The Guardian

Harlequins, Saints and Gloucester attracting interest Prem using Hundred sales as template for growth Harlequins, Northampton and Gloucester are attracting serious interest from overseas investors with Prem Rugby entering an expansionist phase before its first season as a closed league begins on Friday. A source with knowledge of the discussions disclosed that there have been approaches from seve…

Over-by-over updates, second ODI from 12.30pm BST Twenty-five ways that cricket has changed since 2000 First ODI report Harry Brook had called on his ­England players to continue the “high-octane” cricket witnessed during their clean sweep in the Twenty20s but this latest victory over Sri Lanka in the first one-day international was more of a slow-burn affair. Continue reading...

This week, we dive into the big questions surrounding the most surprising result of the Premier League weekend Before this past weekend, Arsenal had not lost in the Premier League since April. Nine straight league wins had been enough to crown the Gunners as champions at the end of last season and firmly establish them as the team to beat early this season. Against Brighton on Saturday, though, t…

Council members also want Balogun affair included Fifa president says review letter been well received Fifa council members will demand that Gianni Infantino include the abandoned World Cup sell-off plan and the Folarin Balogun affair in his proposed external review of Fifa’s governance. In a letter sent to all 211 of Fifa’s member associations on Monday Infantino said he would ask council to com…

Jenn Lichter’s childhood followed a difficult path. The resilience she gained helped her achieve an unbreakable ultrarunning feat this summer On 27 June, Jenn Lichter lined up for her first 100-mile race, the Western States 100. The oldest and most prestigious 100-miler in the world, Western States attracts a highly competitive field from around the globe – the athletes run across the Sierra Neva…

Updates from the final round of Championship games Warwickshire ‘in the groove’ as destiny calls Get in touch with James on email or comment BTL Hello and welcome to the final round of the 2026 County Championship. Jim here, I’m stepping into Tanya’s red stillettos, yes they have a prominent Dukes seam circling around the toe , for the next two days. Be gentle won’t you? Continue reading...

A new Paramount+ series premiering Thursday turns pushy sports parents into glossy entertainment – with the children largely ushered off stage Remember when pushy sports parents were deserving objects of our collective scorn? When Marv Marinovich and Jim Pierce were bywords for abusive fatherhood, Sarah Palin made the overbearing hockey mom a global punchline, and grim stories of pushy parents as…

Steve Borthwick’s side have yet to reap benefits promised two years ago, but Prem is now a vibrant spectacle This month marks two years since the power brokers of the English game held court at Twickenham, sat in the kind of room where old money swills on Saturdays, and told us they were spending £264m to “reshape the rugby landscape”. The professional game partnership (PGP) between the Rugby Foo…

England can learn from being five minutes from the final and they have home advantage and good players for Euro 2028 In the end, Steve, Brian, Gaz or similar, he’s just not done the job he was hired to do. The job? The one he was hired to do? He’s not done it. How can I put this? There are three things here. The job. The being hired. The doing it. And him. Four things. And if you put those things…

Barcelona winger says England cannot play like Spain Gordon: players ‘could have done more’ in semi-final Anthony Gordon has sided with Thomas Tuchel’s assertion that controlling games through possession is not part of English football’s DNA. Although Gordon revealed surprise at being substituted when England were 1-0 up in their World Cup semi-final against Argentina , the winger refused to blam…

On 23 September 1926, two of the best heavyweights in American history met in front of 120,000 fans in Philadelphia. The fight drew in a nation The two fights between Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney rank with boxing’s most-storied championship bouts and are among the greatest sports spectacles ever seen in America. Wednesday marks the one hundredth anniversary of their first encounter. Dempsey bridg…

England batter’s agony on missing out at Edgbaston reminded us that however well you play, a century remains the ultimate validation “Nooooo!” There was something about Dan Lawrence’s pained groan at Edgbaston in England’s first innings of the third Test against Pakistan. For a split second it looked as if he might plunge his bat into the turf like some tormented Norse warrior. His stumps had alr…

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! While football managers moaning about referees to deflect from their own teams’ shortcomings is nothing new, few do performative, wounded, righteous indignation with quite the same brooding intensity and petulance as José Mourinho. It’s been more than two decades since his moaning preceded a pile-on from angry fans whose threats forced the Swedi…

Prime minister says measure is discriminatory when fans of other sports are not similarly restricted Andy Burnham has signalled he may lift the ban on drinking alcohol in the stands at football matches, suggesting it is “unfair” for fans to be singled out when it is permitted for other sports. The prime minister, a committed Everton fan who still attends matches, said there was a case for trialli…

Wieke Kaptein’s early goal gave Chelsea a winning start to their Champions League campaign against Austria Vienna but it was a far from comfortable evening for the Blues. A David v Goliath scale endeavour welcomed the visiting team at the Cherry Red Records stadium. The mammoth financial gulf between the two teams was excellently highlighted by the Austrian broadcaster ORF in the buildup, which r…