Sydney Thunder have delisted captain Callum Ferguson after bowing out of the BBL finals in the Knockout.

Ferguson, 36, announced on Instagram that he had been informed by the Thunder on Friday that they would not be renewing his contract for next season.

He finished eighth on the BBL run-scoring list this season with 405 runs at 31.15 including three half-centuries. His strike-rate of 123.85 was the second-slowest of the top eight run-scorers, with only Alex Carey (122.12) scoring at a slower rate.

He led them to third spot on the table before they were beaten in the Knockout by Brisbane Heat.

Ferguson joined the Thunder in 2017 after previously playing with the Adelaide Strikers and the Melbourne Renegades. He took over as Thunder captain at the start of BBL 09 and led them to back-to-back finals series. Ferguson made a stunning century against Perth Scorchers in Perth last season and the Thunder reached the Challenger before eventually losing to the Stars.

Ferguson elected to to retire from first-class cricket earlier in the season after South Australia could not guarantee his future selection. He bowed out with 97 in his final Sheffield Shield innings.

He was keen to continue playing with the Thunder next season. "I am now looking forward to what my playing future holds in the BBL," Ferguson wrote.

Welcome to our live report of the second day of the first India-England Test from Chennai. Join us for updates, analysis and colour. You can find our traditional ball-by-ball commentary here

*Most recent entry will appear at the top, please refresh your page for the latest updates. All times are local.

3.55pm: Ishant strikes twice

Two in two balls for Ishant Sharma! He gets his reward after a lot of toil in this innings. Two beauties, as well. First, Buttler leaves one alone outside off stump which reverses appreciably back in and pegs back his off stump. And then he delivers something almost identical to Jofra Archer, who makes a mess of it and loses his off stump too. That takes Ishant to 299 Test wickets, though Leach manages to keep out the hat-trick ball - and he had overstepped regardless.

3.30pm: 500 up

England have now made all three of the most recent 500+ totals against India in India, dating back to their series win in 2012. But they've got there in controversial fashion: India were convinced that Buttler had edged Washington Sundar through to Pant moments before drinks, but Anil Chaudhary thought otherwise, and they had used all three reviews. Predictably, Buttler then threaded the next ball through the covers to bring up the landmark. Ultra-Edge confirmed that he had indeed nicked it.

3.05pm: Root's epic ends

A sniff for India? Root falls, lbw to Nadeem for 218, and the decision is upheld on review. All of a sudden, having looked certain to reach 600, England are in danger of failing to reach 500. And I'm sure readers won't need reminding that last time these sides played in Chennai, England made 477 batting first and lost by an innings. Dom Bess is in at No. 8: he made a useful 32 in the second Galle Test last month and put on 126 with Buttler on debut back in 2018.

3.00pm: The Buttler dilemma

Ollie Pope falls after an uncharacteristically scratchy innings, though after a six-month break it is understandable that he might not feel like he's in form. Ashwin trapped him lbw, and replays showed that the ball was hitting the top of middle-and-leg. Jos Buttler, in his 50th Test, is the new batsman at No. 7 and it will be intriguing to see how he plays the situation from here. He has previously explained that he has found it difficult to play with the "blank canvas" of Test cricket and has often been surprisingly sedate in this sort of situation with runs on the board. This is the only Test he'll play in the series, so he'll be keen to make an impact.

2.35pm: ICYMI - Stokes' blitz

For the benefit of those readers in the UK - or anywhere, in fact - who slept through the first session of the day, Andrew Miller has been preparing some words on Ben Stokes' shot-a-minute innings of 82. Here's a sample:

For a few glorious overs, either side of an acceptable time to be waking up on a weekend in the UK, the 2019 BBC Sports Personality of the Year was just threatening to go loco once again - and give all of those disenfranchised voters of his, a rare chance to see him in full flow once more, back on the same rival terrestrial TV channel where so many of them would have witnessed his heroics in the World Cup final at Lord's.

Alas, it wasn't to be in the long term, and by approximately 7.20am GMT, Stokes had holed out to a juggling Cheteshwar Pujara at deep midwicket, causing a wave of the sort of early-morning disappointment more usually associated with the realisation that you've forgotten to buy any milk.

While it lasted, however, Stokes' 82 from 118 balls was invaluable and calculated - a formidable display of mind over matter from a cricketer, lest we forget, who had not played a first-class innings in exactly six months, and whose absence from the Sri Lanka tour meant that he had been permitted just five days of post-quarantine acclimatisation for Chennai's heat and humidity.

