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Bumrah and Harshal return to India squad for T20 World Cup
India have, over the past 18 months, been investing heavily in super specialists. Arshdeep fits into this category having displayed exceptional skills as a death bowler in the IPL. In fact, last season, with a minimum of 40 balls bowled between overs 17 and 20, only Bumrah managed a better economy rate than the 23-year-old left-arm quick. And that too by a mere 0.2 points: 7.38 vs 7.58.
Shami returns for home T20Is against Australia and SA
While most of India's players have recent cricket to back them up, one of their reserves seems to have been picked based on reputation (and a solid one at that). Shami has not played anything since the end of the white-ball series against England in mid-July, but has been called up for the home T20Is against both Australia and South Africa that start on September 20 and has been placed on standby for the T20 World Cup.
Allrounder Hardik Pandya and seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar are part of the squad for the T20Is against Australia, but have been rested for the following series against South Africa. Arshdeep, meanwhile, has been rested for the Australia T20Is, but has been picked for the South Africa T20I series - India's last before the T20 World Cup. Chahar was picked for both bilateral series.
"Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be reporting to the NCA for conditioning-related work during the course of the home series against Australia and South Africa," a BCCI media release said.
India squad for Australia T20Is: Rohit Sharma (capt), KL Rahul (vice-capt), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah
India squad for South Africa T20Is: Rohit Sharma (capt), KL Rahul (vice-capt), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah
Ben Stokes 'blessed' as England show collective buy-in to seal memorable summer
Stokes himself was named as Player of the Series against South Africa, after a haul of 149 runs at 37.25, including a match-defining hundred at Old Trafford, and ten wickets at 15.70, more often than not key breakthroughs such as the two in three balls either side of tea on the second full day of the Oval Test that ended South Africa's hopes of a defendable total.
More than anything, the award was a testament to the manner in which Stokes has led from the front since taking over from Joe Root at the start of the season, at which stage England had won just one of their previous 17 Tests in the space of 18 months. However, speaking to Sky Sports' Mark Butcher during the post-match presentations, Stokes made it clear that the manner in which his team had followed his example was the defining aspect of their summer-long success.
"It's been a great series for us as a team," Stokes said. "We've had no real individual standout performances, but different people throughout the whole series have put their hand up in crucial periods for us and, in a team sport, that's what you want. You want to be able to turn to different people at different times and hope that they can break the game open for you with the ball and bat, and that's definitely what we've managed to do this whole series."
Ollie Robinson - whom Stokes promoted to a new-ball role for his return to the side at Old Trafford - was named as the Player of the Match at The Oval following his five-wicket haul on the opening morning. But Stokes reserved his most fulsome praise for the old guard of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, who picked up 27 and 29 wickets respectively across the summer to reaffirm their pre-eminence, following the controversial decision to omit both men from the preceding tour of the Caribbean.
"They are just phenomenal," Stokes said. "To have two of the great seam bowlers of world cricket in your team … I feel very blessed to be in the dressing room with them. We're very lucky as a nation to have two sporting greats still going out and doing what they're doing. I mean, I've been called old at 31, I'm not quite sure what you can call Jimmy at the moment being 40, but they just keep turning up day in and day out.
"They leave everything out there," he added. "They are just phenomenal. They're a huge credit to themselves. They're a huge credit to this game. And I'm sure a lot of young cricketers around the world who want to be fast bowlers will look up to them."
Stokes' management of his bowlers has been a defining aspect of the summer's success - not simply with his willingness to back them up at all times with packed slip cordons and innovating attacking field placings, but his determination to save their strengths for the critical passages of play, particularly the new ball. To that end, his own bowling role has been about producing impact moments, often when the ball has been at its oldest, but he insisted that the balance he had hit upon was the right one.
"When you've got the bowlers like Jimmy, Broady and Robbo, with the skill they possess, it's trying to manage them at the start of an innings when the ball's doing the most," he said. "You don't want to [take] too much out of them at the start, so we try to have a short spell from one of the opening bowlers, and then bring them back again with one of the opening bowlers bowling a longer spell.
