The Guardian

With the final round of fixtures played on Tuesday, only one county are sure to be playing in the quarter-finals By the 99.94 Cricket Blog Middlesex, having lost just one of seven matches to date, cannot be caught for a top three slot in Group B and will play in the knockout phase on Friday or Sunday or both – it’s complicated. The better of their two wins last week came at Chester-le-Street and …

Fulham sign Shea Charles from Saints for £30m Chelsea’s Filip Jorgensen moves to Strasbourg on loan Nottingham Forest have signed Côte d’Ivoire defender Ousmane Diomande from Sporting Lisbon for an undisclosed fee, reported to be £34.2m. The 22-year-old centre-half, who featured in the Côte d’Ivoire’s World Cup squad, has agreed a four-year deal with Forest, who have an option for a further year.…

Keith Andrews and the high-scoring Igor Thiago face difficult second album after outperforming expectations Guardian writers’ predicted position: 8th (NB: this is not necessarily John Brewin’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips) Last season’s position: 9th Continue reading...

WSL team will be favourites against Spanish side Financial implications of missing out are significant Chelsea will face Real Sociedad in the Women’s Champions League’s third qualifying round, needing a victory over two legs to earn a place in the main league phase of the competition. The 2021 runners-up and six-time European semi-finalists are taking part in the qualifying stage by virtue of the…

Our cartoonist welcomes the EFL back, with returning characters and a look at what it’s like as an exiled supporter Buy a cartoon | Some of David’s favourite works And his latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now Continue reading...

Pair sign four-year deals after swapping clubs ‘This is a club that wants to go in the right direction’ Crystal Palace and Everton have agreed a straight swap for Brennan Johnson and Dwight McNeil – six months after McNeil’s partner accused Palace of messing with his mental health after pulling out of a deal. McNeil and Johnson, who became Palace’s record signing when he joined in January from To…

One of the player’s WNBA rivals said the Fever guard is treated differently from her Black peers. There’s plenty of evidence to back that statement up White privilege. An accusation that triggers multitudes of white people in America as if you had insulted their mother. Mention racism, and people may debate you. Mention discrimination, and people may even listen. But say the words “white privileg…

American scores 19.06 to beat Gabriel Medina at Tahiti Pro Eleven-time world champion tames Teahupo’o barrels Even at the grand old age of 54, the evergreen Kelly Slater’s mastery of surfing appears to know no bounds. Having been handed a wildcard for the Tahiti Pro, the American delivered yet another masterclass as he tamed Teahupo’o, one of the world’s heaviest waves, to knock out Gabriel Medin…

Plan under consideration if sale of existing franchises is approved CA board to meet on Wednesday determined to pursue hybrid model Cricket Australia is ready to explore a potential expansion of the Big Bash League to 10 teams if controversial plans to sell off some of the existing franchises are approved. The Cricket Australia Board meet on Wednesday determined to pursue a hybrid model under whi…

Former Olympic super-heavyweight champion takes satisfaction from changing British boxing for the better, but still wants to train a world champion “I was the Olympic champion, and I was the next big thing, but the system had to win,” Audley Harrison says as he reflects on his rise and fall as a fighter who changed so much in British boxing while failing to fulfil his grandest ambitions in the ri…

Salford and Chesterfield look set to challenge for promotion, while Rochdale and York could struggle after managerial changes Salford meekly lost the playoff final and that was the end of days for Karl Robinson as he was sacked. Peter Cklamovski was not the obvious replacement, but the Australian left behind the Malaysia national side for a crack at League Two with the rebranded Ammies, who are b…

US president backs ‘fantastic’ Infantino in Truth Social post Infantino under pressure following doomed World Cup sell-off plan US president Donald Trump has warned Fifa would be making a “terrible mistake” if they get rid of Gianni Infantino as the head of world football’s governing body. Infantino has come under pressure following his doomed plan to sell off stakes in the men’s World Cup to pri…

New head coach Marco Rose has a lot to live up to after last season’s sixth-placed finish while fans have a first year in Europe to look forward to Guardian writers’ predicted position: 12th (NB: this is not necessarily Ben Fisher’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips) Last season’s position: 6th Continue reading...

Morocco international midfielder has agreed terms Barça to return with improved bid for Rodri Manchester City are closing in on signing Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille, with the midfielder’s expected arrival clearing the path for Rodri to join Barcelona. The 18-year-old has agreed personal terms with City, but the club are still finalising the deal with Lille who value Bouaddi at €100m (£85m). City’s n…

24-year-old secures title in 11.00sec in Birmingham Norway win 4x400m mixed relay, Britain second Britain’s Amy Hunt sprinted to women’s 100m glory to take a brilliant gold at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham. The 24-year-old came into the event as favourite, having won world silver over 200m in Tokyo and 100m at the Commonwealth Games a fortnight ago – and she delivered in emph…