🏏 Aussies bundled out in stunning upset

Plus, your preview for the U.S. Grand Prix

If you were forwarded this email (hi! welcome!), you can sign up for the newsletter here.

Good evening!

Here’s a little piece of trivia to take into the weekend. Jason Statham is perhaps best known as ‘that tough British guy in action movies’. Wikipedia even describes him as “credited for leading the resurgence of action films during the 2000s and 2010s”.

But did you know he represented England at the Commonwealth Games in 1990? Statham competed in three events as a diver.

It’s never too late to be Hollywood famous.

I’ve got 10 seconds

Stat of the day

6
The number of GWS Giants players who have been suspended for inappropriate conduct at a post-season function. 20-year-old Josh Fahey received the most severe punishment, a four-match ban, reportedly for his role in a skit where he simulated sex with an inflatable doll while dressed as Jarryd Hayne. Five players (Jake Riccardi, Cooper Hamilton, Toby McMullin, Harvey Thomas, and Joe Fonti) have been suspended for two matches. A further seven players were fined $5,000.

Quote of the day

"To have Novak in front of me, it's like a nostalgic thing. We've played each other a lot, so it'll be fun to play each other again in this match."
Rafael Nadal speaking to reporters at the Six Kings Slam exhibition event in Saudi Arabia. Nadal will play Novak Djokovic in a third-place decider after the veterans lost their respective semi-finals to Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Nadal and Djokovic have played each other 60 times before, with the Spaniard winning 29 and the Serb prevailing 31 times. It’s likely to be their last competitive match against each other after Nadal announced he will retire following the Davis Cup Finals in November.

Two GOATS - there can be more than one (Getty)

Random fact of the day

Since the inception of the English Premier League in 1992, only six of the original 20 teams in the competition have not been relegated. They are Arsenal, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham, and Chelsea. Brighton have also never been relegated, but were only promoted from League One to the Premier League in 2017. 

I’ve got 30 seconds

In case you missed it…

India’s men’s Test cricket team has recorded its lowest-ever score in a single innings on home soil after being bowled out for 46 runs by New Zealand. The Kiwis will begin day three batting with a 134-run lead and seven wickets in hand. New Zealand has not beaten India on its home soil since 1988.

Rohit Sharma of India is bowled during day two of the First Test (Getty)

The draw for the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup has been announced. The Wallaroos, the world’s 5th-ranked team, have been drawn into Pool A with England (1st), the U.S. (9th), and Samoa (15th). Their toughest challenges will come against England’s Red Roses, who are tournament favourites, and the U.S., who beat Australia earlier this year in the Pacific Four Championship. The Wallaroos will have to finish in the top two to advance to the knockout stages of the tournament. 

The Wallaroos have never beaten England (Getty)

Two athletes have died at the Triathlon World Championships in Spain. A 57-year-old man from Great Britain and a 75-year-old man from Mexico, who were both competing in the age-group sprint, died on Thursday in Torremolinos-Andalucia. Their causes of death have not been confirmed.

In the AFLW, the Western Bulldogs beat Carlton by 33 points. Carlton, who are now in 13th, will likely miss out on finals after the loss. Isabelle Pritchard starred for the Bulldogs (12th) with 25 disposals, 15 contested possessions and a goal.

I’ve got 1 minute

Anneke Bosch (left) was the Player of the Match (Getty)

Australia ‘outplayed’ by South Africa in women’s T20 World Cup semi-final

Australia were handed an eight-wicket upset loss at the hands of South Africa in the semi-final of the Women’s T20 World Cup. The win was South Africa’s first against Australia at a World Cup.

What happened

Australia batted first and set a total of 135 for South Africa to chase. South Africa’s Anneke Bosch led her side’s effort with the bat, scoring a classy 74 runs off 48 balls and sharing a 96-run partnership with Proteas captain Laura Wolvaardt. Bosch was named as the Player of the Match.

Alyssa Healy, who usually captains the Australian side, watched from beyond the boundary as she sat the game out with an injured foot.

South Africa will now move on to play the winner of tonight’s semi-final, between the West Indies and New Zealand at 1:00am (AEDT), in the tournament final on Monday morning. The final will be the first at a women’s cricket World Cup (either T20 or ODI) to not feature either Australia or England.

What they said

Aussie stand-in captain Tahlia McGrath said: "It's going to be pretty hard to take. We just didn't really show up tonight. You can't afford to do that in tournaments like this. Full credit to South Africa. They outplayed us tonight."

Help us grow!

Enjoying the newsletter?

If you are, why not share the love with your friends? We’d love your help in getting the word out there.

Send them this link to sign up.