When compared to the exhaustive sang froid of Joe Root at the other end, there'd be a temptation to wonder why Stokes felt the need to get so rowdy so soon, particularly in light of Root's bold assertion at the close of the first day, that England needed "600-700" to be competitive in this first innings, and maybe even bat all the way into the third day too - something that they haven't managed since Lahore in 2000-01, when Graham Thorpe racked up a century containing just a solitary boundary.

And yet, there is a proven method in Stokes' madness these days - not least against spin, for which his aggression has its foundations in a defence every bit as rock-solid as Root's. The confidence of his stride to the pitch of the ball may contrast with Root's predominantly back-foot approach, but there are few bats in world cricket that look broader at the point of impact than his.

But unlike Root, whose game is built around release shots - predominantly on the sweep - Stokes' defence has a violent element of attack factored into it. That's not to say it's infallible, and for the first hour today (one pick-up for six aside) he was kept broadly in check by his most familiar Test nemesis, R Ashwin, who has dismissed him seven times in nine previous encounters, more than any other bowler, and had two other key moments again today, a flick off the glove that landed safe on the off-side, and a fierce return catch as Stokes drilled hard back through the line.

But Stokes' confidence in his base does mitigate those moments when he decides to put the hammer down - such as in a thrilling second hour, when the left-armer Shahbaz Nadeem dragged his line wider outside off, and started spitting some vicious lifters out of the crumbling footholes. It was the earliest evidence of Root's assertion that this pitch would break up over time, but it also meant that for the left-hander, conventional entrenchment was suddenly fraught with danger.

Stokes' response seemed skittish at first, but it was replete with game-craft - not least his innate understanding with Root at the other end. A brace of boundaries in the morning session were the sum of the captain's intent, as he focused on working the singles and letting his team-mate drive the agenda.

And he did so with burgeoning confidence. Out came Stokes' sweeps - a very different beast to the surgical instrument that has carried Root past 600 runs in three Tests this year. A flog clean out of the rough, high over deep midwicket; a rifled reverse-sweep for four one over later, and another next ball to rush through to his half-century.

Washington Sundar was treated with little more respect when he entered the fray, as Stokes rattled along to 63 not out at lunch, more than two-thirds of England's runs in a wicketless morning session. He might have been tempted to wind it back thereafter, but with Root looking as entrenched as any England cricketer in history, the opportunity to drill home the advantage was too good to turn down.

2.10pm: Tea - 454 for 4 (Root 209*, Pope 24*)

Another session that goes England's way. India would have been concerned at lunch about the prospect of Stokes taking the game away from them, but he picked out deep backward square leg with a slog-sweep to fall for 82. But Root has pressed on and on, reaching his double in emphatic style, and India have looked increasingly desperate, even turning to Rohit Sharma's occasional offbreaks before tea. Ollie Pope is yet to find fourth or fifth gear, and with Jos Buttler in next, England will hoping to press on towards 600 tonight.

2.00pm: Root doubles up

That's some way to reach a landmark. Root skips down the pitch and dumps Ashwin over wide long-on to reach his double hundred with a sweetly-struck six. It's hard to know where to start in talking about this innings, but the records that he has broken will only do it so much justice. He has moved up and down the gears seamlessly, playing the situation as required at all times, and has been dominant and ruthless in targeting the weaker links in India's attack. An outstanding innings by a player in the form of his life.

1.40pm: Pope survives

India have now burned all three of their reviews for the innings. They appeared to be convinced that they'd got Ollie Pope, who was sweeping Ashwin and miscued to leg gully, but Anil Chaudhary correctly adjudged that it had hit his forearm instead, and was vindicated by the third umpire. Root is now closing in on a double, while Pope is looking a little more fluent after a slow start.

1.25pm: Steady going

Tight stuff from India either side of drinks, with Root and Pope nudging along at just below two runs an over in their partnership. The question for India is whether they can keep this pressure on through their change bowlers, with Washington Sundar now into the attack. Pope has scored very slowly so far but looks solid enough and has started to reveal his attacking instincts, reverse-sweeping Sundar in his last over.

12.50pm: Stokes goes

Stokes had lived a charmed life today ever since he survived Bumrah's vicious early yorker, offering several half-chances that didn't go to hand, and this time his luck was out. He decided to take on the slog-sweep against Nadeem who flighted one up on leg stump, but only managed to pick out Pujara at deep backward square. He did his best to drop it but just about managed to cling on.

Ollie Pope is in at No. 6 in his first England appearance since September, when he injured his shoulder against Pakistan. It has been a longer absence that he had anticipated, but he took a while to get his confidence back diving in the field. Pope averaged 43.00 against spin in Tests coming into this innings compared to a slightly lower 36.85 against the seamers, but perhaps surprisingly, his strike rate has been significantly slower: 39.44 against spin compared to 57.52 against the quicks.

