England progressed to the quarter-finals of the World Cup of Darts with a comfortable 8-4 win against Latvia in Frankfurt.
The top-seed pairing of Michael Smith and Rob Cross are seeking to win a record fifth World Cup title for England and made light work of eliminating Madars Razma and Dmitriy Zhukov.
“We were trying too hard but every time I hit a bad shot, Rob stepped in and we worked as a team there,” the world number one Smith told Sky Sports.
“It wasn’t our greatest performance, but we needed a test and we know that if we play at our best we’ll win.”
England will face hosts Germany in the last eight after Gabriel Clemens and Martin Schindler beat Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski and Krzysztof Kciuk 8-6 to a rapturous reception in Frankfurt.
Belgium also progressed with a brilliant sudden-death leg win over the Netherlands, whilst Wales beat Denmark 8-2 to ease through.
Earlier in the day, Scotland beat the Philippines 8-5 to book their quarter-final passage.
Australia, Sweden and France will complete the last-eight line-up.
A defiant Stephen Kenny has vowed to press on with his Republic of Ireland mission despite seeing his hopes of Euro 2024 qualification torn to shreds in Greece.
Friday night’s defeat in Athens – coupled with a 1-0 reverse at the hands of World Cup finalists France in Dublin in their opening fixture – means the odds are even more heavily stacked against Ireland that they were when they were initially pitched into Group B battle with both Didier Deschamps’ men and the Netherlands.
For Kenny, who took over as manager in 2020 and targeted qualification in this campaign as his initial end goal, a return of just four wins in 23 competitive matches has refuelled the fires of his critics and anything less than a comprehensive victory over minnows Gibraltar on Monday evening would represent the final straw for many.
However, asked if he was concerned about his future, the 51-year-old replied: “I’m disappointed with the game. I hear what you’re saying – I’m disappointed with the game, I’m not concerned about myself at the moment.
“I have to get ready for Monday now and just get the squad ready for the game against Gibraltar, which is a game of course that we have to win. We have to make sure that we’re ready.”
It is not the first time during his reign that Kenny has felt the need to voice similar sentiments after being asked similar questions and that is a reflection of the success or otherwise of a project which has laudable aims, but is short on tangible results.
He has made it his aim to produce a team which plays enterprising, attacking football and handed that responsibility in part to players plucked from the under-21 ranks.
However at the OPAP Arena, 18-year-old striker Evan Ferguson, who has enjoyed a stellar season in the Premier League with Brighton, was starved of meaningful possession as Kenny’s midfield was overrun and his defence dismantled with Trabzonspor’s Tasos Bakasetas and Olympiakos midfielder Giorgos Masouras their principal tormentors.
A downbeat Kenny said: “We didn’t create enough chances, we didn’t and that was disappointing. We had efforts on goal, but we needed to create more than we did.
“But because we’d given them that goal after half-time, they could sit off a little bit and just protect it and hit us on the counter then for periods, so we made life difficult for ourselves.”
Opposite number Gus Poyet analysed Ireland closely as he prepared for the game, but admitted the rigours of international football can take their toll on even the best-laid plans.
Poyet said: “I understand the situation because when we were analysing the Republic of Ireland, we had the impression that you were really playing football with the ball on the floor, playing through the thirds, going wide, putting players in the box and I was happy because of the way that you played.
“And then there were other games where depending on the result, you become ‘the Republic of Ireland’, with all due respect. You depend on a corner, you depend on a long ball, you depend on a second and a third ball.
“But it’s tough boys, it’s tough. I remember many games with the national team where I was on the pitch thinking, ‘How are we going to win this’?”
He may not quite be back to optimum health just yet, but Jamaica's diving flag-bearer Yona Knight-Wisdom believes he is well enough to produce something special, in not one, but possibly three events, at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games later this month.
Though it won't be his first outing since recovering from surgery to repair a ruptured rectus femoris tendons in his left knee late last year, the 24th staging of the June 23 to July 8 Games in El Salvador, will be Knight-Wisdom's first major event of the season, and he is overly excited about the prospects.
