Cricket

Australia’s World Cup preparations have been thrown into turmoil with out with a ‘‘substantial’’ injury as selectors name a bolter for the tour of India. Starc is in a battle against the clock to be fit for the series against Pakistan starting late next month after tearing a pectoral muscle on the last day of the second test in Canberra. Ashton Turner is in line to make his one-day international debut after a strong campaign for Perth Scorchers while D’Arcy Short has been called in as cover for Shaun Marsh. Marsh has a hamstring strain and will join the 15-man squad for the final three ODIs after the birth of his second child. There were a further three changes from the squad which faced India at home last month with Peter Siddle, Billy Stanlake and Mitchell Marsh missing out. Pacemen Kane Richardson and Nathan Coulter-Nile come into the squad.

Mitchell Starc

As Nantes reportedly demand Cardiff City pay the transfer fee for Emiliano Sala, a body has been successfully recovered from the wreckage of the plane which crashed while carrying the footballer. Remotely Operated Vehicles were used in tough conditions to pull the body out of the water in a ‘‘dignified’’ way, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch said. The body was taken to Portland to be passed over to the Dorset coroner for examination, the AAIB said. Earlier, BBC Wales said French club Nantes threatened legal action if the £15 million (NZ$28m) transfer fee for Sala is not paid within the next 10 days. BBC Wales said Cardiff are expected to honour the fee, but had withheld the first scheduled payment while the investigation into the tragedy continues. Tom Abercrombie’s big night at Spark Arena in Auckland turned into less a celebration than a commiseration. Abercrombie’s New Zealand Breakers slumped to their third straight Australian NBL defeat and their sixth in the last eight games as they were outplayed 114-107 by the slick Adelaide 36ers (14-12) who kept their playoff ambitions well and truly alive. The same can’t be said for the Breakers who have now lost three straight and six of their last eight to crash out of post-season contention. At 10-15, they are looking mighty likely to finish seventh of the eight teams in this league.