12.30pm: Root presses on

For those who have followed Joe Root's Test career, his mastery over the art of playing spin, and as a natural consequence, over Asian conditions should not come as a surprise, writes Shiva Jayaraman. However, this innings has statistically placed him among the greatest visiting batsmen of all time.

Going into this Test, Root had 1526 runs against India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in away Tests at an average of 58.7. Five other batsmen - Garry Sobers and Brian Lara among them - had scored at least 1000 runs at a better average than Root in away Tests against these teams. With this innings, Root will break into the top three of this list. Only Garry Sobers and possibly Clive Lloyd will average better than him by the time Root is finished with this innings.

11.30am: Lunch - England 355 for 3 (Root 156*, Stokes 63*)

92 runs without loss in the session for England. It wasn't all easy going, though, with several half-chances for India and some sudden signs of life in this pitch. Several balls bounced alarmingly out of the rough or skidding on through, while Stokes' attacking innings has not been without risk, by any means.

Root only added 28 runs to his overnight score this morning, though that was enough to make him the seventh player to make 150+ scores in three consecutive Tests and to ensure his average will be above 50 after this innings even if he is dismissed.

11.20am: Out of control

Nadeem and Sundar have really struggled to exert control throughout this innings for India. It's a tricky position for Kohli, because he will be acutely aware of the fact that Bumrah, Ishant and Ashwin are all coming back after injuries, and as such, he doesn't want to over-use them, but his hand has been forced by England's aggression against the change bowlers.

Their combined figures - 39-3-156-0 - are a reflection of the fact that they have leaked far too many boundaries (22 fours and a six between them). As Kevin Pietersen noted yesterday, Kohli would dearly love to have Jadeja in, whose economy rate in home Tests across his career is just 2.24 runs an over. That sort of parsimony would have been incredibly valuable.

11.00am: To reverse or not to reverse?

That is the question. While the shot has worked very well for Root - who plays it incredibly well - throughout this year, it doesn't seem like a high-percentage option for the left-handers against Ashwin. Coming into this Test, Ashwin had only been reverse-swept by a left-hander once in the last three years - by Keaton Jennings at Southampton - and none of the three that have been played in this Test have been convincing.

You'll remember Rory Burns' yesterday, which saw him through the shot too early and gloving a catch to Pant, while Stokes played two in as many balls which nearly brought about his downfall. First, he tried to drag one from outside leg across to the off side and found point, and with the second the ball looped up into no-man's-land via the glove.

India optimistically reviewed the second for lbw, but there have been very encouraging signs for their spinners in the last three or four overs. Nadeem has found some trampoline bounce from the footholes outside Stokes' off stump, and there has been plenty of variable bounce. India burned another review on an lbw shout against Root which was going over the top, and Pujara has just put down a difficult chance at midwicket off the slog-sweeping Stokes after Ashwin had failed to cling onto a tough caught-and-bowled opportunity.

10.35am: Stokes up and running

A slightly unusual innings so far from Stokes, who is 26 off 44 balls at drinks with 22 of those runs coming in boundaries. Both batsmen look like they will continue to be positive against India's change bowlers, Nadeem and Sundar, though the fact that a couple of balls have kept lower than expected may provide Nadeem in particular with some encouragement. Stokes has scored at a strike rate of 72 against left-arm orthodox spinners since the start of 2019, so expect him to continue to score quickly.

10.05am: Ominous signs for India?

How does Joe Root fare as a batsman on the next day when he's unbeaten overnight in Tests in recent times? Shiva Jayaraman has the answer for you: The last 10 times he's remained unbeaten overnight, Root has scores of 119, 60, 102, 13, 34, 112, 220, 2, 11, 96 (most recent first) on the following day - that's 770 runs from the 10 times he's walked out to bat the next day. An average of 85.5 runs per dismissal on those days. Worrying signs for India.

9.50am: Bumrah's yorker

Ashwin and Bumrah bowling in tandem to Stokes and Root. Test cricket does OK, doesn't it?

This has been an absorbing watch so far. Stokes has been dismissed by Ashwin seven times in Tests, more than by any other bowler, and has shown his attacking intent early on, dumping the 16th ball he faced down the ground over mid-off for six. But Ashwin responded by turning one past his outside edge two balls later, and will be happy to see Stokes try to take him on.

But the ball of the morning so far, without question, was Bumrah's inch-perfect inswinging yorker to Stokes from round the wicket, which dipped and tailed in late. Only 80mph/130kph, but the seam position was immaculate to allow the ball to hoop in towards the base of leg stump. Stokes jammed the bat down and just about managed to get enough of an inside edge or toe-end to keep it out, clipping it onto his boot and through to Pant as some orange dust billowed up. Kohli's anguished expression told the story.

