Local hero Greg Blewett rates Adelaide Oval as England’s best hope for revival

The last time England played a Test match during daytime hours at Adelaide Oval was in 2013. The ground was a building site and Mitchell Johnson was the wrecking ball, a seven-wicket spree confirming the panic he induced during the first Test in Brisbane was no one-off.Not only were England’s Ashes hopes lamented by the visiting media that year, but also the ground of old. Gone were the terracotta roofs that invoked the sepia world of Don Bradman and in their place there were the early signs of what was to become a 53,000-capacity multi-purpose venue with a drop-in pitch.But heritage listing for the scoreboard that dates back to 1911 meant part of the grass hill remained untouched

As Sudan burns, the NBA’s embrace of the UAE shows how sport enables atrocity

While UAE-backed forces are accused of mass killings in Sudan, the NBA is deepening its partnership with the controversial Gulf state. This is what sportswashing looks likeAs paramilitary fighters from the brutal Rapid Support Forces (RSF) overran the largest city in western Sudan – carrying out mass executions, rapes and ethnic cleansing with weapons supplied by the United Arab Emirates – the NBA’s annual in-season tournament, the Emirates NBA Cup, tipped off on Halloween night, proudly sponsored by the very same Gulf state.The tournament is the most visible example of the NBA’s expanding partnership with the UAE – a partnership that includes annual preseason games in Abu Dhabi, a lucrative sponsorship deal with Emirates airlines, and plans for a new NBA Global Academy at NYU’s Abu Dhabi campus.Larger deals are expected to follow. The NBA is reportedly seeking Abu Dhabi’s investment in a new NBA-branded European league, which could launch as early as 2027

Adelaide should be England’s best chance: expect changes after Noosa debrief | Ali Martin

All being well, England’s cricketers should land in South Australia on Saturday. Those on the port side of the plane will have spotted the mighty Adelaide Oval during their descent. Although at 2-0 down in this Ashes series, a visual cue as to what is at stake next week is hardly needed.The mini-break spent licking wounds in Noosa generated headlines and interest but was hardly unprecedented as modern tours go. Among the reaction was Alex Carey recalling how Australia’s players scattered after the third Test on the 2023 Ashes tour and he personally visited Edinburgh

‘It’s not normal to walk into the tornado’: To fans, there was only one Ricky Hatton. Those who loved him knew many

“Of course I remember,” Billy Graham says quietly as he pushes back his straw trilby to show me his wounded expression. “I can remember everything.”Graham, who trained Ricky Hatton for all but the last three of his 48 fights, used to sit with his fighter on the grimy steps outside their first boxing gym in Salford in the late 1990s. It was a more innocent time and, rather than being called The Preacher and The Hitman, they were just Billy and Ricky then.They were still years away from the mass adulation and the desperately lonely end

Your Guardian sport weekend: Premier League, WSL and NFL action

Yara El-Shaboury is on duty for our essential portal to the weekend’s bumper football programme. She’ll be looking forward to the day’s four Premier League games, Championship, EFL and Scottish Premiership fixtures, sharing breaking news and reader feedback. Why not join the conversation? Send your thoughts to matchday.live@theguardian.com

‘I messaged Sia on Instagram. She didn’t get back to me’: cult darts hero Stephen Bunting on his viral walk-on

The world No 4’s entrance to the song Titanium has become a quasi-religious moment in darts, but while he loves the attention what he really wants is the world title“There’s a lot of people playing darts who haven’t got no character,” Stephen Bunting says in a matter-of-fact tone, his voice still a little croaky from the cold that has been laying waste to him for the last week. “They’re boring to watch. And that’s probably why they’ll never be in the Premier League. You need to have a personality as well as being at the top of your game. You need to balance both