Tottenham are close to the signing of James Maddison with the Leicester midfielder set to undergo a medical on Wednesday.

Spurs entered advanced talks with recently-relegated Leicester earlier this week and have now struck a deal for the England international, the PA news agency understands.

Maddison will move to Tottenham in a transfer worth £40million plus add-ons, having already agreed personal terms.

The signing of Maddison will represent a major coup for Spurs, who have been long-term admirers of the 26-year-old.

Ex-Tottenham boss David Pleat recommended Maddison to chairman Daniel Levy when the playmaker was still a teenager at Coventry, but no move was able to materialise and he instead joined Norwich.

Spurs’ interest and desire to eventually sign Maddison never waivered with his time at Leicester only serving to prove he was one of the most creative players in England.

During five largely successful years with the Foxes, who won the 2021 FA Cup, Maddison made 203 appearances, scored 55 goals and produced 41 assists.

While Maddison was unable to prevent Leicester suffering a shock relegation to the Sky Bet Championship last season, he was still able to hit double figures in terms of goals.

Leicester’s battle for survival saw them turn down advances for Maddison in the January transfer window but they have now agreed for him to depart.

Newcastle had registered an interest in bringing the midfielder to St James’ Park but decided to pursue a move for AC Milan’s Sandro Tonali, which left the door open for Tottenham to swoop in for their key target.

Maddison’s creativity and versatility will boost a Spurs squad that has lacked a player in his mould since Christian Eriksen left in 2020.

Once his medical is completed, Maddison will become new Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou’s third signing following Dejan Kulusevski’s permanent transfer and Tuesday’s arrival of Empoli goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.

Royal Ascot winner Waipiro will continue his career in Hong Kong, trainer Ed Walker has announced.

The three-year-old has made huge strides in four starts this term, winning a Newmarket novice in April before going on to finish second in the Lingfield Derby Trial and a respectable sixth in the Epsom Classic itself.

Dropped back to 10 furlongs for the Group Three Hampton Court Stakes last week, Waipiro posted his best performance to date when triumphing by a cosy two and a half lengths from Exoplanet.

A half-brother to Waikuku, a multiple Group One winner in Hong Kong, Waipiro will not run again for Walker and will be campaigned towards the Hong Kong Derby in March for owners the Siu family.

Walker told Racing TV: “The reason I have horses for the Siu family, and they are such great supporters, is for that reason, to produce horses for Hong Kong.

“He’s the perfect horse for the Hong Kong Derby. Mr Siu tries to buy one or two horses for the Hong Kong Derby every year and why would you not take Waipiro and try to buy another one.

“Every owner in Hong Kong wanting a European horse for the Derby would want Waipiro. He’s the perfect horse – loves fast ground, has a high cruising speed, huge talent, 10 furlongs, he’s the right horse for the job.”

Sir Andrew Strauss hopes turning Lord’s ‘Red for Ruth’ during this week’s Ashes Test can help his charity support thousands more families as they deal with the impact of a terminal cancer diagnosis.

The former England captain set up the Ruth Strauss Foundation in memory of his late wife, who died in 2018 from a non-smoking lung cancer, and has worked alongside the cricket community to raise funds and awareness for the past four years.

Day two of England’s second Test against Australia will once again see Lord’s awash in red, with players from both sides joining fans and pundits in marking the occasion in colourful fashion.

The foundation has already been able to achieve some oits aims in providing pre-bereavement counselling for children and partners, training for healthcare professionals and peer-to-peer support networks, but Strauss believes the surface has only just been scratched and sees the elevated platform of this summer’s series as a catalyst.

“We’ve still got a long way to go. The more we do, the more we need to do and the broader our reach needs to be,” he said.

“Hopefully an Ashes Test match is a time where people who aren’t always watching cricket are suddenly tuning in. We understand the opportunity we have in front of us in the next few days.

“We’re excited about having the platform to show that and we’re incredibly lucky to have so much support from the cricket community. But we know people are going through this from all walks of life, some of whom having never heard of cricket or the Ruth Strauss Foundation.

“We’re here to help as many people as possible. We’ve helped hundreds of families and directly trained up hundreds of nurses, but we feel the reach is expanding all the time.

“I can honestly say we’ve got anywhere near where we want to. This still very near to the start of the journey for us. The support we get allows us to turn those hundreds into thousands and those thousands into tens of thousands. This is about scaling up what we can offer.

