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Make sure to stay across our British and Irish Lions squad announcement live page from 13:00 BST as Andy Farrell names the group of players that will tour Australia this summer.You can watch the announcement live and follow text updates and analysis from the event in London.
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The Independent
16 minutes ago
- The Independent
Mark Nicholas' proudest memory tinged by sadness as 2005 Ashes marked end of era
Mark Nicholas has bittersweet memories of his role fronting Channel 4's coverage of the 2005 Ashes, his pride in the enduring 'mythology' of the series tinged by sadness at the end of the free-to-air era. Nicholas was the broadcasting anchor charged with carrying a rapt nation through many of the key moments of a contest that remains seared into the memories of cricket fans. Heading up an elite commentary cast featuring the likes of the late Richie Benaud and Tony Greig, as well as Sir Geoffrey Boycott, Michael Atherton and Michael Slater, Nicholas' debonair style crystallised many of the most thrilling moments as England regained the urn for the first time in 18 years. One passage in particular lives on, Steve Harmison's vital dismissal of Michael Clarke at Edgbaston and the subsequent call of: 'One of the great balls! Given the moment, given the batsman, given the match…that is a staggering gamble!' Speaking to the PA news agency two decades later, the current MCC chair reflects: 'You hear a lot of soundbites from that series, even 20 years on. Some of what I said didn't always make much sense, but I think the best commentary is reactive. When you plan to say certain things it doesn't work as well. ' David Bowie once gave an interview about 'Life on Mars' and said, 'It's a good song but I've no idea what I was writing about'. I sort of know what he means, you can be creatively successful completely unintentionally. 'I cannot tell you how often I get stopped, people telling me with all their hearts that 2005 and our coverage of it was what got them into cricket. 'Of course, it was the fact that England beat Australia after so long and that it was so thrilling. But to hear people, even England cricketers, say you helped get them into the game…you can't be more flattered than that. 'Some of us brought hyperbole, some did the deep analysis, Richie was minimalism brilliantly applied. I remain more proud of that time than anything else in my career, there was a certain element of mythology for all of us that summer, players and commentators alike.' Yet 2005 was not just the high water mark for Nicholas' BAFTA-winning team, it was also the end of the road. Sky television took over exclusive broadcast rights of English cricket in the aftermath, with home Tests having lost their 'Crown Jewel' status as a category A listed event. It remains a source of regret to Nicholas that the surge of public interest, which saw 7.4 million viewers tune in to the Oval finale, instantly encountered a paywall. 'I do feel desperately sad that an opportunity was blown. It will never leave me,' he says. 'They had to make sure Test match cricket stayed (free to air), even if it was in a joint broadcast, and if that meant a bit less money then so be it. 'I'm not anti-Sky at all, I'm glued to their coverage three or four nights a week. But it was a bad misjudgement. Cricket was a very powerful thing at that moment and it was the time to make sure that continued. 'I was asked to co-host the celebration at Trafalgar Square with David Gower and I remember walking home through London with my wife after the crowds cleared. All the way back I was feeling an extraordinary contradiction of euphoric happiness at the summer that had gone and the terrible sadness of losing the coverage.'
