and South Africa will be playing that semi-final tomorrow night.
"It'd be disappointing for any team for that matter, you want the game to be won and lost inside the ropes rather than won or lost based on the weather don't you."
England captain Heather Knight believes that the ICC will be under pressure to add reserve days for future events - there isn't one for the men's T20 World Cup either, although there were for the 50-over semi-finals last year which was needed for the India-New Zealand match at Old Trafford - but conceded that the position they are in was largely of their own making after the loss to South Africa at the start of the competition.
"It's the same for the men's T20, we did check that this morning, it is strange," she said. "It will be a shame if it does happen and I'm sure they'll be a lot of pressure to change that.
"It's frustrating…it would be nice if we could play in Melbourne. It is what it is, there's nothing we can do about it. The reserve day would be useful in this situation and it's a shame for the tournament in general because it's been great and if both semi-finals are lost it will be a sad time for the tournament. We'd be gutted if that did happen but guess it's our own fault for losing that game against South Africa. We didn't top our group and only have ourselves to blame."
An ICC spokesperson said: "The ICC T20 World Cups are short sharp events where reserve days are factored in for the final. Allowing for any other reserve days would have extended the length of the event, which isn't feasible. There is a clear and fair alternative should there be no play In any of the semi-finals with the winner of the group progressing."
With an electric 37-ball century followed by 5 for 26 in his fours overs in an invitational Twenty20 tournament on Tuesday in Mumbai, Hardik Pandya has announced to the selectors that he is fit to return to the international game. Hardik's match-winning performance came during the DY Patil T20 tournament, where he was representing Reliance 1 against the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) team.
Over the years this T20 tournament has been utilised by several Indian players, including international and domestic, as preparation for the IPL. This time the tournament has offered an added incentive for the trio of Hardik along with his India teammates Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, to prove their match fitness to the national selectors, who will soon pick the ODI squad for the three-match home series against South Africa, to be played between March 12 and 18.
Hardik has not played since last September after undergoing back surgery while Dhawan had suffered a shoulder injury during the ODI series against Australia in January. Bhuvnewshar was sidelined by sports hernia last year.
In January Hardik's expected international return - which the player himself had said would happen during the recently concluded New Zealand tour - was put on hold by the BCCI, who wanted the allrounder to spend more time in rehab. That extended break has now come in handy for Hardik, who played his first competitive match on February 28 in the tournament. He started with a strokeful 25-ball 38 and took three wickets to ensure Reliance 1 emerged victorious against Bank of Baroda.
On Tuesday, Hardik turned it up a notch against CAG. He changed his bat two balls into his innings after arriving at the fall of Saurabh Tiwary's wicket, three deliveries before the Powerplay ended. Hardik's first scoring shot was a powerful straight drive for a one-bounce four. On the next delivery, he went for another wild swing of the bat, without moving his feet against a fuller length delivery and was lucky to get away as the ball raced inches past the stumps for four byes. Th next ball was outside off stump, and Hardik lofted it with a flat bat over long-off for a six. Two balls later there was another one -bounce four, this time a pull over midwicket which meant Hardik was already on 14 in 7 deliveries.
That aggressive intent was what Hardik displayed every ball he faced regardless of the outcome. He jumped from 38 to 64 in matter of five deliveries as he hacked 26 runs against offspinner V Jivarajani. Another 24 runs came against seamer Ankit Kaushik as Hardik galloped into the 90s. A powerful pull that sailed over deep square leg got him to a century off just 37 balls. Later, with a mixture of high pace and variations he dominated the CAG batsmen to secure an easy win.
In contrast Dhawan was out for a duck while Bhuvneshwar continued to remain wicketless after two matches, although he bowled with good rhythm. Both players are likely to not be too perturbed by their returns, using the DY Patil T20 tournament more to sharpen their match fitness than anything else.
Five years ago, Josh Speidel suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car accident when he was a senior in high school, shortly after the former prep standout and three-star recruit committed to playing for Vermont.
On Tuesday, Speidel made his first Division I start on Senior Day, and he registered the first points of his collegiate career in a matchup against Albany.
In a prearranged moment, Speidel scored on his team's first possession.
With 19:40 on the clock in the first half, Speidel caught a pass from teammate Everett Duncan, took one step and scored off the backboard.
