‘He was a batter ahead of his time’: Robin Smith, former England cricketer, dies aged 62

Tributes have been paid to Robin Smith, whose swashbuckling batting and fearlessness at the crease lit up English cricket in an era when it often languished in the doldrums, fol­lowing his death at the age of 62.Smith played 62 Tests for ­England between 1988 and 1996, averaging 43.67. But it was the sight of him taking the fight to the fastest pace bowlers of his generation that will live longest in the memory.His highest Test score of 175, against West Indies in Antigua in 1994, came against a bowling attack led by Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, who took 924 Test wickets between them

Constitution Hill should never be asked to jump a hurdle in public again | Greg Wood

Trainer Nicky Henderson and owner Michael Buckley are still mulling over the options for Constitution Hill after his third fall in four starts at Newcastle on Saturday, but the simple fact that Henderson floated the question “can we go on asking him to do it?” in the immediate aftermath suggests that, in his heart, he already knows the answer. Whatever else might beckon for the eight-year-old – and a recent 160+ rating over timber suggests that he could compete at a very decent level on the Flat – this is a horse that should not be asked to jump a hurdle in public again.Henderson’s competitive streak is as fierce as ever after nearly half a century in the game, and so too his appetite for a challenge. As such, it would be odd if the urge to attempt a repeat of Sprinter Sacre’s unlikely return to Grade One-winning form at the 2016 festival was not nagging away at the back of his mind somewhere. Sprinter Sacre’s second Champion Chase victory was one of the great Cheltenham moments of recent decades, and Constitution Hill, after all, set off as the 4-11 favourite for the Champion Hurdle just eight months ago, with an unbeaten 10-race record to his name

‘This is what real inclusion looks like’: eight-year-old learns to love skateboarding despite barriers

Children with severe disabilities rarely get a chance to have fun like other kids, but with support and some creative thinking, Lloyd Pinn is out at the skate park and enjoying taking risksSporting sunnies, a riding helmet and an adaptive jumper and chinos, Lloyd Pinn stands with his legs apart on the skateboard, with two volunteers running alongside holding a custom-built all ability skate frame for support, as the wheels glide over the skate park surface, the wind on his face.Lloyd is eight years old and living with a rare genetic condition that renders him non-mobile, non-verbal, with a severe intellectual disability and reliant on a feeding tube for sustenance. Around 30% of children with such a condition don’t live past the age of five.Lloyd’s mother Maya Pinn, who designed his skate gear and is also the founder of RareWear Australia, which designs adaptive clothing for children with a disability, says Lloyd has taken to skateboarding as he is a real thrill-seeker who loves hard rock music. She recently took him to see AC/DC at a concert in Melbourne – Hells Bells is his favourite song of all time

England abandon all-out pace attack with recall of Will Jacks for second Ashes Test in Brisbane

Will Jacks will make his third Test appearance, and his first in nearly three years, as England attempt to level the Ashes at the Gabba from Thursday after replacing the injured Mark Wood in the only change to the team that lost the series opener in Perth.With this selection the tourists are abandoning the all-out pace attack that bundled Australia out for 132 in their first innings of the opening Test – and was then pummelled by Travis Head in their second – in favour of deepening their batting lineup and adding a spin-bowling option.The decision followed analysis of recent day-night games, including the role Nathan Lyon has played in his pink-ball outings as well as Kevin ­Sinclair’s success for West Indies when they became the first and only team to beat Australia in a floodlit match, in Brisbane at the start of last year.Shoaib Bashir is ­established as England’s preferred spinner, and has played 19 Tests since Jacks was last picked, but he is both a lesser batter and less reliable in the field. The 27-year-old Jacks’s selection means Jofra Archer is the only member of the England team not to have scored a first-class hundred

The Breakdown | Thirty years of Champions Cup has given us the beastly, beautiful and bizarre

Bloodgate, the ‘Hand of Back’ and a drop goal off ‘someone’s arse’ are among the tournament’s delightful eccentricitiesOn the eve of a new Champions Cup season it is worth remembering when and where it all began. The answer is 30 years ago on the shores of the Black Sea where Farul Constanta of Romania hosted France’s mighty Toulouse in the opening pool game of the old Heineken Cup on 31 October 1995.Let’s just say they were different times. The match was played on a Tuesday and, while the crowd was recorded as 3,000, eyewitnesses were focused on the large number of security personnel with barking Alsatian dogs straining at the leash. Toulouse, boasting an array of internationals including Émile Ntamack and Thomas Castaignède, duly registered eight tries and won 54-10

‘We make a great living’: Emma Raducanu on why she won’t moan about the tennis calendar

British No 1 on home comforts of Bromley, joys of commuting and being ‘creeped out’ by paparazziEmma Raducanu has garnered many endorsement deals in her nascent career, but there is perhaps one elusive sponsorship that would be most pleasing to the British No 1 women’s tennis player: ambassador of the London borough of Bromley.During a roundtable discussion with tennis journalists at the end of a gruelling yet satisfying season, Raducanu is merely attempting to describe a quiet off-season spent in her family home when she finds herself delivering a sales pitch about the benefits of living in Bromley. “I’m just so settled,” she says. “I’ve barely been in the UK this year because I’ve been competing so much, but I think just spending really good quality time with my parents has been so nice. I have loved just being in Bromley