The Guardian

27-year-old batter follows up century in fine style Senior side win by five wickets as Jamie Smith cuts loose It is hard to know how much of England’s warm-up game will be remotely relevant when their Ashes campaign begins 10km away at Perth Stadium on Friday – no distance in space or time but light years away in import and atmosphere – but if it achieved nothing more than boosting Ollie Pope’s c…

The Arsenal and England forward has a new foundation designed to boost girls’ participation in sport and promote female health “She’s just so cool.” “Is that her? Is that really her? I didn’t think she was that blonde.” “Even her clothes are cool.” Alessia Russo is a footballing Pied Piper and the teenage girls following her down the path from the five-a-side pitches to the full-size one at Harin…

⚽ News, discussion and buildup before the day’s action ⚽ Read Football Daily | And you can mail matchday live There’s a slate of intriguing international matches to come today, not least Graham Potter’s debut as Sweden head coach. It’s been a bruising few years for Potter after his ill-fitting spells at Chelsea and West Ham but, as Nick Ames points out, he will have a sense of belonging after ret…

World Cup could still be in reach for the last genius of Brazilian football who has faded to a shadow of his former self What’s your favourite Neymar advert? This is a tough question to answer. The body of work is huge and varied. The foot deodorant ad perhaps, which depicts Neymar’s feet literally on fire, ablaze with some kind of divine eau de toenail. Or the new one for a brand of açaí berry d…

The broadcaster was once attacked by critics for being too progressive. But that stance appears to have changed for good in Trump’s second term “What happened to the Redskins, by the way?” Donald Trump asked in an interview on the Pat McAfee Show that notably did not stick to sports. His call-in appearance on Tuesday’s program to mark Veterans Day was meant to be a major coup for ESPN, the first …

Maro Itoje and company have talked the talk and are hungry to follow through with a first win at home over New Zealand since 2012 For better or worse it has been lashing down in south-west London. Good news for restocking the reservoirs but rather less so for dry-ball rugby. Had England played New Zealand 24 hours earlier it would have resembled a game of outdoor water polo and, although the matc…

Han Willhoft-King was fancied to succeed at Spurs then City but opted for law at Brasenose College above pressing sessions with Guardiola Freshers’ week, Oxford University, early October. A time for the heart to hammer with excitement, when horizons are broadened inexorably. For minimal sleep and maximum fun. And for one or two tall stories, a bit of personal reinvention, perhaps. Take one new la…

Their dads lit a fire that consumed me but Eubank Jr v Conor Benn embodies all that has gone wrong with the Dark Trade Thirty-five years ago this month, on 18 November 1990, my life changed course when I watched Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn fight each other in Birmingham with a ferocity which left me astonished and breathless . After that savage and surreal contest, I began working on a book about…

Australia lose 1-0 to La Vinotinto as Jesús Ramírez scores in 38th minute Debutant goalkeeper Patrick Beach impresses in friendly in Houston Houston, do we have a problem? After starting the Tony Popovic-era with an 11-game unbeaten run, an experimental Socceroos lineup fell to their second-straight defeat, going down 1-0 to Venezuela at Houston’s Shell Energy Stadium . While there was a certain …

England fast bowler to train as planned in build-up to first Test 33-year-old sits out rest of warm-up fixture against Lions in Perth Mark Wood has been cleared to resume his Ashes preparations after a scan on his left hamstring, where he had reported some “stiffness” on Thursday , found no damage. “Following precautionary scans on Friday, England fast bowler Mark Wood has been cleared of any con…

The timing was just right for coach to return to his roots and get batch of superstars firing in time for a qualifying playoff There was widespread approval from Sweden’s well-wishers when, during a training camp in Marbella this week, Graham Potter announced his new charges would play a variation of 4-4-2. A national team once tipped for greatness had been frayed, disconnected and muddled for to…

Winner to face Carlos Alcaraz in Turin semi-finals Sign up for our Sport in Focus newsletter | Mail Katy The occupational hazards of round-robin tennis mean by this stage of the ATP Finals we’re often left scratching our heads, scrambling about for a calculator and trying to work out the brain-busting permutations of qualification. But tonight’s match between Alexander Zverev and Felix Auger-Alia…

Coach hopes to match spirit of his 2021 Chelsea team Tuchel needs strong bench ‘after a long, long season’ Thomas Tuchel wants his England substitutes to channel any anger they feel at not starting into making the difference when they can because the team that win the World Cup will be defined by productivity off the bench. The head coach will prepare a heat-proof gameplan for the finals next sum…

There were distinct echoes of Tony McCoy and Wichita Lineman when the current champion won on Wade Out On an afternoon for the National Hunt diehards here on Friday, as Storm Claudia battered racegoers and runners alike, one rider’s refusal to be cowed by either the elements or circumstance was a beacon in the gloom. There were distinct echoes of Tony McCoy’s famous never-say-die ride on Wichita …

Jess Park joined United on deadline day and will take on the leaders in Andrée Jeglertz’a first derby as City manager Emotions will be heightened on Saturday when Manchester City and Manchester United come head-to-head in the Women’s Super League for the 12th time. From Caroline Weir’s sublime lob to Georgia Stanway’s red card and Ella Toone’s hat-trick at the Etihad Stadium, in recent years this…