"Then it's about bringing myself into the game at an appropriate time really, when the big lads have had a few good spells. It's about understanding when I need to get the most overs out of the three big lads, and they've managed to do that in the whole series. They've been absolutely phenomenal."
If there has been a criticism of England's ultra-aggressive approach, then it has arguably centred around Stokes' own batting, with Butcher questioning whether he was "selling himself short" with his desire to dominate from the outset - a policy that backfired in his only innings at The Oval - rather than batting with the sort of patience that set up his Old Trafford hundred.
Stokes, however, was unrepentant about his desire to take the attack to the opposition bowlers, adding that the team success was of far greater consequence than his own numbers.
"It's fine, you can keep criticising me if we're going to win six out of seven games," he said. "For me, it's about the clarity of messaging. Me and Brendon [McCullum] are the guys who were sending this message to this group of players, and I said to the lads in the dressing-room the other day that the person who's delivering the message can only do so much.
"I thank all my team, my backroom staff, coaches, that they've really bought into this," Stokes added. "There's a reason why we've been able to perform with confidence with each other. And that's something that's very rare."
"Joe's got to take a lot of credit as well. After captaining the side for six years in a way that he did, to then buy into something completely different to how Joe wanted to operate in the team," Stokes said.
"When I'm not England captain, someone else is going to come in and they're going to want to operate in a different way. But everyone's really bought into it. And honestly I've just been very thankful and grateful that I've had a group of lads who have who have bought into that and really understood the bigger picture of what me and Baz are trying to achieve.
"This game was shortened, and our main goal was to make sure that it ended in a result," Stokes said of the three-day window for the Oval Test, following a first-day washout and the subsequent day of respect following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
"We felt we owed it to ourselves, we owed it to the nation who have shown the support throughout this whole summer towards us, and we will always continue to play in a way that we feel is going to entertain people. And always try and look at the positive side of cricket."
Speaking later in the post-match press conference, Stokes went further about the need for collective buy-in, arguing that the media also had a duty to convey the team's new message, and temper the criticism when the approach goes wrong - such as it did in the first Test at Lord's - for the sake of encouraging the next generation to see the exciting, entertaining merits of Test cricket.
"I feel there's also an added responsibility on the people who comment on the way we play as well," he said, "because we're in the day and age now where social media is so accessible to people that, if we're playing in a certain way and we're saying this is what we want to do and we believe in it, to be criticised for that, what type of message is that sending to the next generation of people?
"We have a responsibility to go out there and perform in the way that we want to perform, and I feel that people who write about the game or talk about the way in which we play, they should understand as well that they've got a huge influence on the next generation of cricketers.
"Because people do listen to what they say about the game, which sometimes contradicts what we've got to say, and at the end of the day, the important thing is what is said, and what is spoken about in the dressing-room. Sometimes you feel what we've done can get overlooked, because it gets criticised every now and again when things don't go well, but when it does go well it's great."
Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket
Runner-up in Qatar, Victor Crouin flies home to travel from the airport to Hangar 24 in Nantes
Belgian sisters Nele and Tinne Gilis are top seeds in the women’s draw
By JAMES ROBERTS (Squash Mad Correspondent)
Victor Crouin is expected to climb up the PSA world rankings after finishing runner-up to Mohamed ElShorbagy in Qatar – and despite a combination of tiredness and jetlag he will be entering this week’s Open de France in Nantes full of confidence.
This morning the event organisers announced the location of “the secret venue” that has formed much of the pre-event media campaign.
The glass court is set up inside Hangar 24, Quai du Président Wilson, at the end of the Three Continents Bridge.
Crouin enters the Hangar tomorrow as No.4 seed and is due to meet compatriot Gregoire Marche (seeded two) in the semi-finals.
