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Updates as the Test at Marrara Cricket Ground continuesAny thoughts? Email Jonathan28th over: Bangladesh 108-1 (Tanzid 37, Mominul 42) Cummins adjusts his approach to around the wicket to Mominul but is fortunate a half-volley is driven straight to the alert Labuschagne in the covers. The first attempted lifter of the day gets up high enough to clip the batter’s bottom hand., but it was slow and loopy bounce, consistent with what we’ve seen all Test so far.There is little sideways movement on offer for Australia, and the tennis ball bounce means the window of a good length is very short. AKA: a Scott Boland pitch. Continue reading...

Modest but sensible-looking recruitment befits the club’s new air of stability but a continuation of their spring slump could test David Moyes’s appetite for the fightGuardian writers’ predicted position: 10th (NB: this is not necessarily Andy Hunter’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)Last season’s position: 13th Continue reading...

Leeds 16-20 LeighClubs optimistic of securing better offer soonOn what may prove to be the most significant day in Super League’s modern history away from the field, Leigh Leopards blew wide open the race for top spot in this year’s competition on it with a stunning victory against the league leaders, Leeds Rhinos.Super League clubs were finally informed on Thursday morning of a long-awaited opening offer from the NRL to invest in the competition. A figure of around £7m per season, for the next five years, has been tabled but is set to be turned down by clubs – who believe the competition’s value is much higher. In return, the NRL would get a 10% stake in Super League in each year it invests, but this is probably the first of several negotiationsbetween the two competitions, with some leading figures who were in that meeting telling the Guardian a crucial get-together of the clubs next Thursday will probably lead to Super League rejecting that opening bid. Continue reading...

Rangers 1-1 Jagiellonia Bialystok (2-3 agg)Spirited Hearts hold Benfica but also out of competitionDerek McInnes’s fledgling tenure as Rangers manager is in disarray after his side exited the Europa League qualifiers with a 3-2 aggregate defeat to Jagiellonia Bialystok after drawing 1-1 at Ibrox.Rangers had lost 2-1 in the first leg in Poland last week but there was optimism when the captain, Lawrence Shankland, levelled the tie on aggregate with a penalty on 19 minutes. Continue reading...

Hunt had won 100m already; Asher-Smith wins bronzeMark English wins 800m for Ireland’s first men’s goldAmid the adrenalised delirium of her second European title in three days, Amy Hunt walked to the nearest TV camera, held up her hands and, in homage to Russell Crowe’s character in Gladiator screamed: “Are you not entertained?”It quickly transpired that the 24-year-old Cambridge graduate had been quite the warrior off the track too. Because, as she revealed after collecting a 200m gold medal to go alongside Monday’s 100m title, she has been nearly fainting this year when running over the longer distance. Continue reading...

Former world No 4 slumps to 6-3, 7-5 first-round lossDraper still recovering from long-term arm injuryThe minuscule amount of confidence and self-belief Jack Draper currently has to call upon in the most difficult period of his career was underscored in the first game of his opening match in Cincinnati. Draper began his service game by shanking a forehand into the back fence, which he followed up with two double faults. He immediately fell down a break and never recovered.A few fleeting positive moments followed, but this miserable start set the tone for another excruciating day for the former world No 4 as he could not escape the mental fatigue borne out of battling serious injury for 15 months and counting. Draper fell 6-3, 7-5 to Martín Landaluce, the world No 64. Continue reading...

With a top-eight finish offering at least a playoff place, the temptation to spend big in pursuit of the Premier League will grow – but so will the risksThe Championship’s collective wage bill grew to a record £903m in 2024-25, according to Deloitte’s latest Annual Review of Football Finance. Clubs are paying players enormous sums in their pursuit of Premier League football. With the playoffs expanding this season, the number of owners willing to risk even more money in the hope of securing promotion is only likely to increase.In isolation, the figure of £903m does not signify much. Compared to the Premier League’s £4.4bn salary outlay, it almost looks small. But England’s top division can afford that gargantuan commitment to wages whereas the second tier cannot. The 24 clubs in the Championship earned £942m, meaning salaries consumed 96% of revenue. If there was any surprise in their collective net debt being £1.4bn at the end of 2024-25, it was only that it had reduced from the £1.5bn it was a year earlier. Continue reading...

League says no immediate eligibility mattersTwo former NBA players declared for 2027 draftUnion says players will not be ‘political pawns’The WNBA on Wednesday criticized those trying to create a narrative about transgender women playing in the league.“There are no immediate eligibility matters affecting the WNBA, and we strongly denounce the bad-faith efforts to use these topics to demean or marginalize others,” a league spokesperson said Wednesday in a statement, hours after an anti-hate task force met virtually and discussed a variety of topics, including social media vitriol and transgender athletes. Continue reading...

Fungal outbreak damages surface at Estadio de BalaidosTurf for Osasuna match left ‘unfit for football’ Celta Vigo’s ⁠season-opening La Liga match against Osasuna has been postponed after ⁠a fungal outbreak ⁠affected ​the pitch at Estadio de Balaidos, the Spanish club ⁠said on Thursday.Celta had been due to host Osasuna on Sunday, ⁠but the fixture was postponed with ​the decision ‌agreed by both ‌clubs and the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) ‌following a technical inspection by La Liga. Continue reading...

United unable to financially compete with rivals Rashford back after Barcelona loan but could leaveMichael Carrick has stated that Manchester United will not make a £100m signing this summer due to their finances, with the manager also insisting that Marcus Rashford “is our player” despite the forward and club preferring him to depart.In the current window United have invested a total of £85m on Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos but have never spent £100m on a single transfer. Continue reading...