Sports

PERTH: Alex Carey said on Saturday he is disappointed to no longer be a vice-captain but understands why the decision was made to streamline the leadership of Australia’s white-ball cricket teams. Skipper Aaron Finch will now only have Pat Cummins as his deputy in the One-day International and Twenty20 teams, after a review found joint vice-captains were no longer needed. …

PARIS: Two positive novel coronavirus (Covid-19) cases within a week for a Tour de France team will result in the outfit being kicked out of the event starting on Aug 29, the race organisers said on Friday. “If a team has two positive cases or [members] with strong symptoms within a seven-day period, they will be out of the race,” …

LONDON: Former captain Nasser Hussain urged the England batsmen to learn from their approach against Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah with tours to Sri Lanka and India coming up in the winter. Hussain, writing in his column for the Daily Mail, pointed out how the English batsmen were trying to play the Pakistan leg-spinner on the backfoot ‘as if he were Shane Warne’. He …

SOUTHAMPTON: Veteran seamer James Anderson made early inroads to leave Pakistan tottering at 24-3 after England rode on brilliant knocks from Zak Crawley and Jos Buttler to post 583-8 declared on the second day of the third and final Test against Pakistan on Saturday. England, 1-0 up in the rubber and looking for a first series win over Pakistan in …

NEW YORK: Men’s world top-ranked tennis star Novak Djokovic says he nearly skipped the US Open but plans to play the Grand Slam event despite novel coronavirus (Covid-19) concerns in part to chase history. Djokovic, a 17-time Grand Slam singles champion, told the New York Times that trying to catch Roger Federer’s men’s record 20 Slam crowns was ‘of course’ a major …

MELBOURNE: Former Australia all-rounder Cameron White ended his nearly two-decade-long professional cricket career on Friday, saying he wants to focus on coaching. “I’ve definitely finished up playing, that’s for sure,” White, who turned 37 this week, told Cricket Australia website. “To be totally honest, I’m pretty content. I think my time is definitely up, I’ve had enough from a playing …

SOUTHAMPTON: Teena­ged pace sensation Naseem Shah and young batsman Haider Ali were named in the shortlisted 17-man Pakis­tan squad named on Friday for the upcoming three-match Twenty20 Inter­nat­ional series against England. The 17-year-old Naseem has been a regular feature in Test cricket since making his debut against Australia last November, while 19-year-old Haider has been included by chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq …

BARCELONA: Lionel Messi still wishes to leave Barcelona after meeting new coach Ronald Koeman, according to reports in the Spanish media on Friday, as all four sports newspapers dedicated their front covers to the Argentine’s uncertain future. Marca — Spain’s biggest selling daily — said the Argentine told Koeman that he was more likely to leave the club than to stay, …

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has a tentative plan to hold the remaining four matches of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) soon after the end of the proposed Zimbabwe tour to the country in October. It is learnt that as the broadcasters’ staff will also be in Pakistan, covering the white-ball internationals against Zimbabwe and most of the foreign …

MELBOURNE: Australia will pick their best XI against England during the white-ball tour next month but fringe players can win selection by impressing in intra-squad warm-up matches, head coach Justin Langer said on Thursday. Australia will bring a bumper 21-man squad for the T20 and one-day series in Southampton and Manchester due to the logistical difficulties of flying in reinforcements …