"My recovery has been incredible. I’ve put in some serious hard work trying to ensure I’m as close to my best as possible in time for the summer, and I’d say I’m almost there. I’m excited for this CAC Games because I feel I have a point to prove to myself as I was disappointed with my last CAC performance in 2018," Knight-Wisdom told SportsMax.tv from his base in the United Kingdom.
Despite missing the mark at a World Aquatics event earlier this year, the British-born diver, whose mother is Barbadian and father Jamaican, was upbeat about that performance in his comeback, after a careful build up, which he said serves as added motivation, particularly from a mental perspective.
It would have been easy for Knight-Wisdom to throw in the towel on his dream of making a third-consecutive Olympic Games appearance when he initially picked up the injury, but his stubborn determination and unwavering desire to represent Jamaica as long as possible, wouldn't allow him to give in.
"It was a World Cup in Montreal, and I finished 13th, just missing out on the final by four points, but that was enough to qualify me for the super final. I was super surprised by that outcome because I beat some really good divers, granted they didn’t perform as well as they could’ve done," Knight-Wisdom, who is the first diver to represent Jamaica at the Commonwealth and Olympic Games, shared.
"But it was a really good motivational boost for me to keep on pushing through the challenges of rehab. It showed me my mental strength is immense and my approach to injury was that of a truly professional athlete, and I’m really proud of myself for that.... could’ve been easy to just give up, but I didn't," he noted.
With a number of events still to come this season, the 27-year-old, who represented Jamaica at the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games in Rio and Tokyo, respectively, considers this CAC Games outing an opportunity to really gauge himself, as remains resolute in his pursuit to rewrite the history books.
In fact, it is clear for all to see that Knight-Wisdom, standing just over six feet tall, is well aware that the challenge of overcoming seemingly insurmountable hardships or failure is the foundation from which true victory begins.
"The last couple of months were beneficial, and I’ve even come a long way since those (World Aquatics) events. My quality is definitely still there, the only question mark is consistency as I’ve been progressing so rapidly every week, it feels a little different to the one before. So, I don’t know what to expect, but my knee is holding up and I still have a lot of confidence in myself," he declared.
After the CAC Games, Knight-Wisdom will look to the World Diving Championships in Japan as his first avenue to secure qualification for next year’s Olympic Games in Paris.
Should he fail to make the top 12 there, he would have another shot at qualify at the World Cup Super-Final in August, after which he will have the Pan American (PanAm) Games in October where he will seek to replicate or even surpass his historic 1-metre springboard silver medal-winning performance from Lima in 2019.
Having contested only the 1m and 3m springboard dives for most of his career, Knight-Wisdom welcomes the addition of Yohan Eskrick-Parkinson to Jamaica's diving programme, which now allows him to compete in synchro competitions.
"I’m hoping my synchro partner will also qualify so I can get to do three events there too. So, I’ve got three opportunities to fight for medals and I’d love to come away with three medals," Knight-Wisdom said.
"I’ve learned over the years that readiness in diving doesn’t really matter, I’ve had some great performances from subpar preparation and vice versa. I’ve put in the work so I can give my best with confidence, but I’m just happy that I can compete as my recovery could’ve been way more problematic," he ended.
Connor Roberts hopes he can help ignite more favourable memories for Wales in their key Euro 2024 qualifier against Turkey.
Monday’s clash in Samsun has gained added significance following Wales’ shock 4-2 home defeat against Armenia that left them third in Pool D, two points behind Turkey.
While the group still has a long way to run, Wales’ automatic qualification hopes will be dealt another setback if they suffer a second successive loss.
Wales delivered, though, against Turkey at Euro 2020, with Burnley right-back Roberts scoring in a 2-0 victory in Baku.
“To jog the memory of what I did at the Euros will be brilliant,” Roberts said.
“But that is in the past and I have to create more memories as an individual and as a team.
“It is the goal when everything is said and done that I will probably look back on and think I can’t believe I achieved that or did that.
“They (Turkey) might be out for revenge, but whether they are or not we have to go there and stick to what we are good at.
“It has been a long time since then. I don’t really remember games I lost in the past.”
