The Guardian

England to play just one intra-squad match before start of series Tourists need more red-ball practice, says former all-rounder Ian Botham has launched a fresh broadside at the decision by England to arrange just a single intra-squad match before the start of the Ashes, saying the tourists need more red ball practice in Australia and time to get used to local crowds. The last group of England’s p…

Philadelphia Eagles 10-7 Green Bay Packers Green Bay fall to third in NFC North after loss Teams went pointless in dour first-half Jalen Hurts threw a 36-yard pass to DeVonta Smith for Philadelphia’s only touchdown of the game as the Eagles’ defense led the way to a 10-7 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Monday night. Brandon McManus’s attempt at a game-tying, 64-yard field goal as time expir…

Chessum has foot injury while Freeman has hamstring injury Alex Coles expected to partner Maro Itoje at second row Ollie Chessum and Tommy ­Freeman are serious injury doubts for ­England’s game with New Zealand at Twickenham on Saturday. The two British & Irish Lions players sat out training on Monday and their ­participation against the All Blacks is in jeopardy. Chessum is struggling with a foo…

Guardians pitchers indicted on fraud allegations NBA also caught up in its own gambling scandal Cleveland Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz appeared in federal court on Monday on charges accusing him and teammate Emmanuel Clase of taking bribes to help associates win prop bets placed on pitches they threw. A judge in in Boston granted Ortiz his release but with several conditions, including that he su…

Sunday league team with over 1,800 top-flight appearances has contributed to feelgood factor in community It all started with a picture and caption on social media: “If Carlsberg did benches.” Then came a tweet, naming nine former Premier League players on the books of Wythenshawe FC’s over-35s side: Stephen Ireland, Emile Heskey, Maynor Figueroa, Joleon Lescott, Papiss Cissé, Oumar Niasse, Nedum…

Civil case brought by former England forward Eni Aluko Barton faces potentially massive bill over guilty verdict last week Joey Barton is facing another court case and a potential defamation and harassment bill for hundreds of thousands of pounds after being found guilty last week at Liverpool crown court of six counts of sending grossly offensive social media messages with intent to cause distre…

Incidents alleged to have happened in two matches ‘Such behaviour is contrary to the club’s values’ The Ligue 1 club Lille will pursue legal action against some of their fans after incidents of hate speech and racist insults in the visitors’ stands during their matches at Red Star Belgrade and Strasbourg last week. “LOSC strongly condemns the unacceptable behaviour observed, as well as the hatefu…

The veteran Villarreal striker had never scored against the team where it all began – until this weekend He made his other dad mad and a policeman put his head in his hands, but at least Gerard Moreno said sorry and in the end they couldn’t help but forgive him. In fact, they were happy for him, the defeated Espanyol fans who briefly fell silent when he hurt them standing to hand him an ovation w…

Game-by-game coverage of evening match in Turin Can anyone challenge the Sinner-Alcaraz supremacy? It’s almost time, classical music pumping – but not this, from one of Turin’s favourite sons. I was at the Albert Hall for this – I had free tickets to use and couldn’t find anything I wanted to see, so a mate recommended Einaudi and it blew my mind. Continue reading...

While it was a highly subjective call, VAR is not there to re-referee decisions like the offside against Andy Robertson There was one big incident that grabbed the headlines and prompted conversation this weekend in the Premier League: the decision by the referee Chris Kavanagh to deny Liverpool an equalising goal in their high-stakes match against Manchester City . The decision is massively subj…

Eyupspor chairman reportedly among those arrested 27 Super Lig players suspended over alleged betting Turkish authorities formally arrested eight people, including a top-tier club chairman, on Monday as part of an investigation into alleged betting on football matches. The Turkish football federation (TFF) has also suspended 1,024 players pending disciplinary investigations. The TFF suspended 149…

Books by former champions demonstrate powerfully that we should not accept abuse and suffering as ‘the price of winning’. Sport must do more Viewed through one end of the lens, the two new autobiographies from the sporting legends Boris Becker and Bradley Wiggins might seem like classic tales of the downfalls of two deeply flawed heroes who then claw their way back to redemption. But viewed throu…

The fact that Latino stars were at the forefront of the victory over the Toronto Blue Jays sits alongside the club’s near silence on the immigration raids roiling the city For Natalia Molina, a lifelong fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers and a third-generation Mexican American, the crowning moment of baseball’s World Series didn’t come in last Saturday’s nail-biting finale, when her team performed on…

Australia show flashes of greatness, but costly lapses challenge the idea of a revival. They need to find their rhythm Is it better to be a consistently good team or an occasionally brilliant one? We’ll find out by the end of Australia’s European tour. But now, after a 26–19 loss to Italy in Udine – their second defeat in as many matches on this crucial trip – the answer seems obvious. Because de…

Pro-doping event scheduled to take place in Las Vegas Usada say critics deflecting after 2021 swimming scandal The war of words between anti-doping bodies over the Enhanced Games has intensified after Usada accused Wada of attempting “to smear America”. The president of the US Anti-Doping Agency made the claim as he hit back at the World Anti-Doping Agency suggestion that it should do more to sto…