I’ve got 2 minutes

Verstappen won last year’s U.S. Grand Prix (Getty)

Norris and Verstappen set for U.S. Grand Prix showdown

Formula One resumes this weekend in Austin, Texas for the U.S. Grand Prix (GP). It’s been almost a month since the Singapore GP when McLaren’s Lando Norris outpaced Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to reduce the latter’s lead in the Driver’s Championship to just 52 points.

Circuit of the Americas

The Circuit of the Americas in Austin has hosted the U.S. GP since 2012. The U.S. GP is one of three races hosted by the U.S. alongside the Miami GP and Las Vegas GP. The drivers will complete 56 laps of the 5.5km course for a total of 308.4km.

Last year, Max Verstappen started in sixth position and fought his way through the pack to claim his 50th career win. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton holds the record for the most wins at the U.S. GP, having won the event five times.

Sprint Race

The weekend will also feature a Sprint Race on Sunday morning. A sprint race is 100km long and will take the drivers around 30 minutes to complete. The top eight drivers receive points. There will also be Sprint Races at the Brazil and Qatar GPs.

Storylines

The most anticipated match-up of the weekend is the race between Red Bull and McLaren (or Verstappen and Norris). McLaren is leading the Constructors Championship by 41 points and Norris is trailing Verstappen by 52 points. With only six races remaining, Norris will need an average margin of 8.8 points more than Verstappen each week.

Since the winner of each race receives 25 points and the second place takes 18 points, Norris will need more than to finish one place ahead of Verstappen to claim the Drivers Championship before the conclusion of the season. The Brit will also have the opportunity to pick up points in the three remaining Sprint Races and a single point in each Grand Prix for the fastest lap.

New Zealand’s Liam Lawson will also take to the grid for the first time as Daniel Ricciardo’s replacement on the RB F1 team.

Rule Change for 2025

The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, Formula One’s governing body, announced in the lead-up to the weekend that the bonus point awarded to the driver with the fastest lap would be scrapped in 2025.

How to watch

The race will begin on Monday at 6:00am (AEDT). You can watch Formula One on Kayo or Foxtel.

A message from our sponsor

Hunter Fujak and Joshua McLeod, both lecturers in Sport Management at Deakin University, recently wrote an article that explores the various voting systems football codes in Australia use to determine their Best and Fairest players.

Fujak and McLeod point out that the AFL, NRL, Rugby Australia, and A-League all use different methods to elect the respective competition’s best player. These different methods present different biases which naturally affect the outcome of the award.

The two examples they outline in detail are the AFL’s Brownlow Medal and NRL’s Dally M Medal. The Brownlow is voted on by the AFL’s umpires and has been criticised as a midfielder’s award - the Brownlow has been awarded 27 times since 2000 and Adam Goodes is the only player that would not be considered primarily a midfielder. The Dally M is also subject to a similar positional bias with 91% of medals being won by fullbacks, halfbacks, five-eighths, and hookers. The Dally M is voted on by two independent and anonymous judges, who presumably have their own biases too.

Fujak and McLeod emphasise that often the awards that are most valued by players are the internal club awards which are voted on by their peers and coaches. This is because the people most involved with the club naturally have a more holistic understanding of who their best and fairest players are.

Ultimately, they suggest that it is likely no method will be perfect but perhaps it is the human dimension of the award that makes these awards such an engaging spectacle.

Think Beyond The Field. Study Sport at Deakin.

Looking forward…(All times are AEST)

International Rugby League (women’s)

Who: Australia v Papua new Guinea

Time: Tonight at 6:05pm

Where to watch: Channel 9, Foxtel, Kayo

International Rugby League (men’s)

Who: Australia v Tonga XIII

Time: Tonight at 7:35pm

Where to watch: Channel 9, Foxtel, Kayo

A-League

Who: Central Coast Mariners v Melbourne Victory

Time: Tonight at 7:35pm

Where to watch: Paramount+

Australian MotoGP

Who: The world’s best motorbike riders

Time: Sunday at 2:00pm

Talking points: The MotoGP heads to the Phillip Island Circuit in Victoria

Where to watch: Kayo

AFLW

Tonight:

Port Adelaide v St Kilda at 7:45pm

Tomorrow:

Hawthorn v GWS Giants at 1:05pm

Sydney v Gold Coast at 3:05pm

Melbourne v Richmond at 5:05pm

West Coast Eagles v
Fremantle at 7:05pm

Where to watch: Channel 7, Foxtel, Kayo

NBL

Tonight:

JackJumpers v Kings at 7:30pm

Tomorrow:

New Zealand Breakers v
Perth Wildcats at 5:30pm 

Cairns Taipans v
Illawarra Hawks at 8:00pm 

Where to watch: ESPN

TDA asks