David Warner was named Australia vice-captain for the tri-series, and thus, when Michael Clarke was ruled out of Friday’s match against Sri Lanka, he would have expected to be named captain.But instead, the national selection panel decided to go for the vast experience of Ricky Ponting, since they were bent on ‘resting’ Test vice- captain Brad Haddin, and didn’t consider Warner experienced enough for the job.On Wednesday, Warner himself stated that the move was fine with him. “Obviously, appointing Ricky as captain is due to his experience and that’s an opportunity for me to be under him as well and he’s led the country for many years so I’m looking forward to being his vice (captain),” Warner said on Wednesday.”I’m just actually happy I’m playing another one-day game for Australia, that’s the main thing. Obviously, I haven’t had a great start to the one-day series… as selectors have noted they don’t want to put any extra pressure on myself and I agree with that.”Chairman of selectors John Inverarity claimed that Warner was not ready for the top job yet. “David Warner is a young player making his way. He displays considerable leadership potential, but the selection panel is of the view that he should not, at this moment, have the added responsibility of captaincy thrust on him. David has been gaining valuable experience under Michael Clarke’s captaincy and now he will have the opportunity to grow his leadership skills further as vice-captain to Ricky Ponting.”The selectors drew flak from legendary Australia skipper Steve Waugh, who slammed the decision to revert the captaincy to Ponting. “If David Warner is in there as vice-captain, I assume they think he’s leadership material and if he’s vice-captain why can’t he captain the side as well?,” Waugh was quoted as saying by the Australian media. “Ricky will do it blindfolded but the future is probably David Warner, so I’m surprised they didn’t go to Warner.”advertisementThis is the second time in a month that Warner has been overlooked for the top job, despite being tagged as the future Australia captain. Uncapped Tasmanian George Bailey was appointed to lead the Twenty20 team in the two internationals against India.While Waugh may not understand the decision, another former Test skipper, Kim Hughes, says it was right not to give the captaincy to Warner.”As far as establishing himself as a consistent player, he’s a long, long way away from that,” Hughes told Melbourne radio station SEN .”He’s intuitive, brilliant in the field, but I just think the last thing he needs is too many burdens. At this stage Warner is still coming to grips with what he needs to be to become a great player, which we all hope he will be, and that’s consistency.” read more

​Depay praises Man Utd midfielder Pereira for Liverpool performanceby Freddie Taylor2 days agoSend to a friendShare the loveFormer Manchester United winger Memphis Depay has praised the club’s attacking midfielder Andreas Pereira.The latter has endured some criticism from United fans for his indifferent displays this season.But Pereira was impressive in the no.10 role as United battled for a 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday.And he earned praise from Depay for that performance.When Pereira posted about the game on his Instagram account, Depay replied by saying “You was [fire emoji].” About the authorFreddie TaylorShare the loveHave your say

