Munster fought to 'bitter end'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Australia's Owen out of rest of white-ball series after Rabada blow
MELBOURNE, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Australia all-rounder Mitchell Owen has been ruled out for the remainder of the white-ball series against South Africa due to a concussion after being struck on the helmet by Kagiso Rabada. Cricket Australia (CA) said on Thursday the Tasmanian passed a sideline assessment during the 53-run defeat in the second T20I in Darwin on Tuesday but later reported concussion symptoms. His mandatory 12-day stand-down period will see him miss the series decider in Cairns on Saturday and also a potential debut in the following ODI series. Batter Matt Short and fast bowler Lance Morris will also miss the ODI series with side and back injuries respectively. They were replaced in the squad by all-rounder Aaron Hardie and slow bowler Matthew Kuhnemann. Morris reported lower back soreness and has returned to Perth for further assessment, CA said. The T20I series is tied at 1-1, with Australia winning the first match in Darwin by 17 runs.
Spectator
6 hours ago
- Spectator
Nothing can save test cricket
Forgive me if I don't join the general 'Make mine a treble' hoo-ha about the future of Test cricket after the theatre of the final day of the Oval Test against India, as an injured Chris Woakes made his way to the crease. Why was Woakes ever allowed to bat? His shoulder was dislocated and he was clearly in agony. Of course he wanted to help his country but he should have been stopped by Ben Stokes or Baz McCullum. This was a game of cricket, not the search for the nuclear codes. We knew the last pair would have to run to try to keep Woakes off the strike. What if he had tripped? That happens on cricket pitches – a lot. And what if he had had to face a ball? Some poor Indian bowler would have had to work out what to do with a very hard ball that he was about to hurl at somebody seriously injured. I love a plucky last-wicket stand as much as the next man but Woakes should not have been out there, whatever he was willing to do. The series was certainly thrilling, with the right result. As for the scheduling, it seems a pity that Test cricket is now over halfway through the summer. White ball series against South Africa and Ireland in September are not much to look forward to. The cricket calendar is a mess with no solution in sight. Test cricket is well and truly alive in England and Australia when England or India are touring, but that's about it. Tests in the West Indies are all but over except when they can be staged as tourism events for English visitors. It's heading the same way in Sri Lanka and South Africa. Unless we are careful, Test cricket will soon be like riding a penny farthing in a top hat. Nice and vaguely skilful but nobody gives a damn. I am sure there will still be an Ashes in a decade but viewed as a period piece. All fine and dandy but teetering on the brink of pastiche. How cheery to see two palindromic footballers up against each other when Liverpool's Hugo Ekitike met Palace's Eberechi Eze in the season's opener. Palace seems to be a haven for palindromes, with the likeable Romain Esse yet to step out for the Eagles. Palindromic footballers are not that common though scholars might recall Marcelo Salas, the scary-looking Chile striker, or Massimo Oddo, the Milan academy coach. It's tennis where palindromic players flourish, with three grand slam-winning palindromes. Monica Seles and Marin Cilic spring to mind; Lottie Dod is more difficult to recall, though she won Wimbledon five times in the late 19th century and is still the youngest ladies' singles champion at 15. Invented 500 years ago by Scotsmen knocking pebbles around in sand dunes, golf continues to be a funny old game, as we were reminded last Sunday when Englishman Justin Rose kept on winning at the age of 45, while his 34-year-old compatriot Tommy Fleetwood kept on losing. Rose's victory in the $20 million St Jude Classic was his 12th on the US PGA tour; Fleetwood on the other hand has played 162 events on the tour without winning, despite coming close several times. He has the highest PGA tour earnings without a victory, having trousered more than $31.4 million for the honour of being a perpetual loser. Why is it, however, that men of a certain age tend to stop winning golf events when a 50-year-old is just as capable as a 20-year-old of reaching the green of a par-four hole in two shots? Experts say it is the putting that sorts the old men from the boys. Rose's defiance of the putting yips is remarkable; he puts it down to physical fitness and concentrating on 'the feel of the stroke' rather than the outcome. A concept that might have baffled those early Scottish pioneers as much as the fact that Rose has picked up £54.5 million in prize money – and that's just on the PGA tour.
BBC News
9 hours ago
- BBC News
Ireland fail to make Euro semis with Germany draw
Ireland produced their best performance of EuroHockey 2025, but a scoreless draw against Germany wasn't nearly enough to claim a semi-final Grundie's squad were markedly better than in defeat by France on Monday, but that is where the damage was done and needing to beat Germany by two goals to make the knockout stages was always going to be a tough had an early opportunity to take the lead but Hannah McLoughlin saw her penalty stroke saved and although they created other chances in an evenly fought contest, they never looked like gaining the two-goal deficit they required. Germany started the game brightly but Irish goalkeeper Lizzie Murphy and her penalty corner defence kept them at the opening quarter wore on, Ireland gradually began to control possession and they were gifted an opportunity to take the lead when Emily Kealy was fouled in the process of Hannah McLoughlin saw her penalty stroke effort comfortably saved by Julia was a pivotal moment so early in the were playing much better than at any stage against France but once again struggled in the attacking third to create clear cut chances as the game remained scoreless at the McAuley's intervention set up Katie Mullan for a shot early in the second half as Ireland continued to push forward but the former captain's effort went they pushed harder, so their discipline slipped and Ireland ended the third quarter down to nine players with Roisin Upton and Niamh Carey serving two-minute suspensions. Mikayla Power's strong shot was well saved as Ireland threw the kitchen sink at Germany in the final 15 their penalty corner routine would fail to fire again. In the three Pool matches they didn't score from 22 short corners and you simply have to be better at this also failed to score from open play despite only conceding three will now face Scotland and England in the competition for 5-8 places.