Roberts is back on the international stage after an outstanding season with Burnley that saw them clinch the Championship title and secure a Premier League return.
And Roberts has hailed the influence of Burnley boss Vincent Kompany, who recently signed a new five-year contract with the Clarets.
“I can’t express how good Vincent and his staff are. To know they are going to be there going forwards is brilliant because you learn so much from them,” he said.
“I thought I knew quite a lot about football, about how to play and what to do. But this season working with them, now I know a lot more.
“When I watch games now, almost the messages he portrays come into your head. You know what to do in every situation, from build-up to attack to defending in different parts of the pitch.
“I feel like 99 per cent of the time when the ball is on the pitch or at a set-piece I know what I am supposed to be doing. You know what you should be doing in every moment of the game.
“I watch Manchester City, and we aren’t them, but I see massive similarities in the way we are asked to play.
“We might not be able to do it as good as they can, but you do see similarities. I think Vincent will go and have that Man City job one day.”
Jonny Evans said Northern Ireland’s 1-0 Euro 2024 qualifying defeat to Denmark was “hard to take” after he was adjudged to be offside when setting up Callum Marshall for what had appeared to be a stoppage-time equaliser.
The 1,700 travelling fans inside the Parken Stadium erupted when teenage debutant Marshall neatly directed Evans’ header inside the post following Jordan Thompson’s free-kick.
But when referee Daniel Stefanski signalled there would be a VAR check, a seemingly interminable five-minute wait followed as Tomasz Kwiatkowski took an age to review the footage before eventually ruling that Evans had been offside by the tightest of margins when Thompson struck the free-kick.
“I kind of felt I was coming back from an offside position but it wasn’t until we were back in our own half that I even considered it might be a thing,” Evans said.
“When they were checking for that long I thought they were going to something to try and disallow it. Those were the emotions going through my mind.
“I’ve been involved before where decisions take a long time but that’s definitely the longest. The longer it was going on I kind of felt it was like a dream really. It was strange. The referee tried to explain afterwards that they checked every single possible scenario.
“I don’t get many assists and I was gutted and I was obviously gutted for Callum. For him to be able to experience that feeling of scoring was great and I hope that stays with him and he can take motivation from it.”
The trip to Copenhagen represented the toughest fixture on paper for Northern Ireland in Group H, and they acquitted themselves well, defending doggedly for long periods and soaking up pressure from the hosts.
But a mistake from Ciaron Brown – about the only foot the Oxford defender put wrong – was punished by Jonas Wind at the start of the second half and that proved the difference in the match.
“It is hard to take,” Evans said. “Denmark are obviously buzzing. Had it gone our way we would have been the same. You can run all that through.
“In the last five or 10 minutes we tired but I thought we did well. We were brought on fresh legs to try and get something out of the game and we nearly did. When we got the free-kick I thought this is our chance…
“I thought we did what we had to do. We came in at half-time pretty pleased. We knew the first 10 minutes of the second half would be important and it was disappointing to concede a goal.
“I looked up at the clock and saw 47 minutes. We really needed to ride that out but they came out strong and quick and once they got their goal it wasn’t really until they changed their shape that we had a chance to get back in it.”
Max Verstappen put his Red Bull on pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix following Saturday’s rain-hit qualifying session in Montreal.
Verstappen has won five of the opening seven rounds and even a wet-dry-wet track in Montreal could not slow the Dutchman down.
Nico Hulkenberg took advantage of the sodden track to take second spot for Haas, 1.2 seconds behind Verstappen, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso third.
Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth, one spot ahead of George Russell in the other Mercedes, while Lando Norris claimed seventh for McLaren.
Verstappen has been in a class of one this year and the Red Bull man kept his composure in changeable conditions to take an impressive pole.
Verstappen was quickest out of the marks in Q3 before Oscar Piastri’s shunt on the exit of the second corner led to a red flag.
The session was delayed for eight minutes and – with the intensity of the rain increasing – no one would threaten Verstappen’s time.
Hamilton had briefly held third spot, but the seven-time world champion was usurped by Hulkenberg just as the red flag arrived for Piastri’s collision with the wall.
