47 h. ago Wimbledon star pulls out after draw and bags £33k without hitting a ball

Hubert Hurkacz withdrew from Wimbledon after the draw on Friday but will still pocket a tidy sum of £33,000 from the All England Club

Economics

4 d. ago Smoke review – no TV show has ever been worth sticking with more

Taron Egerton and Jurnee Smollett hit every ball out of the park in this smart, mesmerising crime drama about arson investigators. It’s hugely entertaining – if you can make it through the shaky startI never want to include spoilers, but sometimes they cannot be avoided. So, because I want you to stick with the new miniseries by Dennis Lehane, starring Taron Egerton (the pair reuniting after their great success with 2022’s Black Bird), and enjoy the myriad benefits it will reap, I urge you to ignore any misgivings you have about the first two episodes of Smoke. Most of them will fall away. The tonal inconsistencies, the apparent self-indulgence of Lehane with his protagonist’s hobby, the dabs of bad characterisation – just keep the faith. If you can’t, then Google the true crime podcast on which Smoke is based and work out what must be happening from there. I’m not giving you the title because you’ll be ruining a lot of fun for yourself.It is not as though sticking with it will be t...

Events

6 d. ago India suffer humbling defeat but rise and fall in fighting spirit is biggest worry | Simon Burnton

With first Test against England in the balance the tourists revealed another of their plentiful flawsThe day started with drama and tension and later, for a while, they returned. But the period in between was in its own way equally intriguing, a phase that exposed in the tourists a deficiency not of quality, but of spirit. This turns out to be a team whose shoulders suffer from such severe premature drooping someone should invent some kind of blue pill to deal with it.They started with spirits high and performance levels to match, Jasprit Bumrah from the Kirkstall Lane End and Mohammed Siraj coming up the hill from the other, lines and lengths unerring. Ben Duckett hit the third ball for four, after which seven overs passed before the next boundary. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Lola Young 'breaks down in tears' backstage after earpiece mishap at Summertime Ball

At this year's Capital FM Summertime Ball, Lola Young struggled with technical difficulties while performing her hit songs

Politics

2 w. ago Mariah Carey praised for 'best live vocals in years' at Capital's Summertime Ball amid claims she 'isn't singing' on new single and has been 'replaced by AI'

Mariah Carey has been praised by fans as she performed her biggest hits at Wembley Arena on Sunday for Capital's Summertime Ball.

Politics

2 w. ago That's just not cricket! Furious players banned from using traditional home ground after local complains of being hit by ball

Three teams are without a home ground while the parish council investigates health and safety concerns - sparking fears for the sport's future in the Essex village.

Events

2 w. ago The Spin | Chipboard and carpet: refugee cricket tournament brings a moment of happiness

In the current wild and fragmented landscape, there is comfort in the sport’s ability to bring hope and communityNext week in Caen, at a baseball practice ground, on a pitch made out of two pieces of chipboard with some carpet stapled on top, a cricket tournament will unroll. Nine teams of refugees, mostly based in Normandy, will fight it out over two days in a series of round-robin T5 tape-ballgames.The battles will be fierce, the bowling often fast, with added jeopardy if the ball hits the not-very-well-disguised join between the two bits of chipboard. Chris Drew, a Guardian reader who lives locally, will umpire. “You watch county cricket and there is time,” he says via video call from France. “Time is one thing that you don’t have here. It is hit, it is whack, it is run, it is bowl – it is quite something. When they whack the ball, it stays whacked. There are no defensive shots. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Andy Murray apologises for his ‘diabolical’ tennis on Queen’s Club court named after him

‘I have a new life and [I am] enjoying being away from sport’Three-time grand slam champion opens Andy Murray ArenaAndy Murray admitted that his tennis is “diabolical nowadays” as he officially opened the centre court at Queen’s Club that now bears his name.The two-time Wimbledon champion was given a ball-girl guard of honour before hitting a couple of points with tournament director Laura Robson and two local schoolchildren. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Footballer, 33, dies after ball hits him in stomach as young family left devastated

Roberto Peterson Hubner died after a tragic incident that claimed the life of the dad-of-three during a football match and left his young family and team-mates heartbroken

Events

3 w. ago I tried everything to fix my incontinence. Here’s what worked

‘I’m tired of peeing in my pants,’ I said to the urogynecologist. ‘Please fix me’Buy an exclusive print from our Well Actually seriesLast October, I got out of bed to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. Sleepy and seated on the toilet, I was shocked into wakefulness by a loud sound.The night before, in my latest attempt to manage incontinence, I’d been working out how to use a Kegel ball, a marble-like vaginal insert that claims to help with pelvic floor strengthening. I’d accidentally fallen asleep with it inside me, and the ball had hit the porcelain bowl. Uh-oh. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Mirra Andreeva angrily fires ball at crowd and breaks down in tears in French Open meltdown

Mirra Andreeva was dumped out of the French Open and was hit with a code violation after smacking a ball into the stands as her frustration and emotion got the better of her

Events