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

Updates from the third day of the WTC final at Lord’sRead the latest edition of The Spin | And email GeoffThis is mine, with the Australian perspective on Pat Cummins’ remarkable day, and what influence a certain member of the nouveau landed gentry might have had.Here’s Simon Burnton with the press conference reporting, where David ‘Bedding In’ Bedingham is upbeat about knocking off the Aussies. Continue reading...

Sport

4 h. ago Darts legend who made World Championship final has own body part in vodka bottle in home bar

Bobby George, one of the biggest names in darts in the 1980s, proudly keeps a toe that he had amputated in 1999 in a bottle of booze in his bar at home and shows it off to guests

Sport

18 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

20 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

24 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

25 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

26 h. ago Reception area being set up at Gatwick after plane crashed with 244 aboard

11 children and 53 UK passengers are reported to have been among those on the Air India flight

Events

26 h. ago The disease rife in England causing major issues for one of Wales' largest events

A ban on travelling animals has been put in place for the Royal Welsh Show

Politics

27 h. ago Met Office issue three day weather warning misery as thunderstorms and torrential rain hit Wales

20 counties across Wales are set to be affected by the storms

Events

29 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

43 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

44 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

44 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

51 h. ago The One Show host set for major TV job change after BBC snub

The presenter is reportedly in talks to take on a big new role with a rival broadcaster

Culture

52 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

64 h. ago Chancellor Rachel Reeves set to promise Wales nearly half a billion pounds for rail

An initial funding settlement of £445m for new rail projects in Wales will be confirmed by the Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the Comprehensive Spending Review

Politics

66 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

2 d. 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

3 d. 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 Met Office weather map shows exact time 25C temperatures are set to arrive in Wales

The country has been hit by unsettled conditions in recent days

Society