Sergio Perez’s string of poor races continued after he was eliminated in Q2 and starts Sunday’s round from 12th place.
Perez, who trails team-mate Verstappen by 53 points, started last in Monaco after he crashed out of qualifying and then was only 11th on the grid last time out in Spain.
Here, the Mexican again begins a race outside of the top 10 after he failed to get a clean lap together and faces losing even further ground to Verstappen.
On an afternoon of surprise results, Charles Leclerc was also knocked out in Q2. The Monegasque, who, too, performed badly in Barcelona – qualifying 19th and taking the chequered flag in 11th – was denied an early switch by Ferrari to dry rubber.
When the brief changeover to slicks arrived, Leclerc could not do enough to progress to Q3, yelling in frustration over the radio.
“The tyres are not ready,” he said. “Come on!”
Earlier, qualifying was red-flagged after a handful of minutes when Zhou Guanyu temporally broke down in his Alfa Romeo.
The Chinese driver managed to get going again, limping back to the pits, with the session restarted after a seven-minute suspension.
Zhou was able to continue in Q1, but he finished 20th and last.
Kenny McLean savoured a special moment in his career after his last-gasp winner earned Scotland a crucial three Euro 2024 qualifying points from a 2-1 victory in Norway.
McLean struck a composed 89th-minute finish with his right foot 10 minutes after coming off the bench and two minutes after Lyndon Dykes had cancelled out Erling Haaland’s 61st-minute opener from the penalty spot.
Left midfielder McLean said: “It was pretty special, a really good moment for everyone involved and obviously for the fans that travelled – it was amazing, I can hear them outside now.
“Obviously I have only had the San Marino goal previously so I am delighted to score such a meaningful goal.
“I don’t know if I was too happy with Dykesy – setting me up on my right – but thankfully it worked. It doesn’t come out much but thankfully it paid off.”
McLean was part of a triple change from manager Steve Clarke which also saw Billy Gilmour and Stuart Armstrong come on, after Liam Cooper had earlier replaced the fatigued Kieran Tierney.
The Norwich player said: “The manager is constantly going about the squad, it’s a squad game and that’s what we are always about.
“The majority of times we make four or five subs so everyone needs to be ready and thankfully the lads that came on were.
“We have worked for the last couple of weeks together, we had the camp in Spain and worked hard throughout, so to get the rewards is excellent.”
Dykes was delighted with his goal and assist after a challenging night up front on his own in temperatures of about 30 degrees at kick-off.
The QPR striker said: “It was a tough game. They played well. We didn’t play as well as we wanted to play but I was waiting for that opportunity all night and I was just happy to see it go in.
“It’s a hard position sometimes, it doesn’t always go your way. Balls were coming up to me, flying everywhere and they were probably getting the better of me. But I was trying to keep my head and wait for the opportunity.
“I have to keep rolling on and hopefully when the chances come, they go in because the ball rolling in that goal was the slowest thing I have ever seen in my life and I was having a heart attack. I was just happy to see it go over the line.
“And obviously when Kenny scored, it was the icing on the cake.”
Scotland extended their lead at the top of Group A but face a quick turnaround before Tuesday’s visit of Georgia.
McLean said: “It was a massive step for us in the group but we have a lot of work to do and we have a game in a few days.
“We will enjoy this now but we need to go and recover. Nobody wants to hear it but that’s what we have to do.”
Justin Thomas predicted that the shortest hole in modern US Open history would prove “spicy” as records continued to tumble at Los Angeles Country Club.
Two days after Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele both shot 62 to record the lowest score in championship history, the par-three 15th was set to play to just 80 yards during Saturday’s third round.
The previous shortest hole in the US Open was the famous seventh at Pebble Beach – 92 yards in the final round in 2010 – but anyone expecting a fourth hole-in-one of the week on the 15th could be disappointed.
Two-time major winner Thomas wrote on Twitter: “Fifteen is interesting…guys playing early have a chance to hold that section I think. But this afternoon (dominantly downwind), I don’t see a ball holding at it.
