Damien Martyn, former Australian Test cricketer, in induced coma with meningitis

The former Australian Test cricketer Damien Martyn has been admitted to hospital and placed in an induced coma after being diagnosed with meningitis.The sporting community is rallying around the 54-year-old, who “is in for the fight of his life”, according to the former AFL player Brad Hardie, who revealed Martyn’s condition on 6PR on Tuesday.Martyn remains in a serious condition after falling ill on Boxing Day and being taken to hospital in Queensland where he was diagnosed with meningitis, according to sources close to the family. Meningitis is inflammation of the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord.Former teammate Darren Lehmann urged Martyn to “keep strong” via X, as the cricket world began to react to the news

Glorious Gary Anderson revels in remarkable renaissance to take out Van Gerwen

“I’m just here to cause a headache,” Gary Anderson had told everyone in advance of this game, and for the great Michael van Gerwen the hangover from this crushing 4-1 defeat will comfortably outstrip any quantity of New Year’s Eve festivity. It was a little nervy at the end, a little scrappy and short of breath. But somehow the result had never really been in doubt from the early stages: Van Gerwen, the three-time champion, was simply outplayed by a man almost two decades his senior, a true darting maestro enjoying an uproarious final act to his career.In reaching the quarter-finals of this tournament for the first time since 2022, Anderson has finally made good on a renaissance that has been at least a couple of years in the making. As the halcyon days of his career began to recede in a haze of domestic bliss, tournaments missed and general middle-aged apathy, it became common to speak of Anderson’s greatness in the past tense

‘Stay strong, champion’: boxing world offers condolences to Anthony Joshua

Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk have passed their condolences to the families of Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele, the two friends who died in a car crash in Nigeria on Monday in which the former heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua was also injured.Ayodele, also known as Latz, was a personal trainer of Joshua, while Ghami acted as strength and conditioning coach for the 36-year-old boxer. Joshua remains in hospital in Lagos, where he was described by his management team as being in a stable condition.Fury, who had been expected to come out of retirement to fight Joshua next year, posted a tribute to Ghami and Ayodele on social media yesterday, writing: “This is so sad. May God give them a good bed in heaven

McCullum must be held to account even if England end Ashes with another win | Barney Ronay

A 3-2 series scoreline may make it hard to change coach but you don’t reward a failure of planning because the players clawed a bit back when it was too lateThere’s a good origins-story-style video in the Sky Sports masterclass archive. Filmed at Edgbaston in 2016, it shows the blue-sky brothers, Brendon McCullum and Rob Key, back when the world was still young, looking sharp and chiselled, laughing and joshing on the outfield, and nominally discussing how to bat in T20 cricket.And yes, the chemistry, well, the chemistry is overpowering. It almost feels like a romantic intrusion, the viewer cast as gooseberry. This is Coldplay kiss-cam energy

Patriots’ Stefon Diggs faces strangulation and assault charges in Massachusetts

New England Patriots star wide receiver Stefon Diggs is facing strangulation and other criminal charges in connection with a dispute with his former private chef, police said.News of the charges emerged after a court hearing on Tuesday in Dedham, Massachusetts. Diggs is charged with felony strangulation or suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery.Diggs’s lawyer, David Meier, said in an emailed statement that Diggs “categorically denies these allegations”.Meier said the allegations never occurred, describing them as unsubstantiated and uncorroborated

Travball emerges, athletics surges, Brisbane basks in success: Australia’s biggest sporting moments of 2025

An Ashes-defining intervention, an NRL showstopper, and new hope forced on the AFL are among our writers’ great moments in Australian sports this yearThe highly anticipated Ashes was quickly torn apart by Travis Head’s cameo at the top of the order that has since turned into a much longer stay. The NRL grand final was another scene for an all-time breathtaking display, as the Broncos joined the AFL’s Lions in making Brisbane the epicentre of Australian sport. Here are our writers’ sporting highlights of 2025.It will be a long time before there is an NRL finals campaign like that of Brisbane in 2025. From an unlikely victory over minor premiers Canberra in golden point, through the dramatic second-half turnaround to end Penrith’s dynasty, to the ultimate destination on grand final day