11 h. ago South Africa have ‘massive belief’ they can stun Australia, insists David Bedingham

Batter confident despite 218-run deficit in WTC finalPat Cummins hails ‘brilliant’ Alex Carey for rescue actThe destiny of the mace may still be in the balance but David Bedingham admitted Australia’s bowlers had already “shown they’re the best in the world” in bowling South Africa out for 138 on the second day of the World Test Championship final. Pat Cummins claimed six wickets to put his team in the ascendancy but on a whirligig day of constantly oscillating fortunes, the Proteas promptly bowled themselves back into contention, with Australia reaching stumps on 144 for eight, nursing a lead of 218.“It’s an amazing chance, and we’re all excited about the opportunity to win,” said Bedingham. “It could go either way but us as a team are very, very excited and there’s a lot of belief in the dressing room. We’re very confident. When they started batting in their second innings we would definitely have taken this score. So very confident, there’s massive belief in this team.” Continue ...

Politics

14 h. ago Captain Pat Cummins answers Australia’s call before South Africa roar back in rollercoaster final

Cummins took six wickets to put Australia in the ascendancy before a late collapse kept South Africa’s hopes much alive

Politics

18 h. ago Chris Wilder 'set to be sacked' by Sheffield United ahead of crunch meeting

Sheffield United missed out on promotion to the Premier League after losing the Championship play-off final and could now be about to make a shock managerial change

Politics

19 h. ago Wales set up final World Championship audition opportunities as prodigious star set for debut

Wales U20s have named their team for the final World U20s Championship warm-up against Italy on Friday

Sport

23 h. ago South Africa v Australia: World Test Championship final cricket, day two – live

Updates from the second day of the WTC final at Lord’sRead the latest edition of The Spin | And mail GeoffHello from London. The day dawns sunny here, though who knows which way it will turn – Lord’s atmospherics are often a game of snakes and ladders. So too can be Test cricket, as South Africa found yesterday: racing up the ladder of the Australian top order, sliding back thanks to Steve Smith, ascending again to bowl them out for 212, then having a serious slip of four wickets before stumps.They didn’t fall all the way back to the bottom, but they will if David Bedingham and the captain Temba Bavuma go quickly this morning. Rung by rung it will need to be for the South Africans, at 43 for 4. Continue reading...

Sport

35 h. ago BBC is showing Bargain Hunt and Homes Under the Hammer repeats instead of Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter's doubles match... again

The British tennis pair played their quarter-final of the Queen's Club Championships earlier today, but the footage was not even available on the BBC website for the majority of the match.

Politics

37 h. ago Kagiso Rabada blows clouds away with World Test Championship final fireworks

Teammates say he is the world’s best bowler and judging by his first-day display against Australia he is not far offGiven there was a certain scepticism in advance of this game about South Africa’s suitability for a place in this final, their spot having been secured through a run of good results, mostly at home, in short series that notably did not involve either of the two sides currently ranked ahead of them, perhaps they needed an early marker of excellence, a demonstration of merit. Fortunately they had just the man.At 10.30am the pre-match pyrotechnic mist cleared with Kagiso Rabada at the nursery end, ball in hand. Perhaps Usman Khawaja’s personal fog lingered a while longer, the first ball of the day zinging past his outside edge and sending the Australian opener into survival mode. Rabada started his day with a maiden, and then another, and then another. Khawaja faced every delivery, including a couple more that he barely survived. And then, two balls into Rabada’s fourth o...

Sport

38 h. ago Starc leads Australia fightback after Rabada stars for South Africa on day one of WTC final

Day one: Australia 212; South Africa 43-4Rabada takes 5-51 but Proteas’ reply faltersSouth Africa have had to put up with a fair few grumbles about their place in this World Test Championship final and grew tired of the topic during the build-up. Other than pointing folks in the direction of the International Cricket Council, the teams who can afford to arrange more fixtures, and the league table they topped, the only response they could really give was to compete out on the field.It was a case of mission accomplished with the ball, at least, even if a topsy-turvy opening day that saw 14 wickets fall ended with Australia in the ascendancy. Led by Kagiso Rabada, a player dogged by headlines about his recent ban for cocaine use, the Proteas were delighted to skittle the defending champions for 212 in two-and-a-half sessions, only to close on a troubling 43 for four in reply. Continue reading...

