Meet cricket’s newest villain.

‘Clicky Ponting’, as he has been labelled by the internet, is a fielder for Saltburn's second XI in an English amateur league. He is accused of clicking his fingers as the ball passes the bat to mimic the sound of a nick and fool the umpire into giving batters out. 

Footage of one such dismissal has millions of views, and the nickname has stuck. The North Yorkshire and South Durham league has launched a formal investigation. 

Worse than ‘Sandpapergate’? 

Maybe not, but it is heartwarming to see how much people still care about the integrity of amateur sport. 

9.85 seconds
The new Australian national record for the men’s 100m, set by Lachlan Kennedy in the Commonwealth Games final. He eclipsed the previous record of 9.93 seconds set by Patrick Johnson in 2003. Kennedy’s run saw him win silver behind Cameroon's Eseme Emmanuel, who took gold in a new Games record of 9.83 seconds. Meanwhile, Torrie Lewis set another national record in the women’s 100m, clocking 10.99 seconds to finish in third and become the first Australian woman to break the 11-second barrier. Lewis finished behind New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs (10.93) and England’s Amy Hunt (10.98).

“No, I didn’t feel disrespected. What I could see was a young man emotionally hurting and wasn’t in the headspace to play”.
West Tigers coach Benji Marshall told reporters this morning that Adam Doueihi will be returning after sitting out last week's 56-10 loss to the Raiders. It comes after Code Sports reported that Doueihi was set to leave the club amid culture issues and tension with Marshall. After "peace talks” this week, Doueihi said: "Looking back on it, I should've played. I was wrong in that sense… I can be a hard player to deal with at times." The Tigers face Parramatta Eels on Sunday.

One of the grandstands at North Sydney Oval was originally located at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). In 1983, the SCG’s Bob Stand was dismantled piece by piece and rebuilt across Sydney Harbour, clock tower included. Its nickname dates back to the Depression, when entry cost one shilling – known as a “bob”. North Sydney Oval will host the AFLW’s first international representative match between Australia and Ireland this weekend. 

🏉 Brisbane Lions player Ty Gallop has been banned for three matches after the AFL Tribunal ruled his shove on Port Adelaide’s Mitch Georgiades was serious misconduct. Pleading guilty on Tuesday night, Gallop said he retaliated after Georgiades grabbed his broken thumb, admitting his act was “a very bad look” for the AFL. The 20-year-old also said “Mitch has grabbed my thumb as I have gone to stand up,” arguing Georgiades’ grab was intentional. The tribunal called the vision “startling”. Brisbane sit fourth on the ladder and will face Carlton, Hawthorn and Gold Coast without Gallop.

⚽ FIFA president Gianni Infantino is planning to open World Cup ownership to private investors under “a scheme that could earn him millions”, according to the Times. This means a new company could take control of FIFA's top men's and women's World Cups, expanding both tournaments or staging them more often than the current four-year cycle. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham criticised the move. Investor discussions also involved figures close to U.S. President Donald Trump. Infantino has a well-documented friendship with Trump, who referenced him by name at a rally the night of the 2025 inauguration speech, and hosted him at Mar-a-Lago and the Oval Office. Infantino also presented FIFA’s inaugural Peace Prize to Trump last year. The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) said “this crosses a line”. Infantino previously spent 15 years at UEFA and served as the General Secretary from 2009 until he was elected FIFA president in 2016.

🎾 Maya Joint keeps Australia’s hopes alive at the Memphis Open with a straight‑sets win over American wildcard Whitney Osuigwe (6‑4, 6‑1). The world No. 76 needed just under  90 minutes to advance. Joint, who famously knocked out Serena Williams at Wimbledon, will face the winner of Ekaterina Alexandrova and Kristina Liutova next for a place in the quarterfinals. Australia’s Talia Gibson and Storm Hunter both exited earlier in the day. Separately, at the concurrent Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington, Aleksandar Vukic beat America’s Zachary Svajda (6-3, 6-1). 

⚽ Sam Kerr scored her first goal since returning to the National Women’s Soccer League. The Matildas captain pulled Gotham FC into a 2-2 draw with Matildas teammate Mackenzie Arnold’s Portland Thorns, almost seven years after Kerr’s last strike in the competition. Midge Purce opened the scoring for Gotham before Portland’s Renee Lyles and Jessie Fleming put the Thorns 2-1 up; Kerr's equaliser made it 2-2. Portland finished with ten players after a red card in the 73rd minute. After all the weekend action, Gotham now shifts focus to Bay FC, live on 10play at midday tomorrow.

