Pressure is mounting on young Australian cricketer Sam Konstas, who captured the nation’s attention over the summer with some dynamic performances against India.

The 19-year-old has had a run of early dismissals playing for NSW in the Sheffield Shield, being dismissed for 10 and 17 (both times by Australian team-mate Scott Boland).

As cricket broadcaster Bharat Sundaresan posted today on X: “The Sam Konstas story could be less an action-movie & more a suspense thriller in terms of us never knowing which Konstas will step out to bat, the conventional boy next door who leaves deliveries or the manic crusader who ramps & reverse ramps them. Either way, it’s enthralling.”

75
The number of years since the Formula 1 Grand Prix began, with the organisation marking the anniversary at the 2025 season launch today.

"The club is aware of the current issues with its Meta account and is working to rectify the situation."
A statement from AFL side Gold Coast Suns on social media platform X, after their Facebook account appeared to have been hacked for the second time in a week. The club apologised to its fans, and said “any post made at the time is unauthorised and we apologise for any inconvenience, harm or offence caused.”

The largest lawn bowl on earth can be found at Lake Cathie, NSW. The ‘Big Bowl’ was installed in 1975.

🏈 The South Sydney Rabbitohs will face the rest of the pre-season without two of their star players, after captain Cameron Murray suffered a suspected torn Achilles tendon at training yesterday, which will likely require surgery and months on the sidelines. Latrell Mitchell is also dealing with an ongoing hamstring issue that was worsened at the same training session, and will undergo scans this week.

🏈 Rugby Australia have released the 2025 Wallabies schedule, with 15 Test matches to be held throughout the rest of the year. The Wallabies will play three matches in Australia against the British and Irish Lions in July and August, followed by matches for the Rugby Championship, culminating in the Bledisloe Cup at the beginning of October. The year finishes with a Autumn Nations Tour in the UK in November, with matches scheduled against England, Italy, Ireland and France.

🎙️ Legendary AFL commentator Bruce McAvaney will return to screens on a permanent basis this season, according to an announcement from Channel Seven today. McAveney, often called “the voice of AFL”, appeared for the first time since 2020 in the three final matches last year. 2025 is the first year of a seven-year broadcasting deal between Seven, Telstra and the AFL worth $4.5 billion. 

Football Australia has confirmed it is “engaged in discussions around the ongoing operational execution” of the agreement dictating how Matildas players are paid for international appearances, with the inaugural SheBelieves Cup only days away.

The Matildas and Football Australia reached a new collective bargaining agreement in 2023, setting out player pay and conditions.

Earlier this month, The Daily Telegraph reported a new pay dispute had arisen, with players seeking new terms ahead of the start of the SheBelieves Cup. Reportedly, the 2023 agreement had meant that in practice, players did not know how much they would be paid for training camps and games.

The SheBelieves Cup is a friendly international football competition in the U.S. with a rotating roster of teams invited to compete. This year will feature the U.S, Japan, Colombia and the Matildas. It marks the start of a 12-month countdown to the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, set to take place in Australia in March 2026.

This week, defender Ellie Carpenter told media she did not know how much players would be paid for the tournament, citing ongoing negotiations. Players have not suggested they will boycott the tournament should an agreement not be reached by their first game, which is on Friday at 9am (AEDT) against Japan.

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Jannik Sinner’s three-month ban for testing positive to a banned substance continues to dominate global tennis headlines.

Now, a senior official at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has defended the severity of the punishment, which some players have called too lenient.

Over the weekend, world No. 1 male tennis player Sinner accepted a three-month ban after he failed a doping test nearly 12 months ago.

In August 2024, the International Tennis Integrity Association (ITIA) announced Sinner had recorded two positive tests for a banned substance at the Indian Wells tournament last March.

It said an independent tribunal had since ruled Sinner was not at fault.

Sinner tested positive for clostebol, a steroid derivative of testosterone. It’s banned due to its anabolic qualities, which can improve muscle growth.

In a statement on Sinner’s Instagram in August, his team claimed the prohibited substance unknowingly entered his body after his physiotherapist cut his finger, used a spray containing the substance, and then gave Sinner a massage.

WADA, who is responsible for deciding the penalty in such cases, accepted this explanation. It originally sought a one-year ban, but reached this separate agreement with Sinner before any further proceedings.

In an interview with BBC Sport, WADA General Counsel Ross Wenzel said Sinner’s case was “a million miles away from doping”.

Wenzel said: “The scientific feedback that we received was that this could not be a case of intentional doping, including micro-dosing… When we look at these cases we try to look at them technically, operationally and we don’t do it with fear of what the public and the politicians or anyone is going to say.”

On the matter of Sinner being allowed to play at the French Open, Wenzel added: “The sanctions that we impose [are] blind to the calendar. The correct sanction should be imposed and it comes into effect when it comes into effect and it shouldn’t be modulated or modified to take into account whether the events that are coming up are significant or not significant.”

Meanwhile, Sinner’s lawyer has also responded to “unfair” criticism levelled at his client, saying “it just so happens that these circumstances have been very unusual,” and that Sinner feels “he has been treated quite harshly”.

However, 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic said at a press conference overnight that “a majority of the players don’t feel it’s fair,” accusing WADA of showing “favouritism”.

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