Head coach Brendon McCullum insisted England felt “validated” despite an agonising defeat in the first Ashes Test, and doubled down on the selection gamble of Moeen Ali.
England drove the game forward for the majority of five gripping days at Edgbaston but still find themselves 1-0 down with four to play after Australia’s more conservative approach carried them to a two-wicket victory in the dying moments of the final evening.
It needed a brilliant match-winning intervention of 44 not out from captain Pat Cummins to seal the deal, as England failed to defend a target of 281 thanks to his ninth-wicket stand with tailender Nathan Lyon.
England skipper Ben Stokes refused to entertain regrets after the match, commending his team for setting up a dramatic finish to a game that could have fallen flat due to a slow pitch and rain delays.
McCullum is cut from exactly the same cloth and he saw enough from his side to feel sure that their commitment to risky, aggressive cricket was the right way to go.
“I’m really proud of the boys to be honest. I thought it was a cracking Test match,” he said.
“I’m sure everyone that watched all around the world and everyone who was here at Edgbaston absolutely loved it and that includes us. I had an absolutely amazing time.
“Obviously you’d rather have won the game – that’s just the nature of sport sometimes – but I thought the way that we played validated our style of play.
“We firmly believe, the skipper and I, that this gives us our greatest chance.
“Of everyone that has watched this game over the last five days, I would be very surprised if there were too many people who disagree with how we go about playing, because everyone was left entertained.
“You’re not always going to win and we understand that, but we want to keep getting up and throwing punches as a team.”
McCullum was equally undeterred when it came to questions over Moeen’s painful return to the Test arena.
The 36-year-old was tempted out of red-ball retirement after Jack Leach went down with a stress fracture but, despite producing a couple of superb wicket-taking deliveries, he was reduced to a peripheral role in the critical fourth innings after a blister opened up on his right index finger.
That left England relying heavily on Joe Root’s part-time off-breaks and invited speculation over Moeen’s place in the second Test at Lord’s next Wednesday.
McCullum suggested some thought would be given to possible call-ups – with Surrey’s Will Jacks the most obvious candidate – but was confident that the injury could be resolved in the coming days. If that is the case, he guaranteed Moeen another shot.
“You’ve got to have some ideas and some theories up your sleeve and some options as well, but I’m pretty confident that we can get on top of Mo’s finger,” he said.
“That will give us an opportunity to select him in the next game and if he’s available, he will be selected.
“I thought Mo did a great job – he bowled a couple of absolute ‘jaffas’ in the game and that’s what his role was, to try and make breakthroughs when he had the opportunity.
“He’s got a big smile on his face, he’s loving being back playing Test cricket, which is testament to the game and also Stokesy and all the boys for making the environment one that you want to be a part of.”
Jonny Bairstow was another player who had some words of encouragement from McCullum after a tricky time behind the stumps.
He dropped a couple of catches and missed a stumping in the match, leaving some pining for the absent Ben Foakes and his imperious glovework.
Bairstow’s return from a broken leg and the emergence of Harry Brook at number five means Foakes will continue to be the odd man out and McCullum, a former international wicketkeeper, declared himself content with the status quo.
“I thought they were pretty tough mistakes to be honest. I’ve kept over here before, it’s not the easiest place. When the ball is spitting and bouncing out of the rough, it can be quite difficult,” he said.
“I actually thought Jonny kept really well right throughout. If you look at the way he progressed throughout the game, I think he found a natural rhythm.
“We know what he offers with the bat, him coming in at seven is a real weapon for us as well, so I think he’ll be better for the run.”
Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and Kelley O’Hara are to set play in their fourth World Cup after being named in the United States squad for this summer’s tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
The trio were included in a 23-player group by coach Vlatko Andonovski on Wednesday as the US bid to win the competition for a third time in a row.
There is further experience in the squad with Alyssa Naeher and Julie Ertz being involved for a third successive World Cup while a another four players – Crystal Dunn, Emily Sonnett, Lindsey Horan and Rose Lavelle – will feature for a second time.
Fourteen players will sample their first World Cup.
Forward Rapinoe, who has scored 63 goals in 199 appearances for the national side, is the oldest member of party. She turns 38 on July 5.
Captain Becky Sauerbrunn has been ruled out through injury.
Changes can still be made prior to the deadline for official squads to be submitted to organisers FIFA on July 10.
The US play Wales in San Jose, California on July 9 in their final friendly before the tournament.
The World Cup begins on July 20 with the holders facing Vietnam, the Netherlands and Portugal in the group stage.