“There’s 127 children every day losing a parent and we want to be there for the majority of them.”

Strauss is aware that the doors of Lord’s may not be thrown open to him had he not been a decorated former England skipper, but is increasingly determined to use that privileged position for good.

“Without the success I had on the cricket field I wouldn’t have had this platform,” he said.

“I was very proud of what I achieved in an England shirt. That was about me and achieving my goals, but this is about something much greater than me.

“It breaks my heart that every day there are hundreds of kids being put into the situation that my kids were put into. We can’t change that but we can make it a little bit easier.”

http://ruthstraussfoundation.com

Shohei Ohtani once again displayed his two-way brilliance Tuesday, striking out 10 batters from the mound and hitting two home runs to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 4-2 win over the Chicago White Sox.

Ohtani was 3 for 3 from the plate with a walk, and solo shots in the first and seventh innings raised his home run total to 28 on the season, extending his major-league lead.

Ohtani (7-3) allowed one run while pitching 6 1/3 innings, striking out 10 and collecting the win.

The superstar from Japan is just the sixth player in baseball history to hit two home runs while striking out 10 or more batters in a game.

Ohtani is now batting .304 on the season with a 1.009 OPS, and Tuesday’s performance lowered his ERA to 3.02 this year.

Eloy Jimenez was 3 for 4 for the White Sox and scored on an Andrew Vaughn single in the ninth to make things interesting, but Angels closer Carlos Estevez shut the door for his 20th save of the season.  

Mets beat Brewers ahead of owner Cohen’s presser

Brandon Nimmo hit two home runs, David Peterson tossed six shutout innings and the slumping New York Mets beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-2.

The victory came hours after Mets owner Steve Cohen announced on Twitter that he plans to hold a news conference Wednesday to address his team’s struggles.

After winning 101 games last year, New York is 36-43 this season and had lost 16 of their previous 21 games before Tuesday’s victory.

The Mets entered the season with an all-time record payroll of $355million.

Manager Buck Showalter hinted before the game that the Mets’ struggles have been tough for Cohen to tolerate.

“He’s frustrated - very competitive man, trust me, very competitive man,” Showalter said. “He likes to win.”

Kershaw, Martinez in spotlight as Dodgers blank Rockies

Clayton Kershaw gave up just one hit in six dominant innings, J.D. Martinez went deep twice to reach 300 home runs in his career and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies 5-0.

Kershaw held the Rockies hitless until a Brenton Doyle single with two outs in the sixth and needed just 79 pitches to collect his 10th win of the season.

Kershaw, whose only career no-hitter came against the Rockies in 2014, said after the game that he was battling fatigue but plans to make his next scheduled start.

Martinez hit a two-run shot in the third inning, then hit his milestone home run in the sixth – a solo shot off Brad Hand.

The high-scoring New Jersey Devils have added another piece to help light the lamp in 2023-24.

The Calgary Flames have traded winger Tyler Toffoli to the Devils for forward Yegor Sharangovich and a third-round pick in Wednesday’s draft.

The deal was announced about a week after media reports surfaced that Toffoli, who is entering the final year of his contract, would not re-sign with Calgary.

Toffoli just completed the best season of his career and was the Flames’ leading scorer with 73 points (34 goals, 39 assists).

At 31-years-old, Toffoli joins a young core of Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt that made New Jersey a top-five scoring offense last season.

Toffoli has 466 career points (227 goals, 239 assists) in 733 games with the Flames, Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks and Los Angeles Kings.

Earlier Tuesday, the Devils traded backup goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood to the San Jose Sharks for a sixth-round pick.

The Flames add Sharangovich, a 25-year-old forward, and the No. 80 overall selection in this year’s draft.

A Belarus native, Sharangovich was drafted in the fifth round in 2018 and features a two-way game. After a 46-point season in 2021-22, his offensive production dipped to 30 points last season, but he contributed heavily on the Devils’ penalty kill units.

Ben Stokes will lead England out at Lord’s this morning, fronting a side in need of an Ashes victory and a sport that has been rocked by more revelations of discrimination.

Stokes faced the media exactly a week on from their nail-biting fifth-day defeat by Australia at Edgbaston, but began his captain’s press conference on Tuesday by addressing the damning report by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket.

