Australian Test captain Pat Cummins will speak to the media tomorrow morning about Usman Khawaja’s fresh claims on the 2018 ‘Sandpapergate’ scandal.

Cummins wrote on X: “I’ve taken some time to try and better understand the long list and full extent of Uzzy’s allegations so I can respond properly.”

In his new autobiography, Sabr, Khawaja writes that every player in the team knew the ball was being tampered with in Cape Town. Only three players were punished: Cameron Bancroft, David Warner and Steve Smith.

His account contradicts a Cricket Australia investigation at the time. It also contradicts a 2021 statement from the team’s four bowlers, including Cummins, who firmly denied knowing about the plan.

We’ll be there, so send through any questions you’d like us to ask.

9
The number of surgeries American skier Lindsey Vonn has undergone since crashing in the women’s downhill at the Winter Olympics in February. A week before the crash, Vonn had torn her ACL racing in Switzerland but was determined to compete at Milano Cortina regardless. Vonn’s latest surgery this week was the first to target that particular torn ACL. The 42-year-old is expected to need another six to nine months to recover.

“Becoming a mother should not mean putting your football career at risk. And clubs shouldn’t be forced into a position where supporting a player’s return comes at the expense of another list spot. We should be creating a system that supports both. Right now, we’re not.”
AFLW commentator and former player Kate McCarthy on the Gold Coast Suns delisting veteran Georgia Clayden with only weeks left in her pregnancy. Clayden spent this season on the club’s inactive list after announcing she was expecting. Under the AFLW’s collective bargaining agreement she could have returned at any point once cleared by a doctor. She is not the first player in a situation like this: last December, Carlton let Kerryn Peterson go just months after the birth of her child.

The record for the longest goal scored by a header in professional football is 58.13 metres and was scored by Norwegian Jone Samuelsen. The goal was scored in a match in Norway’s top professional league in 2011.

🏀 The Illawarra Hawks are off the bottom of the NBL ladder following a 120-110 win over the South East Melbourne Phoenix in Melbourne on Wednesday. Kelan Martin and Milton Doyle starred for the Hawks with 27 and 22 points, respectively. Phoenix coach Josh King was critical of his team’s performance, saying: “We need more guys focused on the team... They’re focused on themselves.”

🏏 The Perth Scorchers remain unbeaten after five matches in the Women’s Big Bash League, chasing down 160 against the Sydney Thunder to win by four wickets on Wednesday. The Thunder batted first and lost two wickets early before Heather Knight (71) and Anika Learoyd (53) steadied the ship. A team effort from the Scorchers proved too strong with an over and a half left. The Scorchers are 5-0, the Thunder 2-3.

🏏 Graeme Hick, who oversaw Australia’s batters on the 2018 South Africa tour, has rejected former player Usman Khawaja’s claim that the entire squad knew about the ball-tampering plan. Hick told The Sydney Morning Herald the claim was “absolutely false,” saying he knew nothing until vision of it was shown on the stadium screen in Cape Town. Hick’s comments prompted a pointed reply from former Test opener David Warner, who was suspended for his involvement in the scandal. Warner made a personal jab at the coach, arguing Hick only got the role because Cricket Australia refused to pay his predecessor, Michael Di Venuto, a fair salary.

🎾 Russian tennis star Mirra Andreeva has secured a spot in the semi-final of the WTA Finals after a dominant straight sets win (6-4, 6-0) over world No.2 Aryna Sabalenka. The 19-year-old won 45 of the last 55 points of the match and is the youngest player to make the tournament’s semi-final since 2009. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina is still in the hunt for a semi-final spot after rallying from a set down to beat Czech Karolína Muchová in three sets (3-6, 6-2, 6-2). The results mean that Svitolina and Sabalenka’s final group match against each other will determine who advances to the semi-final.

🏉 Josh Addo-Carr’s NRL future is in limbo after the Parramatta Eels confirmed they won’t extend his contract beyond the end of 2027, with the club and the winger agreeing it’s in his best interest to explore other options. In September, the 31-year-old returned a positive roadside drug test, but a B sample from the same stop later came back negative. The NRL and the Eels have both said they won’t take any further action in relation to the drug testing.

A good day usually starts the night before.

That's the idea behind Live Well Slept, the philosophy that shapes everything Ecosa makes. Since 2015, the Australian brand has built a range spanning mattresses, pillows, bedding and bed frames, earning more than 100,000 five-star reviews globally. Right now, it's all 30% off in the Sleep Frenzy Sale until 15 November.

English Premier League club Manchester United are closing in on U.S. men’s coach Mauricio Pochettino as their next manager, with current manager Michael Carrick set to lose his job.

Here’s what to know.

Carrick started as Man United’s interim head coach midway through last season, helping the team finish third in the Premier League standings.

He was given the role full-time over the off-season. But after 10 matches, United sit 18th in the Premier League with just one win. The Athletic has reported that Carrick is set to be replaced, with a deal between the club and Pochettino in its final stages.

The last time Manchester United started a season this badly was in 1986. That year, the club sacked manager Ron Atkinson and hired Alex Ferguson. Ferguson spent close to 27 years in charge of the team and helped the club win 38 trophies.

Pochettino is an Argentinian former professional football player who has built a successful coaching career. The 54-year-old has coached several high-profile clubs, including Tottenham, Paris Saint-Germain, and Chelsea before taking on the U.S. men’s team role in 2024.

After a 4-1 loss to Belgium in the Round of 16 at this year’s World Cup, Pochettino signed on with the U.S. until the 2030 World Cup. An exit clause in Pochettino’s current contract means that United would need to pay U.S. Soccer around $US10 million in compensation if he walks away.

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Australia’s best swimmers are set to hit the pool in Melbourne tomorrow night as SwimGP, a new swimming event organised by Swimming Australia, makes its debut.

SwimGP is a new swimming competition taking place over two nights on 13 and 14 November. The event features 80 members of the Dolphins, Australia’s national swimming team, who have been split into four groups of 20. The races are held in a 25-metre short-course pool rather than a 50-metre Olympic pool.

SwimGP is part of Swimming Australia’s push to grow the sport’s audience ahead of the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane. The format borrows from the International Swimming League, a team competition that was shelved in 2021 and is staging a one-off comeback in London on 19 December. It also follows last December’s ‘Australia vs The World’ meet in Brisbane, a similar made-for-TV event.

Rather than chasing personal bests and individual accolades, swimmers are competing to earn points for their team. The event program is built around short, fast races, including elimination events where the field is cut down over several rounds, mystery medleys and relays, staggered starts, and ‘power plays’ that offer bonus points.

Coaches will also get to make tactical calls, and the crowd will be able to influence some of the teams’ decisions through live voting.

Each team features two ‘platinum’ athletes, who were pre-selected for their respective teams rather than being drafted, as well as four Paralympic athletes. The teams and their respective ‘platinum’ athletes are as follows:

KingTide: Flynn Southam and Lani Pallister

Kraken: Kyle Chalmers and Mollie O’Callaghan

Wahoo: Meg Harris and Sam Short

Kaylee McKeown and William Petric

Kraken will be without Chalmers, who has withdrawn with injury, according to SwimSwam.

The inaugural SwimGP will begin at 7:30pm tomorrow night. You can watch it on Channel 9 and 9Now.