🏏 How Much is Too Much?

G’day Sports Fans,

🗣️ Classic quote: "I want to kick 70 or 80 goals this season, whichever comes first." - Barry Hall (Sydney) when asked about the upcoming season

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🏏 In a gripping day of Test cricket, West Indies' Joshua Da Silva and Kyle Mayers formed a crucial partnership, adding 149 runs for the sixth wicket.

Da Silva scored 79 off 157 balls, while Mayers contributed 71 off 194 balls. This partnership helped West Indies reach 8-266 by day's end.

Mitchell Starc took three wickets, including his 350th in Test cricket, early on, with support from Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins.

Nathan Lyon, hampered by a hamstring issue, dismissed Da Silva before stumps. Late wickets, including Mayers, Da Silva, and Alzarri Joseph, provided relief for Australia, but West Indies remains competitive in the Test.

🏏 Australia skipper Pat Cummins was announced as the winner of the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year 2023.

You don’t need me to tell you… Cummins led his side to victory over India in the World Test Championship, retained the Ashes in England, claimed an ODI World Cup win and defeated Pakistan in their Test series over summer.

Usman Khawaja was named ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year, ahead of teammate Travis Head, India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and England’s Joe Root, after a spectacular year.

The opener recorded 1210 runs in 13 matches, including being the leading scorer in both the tour of India and the Ashes. (ICC)

🏉 The captains of the best 12 men’s and 12 women’s rugby sevens teams in the world were soaking up the sun in Western Australia on Wednesday ahead of the hotly anticipated third round of HSBC SVNS 2024 which takes place in Perth on 26-28 January.

• HSBC SVNS event arrives for the first time in Perth, Western Australia on 26-28 January

• Australia’s women are aiming for a hat-trick of tournament wins and will face Canada, Great Britain and South Africa in pool A

• Argentina lead men’s SVNS standings ahead of South Africa, Fiji, New Zealand, Ireland and hosts Australia

• Blockbuster entertainment line up with over 20 artists performing in festival atmosphere.

🏉 Melbourne Rebels have entered voluntary administration needing a bailout of up to $500,000 to pay players and staff. 

It comes amid reports that chairman Paul Docherty is set to step down, with his own personal businesses flailing and owing at least $70m.

🥊 Tim Tszyu will defend his WBO junior middleweight title against Keith Thurman on March 30 in Las Vegas, sources tell ESPN. The 154-pound title bout will headline PBC's first pay-per-view as part of its new deal with Amazon's Prime Video.

🏏 Fresh off a match-winning 53 off 38 balls in the BBL final at the SCG on Wednesday night, Josh Brown’s manager has completed a deal for him to join the Chattogram Challengers in the Bangladesh Premier League.

The franchise announced that Brown would arrive in Bangladesh today in time for their next match on Saturday. Plenty more to come.

🇦🇺 Carlton has suffered a pre-season injury blow with confirmation that Jack Silvagni has ruptured his ACL and will miss the entire 2024 season.

The forward sustained the injury at training on Thursday after participating in match simulation. He came from the field and was sent for scans, confirming the hammer blow for Silvagni.

He’ll undergo surgery on his knee before beginning his rehabilitation.

🏏 Too much short form Cricket? Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund are in advanced talks about funding a second IPL to take place every autumn which would represent a major threat to international cricket.

BCCI officials are understood to have held several rounds of meetings with PIF representatives during last month's World Cup in India about launching a new competition, which could adopt the T10 format to distinguish it from the IPL.

⛳️ Adrian Meronk, who only earned his PGA Tour card for this season via the DP World Tour [4-time winner], is headed to the LIV Golf League.

Another player who has flirted on and off with LIV Golf is world number 16 Tyrrell Hatton, the whispers are he’s joining Jon Rahm’s new team.

🎾 Sabalenka became the first woman to reach back-to-back finals in Melbourne since Serena Williams in 2016-17 after she beat Coco Gauff 7-6(2) 6-4 in a contest of the highest quality.

Ten years after Li Na won the title in Australia, China has another finalist with Zheng showing incredible poise on the biggest occasion of her life to beat another first-time semifinalist, Dayana Yastremska, 6-4 6-4.

🎾 Novak Djokovic faces the sternest test of his Australian Open title defence when he meets Italy's Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals.

The world number one, chasing a record 25th Grand Slam title and 11th triumph in Melbourne, has not lost a match at the tournament in more than six years.

But Sinner has won two of the pair's past three meetings, beating the Serb twice in 12 days in November.

In the other semi-final, Daniil Medvedev takes on Alexander Zverev.

🏏 India raced to 119-1 to give some context to England's 246 all out on an action-packed first day of the first Test in Hyderabad.

After winning a crucial toss on a pitch already offering so much to the spinners, the tourists found themselves 60-3 and 137-6.

But captain Ben Stokes, playing for the first time since having knee surgery in November, made a superb 70 to marshal the tail.

⚽️ Manchester City have signed Argentina Under-17 wonderkid Claudio Echeverri from River Plate.

The 18-year-old, has made six first-team appearances for River Plate.

City agreed a similar deal with River for Argentina forward Julian Alvarez in January 2022, which worked out quite well.

🏎️ Charles Leclerc has signed a new contract to continue as a Ferrari driver beyond the end of the 2024 season.

