New South Wales

Lewas back overseas

The tournament started on Apr 5 to the 12 and held in Albury Wodonga, New South Wales.

The Lewas have not played international cricket for the past two and half years due the COVID-19 pandemic and are now relishing the opportunity.

The Lewas are competing against women’s teams from New South Wales Country, Cricket ACT and Queensland Country in both T20 and 50-overs format.

Covid-19: NSW patients in intensive care passes 200

A total of 203 people are in intensive care units (ICU) around the state, up from 191 the previous day.

It is the first time more than 200 people with Covid have been admitted to intensive care in NSW.

Meanwhile, the number of people in hospital with the virus rose to 2776 in the 24 hours to 8pm yesterday.

There were 17 deaths and 29,504 new infections in the reporting period.

The new positive cases comprised 11,858 rapid antigent tests and 17,646 PCR tests.

New South Wales' Omicron outbreak sparks a de facto 'lockdown'

Although the country's most populous state has few Covid-19 restrictions in place, businesses around NSW have been forced to close due to virus-induced staff absences.

Spending data analysed by ANZ last week indicated economic activity plummeting to levels lower than any other time during the pandemic.

"We're now facing economic situations that are worse than if we'd had an actual lockdown," said economist Jim Stanford, director of the Centre for Future Work.

NSW relaxes quarantine rules on arrivals from southern African nations

The measures put in place to stem the seeding of the Covid-19 Omicron variant were to end at 6am on Wednesday, NSW Health announced late on Tuesday.

Instead, fully vaccinated people arriving from South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini and Malawi must self-isolate for 72 hours and can leave after receiving a negative test.

They must also avoid high-risk settings for seven days.

Further restrictions on Sydney flights

For the period of 8th September to 30th October 2021, the number of passengers the airline is permitted to carry into Sydney has been cut by 40 percent by the Australian government.

“Consequently, we expect that some passengers already holding tickets on PX001 to Sydney over this two-month period will not be able to travel, and will be contacted and assisted to re-book their flights for later dates.

Woman spends two days trapped in mineshaft

The 26-year-old woman went missing from a mining camp at Lighting Ridge, near the Queensland border, on Friday night.

Her husband reported her missing the next day and a search was launched that afternoon, with temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius.

Inspector David Checkley said they were very concerned for her welfare not only because of the heat but also because the area is covered in opal mine shafts.

Premium wool brands adapt to meet consumer demands

But a number of brands that rely on fine merino wool are opting to deal direct with farmers, to implement their own animal welfare standards and avoid the volatility of the open cry wool auction.

Jeremy Moon, founder of New Zealand brand Icebreaker, said the boom bust cycle made the wool auction unworkable.

"We purchase typically up to three years in advance," he said.

"We have contracts with a handpicked group of the best NZ merino growers and we agree on a fair price that is profitable for them and for us.

Minichiello excited by Blues fullback contest

The departure of series-winning 2014 fullback Jarryd Hayne to the NFL left a huge gulf at the back but the form of Josh Dugan in 2015 combined with the performances at NRL and representative level of James Tedesco and Matt Moylan – followed by Hayne's return in late 2016 – means coach Laurie Daley is now blessed with an embarrassment of riches in that spot.

If anything the headache will be how to fit so many stars into the same team, Minichiello told NRL.com at a Blues developing players pathway event at ANZ Stadium this week.

Peter Nevill's shock Test admission

After playing in the first two Tests against South Africa this summer, Nevill was dropped for the dead rubber third match in favour of Matthew Wade.

Nevill, who scored a total of 92 runs – including an unbeaten 60 – across four innings, was demoted back to Shield cricket, with selectors preferring the big-hitting Wade down the order.

It was a decision many saw coming after Australia went behind 0-2 in the series, and Nevill says he has no complaints.

NSW down PNG 16-12 in curtain raiser

PNG raced away to a 10-0 after only 15 minutes of play in the first half through a double from hooker Nathan Tente.

Behind on the scoreboard early in the game, NSW found their rhythm quickly and fought their way back.

The visitors found the try line 10 minutes out from half time when Jake Collins scored out on the wing.

A successful conversion further narrowed the score down to 10-6 going into the break.

Poor ball handling from PNG did no good for them as they gave away too much possession to NSW.