Category: 6. Sports

Flintoff led the Lions on trips to South Africa and Australia in the winter and, having been with England Under-19s for their win against India in Northampton on Monday, joined the full squad at their practice on Tuesday in Birmingham before the second Test against India.

McCullum was made England Test coach in 2022 and has overhauled the side by implementing a positive approach since. At the start of the year he also took on the role of England white-ball coach, having replaced Australian Matthew Mott who was sacked last year.

Flintoff worked under Mott on a temporary basis, first in September 2023 and then at the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean last year.

He is also a long-time friend of England managing director of men’s cricket Rob Key, who has said Flintoff would make an excellent head coach in the future.

“I’m enjoying working under Keysy,” said Flintoff, a crucial player in England’s famous 2005 Ashes win.

“It’s no secret he’s one of my best mates and he’s helped me so much in other things. With Baz, we’ve got a great relationship and the utmost respect.

“He’s unbelievable and the culture he’s created is incredible. It’s similar to what Gareth Southgate did with the football lads.”

Flintoff had largely moved away from cricket prior to his crash in December 2022, which left him with serious facial injuries.

After an initial private return – he attended matches in a balaclava at the invitation of Key – he was named head coach of the Superchargers’ men’s side in The Hundred last year and has become an increasingly public figure again.

“I’m not looking at the franchise world or anything else, although I do the Northern Superchargers which came around last year and I enjoy working with [Superchargers captain] Harry Brook on that.

“I think ‘I’ve got a job to do here’ and it’s not like ‘what’s next?’.”

Former all-rounder Moeen Ali also joined England’s staff on Monday as they prepared for the second Test which begins on Wednesday.

Alexis Mac Allister enjoyed a brilliant 2024/25 campaign, winning the Premier League with Liverpool while also shining on the Champions League stage – and the La Pampa native has revealed who, at the moment, he believes is the best team in the world.

As time floats by, the Argentine midfielder’s stock just continues to rise – he played his side’s fourth-most minutes as they were crowned champions of England, though he and his teammates fell short at Europe’s top table, exiting at the Round of 16 stage.

Arne Slot’s men, fresh off the back of Jurgen Klopp’s sudden and saddening departure, were a source of excitement – but they were unable to up their European pedigree further thanks to a player he suggested that he ‘wanted to kill’ during their meeting.

‘They have everything: they’re very disciplined, they play well with the ball, they all run’

By virtue of Liverpool being one of the most notable absentees from this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup, the former Brighton & Hove Albion ace was a guest on La Casa del Kun – and shared who, in his eyes, is the greatest team in world football.

Perhaps to little surprise, the 26-year-old, widely regarded as one of the best midfielders in world football, chose Paris Saint-Germain – who became champions of Europe after a resounding, 5-0 win over Inter Milan at the front end of June 2025.

“They’re the best team in the world; they’re flying,” Mac Allister, who is a 38-cap international for Lionel Scaloni’s Argentina, claimed, per ESPN, before adding, “They have everything: they’re very disciplined, they play well with the ball, they all run. For me, they’re the best.”

Earlier in the competition, the two met. PSG hosted the Reds for their first leg of their two-legged Champions League Round of 16 clash. Slot’s men were triumphant but were knocked out on penalties the week after, allowing the French side to advance.

PSG’s side is studded with stars: Joao Neves in the middle, Desire Doue on the wing and Nuno Mendes at left-back – but it was Ousmane Dembele who impressed Mac Allister the most. “When we played away, five or ten minutes into the game, the guy was flying,” the one-time World Cup winner said.

“The ball was divided, and I went with my foot open and he nutmegged me… He left me and immediately the game stopped. He came to me and said: ‘Bro, don’t come so fast next time.’ That’s what he told me.”

Watch Dembele slot it through Mac Allister’s legs below:

Mac Allister’s response? “And I told him, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll put it on your knee next time.’ The thing is, I never managed to catch him,” he admitted, thus drawing a subtle laugh out of former Manchester City talisman-turned-pundit Sergio Aguero.

Asked whether he thought about taking drastic action by being dogged and (potentially!) reckless in his approach, Mac Allister said: “No, it’s not necessary. At the time I wanted to kill him, but those things are good, it’s not worth making so much of a fuss.”

The season just gone was the most fruitful of Normandy-born Dembele’s career – the 1997-born goal-getter scored 33 goals and notched a further 15 assists in all competitions. Along with that, he helped win Luis Enrique’s PSG their first-ever Champions League title.