The announcement did not state the length of the new contract, but reports in the Italian media at the end of last year speculated he would commit to the team for another five years. (ESPN)

TODAY 

07:00 - PGA TOUR - Farmers Insurance Open, Round 2 (Fox Sports)

11:30 - NHL - Carolina Hurricanes v New Jersey Devils (ESPN 2)

11:30 - NBA - Miami Heat v Boston Celtics (ESPN)

12:00 - Men's Super Smash - Elimination Final - Canterbury Kings v Wellington Firebirds (Fox Sports)

13:00 - Men's NCAA - Gonzaga Bulldogs v San Francisco Dons (ESPN 2)

14:00 - NBA - Golden State Warriors v Sacramento Kings (ESPN)

15:00 - Test Match - Australia v West Indies (7mate, Channel 7, Fox Cricket)

15:00 - Test Match - India v England (Fox Sports)

15:44 - Men's World Series - Men's Perth Sevens, Day 1, Round 3 (Stan Sport)

17:30 - NBL - New Zealand Breakers v Tasmania JackJumpers (ESPN)

19:30 - NBL - Brisbane Bullets v Melbourne United (ESPN)

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

SATURDAY

02:30 - SA20 - Paarl Royals v Durban Super Giants (Fox Cricket)

06:45 - Premiership Rugby - Harlequins v Leicester Tigers (Stan Sport)

06:45 - FA Cup Fourth Round Proper - Chelsea v Aston Villa (Paramount+)

07:00 - PGA TOUR - Farmers Insurance Open, Round 3 (Fox Sports)

07:00 - FA Cup Fourth Round Proper - Tottenham v Manchester City (Paramount+)

10:45 - Women's T20 Series - Australia v South Africa (Fox Cricket or Channel 7)

11:00 - NHL - New York Rangers v Vegas Golden Knights (ESPN 2)

12:00 - NBA - New Orleans Pelicans v Oklahoma City Thunder (ESPN)

14:00 - NHL - Seattle Kraken v St. Louis Blues (ESPN 2)

15:00 - Test Match - Australia v West Indies (7mate, Channel 7, Fox Cricket)

15:00 - Test Match - India v England (Fox Sports)

15:16 - Men's World Series - Men's Perth Sevens, Day 2, Round 3 (Stan Sport)

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

17:30 - NBL - Adelaide 36ers v Cairns Taipans (ESPN)

18:00 - A-League Men - Newcastle Jets v Wellington Phoenix (Paramount+)

19:30 - Australian Open Grand Slam - Aust. Open Women's Final, Day 14 (Channel 9 or Stan Sport)

19:45 - A-League Men - Central Coast Mariners v Brisbane Roar (10 Bold or Paramount+)

20:00 - NBL - South East Melbourne Phoenix v Perth Wildcats (ESPN)

22:30 - SA20 - Sunrisers Eastern Cape v MI Cape Town (Fox Cricket)

SUNDAY

01:00 - Premiership Rugby - Northampton Saints v Newcastle Falcons (Stan Sport)

02:00 - Netball Nations Cup - Australia v Uganda (Fox Sports)

02:00 - FA Cup Fourth Round Proper - Leeds United v Plymouth Argyle (Paramount+)

02:00 - FA Cup Fourth Round Proper - Leicester City v Birmingham City (Paramount+)

02:05 - Premiership Rugby - Bristol Bears v Bath Rugby (Stan Sport)

02:15 - Spanish La Liga - Las Palmas v Real Madrid (Optus Sport 1)

02:30 - SA20 - Pretoria Capitals v Joburg Super Kings (Fox Cricket)

04:00 - Men's NCAA - Houston Cougars v Kansas State Wildcats (ESPN)

04:00 - Men's NCAA - Florida Gators v Georgia Bulldogs (ESPN 2)

04:30 - Premiership Rugby - Saracens v Exeter Chiefs (Stan Sport)

06:00 - PGA TOUR - Farmers Insurance Open, Round 4 (Fox Sports)

06:00 - Men's NCAA - BYU Cougars v Texas Longhorns (ESPN 2)

06:00 - Men's NCAA - Florida State Seminoles v North Carolina Tar Heels (ESPN)

08:00 - Men's NCAA - Duke Blue Devils v Clemson Tigers (ESPN)

09:30 - NBA - Denver Nuggets v Philadelphia 76ers (ESPN 2)

10:45 - Women's T20 Series - Australia v South Africa (Fox Cricket or Channel 7)

12:30 - NBA - Golden State Warriors v Los Angeles Lakers (ESPN 2)

14:00 - NBL - Illawarra Hawks v New Zealand Breakers (10 Peach, ESPN)

14:00 - Men's NCAA - Washington Huskies v Utah Utes (ESPN 2)

14:08 - Men's World Series - Men's Perth Sevens, Day 3, Round 3 (Stan Sport)

14:30 - Men's Super Smash - Final - Auckland Aces v TBC (Fox Sports)

15:00 - Test Match - Australia v West Indies (7mate, Channel 7, Fox Cricket)

15:00 - Test Match - India v England (Fox Sports)

16:00 - NBL - Sydney Kings v Melbourne United (10 Peach, ESPN)

17:00 - A-League Men - Macarthur FC Bulls v Perth Glory (10 Bold or Paramount+)

19:30 - Australian Open Grand Slam - Aust. Open Men's Final, Day 15 (Channel 9 or Stan Sport)

22:45 - FA Cup Fourth Round Proper - West Bromwich Albion v Wolverhampton Wanderers (Paramount+)