Joe Root has refused to be drawn into the discussion around the state of English cricket despite Australia retaining the Ashes in record time and insists the series is not over.
England were humbled by an innings and 14 runs at the MCG on Tuesday as Australia claimed a series-clinching victory for an unassailable 3-0 Ashes lead.
Australia will now chase a 5-0 whitewash over England who were ripped apart inside an hour on the third day, bowled out for a meagre 68 which marked the nation's ninth-lowest Ashes score.
Despite the apparent gulf between the two sides and the disastrous nature of the MCG defeat, Root remained upbeat about achieving something out of the series ahead of Tests in Sydney and Hobart.
The situation has led to discussion around England's Test team and whether the County system is preparing players appropriately to compete at the elite level but Root would not be drawn on that.
"The series isn’t over yet," Root said at the post-game news conference. "We've got two very big games. It'd be wrong to look past that.
"As a player you talk about the next hour or the next session or the every next ball and managing that to be the best of your abilities, that applies to me as captain of this team.
"We have to make sure we come away from this tour with some better performances and a win or two."
Root added: "We need to put some pride back in to the badge. We need to give people back home something to celebrate and look fondly back on from this tour.
"It's bitterly disappointing to be 3-0 down but with two matches to go we have to make sure we come away with a couple of wins."
Root refused to use England's internal COVID-19 issues as an excuse for their ordinary third day display as they lost their remaining six wickets for 37 runs in 15.4 overs after resuming at 31-4.
The England skipper added that he felt his side had fought back on the second day with the ball, bowling Australia out for 267 to trail by 82 runs, but were unable to sustain their fight once again.
"I actually thought the way we went about our cricket on the field was excellent," Root told Fox Sports. "We put them under pressure and got ourselves in a position where we were very much in this Test match.
"We need to be more like that more frequently throughout the last two games."
He continued: "We've just got to do things for longer. There's been small pockets but nowhere near long enough to get into a Test match.
"We know the areas we need to improve on. We need to stay strong and make sure we use the next two Test matches as a real opportunity to take something away from this tour."
Los Angeles Lakers recruit Russell Westbrook says he is sick and tired of the constant commentary on his performances for his new franchise this season.
Westbrook joined the Lakers in a major off-season move from the Washington Wizards, linking up with four-time MVP LeBron James and All-Star Anthony Davis as the 2020 NBA champions bid for another title tilt.
But the Lakers have struggled with a 16-18 record this season, including five straight defeats with Westbrook often copping the blame.
"Everybody wants me to do this but then they don't want me to do this," Westbrook said on a virtual news conference on Monday. "Honestly, I'm over the whole situation with what everyone else wants me to do and what they think I should be doing."
Westbrook has averaged 19.6 points per game this season, which is his lowest return since his second season in the NBA back in 2009-10.
The 33-year-old point guard has also averaged 7.9 rebounds and 8.1 assists per game this season, down on last season's career-best 11.5 rebounds and league-high 11.7 assists with the Wizards.
Westbrook also last season broke Oscar Robertson's record for the most triple-doubles in NBA history but has only managed six this season in 34 games.
"Honestly, I think I've been fine," Westbrook said. "The conversation has been heavily on how I'm playing and what I'm doing, but I think people are expecting me to have f---ing 25, 15 and 15, which, that is not normal.
"Everybody has to understand, like, that's not a normal thing that people do consistently."
He added: "People are saying 'let Russ be Russ,' I think nobody understands what that means. "I think people just say it - 'let Russ be Russ' - but nobody actually knows what that means but myself.
"I'm gonna lean on that and make sure I do what I'm supposed to do. And let everything else outside the locker room, whatever that may be, take care of itself."
Debutant Scott Boland was "speechless" after his remarkable 7-6 spell locked in Australia's Ashes series victory over England with an emphatic win at the MCG.
Australia retained the Ashes by winning the third Test in Melbourne by an innings and 14 runs with right-arm fast bowler Boland making history in an astonishing spell.
Boland claimed four wickets in 11 balls on the third day, dismantling England's line-up as they were skittled for 68.
Australia clinched victory inside 81 minutes on the third day led by Boland's heroics, winning the game inside two days and one session.
"I'm speechless," Boland told Fox Sports after the game. "Coming in today I thought we had a pretty good chance of winning but never thought it'd be over before midday."
Boland, 32, had played 80 first-class matches prior to his Test debut, with his previous best-ever figures being 31-7.
"That's my best-ever figures," Boland said. "I got a couple of seven-fors in first-class cricket but nothing happened that quickly."
Boland, who was named Player of the Match, was fiercely supported by his home crowd, receiving wild applause every time he returned to the deep after each bowling over late on the second day and early on the third.