“Watch for many guys to one hop it over the back. I think the play is to hit a big cut spinner off that middle slope.
“With how fast the greens will play, it has a chance to get down within 5-10 feet. Will be a spicy one for sure!”
Thomas missed the cut on Friday after rounds of 73 and 81 left him 152nd in the 156-man field and admitted his performance was “humiliating and embarrassing”.
“I was playing the best I’ve played in a really long time this week, so (it’s a) funny game, man,” Thomas told the Golf Channel.
“It can leave you speechless, both good and bad, and right now it’s unfortunate. But once I’m able to reflect and figure out what I can learn and get better from, it’ll end up good. But it sucks right now.”
Thomas won his second US PGA Championship 13 months ago at Southern Hills, but has not tasted victory since and the former world number one has slipped to 16th in the rankings.
“I’ll figure it out,” he added. “I have another major left (this season).
“If I go win the British Open, nobody even remembers that I’ve missed the cut by a zillion here, so I’ve just got to find a way to get better and learn from this and if I can, I don’t have to look at this week as a total failure.”
Next month’s Open Championship will be staged at Royal Liverpool and Rory McIlroy revealed watching the highlights of his victory there in 2014 had influenced his approach this week.
“For whatever reason I went on to YouTube a few weeks ago and was looking back at Hoylake 2014 and I could not believe how many irons and three woods I was hitting off the tee and it set something off in my mind,” said McIlroy, who headed into the third round two shots behind leader Rickie Fowler.
“You know how to do this, you know how to play smart. You don’t have to take driver all the time – yes it’s a big weapon but I feel like I have more weapons in my arsenal than I did then so I may as well use them.”
Asked how much he wanted to win another major after a drought of almost nine years, McIlroy added: “I started thinking about winning this thing on Monday and no one wants me to win another major more than I do.
“The desire is obviously there. I’ve been trying and I’ve come close over the past nine years and I keep coming back.
“I feel like I’ve showed a lot of resilience in my career, whether I get rewarded or punched in the gut, I’ll always keep coming back.”
Coincidentally, Fowler was joint second behind McIlroy at Hoylake in a year in which he finished in the top five in all four majors, and was also third behind McIlroy in the following month’s US PGA.
Scotland manager Steve Clarke hailed the character and depth in his squad following their sensational late Euro 2024 qualifying comeback in Oslo.
Clarke’s men stunned Norway with an unlikely turnaround as goals from Lyndon Dykes and substitute Kenny McLean in the final four minutes of normal time earned the Group A leaders a 2-1 victory.
McLean was one of three changes Clarke made in the 79th minute and it proved just in time after Scotland struggled to pose a threat and fell behind to Erling Haaland’s 61st-minute penalty after the striker went down when Ryan Porteous got hold of his shirt.
With Spain not playing, Scotland extended their lead at the top of Group A and moved eight points ahead of third seeds Norway.
Clarke said: “I was pleased with the performance, we were disciplined and passed it quite well at times.
“Obviously, you have got to soak up a lot of pressure against a good Norwegian team. And we never stopped believing. We keep going to the end and got our rewards.
“It says a lot about the character, the spirit, the quality from the bench. One of the things I keep banging on about with this group of players, the quality we have got, they want to do well for their country.
“And when I turn to the bench and I know I need to make changes to freshen it up, I am putting top-quality players on the pitch.
“It was just about getting the timing right. After losing the goal, I felt it was better just to stay in the fight for a little bit to make sure the game didn’t run away from us.
“After that we had to chase the game, it was pretty logical – you are going to take off a defender and push John McGinn a little bit further forward.
“We brought Kenny to the game, Billy Gilmour to the game, brought Stuart Armstrong to the game, fresh legs to try and get forward and they were involved in most of the best things towards the end of the game.
“Even Dominic (Hyam) comes on at the end and sticks his head on a couple. Congratulations to Dominic, first cap, not a bad place to do it, not a bad score.”
Scotland’s win already puts them in a strong position with a perfect record ahead of Tuesday’s visit of Georgia, which will mark the halfway point in the campaign.
Clarke said: “If we want to qualify for major tournaments, you know you have to go away from home against good teams and pick up points. This is three points which is big but we have to go again.
