Formula One: Williams have appointed Steve Nielsen as their new sporting manager, the Formula One team announced yesterday. Nielsen, who will be responsible for Williams’ overall management and operation of sporting matters, joins from Toro Rosso where he had been sporting director since 2013. The 50-year-old has also spent time as team manager at Tyrrell and Arrows and as sporting director at Benetton/Renault and Caterham during his 27 years in Formula One.

Cricket: Steven Smith will captain Australia’s test team for the rest of the series against India, with regular skipper Michael Clarke’s career in serious doubt due to persistent injury problems. Batsman Smith, aged 25 years and 195 days, becomes Australia’s youngest test captain since Kim Hughes who was named in 1979 at 25 years and 57 days, and the third-youngest all-time. Smith was in a two-horse race with wicket-keeper Brad Haddin to replace the 33-year-old Clarke, who suffered yet another hamstring strain during Australia’s victory charge on day five of the first test in Adelaide on Saturday.

Basketball: Kobe Bryant eclipsed Michael Jordan on the NBA all-time scoring list on Sunday, surpassing the legendary scorer during the second quarter of Los Angeles Lakers’ game at Minnesota Timberwolves. Bryant entered the game needing nine points to top the retired Jordan’s mark of 32,292 points and move into third on the all-time list. He achieved the mark with a pair of free-throws. Bryant finished the night with 26 points to run his scoring total to 32,310 as the Lakers defeated the Timberwolves 100-94. Bryant now trails only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points) and Karl Malone (36,928) in career points.

Rugby Union: The Yokohama stadium that staged the 2002 World Cup final between Brazil and Germany has been added to the list of potential venues for the 2019 rugby World Cup. The 72,000-seat stadium was not on the original shortlist of venues bidding to host matches but World Cup officials agreed to accept a late application from Yokohama and the Kanagawa Prefecture, of which it is the capital. A total of 15 cities and prefectures are now under consideration with a decision about the successful cities expected early next year.