🏏 The Summer Of Cricket Starts... Sunday?

Howzat, it's Friday, 26 August. If you needed any further proof that climate change is a real thing, summer is starting this Sunday. That's right, Australia's national cricket team is playing at home this weekend, so that marks the official start of summer. Everybody knows that. It's science. We recommend checking the BOM before you go switching from sweaters to singlets, but even still, cricket's back!

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👀 We've got a group of death!

THE MAIN GAME

🏏 Summer has come early

You know the cricket calendar is crammed when the Aussie men's team is playing a one-dayer in August. But when is too much cricket ever enough?

Golden points: Townsville will host 3 one-day internationals between Australia and Zimbabwe starting this Sunday.

• This series was meant to be played back in August 2020 but then COVID-19 stuffed up everything everywhere all at once.

• It was again postponed 12 months ago but we've got it now and Australia has picked a full-strength squad except for Test captain Pat Cummins - he's getting his body Cherry Ripe for a big season coming up.

• Zimbabwe hasn't played in Australia since 2003-04 and is currently ranked 13th in one-day cricket (Australia is 5th) so all signs point to a one-sided series.

• But these matches are important for Australia because the next 50-over World Cup in India is a little over 12 months away in India. Between now and then there are 17 one-dayers so every match counts for those players pushing for selection and the selectors trying to nail down that final squad.

• The 3 matches will be played on 28 & 31 August and 3 September, then the Aussies have another 3-match ODI series against New Zealand from 6-11 September in Cairns.

The stat: The last time Australia's men's side played at home in August was against Bangladesh in an ODI on 30 August 2008. Guess the bowling attack in that game? No idea? Well, it was Stuart Clark, Nathan Bracken, Mitchell Johnson and Brett Geeves.

Watch it: All 3 games in Townsville start at 9:40am AEST and will be shown on Foxtel and Kayo.

QUICK SINGLES

🏉 NRL: Back-to-back blowouts could see the Broncos miss finals footy. Last week, Brisbane lost 60-12 against the Storm. Last night, they lost 53-6 to Parramatta. The big losses mean Brisbane's points differential (points scored minus points conceded) has taken a hammering to be -26, which is not ideal because it is the tie-breaker if teams are equal on competition points. The Broncos have been in the top 8 since the start of May, but if Canberra beat Manly tomorrow, they'll slip out and the Raiders will sneak in.

🎾 Tennis: The US Open draw is out and wouldn't ya know it, Nick Kyrgios is playing best bud Thanasi Kokkinakis in the 1st round. These guys will play in the top quarter of the men's singles draw, which is where #1 seed Daniil Medvedev is lurking. There's no Novak Djokovic - he's withdrawn because as an unvaccinated non-US citizen he can't enter the country. Serena Williams has drawn world #80 Danka Kovinic in the 1st round in her final tournament before evolving/retiring.

🏉 Rugby: The Wallabies make 6 changes for Springboks Test. The last start 48-17 loss to Argentina has not gone down well, so coach Dave Rennie has recalled Noah Lolesio at #10 and Reece Hodge at fullback. It's not just the Wallabies who have made bulk changes - the Wallaroos (Australia's women's rugby team) have made 7 changes to the team that lost 52-5 against the NZ Black Ferns last weekend. The rematch is tomorrow in Adelaide before the Wallabies-Springboks Test.

🏀 NBA: Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren is gonna miss the next NBA season through injury. Holmgren was taken with the #2 pick at this year's NBA Draft and impressed in the Summer League next to Aussie Josh Giddey. But he suffered a Lisfranc injury in his foot playing against LeBron James in an exhibition on the weekend, so we'll have to wait 12 months to see him in the NBA.

⚽️ Football: The UEFA Champions League groups have been drawn and of course there's a group of death. Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Czech club Viktoria Plzen are all together in Group C aka the group of death. The top 2 of the 8 groups advance to the round 16, so a major club is gonna miss out from Group C. It's extra spicy because Barcelona's star signing Robert Lewandowski will play his old club Bayern Munich. Get the popcorn ready.

LEFT OF FIELD

🎾 Tennis: If you thought Nick Kyrgios's 'tweener' shot - that's a shot between one's legs - was rare, can we interest you in an even rarer 'double tweener'? Well that's exactly what the dream team of Rafael Nadal and Iga Swiatek produced in a charity event yesterday in New York. Nadal, Swiatek and a whole bunch of tennis stars put on a show to raise money for Ukrainian humanitarian relief. A 'double tweener' isn't quite as rare as a 'double dragon' but it's still pretty great.

📽 Highlight reel: One game down in season 7 of the AFLW and it was Collingwood who got on the board first with a win over Carlton at Ikon Park.

📸 Photo finish: We're not sure if the highlight of this pic is A) Marnus Labuschagne's sunnies, B) Alex Carey's photobomb or C) Steve Smith's expression.

THE POLLING BOOTH

Thursday's result: 34.67% said they'll try to catch a few games of AFLW each weekend this season.

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

• 🏉 7:40pm Friday - AFLW - Adelaide v Melbourne - Glenelg Oval, Glenelg - 7mate, Foxtel, Kayo

• 🏉 7:55pm Friday - NRL - Storm v Roosters - AAMI Park, Melbourne - Channel 9, Foxtel, Kayo

• 🏉 12:45pm Saturday - Women's Rugby - Wallaroos v Black Ferns - Adelaide Oval, Adelaide - Channel 9, Stan Sport

• 🏉 3:30pm Saturday - Rugby Championship - Wallabies v Springboks - Adelaide Oval, Adelaide - Channel 9, Stan Sport

• 🏏 9:40am Sunday - Cricket - Australia v Zimbabwe, 1st ODI - Riverway Stadium, Townsville - Foxtel, Kayo

• 🏉 11:40am Sunday - NRLW - Eels v Dragons - CommBank Stadium, Parramatta - Foxtel, Kayo

• 🏎 9:30pm Sunday - F1 - Belgium Grand Prix - Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot - Foxtel, Kayo

• ⛳️ 3:00am Monday - Golf - Tour Championship, Final Round - East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta - Foxtel, Kayo

All times AEST

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...