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press A global agency that sets rules for the seas is studying the environmental effects of more and more rocket stages that may contain toxic fuel dropping into the world’s oceans.The International Maritime Organization’s concern comes after Inuit groups expressed anger over Russian launch stages splashing down in Canadian waters hunters depend on for food. It also follows research detailing a satellite industry growing worldwide despite little understanding of its consequences.“Right now we are just starting an information-gathering phase,” said Linda Porebski, a senior Environment Canada official who heads one of the maritime group’s scientific bodies, which has just met in Vancouver.“We are generally aware there are an increasing number of launches, and that there are booster rockets that fall, and that there is potentially fuel on board.”General awareness is all there is of the rapidly expanding industry, said David Santillo, a Greenpeace-funded biologist at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom.“We can’t get very far in terms of knowing exactly what’s going to be launched, how much of that is going to come down in the oceans, what material it’s going to be carrying, how much excess fuel,” he said.“It’s very hard to get that information.”Greenpeace decided to dig into the issue in 2017 following Inuit concerns that a Russian-launched rocket carrying a satellite owned by the European Space Agency would drop a stage in the North Water Polynya, one of the Arctic’s most biologically productive areas.Academic research found at least 11 such splashdowns since 2002. All of those rockets were fuelled by highly toxic hydrazine.Documents released under access-to-information laws suggest there have been others. A launch site in French Guiana also uses trajectories that drop debris in the Arctic. “Residual hazardous fuel may still be in tanks on re-entry,” the documents say. They list 39 sites around the globe. Santillo’s research found at least 30 companies sending satellites into orbit, some with plans for weekly liftoffs. A company in Canso, N.S., has applied to launch hydrazine-fuelled rockets.Little is public about their trajectories or possible debris, Santillo said.Although rockets routinely carry a supply of extra fuel, officials dismiss the risk. The European Space Agency has said leftovers are burned up on re-entry.Canadian government documents echo that.“Hydrazine is unlikely to still be present by the time the debris falls to Earth,” wrote one staff member at Global Affairs Canada. Another called the likelihood of rocket fuel entering the oceans a “false narrative.”Others aren’t so sure.“It is somewhat possible that upwards of 10 per cent of residual fuel could potentially be present in the upper stage of a launch vehicle,” wrote one official from National Defence, although she added it was “quite likely” the risk would be “very low.”Porebski wrote in response to another email: “I am not sure I share your assessments of the claims of the risks being overblown, especially given the potential for great increases in traffic … certainly there is a lack of tracking or hard data to support any real conclusions about risks or impacts.” Research from Russian launch sites suggests some fuel does reach the water’s surface. Hydrazine is gradually being phased out of most space programs, but Santillo said other fuels are also harmful.“There is general concern. The difficulty is getting information on what those alternative fuels are and how they would behave in the environment.”Contaminants could include other materials such as battery components, Santillo said.“Each of them has a cumulative environmental burden.”Porebski said her group has requested information from governments as well as international bodies involved with space. She said it’s hoped there will be preliminary data by June.“We’re looking at starting a dialogue on how we would go forward.”Santillo said the space industry is the only one left using oceans without any kind of regulation. Now’s the time to reconsider, he said.“The earlier there can be this type of thinking, the more chance there is that we can achieve something a bit more sustainable than launching a vehicle and forgetting about it.”— Follow Bob Weber on Twitter at @row1960  read more

Stay on target Anime streaming services seem to be taking over the internet. You’ve got Crunchyroll, Funimation, Hulu’s anime section and several others. There are plenty of ways to stream your favorite shows if you’re willing to pay to do it, and Amazon is hoping you’ll spend a fiver on its latest subscription anime streaming service Anime Strike.Currently, the channel has rights to anime that’s currently already airing in Japan like Scum’s Wish and Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga, as well as older shows like When They Cry, One-Punch Man, and a smattering of others. There’s a decent offering of anime if you need to supplement your other choices, but on its own, at the moment it’s a little weaker than the other options out there.But that’s probably to be expected since it just made its debut. The service was just launched, and for $4.99 a month in addition to your Amazon Prime subscription (yes, it’s a paid extra unfortunately). But you’ll gain access to over 1,000 anime titles, with several exclusive titles that you can only find on that service, simulcasts, and classic films from the annals of anime history. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial if you’re interested in trying out the service, but you’ll have to have already been signed up for Amazon Prime to add it to your video inventory.This is part of a new Amazon Channels initiative that began in earnest in December 2015, where Amazon adds specialized services like HBO, Stars or Showtime and online-only offerings that you can pay additional fees for to enjoy.If you’re looking to choose which anime streaming service might work best for you, keep in mind that there are both Japanese and English voice tracks for several shows on here if that tips the scales, and there are new episodes being added every week. It’s going to be a pretty decent contender for sure, but it’ll need more time to incubate before it can offer as many awesome shows as some of its competition does.Let us know what you like about Geek by taking our survey. Amazon Employees Join Sept. 20 Global Climate WalkoutGeek Pick: Amazon Smart Plug Puts Alexa in Your Walls read more