Having lost to Mohamed ElShorbagy in Doha, Crouin will be keen to go all the way to the final in Nantes, where Mohamed’s brother Marwan is the top seed.
Fortunately Crouin has a bye in today’s first round. Both he and Marche will have to work hard to reach the last four.
After his fantastic performances at the QTerminals Qatar Classic, the presence of Crouin (No. 18) in Nantes represents a real attraction, but it remains to be seen if he has recovered both physically and emotionally.
We will know as soon as he enters the fray against the winner of the first round tie between Egypt’s Mazen Gamal or the dangerous Aly Abou Eleinen, a player he often encountered during US College matches between his Harvard team and Penn.
The quarter-final will also not offer him any respite, with the former World Championship runner-up Omar Mossad (No. 21) potentially on the menu, although he has recently beaten him, or even the Mexican Leonel Cardenas (No 36), a player from the same generation with whom he has fought some big battles.
Marche, winner of the first three editions and semi-finalist at the Chateau des Ducs de Bretagne in 2019, loves Nantes. The man from Drome will enter the fray on Tuesday afternoon against either his compatriot Auguste Dussord or the Scot Rory Stewart, the battle between whom will undoubtedly provide the highlight of the first round.
Stewart, who impressed so much in the Commonwealth Games, will be keen to take that form into his PSA season.
In that section of the draw, Marche is seeded to meet England’s fiery George Parker in the quarter finals. Parker is seeded eight and will come into the draw in the second round against the winner of today’s first round tie between India’s Mahesh Mangaonkar or Faraz Khan (USA).
This year’s Open de France certainly promises to be a grandiose sporting spectacle.
In the top half of the draw, Marwan ElShorbagy and Saurav Ghosal are seeded one and three.
Both could be facing English opponents in the second round, with ElShorbagy meeting Nick Wall or Egypt’s Yahya Elnawasany, and Ghosal playing either Charlie Lee or France’s Bernat Jaume.
Declan James, Nantes champion in 2018 after beating James Willstrop on stage inside the stunning Théâtre Graslin, plays French wild card Benjamin Aubert with the winner meeting America’s Shahjahan Khan in the next round.
James has recently teamed up with Willstrop to win the men’s doubles at the Commonwealth Games and will be looking to build on that gold-medal confidence as he seeks to rise up the rankings again this season.
The Spaniard Iker Pajares is undoubtedly a rising star of the World Tour but suffered a few physical concerns last season and has not played for four months.
Seeded six, he has a bye today and faces either Lucas Serme (France) or Juan Carmilo Vargas (Colombia). In that section of the draw, the 36-year-old Ghosal shows no signs of decline and has just won the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games.
In the women’s draw, the New Zealand world No.5 Joelle King, who would have been the No.1 seed, has unfortunately been forced to withdraw due to an injury.
If the seedings are respected, the final will oppose the two Belgian sisters, Nele Gillis and Tinne Gillis, who last week were ranked 13 and 12 respectively. Currently rising up the rankings and the victor in their last two meetings, the latter is the logical favourite, despite her older sister having fond memories of Nantes (finalist at the Machines de l’Isle in 2017 and the victor at the Théâtre Graslin in 2018).
Nele’s potential opponents in the semi-final will either be Tesni Evans (No. 19) – after suffering a fair few physical mishaps, the Welsh player will be looking to return to her best form – or Lucy Turmel (No. 27), a rising star of the new generation of English women’s squash. If it takes place, the quarter final between these two British players on Thursday night promises to be hotly disputed.
In the early rounds, Tinne will have to watch out for the Japanese player Satomi Watanabe (No. 51) and could meet Melissa Alvez in the last four.
Just a few weeks ago, Alvez, who is France’s best hope for success at Nantes, provided Tinne with stiff resistance at the same stage of the competition in the European Individual Championships, before succumbing in four games.
Pictures courtesy of PSA World Tour and Open de France, Nantes
James Grayson: Northampton Saints must avoid 'switching off' after defeat by Sale, says fly-half
Northampton fly-half James Grayson has warned that his side must avoid "switching off" in games following their season-opening defeat at Sale.
