With 80 days until the first ball of the Ashes is bowled, there is plenty happening in Aussie cricket today.

Mitch Starc has announced his retirement from T20 internationals to concentrate on Test and one-day cricket. The fast bowler finishes his T20 international career having represented Australia 65 times and taken 79 wickets.

He said: "Looking ahead to an away Indian Test tour, the Ashes and an ODI World Cup in 2027, I feel this is my best way forward to remain fresh, fit and at my best for those campaigns."

Meanwhile, skipper Pat Cummins has given fans a scare after being sidelined with a back stress injury.

He’ll miss the ODI series against India next month, but medical staff are optimistic he’ll recover in time for the Ashes.

6
The number of times Australia’s top-ranked tennis player, Alex de Minaur, has made it to a grand slam quarter-final. The Demon defeated Switzerland’s Leandro Riedi in straight sets (6-3, 6-2, 6-1) in the fourth round overnight to set up a quarter-final against Canadian 25th seed Félix Auger-Aliassime. The victor will progress to a semi-final against the winner of the all-Italian quarter-final between 10th seed Lorenzo Musetti and top seed Jannik Sinner.

"The club can clarify that Walsh is currently renovating his home and has installed a brand-new toilet in a new bathroom, which remains unused. The video represents a poor attempt at humour posted privately by Walsh. No one should take this video seriously or act upon the advice."
A statement from the NRL’s Brisbane Broncos to The Sydney Morning Herald regarding a video circulating online of star fullback Reese Walsh drinking water from a toilet bowl. In the video, the 23-year-old says: "They reckon there's a new form of recovery to recover the muscles. Toilet water... Give it a little drink." He then proceeds to scoop up some water from the bowl in his hand and drink it.

‘Broomgate’ is a controversial chapter in the history of the sport of curling. In 2015, new sweeping brooms with special fabric were introduced. The brooms, called the ‘icePad’, gave players an unprecedented level of control over the stone’s direction. The World Curling Federation later banned the brooms to protect the integrity of the sport. 

🏄‍♂️ Australia’s Molly Picklum has won her first world surfing title, defeating 2023 world champion Caroline Marks in the final at Cloudbreak in Fiji. After losing the opening heat of the three-heat final, the 22-year-old surged back with total scores of 15.83 and 16.93 (out of 20) in the next two rounds to claim the WSL championship. Brazil’s Yago Dora was crowned the men’s world champion after he beat American Griffin Colapinto in the final. The World Surf League Finals is a one-day, winner-takes-all shootout featuring the top five men’s and women’s surfers from the season.

🥊 Former heavyweight boxer Joe Bugner has died aged 75 in Brisbane. Born in Hungary and raised in the UK, Bugner was a British, European and Commonwealth champion who fought the likes of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier across a career spanning more than three decades. He later moved to Australia, where he lived after retiring from the sport.

🎾 A CEO has apologised after taking a hat signed by Polish tennis star Kamil Majchrzak from a young boy at the U.S. Open. Piotr Szczerek was widely criticised after a clip of the incident went viral and he was identified as the man who stole the cap. Szczerek said he made a mistake in thinking the cap was intended for his sons and has since returned it. He wrote: "I take full responsibility for my extremely poor judgement and hurtful actions."

🏟️ The new World Athletics rule requiring female athletes to undergo a one-time genetic test comes into effect this week. The enforcement of the rule has been timed so that all athletes wishing to compete in women’s events at the World Championships, which begin in Tokyo on 13 September, must have already taken the test. Officials say the measure is designed to ensure fairness in elite women’s competition.

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

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Dozens of Australia’s top athletes have signed an open letter to the Government urging it to set a new target of reducing carbon emissions to 75% below 2005 levels by 2035. 

The list of athletes includes the likes of Matildas star Alex Chidiac, Fremantle Dockers captain Alex Pearce, and Olympic gold medal-winning cyclist Grace Brown.

The Government’s current goal is to reduce emissions by 43% from 2005 levels by 2030. 

The campaign is part of the broader Business for 75% movement, which argues that this target is aligned with climate science and could boost economic growth and investment in green industries. 

Analysis from Deloitte, commissioned by Business for 75%, shows that a 75% emissions reduction could boost Australia’s GDP by $370 billion by 2035. 

It comes a week after Test cricket captain Pat Cummins and AFLW player Nicola Barr gave an address in Canberra, where they requested Government funding to alleviate the costs of climate change for local sports clubs. 

Part of the letter reads: “In sport, we understand ambitious goals, and understand what it means to achieve them. When it comes to climate, we expect the same from our leaders. Australia needs clear, credible targets to reduce carbon emissions.”

For more on this story, tune into TDA’s podcast tomorrow morning to hear an interview with Nicola Barr.

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AFL boss Andrew Dillon has defended the decision to book Snoop Dogg as the Grand Final’s headline act despite the negative press the AFL has been receiving. 

Here’s what to know.

The AFL doubling down on Snoop Dogg as this year’s headline act comes at a particularly sensitive time for the league. Critics argue Snoop’s history of misogynistic lyrics and past comments on same-sex relationships clash with the league’s values.

Last month, Adelaide Crows player Izak Rankine received a four-match suspension for using a homophobic slur during a match. 

Then, last week, in a sit-down interview with TDA, former West Coast Eagles player Mitch Brown became the first male player (past or present) in AFL history to publicly identify as gay or bisexual. 

As recently as last month, Snoop was criticised for homophobic comments he made on a U.S. podcast.

On Monday, Dillon told media: "The grand final entertainment will add to what will be an amazing spectacle… it will be at a level that we haven't seen for a long time, he'll do a great job." 

Last week, Dillon said he was sure the rapper’s performance later this month will be “family-friendly”.

The league has argued it will judge the performer on who he is today, and not who he was in the past. 

Following Rankine’s suspension, Dillon said Snoop Dogg “has spoken publicly about his past, he has changed, and today he is a grandfather, philanthropist, he helps rehabilitate youth…his performance this year at our grand final will be fitting for the best sporting event in the country.”

The AFL Grand Final is set for 27 September at the MCG. The first week of AFL finals begins on Thursday when the Adelaide Crows host Collingwood in a qualifying final.