"They were amazing," he added. "They supported me so much from day one. Going down there just gives you a real big buzz."
Australia skipper Pat Cummins said Boland's success, having stepped up with Jhye Richardson, Michael Neser and Josh Hazlewood unavailable due to soreness or injuries, was a great sign for the hosts.
"It's a great sign for the health of Australian cricket we've got so many boys to pick from," Cummins said.
"Scotty came in, we were confident he'd do well, not quite this well, but we know whoever steps in is going to do a great job."
England only lasted 15.4 overs on the third day, with Australia retaining the Ashes within 13 days of cricket this series.
Australia lead all the key statistics, with the top four batting averages (Travis Head (62.0), David Warner (60.0), Mitchell Starc (58.5) and Marnus Labuschagne (57.25)) and top three leading wicket-takers (Starc (14), Nathan Lyon (12) and Cummins (10)) emphasising their dominance.
"I think we've been relentless with bat and ball when we've had to be," Cummins added. "The bowlers turned up and owned that good area around the top of off stump.
"The batters have really earned their runs. Some partnerships, Marnus [Labuschagne] and Davey [Warner] have earned the right to bat long, they've left well.
"When opportunities presented they've been brave and taken on the game. All round everyone has contributed."
Australia can claim a 5-0 whitewash with victories in Sydney and Hobart in the remaining two Test matches.
"I think any Ashes series is where you try to make a mark in your Test career," Cummins said. "Back to last series 4-0 and the one before that was 5-0, that goes down in history.
"We've got a chance to start cementing our identity and [it] can be the start for the next few years."
The NBA has changed its health and safety protocols with players who test positive for COVID-19 now able to return to play in six days.
The change shifts the customary isolation period from 10 days to six, provided those players are asymptomatic and meet other testing standards.
Clubs were sent a memo by the league on Monday, coinciding with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cutting isolation restrictions for Americans who catch the coronavirus from 10 to five days.
Coronavirus numbers within the NBA has soared in recent weeks despite 97 percent of players being vaccinated.
Approximately 120 current NBA players were in protocols on Monday, with the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo, James Harden, Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum recently forced out.
Victorian debutant Scott Boland produced the spell of a lifetime as Australia secured an Ashes series victory with an emphatic triumph over England in the third Test at the MCG on Tuesday.
England were skittled for a feeble 68 as Australia clinched an unassailable 3-0 series lead with victory by an innings and 14 runs inside two days and one session.
Player of the Match Boland was the story of the third day, claiming four wickets in 11 deliveries including England skipper Joe Root to finish with remarkable second-innings figures of 7-6 from four overs.
Root offered the only resistance with 28, after the visitors resumed at 31-4 but wilted against a hungry Australian attack.
Mitchell Starc (29-3) got the first breakthrough of Ben Stokes bowled for 11, before Boland took over as England lost their final five wickets for eight runs.
Boland first trapped Jonny Bairstow lbw for 5, despite a review, after he was dropped at gully by Cameron Green.
The debutant proceeded to claim the key wicket of Root caught by David Warner at first slip, before dismissing Mark Wood and Ollie Robinson for ducks.
Green claimed the final wicket to secure the series victory, clean bowling Jimmy Anderson to bowl England out for 68, their ninth lowest total in Ashes history.
England lasted only 15.4 overs on the third day, with the game being the shortest completed Test match hosted by Australia in 70 years, lasting 1084 balls.
The all-clear was given for day three of the Boxing Day Ashes Test to start on time after Australia and England players all tested negative for coronavirus.
There had been a scare ahead of the second day of the third Test in Melbourne when a member of the tourists' family group returned a positive COVID-19 result.
The England players and management were forced to remain at their hotel while they awaited their test results, before being given the green light to travel to the ground, with play starting half an hour later than scheduled.
Both sets of players took PCR tests after the second day of play and Cricket Australia on Tuesday confirmed all tested negative, meaning there were no delays for the third day.
The England team's support staff and the family members who tested positive on Monday – reportedly six people in total – are in isolation.
Australia were well on course to retain the urn after reducing Joe Root's side to 31-4 in their second innings after two days of play, with England trailing by 51 runs and 2-0 down in the series.
The NHL has postponed another three games this week as cases of COVID-19 continues to hit the league.
Games between the Chicago Blackhawks and Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday and a home-and-home set between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday and Friday will not be played.
That takes the number of games the NHL has now postponed up to 67 this season; a situation that led to the decision not to take part in the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
The league had planned to pause the season in February to allow players to take part in the Games, but that period will now be used to play some of the postponed games.
NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said last week: "We obviously will work very close with the (NHL) Players' Association. I do think we'll have to build in some off time during that three-week period for the players as they had anticipated previously.