Saints were 10-3 down at the interval and then conceded three tries in quick succession at the AJ Bell Stadium.
They responded with three of their own but were unable to erase the deficit and went down 29-22 in the Premiership.
"In this league, if you switch off for 10 minutes, teams can rip you apart," Grayson told BBC Radio Northampton.
"We felt we applied a lot of pressure in the first half, we spent a lot of time in their 22 but didn't actually come away with any points, so that's a learning for next week.
"And in the second half, that 10-minute, maybe 15-minute, period, when we switched off really cost us - but that last 15 minutes is probably where we want to be and what we want to be doing to teams."
Saints took an early lead through Grayson's penalty and he later added two conversions in their strong finish to the game.
"To come back and scrape a (losing bonus) point, at the end of the season that one point might be quite important," he said.
"There's a lot of frustration, but (we have) momentum from that last 15 minutes. We'll build on that and we'll look at the bits we did poorly and we'll build on that as well."
Northampton's first home match of the campaign against London Irish has been switched from Friday to Saturday, with a 14:00 BST kick-off.
Saints won the corresponding game last season 23-21 and also triumphed 42-22 when the two teams met in round 21 at the Brentford Community Stadium.
England v Wales: Lucy Packer & Alex Matthews chase World Cup spots
England head coach Simon Middleton has made 12 changes for Wednesday's Test against Wales in Bristol, their final game before World Cup selection.
Scrum-half Lucy Packer will make her second start in a position Middleton says is one of his "toughest calls".
Alex Matthews and Marlie Packer return in an equally competitive back row.
Middleton will name his World Cup squad on 20 September, with England's opening game against Fiji on 8 October in Auckland, New Zealand.
The Rugby Football Union is still finalising details of tributes to Queen Elizabeth II, with England captain Sarah Hunter describing the monarch as "an inspirational leader and a female leader at that".
Wales are expected to name their side on Tuesday.
If they beat Wales, England will become the first team to win 25 Tests in a row, with their most recent defeat coming against New Zealand in 2019.
With such a significant squad selection so close, there will be as much focus on individual performances as the result.
Middleton confirmed he will take three scrum-halves in his 32-player World Cup squad.
Packer is competing with Natasha Hunt, Leanne Infante and the returning Claudia MacDonald, who can also play on the wing.
Middleton says number 12 and the back row are two other areas where he will have to make "big calls" after the Wales game.
England team to face Wales: Kildunne; Thompson, Scarratt, Rowland, McKenna; Harrison, L Packer; Cornborough, Davies, Bern, Aldcroft, Ward, Matthews, M Packer, Hunter (capt).
Replacements: Cokayne, Botterman, Muir, Talling, P Cleall, MacDonald, Reed, Aitchison.
Ex-Chelsea, Atleti star Costa join Wolves on free
Former Chelsea striker Diego Costa has completed a move to Wolverhampton Wanderers on a free transfer until the end of the 2022-23 season, the Premier League club announced on Monday.
Costa, who had been without a club since leaving Brazilian side Atletico Mineiro in January, was initially denied a work permit when his application did not fulfil the points criteria, but was accepted upon appeal.
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Wolves chairman Jeff Shi said: "We are absolutely delighted to welcome Diego Costa to Wolves, and back to the Premier League.
"A serial winner with a wealth of experience at the highest level, Diego will bring something unique to our dressing room and on the pitch, and we look forward to his impact at Molineux and Compton this season."
Wolves were left short at striker after new arrival Sasa Kalajdzic sustained a knee ligament injury during his debut on Saturday, while Raul Jimenez missed the opening two games of the season with a knee injury.
Costa, 33, previously helped Atletico Madrid to the LaLiga title in 2014 before embarking on a successful three-year spell at Chelsea, where he scored 59 goals in 120 games in all competitions and won two Premier League titles in 2015 and 2017, as well as the League Cup in 2015.