NEW DELHI: Despite another solid knock of 45 runs from opener Vaibhav Suryavanshi, India fell agonizingly short as England edged a dramatic one-wicket victory in the second Youth ODI at Hove on Monday, levelling the five-match series 1-1. India had entered the match on a high after their commanding win in the opener, where Suryavanshi top-scored with 48. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The young right-hander continued his fine form, scoring a composed 45 to help India recover from a disastrous start after skipper Ayush Mhatre was dismissed for a golden duck.

Watch: Alongside Suryavanshi, Vihaan Malhotra (49), Rahul Kumar (47), Kanishk Chouhan (45), and Abhigyan Kundu (32) all chipped in with useful contributions, guiding India to a competitive total of 290 in 49 overs. England’s bowlers were far from disciplined, leaking 32 extras, including a staggering 26 wides. Still, AM French led the way with 4 for 71, while Jack Home (3/63) and Alex Green (3/50) shared the rest of the spoils. The chase, however, proved to be a rollercoaster. England stumbled early at 7 for 1 and later 47 for 3, with medium pacer RS Ambrish striking twice in quick succession.

But a magnificent counterattack from England captain Thomas Rew, who hammered 131 off just 89 balls (16 fours, 6 sixes), turned the tide. His 123-run stand with Rocky Flintoff (39) laid the foundation, but once Rew fell in the 40th over, the match swung back toward India. With England reduced to 254 for 8 by the 46th over, Ambrish (4/80) reignited hopes for India. England needed seven off the final over, and with only one wicket in hand, the game hung on a knife’s edge. But Sebastian Morgan (20 not out) held his nerve, striking a boundary off the third ball of Yudhajit Guha’s over to seal a heart-stopping win. Though India were left to rue missed chances, Suryavanshi’s consistency at the top continues to be a bright spot. As the series heads into the third match, India will look to regroup and lean on their in-form opener to regain the lead.

Steven Dubois – short track speed skater

Where better to start than four-time world champion short track speed skater, Steven Dubois, who headed off to Japan at the end of last season for quite the trip.

Diving in spectacular but frigid waters that left him trembling with cold, taking in the thrum of iconic cityscapes, and posting food photos, lots of food photos, Dubois enjoyed his well-earned break in April after… oh we’re sorry, did we forget to mention it, after winning all four of the titles at one world championships, and in the edition before the next Olympic Winter Games to boot.

So yes, the lengthy break was clearly well-deserved after a mammoth 2024-25 season for the Quebec native, especially as he’ll likely feel a shift in focus toward him in Italy, after the retirement of compatriot and six-time Olympic medallist, including four gold, Charles Hamelin.

Winning Olympic gold in the 5000m relay alongside Hamelin, Maxime Laoun, and Pascal Dion, Dubois also won individual silver in the men’s 1500m, and bronze in the 500m, so looks to have picked up the mantle for short track excitement for Canada with ease.

But perhaps it’s no surprise Dubois has gone dark since his trip to the Far East, with no content posted on Instagram since April, as he goes into stealth mode with training ramping up.

It’s possibly also unnerving for his fellow competitors as all of them target being at the Milano Ice Skating Arena for the start of the Olympic short-track speed skating event on 10 February.

But qualification comes first.

Based on the ISU Short Track World Tour competitions, which determine the Special Olympic Qualifying Classifications (SOQC) in 2025, the three best results out of four of the ISU Short Track World Tour competitions will decide the quotas for the SOQC over the respective distances.

The first takes place in Montreal from 16 to 19 October, with many an eye likely trained on the favourite for mutliple events, Dubois.

WIMBLEDON — A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Iga Swiatek was the best junior here on the grass.

“It feels like it was in a different lifetime, you know?” Swiatek told reporters on Sunday. “It was probably the highlight of my career back then. It felt pretty surreal. But on the other hand, I came back home, and nothing really changed.

“I remember I thought maybe life is going to be, like, perfect now. I was a bit disappointed. It was still the same, and I still had to get back to work. I remember having a lot of just hope and just the feeling that maybe it’s going to be also possible in the future at the pro level.”

Wimbledon: Scores | Order of play | Draws

It was 2018 and the 17-year-old Swiatek won her first (and only) junior Grand Slam title on a surface that is technically her worst as a professional.

