🏏 Australia's Endless Summer Of Cricket

Hi there, it's Thursday, 18 August. While we wait to find out where the NRL Grand Final will be played, where Alastair Clarkson will coach next year and where exactly is that Wally guy, we do know where Australia's men's cricket team will be playing until March 2027. Spoiler alert: they're playing a lot and pretty much everywhere.  

⏱ 1,220 words = 6 minutes

👀 Catch of the ... winter? 

THE MAIN GAME

🏏 Cricket, cricket and more cricket 

Cricket's governing body, the International Cricket Council, has dropped the men's international schedule for the next 5 years and if you thought the cricket calendar was packed now, wait until you see this thing. 

Golden points: Yesterday, the ICC released the men's Future Tours Program, which maps out all the international cricket until March 2027.

• Between now and then, Australia will play 49 Tests, 52 one-day internationals and 63 T20 matches, plus games at ICC events, such as World Cups and the World Test Championship final.

• Almost half of Australia's matches from July next year will be played against their arch-rivals England and India, with at least one series against them each year. India Test series are now 5-Tests as well.

• It makes sense given roughly 75 per cent of Cricket Australia's revenue comes from broadcast deals and matches against England and India are the most lucrative.

• The Aussies didn't do much travelling during the height of the pandemic but in the next 5 years, they'll visit all the big countries while also touring places like Ireland, Zimbabwe, Netherlands and Afghanistan.

• With so many international matches to slot in and domestic cricket to consider, there are a few quirks to the schedule. The 2 main ones are Australia playing next year's Ashes series in June and July instead of the traditional time slot in August. That's so England's domestic league The Hundred has some clear air and the Aussies can go to South Africa.

• And in January-February 2027, Australia will tour India for 5 Tests while the home summer is still in full swing to make sure there is no clash with India's gigantic T20 tournament, the Indian Premier League.

Key click: Print this out or bookmark it because here's all the international cricket coming up. 

QUICK SINGLES

🥇 Olympics: Ellia Green opens up about transitioning to male following his rugby career. Green won gold with Australia's Sevens team at the 2016 Rio Olympics, but became depressed and hospitalised after missing selection for the Tokyo Games last year. He says the light at the end of the tunnel was his transition surgery to become the person he was always meant to be and hopes his story can save the lives of others in a similar situation. 

🥇 Shooting: Meet Ash Hawker, Australia's latest world champion who owes his mate a beer. Hawker won the Universal Trench trap shooting world title in Italy earlier this month, outlasting defending champ Mario Fuentes, who missed his last shot that would have triggered a shootout. Hawker initially missed selection - he was the 1st reserve - but when his mate opted out of the event to go on a holiday, Hawker was promoted and the rest is history. 

🎾 Tennis: Ash Barty has a new title and this one's got nothing to do with tennis. Barty has joined telco Optus as its Chief of Inspiration, tasked with inspiring people to say 'yes' to their 'dreams, goals and ambitions'. Not sure what her KPIs will look like, but her new colleague Daniel Ricciardo might be able to shed some light. He's been at Optus since 2020 as the Chief of Optimism. Ash, Dan if you're reading this, here are some words of wisdom from an experienced chief. 

🏀 NBA: LeBron James is now the highest-earning player in NBA history. James signed a 2-year extension with the LA Lakers this morning worth $138 million dollars, which will take his career earnings to $758 million. At 37yo, James reportedly spends around $2 million every year on his health and fitness, which is probably why he is still one of the best players in the world and reckons he can keep playing until his son, Bronny, enters the league in a few years.

🎾 Tennis: Aussies go down in Cincinnati. Nick Kyrgios and Alex de Minaur were knocked out in the 2nd round of the Cincinnati Masters this morning. Kyrgios lost to American Taylor Fritz 6-3 6-2, the same scoreline as de Mianur's loss to Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime. The Aussies are still alive in the doubles as they prepare for the US Open that starts on 29 August.

⚾️ Baseball: Major League Baseball has banned the player who brought his phone onto the field. Last week, Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Rodolfo Castro became an instant meme when his phone slipped out of his back pocket as he slid for 3rd base. Everyone had a good laugh and Castro apologised for the mistake, but the MLB doesn't find it that funny. The league has fined and banned Castro for one game. Castro is appealing the ban.  

LEFT OF FIELD

⚽️ Football: There's a fair bit of heat on Manchester United at the moment since losing their first 2 matches of the new English Premier League season. Some of the attention was taken off them yesterday when the world's richest man Elon Musk sent out a tweet saying he's gonna buy the club. Man U is valued at about $6 billion, which is pocket change for the world's richest man. But just as the outrage and intrigue hit peak levels, Musk said he was just having a laugh. Apparently, he does this a fair bit - say he's gonna buy some big company then give it a 'yeah, nah'. The thing is, Man U fans are pretty upset about the club's American owners, the Glazers, so maybe they were hoping for a Musk takeover. But first, he's still gotta get out of buying Twitter. 

📽 Highlight reel: Good luck finding a better slips catch than this one by Aussie Matt Renshaw in England's domestic one-day comp. 

📸 Photo finish: With the NRLW starting this weekend, the six club captains got together for a pic of what they're all playing for. 

THE POLLING BOOTH

Wednesday's result: 60.81% voted Richie Benaud as the best Channel 9's Fab 4 cricket commentary team. 

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

• ⚾️ 10:00am - MLB - Brewers v Dodgers - Miller Park, Milwaukee - Foxtel, Kayo

• 🏉 7:50pm - NRL - Rabbitohs v Panthers - Accor Stadium, Sydney - Channel 9, Foxtel, Kaoy

• ⛳️ 5:00am (Friday) - Golf - BMW Championship, Round 1 - Wilmington Country Club, Delaware - Foxtel, Kayo

THE MANAGER'S OFFICE

There's only one thing the manager hates more than a bunch of wet towels on the floor, and that's a referral that's gone missing... Tell your teammates, supporters, and physio about us. No one likes a ball hog...