Three future NBA draft picks "are expected to play in Melbourne this month" on touring U.S. college teams. Louisiana State University player Ben Simmons "will join his Tigers' side for two Melbourne games while University of California freshmen Ivan Rabb and Jaylen Brown are also expected to play two games at Frankston in their Golden Bears' touring side." Yale University's men's team "is also visiting Melbourne for two games, along with leading women's program University of Nebraska Cornhuskers, who will play Frankston Blues SEABL women at Frankston Stadium this Tuesday night" (THE AGE, 8/3). ... Australia will head to Bangladesh in October for its first Test series against the country in more than nine years. The teams will play a three-day tour match in Fatullah from Oct. 3 before Tests in the coastal city of Chittagong (Oct. 9-13) and the capital Dhaka (Oct. 17-21) (Cricket). ... Scottish Premiership side Celtic’s Champions League qualifying tie in Azerbaijan "could be in jeopardy because of the state of Qarabag’s pitch" after doubts were raised whether Azerbaijan’s national ground -- the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium -- is fit to host the tie. Reports in Baku said that more than 30% of the pitch is unplayable "after recent extreme heat conditions," and the company that maintains the pitch has expressed doubts about its ability to recover for Celtic’s visit (LONDON TIMES, 8/3).