In his position as men’s Test captain, Stokes took it upon himself to issue an apology to anyone who had been impacted by the entrenched culture of racism, sexism and elitism described in the long-awaited report.

Those above Stokes in the food chain have three months to prepare their response, but, for the next five days, his job lies between the boundary ropes as he seeks to square the series after an enterprising but unsuccessful outing in Birmingham.

England have made one change to their side, recalling rookie seamer Josh Tongue in place of Moeen Ali to leave part-timer Joe Root as the main spin option. Australia have delayed their call, but will be tempted to unleash left-armer Mitchell Starc.

What they said

Stokes followed his apology by outlining his own credentials as a mould-breaking outlier who has risen to the highest rank in the sport.

Crawley’s Chinese lesson

England would be forgiven for counting themselves unfortunate on the fitness front after seeing the likes of Jofra Archer, Olly Stone and Jack Leach ruled out for the series, while Moeen Ali and Mark Wood both miss out at Lord’s due to concerns over their ability to complete a five-day match. But Stokes revealed that Zak Crawley took it upon himself to banish any such thoughts by regaling the squad with an ancient Chinese proverb. Channelling his inner Eric Cantona, Crawley told the parable of a farmer who discovered that the notion of good and bad luck were more closely aligned than many think. Boiling the message down, Stokes concluded: “One thing happens and it might not mean it’s the end of the world.”

Lyon’s landmark

While England have decided to do without a frontline spinner, Australia have selected Nathan Lyon for the 100th Test in a row. He becomes just the sixth man, and first specialist bowler, to bring up a century of consecutive appearances and needs just five more wickets to mark the occasion with his 500th wicket.

Anderson hopes to hit back

England’s record wicket-taker James Anderson was a curiously peripheral figure at Edgbaston, going unused in the decisive final session and returning figures of one for 109 from 38 overs. They were his worst figures for over two years and he later described the pitch as “kryptonite for me”, suggesting similar surfaces could force him out of the series. That means the 40-year-old will be under the spotlight in the next five days. On the up side, he has plenty of history at the home of cricket, with 117 wickets at 24.58 in 27 previous appearances.

All eyes on ‘the mouth from the south’

Ollie Robinson stirred up a hornets’ nest by offering an expletive-heavy send-off to centurion Usman Khawaja at Edgbaston, then having the temerity to stick to his guns. The Sussex seamer has riled Australia greats Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Matthew Hayden, the latter bizarrely accusing him of bowling “124kph nude nuts” and labelling him a “mouth from the south”. Most of their stinging critiques appeared to overlook Robinson’s match haul of five for 98, which kept his Test bowling average at a cool 21.15. Fans in Australia will be desperate to see the 29-year-old fall on his face, but England need him to keep up his outstanding record at the highest level.

The Winnipeg Jets traded Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Los Angeles Kings after signing the 25-year-old forward to an eight-year contract extension worth $68 million on Tuesday.

The deal includes Los Angeles sending fellow forwards Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari and a second-round draft pick in 2024 to Winnipeg.

Dubois set personal bests with 36 assists and 63 points in 2022-23, while his 27 goals equalled the second-most of his career.

Drafted third overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2016, Dubois has recorded 302 points (129 goals, 173 assists) in six NHL seasons.

"Pierre-Luc Dubois is an elite two-way center with a unique skillset, and we're excited to have him join the organisation and commit to us long-term," Kings general manager and executive vice president Rob Blake said.

"Over the last few seasons, he has proven the ability to contribute to all facets of the game and we are thrilled to be able to add a player of this caliber into our lineup."

Vilardi, 23, had career highs of 23 goals, 18 assists and 63 games played last season.

Iafallo, 29, recorded 36 points in 2022-23 (14 goals, 22 assists), while the 23-year-old Kupari collected 15 points in 66 games.

"On behalf of the entire LA Kings organisation, we would like to thank Alex, Rasmus and Gabriel for their immense contributions both on and off the ice," Kings president Luc Robitaille said.

"Their efforts over the last few seasons on the ice, as well as with fans and throughout the community, have made a substantial mark on our franchise and we wish them all continued success in their future."

Sports stars and clubs across the world continue to provide an insight into their lives on social media.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the best examples from June 27.

Jack Grealish bids farewell to Ilkay Gundogan.

Gundogan made himself at home in his new surroundings.

Burnley got a new football friend.

Manchester United released their new kit.

Wilfried Zaha bought a football club.

England Under-21s were preparing for Germany.

England welcomed Josh Tongue ahead of the second Ashes Test.

Kate Cross reflected on the Women’s Ashes Test.

Millie Bright has expressed her confidence that she will be ready for England’s World Cup opener as she continues her recovery from knee surgery.

The defender, captain of the squad heading to the tournament in Australia and New Zealand in the absence of ACL injury victim Leah Williamson, underwent an operation after limping out of a Chelsea match in March.

While Bright expects Saturday’s World Cup warm-up game against Portugal in Milton Keynes will come too soon for a return to action, she is feeling positive about the Lionesses’ opening Group D fixture against Haiti in Brisbane on July 22.

The 29-year-old, who has been doing individual work during the squad’s camp at St George’s Park, said: “The knee’s really good.

“I think we are a little bit ahead (of schedule) actually. Coming into it, there’s a big chunk of time before the first game, so we’re really confident and everything is going exactly the way we wanted it to go.

“I think Saturday will be a little bit too soon. I’m not back with the girls yet and I don’t think we want to rush that. Obviously, we have a lot of time until the first game.”

Asked if she thought there was any danger of her being undercooked, Bright said: “No, not at all.

“I think the amount of minutes I’ve played leading up to this has been ridiculous, through the roof, so if anything I feel mentally and physically fresher than I’ve ever felt.

“I can’t remember the last time I had longer than two weeks off. It’s been a fair few years now. A blessing in disguise I call it, that I’ve mentally and physically been able to completely just have a clean slate and let my body recover. I’ve played through many injuries but this one, I just couldn’t quite get there.”

There had been concern for Alex Greenwood after she went down with an injury during Tuesday’s training session, but the Manchester City defender has said she “will be OK”, adding: “(It is) on the shin. It’s sore, but it’s football. It was a tackle, part of the game.”

Meanwhile, Aston Villa midfielder Lucy Staniforth has been added to England’s standby list in place of forward Jess Park, who is returning to Manchester City for rehabilitation on a shoulder injury.

Staniforth joins Maya Le Tissier on standby and both will remain with Sarina Wiegman’s 23-player squad until the Haiti match, with the European champions set to fly to Australia next Wednesday.

Staniforth said: “I looked at my phone and saw it was Sarina and I was thinking ‘what’s going on?’

“I kind of thought once the first week (of England’s pre-World Cup camp, which started on June 19) was out of the way, if there was any chance of getting brought in, it would be then. I was surprised obviously.

“I got her to repeat the whole tournament schedule again for me about three or four times because I just kept saying ‘sorry, when are we travelling?’ I just hadn’t followed it because I wasn’t involved. I was so out of the loop. I was buzzing. I wanted to get in the car quick and get straight down there.

“I was supposed to go to Ibiza with my mum on Monday which is obviously very unfortunate. My mum was buzzing for me and of course wanted me to go. She wasn’t bothered about Ibiza. She will still go on her own. If anyone sees someone on their own in Ibiza, she’s looking for a bit of company!”

The St. Louis Blues acquired All-Star forward Kevin Hayes from the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, Blues president of hockey operations and general manager Doug Armstrong announced.

Hayes, 31, spent the last four seasons with Philadelphia and was an All-Star for the first time in 2022-23.

He tied a personal best with 36 assists and added 18 goals for 54 points, the second-most of his career.

Drafted 24th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, Hayes has recorded 386 points (155 goals, 231 assists) in nine NHL seasons with the New York Rangers, Winnipeg Jets and Philadelphia.

St. Louis went 37-38-7 last season to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2017-18.

The Flyers (31-38-13) finished 14th in the 16-team Eastern Conference and have been to the postseason once since 2018-19.

British number one Cameron Norrie continued his preparations for Wimbledon with victory over American Frances Tiafoe in the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic exhibition event at the Hurlingham Club.

Norrie, who reached the last eight at Queen’s, made a solid start in the overcast conditions on Tuesday afternoon as he took the opening game on serve with an ace and then forced an early break chance to move 3-1 ahead.

World number 10 Tiafoe, who won the Stuttgart title on grass earlier this month, held to reduce the deficit to 5-3, but Norrie closed out the first set in the next game with a backhand winner down the line.

The pair last met in the quarter-finals at Indian Wells in March, Tiafoe winning in straight sets.

