‘We’re seen as the underdogs’: the Australian skiers out on their own chasing an Olympic dream | Kieran Pender

Reilly Flanagan is on the brink of history. If the Canberran aerial skier qualifies for the Winter Olympics, which begin in Italy next month, it will mark the first time Australia have contested the discipline’s team event at the global showpiece. After Flanagan and his teammates finished fourth at the world championships in March and won bronze at a World Cup last January, they have every chance of going for gold at Milano-Cortina.Standing between Flanagan and a spot in Australia’s illustrious Olympic history is the small matter of qualification. To be eligible for the mixed team event, the former gymnast must qualify for the individual discipline too

Emma Raducanu ruled out of United Cup opener in false start to new season

Emma Raducanu remains hopeful she will be able to compete this week at the United Cup after her 2026 season began with a concerning false start when she was forced to withdraw from her opening match in Perth because of a foot injury.Raducanu pulled out of her highly anticipated clash with Naomi Osaka only an hour before play got under way but the Great Britain team admirably battled hard in the searing heat and emerged from a tough day with a solid 2-1 win over Japan.Billy Harris, who played in the absence of the British men’s No 1, Jack Draper, opened the tie by defeating Shintaro Mochizuki 7-6 (4), 6-3. Raducanu was replaced by Katie Swan, who performed well against a much higher-ranked opponent before losing 7-6 (4), 6-1 to Osaka. In the decisive rubber, Neal Skupski and Olivia Nicholls used their doubles expertise to seal the tie with a 7-5, 4-6, 10-7 win over Nao Hibino and Yasutaka Uchiyama

England big guns cut loose to highlight folly of Australia’s bowling choices | Geoff Lemon

In the end, it was a relief. Not to say that a lot of Australians would exactly have been tuning into the Sydney Ashes Test hoping to hear that England were doing well, but at least seeing a couple of sessions yield a score of 211 for three felt normal. The run rate was trending towards the adventurous, but it was a day within the accepted frame, and that is a template that not many days in this series have been able to match.In the context of this current England team, a fast opening stand of 35 from 40 balls was normal. The wickets of both openers in quick succession to follow was normal

Jacob Bethell’s place remains a puzzle as gifted batter is let down by England’s planning | Barney Ronay

One down. Devilish gamble on Aussie plonk (5, 7)Would Douglas Jardine have cheated at the crossword? No he would not. Or rather he would, but only in a way that still technically complied with the current rules of crosswords, while also causing a violent crossword-based diplomatic incident. Would Mike Brearley cheat at crosswords? No. He would instead ask the crossword why it feels it needs to be so difficult

Harry Brook urges England to make most of ‘good wicket’ after series-best score

Harry Brook may have played like a man without a care in the world en route to a freewheeling 78 not out on a rain-shortened day one of the Sydney Test, but at close of play he was reassuringly phlegmatic on the topic of his own batting output during the live part of this Ashes seres.“We’re in a very good position, three down at the end of play and hopefully we can make the most of that going into tomorrow,” Brook said. “When I first went in it felt like the bounce was fairly steep, but then it started to get a little bit lower and slower and it just generally feels like a good wicket out there.”Brook and Joe Root shared an unbroken 154-run partnership to leave England in a rare position of strength and Brook with his highest score of the series. The post-lunch session in particular was a gripping spectacle as Australia bowled short at Brook and he alternated between skewing a series of pulls and carves up in the air, and nailing the odd one for four or six

Root and Brook star for England before storm halts Ashes charge against Australia

As the rain fell on the Sydney Cricket Ground, cutting the opening day of this fifth Ashes Test into exactly half the number of allotted overs, you could practically hear the champagne corks being popped in the Cricket Australia offices. Perhaps the groundsman’s hut also.The huge losses incurred by the two-dayers in Perth and Melbourne put CA and the SCG on red alert as regards a repeat. Unless something absurd were to happen on the second day – England had reached 211 for three when play was abandoned at 5pm on the first – this series finale should last a fair bit longer.Another cause for administrative optimism was the ease with which Joe Root and Harry Brook built an unbeaten fourth-wicket stand of 154 runs