Good evening!

I sometimes wonder why the cricket ball is getting bigger and bigger…and then it hits me.

It's a big weekend of cricket, with the third Test between Australia and India getting underway tomorrow and the Big Bash beginning on Sunday.

How good!

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Stat of the day

18
The age of India’s Gukesh Dommaraju, who became the youngest-ever chess world champion overnight. Dommaraju beat China’s Ding Liren 7.5-6.5 to claim the  best-of-14 match series. The previous youngest world champion was 22 years old. Dommaraju said: “Every chess player wants to experience this moment and very few get the chance. To be one of them – I think the only way to explain it is I am living my dream.”

Quote of the day

“With that serve, you almost don’t even need to play that well at times to give yourself a chance. So if his [Krygios’] body is in good nick, which I’m sure it will be, for sure. He’s always a dangerous threat.”
Thanasi Kokkinakis on whether fellow Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios is a title contender at the 2025 Australian Open, where he will make a long-awaited return to grand slam tennis. The 29-year-old has been sidelined for almost two years with a series of wrist and knee injuries. Before the Australian Open in January, both men are expected to play in the Brisbane International which begins on 29 December.

Random fact of the day

Brisbane’s premier cricket ground, The Gabba, was originally called the Woolloongabba Cricket Ground. The venue is now officially called The Gabba. The first time a cricket match was played at the ground was on 19 December 1896.

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In case you missed it…

The third cricket Test of the Border-Gavaskar series between Australia and India begins tomorrow at the Gabba in Brisbane. The series is level at 1-1 after India recorded a dominant win in the opening Test in Perth and Australia responded with a decisive three-day victory in Adelaide. Aussie fast bowler Josh Hazelwood will return to the side in place of Scott Boland after missing the second Test. The last time India and Australia played at the Gabba was in 2021 when India ended the home side’s 33-year unbeaten record at the venue and claimed the Border-Gavaskar trophy. Play will start at at 11:20am (AEDT) and will be broadcast on  Channel 7, Foxtel, and Kayo. 

🏊 Elijah Winnington won gold in the 400m freestyle at the Short Course World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. The 24-year-old Australian finished with a time of 3:35.89 ahead of Americans Carson Foxter and Keiran Smith. Meanwhile, Canadian teenage phenomenon Summer McIntosh set her second world record of the week in the 200m butterfly, beating a 10-year record. Earlier in the week, the 18-year-old set a world record in the women’s 400m freestyle with a time of 3:50.25.

⛷️ Australian Olympic skiing champion Jakara Anthony will miss part of the World Cup season after sustaining a broken collarbone during training in Sweden. The 26-year-old had surgery in Oslo, Norway and will return to Australia to undergo rehabilitation. Anthony won gold in the moguls event at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, and is aiming to defend the title at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.  

🏉 A body has been found in the River Aln in England in the search for missing former England rugby star Tom Voyce. The 43-year-old was presumed dead after his car was recovered from the river earlier this week. Investigators believe Voyce tried to drive across a ford (a shallow part of a river where vehicles can cross in safe conditions) on the flood-swollen river on the way home from an evening with friends. Voyce played nine caps for England and made 220 appearances in England’s Premiership Rugby competition.

🚴‍♂️ 🏉 ⚽ 🏐 🏒 🛹 ⛳ 🏎️ 🏟️ ⚾ 🏀 🎾 🏊 🏈 🏃‍♂️ 🏆 🏅 ⏱️ 🏄‍♂️ 🏏

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NFL to continue partnership with Jay Z and Roc Nation despite rape allegations

CW: Sexual Assault

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has said that the league will continue to work with Jay Z and his company Roc Nation after the rapper was accused of rape as part of a civil suit. Goodell said “We know about the civil allegations and Jay-Z’s very strong response to that. From our standpoint, our relationship is not changing … including our preparations for the next Super Bowl.”

Context

Rapper Jay-Z has been accused of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000 alongside Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.

The allegations were made in a civil lawsuit. The complainant alleges she was raped by Jay-Z first, while Combs watched, and then by Combs. It’s alleged an unnamed female celebrity watched it happen.

In a statement via his company Roc Nation, Jay-Z denied the allegation. Combs has also denied the allegation.

Roc Nation and the NFL

Roc Nation is an entertainment company that was founded by Jay Z in 2008. To enhance its Super Bowl halftime show, the NFL has worked with the company as a live entertainment strategist since 2019. In October, the NFL announced the partnership had been extended to include Roc Nation’s involvement in the league’s social justice activities.

The halftime show is a major live music event in itself. American R&B and pop star Usher performed at this year’s event in front of an estimated television audience of 130 million. Rapper Kendrick Lamar has been named as the performing artist for the 2025 edition.

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The Big Bash League starts on Sunday - here’s what you need to know

The 14th season of the men’s Big Bash League - the shortest form of first-class cricket - begins on Sunday with the Perth Scorchers hosting the Melbourne Stars.

Format

44 matches will be played between the eight teams over six weeks, culminating in a final on 27 January. The competition has been slightly shortened from last year.

The top four teams at the end of the regular season will advance to the finals. The top two teams will play a Qualifier on 21 January, while the third and fourth-ranked teams play a Knockout on 22 January. The winner of the Qualifier will advance to the Final. The loser of the Qualifier will play the winner of the Knockout on 24 January in the Challenger for the remaining place in the Final.

Teams to watch

There are eight teams in the Big Bash competition - the Adelaide Strikers, Brisbane Heat, Hobart Hurricanes, Melbourne Renegades, Melbourne Stars, Perth Scorchers, Sydney Sixers, and Sydney Thunder.

The Brisbane Heat are the defending champions after beating the Sydney Sixers by 54 runs in last year’s final. Historically, the most successful team in the competition is the Perth Scorchers, having won the competition five times before.

Two of the most hotly anticipated match-ups of the season will be the derbies between the respective Sydney and Melbourne teams. The Stars and the Renegades (both Melbourne teams) will play each other on 4 and 12 January while the Thunder and the Sixers (Sydney teams) will face off on 30 December and January 12.

Attendance challenges

Despite a strong first decade, crowd attendance figures have plateaued in the past few seasons (it averaged 30,122 in 2016-17, but has dropped to 21,505 in the 2023-24 season), triggering officials to limit the length of the season down from a peak of 61 games in the 2019-20 regular season. Cricket Australia has been attempting to negotiate with international cricket bodies to ensure Australia’s best players can play across both the international formats and domestic Big Bash competition. This season, members of the Australian Test team will not be able to join their respective sides until the conclusion of the Border-Gavaskar series against India on 7 January.

How to watch

You can watch the Big Bash on Foxtel or Kayo. The Scorchers will host the Stars at 7:15pm (AEDT) on Sunday night.

A message from Deakin University

How well do we understand the impact of heat on female athletes?

A recent study sheds light on a significant gap in sports science: the underrepresentation of women in research on heat adaptation. The authors reviewed existing studies and found that most focused on male athletes, leaving unanswered questions about how female physiology responds to extreme temperatures.

As global temperatures rise, this oversight could have serious implications for athletes’ performance and health. The research calls for a shift in focus to ensure that female athletes receive the same level of scientific support as their male counterparts. Read more here.

Looking back…

Looking forward…(All times are AEDT)

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