He left to return to Atletico in 2017 but left in December 2020 before returning to native Brazil last summer to join Atletico Mineiro.
Costa, who was born in Brazil, represented Spain at international level, scoring 10 goals in 24 games, his last appearance coming at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Smriti Mandhana: 'I'll be thinking about pulling out of WBBL'
For Mandhana, 2022 started with an ODI tour of New Zealand in February in the lead up to the ODI World Cup in the same country in March. That was followed by domestic white-ball tournaments in India in April and May before the Indian team played ODIs and T20Is in Sri Lanka in Jun-July. Later in July and August, India played five T20Is in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham where they finished with a silver medal, and Mandhana has been in the UK ever since, first for the Women's Hundred to represent Southern Brave who finished runners-up, and then for the international white-ball games against England, which started with a T20I series on September 10.
"I think more than the mental part, it's about managing a little bit of physical part," Mandhana said in a press conference from Derby. "Definitely I'll be thinking about pulling out of WBBL because I don't want to miss out on playing for India or having any niggles when I play for India because I want to give my 100% when I play international cricket. So definitely I'll be thinking about playing or pulling out of Big Bash."
Mandhana took pains to add that she wasn't really complaining about the volume of cricket she's had to play because this is the kind of schedule women cricketers have wanted for years.
"I have been on the road for a while now," she said. "Post the one-day World Cup, I have been on the road with the domestic and the tournaments you mentioned [the Sri Lanka tour, the Commonwealth Games, the Women's Hundred]. I just try to tell myself that because of Covid we haven't really played a lot of cricket and we really hoped that we came back and start playing cricket.
"And now I can't be complaining that we have a lot of cricket on the platter. As a woman player we always wanted this sort of schedule for us. I'm really happy to be playing so much cricket and I've had my family over, like my mom is over here and she was here for the Hundred as well. So that also helps to be in a good mindset and the team-mates have been just amazing. It feels like we're a family together."
WR Jefferson (184 yds) surprised at open looks
MINNEAPOLIS -- It was a scene the Minnesota Vikings could only dream of. Superstar receiver Justin Jefferson ran wild Sunday through the Green Bay Packers secondary, hauling in a slew of wide-open passes on the way to the best game of his career.
Jefferson had nine receptions for a career-best 184 yards and two touchdowns as the Vikings pounded their NFC North rival, 23-7, at U.S. Bank Stadium. But it was the nature of Jefferson's catches that were so stunning.
Jefferson averaged 4.0 yards of separation on his 11 targets, according to ESPN Stats & Information research, and gained 138 of his receiving yards on plays when he had at least 3.0 yards of separation. And on a 64-yard haul that set up a field goal in the second quarter, there was not a defender within 10 yards of him.
"I was thinking somebody was about to come from behind and tackle me," Jefferson said. "I thought [Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander] had run with me. But he wasn't there. It kind of shook me up a little bit, but I'm glad I got into the end zone."
The Vikings were playing their first game in new coach Kevin O'Connell's scheme, and Jefferson said he expected to see the usual double teams and cloud coverages he has grown accustomed to during his first two seasons in the league. He was surprised, however, to see the Packers did not consistently ask Alexander to follow him in coverage.
Alexander was surprised, as well. Asked about the potential matchup, Alexander first made the zipping-the-lips motion and then said: "All week, [he was] asking for that matchup. But it ain't about me. It's about the team. It ain't about me. If it was my way, you know what I would be doing."
O'Connell's scheme was partly responsible. Jefferson lined up all over the field, making it difficult to track him. Jefferson took 41 snaps on the outside, 12 in the slot, two in the backfield and one as a tight end. Nearly half of his yardage total (91) came on those plays from the slot with the other 93 from the outside, making him only the second player in the past seven seasons to accumulate at least 90 yards from both the slot and the outside.
Jefferson also went into pre-snap motion on seven snaps and was targeted on four of those plays, including a 5-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter.
