WORLD OF SPORT
▷▷▷ Unlikely understanding for England’s problems
You could have been forgiven for thinking that Darren Lehmann would be loving England’s inability to seemingly get through a week of their Ashes tour without a fresh scandal hitting them. Ben Duckett was yesterday suspended from playing in the rest of the England Lions tour of Australia and fined by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) after clashing with a senior England player in a Perth bar. The incident comes after Jonny Bairstow had been accused by Australia opener Cameron Bancroft of giving him a headbutt in a bar and all-rounder Ben Stokes being left out of the tour after he was arrested following an incident outside a Bristol nightclub in September. But Lehmann, whose side lead England 2-0 ahead of the third Test in Perth that starts on Thursday, said: “I’ve been through all that, so no, I don’t have a chuckle at that. You have those situations at various stages throughout your career. It’s not funny.”
▷▷▷ Wedding bells rumours abound for Kohli
India cricket captain Virat Kohli is set to marry long-time girlfriend and Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma in a muchanticipated wedding in Italy this week, according to media reports yesterday in India. Rumours started swirling when Kohli pulled out of India’s limited-overs matches against Sri Lanka and Sharma also ducked out of her busy acting schedule in December. Indian TV channels have gone into overdrive over what they have billed as the “wedding of the year”. “A heritage property within a resort in Tuscany is being decked up for the wedding,” the Hindustan Times said, citing unnamed sources. There has been no confirmation from the couple. The Indian captain has said he needed to rest ahead of the national side’s tour of South Africa next month.
▷▷▷ Swansea player buying his time on new deal
There may be an air of suspicious timing to Ki Sung-yueng wishing to delay his contract talks with struggling Swansea City. The South Korean said he wants to concentrate on helping the side stay in the Premier League before he looks to sit down with club officials, with his deal expiring in the summer. The team are second bottom at present. “If we are out of the relegation trouble then maybe it will be a better time to talk,” he said. A cynic would think this allows him to see where Swansea are in the table before he commits to staying or not, but he added: “I am relaxed about my situation and I will work as hard as I can to help this team.”