County cricket: Surrey v Hampshire, Durham v Essex, and more on day one – live
Durham 84-3. Most unexpected.Durham so far.Derbyshire had already shelled one catch at first slip and let another very catchable ball go between keeper and the same fielder.”Hampshire like a champion chef, Hants are now 49-4, after Worrall removed Vince and…
Bristol’s Harry Randall: ‘We’re going after teams and having a real crack’
Trying to catch lightning in a cider bottle would be only slightly harder right now than containing Bristol’s dazzling attacking game. The Bears have been averaging 50 points per match in winning five successive league fixtures and, before Saturday’s crucial…
Red Bull stunned by shock news F1’s top designer Adrian Newey is to leave
Red Bull’s chief technical officer, Adrian Newey, is expected to leave the team, it has been reported. Newey is the most successful designer of the modern Formula One era and has been an instrumental part of Red Bull’s success but…
England’s Marlie Packer: ‘I’d give my son the world – dad did none of that for me’
‘We’re in France and the crowd is going to be hostile,” Marlie Packer says as she looks ahead to Saturday’s Six Nations grand slam decider in Bordeaux with relish. “But we know that can flip on its head because of the…
Testmatch review – smart satire hits casual racism for six
Stepping up to bat in this show of two very different innings are the enduring legacies of vitriolic nationalism and the violence of colonialism. But for the most part, in this story of sport and superiority, we’re just watching people…
England T20 selectors face headache after Jamie Overton’s back injury
England have seen their selection for the T20 World Cup complicated by a back injury to Jamie Overton and now face an anxious two-week wait to discover the full extent of the all-rounder’s problem. Though uncapped in T20 internationals, Surrey’s…
The Spin | Head-to-head stats highlight why Test cricket is greatest sporting format
Let’s start, as all bad pieces of writing should, with a cliche: cricket is an individual sport dressed as a team game. Every match comprises hundreds or thousands of contests between a batter and a bowler. That unusual gameplay is…
English clubs urge RFU to speed up enhanced hybrid contract plans
Leading English clubs are urging the Rugby Football Union to accelerate its plans to introduce hybrid central contracts for a limited number of key men’s international players. Saracens are one of several sides keen to know exactly how many of…
Ted Toleman obituary
Ted Toleman, who has died aged 86, provided Ayrton Senna with his introduction to grand prix racing. The team bearing Toleman’s name entered Formula One in 1981 and got off to a faltering start, but three years later they came…
The Breakdown | Rugby’s rulers ignore the game’s marvellous heritage at their peril
Some of us went back in time at the weekend. There was no Doctor Who-style Tardis involved, just an easyJet flight (beware their petty hand luggage regulations) to Scotland for a reunion of old student friends. It was good fun…