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The Roar •

'Drinking beers and making balloon animals'

Not long after Twenty20 cricket first reared its shiny head to the cricket world back in the noughties, a wise old friend said, “I promise you, they won’t rest until they’ve invented the One1.”

His concept was simple: two teams both face a single ball each and whichever side scores more runs off their one delivery wins the match.

With ten minutes for the change of innings, the whole thing could be done in a quarter of an hour.

It’s ludicrous of course, but I’ve thought back to that amusing id
Lowy Institute •

Olympic glory: Tokyo’s success is a win for Beijing

As the excitement of Euro 2020 fades into the football world’s collective memory, another international sporting event rapidly approaches. The Tokyo Olympics, after being in doubt for over 12 months, are now less than two weeks away. It won’t just be Japan wanting things to run smoothly when the action begins on 23 July; China has just as much riding on these Games as well.

In March, the Chinese Olympic Committee surprised many when it offered free Covid-19 vaccinations to athletes taking part
Lowy Institute •

Using the Australian Open as a Tokyo test run

Focus on the upcoming Australian Open tennis tournament these last few weeks in the local media has been intense. Still, it’s possible that Olympics officials in Japan are monitoring the first tennis Grand Slam event of the year even closer than we are in Australia.

As tournament organisers struggle to quieten tweeting tennis players in quarantine hotels in Melbourne and Adelaide, in Tokyo, sports officials are doing everything they can to keep the Olympic dream alive. Especially after the rece
ABC •

Green's draft success was a lifetime in the making

A young man sits on his couch dressed in a light blue suit, surrounded by family and friends in the US state of Arizona, an Australian flag hanging on the wall.

The camera remains focused on him as music booms and the announcer's voice pipes up.

In the split-screen, NBA commissioner Adam Silver strides to the lectern, in a TV studio on the other side of the country.

He pauses, then come the words the family on the couch has been waiting for: "With the 18th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, the Dall
The Roar •

Second-tier comps forgotten as NRL rolls on

The announcement that NSW’s and Queensland’s second-tier rugby league competitions were to be cancelled this year due to coronavirus came earlier than expected.

Way back in late March, the NRL Head of Football – Participation, Pathways and Game Development Luke Ellis said the step had to be taken because “the health and safety of those involved with rugby league must always come first.”

The Canterbury Cup and Intrust Super Cup are the NRL’s semi-official talent pools, organised into a 12-team
Lowy Institute •

A podium protest aimed at swimming’s administrators, not China

The World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju clearly won gold in the race for sporting headlines these last few days. Just like the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics last year, it seemed South Korea had once again become a perfect stage for a world class mix of sport and politics.

This time, however, rather than celebrating a unified Korea, the story was about doping and what initially looked like an angry rift between the West and China.
The Roar •

Vonn ends skiing career as a sporting icon

Mention the name ‘Lindsey Vonn’ to most Aussie sports fans and you’ll often get an uncertain first reaction.

“Wasn’t she Tiger Woods’s girlfriend for a while?” seems to be the most common response, closely followed by “Hmm, the name rings a bell”.

For those in the know, Vonn is perhaps best described as the most prolific female alpine skier of all time. Despite a career spanning nearly two decades, the Minnesota native is still the headline act on any given race day. But, unlike Tiger, she act
The Roar •

Where's the love for the Fed Cup?

Australia’s female tennis players have a historic opportunity when they take on Belarus in the semi-finals of the Fed Cup this weekend. But you’d be forgiven for not having it on your radar.

In a week dominated by headlines featuring controversial sports figures, Australia’s semi-final appearance in the world’s premier women’s team tennis event may not seem quite so juicy.

But look a little deeper and it’s clear this weekend’s match-up is both historic and likely to be close.

For a start, it’