“They are all in there recovering in an ice bath and we have to make sure we get three points on Tuesday to capitalise. It sets us up nicely for Tuesday, I am not looking beyond that.”
Porteous is suspended for Tuesday after picking up a yellow card but Kieran Tierney could feature despite hobbling off, not long after the opener.
When asked how the Arsenal defender was, Clarke said: “Tired. Just tired. He didn’t join us for the training camp. Not released by his club.
“He joined us at the start of this week and felt a bit of tightness in his quad so we just protected him all week.
“To get a good hour out of the lad was fantastic and shows that everybody is prepared to put their body on the line. And then we are bringing on Liam Cooper who is a top-quality defender.”
Norway manager Stale Solbakken – whose side were left bottom of the group – bemoaned the turning point of the game when his defender’s interception fell for Dykes to nudge home.
“It was an accident for Leo Ostigrad. I think it was cramp in both legs at the same time,” he said. “That’s how it is, we can’t blame him for that. I will have to take the blame for not substituting him if it was like that.
“We are in a very difficult position.”
Australia’s Usman Khawaja revealed some ill-timed verbals from the Edgbaston crowd set him up for an emotional century on day two of the first Ashes Test, marking the moment by throwing his bat into the air.
The tourists were struggling after Stuart Broad dismissed David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne with successive deliveries, but Khawaja rebuilt the innings with a superb 126 not out.
The opener dug in for almost six and a half hours, building important partnerships with Travis Head and Cameron Green, before a late offensive push with Alex Carey saw Australia end the day 82 behind on 311 for five.
Khawaja marked his century with an impassioned celebration that saw him throw his bat high over his head. The 36-year-old has been enjoying a renaissance in recent years, notching hundreds in Australia, India and Pakistan along the way.
Yet runs in England had always eluded him – with a top score of 54 and an average of 19.60 prior to this century – and the fact was not lost on the home fans at the ground.
“I genuinely do not read the media but when I’m getting sprayed (taunted) by the crowd as I’m walking out there today and as I’m going to nets being told that I can’t score runs in England…I guess it was just a bit more emotional than normal,” he said.
“I think it (the celebration) was a combination of having three Ashes tours in England and being dropped in two of them. Not that I have a point to prove, but it’s nice to go out there and score runs for Australia and just to show everyone that the last 10 years hasn’t been a fluke.”
Khawaja, who attended the end of day press conference with his daughter Aisha in tow, spoke of how the realisation that this will almost certainly be his last trip to England had freed him up.
“These young ones keep me young and make me realise that there’s a lot to life and a lot of good stuff, inshallah, after I stop playing cricket,” he said.
“So for me, it’s just about enjoying it. My wife has been awesome to me, she’s been my rock throughout my career.
“That perspective makes it a lot easier for me to go out there and just play and try and enjoy it as much as I can, whether I get a duck or a hundred.
“Every Test match is a bonus for me because we thought my career was over. In my head, it’s the last (Ashes) tour I’ll be on, unless I pull a Jimmy Anderson and come back when I’m 41.”
Dejan Kulusevski has completed a permanent transfer to Tottenham from Juventus.
The Sweden international arrived in north London on an 18-month loan in January 2022 and has been influential during what has been a difficult period for Spurs.
He scored and registered an assist on his first start, a 3-2 victory against Manchester City at the Etihad in February last year, and has gone on to net seven goals in 57 appearances for the club.
The initial loan deal included an option for Spurs to make a deal for the 23-year-old permanent for a reported £29.9million if certain conditions were met.
His performances in the Premier League during 2022 were recognised with him receiving the award for best Swedish male player for the year.
Prior to joining Tottenham, he played 55 times in Serie A for Juventus whom he joined from his first club Atalanta following a loan spell at Parma.
Stuart Broad blamed the occasion of the Ashes and bowling on a “soulless” pitch for a costly no-ball as England were punished for a series of errors by Australia in the first Test.
Broad sent Edgbaston into raptures by snaring old rival David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne, the top-ranked Test batter, in the space of two deliveries as Australia lurched to 67 for three on day two.
