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Steve Smith's greatest asset has become his worst nightmare, and it was exposed by an extraordinary career-first on the . Smith became one of Jasprit Bumrah's four victims as the India captain produced a devastating opening spell on Friday in the . Bumrah trapped Smith plumb in front as the former captain's renowned hand-eye coordination abandoned him again. The first-ball dismissal marked just the second golden duck of Smith's illustrious career, and his first in a home Test match. And the method of dismissal sparked ugly questions about whether Smith's greatest asset is no more. The 35-year-old has made a career out of shuffling across his stumps and daring bowlers to aim for his pads. His hand-eye coordination is so impeccable that he rarely misses a ball on his pads, and happily takes the runs on offer when bowlers try and target the stumps. But his dismissal on Friday showed how that plan might be bringing about his downfall. Smith's hand-eye coordination might be dissipating in the twilight of his career, and it's posed questions about how much longer he'll be playing Test cricket. It marked the third-straight innings in which he's been dismissed lbw, after being trapped in front in both innings of the second Test in Christchurch in March (for 11 and nine). He was also out lbw in the first innings of the second Test against the West Indies in January, and four of his last six dismissals have been trapped in front. A move back to the middle-order would seemingly make his life easier after the failed experiment of using him as an opener last summer. But it lasted just one delivery on Friday after Smith came to the crease at 2-19 in just the seventh over. As cricket writer Andrew Wu wrote on social media: "Steve Smith’s technique challenges bowlers to attack his pads. In his prime, he loved it, knowing he’d get easy runs if they bowled straight. Now, he’s missing balls he used to hit. The eye is not as sharp. The best problem solver in the game has a big problem to solve." Aussie legend Mark Waugh wasn't willing to write Smith off after just one innings of a five-Test series, but admitted it was concerning. “I don’t want to read too much into it today," he said on Fox Sports. "The pitch is doing enough at pace and Bumrah is a world class bowler. "People have always questioned Steve Smith’s technique over the years, and he always responds. He’s a good problem solver. I think his footwork at times, he can go too far across (to) the off-side. So I think it’s something he’s aware of. But I think today, the first ball, I don’t want to read too much into that.” This is exactly how Steve Smith *should* have been getting out over the last decade. His hand eye coordination knew no equal at one stage, but in 2024 he is a shadow of the batter he used to be. — markus (@markusc__) Smith is going below 50 by end of his career unless he figures his flaw out . He is a hand eye coordination type player so it was bound to happen . Labuschagne I believe is still a good batter and will score tons of runs ,I expect a century at Gabba or Sydney against Us — Darkpheonix86 (@AbhisekBChoudh2) Players who depend on too much on their hand eye coordination tend to normally struggle at the end of the career because they haven't got reflexes. They need to change technique to avoid lbws. — R RAJEEV NAIK (@rajeevaryan21) Everyone knew as soon as he lost his eye he was done. — Ex-panda (@rlexpanda) Poor technique against Indian bowlers. Standing on off stump line and playing the ball coming sharply inwards! It’s obvious bumrah gonna give that delivery but why smith and Labuachane has similar technique? Making themselves uncomfortable — AR Tamil (@19ART9) Smith will be pivotal to Australia's hopes of regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy from India, who have won the last four Test series against the Aussies. His recent struggles, coupled with those of teammate Marnus Labuschagne, pose a huge headache for Australia - and they'll need to turn things around quickly. After bowling out India for just 150, Australia were reduced to 7-67 at stumps on the opening day. Bumrah took four scalps during a blistering display, as the Aussies were put on the brink of conceding what appeared to be an unthinkable first innings deficit.
Steve Smith's greatest asset has become his worst nightmare, and it was exposed by an extraordinary career-first on the . Smith became one of Jasprit Bumrah's four victims as the India captain produced a devastating opening spell on Friday in the . Bumrah trapped Smith plumb in front as the former captain's renowned hand-eye coordination abandoned him again. The first-ball dismissal marked just the second golden duck of Smith's illustrious career, and his first in a home Test match. And the method of dismissal sparked ugly questions about whether Smith's greatest asset is no more. The 35-year-old has made a career out of shuffling across his stumps and daring bowlers to aim for his pads. His hand-eye coordination is so impeccable that he rarely misses a ball on his pads, and happily takes the runs on offer when bowlers try and target the stumps. But his dismissal on Friday showed how that plan might be bringing about his downfall. Smith's hand-eye coordination might be dissipating in the twilight of his career, and it's posed questions about how much longer he'll be playing Test cricket. It marked the third-straight innings in which he's been dismissed lbw, after being trapped in front in both innings of the second Test in Christchurch in March (for 11 and nine). He was also out lbw in the first innings of the second Test against the West Indies in January, and four of his last six dismissals have been trapped in front. A move back to the middle-order would seemingly make his life easier after the failed experiment of using him as an opener last summer. But it lasted just one delivery on Friday after Smith came to the crease at 2-19 in just the seventh over. As cricket writer Andrew Wu wrote on social media: "Steve Smith’s technique challenges bowlers to attack his pads. In his prime, he loved it, knowing he’d get easy runs if they bowled straight. Now, he’s missing balls he used to hit. The eye is not as sharp. The best problem solver in the game has a big problem to solve." Aussie legend Mark Waugh wasn't willing to write Smith off after just one innings of a five-Test series, but admitted it was concerning. “I