Australia have been blessed by England’s disarray but can put own stamp on Ashes triumph | Geoff Lemon

If you had told Australian observers six months ago that their Test team in Sydney would involve Travis Head opening the batting with Jake Weatherald, Usman Khawaja at five, no Cameron Green, and some bowling combination of Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Todd Murphy and Brendan Doggett, they would have assumed disaster. Fifth Ashes Tests are the land of Scott Borthwick, of Boyd Rankin and Mason Crane: fringe players getting a glimpse at the wreckage after a series has crashed and burned.Khawaja was one such, in the debut reflected upon so much this week after his retirement announcement: the game when he replaced an injured Ricky Ponting after two Australian defeats by an innings, only to play in a third.Instead the Australians won this series comfortably before Christmas, despite a run of injury and health issues that should have made their campaign shambolic. Three of the Big Four bowlers are on the rehab list, replacement captain Steve Smith missed the series decider, Khawaja’s absence tipped the batting order upside down, and two key fit players in Green and Marnus Labuschagne have underdelivered

Gian van Veen denies Gary Anderson in epic to set up final against Luke Littler

It’s barely a couple of years since a 16-year-old Luke Littler and a 21-year-old Gian van Veen came through a 96-player field at Milton Keynes to qualify for the final of the world youth championship. There’s a charming photo of the pair of them with their arms around each other, silly little smiles plastered on to their silly little faces, the cutest high-street haircuts you’ve ever seen. Two kids at the very start of an unforgettable journey.Did either of them foresee, in those sepia-tinted days of August 2023, that the journey would convey them this far, this fast? I reckon Littler did. There’s never been much room for doubt and scepticism in there

PDC world darts semi-finals: Van Veen edges Anderson in classic to set up final with Littler – as it happened

Luke Littler will face Gian van Veen in Saturday’s world championship final after two contrasting semi-final wins on Friday.After losing the first set, Littler won six in a row to see off Ryan Searle 6-1, reaching his third final in three appearances. The world No 1’s focus remains on becoming a back-to-back champion, and not the record £1m prize.“It’s a massive prize, but it’s the trophy on the stage, it’s not the money,” Littler said. “Ever since the Grand Slam I have just said I want to go back-to-back

Eternal 31 makes Crawley the tallest small person in England’s Ashes pyre

It seems a little distant now, a little by-the-by, that this Ashes series was billed, among other things, as a referendum on Zak Crawley’s England career. The tour he was groomed for. The hidden sub-menace in his one-year central contract offer. Here was a chance to justify the high-wire walk of the last few years, to find an answer, perhaps, to the eternal question: is Zak Crawley actually any good?In the event other things have happened, other warning lights blinked, other elements of England’s collective failure creaked more urgently. Shoaib Bashir, the project spinner, plucked from social media for this tour, is in the 12 for Sydney

Reluctant trailblazer Khawaja confronts racial stereotypes before Sydney farewell | Taha Hashim

More than half an hour into the press conference, with his retirement from Test cricket confirmed, Usman Khawaja was asked about the role of opening the batting and its relevance in the modern game. He answered with ease, detailing the specific mental challenges of facing the new ball. Minutes later, he was asked how Australia can unite after last month’s terrorist attack at Bondi Beach. Again, there was little hesitation before the lengthy reply. He cited the teachings of the prophet Muhammad, politicians who “try to divide and conquer” and closed with his reflections on the tragedy itself

Anthony Joshua’s driver charged with dangerous driving after fatal crash in Nigeria

Nigerian police have charged Anthony Joshua’s driver with causing death by dangerous driving after a fatal crash that killed two people.Adeniyi Mobolaji Kayode, 46, was also charged with driving without a valid driving licence and “driving without due care and attention, causing bodily harm and damage to property”. He is due to appear in court on 20 January.The Federal Road Safety Corps in Nigeria said they believed the vehicle was travelling “beyond the legally prescribed speed limit”.Kayode was driving the former world heavyweight boxing champion, Joshua, 36, his personal trainer, Latif Ayodele, and strength coach, Sina Ghami, on 29 December on a busy highway linking Lagos and Ibadan in south-west Nigeria