NBA Hall of Famer Yao Ming was "chosen to lead the preparatory committee for the next generation leadership of the China Basketball Association" on Monday. Yao, along with CBA VP Li Jinsheng, was "appointed as head of the preparatory team to select the new leadership of the association, according to a press conference held by the CBA." Yao said that the new leadership of the CBA "will focus more on people from all realms of the society who care about basketball, and the new leaders will shoulder the responsibility of pushing Chinese basketball to a new high, according to news site people.cn." Yao told the People's Daily on Monday that "balancing the relations between government and social groups is important for sports reform" (GLOBAL TIMES, 1/9).
Australia's Gold Medal-winning women's sevens players will be coming to universities this August "as the Australian Rugby Union puts the finishing touches on its ambitious new domestic women's sevens competition." National women's sevens coach Tim Walsh revealed on Monday he would "release a number of players from the Olympic champion Pearls squad to play in the eight-team tournament, which will run from August to October in the world series off-season." The decision "means the game's big names, including world player of the year Charlotte Caslick, Ellia Green, Emilee Cherry and Shannon Parry, could be on hand to share their knowledge and experience with the next generation of potential Olympians and professional sevens players" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 1/9).
The "worst fears" of the members of the Board of Control for Cricket in India "came true" with the Jan. 2-3 order of the Supreme Court, and "things are about to get messier for them at the turn of the month." This time, it will "leave the financial interests of Indian cricket in tatters too." With the "sacking of almost every senior administrator, the BCCI is unlikely to have a proper representative" at the board and CEO meeting of the Int'l Cricket Council on Feb. 1 in Dubai. In such a scenario, member boards of the ICC -- chiefly the England & Wales Cricket Board and Cricket Australia -- which have been "pushing for a new revenue model based on redistribution of revenue earned from world cricket rights will finally find the opportunity to push their interest in India's absence" (TNN, 1/9).
Australian Selection Chair Trevor Hohns is "open to retaining the top role on a permanent basis in a summer in which he has guided Australian cricket back from the throes of despair." Hohns, already on the four-man panel, was made interim chair "in November when Rod Marsh quit after Australia was crunched by South Africa in Perth and Hobart." He has the role "until mid-year when his contract expires" (SMH, 1/9).
English rugby int'l Richard Barrington has become the "first player sent to the showers early under rugby's new strict tackle height rules." While playing for Premiership club Saracens, Barrington was "shown a red card for his part in a high collision, in the 10th minute of their 13-13 draw with Exeter." Geoff Parling, an ex-England lock, was "knocked out in the contact with Barrington" (SMH, 1/9).
The newly-established Club Players Association will "seek a significantly truncated inter-county calendar ending with both All-Ireland finals played off by the August Bank Holiday." Secretary Declan Brennan also revealed that the association "submitted a motion to congress" for the Gaelic Athletic Association to formally recognize the CPA, something it was "optimistic" about achieving. He warned, however, that in the event of the failure of that motion, the CPA would be forced into "a totally different ball game." (IRISH INDEPENDENT, 1/9).
A new series for electric rallycross cars called E/RACING is "set to get underway later this year in North America." The Speedleague-owned series will utilize electric rallycross machinery "built by Austrian firm STARD." Owned by former World Rally Championship podium finisher Manfred Stohl, STARD "revealed last year that it had created the world's first electric rallycross car" (MOTORSPORT, 1/9).