Refugee boxer Cindy Ngamba believes she has had to “work harder” than others to pursue her dreams of one day competing for Team GB at the Olympics.
Born in Cameroon, the 24-year-old fought for refugee status for years and has talked about her pain of going through detention camps before earning a right to stay in the country.
Ngamba, who trains with GB Boxing, will go to the European Games this week in Krakow as part of the Fair Chance refugee team, but is hoping to fight in the vest of Team GB in the near future.
She came to the UK aged 11 and was threatened with a return to Cameroon but believes she has had to fight harder to get to where she is competing now.
“Some people have to work harder than others because others have it the hard way,” Ngamba, who will fight for the 66kg crown at the third edition of the European Games, told the PA news agency.
“That’s not me saying those that have the easy way don’t work hard, but my life, I feel I had to overcome a lot of obstacles which makes me who I am.
“When I was an immigrant, one time, me and my brother were arrested and got sent to a detention camp in London; just like that we did not know what was happening, you feel helpless and think you will be getting sent back to the country you came from.
“Every little thing that has happened in my life since coming to the UK, I see it in a good way because if it didn’t happen I would not be where I am right now.”
Ngamba was fearful of a return to Cameroon due to her LGBTQ+ sexuality, as homosexuality is illegal in Cameroon and can be punished with up to five years in prison.
She continued: “It was dangerous for me to go back with my sexuality.
“When I was applying for my papers, I could have used my sexuality and come out but I stayed in the closet.
“I come from an African country where they are strict and the mindset is very different. During my cases, I tried to use my boxing, me going to school or college but the Home Office did not want to hear any of it.
“I came out at 18 and my solicitor did a background check on my country and saw you could get put in prison or get killed and with me being gay, I could not get sent back.”
Ngamba has proven her boxing credentials after becoming the first person since Natasha Jonas to win at three National Amateur Championship weight divisions.
Once she obtains a British passport, she will be eligible to become a fully-funded member of the GB boxing squad, and potentially represent Team GB at future Olympic Games and she feels at home with the GB boxing team.
“Team GB have always been in my corner, I feel I am a part of Team GB – but paper wise, I am not,” she said.
“They are the ones that I spend my time with all the time so they are my family, from the boxers, the coaches, the ones that work in the office, I believe that me qualifying, I will be part of Team GB.
“That’s not me saying I don’t want to represent the refugee team but I feel part of GB Boxing and they are doing their best to make me feel a part of that, which I love very much.”
Australia captain Alyssa Healy is relishing the “trench warfare” that could ensue over a five-day Test which marks the start of the multi-format Women’s Ashes.
Women’s Tests have customarily spanned four days but the last six matches worldwide dating back to 2017 have all been draws, prompting England and Australia to agree to an extension for this series opener.
Healy – skippering Australia in the absence of Meg Lanning, who is out of the tour for medical reasons – was adamant tacking on an extra day at Trent Bridge is no guarantee of bringing a positive result.
But she believes the elongation could present an extra dimension as her side looks to retain the urn they have held since 2015, having won three of the last four series between the teams with one draw.
“Five days here could be really interesting,” she said. “It’s probably just a mental battle and there could be a bit of trench warfare at times, we’ll see how it goes.
“It could present a result, but there are draws in five-day men’s games as well. We can’t be assured of that.
“We’ve come here to win the big moments and big matches, and this one to get four points up early, as an Aussie squad would be a great result.
“I think for the first time, there’s a sense of an unknown about both sides. It’s the next gen banging on the door and giving us a glimpse into what the Ashes series will look like for the next 10 years.”
While England named their XI early – with an international debut for seamer Lauren Filer and a Test bow for attacking batter Danni Wyatt – Healy was tight-lipped about her all-conquering Australia line-up.
However, she was unsurprised at England’s announcement, having worked under England head coach Jon Lewis when the pair were at UP Warriorz during the Women’s Premier League in India in March.
“It’s aggressive and attacking, I absolutely love it,” Healy said. “They were speaking about wanting to bring it.
“Spending a bit of time with Jon in the WIPL, his thoughts on the game and how he wants to play it reflects exactly that.”
Teenager Josh Tarling blew away the rest of the field to become the British men’s time trial champion as Lizzie Holden claimed the women’s crown at the Croft Circuit near Darlington.
Tarling is just 19 but the 6ft 4in tall Welshman towered over his rivals in more ways than one, putting more than a minute into them over the course of 41.1 kilometres as he won in a time of 48 minutes 50 seconds in windy conditions in north Yorkshire.
