Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - Leading New Zealand yacht designer Laurie Davidson has died, aged 94.

Davidson was a key member of the Team New Zealand design group from 1987 to 2000, helping design the boats for the team's successful America's Cup challenge in 1995 and subsequent defence in 2000.

In a post to social media, Team New Zealand said they were sad to hear of Davidson's passing.

"Laurie was also one of 'The Big 3' (Laurie Davidson, Bruce Farr and Ron Holland) that came out of NZ and dominated international yacht design through the 70's, 80's & 90's.

"Laurie's influence in yacht design will be a legacy within the sport for years to come."

Record number of F1 races next year

Formula One will have a record 23 races next year and a third of them could be in the sprint format trialled this year.

The format has been used at Silverstone and Monza this year, with Brazil's Interlagos to come, and features qualifying on Friday for a Saturday 100km race that then decides the starting grid for Sunday.

Points are awarded for the top three drivers, in a 3-2-1 system.

The sport's chief executive Stefano Domenicali said the 2022 season would run from mid-March to mid-November, likely to be the earliest finish in a decade, with the calendar due to be published later this month.

This year is set to feature 22 rounds, still a record, and ends in Abu Dhabi on Dec. 12. There will be new races in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, with Miami coming in from 2022 and Qatar dropping off before starting a 10-year deal in 2023.

-Reuters

Ainslie gets Mercedes F1 onboard

British sailor Ben Ainslie has joined forces with the Applied Science division of Formula One's Mercedes motor racing team to launch his latest campaign to win the America's Cup.

Ainslie will skipper Britain's challenge to holders Team New Zealand for the world's oldest sporting trophy, with James Allison as technical lead as Chief Technical Officer for both INEOS Britannia and Mercedes-AMG Petronas.

German naval designer Martin Fischer will lead the design concept for Ainslie's third consecutive America's Cup challenge, which will once again be backed by chemicals giant INEOS and its founder and chairman Jim Ratcliffe.

The venue and timing for the 37th edition of the America's Cup has yet to be decided, with a return to Auckland not ruled out despite high-profile disagreements within New Zealand.

-Reuters

The Colonel retires

Veteran boxing commentator Bob Sheridan is retiring because of ill-health.

The 77 year old American has broadcast more than 10,000 fights on radio and television, including the Rumble in the Jungle between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Zaire in 1974.

"This is the last farewell," Sheridan told Fightnews. "I am retiring as of the 1st of October here in the United States of America. I have had a really rough year with disease and the passing of my wife, and I have made the decision along with my three sons to take a back seat for a while.

Sheridan was an announcer at several other notable fights including the Thrilla in Manila between Joe Frazier and Ali, the first heavyweight fight hosted in Japan which was between Mike Tyson and Buster Douglas, as well as the rematch between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield where Holyfield's ear was bitten off.

Ranieri heading to London

Watford have appointed Claudio Ranieri as their new manager after sacking Xisco Munoz yesterday.

The Italian, 69, returns to the Premier League which he famously won with Leicester in 2015-16, having left Serie A side Sampdoria at the end of last season.

It is the 14th managerial change under Watford's owners, the Pozzo family, since they took over in 2012.

Ranieri is charged with improving their league form as they sit 14th after taking seven points from seven games.

Watford's first match with their new manager in charge will be at home against Liverpool this weekend.

Ranieri has a wealth of experience with Watford being the 21st club he has taken charge of in his 35-year managerial career. In that time he has won eight trophies, including the 1995-96 Coppa Italia with Fiorentina, 2004-05 Super Cup with Valencia and the 2015-16 Premier League title with Leicester.

He is familiar with the English top flight through Chelsea, Leicester City and Fulham.

-BBC

Irving set to lose almost half his pay

Brooklyn Nets basketball superstar Kyrie Irving stands to lose a half a million dollars for every game missed due to being unvaccinated, ESPN has reported.

Per the report, the NBA and National Basketball Players Association agreed on a reduction of almost all the player's salary for missing games due to vaccine regulations in New York City and San Francisco.

Irving has remained steadfast that he will not get the vaccination against the COVID-19 virus. If he continues to hold out, he would miss the Nets' 41 home games, as long as the regulations remain in place. That would equate to more than $22 million lost for Irving, who's under contract for $50 million in 2021-22.

Irving would need proof of at least one vaccine shot in order to practice or play in his own arena, the Barclays Center. In San Francisco, players need to be fully vaccinated.

The Nets will hold their first practice on Brooklyn tomorrow, the first time Irving would be subjected to the regulations. The team opened their training camp in San Diego last week.

Unvaccinated players on visiting teams may play in New York City and San Francisco, so long as they return negative tests.

-Reuters

World Cup will have 70 percent capacity

Stadiums in the United Arab Emirates will operate at 70% of capacity for this month's Twenty20 World Cup, though conditions in Oman, where preliminary rounds are due to be played, have still to be fully assessed following a cyclone.

Tropical Cyclone Shaheen struck coastal areas of Oman, including the capital of Muscat on Sunday, two weeks before preliminary round matches of the tournament commence on Oct. 17.

Some 3,000 fans would be accommodated at Al Amerat stadium in Muscat, the International Cricket Council said, though the cyclone left streets in the Omani capital under water, prompted evacuations from coastal areas and delayed flights in and out of the country.

The 16-team tournament was shifted to the Gulf states as result of a surge of COVID-19 infections in India, but the Indian cricket board remains the event host.

The ICC said the BCCI and itself had worked closely with host authorities to ensure fans are welcomed in a safe environment and COVID-19 protocols are applied at all venues.

Dubai, which hosts matches including the Nov. 14 final, and Sharjah are the two other venues in the UAE.

The UAE is currently hosting the Indian Premier League with fans at a reduced capacity.

-Reuters

Hussain has a crack at Australia

Former captain Nasser Hussain has criticised Australia's lack of empathy for England's players as doubts continue over whether Joe Root and his team will travel for this year's Ashes series.

England are scheduled to play the first of five tests against Tim Paine's team at the Gabba in Brisbane from Dec. 8, but doubts have been raised over whether Root and his players will travel due to Australia's strict quarantining measures.

"England have played 18 Test matches since the start of the pandemic in March 2020," Hussain wrote in his Daily Mail column.

"That's five more than anyone else, and 14 more than Australia, whose four Tests all came at home against India last winter.

"I'm quite proud of the way in which England's Test team have kept the show on the road in difficult circumstances, moving in and out of bubbles and spending time away from their families.

"It's draining. Mental health has suffered. So for people in Australia to start lecturing them, and telling them they should simply suck it up, is a bit rich."

Cricket Australia has been negotiating with authorities and England's board over travel conditions and whether players' families can visit during the Christmas and New Year period.

Australia has caps on international arrivals and there is a mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine even for the fully vaccinated.

-Reuters

Raducanu gears up for end of season run

U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu has entered next month's WTA event in Austria as the teenage sensation gears up for a busy end-of-the-season schedule.

The WTA 1000 tournament at Indian Wells this week will be the first event for the 18-year-old Briton, who stunned the tennis world by becoming the first qualifier to win a major last month with her triumph at Flushing Meadows.

Following Indian Wells, Raducanu is also scheduled to play the WTA 500 event in Moscow and the WTA 250 event at the end of the month in Cluj-Napoca in Romania.

She would, however, have to pull out from the Nov. 6-12 Upper Austria Ladies Linz if she makes the cut for the season-ending WTA Finals from Nov. 10-17.

The Finals is contested by the world's top eight singles players and eight doubles teams and Raducanu sits 15th in the leaderboard with plenty of points still on offer before the tournament in Guadalajara, Mexico.

-Reuters