Australia continued its medal rush in Glasgow, adding medals and national records across the pool, track, gymnastics, and weightlifting on day five.

Here’s what to know.

The Dolphins claimed five gold, three silver and four bronze on night five, lifting their tally to 28 gold, 14 silver and 19 bronze. The gold haul matches Australia’s total from the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, although the current silver and bronze tallies remain below the Games’ 21 and 24. Lani Pallister's 8:11.12 in the 800m freestyle set a Games record, completing an unprecedented sweep of the women’s 400m, 800m, and 1500m titles. Flynn Southam, 21, denied Kyle Chalmers a second straight  100m freestyle crown, winning gold as Chalmers finished third in his first loss to an Australian in international competition.

Lachlan Kennedy and Torrie Lewis weren’t the only Aussies to make their mark at Glasgow 2026. Ky Robinson won the men's 10,000m, following in Rose Davies' footsteps, while Eleanor Patterson claimed high jump gold 12 years after her first Commonwealth title, edging teammate and long-time rival Nicola Olyslagers into silver. Lara Roberts added hammer throw bronze with 68.05m.

Breanna Scott and Jesse Moore claimed individual apparatus gold to close out gymnastics, giving Australia nine medals from five days, second only to Canada's 16. Nya Hayman added a bronze in weightlifting in the 69kg division, Australia's first medal in the sport at these Games.

On the final night in the pool, Cam McEvoy and Kyle Chalmers go head to head in the men’s 50m butterfly in what could be Chalmers' Games farewell, before the women's and men's 4x100m medley relays close out the meet. On the track, Lachlan Kennedy backs up in the heats of the men’s 200m a night after his 100m silver, while Mia Gross and Monique Hanlon contest the women’s 200m. In netball, the Diamonds face undefeated South Africa after cruising past Malawi 68-32. Finally, Eileen Cikamatana chases a third straight weightlifting gold in the 86kg division.

North Melbourne's Jasmine Garner and Brisbane's Orla O'Dwyer will captain Australia and Ireland at North Sydney Oval on Saturday, the first time the two countries have met in a women's Australian rules match. 

The Daily Aus spoke to both captains ahead of what will be a historic meeting. 

Garner said that as an AFLW player she never expected to have the chance to represent her country, adding that the idea used to come up among players collecting their All-Australian blazers, the league's team of the year. 

"There were always chats about how cool it would be if we actually got to go and play for Australia," she said. "But we had no one to play against."

O'Dwyer said the honour carried similar weight. "It's definitely a huge opportunity," she said. "It's something I'll look back on more as we progress, and in a few years I’ll  think of how big a deal it was."

More than 40 Irish players are on AFLW lists, making Ireland the competition's largest talent source outside Australia. Part of the draw is that the AFLW is a professional league, while Gaelic football, the sport nearly every player in the Irish squad grew up playing, is entirely amateur, meaning players aren’t paid. "Every athlete has to balance full-time work and training," O'Dwyer said of the sport she played at home.

O'Dwyer said there were enough similarities between Irish sports like Gaelic football and camogie to make the switch to Australian football work. She came over in 2020 with about nine other Irish players, recruited through Crosscoders, a program that scouted netball, basketball and Gaelic football players. She had barely seen a full game of Australian football before being offered a professional contract on the other side of the world.

Irish players are not just making up numbers. Five were named in last season's All-Australian team, three won their respective club’s best and fairest awards, and three played the premiership-winning North Melbourne Kangaroos side. 

Saturday afternoon’s match will be played under AFLW rules with a Sherrin, not the hybrid international rules used in past men's series. Both captains expect two different styles to collide. Garner called the Irish style "a bit unpredictable," against an Australian game she described as "so structured at times."

Both expect a chaotic opening, but disagree on how the rest of the game will play out. Garner predicted Australia would "take control" and win by six goals. O'Dwyer said the Irish would "kick into our fifth gear" and win by three goals.

The match is sold out, with more than 8,000 fans expected at North Sydney Oval. It starts at 4.15pm AEST on Saturday, 1 August, and will be broadcast on Fox Footy, Kayo Sports, Binge and free on Kayo Freebies. The AFL has also partnered with several Sydney venues to host watch parties.

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