That draw was loaded with future stars — No. 3 seed Coco Gauff, No. 8 Clara Tauson, No. 10 Wang Xinyu and No. 11 Leylah Fernandez. Swiatek beat unseeded Emma Raducanu 6-0, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.

Fast forward to today, with Swiatek — a four-time Roland Garros champion on the red clay but with a career-best quarterfinal berth at Wimbledon two years ago — coming off her best Hologic WTA Tour grass result ever. Last Saturday’s final in Bad Homburg was her first WTA final since winning in Paris more than a year ago.

On Tuesday, the No. 8 seed here dropped a 7-5, 6-1 decision on Polina Kudermetova. It was Swiatek’s 61st consecutive win in an opening match — the longest streak of any woman this century. She’ll meet Caty McNally, a 6-3, 6-1 winner over British wildcard Jodie Burrage on Thursday.

With the victory, Swiatek’s record at Wimbledon is 12-5 (.706). That’s a fairly stellar mark, but perhaps because she is so dominant on clay, Swiatek has always been self-deprecating about her grass skills.

And yet, the 24-year-old from Poland defeated Jasmine Paolini definitively, 6-1, 6-3, in the Bad Homburg semifinals.

“It for sure gave me a lot of confidence,” Swiatek said. “Obviously it’s tennis, so every day is different, but I felt like I’m playing great. I really pushed Jasmine the way I wanted to. I had really great time in Bad Homburg and enjoyed it. Yeah, also having more time to practice before on grass really helped. I feel that I have a little bit more skills.”

And while Paolini reached the finals here a year ago, she is not listed among the leading favorites to win this title. Swiatek, a small distance behind Aryna Sabalenka, is — ahead of 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina and reigning French Open winner Coco Gauff.

Swiatek gave Jessica Pegula a good go in Bad Homburg, losing a brisk final by a 6-4, 7-5 count.

“She said in her speech, `Oh, there’s hope for me.’ I was like, `You’re still pretty good,’ ” Pegula said on Sunday. “I’m pretty sure she made [Wimbledon] quarters a few years ago. She won junior Wimbledon — you’re obviously not like a lost cause.

“I think she was a little hard on herself … it’s hard when you don’t feel as natural on a surface. Yeah, she’ll be fine.”

Swiatek arrived at Wimbledon late Saturday night and — aside from her media responsibilities — had Sunday off. She practiced Monday and looked sharp in her first match.

It’s all a part of a committed effort to get better on grass. After losing to Sabalenka in the semifinals at Roland Garros, Swiatek opted to skip the WTA 500 events at Queen’s Club and Berlin. Instead, she spent a week practicing in Mallorca. Slowly, surely, she’s feeling better on grass.

“Just more time, like give me opportunity to, yeah, work on some movement and stepping to the ball a little bit differently than on clay — it helped,” Swiatek said. “You really have to trust your shots on grass. You can’t really pull back.

“Any shot that will give your opponent more time to go in is probably the shot that will make you lose the rally. I just went for it in Bad Homburg, and it really worked.”

There’s a theory floating around that because her customary clay runs in Stuttgart, Madrid, Roma and Paris have been so taxing, there was never much left in Swiatek’s tank, physically or emotionally, for Wimbledon.

After a work-vacation on a lovely Spanish island, she looks fresh and ready to challenge for one of the two Grand Slam titles that have eluded her.

 

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, back to basics for the 2025 season

At the start of the year, Davidovich Fokina found himself languishing down in 68^th in the ATP rankings, a world away from his career-high rank of 21.

Among his radical changes were an overhaul of his backroom team. The Málaga man brought in David Sánchez, who he had been working with the previous year, and Félix Mantilla as his key coaches.

“There are many aspects, but I think the main one has been the life change that I made, the recruitment of the team that I really want,” Davidovich Fokina explains. “I left my former coach, moved to Monaco and said, ‘I have to start my whole team from scratch’.

“With my manager, Gianmarco [Amatiste], who is also my best friend, we started to make calls and build the team bit by bit. We have a very good team, we are now looking for another coach, a second coach, but for now we are all here.”

Hailing from the coastal town of Rincón de la Victoria, the world no. 27 is the second-highest ranked Spanish ATP player, behind five-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz.

“There are quite a few Spaniards who are playing quite well nowadays,” he explains, “we also have a very good team for the Davis Cup, so I think that more young players will emerge to make us even stronger in the future.”