Tennis: Still on Barty, Kevin Mitchell gave us some incredible insight into the champion this week as she prepares to embark on her Wimbledon campaign. Although the life of an athlete often seems wonderfully exciting to us mere mortals, I found the line “I would love to be home every single minute of every single day” so resonant. Barty clearly loves her tennis, but the struggle between playing the sport she loves and the constant travel when you’re such a homebody is so striking.
Wimbledon: Another great piece from this week is Simon Cambers’ analysis of some of the big names carrying injuries into Wimbledon. Not so for Australia’s Ash Barty who, despite pulling out of the Nature Valley International in Eastbourne, appears fit and raring to go as she enters her first grand slam as world number one.
Cricket: It seems strange to be talking about cricket so much in the depths of winter, but definitely strange in a good way. The women’s Ashes are coming up and the games are certain to be incredible. Former Australian captain Lisa Sthalekar gave us a great primer for the tournament during the week. Can’t wait to see what Meg Lanning and her team have in store for us when it begins.
Women’s World Cup: Hope Solo has provided some great insight during the World Cup and this is a great read on how the Lionesses can overcome the might of the US team. No doubt it will be an incredible semi-final on Wednesday and certainly worth the 5am alarm.
Cricket: With the big game between India and England coming up later this evening, now is a good chance to re-live last night’s game – unless you’re a Black Caps fan that is! Mitchell Starc seems to be building a fairly decent career out of crushing New Zealand and I’m sure I can’t be the only one wondering if he’s could skip on over to Wallabies training camp once he’s done with the Cricket World Cup? Our intrepid reporter Geoff Lemon was on the ground to witness all the glorious Kiwi-destroying action and has analysed the win beautifully.
Netball: With the Super Netball at the start of their Netball World Cup break, this weekend the finals of the Australian Netball League filled the void for fans who were at a loss. A nailbiter of a grand final was won by the Victorian Fury, defeating NSW Waratahs 53-52. In the earlier bronze medal match, the Tasmanian Magpies defeated the Canberra Giants 59-50. A lot of great young talent on show, many faces who will no doubt be in the mix for the Diamonds team at the 2027 Netball World Cup, which the NSW Government this week announced it will be bidding for in partnership with Netball Australia.
Updated
AFL: Half-time in Melbourne and the Saints have a narrow lead over the Tigers, ahead 7.0 (42) – 6.2 (38). Sydney Stack has been dominant for Richmond, with three goals and seven disposals in the first half, while the Saints have shared the scoring more evenly.
Preamble
Welcome back to another big afternoon of sport with our Sportwatch live blog. We’ve got some NRL and AFL to take you through to the start of the cricket tonight, where it’s a big game between England and India with the home side desperate to secure a much-needed win.