14 h. ago Lauren James’s genius offers England hope but also presents a tricky dilemma

Sarina Wiegman must quickly find a way to make her midfield click – whether that’s with or without one of her brightest starsThere is no doubting that Lauren James is a generational talent. There is natural ability in abundance. She is also an example of what technically gifted women’s players can be when given elite-level coaching from a young age. She is an example of what is to come, an outlier among her peers, having benefited from her father, Nigel, being a Uefa-qualified coach with his own coaching programme that is, in his own words, “about pure ball mastery and delivery with panache, to ultimately create elite technicians of the game”.James is effusive about her father’s input into her career, saying on the Nigel James Elite Coaching website that she is “grateful to my dad for all the time, effort and love that he has put into my football by coaching me in order to help me reach the very best level and fulfil my full potential”. Continue reading...

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3 d. ago Jamie Smith’s sensational century gives England hope but India seize their moment

Second Test, D3: India 587 and 60-1; England 407Wicketkeeper hits unbeaten 184 but India in chargePressure? What pressure? Or to pinch a line from Keith Miller, the great Australian all-rounder and a fighter pilot during second world war: “There is no pressure in Test cricket. Real pressure is when you are flying a Mosquito with a Messerschmitt up your arse.”Notwithstanding this old truism, there was still a fair bit on the line when Jamie Smith strode out to middle at 11.12am here on the third morning. Joe Root had been uncharacteristically strangled down leg, Ben Stokes had been blown away by a brutish first ball and Mohammed Siraj, a fiery fast bowler known to get on a roll, was eyeing up a hat-trick. Oh, and England were 84 for five, 503 runs behind India’s first innings. Continue reading...

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5 d. ago Lauren Hemp's journey from garden 'Olympics' to Euro winner and Lionesses stardom

Lauren Hemp's rise through football has been as fast as her characteristic blistering pace on the wing and she will hope to use that to defend England's Euros crown this summer

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1 week ago Stephen Sondheim's papers go to Library of Congress, offering a look into a Broadway genius

Manuscripts, music and lyric drafts, recordings, notebooks and scrapbooks from Stephen Sondheim have been donated to the Library of Congress

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2 w. ago Wales' big new rugby hope being mentored by England and Lions star

Sam Scott has been taken under the wing of an England international

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2 w. ago Knauff galvanises Germany as England stumble into Euro Under

England 1-2 Germany (Scott 76; Knauff 3 Weiper 33)Lee Carsley’s side face quarter-final against SpainWhen Lee Carsley expressed his hope that England’s Under-21 players could give Thomas Tuchel “something to ponder” with their performances while defending their European title in Slovakia, their first-half showing against Germany’s second-string side probably wasn’t what he had in mind.Needing a point to guarantee their place in the quarter-finals and trailing 2-0 at the break after goals from Ansgar Knauff and Nelson Weiper, Slovenia’s defeat to the Czech Republic in the night’s other match ensured they made it through anyway. Continue reading...

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3 w. ago The night that spelled the end for Kyle Walker with England: CRAIG HOPE on Thomas Tuchel's team who are getting worse, not better, a year out from the World Cup

CRAIG HOPE AT THE CITY GROUND: In truth, the honeymoon ended on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Andorra that was so unconvincing it felt more like a defeat. Well, here was an actual defeat.

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