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Leagues and Governing Bodies

League Notes: R&A, USGA Set To Unveil First Steps To Modernize Rule Book

Golf's ruling bodies the R&A and the USGA on Wednesday will "announce the first amendments in the highly anticipated modernisation of the rulebook." R&A CEO Martin Slumbers said that the changes will be "the biggest change for our generation." PGA Tour and European Tour players "have been briefed" on the changes, which will include cutting the time allotted to find a ball "from five minutes to three and allowing spike marks to be repaired on greens." These are "merely the start of a raft of changes" the R&A hopes will "simplify the Rules of Golf." Slumbers: "The feedback so far is very positive" (London TELEGRAPH, 2/28).

The split over the future of county cricket in England was "laid bare" on Monday as Essex revealed it "would vote against a new Twenty20 competition" while Ian Botham, on his first day as Durham chair, said that "he would back the plans." Essex Chair John Faragher launched the "most vocal criticism" of the England & Wales Cricket Board's proposal to introduce an eight-team Twenty20 competition from the summer of '20. Faragher said, "I think it's going to happen but that doesn't mean I'm just going to sit here and roll over and accept it. I'd not be doing my job as chairman of this club if I just sat and said yes because it's a foregone conclusion" (London TELEGRAPH, 2/27).

England Manager Eddie Jones was "criticised for his reaction to Italy’s ruckless tactics," but his call for World Rugby to address the offside law received the "backing" of the Rugby Football Union. Jones will meet RFU CEO Ian Ritchie "over the next 48 hours" as the RFU decides how "best to raise the issue" with the governing body. A request for clarification of the law is the "most likely approach." World Rugby is considering whether to take action and "could issue a clarification without a request from the RFU, given the furore stirred up" by Italy's tactics at Twickenham Stadium on Sunday (LONDON TIMES, 2/28).

Pakistan Super League Chair Najam Sethi on Tuesday announced that the league "will be using the decision review system" in playoff matches, becoming "the first T20 league in the history of cricket to use the review system." The decision to implement DRS comes after umpires were "scrutinised for making poor on-field judgements multiple times in the tournament" (DAWN, 2/28).

A doctor at the center of an inquiry into a "mystery package" delivered for Bradley Wiggins "pulled out of a parliamentary hearing into the matter." Ex-Team Sky medic Richard Freeman, who received the package on behalf of the team in '11, will not appear before the Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee "because of ill health." Ex-British Cycling coach Simon Cope, who couriered the package, will attend (BBC, 2/28).

The National Rugby League has taken "another significant step to ward off the ongoing threat of match and spot fixing" by prohibiting bookmakers from "framing markets" on U20 games and appointing a person whose sole responsibility is to "monitor gambling trends and liaise with betting agencies." Newly-appointed COO Nick Weeks, who will "continue to preside over the integrity unit in his new guise as second-in-charge at the NRL," on Tuesday revealed the game's governing body had written to bookmakers informing them of the prohibition on U20 matches (THE AUSTRALIAN, 3/1).

Wicklow Gaelic Athletic Association senior football Manager Johnny Magee believes "football players should go on strike in response to the so-called Super 8 proposals for Championship football." The motion to introduce the Super 8 was passed at Congress over the weekend. Magee feels that it is a move that will "only benefit the bigger counties and that it will widen the gap further between the haves and the have nots." Magee said, "There's only so many times you can kick a dog before it bites back" (RTÉ, 2/28).

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