Over-by-over updates from Sydney Cricket Ground
Play starts at 10am local at the SCG/11pm GMT
Live scorecard | The Ashes top 100 | Email Tanya
And hello Paul Moody!
“Hi from Brasil, boa noite.
Continue reading...
Mali 1 Tunisia 1 (aet; Mali win 3-2 on penalties)
North Africans fail to take the game to 10 men
There is perhaps no nation on earth whose football is as paranoid as that of Tunisia, and with so little reason. They qualified for a third successive World Cup with ease and forced a draw in a friendly against Brazil in November, yet their football is infected with fear. To watch them play is to experience a dystopian world in which imagination has been outlawed. In the end, they went out of the Cup of Nations on Saturday because their self-doubt proved an even stronger than Malian self-destructiveness.
The Mali goalkeeper Djigui Diarra took the plaudits but this was a game Tunisia should never have lost. For over an hour and half they played against 10. They took the lead in the 89th minute. Twice they led in the shootout. And somehow they still lost, undermined by their own unwillingness to take the game on. If they had only played, they would surely have won but as so often before, Tunisia did not just play. They squabbled and spoiled, feigned injury and moaned, and every so often forgot themselves, played a handful of passes and looked the decent side that they really should be.
Continue reading...
Executive chair Richard Baker to replace Marc Metrick after company misses $100m interest payment on debt
Saks Global said on Friday that its CEO, Marc Metrick, has stepped down and named executive chair, Richard Baker, as his successor, amid reports that the luxury retailer is preparing for bankruptcy.
The change at the top comes days after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Neiman Marcus parent company is preparing for bankruptcy after missing an interest payment exceeding $100m on debt from its Neiman merger.
Continue reading...
Batter has been thrown in at the deep end at No 3 and if the selectors have faith in a young player they should be doing everything to help them succeed
There used to be a saying in county cricket: a quick game’s a good game. You’d hear it from the old pros who sensed a poor wicket or a downpour, because it meant they would get more time off. Well, England and Australia have certainly adhered to that saying.
There’s another one you hear a lot in cricket these days: there’s a ball with your name on it. It frees batters up, takes the pressure off, and allows them to run down the wicket, to play scoops and ramps, in the belief that they have to be proactive because there’s a good ball round the corner. Modern batters don’t want to trust their defence and, if the world’s best players have that mindset – you hear it a lot from this England setup – you’re going to get a lot of unnecessary dismissals, leading to accelerated matches. That’s what we saw in the fourth Test, exacerbated by an unsatisfactory pitch.
Continue reading...
Manager praises his team’s turnaround in past 12 months
January arrivals also hailed for making a key difference
Pep Guardiola has praised Manchester City for turning their form around to become the best-performing Premier League team in 2025 and warned rivals they will improve once Rodri returns to full fitness.
Despite a rare trophyless season, City go to Sunderland on New Year’s Day with 2025’s best points-per-game ratio, narrowly ahead of Arsenal, who played two more league matches.
Continue reading...