BBC News
18 minutes ago
- BBC News
Planned new pitch for Oxford United's women's side
Oxford United is seeking permission to build a new 3G pitch and floodlights at its training ground, principally for its women's Oxford Sports Park, near Horspath, currently has six 3G pitches for five-a-side use and two for seven-a-side matches and can be used by the club said the new pitch would provide its women's side with a suitable facility as it pushes for promotion to the Barclays Women's Championship, the second currently play in the FA Women's National League South and finished fifth in the 12-team division at the end of the 2024/25 season. The training ground's sits close to Unipart's site and the Mini plant in U's have been based at the training ground since 2018. The club took full control of it from Oxford City Council in November had previously used a site in Roman Way, a short distance away from the sports application regarding the U's potential new ground near Kidlington could be given permission this summer. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
The Independent
31 minutes ago
- The Independent
Jack Draper and Carlos Alcaraz resume budding rivalry at Queen's as British No 1 eyes top spot
This time a year ago, British observers at Queen's Club crossed their fingers and hoped for the best as Jack Draper faced defending champion and super-talent Carlos Alcaraz in the last 16. It was an unenviable draw, to say the least. But Draper rose to the occasion, dispatching the Spaniard in straight sets, on a day that marked his transformation from young prospect to serious player. A week earlier, he had won his maiden ATP title, on the grass in Stuttgart, defeating former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini. If 2024 was to prove his breakout year, 2025, so far, has sent him into the stratosphere. Now at a career high of world No 4 – although he will slip to fifth on Monday, having lost ranking points from not defending his title in Stuttgart – the Brit has arrived among the tennis elite. British players carry an extra weight of expectation on their shoulders during the grass-court season, as generations can attest to; many of them have wilted under that pressure. This year will be Draper's first test of how he handles playing on grass with not just that pressure, but the added burden of being a favourite for the title. As the second seed, he will not face top seed Alcaraz until the final, should they both get that far. The 23-year-old opens his campaign against the unorthodox American Jenson Brooksby, with third seed and Stuttgart champion Taylor Fritz, fifth seed Alex de Minaur, and huge-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in his half. Queen's was also the place Draper recorded his maiden tour-level win, as a 19-year-old wildcard in the 2021 edition, over none other than Jannik Sinner. Four years on, all three twentysomethings are the present and future of men's tennis. Five of the eight seeds in the men's draw are 23 or under, with the old guard struggling to keep pace with the sport's bright young things. Draper has spoken openly about his drive to bridge the gulf to the world's two best players, who have shared the last six majors between them. 'I think tennis is in a really good spot in a way that the depth of it, especially the top 100, is extremely strong,' Draper said ahead of Queen's, when asked about the rivalry between Sinner and Alcaraz. 'But having those two guys especially, who were being incredibly consistent showing that level of the game, in one of the biggest tournaments in the world, and dragging more attention to the sport, that only helps them, helps players like myself, helps the game in general to keep on moving in the right direction and keep developing. 'Obviously, the spectators will feel it, but players will feel it as well. When we haven't got a Rafa [Nadal] or Roger [Federer] or Andy [Murray] in the changing rooms, it's a bit different – but having players who are asserting themselves in that league, I think that's amazing for tennis. 'That's going to hopefully break even more through, because they're going to keep on improving. They're going to make us better, and we are going to hopefully keep producing more and more great players and great levels.' While Draper has spent his time knuckling down to find the extra percentages he needs to routinely challenge Alcaraz and Sinner, the Spaniard was enjoying a now-traditional holiday. He celebrated his instant-classic five-set triumph over Sinner in the Roland-Garros final by heading to Ibiza, demonstrating that while he is one of the brightest talents tennis has ever seen, he is also a 22-year-old who wants to have a good time. 'My friends are going to Ibiza every year, so I thought, I'll go to Ibiza as well,' he said. 'But it doesn't matter the place you're going, it's time to turn off your mind a little bit, to reset physically, mentally, and come back to the grass season as good as I can. 'Once I went to bed so late. That's the craziest thing [I did]. Obviously, I did some shots as well, but nothing more than that. More chill and as a normal person does.' Alcaraz said that he still struggled to comprehend the enormity of his achievement. '[There are] a lot of videos from that match, from that moment, match point down, and I still watch it sometimes. I still don't believe that I came back from that moment,' he said. 'Sometimes it's difficult to realise that I'm in this position, that I won the French Open, watching the videos from 40-love, in that moment. So I'm still watching those videos.' Alcaraz opens his Queen's campaign against compatriot Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, with a tricky section of the draw including another trio of young talents, new world No 10 Ben Shelton, Denmark's Holger Rune, and Miami champion Jakub Mensik. Alcaraz's half also features 38-year-old veteran and fan favourite Gael Monfils, who may take inspiration from 37-year-old Tatjana Maria, the qualifier who produced the run of her life to lift the women's trophy on Sunday. Tennis doesn't often go so far off script, however, and Draper will be aiming to write another chapter in the story of his own remarkable rise.
