Spezia promoted to Serie A for 1st time
Milan: Spezia was promoted to Serie A for the first time despite losing 1-0 to Frosinone in the second leg of the Serie B playoff final, which finished 1-1 on aggregate. However, Spezia was promoted on the tiebreaker rule of having finished higher in the table in regular season. Spezia finished third and Frosinone eighth. The other promoted teams are Benevento, which won Serie B by 18 points, and Crotone.
Indian challenge over at Prague Open
Prague: The Indian challenge came to an end at the ATP Challenger Prague Open with the defeat of all three players competing in the doubles event. Top seeded Divij Sharan and Robin Haase lost their quarterfinal 3-6, 6-7(8) to Jiri Lehecka and Tomas MacHac. N Sriram Balaji and his partner Kimmer Coppejans were also defeated in straight sets, going down 4-6, 3-6 to Steven Diez and Blaz Rola. Also Sumit Nagal and Ilya Ivashka lost 2-6, 4-6 to Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Arthur Rinderknech.
McKenzie steps down as batting coach
Dhaka: Former South African batsman Neil McKenzie has stepped down from his position as Bangladesh's batting coach, citing family reasons. The 44-year-old, who was appointed as Bangladesh's white-ball batting consultant in July 2018, wrote to the country's board about his decision on Thursday.
White retires, to focus on coaching
Melbourne: Former Australia all-rounder Cameron White on Friday announced his retirement from professional cricket, bringing down curtains on a career which spanned almost two decades. The 37-year-old, who played four Tests, 91 ODIs & 47 T20Is and also captained Australia seven times in limited overs cricket, said he will focus on coaching now.
Perry finds place in Aussie squad
Melbourne: Star all-rounder Ellyse Perry, recovering from a hamstring injury, was on Friday named in an 18-player Australian women squad for the T20I and ODI series against New Zealand in September but her participation will be subject to fitness. New Zealand will travel to Australia for three ODIs and as many T20 Internationals.
Bista likely to play for Uttarakhand
Mumbai: Promising opener Jay Bista has been given a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Mumbai Cricket Association for a likely move to Uttarakhand. “We have issued him the NOC on Friday afternoon after he had applied for it earlier this week. But in the NOC, he had not categorically mentioned about the other state which he is joining,” a senior MCA official said on Friday. A source close to Bista said that the opener had an offer from Uttarakhand, which is now coached by domestic stalwart Wasim Jaffer and hence he applied for the NOC.
Koeman names Larsson among assistants
Barcelona: New Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman has chosen former Sweden striker Henrik Larsson as one of his assistant coaches alongside Dutch coach Alfred Schreuder. Larsson, 48, had a brief but important spell at Barca and played a crucial role in 2006 Champions League final win. He has been an assistant and first team coach in Sweden since 2010, his last job being with former club Helsingborgs. Schreuder, 47, joins Barca after being sacked as head coach of German side Hoffenheim in June.
Narine stars again in TKR victory
Tarouba: Sunil Narine's all-round display which included a second straight half- century propelled Trinbago Knight Riders to the top of the Hero CPL table with a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Jamaica Tallawahas. In another rain affected game St Lucia Zouks beat Barbados Tridents by seven wickets courtesy Duckworth Lews method.
Nabi appointed member of Afghan Board
Kabul: Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi has been appointed as a member of the country's cricket board. Nabi is still an active international cricketer and is among four new members who have replaced the outgoing members of Afghanistan Cricket Board's nine-member panel.