Stand-in Australian captain George Bailey yesterday shrugged off injury fears and declared himself fit to lead the new world No. 1 side in the fourth one-day international (ODI) against England.
Bailey had been suffering from a hip flexor injury, but said he would definitely take over at the match in western Australia today in the absence of rested skipper Michael Clarke.
“I’m 100 percent good to go,” Bailey said.
Australia lead 3-0 in the five-match series and surged to the top of the ODI rankings, overtaking India, who lost to New Zealand on Wednesday.
Australia are resting stars Clarke, Brad Haddin, Shane Watson and David Warner, giving England hope of breaking their duck on the tour, which has already seen the Ashes surrendered 5-0.
“It probably is their best chance [of victory],” Bailey said.
“But having said that, I reckon our team is still pretty good,” he added.
“I’m not that fussed about what England think or how they’re going,” Bailey said.
“It’s been a hell of a summer and we won’t be coming in nonchalant or complacent about what’s ahead of us,” he added.
Australian middle-order batsman Steve Smith, who is back in the 50-over side, said he is playing for a place in next year’s World Cup.
The 24-year-old has averaged just 21.1 in his 33 ODIs and is determined to improve on that.
“The World Cup is obviously still a fair way away, but every opportunity you get, you’ve got to try and impress,” Smith said.
England are in danger of matching their worst-ever losing run.
The current streak, which started during the final match of their home ODI series against Australia last year, stands at nine.
If they lose in Perth today, the 10 matches without a win will equal records they set in 1993 and 2001.
And it might get worse. With three Twenty20s to follow the one-day series, England’s losing run might stretch to 14.
“I think it would be nice,” Smith said of packing England off home without a win.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later