England plot route to Ashes recovery as Mark Wood admits they were ‘hit hard in round one’

Mark Wood has considered driving straight from Perth to Brisbane – a 2,500 mile (4,000 km) journey over four days – just to fill the extra time created by the chastening start to England’s much-hyped Ashes moonshot.The fast bowler was among a side left “shellshocked” by the galling batting collapse on the second day at Perth Stadium that allowed Australia to power to a 1-0 series lead through Travis Head’s remarkable 69-ball century.A nervous flyer, and with the two-day finish having opened up an 12-day gap before the day-night second Test starts at the Gabba on 4 December, Wood went as far as to look into how long it would take to make the journey by road – only to realise the scale of the logistics involved.“If I could drive across the country, I would,” said the 35-year-old, speaking to former teammate Stuart Broad on the For The Love Of Cricket podcast. “I did speak to a local who said if you go across the country, that’s a big danger

Does Travis Head’s knock deserve to be among the greatest ever Ashes innings? | Martin Pegan

Cometh the hour, cometh Travis Head. The always swashbuckling but recently out-of-sorts middle-order batter put his hand up and said “I’ll do it,” as Australia were again left scrambling to find an opener to step in for Usman Khawaja in the first Test. The last-minute decision for Head to partner debutant Jake Weatherald at the top of the order and begin the fourth-innings run chase with England in command is the sort of after-the-fact masterstroke that fills the pages of Ashes history. But even with a backstory of heroic and match-defining knocks, few could have expected Head to flip the script in a Test that had seen just 468 runs scored as 30 wickets fell, with an onslaught that immediately etched its place in Ashes folklore as one of the great innings.Head rocketed to his 10th Test century from 69 balls – the second fastest in Ashes history, the third quickest by an Australian in Tests, and the most rapid in a fourth innings – and celebrated with a few casual twirls of his bat and a half-hearted fist pump

NFL Week 12: Chiefs hit back to beat Colts in overtime, Lions tame Giants and Packers crush Vikings

What a finish. Double overtime madness. The final scores and records now the dust has settled.(6-5) Baltimore Ravens 23-10 New York Jets (2-9)(8-3) Chicago Bears 31-28 Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5)(3-8) Cincinnati Bengals 20-26 New England Patriots (10-2)(7-4) Detroit Lions 34-27 New York Giants (2-10)(7-3-1) Green Bay Packers 23-6 Minnesota Vikings (4-7)(6-5) Kansas City Chiefs 23-20 Indianapolis Colts (8-3)(1-10) Tennessee Titans 24-30 Seattle Seahawks (8-3)That was an incredible comeback from Kansas City. The defense just completely shut the Colts out in the second half

Contepomi accuses ‘bully’ Curry of reckless tackle and shoving Argentina coach

Tom Curry found himself at the centre of a storm after England’s win against Argentina, as Felipe Contepomi accused the flanker not only of a “reckless” tackle on Juan Cruz Mallía but of shoving him, the Pumas’ coach, in the tunnel afterwards. Mallía, the full-back, was forced off late on with what is thought to be an anterior cruciate ligament injury, which meant Argentina, who had used all their replacements, had to finish the match with 14 men.“How old is he?” said Contepomi of Curry. “Twenty-seven? And strong. And I am 48 and he comes and just [shoves me]

Ukrainian refugee Danylo Yavhusishyn wows Japan to win his country’s first elite sumo title

Danylo Yavhusishyn has become the first Ukrainian to win a sumo tournament in Japan.The 21-year-old, who fled the war in Ukraine three years ago, won the Kyushu tournament after a tie-breaking victory over grand champion Hoshoryu from Mongolia.Yavhusishyn, whose ring name is Aonishiki Arata, addressed fans in fluent Japanese after his victory. He told fans at Fukuoka Kokusai Center that he was glad that he was able to compete to the best of his abilities.“I am happy that I am able to achieve a goal of mine,” he said of his victory, which was also televised

Max Ojomoh delivers champagne moment for England to signify arrival on big stage | Gerard Meagher

It is a quirk of England’s November clean sweep that there were no debutants throughout an autumn campaign for the first time in 25 years but Max Ojomoh’s performance against Argentina when winning his second cap certainly felt like the arrival of the next big thing.For Ojomoh was the star turn of England’s least convincing performance of the autumn, finishing off the first try before teeing up the other two. His assist for Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, a delightful cross-field kick, was the champagne moment of the first half and his popped pass to Henry Slade for England’s third was equally eye-catching, rounding off a fine first outing at Twickenham for the 25-year-old.It is just eight days since Steve Borthwick might have felt that he had finally unearthed his centre partnership for the future after Fraser Dingwall and Ollie Lawrence dovetailed superbly in the victory against the All Blacks. The best compliment that can be paid to Ojomoh is that Borthwick may have to think again