Players from both Vermont and Albany hugged Speidel before he went to his bench and hugged every player and coach. He also shared a moment with Albany coach Will Brown.
It was a remarkable scene for those who have followed his journey. Lisa Speidel, his mother, said she cried when she saw her son run onto the court for warm-ups Tuesday.
"When we walked into the gym, it felt like everything we'd imagined it would feel like," she said. "We're so proud of Josh, just hanging in there and working as hard as he has. He looked as good as I thought that he would in his uniform."
She said she remembers racing down the highway with her husband, David Speidel, to get to a hospital in Indianapolis to see her son on Super Bowl Sunday in 2015, the night of his accident.
"We were praying on the way and we go, 'God, he's yours,'" David said.
At the time, Josh was a standout player averaging more than 28 points per game at Columbus High School in Columbus, Indiana.
When they reached the hospital, doctors told the family that their son had nearly lost his life, and the prognosis for the future was not bright. Josh was in a coma for five weeks. Doctors told the family to prepare for their son to live in a vegetative state and need 24-hour care for the rest of his life. He'd never read above a fourth-grade level, they said.
On the Glasgow coma scale, which doctors use to track the extent of brain injuries, anything eight or lower is considered to be a "severe head injury," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Josh, on the night of his accident, was a four on that scale, according to his parents. Yet they kept their faith.
"We knew God had us," Lisa said. "We decided that we were going to believe differently than what the doctors were telling us."
This year, Josh will graduate with a 3.4 GPA. Five years ago Tuesday was a milestone for the family. It was the first day Josh sat up in bed so his mother could hug him. From that difficult chapter to Tuesday's events highlighted the miraculous improvement Josh has made.
He heard enormous applause as the announcer called his name before the game.
His parents said they thrived on their faith. But on their toughest days, their son helped them stay positive. He worked so hard to reach this moment, they said.
Josh's journey, Lisa said, should inspire others to keep going, even in their darkest times.
"We want people to have hope," she said. "Just that reminder, you know, don't give up."
The popularity of New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson continues to skyrocket -- both on and off the court.
NBA Auctions launched a bid for one of his game-worn Pelicans City Edition uniforms on Feb. 27. As of Tuesday afternoon, it remains one of the most popular items on the site -- cracking over $15,000 with the close date set for March 19.
More memorabilia products for Williamson have been sold since his NBA debut Jan. 22 than any other player across the Fanatics network (which includes NBAStore.com), according to the company. And for merchandise and memorabilia sales combined, he has been a top-five-selling NBA player, with a 175% spike in sales month over month.
Fanatics wouldn't release specific figures to ESPN.
"We've seen incredible demand for both his Duke Blue Devils and New Orleans Pelicans products from fans around the world," Fanatics Authentic executive vice president Victor Shaffer said.
In January, when the NBA and National Basketball Players Association released the league's most popular jersey and team merchandise lists for the second consecutive year, Williamson ranked 15th despite not having played a single game in that period (results were based on NBAStore.com sales from October 2019 through December 2019, during which Williamson was rehabbing a knee injury).
His laundry list of endorsements also include Jordan Brand, Gatorade, NBA 2K, Panini America and Mountain Dew.
"I've always knew that memorabilia was a big part of the game because everybody wants an autographed jersey, signed basketball or just kind of anything to do with game-worn gear," Williamson told ESPN, while confirming his new multiyear partnership with Fanatics as his exclusive memorabilia distributor.
"It was just me, I've just never kind of asked for any of that [growing up]," he added. "Maybe it was my competitive spirit that made me not want to ask, but now that I'm officially in it, it does open my eyes to another level of the money people spend on it or the time and effort that people truly take to get a card or to get a basketball and it's impressive."
On Tuesday, Williamson was named Western Conference Rookie of the Month for February after averaging 25.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 9 games. The 19-year-old faced LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers twice in the month, and despite losing both times, he described James as "thinking plays ahead while everybody else was probably thinking about the play going on."
"He really got his teammates involved, he got to his spots and he showed why he is who he is," Williamson said of James.
Following Sunday's game against Los Angeles, Williamson was also spotted gifting Lakers center JaVale McGee with his game-worn jersey and a hug before walking away empty-handed.