The very next ball, Stokes guided a back-of-a-length delivery behind square, through the gully region, for four as if to insist to Bumrah that he was in control of the situation. Bumrah has bowled noticeably fuller this morning, perhaps realising that the pitch is unlikely to offer him much assistance, and fired in another yorker to Root in his next over.

9.15am: Root holds the key

England will resume on 263 for 3 this morning, facing a ball less than 10 overs old and with Ben Stokes new to the crease. Root set his sights on a team total in excess of 600 overnight, no doubt conscious of the fact that on England's most recent visit to Chepauk, they posted 477 in the first innings and lost by an innings three days later.

Before play starts, there's plenty of time to read or watch some of our best content from the first day, including #PoliteEnquiries above, Varun Shetty's analysis on India's day in the dirt, and George Dobell on live Test cricket's return to free-to-air TV in the UK.

Women have been gradually achieving parity with men in athletics over the past century and here the AW editor charts some key moments in history

In the days of the ancient Olympics, married women were punished with a penalty of death if they so much as watched the Games. In the quest for gender equality in athletics much has improved in the past two-and-a-half thousand years. Yet many feel there is still some way to go and debate continues to rage on the issue of equalising racing distances in cross country.

The ancient Greeks did, however, stage a sporting festival for females. The Heraean Games honoured the goddess Hera and involved young, unmarried women.

Despite this, many years later when the Olympics were revived with the modern Games in Paris in 1896, women were not allowed to compete. Their participation in sport was deemed ‘unseemly’ and Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the International Olympic Committee, viewed women’s sport as “impractical, uninteresting, unaesthetic and incorrect”.

In Britain, the Women’s Amateur Athletics Association was born in 1922 and women were belatedly included in the Olympic athletics programme in 1928 – albeit in a paltry five events (100m, 800m, 4x100m, high jump, discus).

Harold Abrahams, the 1924 Olympic 100m champion of Chariots of Fire fame who went on to be one of the most prominent British athletics officials of the century, said: “I do not consider that women are built for really violent exercise of the kind that is the essence of competition. One has only to see them practising to realise how awkward they are on the running track.”

Ironically, many of the men’s world records when Abrahams was at his peak have since been beaten by women. Abrahams, for example, won his Olympic title with 10.6 – a time slower than the current women’s world record – whereas the men’s marathon record in the 1920s hovered around the 2:30 mark.

Some of the early opposition to female participation in athletics was caused by the 1928 Olympic 800m final, where press reports said the women looked “distressed” at the finish. The event was scrapped and not reintroduced until 1960, although there is a view that the women in 1928 were merely showing the kind of normal fatigue that men show at the end of a two-lap race.

The tide slowly turned as Abrahams and others softened their stance on women’s athletics. This was partly due to Fanny Blankers-Koen’s feats at the 1948 Olympics where the “flying housewife” and mother of two won four gold medals.

The domination of men in athletics was reflected in books at the time. Various esteemed publications on the history of the sport in the 1960s had chapters on sprints, hurdles, endurance running, jumps, throws and race walks followed by a token chapter at the end entitled ‘women’s athletics’.

Even AW carried a slightly patronising-sounding column called ‘with the ladies’, although it was at least regular and a large percentage of the early front covers of the magazine featured female athletes.

In the world of cross-country running, the first English National for men was in 1876 with the women finally getting their own National in 1927. Historically, females have run shorter courses than men, but it has never been an issue until recent years. In fact most of the debates surrounding the National have circulated on its place in the cross-country calendar in relation to the World Cross and selection.

The English National races for men and women were staged at separate venues until 1995 when they were held together for the first time. This followed the ‘marriage’ of the WAAA and AAA four years earlier and it saw the English Cross Country Union for men and the Women’s Cross Country & Road Running Association merging to create the current English Cross Country Association. Some female officials from that period are still involved today, too, such as Rita Brownlie, the president of the ECCA during 2019-20.

At that first joint National in Luton in 1995 the senior women ran about 6km and the men’s 15km. But in 1998 the women’s distance increased to 8km – and was won by Mara Yamauchi – to fall in line with changes made in the World Cross. In 1999, the men’s distance was then reduced to 12km.

A similar thing has happened recently with the Inter-Counties, which has created 10km equal distances for men and women partly because it is a trial for the World Cross, which has had 10km for both sexes since 2017.

At global level women have run shorter distances on the country historically. When Zola Budd won her second world title in 1986, for example, she raced over just 4.65km – less than half of the 12km that the men ran.

READ MORE: Paula Radcliffe and Zola Pieterse on the cross-country distance debate

“The number of those taking part in the senior women’s and senior men’s races have, depending on the venue, rocketed,” says ECCA secretary Ian Byett, “with record numbers of 2328 (men) and 1113 (women) finishing at Parliament Hill, London in 2018.