"There are a lot of boxes to check there, but I expect that we'll be able to portion some portion of that break period to various clubs to get their players rested, and I hope to make full utilisation of the period so that we can make up the games that we've missed."
Barcelona defenders Dani Alves and Clement Lenglet have tested positive for COVID-19, the LaLiga giants have confirmed.
The Spanish top flight is in the midst of its winter break, yet training is continuing as normal.
Neither player will attend Barca's training ground on Tuesday, though, and will undertake a period of self-isolation at home, Barca confirmed in a statement.
Alves re-joined Barca on a free transfer last month following his departure from Sao Paulo in September over a contractual dispute.
The 38-year-old, who played 391 times for Barca in his first trophy-laden spell at Camp Nou, cannot be officially registered for the Catalan giants until the January transfer window opens.
Lenglet, meanwhile, has made 13 appearances across all competitions for the club this season.
Meanwhile, Ferran Torres' expected £55million move from Manchester City to Barca was reportedly held up by bureaucratic wrangling on Monday.
The Spain international underwent a medical on Monday ahead of his anticipated unveiling at midday on Tuesday.
The contracts between the two clubs have not been finalised, though, and the announcement of his signing is now not expected until late on Tuesday at the earliest.
There is a "good chance" Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant will leave the NBA's coronavirus protocols this week, according to head coach Steve Nash.
The 11-time All-Star entered the health and safety protocols on December 18, but he could be out and ready to face the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday.
Kyrie Irving, who went into protocols on the same day as Durant, is further away from a return to action.
"I think there's a good chance Kevin will be [fit for Thursday]," Nash told reporters.
"With Kyrie, I'm not so sure but it's coming. He's already been in protocols since December 18; he's got to be getting close."
Brooklyn earlier stated that Irving will re-join the NBA championship-chasing franchise for road games outside of New York and Toronto.
Irving is yet to play for the Eastern Conference-leading Nets this season due to his refusal to be vaccinated against coronavirus, which has prevented him from practising or playing with the team – New York has a mandate in place that states players must have had a COVID-19 jab.
At the start of the season, the Nets announced they would not accept Irving playing on a part-time basis and thus overlooked him for selection until he is vaccinated.
But due to injuries and a COVID-19 outbreak, Brooklyn have opted to bring Irving back.
Robert Lewandowski says he is paying no attention to speculation over his future as he eyes more glory for Bayern Munich.
The Poland striker, who has scored 30 goals in 25 appearances in all competitions this season, is contracted to the Bundesliga champions until June 2023
Appearing at the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai on Monday, Lewandowski stated that he will not be distracted by "rumours" that he could look to leave Bayern.
"In my football life, I have always done what I have chosen," the 33-year-old said. "I can play for many more years.
"I haven't thought about the future in a few years. Maybe I can do it but now everything is going well, I'm focused on the season, on the next games, on what I want this season.
"Every year there are rumours, for me it's nothing new. I'm focused on the field, on training. It's difficult, if you hear all these voices.
"The important thing is to be happy where you are."
Lewandowski recently scored his 43rd league goal of 2021, beating the record set by the legendary Gerd Muller for most goals in the German top flight in a calendar year (42 goals in 1972).
However, the former Borussia Dortmund man was pipped to the main award in Dubai, just as he was when finishing runner-up to Lionel Messi in the voting for the Ballon d'Or last month.
The Globe Soccer men's player of the year award for 2021 instead went to Messi's Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Kylian Mbappe.
Lewandowski did win the fans' player of the year award, as well as the Maradona award for the best goalscorer.
Kylian Mbappe and Robert Lewandowski have expressed concerns about the lack of rest players will get if plans for a biennial World Cup come to fruition.
FIFA's proposal to host the tournament every two years instead of four has largely been met with scepticism.
Both Paris Saint-Germain forward Mbappe and Bayern Munich striker Lewandowski are not in favour of the change, with the former suggesting that the quality of the spectacle would suffer if the health of players is not taken into account.
"We like to play but it's too much," Mbappe said in Dubai, where he was named men's player of the year at the Globe Soccer Awards. "If people want to see quality, we have to take a break.
"Playing the World Cup every two years would make this competition 'normal' and that shouldn't be the case. The World Cup, the Nations League... we love to play but it's too much.
"If people want to see quality, I think we have to take a break."
Lewandowski echoed the France international's sentiments, stating that the schedule is already congested even without the added burden of an increased number of World Cups.
"We have a lot of games in the year, very dense weeks," Lewandowski said at the same event. "If you want to give the fans something different, you need a break.
"We have to look into the future, if we want to play a World Cup every two years, the level will drop. It's impossible for the body and the mind to perform at the same level."