Bahrain-Victorious’ Fred Wright was second, 63 seconds down, with Tarling’s Ineos Grenadiers’ team-mate Connor Swift in third, but nobody could touch the young Welshman as he claimed his first win at senior level.
“It sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it?” said Tarling, who was snapped up by the Ineos Grenadiers on a three-year deal last winter.
“I’m super happy. We had a plan, it was definitely an aggressive plan and we gave it a go.”
Last year Tarling won the world time trial title at junior level.
Here, he skipped the under-23 category and only looked out of place in terms of how dominant he was. Tarling is 360 days younger than Josh Charlton, who took the men’s under-23 title earlier in the day.
Wright, who came into the race still dealing with some raw emotions following the death of his team-mate Gino Mader at the Tour de Suisse last week, could only admire Tarling’s ride.
“As a ride, I was really pleased with it, Wright told the PA news agency. “It’s just a shame there was a massive kid who’s put a minute into me, so what can you do?
“He’s a super talent and I think he’s going to be the next big thing in time trialling.”
It is the third year in a row an Ineos rider has taken the title. Ethan Hayter – winner of the last two national championships – was unable to defend his title due to a broken collarbone, while Geraint Thomas also withdrew and is now expected to also sit out Sunday’s road race.
But even with some elite riders missing, Tarling’s margin of victory left little doubt as to his superiority.
Holden won the women’s event by 14 seconds from Anna Morris and 16 from Elinor Barker, completing the 27.4km course – two laps of the route – in a time of 37 minutes and two seconds.
The 25-year-old Manx rider was third in last year’s time trial as Joss Lowden took the title, and second as an under-23 rider in 2019, but this was her first time on the top step of the podium.
“It’s very special,” Holden said. “It means a lot. I had high expectations because I’ve been close many times before, and with Joss not being here, I thought it could actually be possible.
“But you never know until it happens. When I found out after I crossed the line, I couldn’t believe it.”
Holden, who left British squad Le Col-Wahoo last winter to move up to the WorldTour level with UAE Team ADQ, now hopes the win will help her case as she vies for selection for the Tour de France Femmes at the end of the month.
“Hopefully this result helps my side of it, but in the next few weeks I should hear,” said Holden, who rode in the inaugural edition of the race last summer.
“It was pretty special. I’ve never experienced a race organised like that and with the fans, it definitely felt like a different level, that’s for sure.”
Luxembourg and Adayar look set renew rivalry at Ascot next month after filling the places in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes.
The Aidan O’Brien-trained Luxembourg was the marginal favourite at 2-1 for what appeared a strong renewal of the feature event on day two of the Royal meeting and set out to make every yard of the running in the hands of Ryan Moore.
The three-time Group One winner was powerless to resist the late surge of the impressive Mostahdaf, but stuck to his guns to fill the runner-up spot and O’Brien is keen to step up to a mile and a half in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes on July 29.
“We’re very happy and the winner won very well,” said the Ballydoyle handler.
“The plan was that we would have a look at the King George after this anyway. That’s possible, so we’ll see how he is. He was always going to get a mile and a half well.”
Adayar won the Derby and the King George during the summer of 2021 and Charlie Appleby was keen to enhance his potential stallion value by bagging a Group One over a mile and a quarter this term.
However, after seeing his charge beaten four and a half lengths by Mostahdaf, the Moulton Paddocks maestro admitted he appears to be “crying out” for a return to a longer trip, therefore another King George challenge appears the logical target.
“The way the race was set up wasn’t ideal for us. He was a little bit tardy from the gate and we wanted to either be on the lead or sit second to the American horse, but we ended up in the spot we thought Ryan might end up, that was our plan,” he said.
“I was pleased with the horse in respects to the fractions that were set, it was set up for a turn of foot at the end and the winner is good at that.
“I feel for our fella, we’ll step back up to a mile and a half now and go for the King George, that’s what he’s crying out for.
“We’ve had a go over 10 furlongs with him, but against the very best he’s just come up a little short a couple of times. But I’m not walking away too disappointed. If he can reclaim the King George, we’ll be very happy.”
Jimi Hendrix hit the right note at Royal Ascot to lead home a memorable one-two in the Royal Hunt Cup for trainer Ralph Beckett and owners Chelsea Thoroughbreds.
A maximum field of 30 went to post for what was as always a fiercely-competitive handicap and at the business end it was the Beckett duo on opposite sides of the track that had the contest at their mercy.
Eventual 25-1 runner-up Sonny Liston was travelling menacingly on the stands side in the hands of Ryan Moore and burst clear of his group to mount his challenge inside the final furlong, but he was unable to land a knockout blow as Rossa Ryan notched his second Royal Ascot winner when leading home those on the far side on the 22-1 scorer.
Beckett said: “What a performance. I actually gave Ryan the choice of the two. It’s great to get Sonny Liston back, he has to be ridden like that, we think.
“I always thought the winner had a day like this in him. He won the Spring Cup nicely enough, but ran poorly on the Rowley Mile last time out. I think we’ll avoid the Rowley Mile for now. I thought he’d win the Cambridgeshire last year, but that doesn’t matter now because he’s won today.
“You couldn’t make it up the same synidcate own the first two, they are very happy.
“It’s been a tough week up to now, it hasn’t been going great but to win a Hunt Cup takes a bit of doing, to finish first and second is very satisfying, and it’s great for Rossa, he gave him a peach.”
British number one Cameron Norrie came from a set down to reach the quarter-finals of the cinch Championships.
Norrie, the fifth seed, dropped the opener against Australian Jordan Thompson but then lost just five more games in a 4-6 6-3 6-2 victory at Queen’s Club.
World number 76 Thompson was inspired in the first set, which he sealed with a stunning cross-court backhand winner.
But the 29-year-old’s forehand let him down badly as Norrie broke for 4-2 on his way to levelling the match.
Norrie broke in the first game of the decider, but he had to save three break points as he served for the match before completing the victory in just under two hours to reach a sixth quarter-final this year.
He said: “I think it was the perfect match. Jordan really likes the grass and in the first set he played a couple of good points to beat me.
“I thought I’d played great so I didn’t have to change too much. I came out with a lot of energy in the third set and that’s what got me through.
“It’s really good to be that consistent but you always want more as a tennis player. I want to keep pushing for more, especially in the bigger tournaments.
Norrie was due to play doubles with Andy Murray later on Wednesday evening but the two-time Wimbledon champion, who lost in the singles on Tuesday, withdrew through fatigue.
Mostahdaf produced a career-best to land a red-hot renewal of the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot.
John and Thady Gosden’s charge was a big-race winner in Saudi Arabia during the winter before running with real credit behind Japanese superstar Equinox in the Dubai Sheema Classic. But he was somewhat the forgotten horse here as the race was billed as a showdown between former Derby hero Adayar, Sir Michael Stoute’s Champion Stakes winner Bay Bridge and his Curragh conqueror Luxembourg.
However, it was the Shadwell-owned five-year-old who landed the spoils in tremendous fashion, to strike for the first time at the highest level.
Jim Crowley was content to bide his time in the early stages as Luxembourg and American raider Classic Causeway eyeballed each other on the front end, but the jockey found himself in the perfect spot to strike as the runners entered the home straight.
And as push came to shove for the main protagonists, the 10-1 winner cruised to the lead before extending his advantage in the closing stages, registering a deeply impressive four-length success.
The victory gave John Gosden his third victory in the past 10 years in the 10-furlong contest and his fifth overall, but his first in conjunction with son Thady.
Heather Knight wants England to exploit the increased exposure from a seminal Women’s Ashes series, insisting she and her team take a responsibility to inspire the next generation “personally”.
England will try to wrestle the urn from all-conquering Australia’s grasp in the multi-format series, beginning with a lone Test at Trent Bridge where around 15,000 tickets have been sold across five days.
On the eve of the curtain-raiser, Knight senses an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of the England football team, who sent the nation into raptures with their triumphant Euro 2022 campaign.
Doing so will be no mean feat as Australia have not lost to England since 2014, hold both limited-overs World Cups and won gold at last year’s Commonwealth Games, but Knight is in an optimistic mood.
She said: “One of our mantras is to entertain and inspire. In the women’s game, we take it quite personally that we want to promote the game in the right way, get people behind us and inspire them.
“It’s super special and it’s set up to be a really amazing Ashes series that’s probably going to be the most visible series outside of World Cups that we’ve ever had. We’re keen to try and maximise that.
“Women’s sport is just in such an amazing place in the country in the moment and we want to be a part of that. What the Lionesses did last summer, we loved watching it and want to be a part of that.
“We know we’re up against a very good Australian team but we’ve got the opportunity to do something special and part of that is bringing the country with us on that journey.”
Leeds Rhinos head coach Rohan Smith has acknowledged his side face a “mini Grand Final” against fellow strugglers Huddersfield on Friday night amid increasing speculation over the 42-year-old’s future.
Rhinos limp into the Headingley clash sitting outside the play-off zone in eighth place and reeling from back-to-back defeats to Wakefield and Castleford, the Betfred Super League’s bottom two.
Ian Watson’s Giants have also struggled for much of the current campaign and go into the game in 10th place, with both clubs knowing a win is imperative if they are to mount a late push for a play-off place.
“It’s huge – it’s massive for both teams,” said Smith, whose arrival in April last year sparked his side’s rise from 11th to a fifth-placed finish and ultimately a spot in the Grand Final.
“We expect Huddersfield to be very hungry and it’s a mini Grand Final for both of us, coming off a week of reset. It’s a pivotal game for the season.”
The Rhinos’ staggering inconsistency has been laid bare in the last four games, with the dismal Wakefield and Castleford losses following an heroic 12-man win at Wigan and an injury-hit golden-point defeat to St Helens.
But, despite their alarming dip in form, Smith insists he has no fears over his job security and revealed he continues to have almost daily conversations with Rhinos chief executive Gary Hetherington.
“Gary and I talk a lot and are aligned with what we’re trying to create here,” added Smith.
“There’s no issues there. We chat every day about where we’re at – form, performance, recruitment and retention, and how we do things around the place that not dependent on last week’s result.
“Those chats happen every day and those chats will continue to be had.”
Andy Murray’s uncle and brother have questioned why the two-time Wimbledon champion is not on an official poster of past and present greats.
The All England Club posted on its social media channels an image of 15 famous players walking down a staircase.
Under the banner “here’s to the next generation of headline acts”, young duo Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz – neither of whom have made an impact at the Championships yet – stand in the foreground.
Behind them are a selection of “epic” rivalries including Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova and Serena and Venus Williams.
But Murray, who ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a men’s champion in 2013, is nowhere to be seen.
His uncle, Niall Erskine, tweeted underneath the image: “Appalling at every level, all about the men in the forefront and your own British history maker nowhere to be seen. You should be ashamed of yourselves.”
And Jamie Murray, who has been competing along with his brother at the cinch Championships this week, replied to Wimbledon’s Instagram post with “Where’s @andymurray?”
He added: “Didn’t they talk about the big 4 for 10 years until he smashed his hip to pieces when he was world No 1?”
Illustrator Grant Gruenhaupt responded by saying more paintings are planned.
Meanwhile, Jamie Murray and partner Michael Venus lost their first-round doubles match at Queen’s Club against Matthew Hebden and Rohan Bopanna in two tie-breaks.
Andy Murray was due to play in the doubles alongside Cameron Norrie later on Wednesday but the Scot, knocked out of the singles on Tuesday, has withdrawn from the event.
Danny Tudhope delivered Rogue Millennium with a perfectly-timed challenge to secure a popular success in the Duke of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Winner of the Lingfield Oaks Trial last season, Tom Clover’s stable star had since been placed three times at Group-race level, most recently going down by half a length to Free Wind in the Middleton Stakes at York.
Despite having never previously run over a mile, members of The Rogues Gallery syndicate boldly supplemented her for this Group Two last week – as they had the Oaks at Epsom after her Lingfield success – and were handsomely rewarded in the Berkshire sunshine.
Rogue Millennium travelled strongly in midfield for much of the way before being unleashed inside the final furlong, where she picked up well to get up and beat long-time leader Random Harvest by a neck.
Prosperous Voyage and Jumbly finished third and fourth respectively.
Colin Keane got off the mark at Royal Ascot as Villanova Queen swooped to land the Kensington Palace Fillies’ Handicap.
A winner at the big summer showpiece had so far eluded the Classic-winning rider – who is the reigning champion jockey in Ireland. But he was at his very best as he guided Jessica Harrington’s four-year-old to success.
In a typically competitive running of the one-mile handicap, there were plenty in with chances as the 19-strong field rounded the turn for home, with Frankie Dettori’s mount Tamarama looking a real player.
However, the challenge of the Ralph Beckett-trained filly soon petered out and it was left to Villanova Queen to down Daniel and Claire Kubler’s Don’t Tell Claire in the closing stages, with Tarrabb (third) and the Joseph O’Brien-trained pair of Adelaise and Yerwanthere finishing off strongly to finish fourth and fifth.
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