Sports & Casinos UK

Betts and Hernández opt against joining team for eventBack-to-back World Series winners gift ring to TrumpMany loyal fans had conflicted feelings over visitDonald Trump hosted the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers at the White House on Thursday for the team’s second trip to the White House in two years.The team gave the president a custom jersey and a World Series championship ring during a ceremony at the Rose Garden. Four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani, star first baseman Freddie Freeman, World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto and manager Dave Roberts were among those in attendance, while several players – most notably star shortstop Mookie Betts and utility man Kike Hernández – opted not to attend. Continue reading...

The troubled Games looked doomed until Glasgow stepped in but this opening ceremony had plenty of feelgood factorThe Commonwealth Games in Glasgow opened on Thursday evening to the surreal sight of King Charles and Queen Camilla stepping out of a Tardis – and a mechanical Loch Ness monster roaring the first few bars of Flower of Scotland.The Tardis was a nod to the fact that police boxes were designed by the Scottish architect Gilbert MacKenzie Trench. But the Doctor Who reference proved to be doubly apt given the Games faced being exterminated until Glasgow stepped in after Victoria pulled out due to financial pressures. Continue reading...

The Hundred put on a show at Lord’s but the hosts’ men’s and women’s teams both lost to Manchester Super GiantsLondon Spirit launched their new era with double defeat at Lord’s, and though they may have new owners, new coaches and new players it seems they’re still getting the same results. For the fifth time in their six-year history the men started their season with defeat, losing by seven runs a game of the Hundred that Liam Livingstone came very close to turning into The One.The Spirit captain took responsibility for 20 of the last 25 balls of Manchester Super Giants’ innings, shouldering what should have been the hardest part of the bowling burden, and finished with two wickets for just 14. Then, with his team flailing in pursuit of 139, he scored 69 off 40 to keep them in the contest until the moment he swung at its antepenultimate delivery and was bowled by Sonny Baker. Continue reading...

Sam Kerr’s and Alexia Putellas’s moves were hard to miss but these transfers may have escaped your attentionThere were a host of big women’s football transfers which were hard to miss across June and July, despite the dominance of the men’s World Cup. Among them were Beth Mead’s move from Arsenal to Manchester City, Mary Earps and Georgia Stanway returning to the Women’s Super League with London City Lionesses and Arsenal, Sam Kerr leaving Chelsea to return to Gotham FC and, most prominently, Alexia Putellas’s game-changing switch from Barcelona to London City.But here are 10 transfers you might have missed while attention was focused on the action in the US, Canada and Mexico. Continue reading...

The England attacker thrives when he can gallop into space but Xabi Alonso’s best team built attacks slowlyBy Opta AnalystIt quickly became apparent this summer that Aston Villa would not be holding on to Morgan Rogers. Having helped the club finish fourth in the Premier League and win the Europa League, the 23-year-old was in demand.Arsenal looked like his likeliest next destination, with the champions eager to strengthen the left side of their attack. The charm offensive came from many angles, with Martin Ødegaard, Mikel Arteta and the club’s England players trying to sell the idea to Rogers. But, with Arsenal reluctant to meet Villa’s asking price, Chelsea intervened and made Rogers the most expensive British player ever, surpassing the £116m that Manchester City paid Nottingham Forest for Elliot Anderson earlier this summer. Continue reading...

Senior Master Cook says case in ‘uncharted territory’Judge blames solicitor Richard Boardman for situationThe landmark legal action over brain damage in rugby is on the brink of collapse as the managing judge weighs whether to strike out 95% of the first batch of 561 claimants on the grounds they have failed to comply with a court order to disclose all available documents relating to their neurological testing.After two days of hearings at the Royal Courts of Justice, Senior Master Cook said the case had entered “uncharted territory” because he was unable to find any legal precedent for what to do next before retiring to make his judgment. Continue reading...

Cecil Alexander is competing at Commonwealth GamesJohnson-Thompson and Asher-Smith pull out of athleticsThe Falkland Islands bowler Cecil Alexander called Argentina’s World Cup banner “disappointing” after his opening men’s singles match at the Commonwealth Games.Alexander, 45, made the comments after a straight sets 10-3, 7-4 defeat by the former world No 1 Izzat Shameer Dzulkeple of Malaysia. Continue reading...

Richard Carapaz roars clear of breakaway to win stage 18McNulty abandons, Wellens and Vermeersch struggleRichard Carapaz won stage 18 of the Tour de France after a breakaway group of six riders duelled their way to the winter sports station at Orcières-Merlette, but uncertainty surrounds the health of race leader Tadej Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates XRG, which has been swept by a virus since Monday’s rest day.After Adam Yates’s stage-long calvary on the road to Voiron, Pogacar’s team was further weakened by the abandonment of his American colleague, Brandon McNulty, who quit the Tour with 21km of Thursday’s stage remaining. Continue reading...

Electrical fault had damaged Briton’s world title hopes‘I’m glad we found it. Spa and Silverstone exposed issue’George Russell believes his Mercedes team have identified the problem with his engine that damaged his world championship hopes over recent races and left the driver fuming when it played a key role in him being knocked out of Sunday’s round in Belgium.Russell has been struggling with issues with his electrical energy deployment for three races now, since the Austrian GP, particularly at Silverstone and Spa which are energy-dependent circuits. In Belgium he was furious after he lacked electrical energy when exiting turn one on the opening lap. It left him vulnerable to the chasing pack, notably the Ferraris which swept past and he entered Les Combes corner alongside Lewis Hamilton, who clipped the Mercedes, sending Russell out of the race. Continue reading...

‘They’re winners, relentless, a team I want to be part of’Midfielder hails De Bruyne as a childhood inspirationElliot Anderson has called Manchester City the “kings of Manchester” after completing his £116m move to the club from Nottingham Forest.The 23-year-old was a key part of England’s third-place finish at the World Cup, having been an ever-present for Forest in the Premier League last season. Before Morgan Rogers’ £117m transfer to Chelsea from Aston Villa on Tuesday, Anderson’s fee was the record for a British player. Continue reading...