Latest - Indian cricket President Sourav Ganguly has revealed the World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand later this year will be held in Southampton.
Rose Bowl, Southampton Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The match was scheduled for Lord's from June 18 to 22.
Ganguly told India's PTI news agency the Rose Bowl in Southampton was chosen because it provides an on-site hotel that will allow both teams to create bio-bubbles.
India confirmed their place in the final with victory over England in the fourth test at the weekend.
Three tests were played in Southampton last year with the West Indies beating England by four wickets and England and Pakistan drawing two matches.
Blues win again
Chelsea extended their impressive turnaround under new coach Thomas Tuchel with a 2-0 home win over in-form Everton.
The win tightened Chelsea's grip on fourth place in the Englsih Premier League table, four points ahead of Everton who dropped to sixth after West Ham United beat Leeds United 2-0 in the late game.
It was the sixth win in nine league games for the Blues since Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard in late January and Chelsea have drawn the other three, conceding only two goals.
The shut-out meant Tuchel became the first manager to secure clean sheets in each of his first five Premier League home games.
Tuchel heaped praise on Havertz who was laid low by COVID-19 in November and was then used mostly as a substitute before picking up an injury last month.
Meanwhile West Ham United maintained their push for a top-four finish as goals by Jesse Lingard and Craig Dawson earned them a the home victory over Leeds.
David Moyes's side are two points behind fourth-placed Chelsea having played a game less.
Leeds remain 11th.
-Reuters
Daniell and Oswald topple Australian Open champs in Doha
New Zealand's Marcus Daniell and his Austrian partner Philipp Oswald have stunned Australian Open doubles champions Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek in the first round of the ATP 250 tournament in Doha.
Playing their first match since reaching the quarter finals at Melbourne Park last month Daniell and Oswald have turned in an inspired performance to beat the Croatian Slovakian combination 6-3, 6-7 (2) 11-9 in 1 hour 47.
Oswald served for the match at 5-4 in the second set but was broken on the deciding point and the 3rd seeds levelled things up by winning the tie break.
But Daniell and Oswald they recovered quickly and went up a mini break in the match tie break (first to 10) but their opponents clawed their way back into it. Daniell and Oswald eventually converted on their third match point.
Daniell and Oswald are ranked 41 and 37 respectively in the ATP doubles rankings while Dodig and Polasek are 9th and 10th.
The Kiwi and Austrian combo will face either Aussie John Millman and his Spanish partner David Hernandez Vega or wildcards Slovenian Blaz Rola and Qatar's Mousa Shannan Zayed in the quarter finals.
ICC to expand women's World Cups
The International Cricket Council says it will add two more teams to both the one-day and Twenty20 editions of the women's World Cup from 2026 as part of its plans to expand the women's game.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The Twenty20 World Cup in 2026 and the two subsequent editions would feature 12 teams, the ICC said on International Women's Day. The four previous editions have had 10 teams.
The 50-overs World Cup in 2029 would become a 10-team tournament.
The ICC also unveiled a six-team women's T20 Champions Cup tournament, to be held in 2027 and 2031.
The announcement comes exactly a year since Meg Lanning's Australia beat India in the final of the Twenty20 World Cup in front of a record 86,000-plus crowd in Melbourne.
New Zealand hosts the next ODI World Cup, featuring eight teams, in 2022. The tournament could not be held this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
-Reuters
Bennett crashes in France
Nelson cyclist George Bennett turned in a heroic effort to chase down the leaders after crashing on the second stage of the Paris-Nice race.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Bennett was one of a number of riders to come down on a narrow road 33 kilometres from the end of the 188-km stage.
The national champions' helmet was cracked in two and he appeared dazed following the fall but after being checked by medical staff he was back on his bike two minutes later.
He then went solo for the next 15kms to chase down the peleton and eventually finished 80th, recording the same time as the stage winner.
A team representative said Bennett was okay after the stage but would be monitored.
The next leg of the eight stage tour is a 14km individual time trial.
Women's Lions team a possibility
A women's British and Irish Lions rugby tour has moved a step closer after insurance company Royal London agreed to fund a feasibility study into the idea.
Lions bosses held talks with the home unions about the creation of a women's tour in 2019.
British and Irish Lions managing director Ben Calveley described the study as "an important first step".
In 2019, Calveley said a women's tour was a case of "when, not if".