Usman Khawaja was the calm head the tourists needed, anchoring Australia’s innings with his first ton in England before he was bowled on 112 by Broad, only for replays to show the seamer had overstepped.
It was one of 13 no-balls from England – Broad sent down half a dozen – while Jonny Bairstow fluffed a stumping chance off Cameron Green before missing a regulation catch off Alex Carey, who went to stumps unbeaten on 52 out of Australia’s 311 for five, with Khawaja set to resume on 126 not out on Sunday.
Australia are 82 runs behind England but while Broad admitted irritation at his mistake, he suggested straining for something extra on a surface offering little for the bowlers could have been a factor.
“It’s really frustrating,” he told the BBC’s Test Match Special. “I’m not really a big no-ball bowler. I have probably bowled more today than in a Test match day before. There’s no excuse.
“But it is the first innings of an Ashes Test match, you have some big emotions there so you are trying to gain energy from the surface and maybe pushing a little bit too hard. It is something to be aware of.
“It is a very slow, low surface that zaps the energy out of the ball. It is pretty characterless so far, pretty soulless, but you can only judge a surface towards the end of the match and see how it develops.”
Ben Stokes ordered “flat, fast wickets” ahead of the LV= Insurance series but Broad believes tracks such as the one they have encountered in Birmingham are anathema to how England want to play cricket.
“It is certainly one of the slowest pitches I can remember bowling on in England,” Broad added.
“It has been hard work for the seamers and ultimately we are looking to entertain, have fun and get the crowd jumping and it is quite a difficult pitch to get play and misses on and nicks to slip on. Hopefully it is not a trend for the whole series.”
Had Bairstow held on after part-timer Joe Root had drawn the outside edge of Carey or Broad not overstepped when bowling Khawaja through the gate, England would have been into Australia’s bowlers.
But Broad believes England are still in a “really positive place” while assistant coach Paul Collingwood still feels the hosts are in the driving seat, pointing out how they took 20 wickets in all three Tests against Pakistan at the back end of last year on similarly lifeless pitches.
“We were probably half an inch away from taking all their wickets,” Collingwood said. “We weren’t far away but we’re still in a magnificent position in this game. That wicket isn’t going to get any better as it goes on.
“We’ve come up against some slow pitches in places like Pakistan and found a way to take 20 wickets, I think this bowling unit taking 20 wickets on all surfaces has been a strength of this team.”
Having boldly declared on 393 for eight on Friday, Stokes threw another curve ball on Saturday when he brought on the medium pace of Harry Brook after Broad and James Anderson’s initial foray.
The Yorkshireman sent down just one over and then two more later in the day before the second new ball was taken, conceding just five runs and even delivering a maiden to Khawaja.
“It was Ben’s plan at the time,” Collingwood added. “It just shows how maverick the team can be at certain times. Harry said if he gets a newer ball he reckons he can take four or five wickets, but I’m not too sure he’s getting a newer ball!”
Andy Murray admitted he wished he had played more lower-level tournaments after making it back-to-back finals at the Rothesay Open in Nottingham.
The former world number one won his second title of the season on the second-tier Challenger Tour in Surbiton last week and is aiming to repeat the feat at the Nottingham Tennis Centre.
He is yet to drop a set this week and eased past Portugal’s Nuno Borges 6-3 6-2 in only 72 minutes for his ninth victory in a row.
It is now four years since Murray returned to action following his hip resurfacing operation and he is pushing to be seeded at a grand slam for the first time since then at Wimbledon in two weeks’ time.
“I probably wish I’d dropped down and played more at this level sooner,” said Murray. “I did play a few Challengers when I came back but maybe I should have stayed there a little bit longer.
“I’ve won against three or four top-100 players in this run. There’s been some good wins against experienced grass-court players.
“For me physically and mentally to get used to being in this situation more again has been really helpful. Now it’s up to me to try and carry that on at the higher level over the next few weeks.”
Murray will return to the top 40 on Monday but will need more wins at Queen’s Club next week to earn a Wimbledon seeding and the concern could be the number of matches he has played in a short amount of time.
