Usman Khawaja left out of Australia’s XI for third Ashes Test in Adelaide

Usman Khawaja could be facing the end of his international career after being overlooked for the third Ashes Test. Pat Cummins, who will return to captain Australia after what he called an “aggressive” rehabilitation from his back injury, has just about kept the door ajar for the opener.Cummins is one of two changes for the hosts as they look to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in this Ashes series. Nathan Lyon makes a comeback on his former home ground, with Brendon Doggett and Michael Neser the bowlers to miss out despite the latter’s five-wicket haul in Brisbane.But arguably the biggest call was to shoulder arms to Khawaja after his return from a back injury

Laying waste to Bazball just offers Australians an extra dollop of Ashes relish | Geoff Lemon

Adelaide comes across as a genteel city, but for a long time there was a contrasting degree of brutality to the Adelaide Test. At peak summer late in January it was a saucepan: hot, flat, home to impossibly long days. The mood changed in recent decades when it shifted to milder weeks in late spring, then further to nighttime contests. But with the third Test being a day match, and with forecasts this week as high as 39C, there’s anticipation of the old flavour returning. And if England’s 2-0 deficit becomes an Ashes-losing 3-0, we will see awaken in the Australian sporting public a concomitant lust for total destruction

Cameron Menzies cracks in the cauldron as darts faces an uncomfortable truth

By the time Cameron Menzies finally leaves the arena, the blood gushing from the gash on his right hand has trickled its way down the whole hand, down his wrist, part of his forearm and – somehow – up to his face. Smeared in crimson and regret, and already mouthing sheepish apologies to the crowd, he disappears down the steps, pursued by a stern-looking Matt Porter, the chief executive of the Professional Darts Corporation.The physical scars from Menzies’s encounter with the Alexandra Palace drinks table after his 3-2 defeat against Charlie Manby will be gone within a few weeks. Most probably there will be a fine of some sort. What about the rest? Man loses game of darts, punches table three times in fury, goes to hospital, repents at leisure: simple cause and effect

England face daunting task as Ashes series resumes in shadow of tragedy

Adelaide may be 1,300km to the west of Bondi but the sense of pain in the city has been no less for the distance. People are in shock here trying to make sense of the horrors that unfolded on Sunday evening – a day that was supposed to be one of celebration for Sydney’s Jewish community. As the first national public event being staged in Australia since, the third Ashes Test that starts here on Wednesday will play out to a sombre backdrop. The flags at Adelaide Oval will fly at half-mast, a minute’s silence will be observed before the toss, while players are likely to wear black armbands throughout. Inevitably, security for the match has been increased

Jockey Club behaves like old-style lord of the manor over secretive Kempton sale plans | Greg Wood

It has taken the better part of a decade but the Jockey Club, the private, self-appointed body that has wielded immense power in racing for nearly 300 years, seems poised to realise its long-standing ambition to see one of the sport’s most historic racecourses bulldozed for housing. If the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day is on your racing bucket list, next week’s renewal might be one of the final chances to tick it off.That, sadly, is the only conclusion to be drawn from what was almost a throwaway comment by Jim Mullen, the Jockey Club’s new chief executive, to the Racing Post’s industry editor, Bill Barber, over the weekend.“Kempton,” Mullen said, “is out of my hands,” before adding: “Back in 2018 the Jockey Club and [the developer] Redrow negotiated an option to develop Kempton and that option was negotiated and transferred to Redrow. They have the option to exercise that for development, but since I’ve been here [from April 2025] there have been no concrete plans or agreements to develop it

If Harry Brook is truly a generational talent, that promise needs to be delivered now | Barney Ronay

“They were shocking shots. I’ll admit that every day of the week. Especially the one in Perth. It was nearly a bouncer and I’ve tried to drive it. It was just bad batting