πŸ—ž It’s falling apart

G'day sports fans,

"If it had been a cheese roll it would never have got past him." - Some friendly fire from England's Graham Gooch made a gentle mockery of teammate Mike Gatting for being bowled by Shane Warne's ball of the century.

πŸ‡¦πŸ‡Ί Aussie Sport

🏏 BBL: The Stars came desperately close to defending 122 runs against the Thunder, bouncing back from a disappointing batting innings before seamer Gurinder Sandhu saved the day.

Sandhu belted a huge six in the fourth ball of the final over, needing only eight to win, before keeper Joe Clarke let the ball through for four byes to hand the hosts the victory.

The Thunder finished 9/123 in response.

πŸŠπŸΌβ€β™€οΈ Australia's most successful Olympian in history, Emma McKeon, produced a phenomenal anchor leg to lead the nation's 4x100m women's freestyle team to a gold medal and world record on Tuesday night.

The Australians were 0.98 seconds behind the lead and placed third in the FINA World Swimming Championships event when McKeon entered the poolο»Ώbefore the 28-year-old charged home in 49.96 seconds to secure an incredible comeback win.

The team clocked 3:25.43 as the USA (3:26.29), and Canada (3:28.06) rounded out the podium in Melbourne.

🧒 Steve Smith said there was an innocent explanation for the poor condition of his baggy green after an encounter with some rats on the tour of Sri Lanka in July.

β€œI left it (my baggy green) overnight in the change room in Galle like I do everywhere and turned up next day and rats had got to it I think,” Smith told The Australian.

β€œI’m going to try and get it fixed this week, it’s falling apart.”

πŸ₯Š For the first time since Tszyu's professional debut six years ago, Kostya will be ringside when his son squares off with Jermell Charlo on January 29 intent on stripping the American of his IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO belts. 

If he wins, the Tszyus will become the first father-son pair of undisputed world champions in boxing history.

🎾 One day after Ash Barty clinched a record-breaking fifth Newcombe Medal, the highest individual honour in Australian tennis, Nick Kyrgios blasted the decision to award her.

🐴 Tom Prebble, the son of Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Brett, has notched up his first win in the saddle at his seventh career ride.

Prebble, who made his riding debut at Geelong on November 30, guided the Rob Blacker-trained Scientific to victory in race seven – the RMBL Investments Rising Stars Race (1200m).

😒 Fox Cricket commentators have paid tribute to late colleagues and former teammates Shane Warne and Andrew Symonds at the Big Bash League.

⚽️ Melbourne Victory chairman Anthony Di Pietro sensationally stepped down from the APL board on Tuesday as a direct result of the announcement on Monday to award the hosting rights of the A-Leagues' grand finals to Sydney.

Socceroos star Craig Goodwin and Matildas forward Remy Siemsen joined the growing chorus of fans who are publicly criticising the A-Leagues' decision to sell off their grand final hosting rights to Sydney for the next three years.

πŸ‰ Former Manly prop Marty Taupau has five NRL clubs interested in his services, but they are unable to make an offer until the salary cap is finalised for 2023 and beyond. 

Taupau, who was on $800,000 a season at Manly is one of the highest profile casualties of the delayed CBA decision and after not being paid since November 1, he is resigned to not finding a club until next year. 

πŸ‡¦πŸ‡Ί Premiership Hawk Andy Gowers has beaten Jeff Kennett's would-be successor Peter Nankivell to the Hawthorn presidency, marking the start of a new era at the club.

The victory of board challenger Gowers via a member vote was confirmed at Tuesday night's annual general meeting (AGM) at the Hawthorn Town Hall, concluding a fractious and fiery election campaign.

🌍 World Sport

🏎 Frederic Vasseur will become the team principal of Ferrari at the start of 2023.

The 54-year-old Frenchman, who has been managing director of Alfa Romeo/Sauber since 2017, replaces Mattia Binotto, who Ferrari said resigned last month.

πŸ₯Š Tyson Fury has confirmed he’ll spar with soccer legend Wayne Rooney in preparation for his anticipated world title fight against Oleksandr Usyk.

🎱 Former Masters champion Yan Bingtao has been suspended from the World Snooker Tour as part of an ongoing investigation into match-fixing.

⚽️ Arsenal have become favourites to sign Portugal forward Joao Felix, 23, from Atletico Madrid in January, ahead of Paris St-Germain, Manchester United and Aston Villa. (Marca - in Spanish)

πŸ₯Š Naoya Inoue (Japan) has become the first ever bantamweight undisputed champion in the four belt era, knocking out Englishman Paul Butler on Tuesday night.

πŸ€ The Golden State Warriors have passed the Los Angeles Lakers as the most valuable NBA franchise - now valued at over $7.5Bn (per Sportico)

πŸ—ž Please share Sport Journal

πŸ“² Share via WhatsApp HERE

πŸ§‘πŸ»β€πŸ’» Share the link with a friend to sign up HERE

πŸ“Ί Live sport πŸ‘‡πŸΌ

TODAY

🏏 01:00 - Lanka Premier League - Colombo Stars v Galle Gladiators (Fox Cricket)

πŸ€ 05:00 - EuroLeague - Crvena zvezda Basketball v Zalgiris Kaunas (Fox Sports More)

⚽️ 06:00 - World Cup Semi-Final - Argentina v Croatia (SBS)

πŸ€ 06:45 - EuroLeague - Valencia Basketball v Panathinaikos BC (Fox Sports More)

πŸ’ 11:00 - NHL - Toronto Maple Leafs v Anaheim Ducks (ESPN 2)

πŸ€ 11:30 - NBA - Milwaukee Bucks v Golden State Warriors (ESPN)

πŸ’ 13:00 - NHL - Colorado Avalanche v Philadelphia Flyers (ESPN 2)

πŸ€ 14:00 - NBA - Los Angeles Lakers v Boston Celtics (ESPN)

🏏 19:15 - Big Bash League - Adelaide Strikers v Sydney Sixers (Fox Cricket or Channel 7)

πŸ€ 19:30 - NBL - Cairns Taipans v Brisbane Bullets (ESPN)

🏏 20:30 - Lanka Premier League - Jaffna Kings v Kandy Falcons (Fox Sports)

THURSDAY

🏏 00:30 - Women's Twenty20 Series - India v Australia (Fox Cricket)

🏏 01:00 - Lanka Premier League - Colombo Stars v Dambulla Giants (Fox Sports)

πŸ€ 04:30 - EuroLeague - Anadolu Efes v Saski Baskonia (Fox Sports More)

⚽️ 06:00 - World Cup Semi-Final - Morocco v France (SBS)

πŸ€ 06:30 - EuroLeague - Virtus Bologna Basketball v Alba Berlin (Fox Sports More)

πŸ€ 11:30 - NBA - Chicago Bulls v New York Knicks (ESPN)

πŸ’ 11:30 - NHL - Minnesota Wild v Detroit Red Wings (ESPN 2)

πŸ€ 14:00 - NBA - Los Angeles Clippers v Minnesota Timberwolves (ESPN)

πŸ’ 14:00 - NHL - Calgary Flames v Vancouver Canucks (ESPN 2)

🏏 19:15 - Big Bash League - Brisbane Heat v Melbourne Renegades (Fox Cricket or Channel 7)

πŸ€ 19:30 - NBL-  Melbourne United v South East Melbourne Phoenix (ESPN)