“Since the first joint event in 1995 when 510 senior women completed the 6km, the entry and number of finishers has doubled, while a total of 3899 runners across all the races now has regularly 5000-plus at venues up and down the country.”

In the past 25 years events like triple jump, pole vault, hammer and 3000m steeplechase have made their Olympic debut for women. Yet there remain a number of inequalities such as the height of hurdles, weight of throwing implements and in combined events too.

However, running distances have almost reached an equilibrium with cross-country seemingly the last bastion when it comes to gender equality.

What would the ancient Greeks make of it all?

Milestones in women’s athletics

1900   For the first time, women take part in the Olympics but only 22 out of 997 competitors and not in athletics.

1922   Women’s Amateur Athletics Association (WAAA) is created.

1927   First women’s English National Cross Country (51 years after the first men’s National).

1928   Women make their competitive debut at the Olympics in athletics.

1964   Scottish cross-country runner Dale Greig becomes the first woman to break 3:30 in the marathon.

1967   Kathrine Switzer is the first woman to run the Boston Marathon as an officially registered athlete.

1968   Inaugural English Schools Cross Country Champs for girls (eight years after the first boys champs).

1973   Paolo Cacchi of Italy beats England’s Joyce Smith to the inaugural women’s World Cross title on a course of 3990m.

1984   Joan Benoit wins the first women’s Olympic marathon at the LA Games.

1991   WAAA merges with the AAA of England.

1995   First joint men’s and women’s English National Cross Country Champs is held.

1998   Sonia O’Sullivan wins the 4km and 8km races at the World Cross, although the short and long-course format was scrapped in 2007.

1996   Triple jump for women added to the Olympic programme.

2000   Pole vault and hammer make their Olympic debuts for women.

2003   Paula Radcliffe’s world marathon record of 2:15:25 is faster than any British man ran that year.

2016   A new Olympic participation record for women with 45% of competitors female.

Serena Williams says she is "super confident" a right shoulder problem will be fine for the Australian Open.

Williams will be bidding for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title when the tournament begins on Monday.

"I feel pretty good. I've gotten a lot of treatment already on my shoulder," the 39-year-old said.

US Open champion Naomi Osaka, one of the favourites for the Melbourne title, and Victoria Azarenka also withdrew from their warm-up events with injuries.

Japan's Osaka was set to face Belgium's Elise Mertens in the Gippsland Trophy semi-finals on Saturday but withdrew, citing a long-standing shoulder problem of her own.

"It kind of flared up again because I played a lot of matches back-to-back," Osaka said.

"My main focus is hoping I can rest enough before the Open."

Azarenka, who lost to Osaka in the New York final, pulled out of her Grampians Trophy quarter-final with a lower back injury.

There are six WTA and ATP events running at Melbourne Park to allow players to prepare after their mandatory quarantine in Australia.

Belarussian Azarenka has played just one match after spending 14 days in her hotel room following positive coronavirus tests on her flight into the country.

As the third seed, she received a first-round bye, before Thursday's play was cancelled when a hotel worker tested positive for the virus.

Defending champion Sofia Kenin, who was left in tears after her defeat by Garbine Muguruza in the Yarra Valley Classic last eight, said being unable to practise properly had impacted on her.

"After two matches, my leg is completely sore," the American said.

"You can see that being in a room for two weeks, not playing, practising, it's not the same as playing a match clearly.

"Today it is better and I want it to be better for the Open."

In the matches that did take place, Muguruza secured a meeting with Barty after thrashing Marketa Vondrousova 6-1 6-0.

The Spaniard has lost only 10 games in her five matches in Australia, but she has a 3-1 losing record against home favourite Barty.

In the Gippsland Trophy, Belgium's Mertens will play Kaia Kanepi, who overcame Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3 7-6 (7-8).

Steven Smith has won the Allan Border Medal for the third time, also taking the ODI awarded, while Pat Cummins was named Test player of the year and Ashton Agar earning the T20I honour at the Cricket Australia annual awards.

Smith (126 votes) finished ahead of Cummins (114) and Aaron Finch (97) for the top honour, joining David Warner as a three-time winner behind the leaders Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke.

In a season disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, the voting period took in Australia's away series against India and South Africa early last year, the aborted ODIs against New Zealand at home, the white-ball tour of England the home season against India.

The voting is conduction on a 3-2-1 basis for every match under consideration with all players voting along with media representatives and umpires.

