🗞 'Arrogant and Dopey'

G'day sports fans,

"Hopefully you can't smell me on the camera." - World Cup-winning captain Pat Cummins back on Aussie soil and was all smiles reflecting on his team's triumph.

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🏏 India vs Australia 1st T20: Less than a week after the final of the Cricket World Cup, in which Pat Cummins and Co helped the Aussies claim their sixth World Cup title, [Unbelievably] the two teams were back in action at Visakhapatnam.

Both teams had a different look from the World Cup sides, with many players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, David Warner, and Josh Hazlewood all missing.

Batting first, Steve Smith (52 run out) and Josh Inglis (110 from 50 balls) put on 130 for the second wicket to give Australia a platform of 208 to defend. 

Some excellent fielding kept it tight after India lost their openers early on, but Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav took the responsibility and played a crucial knocks. 

Australia kept the game tight by picking up wickets in the backend, but Rinku Singh did his job to see India home in the final over. 

India won the thrilling contest in the end by two wickets.

⛳️ Min Woo Lee will relish the pressure of being the hunted at the Australian PGA after a stunning first-round 64 at Royal Queensland on Thursday was bettered only by a Spanish bolter as defending champ Cameron Smith lamented a “crappy” opening to his title defence. 

Aided by a late switch to a new putter, Lee’s final hole birdie was one of eight in a scintillating opening round which sent him to the top of the leaderboard, only for Spain’s world No.1162 Joel Moscatel Nachshon to upstage him by a shot with a course-record equalling 63. 

Other notable Aussies: John Lyras -6, Adam Scott, Lucas Herbert -5, Cam Davis, Marc Leishman -3, Cam Smith +2.

📺 A record peak concurrent audience of 59 million viewers tuned in for Disney Hotstar’s coverage of the 2023 Cricket World Cup final, setting a new streaming record.

Australia’s win becomes the most streamed event ever, beating the previous high set by the same broadcaster. Disney Hotstar had seen 53 million concurrent viewers watch India’s semifinal win over New Zealand only five days earlier.

👕 Football Australia has announced a ten-year partnership extension with Nike, which sees the sportswear giant continue as the national soccer governing body’s kit supplier. 

🏏 The Adelaide Strikers have been rocked by news that Rashid Khan will miss this summer's KFC BBL with a back injury that requires surgery.

🏉 Warriors star Addin Fonua-Blake has met with the Wests Tigers as he looks to secure a return back to Sydney for the 2025 NRL season.

According to 9News Sydney, Fonua-Blake held a meeting with the Tigers at Haberfield Rowers on Thursday. 

He is expected to meet with both the Dragons and the Bulldogs this week after Canterbury general manager Phil Gould confirmed his interest in the star prop.

🇦🇺 Collingwood is yet to determine whether defender Nathan Murphy will play in 2024 after suffering a concussion in the grand final.

Murphy was subbed out of the grand final early after the head knock, believed to be the 10th across his junior and AFL career.

The 23-year-old will be required to see AFL's medical concussion panel, with the club still unsure as to when that assessment will take place.

🔁 The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs have a struck a cross-code blow on behalf of the NRL on the AFL, signing one of the top prospects in the Sydney Swans Academy.

Mitchell Woods, who was a member of last year’s Under-16 AFL All-Australian team and primed to be a draft option in 2024, has signed with the NRL side after departing the Swans Academy.

💰 Hamish McLennan has continued his tirade against Rugby Australia, with the ousted chairman claiming the sport's recent loss of a multimillion dollar sponsorship deal was due to his dismissal.

'Look at what the boneheads have done,' McLennan told the Sydney Morning Herald. 'They are arrogant and dopey.' 

Harvey Norman [who are dropping the Wallabies as well Cadbury], however, denied that their decision not to renew their three-year deal with the Wallabies was due to McLennan's exit on Sunday.

🏉 Broncos forward Brendan Piakura has extended his time with the club for a further three years until the end of the 2027 season.

Already signed for 2024, the back-rower established himself as an NRL regular in 2023, making 13 appearances.

🏀 LeBron James became the first player to score 39,000 points in the NBA as the LA Lakers beat the Utah Jazz in the in-season tournament.

Needing five points, he scored 17 in a 131-99 victory in Los Angeles that secured a quarter-final place.

🏎️ Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has denied Christian Horner's claim that he contacted Red Bull earlier this year about the possibility of driving for the world champions.

A story in the Daily Mail quoted Horner saying an unnamed person from Hamilton's management had reached out about the possibility of the seven-time world champion joining Red Bull as Max Verstappen's teammate.

“I don't really know where that story has come from,” Hamilton said. “I know it's come from Christian, I don't really understand what he's been talking about.

