Fast bowler Brad Williams will make his test debut for Australia against Zimbabwe in the second and final cricket test at the Sydney Cricket Ground today.
Williams, 28, who had been called up five times before but never made past as 12th man, will form a three-pronged pace attack for Steve Waugh as the home side looks to claim the series 2-0.
Australia hammered Zimbabwe by an innings and 175 runs in the opening test that was dominated by opener Matthew Hayden's record 380 runs -- the highest individual test innings in history.
Fast bowler Brett Lee, with 129 wickets, will spearhead the attack that includes medium paceman Andy Bichel, who has 48 wickets in 16 tests.
It is the weakest Australian bowling lineup in more than two years -- the experienced duo of Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie are sidelined for this test with leg injuries. Also ruled out of the test are batsman Darren Lehmann, who has a ruptured Achilles tendon, and legspinner Stuart MacGill with a torn calf muscle.
Australia recalled batsman Simon Katich since his only test appearance against England at Headingley two years ago, and leftarm spinner Brad Hogg, who played against the West Indies in the Caribbean earlier this year.
"It is a different challenge," said Waugh. "There is not a lot of experience in the bowling, and it is a challenge for the rest of us to play the game bit differently."
Australia won the opening test despite being reduced to two frontline bowlers, but Waugh believes the five bowlers will give him a better option.
Katich was preferred to batsman Martin Love to replace Lehmann at No. 6 to provide more bowling option with his leftarm spin. Katich was dropped as one of the 25 contracted players by Cricket Australia after the Ashes tour in 2001. A falling out with Western Australian coach Mark Valletta saw Katich move to Sydney to play for New South Wales.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
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Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB