Moeen Ali admits there is only one captain and one series that would have tempted him to overturn his Test retirement.
Moeen won the last of his 64 England caps almost two years ago and was content with his decision to step away from a format that has exacted a physical and psychological toll on him over the years.
The 35-year-old even rejected a no-strings attached offer to tour Pakistan in December, concluding that he did not have the required motivation to commit to one more leg of a lengthy winter on the road.
But things all changed when England’s first-choice spinner Jack Leach was unexpectedly ruled out for the summer. England skipper Ben Stokes, who spent the best part of two months with Moeen during their time together at Chennai Super Kings in this year’s Indian Premier League, set the wheels in motion for a comeback and little more than a week later Moeen was sitting in his new England whites taking questions at his home ground of Edgbaston.
Asked if there was any other captain he would have returned for, he said: “Probably not, no.
“I’ve obviously spent a lot of time with Stokesy in India…he didn’t mention anything about coming out of retirement, it was just about the Ashes and how he was looking to take the team. But he obviously watched me train out there and thinks I can bowl decently.”
As for his motivation for one last crack at an Australia side who have provided him with some of the most challenging moments in international cricket, Moeen was more keen to focus on the draw of being back involved in one of his sport’s marquee rivalries.
“It’s such a big series…it’s the Ashes, to be part of it would be amazing. It is a free hit. I’m not playing for my spot. There’s no pressure, really. All the things I ever wanted to do in Test cricket I’m going to try to do in these games.”
The pros and cons of the Moeen call-up are clear. On the positive side, none of England’s other slow bowling options such as Will Jacks, Liam Dawson or Rehan Ahmed, come close to his experience or tally of 195 Test wickets.
Yet there are those who see his long absence from red-ball cricket as a potential red flag and who would rather see a promotion for someone currently active in the County Championship.
“It’s a difficult one for me because I never picked myself. I just got the call,” he said.
“Obviously there are players out there that are playing and doing alright, but I think they (England) know me quite well and it’s not just having the character and the person in the changing room that you want. The results do matter, the process, the matches. I’ve got to perform and make some important impacts in the game.”
Moeen offered a remarkably honest assessment of his own style, openly accepting his limitations as a containing bowler and welcoming the freedom he is likely to be given to focus on attack.
“I’ve never been able to hold an end up,” he said. “When I have it’s because I’ve been taking wickets. That’s the only time I’ve been able to build any pressure. Ben and Baz know that.
“I’m sure they know what they are going to get from me – there won’t be a lot of maidens.
“I’d expect them to attack me, 100 per cent, if I was them I’d do the same. I’m not expecting them to defend me and things like that. I’m expecting them to come after me, which could be dangerous because Stokesy likes having the fielders up. It could go for a lot of runs. We’ll see.”
Cadan Murley is willing to temporarily suspend his allegiance to Manchester United as he analyses Erling Haaland for clues on how to enhance his own finishing.
The Gallagher Premiership’s most prolific try scorer of last season sees value in looking to other sports for inspiration and identifies Manchester City marksman Haaland as the most insightful player to watch.
Haaland has set a new record for goals scored in a Premier League season with 52 and Murley, the Harlequins wing hoping to make his England debut this summer, admires his instinct for knowing where the chances will fall.
“I’m a United fan and I wish we had Haaland,” Murley told the PA news agency at the launch of Spabreaks.com’s Men’s Health Week campaign ‘Real Men Relax’.
“It’s hard when he scores against us, but as a sportsman, you’ve got to respect everyone out there and what Haaland has done is unbelievable.
“Whenever he’s needed, he’s always there in the right place at the right time. That’s kind of true of me on the rugby pitch as well – a lot of people say my tries are walk-ins, but you’ve got to be there in the right position.
“Haaland is always lurking. He’s a great finisher and a great footballer, but for me it’s his ability to know where to be that stands out.”
Murley’s 15 touch downs last season – he was also second-highest try scorer behind Max Malins in 2021-22 – have put him in contention for World Cup selection and he could win his first cap during the four warm-up Tests.
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While possessing a nose for the line and surprising power for a 23-year-old who is 5ft 8in and weighs 15st 2lbs, developing familiarity with his team-mates has been just as instrumental to his consistency as a finisher.
He added: “A lot of it comes down to who you are playing with and if you know them well enough. Do you know what they’re going to do?
“For example, I know that Andre Esterhuizen and Alex Dombrandt will probably make gainline and will look for off-loads, so fishing in and around those two is very good.
“And of course Marcus Smith can pull a crossfield kick out of anywhere. He likes me to be in certain positions on the touchline – if he has a couple of looks and there’s space there then I know he’s going to do that.
“Those relationships are really important, but there are also other things that you need to practise day in day out on the training field.
“Mainly I do one on ones. I’m a bit different to other wingers. I don’t have the best feet out there, but I’m also more powerful than some. So I practise grabbing bigger people and practise finishing drills.
“My power has come from when I played back row when I was younger. I was never the biggest so I’ve always had to punch above my weight.”
Revitalised by a mandatory five-week rest period that included 10 days spent in Marbella, Murley has been selected in England’s first training squad of the summer with clear instructions from head coach Steve Borthwick on what is expected.
“Steve has given general instructions to all the back three. He wants us to be aerially dominant, so he’s asked us to always work on the high ball,” he said.
“The way the international game is going, there is a lot more kick chase, but they want that to be done at as high a speed as possible so we’ve been doing lots of sprint repeats.
“Steve also wants us to be physical – the most physical wingers in the world. One on one you expect the attacker to win, but if you can become dominant in defence then that can give your team an edge.”
:: Cadan Murley was speaking as Spabreaks.com, the UK’s leading spa booking and experience agency, launch their Men’s Health Week campaign “Real Men Relax”, to highlight the benefits of spa to men of all trades and backgrounds. For more information, visit www.spabreaks.com
Charlie Appleby took some of his stable stars to Newmarket’s Rowley Mile ahead of Royal Ascot next week, with Prince of Wales’s Stakes favourite Adayar the main attraction.
The son of Frankel comfortably beat subsequent Group One winner Anmaat in the Gordon Richards Stakes on his comeback this season and was partnered by William Buick in a gentle piece of work.
Second in the Champion Stakes last season, Appleby hopes the decision to keep the 2021 Derby winner in training at five is rewarded with a Group One win over 10 furlongs.
“It was a nice, pleasing piece of work. He is there now and we didn’t want to be doing anything too strong with him,” said Appleby.
“You could see his enthusiasm in dragging William to his lead horse there and he went through the line well and had his ears pricked. I think it is a great experience for these horses and we are lucky to be able to do it.
“A week out we just want them to come up and enjoy themselves.
“He goes into the Prince of Wales’s as near-favourite or joint-favourite and deservedly so on what we saw at the Guineas meeting. He has come forward for that first run.
“Hopefully we can get our rewards, more so for him, for staying in training.”
He added on the prospect of an unsettled weather forecast: “We all want decent ground, but the one thing he has up his sleeve is that he can handle soft ground. I wouldn’t say he is better on soft ground by any stretch of the imagination, but he handles it.
“Any of these Group One races are hard to win. If you think you are worried about just Luxembourg or Bay Bridge then more fool you. Whoever turns up you respect them all, but I’m just delighted with how our horse is going into the race.”
Appleby looks like fielding a very strong hand in the opening Queen Anne Stakes with Lockinge winner Modern Games and last year’s Irish Guineas hero Native Trail.
“I was pleased with Native Trail’s first run and he has definitely come forward for his run at Newmarket. As you know he has had wind surgery during the winter, but I was very pleased with that this morning,” said Appleby.
“Like any of those older horses they take a bit of work and you could see the improvement from that first run. He moved well today, he has always got that raspiness but that is him. It doesn’t stop him. I was pleased with the way he hit the line there.
“He will head to the Queen Anne now along with Modern Games, who is back at home as he doesn’t need to do any more himself.
“There is no doubt about it that it was all about Native Trail last season, but they don’t know what price they are. To be fair from our own point of view we don’t worry what price they are. They are two lovely horses to have around.
“One has already done it this year with Modern Games winning a Group One and I’m a strong believer Native Trail won’t be too far behind him in getting his Group One this year.”
Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Yibir, another who went through his paces, is stepping up markedly in trip for the Gold Cup. But Appleby believes his running style gives him a chance of staying the trip.
He said: “Yibir is heading towards the Gold Cup. I’m pleased with him and he showed plenty of enthusiasm today. He has definitely come forward for his run at Newbury.
“We know it is an extra mile on top of his normal trip, but on the back of what we have seen with the likes of Broome and those good older mile-and-a-half horses they can do that.
“Talking to the guys that have ridden in the Gold Cup they will often get the two miles, it is when you go beyond two miles that are obviously extreme distances for Flat horses.
“I would be a bit bold to say he is going to get the two and a half miles, but he has got the right run style and if it is quick ground we know he enjoys that sounder surface.
“William will be able to ride him coming into the race and if he comes good when the bell rings then he will be there as a live player that is for sure.
“These older mile-and-a-half horses don’t get any quicker and the division he is in is a tough division now and we thought going this way might just open up some doors for him going the Gold Cup distance. It is an open division, but he is fit and well and I’m pleased with the way he is going into it.”
England’s Manchester City quintet are due to arrive at St George’s Park on Tuesday evening after days celebrating their treble triumph.
Gareth Southgate’s men are preparing for Friday’s Euro 2024 qualifier in Malta and the Old Trafford encounter with North Macedonia on Monday.
The exact availability of City’s players for the doubleheader is unclear given their celebrations following Saturday’s Champions League triumph in Turkey only ended after Monday’s rain-soaked parade.
Jack Grealish was at the heart of the revelry and is due at St George’s Park to link up with England on Tuesday night, as are Phil Foden, Kyle Walker, John Stones and Kalvin Phillips.
Declan Rice was also given extra time after captaining West Ham to Europa Conference League glory last week and linked up with the squad on Monday morning.
The 24-year-old midfielder was part of a 19-man training group on Tuesday morning, as was uncapped Crystal Palace talent Eberechi Eze.
England Under-21 international Levi Colwill was also involved in the session. The defender has joined Southgate’s squad for training this week following the withdrawal of injured Brighton team-mate Lewis Dunk.
Jude Bellingham watched the start from the sidelines at St George’s Park.
The 19-year-old, who is set to join Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund, has been ruled out of the Malta and North Macedonia matches through injury. However, Bellingham headed to St George’s Park to continue his rehabilitation from a knee issue.
Huddersfield have announced Leigh Bromby has left his role as sporting director.
The 43-year-old led the football strategy at the Sky Bet Championship club for the past four years, having initially joined as an academy coach in 2014 before progressing to academy manager in 2018.
Head of goalkeeping Paul Clements has also departed John Smith’s Stadium as part of a “refresh” for the Terriers.
Huddersfield were in relegation danger for much of last season but went on to survive comfortably following the February appointment of manager Neil Warnock.
Terriers chief executive Jake Edwards told his club’s website: “On behalf of the club, I would like to thank Leigh for his achievements during his long association with Huddersfield Town.
“This change comes as we look towards a fresh start at the club and as we begin to build towards the start of the new season.”
Speaking about Clements, who joined Town in 2015, Edwards added: “Paul can depart with a lot of pride in what he’s achieved here.
“Much like the departure of Leigh Bromby, this change has been made in order to refresh our football department ahead of the new season.”
Inspiral limbered up for her return to action at Royal Ascot next week with a racecourse gallop on Newmarket’s July course on Tuesday morning.
Unbeaten in four juvenile starts, the Cheveley Park Stud-owned filly did not make her three-year-old debut until running out a brilliant winner of the Coronation Stakes 12 months ago and will once again make her reappearance at the Royal meeting, this time in the curtain-raising Queen Anne Stakes.
Following her scintillating success in the Coronation, Inspiral went on to suffer a shock defeat in the Falmouth Stakes before bouncing back to claim a third Group One win in the Prix Jacques le Marois in France.
With last month’s Lockinge at Newbury coming too soon, the Frankel filly has not been seen in finishing down the field in the QEII on Champions Day at Ascot in October, but trainer John Gosden expressed his satisfaction after seeing her pull comfortably clear of her work companion under Frankie Dettori.
“We have been very happy with her recently and she enjoyed her work there. It was nice to get her back on the track,” said the Clarehaven handler.
“A racecourse gallop was part of the plan and it is a big help heading into Royal Ascot without having had a run.
“She has taken her time to come to hand. We had a cold wet spring then we had a lot of cold, dry weather with winds from the north east off the North Sea. A lot of these fillies just haven’t flourished, that is all.”
While Gosden is taking some encouragement from the fact Inspiral proved herself capable of producing a big performance first time out last season, he admits she has more on her plate this time around, with the Breeders’ Cup Mile and Lockinge winner Modern Games among her likely rivals.
He added: “We were hoping to go to the Lockingem but it didn’t quite happen so we will go straight into the Queen Anne. We did it last year going into the Coronation Stakes.
“It does give us confidence going there knowing that we have done this before. It is like all these fillies though – they will tell you when they are ready to run, you don’t tell them.
“Last year we were just taking on three-year-old fillies. This year we are taking on proven older horses like the Breeders’ Cup Mile winner, so it is a much bigger test.
“It would be very exciting if she did win. We just want to get her there in good order and at the moment we would be very pleased with her.”
George Boughey will take his time with Classic-winning filly Cachet, after she proved slow to come to hand this spring.
The daughter of Aclaim gave the Newmarket handler a breakthrough top-level success when landing the Qipco 1000 Guineas last year, but has not been since since finishing fifth to Inspiral in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot.
The Highclere-owned four-year-old will be a hot commodity as a broodmare, and Boughey says she is not ready for a return and will hold her back.
He said: “Cachet looks better than she has all spring. It wasn’t fair to take her straight to Royal Ascot a year off the track, running six furlongs for the first time.
“And I also didn’t think it was fair to run her in a Group Two over a mile, not having been a convincing stayer on the stiff track.
“I haven’t really got a plan at the moment. She’s training away nicely, but at the end of the day, her main target is a mares’ sale at the end of the year.
“She wasn’t right to go to a sale at the end of last year and we will try to have her as busy as she can be into December, but I’m not going to rush her – she’s a very valuable filly and doesn’t really need to prove anything else.”
Narrowly beaten in the French Guineas after her Newmarket effort, the Saffron House handler has not ruled out the possibility she will run again this year before retiring, with all the top mile races under consideration.
Boughey added: “There are lots of races for her, Forets, Sun Chariots, Breeders’ Cups. She might be a fresh horse against horses who have had a busy year.
“I’m very positive we will see her on the track in the next period of time, but I’m not sure when that will be, though.
“She is not quite there yet, but she has worked quite nicely. She has done a couple of bits, but she’s not sparkled yet and we know what she can do, so we’ve given her plenty of time.
“I don’t know why she hasn’t (sparkled). It has been very warm and now she is starting to thrive, but it has been a pretty hard spring for them and she just hasn’t for some reason.
“Emily Upjohn didn’t thrive through the spring and is now flying and a star again. Inspiral didn’t. There are a few of those good fillies that haven’t and it’s been easier for the colts than the fillies.”
Norwich sporting director Stuart Webber is set to leave his role at Carrow Road, the Sky Bet Championship club have announced.
Webber joined Norwich from Huddersfield in April 2017 and oversaw two successful Championship title campaigns under former head coach Daniel Farke.
However, despite replacing Dean Smith with David Wagner during last season, Webber had come in for personal criticism after the Canaries failed to mount another swift promotion back to the Premier League following relegation.
With Webber set to remain in his post and continue working a notice period through a transition, an external recruitment process to appoint a replacement has already started.
Former Norwich manager and player Neil Adams will move into the newly-created position of technical director.
Webber said on the Norwich website: “The support I’ve had from all the board, past and present, throughout my time at the club has been outstanding.
“(Joint majority shareholders) Delia (Smith) and Michael (Wynn Jones) are two of the most special people that I’ve met. They care so much about Norwich City, its staff and supporters.
“I’ve seen so many staff grow and develop, and I can’t thank them enough for their dedication.”
He added: “I look forward to the next chapter and helping as much or as little in this transition over the coming months. The board know they have my unwavering support.
“Thank you to every board and staff member, player and supporter that I’ve met. I wish the club the very best and I look forward to supporting from afar.”
In a statement, joint majority shareholders Delia Smith and Michael Wynn Jones paid tribute to Webber.
“When Stuart came to our home in early March to inform us he wanted to leave at the end of his contract we were devastated – whilst we obviously respected his decision,” they said.
“In our 28 years of serving this great football club we have never worked with such a talent.
“In terms of unity and mutual support we are a completely different football club to the one he joined in 2017.
“Stuart Webber has been an outstanding servant to this football club and built a strong foundation for the future.
“We are very sad to lose him, owe him much gratitude and want to wish him all the very best for the future.”
Cruiserweight Richard Riakporhe believes boxing has allowed him to escape the “bottom of the barrel” and give opportunities to those without a voice.
Aside from the personal rewards which go hand-in-hand with being the number two WBO cruiserweight, south Londoner Riakporhe is keen to use his platform to help others.
“Growing up around the Aylesbury Estate (Walworth, south east London) we came from a low social class,” Riakporhe told the PA news agency.
“I had my mother and father present but I became a product of my environment. There are others who are from worse situations and they need a lot of support but no-one seems to care and that’s the saddest part about it. When I see them, I see myself in them which is why I do what I do.
“I have come up with different initiatives, I have come up with my foundation where we are doing a lot of things behind the scenes and slowly pushing them out there to try and give people opportunities.
“I became a reference, people started to use me as an example. I naturally grew into that position. I embrace it and I want to do more, it’s all about legacy, boxing is one thing and it’s something I love but there are other things that people will remember me for. I have a strong purpose.
“I want that major influence, I want to help others, use the platform to help others, give opportunities to those who are not seen and who will probably never be heard.”
Riakporhe has his sights set on cruiserweight glory this year after Lawrence Okolie’s defeat to Chris Billam-Smith last month, which would be quite the turnaround from his youthful surroundings where he was stabbed as a teenager.
And the orthodox fighter looked back at his upbringing and credited boxing with providing him with an outlet and discipline which allowed him to stay clear from distractions.
“To be honest I owe a lot to boxing. For you to elevate and be successful in boxing you have to be disciplined and that takes you away from self-sabotage,” Riakporhe added.
“To be successful you have to go to the gym, work out, avoid distractions. There are so many elements of boxing that develop your character.
“We had to learn and navigate around the place because we wanted to create a better opportunity for ourselves, live a better life and the only way we could’ve done that is by learning and developing ourselves every single day or staying in the same position at the bottom of the barrel and I didn’t want to accept that anymore, I wanted to make something of myself.
“In that environment you’re pretty much doing things to survive, people do things because they have to. People have no money so they get into crime, people have no jobs so they get into crime. It takes a lot of mental strength to not get involved in things going on in and around the area.”
Premier League clubs can begin shaping their squads for the 2023-24 season when the transfer window opens on Wednesday.
Here, the PA news agency picks out some high-profile players who could make summer moves.
Harry Kane
England captain Kane is entering the final year of his contract with Tottenham and has been repeatedly linked with Manchester United while Real Madrid have also been touted as a possible destination. However, Spurs are thought to be reluctant to sell their record goalscorer, particularly to a top-flight rival.
Declan Rice
West Ham skipper Rice marked potentially his final match for his current club by leading them to Europa Conference League glory. According to reports, London rivals Arsenal are closing in on the 24-year-old England midfielder and are expected to pay a club-record fee in excess of £100million.
Moises Caicedo
Europa League-bound Brighton have already sold World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister to Liverpool and may lose fellow star midfielder Caicedo. Arsenal bid for the Ecuador international in January. The 21-year-old has also been linked with Manchester United and Chelsea.
James Maddison
Midfield playmaker Maddison seems certain to be on the move following Leicester’s relegation. Newcastle are thought to be in pole position to secure the signature of the 26-year-old, whose contract expires next summer. Tottenham are also reportedly interested.
Mason Mount
Chelsea and England midfielder Mount is another player whose existing deal has just 12 months remaining. The 24-year-old, who joined the Blues’ academy in 2005, is reportedly a target for Manchester United, with talks between the clubs said to be already under way.
Harry Maguire
The Manchester United captain has fallen out of favour under Erik ten Hag but is thought to be keen to fight for his future at Old Trafford. Newcastle, Tottenham and Aston Villa have each been linked with Maguire, who cost United £80m from Leicester in 2019.
Nikola Jokic is now in "the legendary category" after he propelled the Denver Nuggets to victory in the NBA Finals.
Jokic capped a sensational postseason by sparking Denver's comeback from a 10-point second-quarter deficit on Monday.
The Serbian finished with 28 points on 12-of-16 shooting along with 16 rebounds as the Nuggets won 94-89 against the Miami Heat to clinch the championship in Game 5.
For Detroit Pistons great Isiah Thomas, two-time NBA MVP Jokic must be considered among the very best.
"It puts him in the legendary category for what he's done statistically in the Finals," Thomas told ESPN.
"I don't know if there's anyone who's ever had a statistical run in the NBA Finals as a center as he had in these categories."
For Jokic, who can now add an NBA Finals MVP award to his long list of career accolades, it was a case of a job well done.
"It's good, we did the job. I think we played the best basketball – I'm not going to say in the postseason – but we were there, playing the best basketball," Jokic told reporters.
"Since day one, there was something different about this team, an energy, and every day since I've had this feeling. I'm not really an optimistic guy but that gave me hope that we can do something."
It has been a long road for the Nuggets to their first NBA title, but Jokic believes a team must experience downs as well as ups to be great.
"If you want to be successful, you need a couple of years to be bad, then be good, and then when you're good you need to fail and then figure it out," he added.
"I think experience isn't what happened to you, it's what you're going to do after what happened. There are no shortcuts, it's a journey and I'm glad to be part of this journey.
"It's a good thing to know you've done something that nobody believed [we could]. Every player believed, and that's the good thing."
In 20 postseason games, Jokic accumulated 600 points, 269 rebounds and 190 assists. Never before in NBA history had a player reached those numbers over a 20-game span.
Jokic also became the first player in NBA history to have 25+ points and 15+ rebounds on 75 percent shooting in a championship-clinching win.
Next week’s Hampton Court Stakes at Royal Ascot is among the options under consideration for Caernarfon after trainer Jack Channon decided against a bid for Classic glory in France on Sunday.
A creditable fourth over a mile in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, the daughter of Cityscape stepped up on that performance when third in the Oaks at Epsom over a mile and a half.
Caernarfon had the option of running in this weekend’s French Oaks at Chantilly over a mile and a quarter, but while Channon is keen to try her over the intermediate distance on her next start, he scratched his stable star from the Prix de Diane on Tuesday morning.
Explaining the decision, Channon said: “If I’m brutally honest, I didn’t like the outlook of the French race, simply due to the fact it can be a very messy race.
“From a wide draw you can’t win at Chantilly and even with a plum draw, she’s not the biggest, she’s the type of filly that could lose her position and if you get too far back round there it’s a very hard place to win.
“I just thought there’d be better options and some of the races in the late summer, like the Nassau at Goodwood, are going to be right up her street.”
Caernarfon will now either take on the boys at the Royal meeting or wait for Group One opportunities against her own sex.
“We’ve got a couple options, you’ve got the Hampton Court Stakes over a mile and a quarter if you wanted to go against the colts at Ascot, or you’ve obviously got the Ribblesdale against the fillies over a mile and a half,” Channon continued.
“We could definitely look at a mile and a half again in the future, but I think a mile and a quarter is where I want to go with her next.
“You’ve got the Pretty Polly in Ireland over a mile and a quarter a couple of weeks after that, so we’ve got a few options and we’re not concrete on anything yet.
“She’s in great form and wherever we go she’ll be ready to rock and roll. She’s come out of Epsom probably better than she did Newmarket, so we’re chuffed.”
The PGA Tour is confident it will be able to assure Congress it controls the shock new venture with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund after a United States Senator opened an investigation into the deal.
The PGA announced a week ago a plan to combine its commercial business with those of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which includes the LIV Golf series that the PGA had previously been in open dispute with.
Richard Blumenthal, the Democratic Senator for Connecticut, wrote to PGA Tour chief executive Jay Monahan and his LIV Golf counterpart Greg Norman on Monday to say the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations was “reviewing matters” concerning the deal.
Senator Blumenthal wrote in his letter to Monahan: “PGA Tour’s agreement with PIF regarding LIV Golf raises concerns about the Saudi government’s role in influencing this effort and the risks posed by a foreign government entity assuming control over a cherished American institution.”
In response, the PGA Tour issued a statement which read: “We are confident that once Congress learns more about how the PGA Tour will control this new venture, they will understand the opportunities this will create for our players, our communities and our sport, all while protecting an American golf institution.”
The PGA insists the new venture is not a merger and that it is not owned by PIF. It says PIF will be investing in this new subsidiary, with the PGA Tour retaining majority ownership and control.
Senator Blumenthal asked for relevant documents and information to be shared by June 26.
He noted in both letters that the announcement last Tuesday marked “a sudden and and drastic reversal of position” from the PGA Tour towards LIV Golf which raised “serious questions”.
The PGA and LIV Golf had been involved in litigation in the US courts, with a number of players defecting from the PGA to LIV for huge sums of money.
The new venture, which the PGA promised would “unify the game of golf, on a global basis” and which also includes the European Tour, is sure to be a major topic of discussion as players gather for this week’s US Open at the Los Angeles Country Club.
Rory McIlroy, one of the PGA’s most high-profile supporters in its battle with LIV, said last week he felt like “a sacrificial lamb” after the deal was confirmed.
Jude Bellingham says he is harnessing the pain of England’s near misses as the talented teenager homes in on European Championship glory next summer.
The national team are in the midst of their most successful period since Sir Alf Ramsey led Bobby Moore’s heroes to World Cup glory in 1966.
The surprising run to the 2018 semi-finals in Russia was followed by manager Gareth Southgate leading England to a first European Championship final two years ago.
Bellingham’s first tournament ended in an agonising shoot-out defeat to Italy at Wembley and his maiden World Cup ended in a galling quarter-final exit to France in December.
But now attention turns to their quest for Euros glory in Germany next summer – a tournament England will take a giant step towards by winning June’s qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia.
Bellingham, who is closing in on a move to Real Madrid after Borussia Dortmund accepted their offer, will play no part in those matches due to a knee injury, yet he still reported to St George’s Park as he continues rehabilitation.
“We’ve got to attack the qualifiers with the same mentality as we attack major tournaments,” Bellingham recently told the PA news agency.
“The last three (tournaments), I’d say, we’ve been pretty successful. The last one was a bit disappointing, but we probably played a harder opponent than the previous ones.
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“The way we went out was disappointing, but you take confidence in the fact that you can go toe-to-toe with one of the better teams in Europe.
“It stands you in good stead when you know there’s not many better teams on paper – you’d like to think – that are better than us.
“So, you take that confidence and you take the experience that we’ve gained from the last few.
“The goal is always to try and win it. That should be the goal for all of us going into it and that’s what we’ll try and do.”
Bellingham does not lack confidence and nor should he given England’s performances in Qatar.
A narrow defeat to eventual finalists and Euro 2024 favourites France did for Southgate’s side in the desert, where the midfielder says their progress was no mirage.
“I felt so confident going into that France game that we’d get a result,” said Bellingham, speaking in his role as ambassador for McDonald’s Fun Football programme – which provides free, inclusive football coaching for children aged five to 11 across more than 1,500 locations in the UK.
“I think probably we fell short in the big moments for their goals and obviously the penalties and moments like that.
“The majority of the game we didn’t have clear chances, but when we did, we could have been a bit more decisive maybe. But, like I said, it’s an experience to take into the next ones.
“I just really enjoyed the experience as a whole – relishing being away, playing in such a good team, having that pressure on me and on the team. It’s something that I really enjoyed.”
Bellingham underlined his place as one of the greatest talents in the world in Qatar, flourishing in England’s midfield after a restricted but valuable role at Euro 2020.
Aged 17 he became the youngest English player to feature in a major tournament, making three substitute appearances in a crash course summer of learning.
“It was a bit of weird one for me because I didn’t play (much),” Bellingham said. “It was my first major tournament and I didn’t play too much.
“But I was still like a sponge while I was there, trying to learn from everything that was going on around me, having it in England as well.
“You could see the pressure up close almost and you went to the games and the atmosphere was incredible. We fell short at the final hurdle, so you take a lot of experience from that.
“But there’s also a level of…not regret but motivation that you can take from the tournament.
“I think, for me, the pain that I felt after that final and after the World Cup will definitely drive me in the tournaments to come.”
You certainly would not back against ambitious Bellingham and his talented England team-mates as they look to finally land silverware in Germany.
“I’d just say stick with us, really,” the 24-cap teenager said when asked what his message to supporters would be.
“England fans can feel it themselves, They’re ambitious, but they’re not stupid. There’s a reason for the kind of expectation and the hype around the team at the minute.
“The truth is that we are delivering. We’d like to deliver a trophy and a tournament win, of course, but I think there’s steps to doing that.
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“A lot of the great international teams in the past didn’t win straight away. They had to build for years before they managed to get over the line.
“I think that there’s something similar happening with this England team now. I wouldn’t say patience is the word but just stick with us because we’ll deliver.”
:: Jude Bellingham was speaking at a McDonald’s Fun Football session to announce his role as an ambassador for the UK’s largest grassroots participation programme for 5-11 year olds. Find your nearest free session at www.mcdonalds.co.uk/football.
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