Norrie, who had made the semi-finals of Wimbledon last year, showed little sign of being troubled by recent his knee issue as he moved freely around the court to hold in the second set at 1-1.

Tiafoe survived a break point in the next game, then converted one of his own in the sixth before holding to open up a 5-2 lead and served out to level the contest.

Under the exhibition regulations, a 10-point match tie-breaker decided the winner rather than playing a third set.

Norrie secured the first mini-break at 6-4 after Tiafoe hit a wide return and then converted a match point on serve following another unforced error from the American to complete a 6-3 3-6 10-6 win.

The British number one is set to play at Hurlingham again on Thursday, when he is scheduled to take on Norway’s Casper Ruud.

Ben Stokes has revealed how an “awkward” changing room encounter with a new convert to Test cricket helped reinforced England’s commitment to ‘Bazball’.

England’s policy of all-out attack saw them lose the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston in a nerve-racking finale, with some high-profile pundits suggesting more pragmatism might be required to overcome Australia in the coming weeks.

Stokes was never likely to abandon his principles this week at Lord’s, not after spending a year making the case for a style he feels can help save the Test format, and there are good reasons to suggest he is on to something.

As well as winning 11 of their last 14 games, England attracted record television viewing figures in the series opener despite the result.

But for Stokes, the realisation that his methods were cutting through came in unexpected circumstances during a family break at Durham’s Seaham Hall hotel.

“I had a conversation in the men’s changing room at a spa about the game, which was a bit awkward,” he said.

“He said ‘are you the cricketer or do you just look like him?’ And I was like, yeah, it is me. He just said, ‘I went down to the pub after work and I don’t even follow cricket, I was just going to go down for a quick few’. He ended up having a few more and said he was just transfixed on the game.

“So when you hear stuff like that it obviously makes you feel good about what we’re doing, that it’s bringing a new fanbase to the game and it’s reaching people that it might never have reached before. That’s what we’re about.

“We’re all about growing the game and just making it bigger than what it is right now, and I think we’ve managed to achieve that quite well.

“When you take the game away and you have these people coming up to you and saying just how eye-catching and great it is to watch, you understand that what we are doing is very, very good.

“We always want to win every game we play, but if we don’t come away with the win at the end then let’s move on to the next game and let’s keep going.”

With Jofra Archer and Olly Stone already sidelined, England’s hunger for express pace will once again go unfulfilled at the home of cricket.

Stokes wanted to bring in the rapid Mark Wood to add a new dimension to his attack but the 33-year-old, who last played red-ball cricket in December, was unable to guarantee he could deliver at 100 per cent over five days and is instead targeting the third Test at Headingley.

Josh Tongue, who took five wickets on Test debut against Ireland earlier this month, has been called up instead, with Moeen Ali dropping out in part due to concerns over the wound on his right index finger which hampered his effectiveness at Edgbaston.

Having already lost first-choice spinner Jack Leach to a stress fracture, England may be starting to think their hopes of regaining the urn are doomed by misfortune, but Stokes credits Zak Crawley’s delivery of an old Chinese proverb with removing any such worries.

Crawley may seem an unlikely figure to take on the Eric Cantona role of athlete-turned-philosopher, but the Kent opener recited a parable to his team-mates, telling the story of a farmer whose apparent bad luck ends up bringing positive outcomes.

Asked if he felt circumstances were conspiring against his plans for the series, Stokes said: “You could think like that, but Zak actually made an unbelievable speech yesterday in the huddle. It was around a Chinese farmer and luck.

“One thing happens and it might not mean it’s the end of the world. You don’t know why things happen, if it’s for a good reason or not, it’s just one of those things to deal with.”

For Tongue, he has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make his mark on the biggest stage in English cricket.

“I’ve dreamt as a young kid growing up about playing in an Ashes series, so to get the nod now is that dream come true,” he said.

“I knew the step up from county cricket to international cricket would be a big one, and playing here at Lord’s was a very special moment for myself having never played here before.

“To then get five wickets against Ireland on my debut was an incredible feeling and should give me confidence ahead of another chance against Australia.

“I’m just looking forward to getting going and trying to do what I can to help the team.

“I feel like I can add a bit more pace and bounce to the attack and hopefully I can get a few wickets for the team as well. Whatever Stokesy asks me to do for the team I’m here to do it as best I can.”