Lewis Hamilton is relaxing at the ski slopes and doing "fine" after losing out to Max Verstappen in the battle for the Formula One title, his brother Nicolas has said.
Seven-time champion Hamilton was denied a record-breaking eighth title when he was beaten in a controversial finish to the second-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on December 12.
Mercedes were furious with how race rules were applied in a safety-car situation and challenged the result, believing Hamilton was unfairly denied victory in the race and the championship when Dutchman Verstappen passed him on the last lap.
The crushing blow has led to speculation Hamilton could retire from motor racing, with the 36-year-old and his team left distraught by the outcome.
Former F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone last week cast doubt on whether Hamilton would return to the sport in 2022, when he is due to partner George Russell for Mercedes.
Since being denied another title, Hamilton has gone quiet on social media and stopped following the select few Instagram accounts that he previously watched.
But Nicolas Hamilton says his superstar brother is merely unwinding with family, saying on livestreaming service Twitch: "Lewis is fine. I think he's just having a bit of a social media break which I don't blame him for.
"Social media can be a very toxic place. But he's cool though. He's fine. Yeah, he's all right. He's watching the kids ski at the moment."
Hamilton also missed out in the F1 team principals' driver of the year vote, coming in second to champion Verstappen.
The result of a poll of team chiefs was revealed on the official F1 website on Monday, with Red Bull star Verstappen top of that particular podium too.
With principals appraising drivers based on the race system, where first place earns 25 points and 10th takes only one, Verstappen scored a total of 213 points, with Hamilton scoring 192 in second place.
Team principals' driver of the year result: 1. Max Verstappen 213, 2. Lewis Hamilton 192, 3. Lando Norris 110, 4. Carlos Sainz 85, 5. Charles Leclerc 70, 6. Fernando Alonso 69, 7. Pierre Gasly 64, 8. George Russell 44, 9. Valtteri Bottas 43, 10. Esteban Ocon 41.
Jayson Tatum has entered NBA health and safety protocols and will miss the Boston Celtics' game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday.
Tatum joins eight fellow Celtics players on the list after 13 were sidelined due to COVID-19 protocols recently.
Players must wait 10 days or return two negative COVID-19 tests within 24 hours of each other before they are allowed to return to action.
Tatum contracted COVID-19 in January and was out of action for a short period before returning, when he explained he was suffering long-term effects of having the virus, requiring an inhaler for some time.
The forward leads the Celtics in scoring (25.6) and rebounds (8.6 – level with Robert Williams) per game and is also averaging 3.8 assists and 1.0 steals in a strong season for the 23-year-old.
His absence for the Timberwolves game was announced by the Celtics on their official Twitter page.
The Celtics are ninth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 16-17 and have lost six of their last nine games ahead of their clash with the Timberwolves, who are ninth themselves in the Western Conference.
Lyon were expelled from the Coupe de France on Monday, paying the price for crowd trouble that caused their last-64 tie at Paris FC to be abandoned.
Paris FC were also banished from the competition and served with a five-game stadium closure, while Lyon's supporters have been banned from travelling to all domestic away games for the rest of the season.
The December 17 tie between the sides was called off at half-time as fans clashed at the Charlety stadium. Supporters appeared to be fighting in the stands and several flares were thrown before a number of fans made their way onto the pitch.
Lyon declared they would look to identify the individuals responsible and serve them with lifetime stadium bans, and the French Football Federation (FFF) has now handed down severe punishments to both clubs. The winner of the game had been due to play Nice in the next round.
An FFF disciplinary commission met on Monday and decided both teams should be ruled to have lost the match, imposing the stadium ban and a fine of €10,000 on Paris FC.
The FFF stated that Lyon fans would be banned from attending away games until the end of the 2021-22 campaign, in "a sanction that applies to all competitions organised by the FFF and the LFP [Ligue de Football Professionnel] in which the first team is involved".
Lyon have also received a suspended ban from next year's Coupe de France, which could be imposed in the event of supporters causing trouble again. On top of that, the Ligue 1 club were fined €52,000 and ordered to meet the costs of repairing seats damaged by their supporters at Charlety.
It was the second time a recent game involving Lyon has had to be ended prematurely, with their Ligue 1 encounter at home to Marseille on November 21 also abandoned after a spectator threw a bottle that struck Dimitri Payet inside the opening five minutes. That led to Lyon being docked a point as punishment.
Lyon have been usurped by Paris Saint-Germain as France's leading team in the past decade. Beginning in 2001-02, Lyon won seven consecutive Ligue 1 titles. They finished fourth last season and sit 13th this term, in a congested mid-table.
Paris FC, a club living in PSG's shadows, are third in Ligue 2.
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