Pipeline of Australian punting talent shakes off backlash to pin hopes on NFL draft | Jack Snape

A mulleted former Collingwood VFL player with the ability to kick with both feet heads a crop of Australians seeking to prove themselves at the highest levels of American football, as the sport’s spotlight shines on Green Bay for this week’s NFL draft.An upcoming NFL regular season match in Melbourne – for which 90,000 people have already registered an interest – and the rise of former rugby league junior and now Super Bowl winner Jordan Mailata underline the growing reputation of the American code in Australia. But the momentum of the NFL in the homeland of AFL has not been universally welcomed, with some Americans dismayed by the dominance of mature punting imports within the college ranks.Five-year Florida State punter Alex Mastromanno, who grew up in Brighton and played in the Magpies’ VFL team once in 2017, is in contention for selection in the NFL draft which gets under way on Friday morning AEST and runs over three days.Prokick Australia’s Nathan Chapman, who helped fine-tune Mastromanno’s game and prepare him for college, says the Victorian was one of several punting prospects who could be picked, including Jeremy Crawshaw from Florida, James Burnip from Alabama and Jesse Mirco from Vanderbilt

Faith Kipyegon’s audacious bid to be first woman to run sub four-minute mile

It remains one of the most ­enduring images in the history of sport: Roger Bannister collapsing at the ­finish after becoming the first ­person to shatter the four-minute-mile ­barrier. Since that day in 1954, when Bannister achieved a feat many had thought was impossible, just over 2,000 others have followed in his footsteps – all of them men.However, the pages of history could soon be freshly rewritten after the Olympic 1500m champion, Faith Kipyegon, and her sponsors Nike, announced plans “to make the impossible possible” again by becoming the first woman to run a sub-four-minute mile this summer.The Kenyan, who is widely regarded as the greatest female ­middle-distance runner of all time, holds the mile record of 4min 07.64sec

The Spin | Reborn in the USA: has cricket finally cracked the American market?

A lack of pitches, kit and coaching has held the sport back for far too long but Major League Cricket may be the answerIf you look south from the Manhattan end of Brooklyn Bridge, you can just about imagine the cricket field that used to be beneath what is now the South Seaport – and, if you squint, pretend that the people making their way around the bars and clubs and restaurants are the descendants of the same New York crowd who attended a match here between a local team and a London XI in 1751. Modern-day Manhattan is built on cricket pitches, among other things. They are there under the streets, among the farms and tenements cleared to make way for skyscrapers. There’s another under Central Park, a third below the NYU Langone medical centre, where – in 1844 – Canada beat the USA by 23 runs in what is considered the first international fixture in all sport.People have been dreaming of reviving American cricket ever since it died during the civil war, more than 160 years ago

Travis Hunter wants to be the NFL’s Shohei Ohtani. Will anyone let him?

The Colorado star is brilliant on offense and defense but the burdens of professional football make it very difficult for two-way players to succeedEvery once in a while, a player comes along who breaks our understanding of a sport. Basketball has Victor Wembanyama. Baseball has Shohei Ohtani. For professional football, enter Travis Hunter.There are good prospects, there are great prospects, and then there is whatever Hunter is

From the Pocket: Anzac Day clash was born amid division but is now a reminder of how sport can bind us

Footy is full of soldiers who never found a war and on the 80th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings, one of them was asleep in the birthing ward. Dermott Brereton was barrel-chested, chicken-legged, born for the big occasion and, on this day, a new father. He fused Frankston street smarts with Glenferrie conservatism; morning television affability with an Irish thirst for vengeance. At 30, his body was at war with itself. But as police escorted the team bus to the MCG for the inaugural Anzac Day game between Collingwood and Essendon, he heard the bugle call

Case for the defence proves Bulldogs have foundations in place for long-term NRL success | Nick Tedeschi

Phil Gould has as many critics as he does roles in rugby league but even his most strident detractors must admit that there has been no greater knockdown rebuild administrator in the history of the game. While the man known as “Gus” was long gone from Penrith by the time the Panthers put together four premierships on end, he was instrumental in turning a club that had one winning season in nine from 2005-13 into an outfit that has missed the finals just twice since.Gould didn’t push culture change at Penrith. He sledgehammered it in. He moved on senior players, coaches and administrators who were reluctant to transform