Despite the recent Fanatics memorabilia deal, Williamson admits he didn't grow up asking for autographs, but he has now grown to appreciate the value of highly sought-after items, such as his jerseys.
"I don't think it takes away from the competitive aspect at all because that's done after the game," Williamson said of jersey swaps among current players. "I've swapped jerseys with a few players like PJ Dozier, Ja Morant, Khris Middleton. I swapped with them because they're all from South Carolina and you just have a different connection with different people, so I don't see nothing wrong with it as long as you're battling when it's game time, that's all that matters."
The business of Williamson's sports merchandise has begun to blossom so much that it's taken him a while to perfect his autograph style. Since his junior year of high school, he has switched it up multiple times before currently settling on putting his last name first then going back to sign his first name to provide a cleaner look.
He plans to keep a few items from his rookie year, but his most cherished item has nothing to do with the NBA.
"I don't think it's anything big to the world, but it's big to me. My freshman year of high school, we had a field day where it was Freshmen vs. Sophomores, Sophomores vs. Juniors and all that good stuff," Williamson said. "So, each grade had their own color shirt, and I had my whole class, every kid, a big class of 45 people, sign my shirt, and I still have that shirt. It's something I hold on to. It sits in my drawer somewhere."
Coverage: TNT
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BOSTON -- Celtics forward Gordon Hayward left Tuesday night's game against the Brooklyn Nets due to a right knee contusion.
Hayward, who played 17 minutes and had seven points in the first half, didn't come out for the start of the second half, with backup Javonte Green starting in his place. A short time later, Boston announced Hayward was done for the night.
Hayward was hurt when Celtics center Daniel Theis fell back and appeared to hit his shoulder on Hayward's right knee/leg with a little more than two minutes remaining in the second quarter. Hayward grabbed at his knee briefly but remained in the game. He finished the first half without incident.
The Celtics went on to lose 129-120 in overtime.
Kemba Walker, who made his first appearance since the All-Star break after missing five straight games with left knee soreness, also came off the bench in the second half as Boston had him on a strict 20-25 minutes limit in his first game back.
Center Robert Williams, who missed three months because of ongoing hip issues, also made his return, playing three first-half minutes and scoring on a putback on his very first play on the court. He finished with 10 points and three rebounds.
Boston was playing without Jayson Tatum, who sat with an illness. Tatum won his first-ever Eastern Conference Player of the Month award on his 22nd birthday Tuesday. The Celtics have had only 14 games this season where their top five perimeter players -- Walker, Tatum, Hayward, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart -- have all been available at the same time.
"Yeah, it is weird," Smart said before the game of Boston's ongoing health issues. "But yet we still been striving all year. It's crazy how well we've been playing with key guys out. It shows us how dangerous we really can be when we have the full roster. That's just something positive that we've got to look forward to having everybody back."
Noredi Bongo is the junior boys’ singles top seed, alongside Rabby Kasota he occupies the same position in the junior boys’ doubles, as well in the junior boys’ team event, where Christian Mbongia and Exauce Ngefuassa complete the four man squad.
Notably amongst the group, Christian Mbongia, 16 years old, was the runner up in the cadet boys’ singles event at the 2018 ITTF World Junior Circuit tournament in the Ivory Coast. last year in Ghana, Exauce Ngefuassa, 15 years of age, was a quarter-finalist in both the junior boys’ singles and cadet boys’ singles competitions. Noredi Bongo, Rabbay Kasota have yet to reach the later stages at international level.
A familiar face on the ITTF World Junior Circuit, Hungary’s Helga Dari is the most prominent name on duty in the junior girls’ singles event, the 17 year old has yet to gain a podium finish but she has experience on her side, having competed in the four most recent European Youth Championships.
Similar to Noredi Bongo, she starts the favourite for three titles. In the junior girls’ doubles, she is the top seed in harness with Oumehani Hosenally of Mauritius, in the junior girls’ team in the same position alongside Togo’s Ayoko Amah.
Meanwhile, in the cadet boys’ singles and cadet girls’ singles events, the host nation is prominent. In the former, Exauce Diampovisa is the leading name, in the latter Julie Kayembe.
Major challengers for honours, in the cadet boys’ doubles Exauce Diampovisa partners Kassa Dikizeyiko, in the cadet girls’ doubles Julie Kayembe joins forces with Muteba Dialumona. Likewise, the four players appear in the top seeded outfits; Mbaku Basaele completes the cadet boys’ team selection; for the girls it is Bombanga Sita.
The team events commence play.
Carlos Fernandez, who occupied to no.1 spot on the under 15 boys’ world rankings in January 2019 and last year won the cadet boys’ singles title in Chile, is the junior boys’ singles top seed.
He is named ahead of colleague Adolfo Cucho, Brazil’s Kenzo Carmo and Chile’s Matias Pedraza. Similar to Carlos Fernandez, who in addition was the junior boys’ singles runner up last year in North Macedonia, all have experienced international success.
In cadet boys’ singles events, Adopho Cucho was a semi-finalist at the 2017 Latin American Cadet Championships in Guatemala, in the same year on the ITTF World Junior Circuit, Kenzo Carmo won in Paraguay. Equally, in junior boys’ singles events, Kenzo Carmo has reached the later stages; last year he was a quarter-finalist in Slovenia; similarly Matias Pedroza was the runner up in El Salvador.
The situation is not too dissimilar in the junior girls’ singles competition. In 2019, competing in cadet girls’ singles events, Laura Watanabe was a semi-finalist in Slovenia, the winner in Chile.
In Lima on the junior girls’ singles listing, Laura Watanabe is followed by Chile’s Valentina Rios, Brazil’s Livia Lima and Chile’s Jerusalen Flores.
Notably, at the 2017 ITTF Challenge Chile Open, Valentina Rios won the under 21 women’s singles title; in the same year and in 2018, Livia Lima was a semi-finalist in the junior girls’ singles event in Paraguay. Meanwhile at the 2017 Paraguay Junior and Cadet Open, Jerusalen Flores advanced to the quarter-finals of the cadet girls’ singles competition.
Brazil to the fore, it is the same in the cadet girls’ singles event. Giulia Takahashi tops the seeding ahead of Chile’s Fernanda Araneda.
Last year Giulia Takahashi was member of the Latin American team at the 2019 ITTF World Cadet Challenge and winner of the junior girls’ singles title at Chile Junior and Cadet Open. Fernanda Araneda, like Ecuador’s Diego Piguave and Jeremy Cedeño, the respective top two seeds in the cadet boys’ singles event, has yet to make her present felt on the international stage.
Prominent in the individual events, Peru tops the junior boys’ team seeding with Adolfo Cucho, Carlos Fernandez, Adria Rubinos and José Zapata on duty; in the counterpart junior girls’ team competition, Brazil selecting from Livia Lima, Laura Watanabe, Lhays Stolarski and Giovanna Grilo head the order.
Likewise in the cadet girls’ team event Giulia Takahashi lines up alongside Beatriz Kanashiro, Karina Shiray and Victoria Strassburger to top the seeding; in the cadet boys’ team competition, Ecuador’s Diego Piguave, Jeremy Cedeño, Joseph Vasquez and Paul Ponce Cedeño form the leading outfit.
The team events commence play.
In 2014 Alexandre Cassin won the junior boys’ singles title at the European Youth Championships in Riva del Garda, two years later he regained the crown when he prevailed in Zagreb.
However, the climb from succeeding at junior level to gaining creditable results on the senior scene has not been paved with gold; that was until last October. After a year’s absence from the international scene, at the ITTF World Tour Swedish Open, in the preliminary rounds he beat Hong Kong’s Kwan Man Ho, India’s Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Brazil’s Vitor Ishiy.
He explained at the time that Hua Huorn, the French national coach, who in 2010 had guided Zhu Yuling to gold at the World Junior Championships in Bratislava, believed the time was ready to compete on the ITTF World Tour.
It would seem Hua Horn was correct; at the 2020 ITTF World Tour Platinum German Open in Magdeburg, Alexandre Cassin beat Germany’s Nils Hohmeier, Chinese Taipei’s Chen Chien-An and Romania’s Cristian Pletea.
Two weeks later in Hungary, he performed even better. He accounted for Hungary’s Norbert Nagy, Brazil’s Vitor Ishiy and most notably Finland’s Benedek Olah, before overcoming Chinese Taipei’s Chuang Chih-Yuan to book his place in the main draw.
It was the stage at which he recorded the best win of his life. Most significantly he accounted for Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus, prior to losing to Austria’s Robert Gardos.
The result is that on the current world ranking list published for March, Alexandre Cassin has moved from no.206 to no.115.
Now why is the win against Benedek Olah notable and the success against Vladimir Samsonov significant?
In the opening preliminary round of the men’s singles event in Doha, Alexandre Cassin beat Benedek Olah by the narrowest of margins (4-11, 11-7, 12-10, 9-11, 10-12, 11-7, 12-10). Twice he has beaten Benedek Olah this year, can he do the same second preliminary round match? He faces Vladimir Samsonov!
However, there is one twice that is no going to happen; last year in Sweden he was beaten in the final preliminary round by China’s Zhao Zihao, the same thing happened this year in Germany!
In Doha they are in totally different halves of the preliminary round draw; maybe they could meet, once again the concept of two following Alexandre Cassin, the second round in the main draw?
The verdict finished in favour of the Truls Moregard (11-4, 9-11, 11-9, 7-11, 10-12, 11-4, 12-10).
According to the world rankings issued earlier in the day the result was not an upset, notably both had dropped down the list, Fang Bo from no.229 to no.296, Truls Moregard from no.90 to no.98.
However, the pedigree of Fang Bo suggested it was an upset. Fang Bo had been crowned world junior champion in 2009 in Cartagena de Indias; later in 2013 he had won the men’s singles title on the ITTF World Tour in Austria, before in Suzhou losing to Ma Long in the men’s singles final at the Qoros 2015 World Championships, a contest in which he proved more than a match for the champion elect.
One wondered at the time if he would force his way into the Chinese first team and be selected for such major events as the Olympic Games or the World Team Championships; for the man with a very similar style to that of Ma Long, it hasn’t happened.
Likewise at junior level Truls Moregard has enjoyed success; he was the boys’ singles runner up at the 2017 World Junior Championships in Riva del Garda and also last year in Korat. Furthermore, in 2019 he won the junior boys’ singles title at the European Youth Championships and amongst other successes retained his retained his crown at the Swedish Open Junior and Cadet Open.
Truls Moregard celebrated his 18th birthday on Sunday 16th birthday, he is just a few months older than Fang Bo when he won in Cartagena de Indias; for Fang Bo the next 11 years did not bring the honours we anticipated, what do the next 11 year hold for Truls Moregard?
Most certainly, it was a much more mature player on view than we had seen in 2017 in Riva del Garda; the decisive seventh game endorsed that fact.
He lost the first three points of the decider; I have no statistical evidence to support but I suspect from 3-0 ahead in such a situation the player wins more than loses. The player in the lead gains confidence, the player with no points becomes agitated, doubts creep into the mind, concentration drops.
To his great credit, Truls Moregard remain calm, perhaps not quite the demeanour of the likes of Vladimir Samsonov but moving in that direction. The crucial fact was that the gap never widened but at 7-4 ahead Fang Bo looked in control, at 8-all he looked unsure, at 10-9 to the Swede, he was a worried man.
Fang Bo saved the match point; the balance was surely now in his favour, how many times have seen Chinese players win close matches, their technique is so good it withstands the greatest pressure. Fang Bo’s technique may be approaching perfection but nerves showed; the next point, the serve was too high over the net, it was not one of his best, it was pounced upon by Truls Moregard, who then serving capitalised.
He secured the point but with the increased maturity showing, he didn’t try to win the point quickly, he kept the ball on the table, he kept his opponent under pressure; he was rewarded.
“Yes, it’s one of the best win of my career so far. He is still unbelievably good even though his world ranking has dropped. I’m just really happy.” Truls Moregard
Success for Truls Moregard and there was also first preliminary round success for another bright young man, a player who this coming Saturday will mark his 17th birthday, the player against whom Truls Moregard lost in the 2019 World Junior Championships final. China’s Xiang Peng beat Frenchman Can Akkuzu (11-9, 8-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-3, 12-14, 11-6).
I wonder what riches lay in store for Xiang Peng in the next 11 years?
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