The 36-year-old played down those worries, though, saying: “Yes, you could say number of matches is what’s important but it’s also the nature of those matches.
“Today’s match was an hour and a quarter and was not a particularly physical match.
“If I was training at Queen’s, I would have been on the practice court for a couple of hours today and I would have been in the gym.
“There’s obviously the mental stress of the matches and competing but quite a few of the matches have been pretty quick. Physically I feel fine just now.”
Murray had rated his quarter-final win over Dominic Stricker as his best performance of the run and he was clinical in the opening set against Borges, ranked 73.
The second was a little scrappier, with Murray dropping serve and facing break points in other games, but more of the pressure was on his opponent and the Scot managed to avoid making things complicated.
The victory completed another memorable day for the home players after Katie Boulter and Jodie Burrage set up a very rare all-British final in the WTA event.
In the final, the Scot will take on 20-year-old Frenchman Arthur Cazaux, who defeated Dominik Koepfer 7-5 6-2.
“I’ve played a lot of youngsters recently and it’s always tough,” said Murray. “We practised with each other recently so hopefully (there are) not too many surprises.”
Kenny McLean scored a dramatic 89th-minute winner for Scotland in Norway as the visitors turned their Euro 2024 qualifier on its head with two goals in as many minutes.
Scotland were trailing to Erling Haaland’s 61st-minute penalty and had barely posed a threat before Lyndon Dykes capitalised on some hesitancy in the Norwegian defence to nudge the ball home after John McGinn’s attempted through ball had been intercepted.
The Group A leaders soon ensured they continued their perfect start to the campaign when Dykes laid McGinn’s pass back to substitute McLean, who curled a low shot just inside the far post.
The visitors wore black armbands in memory of Gordon McQueen, who scored his fifth and final international goal in a 4-0 win in the same stadium in 1979 on the previous occasion the teams met in a European Championship qualifier.
And they provided a fitting tribute to the 30-times capped centre-back with a sensational comeback victory.
Jack Hendry was handed possibly the most difficult task in world football at the moment when he was drafted in to play at the heart of a back three tasked with stopping Haaland.
The Club Brugge defender was the only change to the team that beat Spain in March after Grant Hanley dropped out with a serious Achilles injury.
The best chance of the first half fell to Norway forward Alexander Sorloth, who sent a free header from eight yards straight at Angus Gunn.
Scotland struggled to retain possession in the opening 20 minutes before settling down somewhat.
Andy Robertson produced two good runs and crosses but they did not lead to anything and McGinn was closed down quickly after getting a sight of goal following Ryan Christie’s cross.
Steve Clarke’s side were employing a flat back five out of possession and trying to keep a high line. The only time Haaland got the ball in a decent position in the first half, Callum McGregor quickly tracked back to make a penalty-box tackle.
The striker might have had a far better chance if he had not been hauled down by Hendry while beginning a chase for a ball over the top.
Hendry was the last defender but only received a yellow card given the foul was on the halfway line.
The Slovenian referee was a lot harsher in handing bookings to McGinn and Kieran Tierney either side of half-time.
Ola Solbakken and McGinn saw decent long-range shots saved early in the second half before Hendry got away with some penalty-box grappling with Haaland, although the striker did not appeal unlike some of his team-mates.
However, he did not have long to wait for a spot-kick. Ryan Porteous grabbed the striker’s shirt as he looked set to attack Sorloth’s cross and the referee immediately pointed to the spot when Haaland went down.
Porteous in return received a yellow card which rules him out of Tuesday’s visit of Georgia.
Gunn dived the right way and came close but was beaten by the power of the strike from Haaland, who had only scored once in his previous eight club matches but took his tally for the season for club and country to 59.
Scotland soon lost Tierney to injury with Liam Cooper entering the fray and they were making no inroads into Norway’s lead before Clarke made a triple switch in the 79th minute and moved to a back four. McLean, Stuart Armstrong and Billy Gilmour came on.
Haaland went off in the 84th minute and Scotland soon stunned the hosts and delighted their travelling fans with their late double whammy.
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