I hope you had an excellent week. After a relatively slow week in sport following the finish of the Australian Open, things are starting to ramp back up again.

Both the Aussie men’s and women’s Test cricket teams are in action as this email goes out, Australia plays its first Davis Cup tie this weekend, and there’ll even be some serious rugby being played over in Europe (the Six Nations). And that’s not to mention golf, basketball, and football. Happy viewing!

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The score posted by Australian Test cricketer Usman Khawaja in the first innings of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle. Khawaja’s score is the highest posted by an Australian in Sri Lanka, eclipsing Justin Langer’s 166 in 2004. The 38-year-old is the only Australian to score Test centuries in Sri Lanka, India, and Pakistan.

“U.S. Figure Skating can confirm that several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, which collided with a helicopter yesterday evening in Washington, DC. These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas.”
A statement from U.S. Figure Skating after an American Airlines passenger flight and a U.S. Army helicopter collided midair. All 67 people on board both aircraft have been presumed dead by authorities. The sport’s national governing body said it is “devastated by this unspeakable tragedy”.

The first Davis Cup was played in 1900 between two countries, the U.S. and Great Britain. The trophy is named after Dwight Davis, a member of the Harvard University tennis team who designed the tournament format (with three other Harvard tennis players) and bought the trophy with his own money. The Americans claimed the inaugural tournament, which was held in Boston. The Davis Cup is the world’s premier international men’s tennis tournament. Italy is the current title holder.

🎾 Nick Kyrgios has withdrawn from this weekend’s Davis Cup fixture between Australia and Sweden due to injury concerns. Kyrgios, who was knocked out of the opening round of the Australian Open earlier this month, will be replaced by 28-year-old Aleksandar Vukic. With Jordan Thompson and Thanasi Kokkinakis also ruled out, the Australian team will be made up of Vukic, Alex de Minaur, John Peers, and Matt Ebden. 

🏉 The Six Nations, Europe’s most elite rugby competition, begins this weekend with three fixtures. In the opening match at 7:15am tomorrow (AEDT), France will host Wales. Early on Sunday morning, Scotland will take on Italy at Murrayfield at 1:15am. That will be followed by a grudge match between England and Ireland in Dublin at 3:45am. You can watch all the matches live on Stan Sport.

🥊 UFC boss Dana White has publicly condemned antisemitic, homophobic, and transphobic comments made on a podcast by American fighter Bryce Mitchell. White described the 13th-ranked featherweight fighter’s comments as “beyond disgusting”. However, Mitchell will not face any disciplinary action from the UFC, with White saying: "It's free speech. That's the beautiful thing about this business, for all of you who hate Bryce Mitchell, you get to see him hopefully get his ass whooped on global television."

An NBA star is the subject of a federal investigation in the U.S. over his alleged involvement in an illegal betting scheme. Terry Rozier, who currently plays as a guard for the Miami Heat, has been accused of manipulating his performance to affect the outcome of a game in 2023. At the time, Rozier played for the Charlotte Hornets.

Authorities identified suspicious betting patterns around a match between the Hornets and the New Orleans Pelicans on 23 March 2023. During that particular game, Rozier left the court after nine minutes of play claiming he had a sore right foot. It was his last game of the season. Leading up to the match, Rozier had been one of his side’s top performers, averaging 35 minutes and 21 points.

The investigation is the second known case of possible match manipulation in the NBA in recent years. In July 2024, former Toronto Raptors centre Jontay Porter pleaded guilty to a fraud charge, after manipulating multiple games in the 2023-24 season.

NBA spokesperson Mike Bass told The Athletic: “We are now aware of an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York related to this matter and have been cooperating with that investigation,”

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Christina Matthews has become the 65th person inducted into the Cricket Australia Hall of Fame. Among her many achievements, Matthews is Australia’s most-capped women’s Test cricketer and a 1988 World Cup winner.

Matthews developed an ambition to play for the Australian women’s cricket team at a young age and debuted for the side in 1984. As a wicketkeeper, she spent 11 years in the Australian team and finished with 58 dismissals from 20 Tests.

Over the summer of 1984-85, Matthews played an integral role in Australia beating England and regaining the Ashes for the first time in 21 years. In 1987, the side also claimed the country’s first women’s Ashes victory over England on UK soil. The Aussies retained the Ashes throughout Matthews’ time in the team.

Since retiring as a player, Matthews has worked as a cricket administrator. In 2011, she was named CEO of the Western Australian Cricket Association — a role she held for 12 years. Last month, Matthews was appointed as the chair of the Australian Cricketers' Association, an organisation created to serve as a voice for all of Australia’s professional cricket players.

Matthews said: “I'm really proud. I put my heart and soul into it – everything I did during that time was to allow me to play for Australia. So yes, it's such an honour."

Australia is well and truly in the driver’s seat in the night-day Test of the women’s Ashes series after day one. The Aussies won the toss and elected to send England into bat. The decision proved wise with the Australian bowling attack putting on a superb display. Spin bowler Alanna King starred, taking four wickets, and England were bowled all out for 170.

Australia started their innings strongly in the evening, only losing the wicket of Georgia Voll and scoring 56 runs before stumps. Today, they have resumed their run chase at the MCG.

Australia piled on more runs on day two of the first Test against Sri Lanka. Highlights of the day included Usman Khawaja’s double century and debutant Josh Inglis scoring a century on debut. Australia eventually declared for 654 runs with Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc at the crease. It was a particularly tough innings for Sri Lankan bowler Nishan Peiris who finished with figures of 0-189, the worst for any Sri Lankan cricketer in history.

When Sri Lanka took to the crease, Australia claimed three wickets before the end of play with the host side scoring just 44 runs. They have resumed their run chase this afternoon.

From day one to game day

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