Across the formats Smith scored 1098 runs with four centuries, three of coming in ODIs - including the back-to-back 62-ball tons against India at the SCG - along with his century in the Sydney Test. Despite missing the ODIs against England due to concussion he finished as Australia's second-leading run-scorer in the voting period behind captain Finch.

"I was a bit surprised, I didn't feel I had the biggest Test summer, which I think holds the most votes," he said. "I think my one-day cricket was pretty good last year, so a lot of votes there, but it's obviously an honour to win this for the third time.

"I thought I played some good [one-day] cricket and I thought our group were playing some good cricket as well. We beat England in England, I didn't play any part in that series either, so that was nice. Back here against India as well I thought we played some really good cricket so we're progressing nicely and I felt as though I had a good impact this year, which was pleasing and hopefully I can continue to do so."

With just the four Tests under consideration this year, it was little surprise that Cummins took out that title after claiming 21 wickets at 20.04 against India. He finished comfortably ahead of Josh Hazlewood and Marnus Labuschagne.

In T20Is, left-arm spinner Agar finished ahead of Finch and David Warner despite missing the series against India due to a calf injury after taking 13 wickets at 12.46 and an economy rate of 6.75. That included a hat-trick against South Africa as part of a haul of 5 for 24.

Josh Lalor, the Melbourne Renegades pace bowler, took out the community impact award for his work on Reflect Forward, a joint movement between racism education company One Love Australia and the Australian sports industry.

The award recognises players who have made a positive contribution to the broader community through extraordinary service to the public such as the support of a charity, social cause or community event.

Beth Mooney, who was player of the tournament at the T20 World Cup last year, has been named the Belinda Clark Medalist at the Australia Cricket Awards.

Mooney (60 votes) narrowly pipped captain Meg Lanning (58 votes) to the top award and it is the first time since 2013 that the medal has not gone to one of Lanning, Alyssa Healy, or Ellyse Perry.

"We've certainly got some players in the Australia side at the moment that will be remembered for a long time as some of the best we've ever produced," she said. "To be playing alongside them let alone being up on an honour roll next to them winning this award is a pretty surreal thing.

"It's named after Belinda Clark who is an absolute pioneer of our game and women's sport in this country, so think it will take a bit of time to sink in. It's definitely something that's crossed my mind, I feel like just an ordinary human who has picked up a bat and got a few runs here and there.

"To be able sit at the end of the season and win this award, which has been voted by my peers, some of the players in the world, is certainly something I won't take for granted and something I'm very grateful."

Mooney, who was the leading run-scorer at the T20 World Cup with 259 at 64.75 and top-scored in the final against India, was the runaway winner of the T20 player of the year title having also made an unbeaten 71 in the tri-series final against India before the World Cup.

At the start of this season, Mooney reflected on the work she had put into the mental side of her game but believes there is more to come.

"Think there's always room for environment, but over the last couple of years I certainly feel a lot more relaxed when I'm out there and I can except that sometimes it's your day and sometimes it's not," she said. "Fortunately enough in the last 12-18 months I've had a few days when I've felt I've been able to contribute to a winning side, whether it's with Australia or Perth Scorchers or Queensland.

"I certainly think there's still scope for me to get better and evolve as a player and a human and that's something I'm always looking to do. The next 12 months will be a really exciting challenge for the Australian team and for me to keep getting better and continually contribute to winning matches."

Overall in the voting period, which included last season's tri-series, the T20 World Cup and the series against New Zealand earlier this season, Mooney made 555 runs - 99 more than he closest rival Rachael Haynes.

The leading wicket-takers were Jess Jonassen and Megan Schutt with 27 apiece although it was legspinning allrounder Georgia Wareham who came in third in the Belinda Clarke Medal voting.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic only three ODIs were played in the voting period, the series against New Zealand last October, with Haynes taking the award by one vote from Lanning.

Steven Smith has paralleled his evolving tale as a Test batsman, in which he emerged from a brief run of low scores against India to make the runs in Sydney and Brisbane that clinched his third Allan Border Medal, with the need for Australia's coach Justin Langer to keep continually improving as a mentor and man manager.

As the world's pre-eminent Test batsman for most of the past six years, it's unsurprising that Smith revealed Langer gave him very little coaching whatsoever, aside from an occasional reminder to stay energetic on his feet at the crease. But he credited Langer for maintaining an attitude of learning and seeking feedback, though acknowledging that unvarnished opinions would not always be easy to find.

"I think even if you speak to Justin, you want to be improving all the time as a coach or as a player, so of course there's things you can always get better at," Smith said. "One thing that hasn't been spoken a lot about is how tough a job it is to coach an international team, particularly in the circumstances we've been in when we've been in bubbles for long periods of time.

"But Justin's always working hard, trying to improve and get better and we've had conversations over the last two weeks since we've finished and he's always trying to get better and better and that's all you can ask from a coach."

