The Guardian

Another ill-fated nocturnal excursion by a contracted player shows the new Test head coach should be on hand to set and enforce standards After a brief reprieve following the dominant Test victory last week against a timid Pakistan, once again talk of England and cricket is focused not on the game but on the behaviour of the people playing it. The England and Wales Cricket Board has reacted quick…

Cricket is a brutal game – you are basically being judged all the time. It’s no wonder players seek out ways of coping I once played with a young cricketer who would physically harm himself when he didn’t score enough runs. I won’t go into the detail of how because that isn’t really the point. The point is that a young professional cricketer had reached a place where getting out in a game of cric…

Plus: player-managers earning international caps, out-of-position goalkeepers sent off and footballers called up to jury service Mail us with your all of your questions and answers “After watching Dom Ballard’s backheel volley for Bristol City against Birmingham in game week two of the Championship, it begs the question: what’s the earliest in a season a goal has gone on to win goal of the season…

Batter claims 2014 head knock was mismanaged by Brighton Grammar Pucovski retired from cricket aged 27 after long history of concussions A private school football coach allegedly directed students to “go in hard” against each other during a training drill a Test cricketer claims left him with the first of a series of career-ending concussions. Former Test cricketer Will Pucovski has launched lega…

Former women’s No 1 proves she’s no nostalgia act before star pairing crash out in mixed doubles quarter-finals Serena Williams’ US Open return lasted two matches and one afternoon Tuesday as she and Carlos Alcaraz followed a first-round win with a quarter-final defeat by Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli in the headline attraction of the reimagined mixed doubles competition. Back inside Arthur A…

Center Kate Koval departs after one season with Tigers Anna Minaeva of Russia joined team earlier this month Kim Mulkey hoped two could be ‘ambassadors’ for peace Ukrainian center Kate Koval is leaving LSU less than two weeks after the Tigers brought in a player from Russia. LSU coach Kim Mulkey said Monday night that Koval was leaving for “personal reasons”, adding that the program will “respect…

British No 2 looks back on ‘Fery-tale’ after dealing with injury and shares his ranking goals before US Open debut “I was around 300 in the world and still really struggling with my arm,” Arthur Fery says as he explains how life has changed from this time last year when, after his shock appearance in the Wimbledon semi-finals, he rose to No 36 in the rankings. His run of five victories , which pr…

Barcelona legend wants to emulate Johan Cruyff’s total football philosophy after taking over as the Netherlands head coach “My feeling today is that I’m going to the university of football.” Those were Xavi Hernández’s opening words at his presentation as the Netherlands coach on Tuesday. “I learned a lot from this university of football during my career as a player and as a coach. I have many co…

Four WSL academy teams will play in WNL from 2027-28 FA says move will raise standards and help young players Four Women’s Super League ­academy sides will play in the third tier of the ­pyramid from the ­2027-28 ­season after the ­controversial ­proposal was approved by the ­Football ­Association’s board. The change forms part of what the FA described as a package of reforms to the Women’s Natio…

Celtic threw away a four-goal lead in Austria as they missed out on the Champions League for the second year running. The Scottish champions looked to be cruising into the league stage when Callum McGregor put them 4-0 up on aggregate against Lask with a 21st-minute deflected strike. However, they went on to endure one of their all-time European lows with a 5-1 defeat in Linz delivering a £20m-pl…

After an unacceptable performance against Brentford, head coach still believes they can avoid sinking feeling this season What’s in a name? Quite a bit, judging by the discussion at Roberto De Zerbi’s Tottenham press conference on Tuesday, shortly after the club had completed the £75m signing of Savinho from Manchester City and the Brazil winger had let everybody know that he wanted to be called …

A midweek trip to Devon always had the makings of an awkward trip for a Coventry side focused on Premier League survival. Such feelings evaporated when Frank Lampard’s side raced into a two-goal lead inside five minutes, Taiwo Awoniyi opening his account for his new club before Jack Rudoni added Coventry’s second. But, ultimately, Coventry were made to toil before earning victory. Plymouth had fo…

Captain followed trend of discussing nightclub incidents rather than cricket before the second Test against Pakistan gets under way England won the first game of their last Test series, against New Zealand at Lord’s , but between that match and the second Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson were involved in a headline-grabbing incident at a London nightclub. “I’m angry, frustrated at having to sit here a…

215 of 235 donated brains showed signs of CTE Condition can only be diagnosed after death Symptoms include problems with memory and mood At least one in four former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 was found to have had chronic ⁠traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), according to a study released on Tuesday. Out of the 878 former players who died during that time frame, 235 donated their brain…

Itauma can become second-youngest champion after Mike Tyson Hrgovic claims title victory for opponent would ‘ruin his soul’ Moses Itauma has hit back at Filip Hrgovic’s taunt that he is a “delusional kid” and admitted that his Croatian rival is starting to annoy him as the two men prepare to fight for the IBF world heavyweight title on Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London. “I tell myself ther…