The Guardian

Updates from the decider in Colombo, 9am GMT start Always in reserve: Dawson’s moment beckons at last Sri Lanka Nissanka, Mishara, Kusal Mendis (wk), Dhananjaya, Asalanka (c), Liyanage, P Rathnayeke, Wellalage, Hasaranga, Vandersay, A Fernando. England Rehan, Duckett, Root, Bethell, Brook (c), Buttler (wk), Jacks, S Curran, J Overton, Dawson, Rashid. Continue reading...

From a cult hero ski jumper, to African bobsleigh pioneers and more, here are half a dozen unexpected heroes Michael “Eddie the Eagle” Edwards, was the antithesis of the Olympic high-flyer. Heavily disadvantaged by his 82kg (181lb) weight – far heavier than his rivals – poor eyesight and the small matter of being entirely self-funded, he became Great Britain’s first Olympic ski jumper. He finishe…

A staggering 32 of 36 teams go into the final set of matches with their hopes of staying in the competition still alive With seven wins from seven, Arsenal have a perfect record in the league phase. Only Bayern Munich and Inter have found the net against Mikel Arteta’s team, who dismissed Atlético Madrid 4-0 in October. The bottom side, Kairat, visit the Emirates Stadium on the final night, with …

The Leicester City chair plays down talk of another relegation but knows the mood among fans is fraught Leicester City are hurting but Aiyawatt “Top” Srivaddhanaprabha, looking towards the pitch at the King Power Stadium, insists he shares supporters’ frustrations. He acknowledges the warm glow of their extraordinary Premier League title win almost a decade ago has long faded. He watches every ga…

Live updates from the last eight at Melbourne Park Sabalenka beats heat and Jovic | And you can mail Katy G’day and welcome to the 42C furnace that is the Australian Open – day 10 night session! If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, has anything changed for Alex de Minaur as he heads into his seventh grand slam quarter-final wit…

There is no special trick to the interim manager’s early success, just a commitment to sound and sensible thinking What must Ruben Amorim make of it? Maybe that 3-4-2-1 might not be the answer for this Manchester United team? Perish the thought. The club’s recently sacked manager was clear that not even the pope would make him change – presumably because Leo XIV is also a big fan of three centre-…

18-year-old was expected to stay with Hansi Flick’s side Joan Laporta describes move as ‘an unpleasant situation’ Barcelona have confirmed the departure of talented young midfielder Dro Fernández to Paris Saint-Germain with the club president, Joan Laporta, describing the situation around his move as “unpleasant”. Dro, who joined the club at 14, made his first-team debut in September, and turned …

Leeds may have felt pressure after Nottingham Forest and West Ham closed the gap over the weekend but showed no discernible sign of nerves at Everton. Daniel Farke’s visitors claimed a well-earned point at Hill Dickinson Stadium following a dominant first half display. It could have been much more but for the David Moyes changes that turned the tide Everton’s way in the second half. Thierno Barry…

Browns QB to replace Super Bowl-bound Drake Maye Sanders threw seven TDs and 10 interceptions this season Shedeur Sanders will reportedly become a Pro Bowler in his rookie season as a replacement for Drake Maye. ESPN reported on Monday that the Cleveland Browns rookie has bettered his Hall of Fame father, Deion Sanders, who was drafted in 1989 but had to wait until 1991 to receive the first of hi…

Open letter to Fifa and all football associations It condemns killings, arrests and threats against athletes A group of prominent Iranians with links to football have called on Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, to condemn the killing and arrest of footballers in Iran and the threats made against players in the country. The demand was made in open letter also addressed to the presidents of Fifa’…

AMR26 car will not run until Thursday and Friday Williams unable to take to the track at all in Spain The Aston Martin team have admitted they are to miss at least one day of their allotted three at Formula One’s first pre-season test in Barcelona and will not run their car before Thursday at the earliest. They are the second team to fail to take full advantage of the opening test after Williams …

Borthwick: ‘We are deeply saddened for him’ Itoje misses launch of 2026 Six Nations England will kick off their Six Nations training camp in Spain this week without their captain, Maro Itoje, who has travelled to Nigeria for his mother’s funeral. Itoje was conspicuously absent from the official Six Nations championship launch in Edinburgh on Monday and is not expected to join up with his squad un…

Injury to Champion Hurdle favourite and contentious decision to run final race overshadow disrupted Trials Day Before the first of the eight races at Cheltenham on Saturday, the afternoon promised to deliver on its Trials Day billing from start to finish, with serious contenders for festival glory in March scattered throughout the card. By the end, the main lesson concerned the vagaries of chance…

Ex-Fifa boss shows support for boycott calls Security concerns over tournament have risen Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter on Monday suggested he supports fans boycotting World Cup matches in the United States this year due to security concerns. Blatter gave his support to comments from Swiss anti-corruption lawyer Mark Pieth, who worked with Fifa on potential reforms when Blatter was president…

Farai Hallam trusted his own judgment on Yerson Mosquera incident despite a VAR review and, in doing so, showed the way forward I refereed professional football for 25 years. We were talking about handball when I started, and it remains one of the most discussed topics in the game. One reason for this is that we’ve had a number of law changes by the International Football Association Board (Ifab)…