Langer and Smith's earliest interactions took place in 2010, when Smith was playing his first Tests for Australia and the coach was a batting assistant seeking to smooth the rough edges of players including him, David Warner and the late Phillip Hughes. Since Smith's return to Test cricket for the 2019 Ashes, their relationship has been largely a case of the coach keeping out of the way of a batsman in command of himself and his game.

"Justin's actually said about me before he doesn't try and coach me too much," Smith said. "Only every now and again he'll say something particularly about the energy in my legs and tell me to have a bit more energy and that helps me move my feet a bit better and get going. He just lets me go about my business and do what I need to do. But he's great around the group, he's always improving and wants to get better and wants the feedback from the players, and I think that's really important as a coach.

"Sometimes it can be difficult to get that feedback, you always want to get better, you always want to learn on the job and I think he does that as well as anyone."

While it would be well beyond the realm of possibility for a player to give his frankest thoughts on the national team's senior coach and selector during an open media call, Smith responded in the affirmative when asked directly whether Langer had his full support to keep coaching the team in all formats.

"Absolutely, I think he's done a terrific job over the last couple of years, I wasn't there the first year, but since I've been back I think he's done a great job," Smith said. "He always wants to get better and that's all you can ask of anyone in the setup, whether it be a player or a coach, as long as you're striving to improve every day, then that's all you can ask.

"That kind of thing [split coaching] has been floated for a while for different formats and different teams and things like that around the world, not just Australia, so I think it'd be interesting. But Justin's got my full support at the moment, I think he's doing a terrific job and he has done for a few years, and I can't see it changing anytime soon."

As for Smith's own evolution, he said the past two summers had been refreshing in their challenges, as New Zealand and then India provided new angles of attack and filed placings that restricted him from some of his usual areas to rotate strike. After two slim Test matches in Adelaide and Melbourne, Smith resorted to a more aggressive mindset in Sydney and Brisbane, running up his first century since 2019 in England in the process.

"Teams are starting to attack me a little bit differently or bowl to me a little bit differently, so I've had to make small adjustments," he said. "At times I've had to be perhaps a little more aggressive than I have been in the past. I think I did that pretty well in the last two Test matches here and just coming up with some different plans and different scoring options but continuing to also play the game in front of me.

"There's times in Test cricket where you've got to absorb pressure, time when you've got to put the pressure back on the bowlers and try and get on top of them, and I did that well in the last two games, perhaps not as well in the first two of the summer. I felt I learned a bit out of the first two games that I could improve on at the back end. Teams have different plans to me and I've got to keep working on my game and I love doing that, I love working hard and finding new ways to do things and getting better.

"It was a great challenge and that's what Test cricket's all about, people come with different plans to you and you've got to try to counter-act them. It's been a great learning curve. I've loved the last two years of developing and learning and absorbing pressure putting pressure on when I need to, and just continuing to grow as a player."

British number one Dan Evans raced past Jeremy Chardy in 60 minutes to reach the final of the Murray River Open.

He will play Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime, who was similarly swift in dispatching rising French player Corentin Moutet 6-1 6-2.

Evans will begin his Australian Open campaign against compatriot Cameron Norrie on Tuesday.

Evans played two matches on Friday, beating Marcos Giron and Borna Coric to set up a meeting with Chardy.

He had lost his previous three matches against Chardy but dominated their latest, racing to a 4-0 lead in the first set.

Evans did not face a break point against Chardy and served strongly, with the Brit not dropping a point behind his first serve.

"I was a little tired after yesterday so I was pretty happy with my concentration to come out and back yesterday up," Evans said.

He has lost his previous two finals at ATP level - he was edged out by Gilles Muller in Sydney in 2017 and squandered three match points against Radu Albot at Delray Beach in 2019.

He has never played rising star Auger-Aliassime in singles.

The match will be the Canadian's seventh ATP Tour final, although he too has yet to win his first title.

There are six ATP and WTA events being played simultaneously at Melbourne Park to allow players to prepare for the Australian Open, which begins on Monday.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In a field of more than 300 competitors, Jimmy Mullis was the fastest man in town Friday night at the virtual Daytona Int’l Speedway.

Mullis secured the pole position for the third annual Podium 500, coming out on top at the World Center of Racing after four hours of single-car time trials.

The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series driver for Richmond Raceway eSports piloted the No. 46 Sunoco Toyota Camry to the best lap among the loaded lineup of drivers, with a time of 47.837 seconds (188.139 mph) around the 2.5-mile superspeedway doing the job.

By timing among the top two in Podium 500 qualifying, Mullis locked in a front-row starting spot for Sunday’s 500-mile feature and will lead the 43-car field to green for the $1,000-to-win main event.

