Cricket Australia will release in full the review examining cultural and governance issues into the governing body "as the board braces for what it expects to be a hard-hitting report." The report by Sydney-based firm The Ethics Centre is expected to be released before the start of the men's int'l season, which kicks off in Perth on Nov. 4. The review was commissioned after the ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town but it is understood it "will not be a finger-pointing exercise" regarding the South Africa tour (THE AGE, 9/18).
Former Scotland rugby int'l Scott Hastings believes that Scotland's women rugby players "may have to wait several years before they can compete with a fully professional England squad." The Rugby Football Union reintroduced contracts to make 28 of England women's 15-a-side players fully professional from January 1. Scotland recently increased its number of professionals to eight (BBC, 9/18).
The BCCI prepared for an "off-the-field battle" with the Pakistan Cricket Board by hiring a Dubai-based law firm and a British lawyer for next month’s ICC hearing on the compensation claim filed by the PCB. Pakistan claimed damages of approximately Rs 447 crore ($67.2M) for India not playing any bilateral cricket against the country despite a memorandum of understanding, which guarantees six bilateral series between '15 and '23 (PTI, 9/18).
