The Guardian

England fast bowler to train as planned in build-up to first Test 33-year-old sits out rest of warm-up fixture against Lions in Perth Mark Wood has been cleared to resume his Ashes preparations after a scan on his left hamstring, where he had reported some “stiffness” on Thursday , found no damage. “Following precautionary scans on Friday, England fast bowler Mark Wood has been cleared of any con…

Slovakia win 1-0 and battle with Germany for top spot Netherlands nearly there after draw in Poland Michael O’Neill fumed at a goal that “should clearly have been disallowed” after Northern Ireland ’s hopes of progressing from World Cup qualifying Group A were ended by the Slovakia debutant Tomas Bobcek in a 1-0 stoppage-time defeat in Kosice. Bobcek, who had only been on the pitch for three minu…

He coaxed greatness from teammates, bent occasions to his will and mastered the most complex of arts, but best of all he connected like few others in sport The 100 greatest men’s Ashes cricketers of all time Raise the Playboy pants like a pirate flag. Twirl the big brimmer in celebration. It was always going to be Shane, really, wasn’t it. We did of course have a countdown first , because people …

The timing was just right for coach to return to his roots and get batch of superstars firing in time for a qualifying playoff There was widespread approval from Sweden’s well-wishers when, during a training camp in Marbella this week, Graham Potter announced his new charges would play a variation of 4-4-2. A national team once tipped for greatness had been frayed, disconnected and muddled for to…

Maro Itoje and company have talked the talk and are hungry to follow through with a first win at home over New Zealand since 2012 For better or worse it has been lashing down in south-west London. Good news for restocking the reservoirs but rather less so for dry-ball rugby. Had England played New Zealand 24 hours earlier it would have resembled a game of outdoor water polo and, although the matc…

Winner to face Carlos Alcaraz in Turin semi-finals Sign up for our Sport in Focus newsletter | Mail Katy The occupational hazards of round-robin tennis mean by this stage of the ATP Finals we’re often left scratching our heads, scrambling about for a calculator and trying to work out the brain-busting permutations of qualification. But tonight’s match between Alexander Zverev and Felix Auger-Alia…

Coach hopes to match spirit of his 2021 Chelsea team Tuchel needs strong bench ‘after a long, long season’ Thomas Tuchel wants his England substitutes to channel any anger they feel at not starting into making the difference when they can because the team that win the World Cup will be defined by productivity off the bench. The head coach will prepare a heat-proof gameplan for the finals next sum…

There were distinct echoes of Tony McCoy and Wichita Lineman when the current champion won on Wade Out On an afternoon for the National Hunt diehards here on Friday, as Storm Claudia battered racegoers and runners alike, one rider’s refusal to be cowed by either the elements or circumstance was a beacon in the gloom. There were distinct echoes of Tony McCoy’s famous never-say-die ride on Wichita …

Club hope to have Frenchman in charge next weekend Any compensation not regarded as problematic Celtic are to accelerate talks with Wilfried Nancy over the weekend as the Columbus Crew manager edges closer to replacing Brendan Rodgers in Glasgow. Celtic are understood to have informed the Major League Soccer side on Friday of their plans, with any compensation required to coax the Frenchman not r…

Jess Park joined United on deadline day and will take on the leaders in Andrée Jeglertz’a first derby as City manager Emotions will be heightened on Saturday when Manchester City and Manchester United come head-to-head in the Women’s Super League for the 12th time. From Caroline Weir’s sublime lob to Georgia Stanway’s red card and Ella Toone’s hat-trick at the Etihad Stadium, in recent years this…

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! Football Daily, for research/self-loathing purposes, recently sat through Cristiano Ronaldo’s latest chat with Piers Morgan. Among many moments of hubris, self-celebration and smoke being blown up the great man’s rear end by the ever-willing Morgan, Ronaldo took a typical moment of quiet self-reflection. “I think in the world, nobody is more fam…

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Max Rushden and Geoff Lemon are joined by Emma John and Ali Martin to discuss the Guardian’s top 100 Ashes cricketers and debate the merits of the top 10 Find the full top 100 list here Continue reading...

Max Rushden is joined by Dan Bardell, Jacob Steinberg and Sam Dalling as Republic of Ireland beat Portugal 2-0 to reignite hopes of a World Cup playoff place Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts , Soundcloud , Audioboom , Mixcloud , Acast and Stitcher , and join the conversation on Facebook , Twitter and email . On the podcast today; Republic of Ireland’s dreams of qualifying are kept alive by T…

Gripping contest in April damaged both men who wouldn’t be in the ring again if it weren’t for their fathers’ fights Boxing has always been a deeply cynical business. The overwhelming objective for most promoters, and many fighters, is to rake in as much money as quickly as possible without any undue concern about looking crass or desperate. Anyone who has spent just a little time in the company …