The Guardian

For many of the performers in the 12-month circus, the tour can be soul-destroying and lonely with only the promise of untold wealth to keep them chasing the dream “It’s a lonely place,” Stephen Bunting reflected as he sat quietly in Alexandra Palace on Saturday night, the tears welling in his eyes. “If things don’t go right, you can look at your family, your management, you can look at your spon…

The Spin’s annual selection marks a history-making World Cup triumph for India, and work to do for England India’s mission to build a global women’s cricket dynasty advanced apace in 2025. Few will forget the sight of Harmanpreet Kaur’s team converging joyously on the field at the DY Patil Stadium to celebrate a fairytale World Cup win that was five decades in the making. That final was the highl…

Egypt forward could change face of a league so far mostly reliant on ageing stars and alter perception of football in the Arab world Mohamed Salah has made an impact in Morocco with an injury-time winner to spare Egypt’s blushes in their Africa Cup of Nations opener against Zimbabwe but his future intervention in Saudi Arabia could be more meaningful. A Saudi Pro League (SPL) that had been moving…

⚽ Updates from Group E fixture; kick-off 12.30pm GMT ⚽ Scores | Follow us on Bluesky | Email Will Ed Aarons on the announcement Afcon is changing to be every four years and the impact of the decision. Catch up with yesterday’s action at Afcon. Continue reading...

Five-time major champion looks poised to become a fascinating test case for golf’s future after exiting Saudi-funded breakaway tour It was portrayed as amicable when it felt so inevitable. News that Brooks Koepka will step away from LIV Golf in 2026 comes as no shock. This never felt a particularly sensible alliance; an individual who craves glory at the top level and a disruption regime that has…

With just one top-flight Boxing Day fixture this year, our cartoonist takes a look at how players, coaches and officials might spend their time David’s favourite cartoons of 2025 | Buy one here And his latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now Continue reading...

Archer ruled out for rest of series with side strain Pope dropped for MCG Test with Bethell and Atkinson in Ben Stokes has called for the public and the media to show “empathy” towards his embattled England players. It comes as their Ashes campaign threatens to fully unravel in response to a guaranteed series defeat and allegations of excessive drinking during a mid-tour break in Noosa. Sitting 3…

Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Magalhães among those playing games with children, some of whom have been receiving treatment for several years There’s a buzz going around Great Ormond Street hospital’s Koala ward. After the England captain, Leah Williamson, and her Arsenal teammate Steph Catley visited the previous week, rumours have been spreading that there could be some more very special guests arriv…

Portland Fire are set for their debut season in the WNBA. Their coach has completed an unlikely journey to the top of his sport As an aspiring basketball coach in his teens and early 20s, Alex Sarama was often met with snickers when he talked about the game he loved. For the British-born Sarama, who on 28 October was named the head coach of the WNBA’s newest expansion team, the Portland Fire, peo…

Footage emerges of what appears to be Ben Duckett worse for wear England team director defends decision to allow Queensland rest Rob Key has defended England’s mid-tour break in Noosa but confirmed he will look into reports that excessive drinking by players in between the second and third Ashes Tests turned it into a “glorified stag do”. Key was speaking before unverified social media footage em…

Opening salvos before a huge MCG crowd are often among the most memorable meetings between Australia and England – here are five crackers In the first session Australia set off at a lick, surging to 102 without loss with David Warner’s 83 the crux. Warner would go on to notch his 21st Test century, but not without a spot of drama when one run shy. Pity poor Tom Curran, who thought he had claimed …

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Governing body is unlikely to commission any formal inquiries, having lost control of the sport’s governance and operations The England and Wales Cricket Board will have few shots to play in its review of the Ashes tour when it meets next month to sift through the wreckage of the series. The tone and outcome of those meetings will be determined by whether England can rally or are whitewashed in A…

FA Cup-winning manager and former King of the Jungle has live hopes of landing the big Boxing Day prize at Kempton with Jukebox Man He has been a professional footballer, an FA Cup-winning manager and the King of the Jungle over the storied course of the past 60 years, but as Harry Redknapp talked about The Jukebox Man, his King George VI Chase contender, at Ben Pauling’s stable last week, he was…

From the Super Bowl to UFC cards to the US Open to the Ryder Cup, the US president has turned sport into his own personal stage. There’s more to come Considering he’s the self-declared hardest working president to ever hold the office, Donald Trump has spent a remarkable amount of the past year on down time. In 2025, he loomed over sports like no American politician before him, his visits to stad…