“I knew it was a strong lap for sure, but I didn’t honestly think it was the pole run,” Mullis told SPEED SPORT. “I know for a fact that I left everything it had in that lap, though, for sure. It’s a point of pride to have the pole for this one and I’m excited going into Sunday.”

While Mullis was pleased with his pole run, he was quick to point out it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s in a better position for Sunday than he would have been if he’d landed a starting spot deeper in the field.

“I think (winning the pole) is more of a morale boost, for sure, but obviously it’s key to keep yourself up toward the front all day and I’m sitting in a pretty good spot to do that now,” Mullis added. “The draft is super powerful, so it’s going to be a chess match trying to stay up there all day, but I believe we have a car that can do that and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to do just that.”

Mullis will be joined on the front row Sunday by Brandon Hauff, who qualified second fastest in the No. 9 Grit Motorsports Marketing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and was just .001 seconds off of the pole-winning time.

Hauff’s lap of 47.838 seconds (188.135 mph) was good enough to give him the outside pole for one of the biggest non-sanctioned oval events on the iRacing simulation platform.

“I hate that we missed the pole by .001 seconds), but an outside pole start in a field of more than 340 entries still isn’t too shabby,” noted Hauff after qualifying wrapped up.

Times were so tight on Friday night that more than 300 of the drivers entered were within four tenths of a second of the pole position at the end of the time trial window.

The remaining starting spots in the Podium 500 field will be determined through a full slate of preliminary action, which begins with heat races Saturday afternoon, continues with last chance qualifiers and is capped by twin Duel qualifiers Saturday night.

After the Duels, the 43-car field – including a handful of provisional starters – will be set for Sunday’s race, which will be broadcast live on the Podium eSports Twitch channel.

Coverage of the third annual Podium 500 begins Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Lunch South Africa 188 for 7 (Bavuma 36*, Mulder 33, Maharaj 0*, Hasan 3-46) trail Pakistan 272 (Faheem 78*, Babar 77, Nortje 5-56, Maharaj 3-90) by 84 runs

Temba Bavuma led South Africa's resistance against a Pakistan attack that continued to control proceedings in Rawalpindi on the third morning. Pakistan took three wickets to add to their four from the second day to open the door to South Africa's tail and would be eyeing a lead on a surface that is keeping low and aiding reverse swing.

Hasan Ali and Shaheen Afridi made good use of late movement and posed problems for all South Africa's batsmen, starting with Quinton de Kock. The South Africa captain appeared in the same aggressive mood he employed on the second evening and was eager to drive away from his body against Afridi, but played the shot one time too many. He inside-edged the tenth ball he faced on the day on to leg stump, having added only five runs to his overnight score. He has now scored 74 runs in five Test innings since being named temporary Test captain - his latest effort of 29 only added to the conversation of whether the leadership burden has been affecting his batting form.

In the next over, Bavuma was given out lbw to a Hasan delivery that jagged back in to hit pad, but he reviewed the decision and was found to have inside-edged it. That only sent Bavuma further into his shell as he relied on his defence and patience and scored just five runs off the first 42 balls he faced, which included just two scoring shots.

The go-slow has pitfalls, particularly that it can cause an innings to stagnate, but Bavuma had a more proactive partner in Wiaan Mulder on the other end. Though the pair did not rotate strike much at first, Mulder found confidence against both pace and spin, demonstrated when he stepped down the track to loft Yasir Shah for six over long-off.

Pakistan hoped they had seen the last of him when Mulder, on 25, was rapped on the front pad by Hasan. Replays confirmed that Mulder had hit the ball. He went on to whip Hasan to fine leg later that over as his confidence grew. His partnership with Bavuma reached 50, South Africa's highest of the match, and was set up to go on for more but, two overs later, Mulder played a shot in the same area and wanted two runs from it. He took on Afridi's arm, and lost. The fast bowler fired in a strong throw right over the bail for Mohammad Rizwan to collect and catch Mulder short. That was Pakistan's third run-out of the series.

Pakistan should have had another wicket in the same over when George Linde gloved a Hasan short ball, but Rizwan was unconvinced. With the Mulder mistake fresh in his mind, Babar Azam opted not to review much to Misbah-ul-Haq's irritation. The coach was seen in the dressing room indicating that Pakistan would have had a third wicket. Linde made the most of his let-off and batted with freedom for a run-a-ball 21 before he was bowled by a Hasan slower ball.

Shah put down a difficult chance off Keshav Maharaj at third slip as the session was drawing to a close and Maharaj was then given out lbw to Hasan the ball before lunch. He reviewed and replays showed the ball missing leg stump.