Firstpost Spodcast Episode 18: Fernando Alonso quits F1, Ben Stokes not guilty and more on our daily sports podcast

Welcome to Spodcast, the sports update on Firstpost, where we do a quick run through of the big sports news of the day. In today’s episode, we talk about Ben Stokes’ trial, Fernando Alonso’s decision to quit Formula One, Romesh Powar being appointed as the head coach of the Indian women’s cricket team, Tiemoue Bakayoko’s move to AC Milan and Viswanathan Anand’s performance at St Louis Rapid and Blitz tournament. England all-rounder Ben Stokes has been found not guilty in his trial on the charge of affray in a Bristol court. He had been involved in a brawl outside a nightclub in September 2017, just hours after a one-day international against the West Indies. The presiding judge had rejected the prosecution’s attempt to charge Stokes with two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. During the course of the trial, Stokes’s legal team tried to have the case against him dropped but that too was turned down by the judge. Stokes missed the second Test against India to attend this trial. He has also not been named in the squad for the third Test match that starts on August 18. The ECB had said they would review Stokes’s position after the trial. Meanwhile, Former India player Romesh Powar was named the head coach of the women’s national cricket team by the BCCI yesterday. Powar was made interim coach in July after the previous coach, Tushar Arothe, resigned following reports that the players were not happy with his training methods. The Board’s secretary Amitabh Choudhary said, “Powar has now been handed over full-time duties till 30 November, 2018.” Under Powar, the women’s team underwent a training camp at the National Cricket Academy. Powar will also oversee a tour to Sri Lanka, a bilateral series in the West Indies in October, and the ICC Women’s World T20 in November, which will also be hosted by the West Indies. In football news, French player Tiemoue Bakayoko, who has had a frustrating time at Chelsea, will be joining AC Milan on a one-year loan. The Serie A side has reportedly signed 23-year-old Bakayoko for an initial amount of 5.7 million dollars. Milan will also have the option to buy Bakayoko next summer by offering another $40 million. Some news from the world of chess now. Viswanathan Anand finished ninth in the rapid section of the St Louis Rapid and Blitz tournament. He started with a draw against Alexander Grischuk of Russia. He also drew against Fabiano Caruana of United States. However, Anand lost to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan in the final round of the Rapid section. In Formula One news, former champion Fernando Alonso might be quitting F1 and heading to IndyCar in the US. His team, McLaren Racing, said Alonso would not be returning to F1 next season. Alonso said, “I made this decision some months ago and it was a firm one.” He has also stated that the F1 leadership had tried to talk him into staying back. His statement also said, “…new exciting challenges are around the corner. I’m having one of the happiest times ever in my life but I need to go on exploring new adventures.”