sion was formed to run the sport. It is a collaborat

New Zealand women captain Suzie Bates became the first player to win both the ICC Womens ODI and T20I Player-of-the-Year awards. Bates had won the womens ODI Player-of-the-Year award in 2013 but has been named the T20I Player of the Year for the first time.The ICC took into consideration the 12 months between September 14, 2015 and September 20, 2016 which included the Womens World T20 in India this year and the Womens Championship that concluded recently. Bates scored 472 runs in seven ODI innings at an average of 94.40, second behind Trisha Chettys tally of 506 runs from 10 innings. Bates also took eight wickets at an economy rate of 3.75 during the period, the second-highest for a New Zealand player after Erin Berninghams 14 wickets.In T20Is, Bates topped the run-scorers list with 429 runs, that included four half-centuries, at an average of 42.90. Currently in Australia for the Womens Big Bash League, Bates said: It was a bit of a surprise to find out that I had won both these awards. It is always nice to be recognised for performances and after a busy year of cricket, I am pleased to have managed some consistency over both formats.The awards are always nice but the most important thing for me is to make sure I am performing consistently and helping put the team in a position to win more games.For the past one-and-a-half years, our team has been performing very well and lots of different players have stood up and performed under pressure. It is heartening to see that the team is doing very well going into the ICC Womens World Cup 2017 which will be held in England and Wales.New Zealand automatically qualified for next years World Cup by finishing third in the Womens Championship under Bates captaincy. They won 13 of their 21 matches that counted towards the championship. New Zealand had also reached the semi-finals of the World T20 earlier this year.Bates was also named in the Womens Team of the Year 2016, announced by the ICC for the first time, with West Indies Stafanie Taylor as the captain. The side was selected by a panel chaired by Clare Connor and took into account performances during the same 12-month period from September 2015 to September 2016.Womens Team of the Year (in batting order): Suzie Bates (New Zealand), Rachel Priest (New Zealand) (wk), Smriti Mandhana (India), Stafanie Taylor (West Indies) (capt), Meg Lanning (Australia), Ellyse Perry (Australia), Heather Knight (England), Deandra Dottin (West Indies), Sune Luus (South Africa), Anya Shrubsole (England), Leigh Kasperek (New Zealand), Kim Garth (12th) (Ireland)Where To Buy Cheap Jerseys . Capitals head coach Adam Oates said Ovechkin was injured in the first period against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday and clarified it was not a head injury. Cheap Jerseys For Sale . Its an influence in football and a big part of the game. https://www.cheapjerseysreview.com/ .C. -- Rodney Hood connected from all over the court while freshman Jabari Parker was busy swatting shots and scoring in transition. Cheap Jerseys Review . Takahashi, who had a 10-point lead after the short program, received 268.31 points after the free skate to finish 15 points ahead of second-place Nobunari Oda. Wholesale Jerseys Online . The judges scored it 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 for Jones (19-1). It was the champions closest call. Despite the loss, it was a remarkable show by the confident Swedish challenger, who had the best of the early rounds and then hung on in the fourth and fifth.RIO DE JANEIRO -- Baseball and softball are returning to the Olympics in 2020, while skateboarding, surfing, karate and sport climbing are joining the games for the first time.The IOC approved the addition of the sports Wednesday for the Tokyo Games, calling it an innovative mix of traditional and youth-oriented events that will attract Japanese and global fans.The five, including a combined baseball-softball bid, were put forward for inclusion last year by Tokyo organizers. Under new IOC rules, host cities can propose additional sports for their own games.IOC members voted unanimously to accept the five sports as a package. The approval was for the Tokyo Games only.The new sports will add 18 events and 474 athletes to the program. The Tokyo Games will now feature 33 sports and about 11,000 athletes, compared to the usual number of 28 sports and 10,500 athletes.While mens baseball and womens softball -- both highly popular in Japan -- will be returning after a 12-year absence, the other sports will be making their Olympic debuts.The IOC called it the most comprehensive evolution of the Olympic program in modern history.Taken together, the five sports are an innovative combination of established and emerging, youth-focused events that are popular in Japan and will add to the legacy of the Tokyo Games, IOC President Thomas Bach said.Baseball and softball have been off the Olympic program since the 2008 Beijing Games. The two were rejected in separate bids to return for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, so they combined forces to put forward a single bid for inclusion in Tokyo.Mens baseball was a full part of the Olympic program from 1992 to 2008, with womens softball joining in 1996. The IOC voted them both out in 2005.Baseball will have a six-team tournament, short of the eight-team format sought by officials from the sports international federation. Womens softball will also have six teams. The games will be played at a shared venue In Yokohama.Todays historic decision by the IOC is a `home run for the Olympics, our sport and the Tokyo 2020 Games, said Riccardo Fraccari, president of the World Baseball Softball Confederation.Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred also welcomed the IOC vote.Baseball and softball are global sports that belong in the Olympics, he said, adding that their approval will allow fans throughout the world to again enjoy baseball and softball on the Olympic stage.Craig Cress, executive director of USA Softball, said many young players had suffered after the sport was removed from the games.Their hearts were broken that they werent allowed to participate for their country at the Olympics in the sport that they had a passion for, he said. Now, thats backk.dddddddddddd In 2020, its our job as ambassadors of the sport to put on a great show in Tokyo.Before the vote, several IOC members questioned whether baseball would have the worlds top players at the games. While pro leagues in Japan and some other countries have agreed to shut down their seasons to send their players to the Olympics, MLB has declined to do so.Franco Carraro, who chairs the IOCs program commission, said he hopes the international federation can still reach an agreement with MLB, in line with the deals with the NBA and NHL that brought pro basketball and ice hockey players into the Olympics.If not, Carraro said, said it will be difficult for baseball to be included in the future beyond the Tokyo Games.Fraccari said talks with MLB are very open and going in a very good way.Our goal is not to appear one time but to be permanently in the program, he said. The goal is to have the best players possible.Skateboarding will have street and park events, and feature 80 athletes -- 40 men and 40 women. In climbing, 40 competitors will take part in the disciplines of speed, bouldering and lead (also known as sport). Karate will have 80 athletes competing in mens and womens Kumite and Kata events, while surfing will have two shortboard events for 40 competitors.The surfing competition will be held on natural waves at a beach location in Chiba prefecture.Our Olympic dream has now become a reality, International Surfing Association president Fernando Aguerre said. This is a game-changing moment for surfing.Skateboarding and sports climbing events will be held in temporary venues in urban settings in Tokyo, while karate will be contested at the Nippon Budokan in the capital.Ive always believed that if skateboarding was properly protected and supported, its appearance on the Olympic stage could change the world, International Skateboarding Federation president Gary Ream said.Skateboardings approval came despite tensions between rival federations.For the Olympics, a special Tokyo 2020 skateboarding commission was formed to run the sport. It is a collaboration between the International Roller Sports Federation (FIRS) and the ISF.A lawsuit was filed last week in California by the World Skateboarding Federation (WSF). It alleged the ISF abruptly canceled scheduled drug testing at an event last year because of fears that several riders would test positive.The lawsuit also alleged that Ream struck up a friendly relationship with Christophe Dubi, the IOC Olympic Games executive director, and provided Dubis son with free training at a skateboarding camp he owned. ' ' '