🇿🇦 Oscar Pistorius will have a second chance at parole at a hearing in Pretoria on today after he was wrongly ruled ineligible for early release from prison in March.

South Africa's department of corrections said in a statement sent to The Associated Press that a parole board will consider the former Olympic runner's case again this week and decide "whether the inmate is suitable or not for social integration."

⚽️ Manchester United are preparing for another squad clear out in 2024, with more than 10 players set to leave across the winter and summer transfer windows.

Donny van de Beek, Jadon Sancho, and Anthony Martial will be available for transfer in January unless there is a sudden turn of events. While Tom Heaton and Jonny Evans are out of contract at the end of the season.

🏏 Former West Indies batter Marlon Samuels has been banned from all cricket for six years after being found guilty by the International Cricket Council of breaking four rules during the 2019 Abu Dhabi T10 league in August this year.

He was found to have failed to disclose the receipt of a payment, gift or other benefit "that could bring the participant or sport of cricket into disrepute", and of disclosing hospitality worth more than £600 (750 US Dollars).

During his career, Samuels was banned from cricket for two years between 2008 and 2010 for passing information to a bookmaker in a one-day series in India in 2007.

⛳️ Jon Rahm is in late stage talks to join LIV Golf and it’s believed the hold up is not financial [thought to be US$600m], but is due to him wishing to modify the format of the league.

Any changes would need the approval of all team captains as well as the league themselves. This is making negotiations difficult, but they are intensifying.

Rahm won 4 times in 2023, including the Masters, so would be a huge get for LIV. It is understood that if a deal is reached he would join Sergio Garcia and Eugenio Chacarra on the Fireballs, with David Puig taking the 4th spot to make an all Spanish team.

🏏 England Test captain Ben Stokes has made himself unavailable for the 2024 Indian Premier League in order to manage his workload and fitness.

All-rounder Stokes, 32, is due to have knee surgery before England's five-match Test series in India next year.

TODAY

06:30  - College -  Men's NCAA Regular Season (ESPN 2)

08:30  - NFL -  Dallas Cowboys v Washington Commanders (ESPN)

12:20  - NFL -  Seattle Seahawks v San Francisco 49ers (ESPN)

14:30  - Men's NCAA - Vanderbilt Commodores v North Carolina State Wolfpack (ESPN 2)

16:30  - Men's NCAA -  Arizona State Sun Devils v BYU Cougars (ESPN 2)

19:45  - A-League Men -  Macarthur FC Bulls v Melbourne Victory (Paramount+)

SATURDAY 

06:45  - Premiership Rugby -  Northampton Saints v Harlequins (Stan Sport)

06:45  - Premiership Rugby -  Sale Sharks v Bath Rugby (Stan Sport)

07:00  - NFL -  New York Jets v Miami Dolphins (ESPN)

11:30  - NBA -  New York Knicks v Miami Heat (ESPN)

14:00  - NBA -  Golden State Warriors v San Antonio Spurs (ESPN)

14:30  - A-League Men - Wellington Phoenix v Melbourne City (Paramount+)

15:20  - Adelaide 500 (Channel 7, Fox Sports)

17:30  - A-League Men -  Newcastle Jets v Central Coast Mariners (Paramount+)

19:45  - A-League Men -  Sydney FC v Western Sydney Wanderers (10 Bold or Paramount+)

21:09 - Group 1 racing - Railway Stakes, 1,600m (Sky 1)

23:30 - Premier League - Manchester City v Liverpool (Optus Sport 1)

00:00 - Spanish La Liga - Rayo Vallecano v Barcelona (Optus Sport 2)

SUNDAY

01:00 -  Formula 1 UAE Qualifying, Round 23 (Fox Sports)

02:00 - Premier League - Luton Town v Crystal Palace (Optus Sport 5 )

02:00 - Premier League - Sheffield United v Bournemouth (Optus Sport 7)

02:00 - Premier League - Newcastle United v Chelsea (Optus Sport 3)

02:00 - Premier League - Nottingham Forest v Brighton & Hove Albion (Optus Sport 6)

02:00 - Premier League - Burnley v West Ham United (Optus Sport 4)

02:00 - Premiership Rugby - Saracens v Bristol Bears (Stan Sport)

04:30 - Premier League - Brentford v Arsenal (Optus Sport 1)

11:30 - NBA - Cleveland Cavaliers v Los Angeles Lakers (ESPN)

15:00 - A-League - Brisbane Roar v Perth Glory (10 Bold or Paramount+)

15:15 - Adelaide 500 (Channel 7, Fox Sports)

17:00 - A-League Men - Western United FC v Adelaide United (Paramount+)

17:40 - Japan Cup, 2,400m (Sky 1)