The men's team has been touring since 1888 and are due to tour South Africa in July and August, but other plans are being explored because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Royal London are sponsoring the men's team which is scheduled to play eight games between July 3 and Aug. 7, including three tests against the 2019 World Cup-winning Springboks.
-BBC
Lefty drops out of top 100
American golfer Phil Mickelson has fallen outside the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in 28 years.
In the new rankings released today, Mickelson was ranked No. 101, ending his record streak at 1,425 weeks.
Additionally, Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, who was ranked No. 1 early in June 2020, fell out of the top 10, replaced by Bryson DeChambeau, winner of the Arnold Palmer Invitational yesterday. McIlroy is outside the top 10 for the first time in three years.
50 year old Mickelson first appeared in the top 100 in August 1993 after winning The International.
Mickelson has won 44 PGA Tour events, including five major championships. He never reached No. 1 in the world. He held the No. 2 spot for 270 weeks, behind Tiger Woods each week.
In this week's rankings, Dustin Johnson remains No. 1, following in the top five by Spaniard Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele. DeChambeau jumped from 11th to sixth.
Danny Lee is the highest ranked New Zealander at 164.
Team LeBron wins All Star game
The Milwaukee Bucks' star Giannis Antetokounmpo was named MVP of the NBA's All Star game after making all 16 of his shots in a historic 35-point performance that propelled Team LeBron to a 170-150 victory over Team Durant.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
After earlier capturing the NBA 3-Point Contest, Stephen Curry bombed in six 3-pointers in the first half and eight in all, totaling 28 points for Team LeBron, which won each of the first three quarters en route to a 146-125 lead that it massaged into the winning margin.
Each team lost a player when it was announced earlier in the day that Philadelphia 76ers stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons would not be allowed to play due to COVID tracing. Each had gotten a haircut the day before from a barber who subsequently tested positive.
Meanwhile the Brooklyn Nets signed free agent forward Blake Griffin from the Detroit Pistons.
The Nets, whose GM is the New Zealander Sean Marks, are expected to use Griffin off the bench -- a role he has never had during his 11-year NBA career.
Brooklyn is hoping to make a run at the NBA title behind the star trio of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving.
-Reuters
Japanese don't want international spectators at Olympics
Most Japanese do not want international spectators to attend the Tokyo Games this year amid fears a large influx of visitors could spark a resurgence in new coronavirus infections.
With organisers planning to decide on the matter by the end of the month, a Yomiuri newspaper poll showed 77% of respondents were against allowing foreign fans to attend, versus just 18% in favour.
Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto has said she wants a decision on whether to let in overseas spectators before the start of the torch relay on March 25.
Organisers have also said they would decide on maximum capacity for spectators in general in April.
In the Yomiuri poll, 48% said they were against allowing any spectators into venues and 45% were in favour.
The Olympics, postponed by a year because of the pandemic, are scheduled for July 23 to Aug. 8 and the Paralympics from Aug. 24 to Sept. 5.
-Reuters
Equal prize money in sport improves
The overwhelming majority of sports now offer equal winning prize money to men and women at the top level, a BBC Sport study has found.
Of the 48 sports surveyed, 37 offered prize money - of which only three did not offer parity at any of its major championships or events.
The biggest gaps in prize money for male and female athletes are in football, golf and basketball.
Cricket has taken the biggest strides to narrow the gap.
The 2020 Women's T20 World Cup saw champions Australia awarded a purse of US $1 million. That is reportedly equal to what the winners of the men's tournament will win in 2021.
The 2021 study focuses on the prize money awarded to competition winners and does not include wages, bonuses or sponsorship.
-BBC
Rangers fans break laws
Scottish police arrested 28 football fans and fined several others following wild celebrations sparked by Rangers' first league title triumph in 10 years.
Rangers clinched the title after bitter rivals Celtic were held to a 0-0 draw at Dundee United in the Premiership.
Thousands of Rangers fans gathered at the club's stadium, training ground and George Square in Glasgow's city centre in violation of Covid-19 lockdown rules as they celebrated the team's 55th league crown.
Many fans let off flares while some of them were guilty of disorderly conduct, assaulting police officers and "sectarian related breach of the peace", police said.
The gatherings were met with anger by the general public, with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon saying fans risked the country's progress in containing the novel coronavirus and described the scenes as "infuriating and disgraceful."
Rangers said in a statement that they understood the joy of their fans but urged them to follow protocols.
-Reuters