🗞 The Slob Wizard

G'day sports fans,

🗣️ “I'll be home for a little bit, then I'll be coming back to win this World Cup.” - Mitchell Marsh’s message to the boys after returning home to sort a family issue.

📧 P.S. First time reading? Subscribe here for free.

🏏 icymi: Australia will be without Mitchell Marsh for Saturday's World Cup clash against England after the all-rounder flew home for personal reasons.

Marsh has travelled to Perth and there is no timeline on whether he will re-join Australia's World Cup campaign in India. The team is yet to determine whether a replacement player will be required to bolster the squad.

While Glenn Maxwell will miss Saturday's World Cup match after falling off the back of a golf buggy and suffering a concussion.

🏉 Eddie Jones insists he has no regrets about resigning as Australia head coach after less than a year in charge.

"I went in there with a plan and the contract reinforced the plan and the commitment of both myself and Rugby Australia to fulfil obligations and we had a bit of discourse in the obligations," said Jones.

"So why should I have any regrets?"

🏏 Cricket NSW's crisis has continued after Australian great Michael Bevan revealed that he won't be joining as a batting consultant, months after his appointment was announced by the organisation.

Bevan and former Australian opener Shane Watson were announced as coaching consultants in September to help New South Wales turn the corner after a winless Sheffield Shield season.

🏉 The Warriors confirmed on Thursday afternoon that it was weighing up the request, with Fonua-Blake keen to return to Sydney to be closer to his parents.

It's a surprising turnaround from the 27-year-old who left Manly in 2020 after agitating for a release from his contract on compassionate grounds in a bid to get out of Sydney.

“I’m more than interested,” Dragons coach Shane Flanagan told The SMH.

“He has some history here with the club. He played under Dean Young as a junior. I’m always looking for quality players and he’s a very good one.”

🏀 As you may know Aussie Josh Giddey can see plays unfolding ahead of time, allowing him to thread passes through incredibly tight areas to set teammates up for open shots.

The skill has an acronym of SLOB (for SideLine Out of Bounds).

The Athletic’s John Hollinger has named him the SLOB Wizard after this play, and it looks like it’s stuck with over 6m views on Twitter alone.

🐴 Derby Day - one for the racing and punting purists. It also marks the start of the four-day Flemington Spring Carnival which also includes next Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup, Thursday’s Oaks meeting (Ladies Day) before concluding on Saturday November 11 with Stakes Day.

This year’s Derby Day program promises to be a cracker with it’s three Group 1 races. The Flemington meeting in Melbourne will be accompanied by a terrific card at Sydney’s Rosehill Racecourse, who will be hosting the $10m Golden Eagle.

Overall, there is $22m prize money up for grabs in Melbourne and Sydney this Saturday. (fox sports preview).

🇦🇺 Incoming West Coast CEO Don Pyke, who won two AFL flags as a player with the Eagles, says restoring the club's on-field performance across all of its sides is the most pressing issue he faces when he takes over in January. (ABC)

🚴🏻 Dutch rider Jeffrey Hoogland has smashed the men's 1km time trial world record by almost a second.

The current world champion posted a time of 55.433 seconds in Mexico as he beat Francois Pervis' 2013 benchmark of 56.303.

⚽️ Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag says the club is "in a bad place" but that he still believes he is the right man to stop the downward spiral at Old Trafford.

🏏 ‘Bazball' has been officially recognised with its inclusion in the Collins online dictionary.

Defined as "a style of Test cricket in which the batting side attempts to gain the initiative by playing in a highly aggressive manner", 'Bazball' was named after England Test head coach Brendon McCullum.

“ah man, that is garbage” - Marnus Labuschagne’s reaction to the news.

🎾 An emotional Ons Jabeur has announced that she will be donating a portion of her GNP Seguros WTA Finals Cancun prize money to Palestinians facing Israeli aggression.

📺 This Phil Mickelson impersonation is spot on. (Twitter) 🤣

⚽️ Chelsea and Arsenal are both interested in signing Ivan Toney after Brentford confirmed they would sell the 27-year-old England forward for the right price.

The Bees value Toney at AU$200m but intend to keep him until the end of the season.

✈️ Japan Airlines scrambled to book another plane for a group of sumo wrestlers after it realised the two aircraft it had planned to use to transport the team wouldn’t be able to fly due to weight restrictions. An airline spokesperson called the situation “very unusual.” (Guardian)

⚾️ icymi: The Rangers have won their first World Series title.

