
All-rounder Agar ruled out of Northants T20 campaign
Northamptonshire have confirmed they are searching for an overseas replacement for the T20 Blast after Australian all-rounder Ashton Agar was ruled out with injury.Agar had been booked to reprise his 2024 role at Wantage Road for the domestic T20 competition which starts on 29 May.But the 31-year-old confirmed he will not now return after suffering a calf strain."I'm extremely disappointed to be missing this year's Vitality Blast with Northamptonshire," said the left-arm off spinner."I loved my time there last season, it's a fantastic club with great people and I'll be watching and supporting the boys from Perth."The Steelbacks, who have won the Blast twice, made it out of the group stages last season before losing to Somerset in the quarter-finals.Agar played six matches, topping their batting averages and taking four wickets.
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Daily Mail
38 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Jordan Smith insists rules must CHANGE after rival's £4m LIV Golf payday robbed him of his lifelong dream and a place on the PGA Tour
They say an ability to handle disappointment is the dividing line between good and great golfers. By that theory, Jordan Smith warrants a higher ranking than 107th in the world. Of the many routes to frustration in his sport, few can match the scenario involving this son of Bath at the turn of the year. That he can laugh about it says much for his nature, form and direction of travel – having qualified for the US Open next week, the 32-year-old is in a good place. But could he be in a different one? Or to frame that another way, should Smith be rubbing shoulders with the elite on the PGA Tour by now? Therein lies an unfortunate situation that he describes as 'annoying'. And it's one he believes should provoke a rule change, because last November, at the conclusion of the DP World Tour season, Smith was the 11th in line for one of the 10 golden tickets they hand out each year to the PGA Tour. The big league. The 10th was Tom McKibbin and the issue there was known to just about everyone at the time – the Northern Irishman was considering an offer to join LIV. It's a proposal he went on to accept. The irritation? Had McKibbin crossed over before December 31, Smith would have filled his spot. But McKibbin took his time, as was sensible, and those deliberations extended beyond the PGA Tour deadline before he finally settled on leaving just a couple of weeks later. If you're Smith in that picture, you can laugh or cry, or at the very least nurture a minor regret that a rival's decision wasn't reached a fraction quicker. 'That's exactly what I was thinking when it when the news came out (about McKibbin's departure),' he tells Mail Sport. 'At the time (of the deadline) he might have not known that he was definitely going to be on LIV. But for me it was a hard blow to miss out. Getting on the PGA Tour is a big goal of mine. 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'I might need to pull a rabbit out of the hat, especially as Luke will favour players with Cup experience as they will be playing in front of New York crowds. Those crowds will be brutal.' Mention of the crowds brings to the surface a different recollection from that Team Cup in week in January, which Donald used to trial some unusual methods around the handling of hostile crowds. One was a loud speaker booming during the tee-shots; another was the deployment of an American heckler. 'He was targeting Tyrrell Hatton a bit,' Smith says. 'Tyrrell had a bit of a beard going and the guy kept shouting out stuff about him being Amish and whatever. It was good fun.' As it transpired, Smith and McKibbin were on the winning side that week. One man has since moved on to LIV and the other remains on the cusp of a big step to the PGA Tour. The next week at Oakmont could have a significant bearing on whether he gets there.


The Independent
41 minutes ago
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BreakingNews.ie
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