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Updates from 11am BST start across the grounds Sign up for the Spin | Mail Tanya or comment BTL“In the first six overs,” says Ken Grime, “Marcus Harris has only faced six balls.” Ooops, and he might not face many more as Abbas catches Stanley’s thrusting front pad. “Jesus Christ” someone shouts from the dressing room. Lancs 156-9, lead by 133.And events elsewhere too – Rory Burns bowled by Ian Holland for a duck; cuts and (maybe) edges onto his own stumps which splatter satisfyingly. Surrey 11-1, still 160 behind. Continue reading...

Former executive chairman received £5.76mPay exceeded combined wage bill of women’s teamDaniel Levy, the former executive chairman of Tottenham, was paid more during the 2024-25 season than all 64 players and staff at the club’s women’s team combined, the publication of their latest financial accounts has shown.The highest-paid director, widely understood to be Levy, received £5.76m in remuneration for the year ending 30 June 2025, a significant uplift of around 54% to what he was paid in 2024 and, according to the football finance expert Kieran Maguire, ensured Levy was the Premier League’s highest-paid director last season. He departed Spurs in September after almost 25 years in charge. Continue reading...

Northern Irishman moves the needle like no one else in his sport, even more so after his thrilling Masters defenceLevels of greatness need not always be defined by numbers. Nick Faldo’s six majors to Rory McIlroy’s five prior to events at Augusta National on Sunday gave the Englishman the edge in the eyes of many in respect of Europe’s finest ever golfer. That McIlroy had already won the career grand slam of majors, therefore passing every test his sport has to offer, meant he was more worthy of the crown. Those who want to add Harry Vardon and a bygone age to the conversation should check the Jersey man’s scoring for his septet of major wins.It is the nature of McIlroy’s achievement that sets him apart. Retaining the Masters for major No 6 places McIlroy in lofty company – Faldo, Phil Mickelson and Lee Trevino. He is suddenly one shy of Arnold Palmer. Gary Player and the non-US record of nine is a legitimate goal. Yet watching McIlroy right until the final hole at Augusta National served as a reminder that it is the addictive, thrilling style of his output that is worthy of the highest praise. The Northern Irishman was half a hole from Masters glory, shunting galleries back 50 yards so he could visualise a recovery shot from a forest. Love or loathe McIlroy, you simply cannot take eyes off him. Continue reading...

Restrictions have been in place since 2022 invasionUkrainian athlete says move will spread propagandaSwimming has agreed to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete without restrictions under their own flag and anthem since 2022, prompting joy in Russia and outrage in Ukraine.The decision by World Aquatics, which also oversees diving and water polo, adds further momentum to Russia’s bid to be allowed back for the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028 following judo’s decision to do the same last year. Continue reading...

Expansion and political influence have made soccer’s showpiece too big for one region to handle responsiblySign up for the World Behind The Cup newsletterIn retrospect, the 2018 World Cup in Russia looks like a gentle genuflection, a dainty little bow before its strongman leader. Vladimir Putin and his Russian project of gradual conquest were most definitely centered and validated eight years ago: the tournament showcased his nation and awarded its leader prominence of place.This summer, we will see something altogether different, as the runup to this edition of the world’s biggest and most popular sporting event has become a monument to Donald Trump.This is an extract from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, a weekly look from the Guardian US at the game in Europe and beyond, helmed this week by Leander in Jonathan’s absence. Subscribe for free here. Have a question for Jonathan? Email soccerwithjw@theguardian.com, and he’ll answer the best in a future edition.Leander Schaerlaeckens is a Guardian US contributor whose book on the United States men’s national soccer team, The Long Game, is out on 12 May. You can preorder it here. He teaches at Marist University. Continue reading...

Marie-Louise Eta has been tasked with saving Union Berlin from Bundesliga relegation in a groundbreaking appointmentFor Marie-Louise Eta, it may feel like another day at the office. The wider significance will be greater, though, when she oversees Union Berlin in their crunch Bundesliga match against Wolfsburg this weekend. History will be made and another barrier broken: it will be the first time a woman appointed as head coach of a men’s team has taken charge of a fixture in one of Europe’s top five leagues.Eta was given the reins on an interim basis after Steffen Baumgart, her predecessor, was sacked on Saturday. Union had just lost 3-1 to bottom-placed Heidenheim and, with five games left, could not be sure of a late-season dalliance with the drop zone. They are seven points clear of the relegation playoff spot but a run of two wins from 14 games has equated to freefall. Union needed the best person to arrest it, some form of continuity was key, so the 34-year-old Eta, a richly exciting prospect, was an obvious choice. Continue reading...

Midfielder faces seven charges of rape in totalJudge says trial may be delayed until early next yearThe former Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey has pleaded not guilty to two new allegations of rape.The 32-year-old appeared at Southwark crown court on Monday to deny raping a woman twice in London on a single day in December 2020. Partey, who left Arsenal for Villarreal last summer, was charged in July last year with five counts of rape and one allegation of sexual assault, dating back to 2021 and 2022. He previously pleaded not guilty to those charges and a trial was set for November this year. Continue reading...

Thierry Henry loves him. Didier Deschamps made him a France player at 17. And Luis Enrique says he is ‘spectacular’By Get French Football NewsWhen Warren Zaïre-Emery ran the show as a 17-year-old in a 3-0 win against Milan Thierry Henry said “the sky is the limit” for the midfielder. His stratospheric rise led him too close to the sun, though, and the crash back down to Earth was a rude one. But he has since dusted himself off.Beeswax was Icarus’ undoing; a mild ankle sprain did it for Zaïre-Emery. Not quite the stuff of legend, but far from inconsequential. Having started six of PSG’s eight games in the league phase of the Champions League last season, he missed their playoff tie against Brest and would not start another game in the competition all season. Luis Enrique had found his formula and Zaïre-Emery was not part of it. Fabian Ruiz joined Vitinha and João Neves in the midfield and they started every knockout game as PSG won the competition for the first time. The PSG midfield was dazzling without Zaïre-Emery. Continue reading...

Reigning champions have a new coach and some new faces when they face the Lionesses in Women’s World Cup qualifierEight-and-a-half months after they locked horns in the final of Euro 2025, England and Spain meet again on Tuesday night in front of more than 70,000 at Wembley. This time it is in qualifiers for the Women’s World Cup, another tournament in which they met in the final last time out.Despite the relatively brief period since the game in Basel, Spain have a noticeably fresh look with a new head coach and a crop of emerging young players. They have already won a trophy under Sonia Bermúdez, who led them to the Nations League title after replacing Montse Tomé, and, unlike England, are unbeaten since the Euros with five wins and a draw in six matches. Continue reading...

Noyes ‘deeply concerned over a lack of transparency’Unexpected intervention echoes pressure on governmentDr James Noyes, one of the key early advocates of affordability checks for online gamblers, has joined calls for Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, to instruct the Gambling Commission to pause the implementation of checks “until there has been adequate evaluation and scrutiny” of a pilot scheme to assess how checks might work in practice.Noyes’s intervention in the long-running debate over affordability checks comes in an open letter sent to Nandy on Monday. It echoes similar calls for a halt to the process by many senior figures in the racing industry, which fears a disproportionate effect on racing bettors with the potential to cost the industry tens of millions of pounds in income if punters refuse to supply financial information to gambling operators and switch to the black market instead. Continue reading...