don’t want to read too much into it today," he said on Fox Sports. "The pitch is doing enough at pace and Bumrah is a world class bowler. "People have always questioned Steve Smith’s technique over the years, and he always responds. He’s a good problem solver. I think his footwork at times, he can go too far across (to) the off-side. So I think it’s something he’s aware of. But I think today, the first ball, I don’t want to read too much into that.” This is exactly how Steve Smith *should* have been getting out over the last decade. His hand eye coordination knew no equal at one stage, but in 2024 he is a shadow of the batter he used to be. — markus (@markusc__) Smith is going below 50 by end of his career unless he figures his flaw out . He is a hand eye coordination type player so it was bound to happen . Labuschagne I believe is still a good batter and will score tons of runs ,I expect a century at Gabba or Sydney against Us — Darkpheonix86 (@AbhisekBChoudh2) Players who depend on too much on their hand eye coordination tend to normally struggle at the end of the career because they haven't got reflexes. They need to change technique to avoid lbws. — R RAJEEV NAIK (@rajeevaryan21) Everyone knew as soon as he lost his eye he was done. — Ex-panda (@rlexpanda) Poor technique against Indian bowlers. Standing on off stump line and playing the ball coming sharply inwards! It’s obvious bumrah gonna give that delivery but why smith and Labuachane has similar technique? Making themselves uncomfortable — AR Tamil (@19ART9) Smith will be pivotal to Australia's hopes of regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy from India, who have won the last four Test series against the Aussies. His recent struggles, coupled with those of teammate Marnus Labuschagne, pose a huge headache for Australia - and they'll need to turn things around quickly. After bowling out India for just 150, Australia were reduced to 7-67 at stumps on the opening day. Bumrah took four scalps during a blistering display, as the Aussies were put on the brink of conceding what appeared to be an unthinkable first innings deficit.
Cameron Brink's Los Angeles Sparks will have a new head coach in 2025 after the dismissal of Curt Miller two months ago and her name is Lynne Roberts. And already Sparks fans seem to be nervous that things may get worse before they get better. Three days ago the Sparks announced that Roberts would be their new head coach. She departed Utah in the middle of her 10th season with the program to take the job. Roberts held her introductory press conference yesterday and promptly made a comment that has a lot of fans concerned. She said that her scoring philosophy is "points per attempt" and "points per possession" before expressing that shooting around the rim and on three point shots are above all. "Everything with scoring it comes down to points per shot attempt and points per possession. If you’re talking about points per shot attempt the highest quality shot is around the rim and threes," Robert said, via WNBA Central on X. Sparks HC Lynne Roberts on her scoring philosophy "Everything with scoring it comes down to points per shot attempt and points per possession. If you’re talking about points per shot attempt the highest quality shot is around the rim and threes." pic.twitter.com/PJjAIMrgMq Fans took exception to this comment, pointing out that the goal of any coach should be to build their plan where they put their players in the best position to succeed, regardless of personal preferences: "This is professional basketball. As a coach, you should be putting your players in the best space to succeed. She bet not change Rickea’s game this early in her career," one user wrote. Jordan Jones/Getty Images "I was hoping her philosophy would change a little since this is the professional league but I guess not," wrote another. "Quality is more than just numbers on the board... also your philosophy should adjust to your roster NOT the other way around," a third declared. The Los Angeles Sparks clearly want to capitalize on the growing popularity of the WNBA, especially now that they have one of America's most popular players in Cameron Brink. But if Brink isn't able to thrive under the new leadership, they're going to want newer leadership in short order. Related: Cameron Brink Goes Viral In Low-Cut Dress In Final 'Tunnel Fit' Of Year
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Technology stocks led a broad rally on Wall Street Tuesday during a holiday-shortened trading session ahead of Christmas. The S&P 500 rose 1.1% for its third-straight gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.9%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite climbed 1.3%. While Big Tech companies, including Apple, Amazon and chip company Broadcom helped push the market higher, the gains were widespread. All told, the S&P 500 rose 65.97 points to 6,040.04. The Dow added 390.08 points to 43,297.03, and the Nasdaq rose 266.24 points to 20,031.13. Treasury yields held steady in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was little changed at 4.59%. European markets closed mostly higher. Markets in Asia mostly gained ground. Tuesday’s U.S. market rally comes as the stock market enters what’s historically been a very cheerful season. The last five trading days of each year, plus the first two in the new year, have brought an average gain of 1.3% since 1950. The so-called “Santa rally” also correlates closely with positive returns in January and the upcoming year. So far this month, the U.S. stock market has lost some of its gains since President-elect Donald Trump’s win on Election Day, which raised hopes for faster economic growth and more lax regulations that would boost corporate profits. Worries have risen that Trump’s preference for tariffs and other policies could lead to higher inflation, a bigger U.S. government debt and difficulties for global trade. Even so, the stock market remains on pace to deliver strong returns for 2024. The benchmark S&P 500 is up 26.6% so far this year and remains within roughly 1% of the all-time high it set earlier this month — its latest of 57 record highs this year. U.S. markets are closed today. Wall Street has several economic reports to look forward to this week, including a weekly update on unemployment benefits on Thursday.What we know about Luigi Mangione, the suspect arrested in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing