Smith, Warner in Australia T20 squad for Sri Lanka, Pakistan series
(Reuters) - Australia yesterday named Steve Smith and David Warner in their Twenty20 squad for home series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan as selectors firm up plans for next year’s World Cup on home soil.
Australia host Sri Lanka in three T20 internationals starting in Adelaide on Oct. 27 before facing top-ranked Pakistan in three matches next month.
“It is almost a year to the day until Australia hosts the men’s T20 World Cup and we have selected this squad with that in mind,” selector Trevor Hohns said in a statement.
“The squad we have selected is quite role specific and we believe it gives us the flexibility to thrive in all match conditions.
“We’re delighted to welcome Smith and Warner back ... Steve is a world-class batsman in all formats while Warner is Australia’s highest ever T20I runs-scorer.”
Smith is set to play his first T20 international since 2016 and will look to continue the fine form he has shown since his return from a oneyear ban for his role in a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.
The 30-year-old smashed 774 runs in four Ashes tests against England recently as Australia retained the urn.
Warner scored 692 runs in this year’s IPL for Sunrisers Hyderabad and 647 runs in the 50-over World Cup in England as Australia reached the semi-finals.
Australia dropped all-rounder Marcus Stoinis while Ashton Turner was preferred ahead of fellow spinner Nathan Lyon. They also included the big-hitting Glenn Maxwell.
The 14-man squad captained by Aaron Finch will travel to Adelaide on Oct. 24 before the first T20 against Sri Lanka.
Australia T20 squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, David Warner, Adam Zampa. LONDON, (Reuters) England’s players are ready to walk off the pitch if they are subjected to racist abuse in Euro 2020 qualifiers against Czech Republic and Bulgaria, striker Tammy Abraham said yesterday. England face the Czechs away in Group A on Friday before visiting Bulgaria on Monday for a match in a partially-closed stadium due to the home supporters’ racist behaviour in June.
“If it happens to one of us, it happens to all of us,” Abraham was quoted as saying by the BBC. “(England captain) Harry Kane even said that if we’re not happy, if a player is not happy, we all come off the pitch together.”
England manager Gareth Southgate called a team meeting on Monday to discuss what action the players would take if they were the target of repeated racist abuse in the future.
European governing body UEFA’s three-step protocol for racism can lead to the referee abandoning a match if warnings to the crowd do not stop the fans racially abusing the players.
“(The meeting) was just about, if it does happen, which unfortunately it does sometimes, what we need to do and what the protocol is,” Abraham’s Chelsea team mate and new squad member Fikayo Tomori was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.
“He just briefed us about what was going to happen. We should be prepared for that because we know that sometimes you can go to countries and stuff like that can happen unfortunately.
“We are just there to play the game and whatever happens in the stands, we’ll just let the authorities deal with that.”
UEFA ordered the partial closure of Bulgaria’s national stadium after racist behaviour by their fans in Euro 2020 qualifiers with the Czechs and Kosovo in June. England top the group with 12 points and will qualify for next year’s finals if they beat the secondplaced Czechs. (Reuters) - When U.S. Olympic and Paralympic competitors take their moment in the spotlight at the Tokyo 2020 Games, they will be able to thank their parents, spouses, coaches — and now their sponsors too.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) announced yesterday revised marketing guidance for next year’s Summer Olympics that expands athletes’ ability to market themselves.
Athletes will now be able to thank and receive congratulatory messages from their personal sponsors, and participate in advertising with sponsors during the Games, which was previously prohibited under International Olympic Committee (IOC) rules.