Sport stars ‘deeply concerned’ playing fields will be lost under planning reforms

Sports playing fields and facilities in England are at risk of being built over en masse with devastating consequences for local communities, sports stars and governing bodies have warned.The former England footballer Jill Scott along with Olympic gold medallists Mo Farah, Alex Yee and Matthew Pinsent, are among 88 signatories to an open letter saying they are “deeply concerned” about proposed government planning reforms, and say they would hit poorest communities hardest.The letter, which has also been signed by the Football Association, the RFU, the LTA and UK Athletics, comes amid proposals to end Sport England’s statutory right to be consulted on housing developments on playing fields as part of the government’s plans to hit its target of building 1.5m homes.“We are deeply concerned that proposed planning reforms could remove the statutory protections that help safeguard England’s playing fields and sports facilities,” the letter warns

Enchantingly old-school Mr Vango can thrill with Welsh Grand National win

When jumping fans of any age talk about a “proper, old-fashioned steeplechaser”, they have a strapping colossus of a horse in mind, with the strength to keep jumping and powering on through the deepest of winter ground when lesser rivals have cried enough. A horse like Pendil or The Dikler in the 1970s, Desert Orchid or Carvill’s Hill a decade or so later, or Denman lugging top weight to victory in the Hennessy – when it still was the Hennessy, back in 2009.Or, in the here and now, a horse like Mr Vango, the second-favourite for Saturday’s Welsh Grand National at Chepstow. Even in a year when Harry Redknapp has a live runner in the King George VI Chase at Kempton a day earlier, a win for Mr Vango this weekend would quite possibly be the most popular and heartwarming result of the entire festive racing programme.Everything about Sara Bradstock’s nine-year-old is defiantly, and enchantingly, old-school, from his massive frame and engine to the amount of time he has been given to develop and mature

McCullum admitting failure of his methods was gobsmacking but England are learning | Mark Ramprakash

Finally, in the last two days of the third Test with the series already basically lost, England stood up. They have been on a hell of a journey over 11 days of Test cricket, and now – too late – they are getting somewhere.They have reminded me of some of the students who have passed through the school where I teach: they get into the upper sixths and they’re first-team cricketers, the big boys, very confident, dominating the team, playing good cricket, think they’ve cracked the code. Then they have a gap year and go travelling, and suddenly they realise there’s a whole world out there, that life can be tough and things can be done differently. Out of their comfort zone they can mature rapidly as young men and as people

Six balls in Perth to Harry Brook’s drop: 10 moments that decided the Ashes

Lilac Hill warmup, Alex Carey’s glovework and Pat Cummins’ control of Joe Root are key parts of the storyIt’s not a complete exaggeration to say that Australia won the 2025-26 Ashes on 15 October 2024. That was when Cricket Australia announced the schedule for the series: Perth first, Brisbane second. Starting the series on the bounciest, most Kryptonicious pitches in Australia – and the only major venues where England haven’t won a Test since 1986-87 – was a masterstroke, especially as Australia also had a day-night advantage at the Gabba. By the time England reached more batting-friendly climes, many of their batters already had scrambled brains.We may never know the whole truth about whether England could have used the Waca in Perth ahead of the first Test

The Jacksonville Jaguars aren’t a punchline any more – they’re a problem

Once loose, erratic and reliably unreliable, Jacksonville have hardened into something far more serious, with Trevor Lawrence’s control and confidence turning a hot streak into a genuine AFC threatSeven weeks ago, the Jaguars were still that team: loose, entertaining, unreliable. The kind that could light up a quarter and then spend the next three undoing it. Now, they’re a wagon.After beating the Broncos on Sunday, the Jaguars have ripped off six straight wins. They’ve won 11 regular-season games for the first time since 2007

Rugby brain injury case suffers blow after judge rejects court appeals

Two appeals launched by the legal firm representing former players in rugby league and rugby union have been denied in a significant blow to the ongoing legal action about brain damage caused by the sport. It means that after five years of legal arguments a large number of the claimants in both codes face the risk of having their cases struck out before they come to trial.The appeal judge, Lord Justice Dias, ruled that the judge presiding over the management of the case, Senior Master Jeremy Cook, had been right to find that the claimants’ firm, Rylands Garth, had failed to fulfil its obligations to disclose necessary medical material to the defendants, World Rugby, the Wales Rugby Union, and the Rugby Football Union in one case, and the Rugby Football League in the other.The issues are procedural, and the appeal ruling does not reflect the strength of the actual cases that will eventually proceed to trial, but the case in rugby league in particular has been hugely undermined by this judgment. Altogether 180 of the 321 claimants in rugby league now face having their claims struck off