Motorsport
Scott McLaughlin continues to lead the way in the Supercars Series, while fellow New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen had another successful night. Holden drivers claimed victory in all four races in the fifth round of the BP Supercars All Stars Eseries. It was a chaotic night on track, with several multiple car pileups causing mass damage on the Montreal and Watkins Glen circuits. McLaughlin had three podium finishes but no wins, while Anton De Pasquale had one win and two other podium finishes. Van Gisbergen won the opening race of the evening to take his tally to four wins. He also claimed one other podium on the night.
Black Cap Henry Nicholls is doing his bit to help New Zealand families impacted by Covid-19, donating his shirt from the controversial 2019 World Cup final. Nicholls has linked with Unicef NZ and will donate one of his two 2019 Cricket World Cup shirts, which are signed by the Black Caps squad. It is the short-sleeved shirt Nicholls wore while batting in the eventful final against England at Lord’s in July, where New Zealand suffered the heartbreak of losing on a boundary countback, following a drawn match and Super Over.
Marnus Labuschagne and Joe Burns have been included in Cricket Australia’s contract list, with out-of-favour veteran Usman Khawaja headlining six expected omissions. There were few surprises in the 20-strong group that national selectors picked to steer Australia through a challenging stretch that includes a Twenty20 World Cup and much-anticipated test series against India. Khawaja and Marcus Harris both haven’t played for Australia since last year’s Ashes tour and lost their national contracts. Nathan Coulter-Nile, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, and Marcus Stoinis were also axed from the list, having been overlooked by selectors. Cricket Australia 2020-21 contract list: Ashton Agar, Joe Burns, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine, James Pattinson, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.