"I definitely like the motioning," Jefferson said, "and just seeing the whole field. I'm pretty sure I'm going to do it a lot more."
ESPN's Rob Demovsky contributed to this report.
Left-handed hitting is crucial in October: Here's who could regret not having enough this postseason
Brian Cashman must feel cursed. For years, the New York Yankees general manager has been on a mission to find balance in his lineup, and just when he thought he had finally captured it, it vanished.
The Yankees have fallen on hard times, and it's in part because of injuries and inconsistent production by left-handed hitters. It's forced New York to revert back to relying on righties to carry the load at a time when seemingly everyone on the roster not named Aaron Judge has slumped.
"Take a look at their numbers since Matt Carpenter left the lineup," one AL scout said. "Yes, Matt Carpenter. If he or Anthony Rizzo or even Andrew Benintendi were right-handed, we wouldn't be having this discussion. These players are key to the Yankees because they're lefties."
The phrase "you can never have enough left-handed pitching" is often heard in MLB front offices, but the concept extends to the batter's box as well. Every July, executives play musical chairs with the limited number of lefties who become available and the teams that have realized they need to add them, mostly with one specific thing in mind: October.
"Those guys have so much value, especially in the playoffs when you're facing so many elite right-handers," one executive said. "You can get to the postseason with different kinds of lineups, but boy, are some lefty hitters needed once you're there."
Recent history agrees: Last year's two World Series participants, the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros, ranked No.1 and No. 2, respectively, among all 2021 playoff teams in OPS from left-handed hitters. From the right side of the plate, they ranked just sixth and seventh out of 10 teams.
"I wouldn't say that it's a singular focus on left-handed hitting as much as making sure that we have balance throughout the lineup," Astros GM James Click said via an email. "Whether it's in terms of handedness or other skills like speed, power, opposite-field hitting."
That, of course, is easy to say when your team employs left-handed mashers, such as Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker. Cashman's boppers, on the other hand, were born right-handed -- meaning the Yankees have had to actively acquire lefties.
"The Yankees are a team who clearly saw their weakness on offense and addressed it," one former executive said. "Some teams are more aggressive than others. Its just so hard to overcome when you're too heavily balanced on one side or the other. I think the Yankees ... saw that and knew they had to fix it to have a great offense."
They've traded for lefties Rizzo, Joey Gallo, Carpenter and most recently, Benintendi in an effort to fill the void. And for a while this season, it seemed they had finally found that needed lineup balance.
But since Carpenter went down with a wrist injury Aug. 8, the Yankees are second to last in the majors in OPS against right-handed pitching. Rizzo had slumped (.691 OPS, 7 BB, 23 K's) before recently landing on the injured list and is now out with a back issue. Benintendi (.326 OBP) also slowed down before suffering his own wrist injury that will likely end his season.
And Rizzo and Benintendi haven't been the only lefties to struggle. In Carpenter's absence, the Yankees' left-handed hitters have batted .198 compared to .212 before Aug. 8, while righties have hit .221 in the time since Carpenter was injured.
Even if New York manages to hold off the Tampa Bay Rays for the AL East title, their lack of left-handed lineup depth could come back to haunt them in the postseason. One executive pointed out that he would rather be vulnerable against left-handed pitching than against righties, simply because there are fewer left-handed pitchers and it's a lot easier to find a dangerous right-handed hitter, even just to fill part of a platoon.
"Lefties are a commodity," the executive said of batters. "It's as simple as that. Take a look at last October."
The Yankees aren't the only team that suffer from a lack of left-handed hitting -- and it's an issue that has plagued other franchises over the years.
The 2021 Chicago White Sox are a cautionary tale from that postseason about what can happen when a team enters October without this key ingredient. They won their division by 13 games, but then a first-round series against the Astros exposed them. White Sox right-handed hitters batted .295 off righty pitching in the series -- though all of the hits were singles. Meanwhile, their lefties hit .196 with a just .667 OPS in four games. Houston won the series easily in large part because Chicago's lefties weren't good enough.
