Sam Thompson to deliver match ball for Soccer Aid
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
20 hours ago
- News.com.au
Meg Lanning in the leading run-scorer in The Hundred two years after international retirement
Australian star Annabel Sutherland has soared to be the No.1 T20 bowler in the world, but an Aussie who doesn't play international cricket is dominating the short format in England. Former captain Meg Lanning is the highest run-scorer in The Hundred after another blistering effort. At 33, and having played her last match for her country in 2023 before a premature retirement that shocked the cricket and sporting world, Lanning continues to show herself to be a batting force. Playing for the Oval Invincibles, Lanning's latest effort was part of a powerhouse opening partnership that racked up 54 runs off 25 balls, the best powerplay score in the five-year history of the competition. Lanning smashed six fours in her 19-ball innings of 36 that took her haul in the tournament to 177 runs in just three innings, 20 ahead of big-hitting Aussie Grace Harris, who still plays for Australia. Since her retirement from the international game, Lanning has continued to plunder runs for Victoria as well as dominate the Indian Premier League, where she's the third highest run-scorer in the tournament's history. All those runs have come against international-calibre bowlers, making it clear she would still be a batting force for Australia. Lanning's retirement sparked a regeneration of the Australian team, and superstar all-rounder Sutherland has been a major beneficiary. The 23-year-old has netted centuries at Test and ODI level and continues to star with the ball. Sutherland has also been a beneficiary of a quirk of the International Cricket Council's rankings system, being elevated to the No.1 T20 bowling ranking despite not playing an international T20 since she took a four-wicket haul against New Zealand in March. But her rating of 736 remains unchanged, as a group of bowlers near the top of the rankings lost points across the last week.
News.com.au
2 days ago
- News.com.au
SuperCoach EPL: Five secrets to fantasy football success revealed
In our sports mad household everything is a competition. I don't often get to stand on top of the podium but for three years running I've managed to beat my husband in the fantasy league for the EPL. He generally beats me at the in-family NRL tipping competition (despite not following the code) and when it comes to AFL I don't stand a chance. Football though is his top sport, he has followed it since he was born, played it before he could walk and still lives and breathes every single bit of news no matter how small about the EPL. Dinner time conversations these past few months have revolved around transfer moves, which rising stars are going to dominate the league this season and of course whether or not his much-loved Manchester United will actually have a season worth watching. Not that he would care. He loyally watches every single match at whatever hour. So the fact I've managed to pull together a fantasy team that can top his not once, not twice but three times in a row certainly has him looking for revenge. He has kept his team top secret from me this season. Football talk has stopped short of mentioning the latest SuperCoach cheapie he has found. I'm a football fan too, but I won't claim to live and breathe the English league as much as my husband does. And there are no doubt others with much more skill at picking a SuperCoach side than myself but here are the five rules I follow when picking my team. Rule 1: Back the winners They might drain your bank account a bit but players like Mohamed Salah, Cole Palmer and Erling Haaland are worth a motza for a reason – they deliver consistent results. I aim to have at least two of these players in my squad. Rule 2: Don't risk the keeper There is just one in your team and a less than consistent goal keeper can absolutely be your demise. You want to aim for a keeper who is likely to start each week and plays for a team that has a low goal difference each season. This isn't a player you want to buck the trend on. I've locked in David Raya for this season. He played every minute of every Premier League game last season and shared the Golden Glove honours for his 13 clean sheets. He is an easy set and forget option. Rule 3: Share the love Try to include a good mix of teams in your squad. My husband's team always has as many Manchester United players as allowed which is highly likely why he has struggled the past three seasons. I aim to have a player from 'big clubs' like Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool – simply because they tend to deliver results which means even an off the bench player can deliver some solid points. Rule 4: Be different The SuperCoach app allows you to see how many other players have selected each footballer. I try to avoid players I know my husband is going to choose because if we both have the same it is just going to cancel each other out. For instance I know that my husband won't pick Salah in his squad because of his great dislike of anything to do with Liverpool. Buying a few midfielders or defenders, even if you just pop them on your bench, from middle ranked teams can deliver big results. I've given Leeds midfielder Jack Harrison a shot and Granit Xhaka who has joined promoted side Sunderland. Rule 5: Don't spend all your money Things can change in an instant in football, especially the EPL. An injury, red card, transfer to a key player in your squad can really leave you stranded mid-season. A player who was expected to perform could be left out of the squad. If you keep a couple of million spare in the bank it means you have the ability to easily substitute out a player and upgrade early on without having to significantly alter your team to find extra cash.
ABC News
2 days ago
- ABC News
Grace Harris continues to dominate the Hundred as Australian women top tournament run charts
Grace Harris has steered London Spirit to victory in the Hundred Women for the third match in three, maintaining the defending champions' 100 per cent start in the English white-ball franchise competition. In the tournament's opening match, she scored an unbeaten 42-ball 89; in Spirit's second she bowled the death over, successfully defending six runs with two to spare; and now she has hit an unbeaten 32-ball 50 to guide Spirit to victory at Old Trafford. Chasing Manchester Originals' 7-122, Spirit won by three wickets with two of their 100 balls remaining, thanks to a late flurry of boundaries by the Queenslander. "I'm delighted with how I'm going," Harris said. "I think a lot of the principles that I've been working on within my game are paying off, and I just keep summing up conditions and whenever I'm injected into the game, I'm seeing what impact I can have." Put in to bat, Originals were 2-10 off 12 balls, including Kathryn Bryce out to a brilliant leg-side catch by wicketkeeper Georgia Redmayne, standing up to pacer Tara Norris. Skipper Beth Mooney (26 off 20) counter-attacked creating a platform for West Indies' Deandra Dottin (36 off 30) to lift the home side to a potentially defendable total. Kira Chathli got the reply off to a good start with 34 off 30 after Redmayne perished for 11, but Spirit slid to 5-97, needing 26 runs off 16 balls. Harris brought that down to nine from eight with a pair of sixes but Bryce took two wickets in two only for Sarah Glenn to edge, then drive boundaries to ensure Harris's half-century was not in vain. Harris is now the highest run-scorer in the competition with 157 followed by fellow Australians Meg Lanning (141) and Mooney (97). She also has the highest strike-rate (178.4) followed by another Aussie in Ash Gardner (175), and most sixes (nine) followed by Lanning (six). Meanwhile in the men's Hundred, David Warner made his second successive half-century but this time failed to take London Spirit to victory. Having hit a 45-ball 70 not out on Saturday, the former Test opener went one better at Old Trafford, but his 51-ball 71 could not help his side overhaul Manchester Originals' 6-163, closing on 6-153. AAP