Sport

38 h. ago Kagiso Rabada lets his bowling do the talking — but Australian seamers have telling say

South Africa (43/4) trail Australia (212) by 169 runs: Back from a drugs ban, Rabada starred with a five-for on the opening day of the World Test Championship final before Australia exposed their batting frailties

Politics

39 h. ago Rebekah Vardy boards private jet to friend's lavish French wedding after putting huge £9.7m Portuguese villa on the market amid £4m bill for Wagatha Christie trial

The WAG, 43, and her husband Jamie, 38, are selling their Portuguese abode for an optimistic £9.7million.

Economics

40 h. ago Asia benefits from World Cup expansion as AFC qualification delivers thrills | John Duerden

There are concerns that quality at the 2026 tournament will be diluted but giving Asia more places has brought a new dimension to qualificationJeddah is more relaxed and laid-back than Riyadh. Tony Popovic should know. On Tuesday, for the second time in his coaching career, he left Saudi Arabia with a big prize, though back in 2014, it had been a far more fierce fight. Then, Western Sydney Wanderers went to the capital to defend their 1-0 first leg lead in the Asian Champions League final and, despite the best that Al Hilal could throw at them, held firm amid the storm for the most unlikely of trophy wins. This week, however, there was a five-goal cushion by the Red Sea, meaning there was only ever going to be one outcome: a seventh World Cup appearance. After successive playoff qualifications, to advance directly to North America is a welcome change and to do so with wins against Japan and Saudi Arabia is especially pleasing.It may have ended calmly, but this campaign has been a re...

Politics

46 h. ago South Africa v Australia: World Test Championship final cricket, day one – live

Updates from the first day of the WTC decider at Lord’sPlay starts 10.30am BST / 7.30pm AEST / 11.30am SASTSign up to The Spin newsletter | And email MartinSimon Reader has been in touch with a reminder that South Africa are up against it at Lord’s though perhaps found an early win with the toss falling their way.“By my count the Proteas are fielding three players who featured in Temba Bavuma’s last outing at Lords (2017)? That saw Rabada at his finest BMT at Lords is always a tough grasp with the Proteas already notorious for absence here, this is going to be a tough ask.” Continue reading...

Sport

60 h. ago High stakes and a shot at silverware: WTC final will sparkle despite critics

It may not be the pinnacle of cricket’s most storied format but it does provide a spectacle beyond established rivalriesIt was the pandemic that forced the first World Test Championship final to be staged at the biosecure Rose Bowl in 2021, then commercial snags that led to it being held at the Oval two years later. But having been intended for both, Lord’s finally gets its chance this week, the defending champions Australia taking on South Africa for the right to lift the oversized Chupa Chup that is the ICC Test Championship Mace.This will probably prompt eyerolls in some territories, even if June ruled out a fair number of them from acting as hosts. Another argument in favour of Lord’s is the ground’s history and prestige coupled with London’s diversity. Despite England not making the final, likewise India and their jet- set supporters, the first four days in St John’s Wood are sold out. Where else in the world could guarantee this turnout for a “neutral” final? Continue reading...

Events

63 h. ago Iván Romeo breaks rivals’ hearts to claim lead at Criterium du Dauphiné

Spanish rider escapes breakaway to win stage threeTime-trial specialist hails his ‘best day of the year’Spain’s Iván Romeo won the third stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné when he streaked clear at the end of a 207km run from Brioude, claiming the overall lead. Romeo surprised his breakaway companions, including the Dutch world champion Mathieu van der Poel, to drop them in the final kilometres and lead the dash into the town of Charantonnay.“I’ve been thinking about this stage for a month now. I can hardly believe it. It was one of the hardest days of my life, I wasn’t feeling well,” said time-trial specialist Romeo. “But I followed my instincts in the final. It’s the best day of the year for me. Hard work pays off.” Continue reading...

Politics

64 h. ago Incongruity of World Test Championship final fails to dampen Australian excitement | Geoff Lemon

It may be a strange time of year for an Australian, and a strange tournament structure, but the decider is vindicated further each time it is playedIn Australia it is winter, and it is footy season. AFL, NRL, the works. The autumn was passing strange, with unnervingly high temperatures and the Gold Coast Suns in the top four. But now it is June, and feeling more as it should, with nights in the southern half of the continent dipping deep into single degrees. The Raiders must be breathing out steam on Canberra mornings, half remembering dreams of ending a premiership wait. And strangely positioned among all this, the Australia Test team is getting ready to play cricket.Australian winter tours happen, but outside the occasional Asian or Caribbean jaunt this century, they’re confined to quadrennial visits to England. Two years ago, the first time Australia qualified for a World Test Championship final, that match came directly before an Ashes series. As well as turning the supposed cul...

Sport

68 h. ago How South Africa can finally shed ‘chokers’ tag against Australia to shake up Test cricket

South Africa’s path to Lord’s has been criticised by some, but, as Harry Latham-Coyle writes, the imperfect World Test Championship final against Australia brings a chance to rejuvenate a format under siege

Politics

3 d. ago Stanley Cup final: Panthers score six in Game 3 demolition of Oilers to take series lead

Edmonton Oilers 1-6 Florida PanthersChampions take 2-1 lead in best-of-seven seriesBrad Marchand and Sam Bennett scored again, Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe each got their first goal in the Stanley Cup final and the defending champion Florida Panthers capitalized on the Edmonton Oilers’ worst performance in weeks to win Game 3 in a 6-1 rout Monday night and take a 2-1 series lead.The 37-year-old Marchand became the oldest player to score in each of the first three games of a final and the first to open the scoring the next time out after notching an overtime winner. His 11 goals in the final are the most among active players, one more than similarly ageless Corey Perry. Continue reading...

Sport

3 d. ago Pat Cummins: ‘We want to play hard and fair, and I think we’ve got it right’

The Australia captain talks about leading the side against South Africa and not getting too big for his boots – but plays a dead bat regarding the Bairstow dismissal at Lord’sAs Pat Cummins opens up at the pavilion end, while gazing across the vast empty space of Lord’s a few days before Australia face South Africa in the World Test Championship final, it’s clear that the unexpected opponents this week have helped to frame his remarkable career.On Wednesday morning, while towering a foot over Temba Bavuma, his 5ft 3in South African counterpart, Cummins will lead Australia for the 34th time, in his 68th Test. The fast bowler stands at the summit of world cricket, his grizzled matinee idol charm allied to the grit which has helped him to become such a successful captain. Australia have won almost everything during his tenure of three and a half years and they are expected to retain their Test title. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Australia v South Africa: where the World Test Championship final will be won and lost

There are subplots aplenty in the winner-takes-all contest between the once familiar foes at Lord’s Defending champions Australia face the No 1 team in the 2023-25 World Test Championship cycle with South Africa out to claim the crown for the first time and finally put to bed their “chokers” tag. Australia have played their part as much as any side in stamping that label on South Africa across three decades, but much of that pain and misery could be washed away with a shock triumph at Lord’s.South Africa might be the underdogs but topped the WTC table after taking 69.44% of their possible points from 12 Tests, with Australia the clear next best on 67.54% from 19 matches. The once familiar foes did not meet over the past two years but with an intense rivalry always simmering below the surface and a winner-takes-all contest sure to light a fuse, we look at where the WTC final will be won and lost. Continue reading...

Sport

3 d. ago Injury crisis brewing for British & Irish Lions with Fagerson out of tour

Tighthead Bealham called up with Furlong also injuredOpoku-Fordjour and George join Portugal training campThe British & Irish Lions are facing mounting injury problems at tighthead prop with Zander Fagerson ruled out of the tour of Australia amid serious question marks over Tadhg Furlong’s fitness.Glasgow’s Fagerson has withdrawn from the squad due to a calf injury with the Ireland and Connacht tighthead prop Finlay Bealham added to the 38-man group as a result. Furlong, meanwhile, has not featured for Leinster since the Champions Cup semi-final defeat by Northampton on 3 May and is also battling with a calf injury. Continue reading...

Events