Chicago's inconsistency has carried over to this season as the White Sox have just 24 home runs from left-handed hitters, ranking 29th in the majors. The only team worse is the Toronto Blue Jays, who have just 15 home runs from lefties.
Both teams are doubling down on their righties to lead them to October after failing to make a deal for one of the plenty of lefties that did change teams at the trade deadline.
"I'm not sure how Toronto expects to win a World Series this year with that kind of production," an NL scout who has watched them said. "You need to be so good in other areas of your game to overcome that."
If they make it to the postseason, the decision to trade for Whit Merrifield instead of finding a left-handed bat means the Blue Jays could be at a disadvantage against the teams who did prioritize lineup balance at the deadline.
Notably, instead of making a splashy move for a middle-of-the-order bat like many expected under new owner Steve Cohen, the Mets opted to strike by adding two hitters early this trade season: switch-hitting Daniel Vogelbach and left-handed Tyler Naquin. Meanwhile, the Braves made an under-the-radar deal for left-handed hitting Robbie Grossman and the Rays added veteran lefty David Peralta. And then, of course, there are the Padres, who completely reshaped their lineup by adding Juan Soto and Josh Bell in the biggest blockbuster of the summer.
New York also made left-handed hitting a priority with the acquisitions of Carpenter and Benintendi -- talent the team hoped would help them make a deep postseason run. However, now plagued by injuries, their October is suddenly up in the air. Will the Yankees be able to navigate a postseason without consistent production on both sides of the plate, or will they and this postseason's other right-handed heavy contenders end up going home because of it? We're about to find out.
Eastland 2022 ITTF-Oceania Championships: New Fans Recruited, Australia Opens Doors
All eight team and all 20 individual titles, on Saturday 10th September when play closed at the Eastland 2022 ITTF-Oceania Championships, it was a clean sweep for Australia.
Success for the host nation, most significantly it was success for the ITTF-Oceania.
The decision to stage the tournament at the Eastland Shopping Centre was vindicated in a city that possesses some of the world’s most iconic arenas.
Mind blowing, from an empty concrete shopping space, a world class venue was created, a show court table featured, production streamed, surprised shoppers open eyed as they were engaged in a range of activities.
Everyone, players, coaches and officials was of one voice, high praise.
Quite simply, the out-of-the-box experiment, created by ITTF-Oceania to give the sport maximum exposure, attract the general public, proved a complete success. Understandably, Anthony Moore, the recently elected President of ITTF-Oceania, was delighted with the outcome.
“Our objective was to bring the sport to new audiences, without compromising on services level. We saw family with children coming, trying their hand at it, and asking where they could play regularly. With 3,000 unique visitors on the final day, it exceeded our expectations, and those of Eastland which saw a significant increase in foot traffic during the week. It was a true win-win.” Anthony Moore
Eastland proved the perfect partner, giving full support in the lead up campaign that involved community activities, a school tournament, and digital cross-promotion.
Petra Sörling, ITTF President, and Graham Symons, ITTF Executive Vice President and President of Table Tennis Australia, visited the Championships; both were impressed by the level of community engagement.
“Each continent, each member association, has its own identity and its own challenges; it is great to see them trying new things their own way. ITTF-Oceania, after a frustrating three years in a region still facing travel difficulties because of Covid-19, dared to innovate. It paid dividends; I witnessed the positive impact these Championships have made for table tennis” Petra Sörling
During the visit to Melbourne, the ITTF leadership also met with Matt Carroll, CEO of the Australian Olympic Committee, Jeroen Weimars, CEO of the Organising Committee for the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games, and Craig Phillips, CEO of Commonwealth Games Australia, to discuss performances and the importance of table tennis in multisport events.
Meetings with representatives of the Victorian Government and Visit Victoria also took place to discuss hosting of international events in the state.
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