Behind six scoreless innings from starter Nathan Eovaldi, Texas rolled to a 5-0 win over the Diamondbacks in Game Five to win the series four games to one on Wednesday night.

🤝 Share Sport Journal

The best thing you can do to help us grow, is share Sport Journal with your friends & colleagues, even that bloke at the pub…

📲 Share it with the group chat via WhatsApp HERE

🧑🏻‍💻 Share the link with a friend to sign up HERE

TODAY

11:15 - NFL - Pittsburgh Steelers v Tennessee Titans (ESPN)

13:00 - NBA - Phoenix Suns v San Antonio Spurs (ESPN 2)

17:30 - NBL - New Zealand Breakers v Cairns Taipans (ESPN)

19:30 - NBL - Illawarra Hawks v Sydney Kings (ESPN)

19:30 - Cricket World Cup - Netherlands v Afghanistan (Fox Cricket )

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

SATURDAY

07:00 - Spanish La Liga - Las Palmas v Atletico Madrid (Optus Sport 1)

07:30 - PGA TOUR - World Wide Technology Championship, Round 2 (Fox Sports)

10:00 - Marsh One-Day Cup - New South Wales Blues v Western Australia (Kayo Sports)

10:30 - In-Season Tournament Group Game - Milwaukee Bucks v New York Knicks (ESPN 2)

11:03 - World Series - Texas Rangers v Arizona Diamondbacks (ESPN)

13:00 - In-Season Tournament Group Game - Denver Nuggets v Dallas Mavericks (ESPN 2)

14:30 - Rugby Test Match - Wales v Barbarians (Stan Sport)

15:00 - League Pacific Cup Final - New Zealand v Australia (Fox League or Channel 9)

15:30 - A-League Men - Wellington Phoenix v Brisbane Roar (Paramount+)

16:00 - Group 1 - Spring Champion Stakes, 2,000m - SW, 3YO (7, Sky 1)

16:00 - Cricket World Cup - New Zealand v Pakistan (Fox Cricket)

16:20 - Group 1 - Manikato Stakes, 1,200m (7, Sky 1)

16:45 - Featured Race - The Invitation, 1,400m (7, Sky 1)

17:10 - Group 1 - W.S. Cox Plate, 2,040m (7, Sky 1)

17:30 - NBL - Tasmania JackJumpers v Brisbane Bullets (ESPN)

19:30 - Cricket World Cup - England v Australia (Channel 9, Fox Cricket )

19:45 - A-League Men - Melbourne Victory v Adelaide United (10 Bold or Paramount+)

20:00 - NBL - Perth Wildcats v Adelaide 36ers (ESPN)

21:45 - A-League Men - Perth Glory v Central Coast Mariners (Paramount+)

23:30 - Premier League - Fulham v Manchester United (Optus Sport 1)

SUNDAY

01:30 - Rugby League - England v Tonga (Fox League)

02:00 - Premier League - Brentford v West Ham United (Optus Sport 5)

02:00 - Premier League - Sheffield United v Wolverhampton Wanderers (Optus Sport 4)

02:00 - Premier League - Everton v Brighton & Hove Albion (Optus Sport 3)

02:00 - Premier League - Manchester City v Bournemouth (Optus Sport 2)

02:00 - Premier League - Burnley v Crystal Palace (Optus Sport 6)

07:00 - NHL - Arizona Coyotes v Winnipeg Jets (ESPN)

07:00 - Spanish La Liga - Real Sociedad v Barcelona (Optus Sport 2)

07:30 - PGA TOUR - World Wide Technology Championship (Fox Sports)

10:30 - Sheffield Shield - Victoria v Tasmania Tigers (Kayo Sports)

11:03 - Baseball World Series - Texas Rangers v Arizona Diamondbacks (ESPN)

14:00 - NBL - South East Melbourne Phoenix v Cairns Taipans (10 Peach)

15:00 - A-League Men - Newcastle Jets v Western Sydney Wanderers (10 Bold or Paramount+)

16:00 - NBL - Sydney Kings v New Zealand Breakers (10 Peach, ESPN)

16:00 - League Men's Pacific Bowl Final - Papua New Guinea v Fiji (Fox League or Channel 9)

17:40 - Group 1 - Tenno Sho, 2,000m (Sky 1)

19:30 - Cricket World Cup - India v South Africa (Fox Cricket)