County Championship bursts back into life with calm before the storm

The 125th edition – the calm before the 2026 storm – begins on Friday with notable names headlining the cast list The cut of the grass, the shine of a boot, the sigh of a drop, the joy of a catch, the crunch of a four, the hope of the spring. Time stealthily gouging out lines, on faces, over scars, around knees. A first season. A last.Here, suddenly, is April, unexpectedly sunny and dry

PGA Tour stands firm on golf reunification despite Saudi $1.5bn offer

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has failed in an attempt to persuade the PGA Tour to deliver serious concessions in exchange for a $1.5bn (£1.14bn) investment, leaving elite golf no closer to reconciliation just days from the season’s first major.The PGA Tour’s stance will give credence to the rising sense that the organisation has increasing confidence in its position after a turbulent period caused by the formation of the Saudi-backed LIV Tour.Sources indicate that in correspondence sent to the PGA Tour last week, PIF sought assurances the LIV circuit could continue to operate and that its governor, Yasir al-Rumayyan, could take a place as co-chairman of PGA Tour Enterprises

Big matchups and bigger bucks: Michael Johnson pledges Grand Slam Track will bring ‘fantasy to life’

Athletics legend says his new four-part event, which launches on Friday, is exactly what the sport needsMichael Johnson is one of the few true legends of track and field. Now, though, he is chasing the holy grail. Every four years, athletics is the biggest sport at the Olympics. In between, for most casual fans, it tumbles off a cliff. But Johnson, a four-time gold medallist across the Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney Games, believes he can change all that with a new big-money professional track league, Grand Slam Track, which launches on Friday in Kingston, Jamaica

Grand National 2025: horse-by-horse guide to all the runners

Last year’s winner I Am Maximus heads to Aintree on Saturday bidding to make history. Here is a look through the chances of all 34 contendersThere was a lot going on in the spring of 1974. Abba won Eurovision, Manchester United were relegated and Red Rum became the most recent horse to win the Grand National under what was then the top weight of 12 stone. Just over half a century later, last year’s winner will attempt to emulate the greatest Aintree hero of them all and defy top weight, and though he is higher in the ratings, he won so readily 12 months ago that he would surely have done so with another 8lb on his back. Lacklustre in two runs this campaign but Willie Mullins will have been working backwards from here and he seems highly likely to leave that form behind now he is back at the scene of his greatest triumph

Will a fifth year become the norm for women’s college basketball stars?

With lucrative NIL deals and championships to chase, the biggest names in the NCAA have something to think about being turning professionalOn UConn’s senior night in February 2024, inside a packed Gampel Pavilion, Paige Bueckers took the mic. “I know everybody wants me to address the elephant in the room,” she told the crowd. “Unfortunately, this will not be my last senior night here at UConn.” With that, she confirmed her decision to return for a fifth and final year with the Huskies.Bueckers’ extended eligibility comes from NCAA rules that grant student-athletes five years to compete in four seasons, with an additional year for those who played in 2020-21 due to the Covid-19 waiver

Max Verstappen indicates he was unhappy Red Bull sacked Liam Lawson

Max Verstappen has reiterated that he was unhappy with the way his Red Bull team suddenly sacked their driver Liam Lawson after just two races and replaced him with Yuki Tsunoda from sister team Racing Bulls.Red Bull dropped Lawson with a shocking speed after he underperformed in his first two races for the team, a bluntly emphatic act even by F1 standards. In the immediate aftermath the former driver Giedo van der Garde described Red Bull’s treatment of the 23-year-old as “closer to bullying or a panic move” and that they “gave Liam two races only to crush his spirit” in a post on Instagram, which was liked by Verstappen.Speaking in the buildup to this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, the world champion was explicit that he concurred with Van der Garde’s opinion. “Well, I liked the comment, the text, so I guess that speaks for itself; it [the like] was not a mistake,” he said