Australian greats Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting have rounded on England’s Ollie Robinson after the seamer’s provocative display in the Ashes opener at Edgbaston.

Robinson was happy to offer Australia some verbals on and off the pitch during England’s tense two-wicket defeat, offering an expletive-laden send off to centurion Usman Khawaja and then defending his behaviour in a press conference where he asked: “If you can’t handle that, what can you handle?”.

The combative seamer took match figures of five for 98 in the first Test and was not sanctioned by the match referee, but his conduct appeared to rile two men who were far from shrinking violets in their own playing days.

Hayden took aim at Robinson’s lack of express pace and suggested Australia should be looking to hammer him out of the attack.

Declining to use Robinson’s name in an appearance on SEN Radio, he said: “The other bloke, he’s a forgettable cricketer.

“(He’s) a fast bowler that is bowling 124kmph nude nuts and he’s got a mouth from the south. Someone like him, you can just go, ‘Brother, I’m coming at ya’. Davey Warner can do that, right. He can just say, ‘You’re bowling 120′.”

Ponting, who was namechecked by Robinson as someone who had sledged England in the past, also rose to the bait.

“If he is sitting back thinking about me, then no wonder he bowled like the way that he did in that game, if he’s worried about what I did 15 years ago,” he told the ICC Review Podcast.

“This England cricket team hasn’t played against Australia and they’ll find out pretty quickly what playing Ashes cricket and playing against a good Australian cricket team is all about. If Ollie Robinson hasn’t learned that already after last week, then he’s a slow learner.

“He’ll learn pretty quickly that if you’re going to talk to Australian cricketers in an Ashes series, then you want to be able to back it up with your skills.”

Robinson is sure to have a target on his back when the series resumes at Lord’s next week, but fellow seamer Stuart Broad is reluctant to pass on the baton.

Broad has long been the preferred target for Australian fans, dating back to a curious incident in 2013 when he declined to walk after his outside edge was parried to slip.

Replying to a Twitter post from Australian broadcaster Fox Sports, which referred to Robinson as ‘No.1 Villain’, Broad wrote: “I can’t have lost that tag already can I?! Disappointing.”

Carsten Ramelow believes Germany are being held back by a mentality issue as the former international warned: "Talent alone doesn't win you games."

Germany lost 2-0 at home to Colombia in a friendly on Tuesday – a third defeat from their last four matches.

The other game in that run finished 3-3, with Germany forging a late comeback to draw with Ukraine in a charity match.

Hansi Flick's side flopped in the 2022 World Cup, too, going out in the group stage, and Ramelow – a World Cup runner-up in 2002 – says German football as a whole has a mentality problem.

"I think there's multiple issues. That was not just about a bad performance in Qatar. The problems lie much deeper," he told Stats Perform.

"This is what aggravates everything. Having seen the game yesterday, I have only seen 15 minutes, that was enough. It shows which state the team has been in for weeks and months. Or maybe you have to say years.

"In that regard, we have big problems in Germany concerning youth players. I think [the team] lacks mentality. Talent alone doesn't win you games. Talent alone also doesn't bring you team spirit.

"People talk a lot about team spirit. Where is that team spirit? All those years, we have been saying that we have great talent. Maybe that's true but after this long period of suffering, you have to recognise that we have a lot of talent, but as I said, it lacks mentality, it lacks team spirit.

"We are not able to form a team, a unit. Be it Hansi Flick or any other coach, and you can see that in many Bundesliga teams. I think mentality is very, very important. A manager once told me something I will never forget: 'Passion is more important than skill'.

"You have to see how the players will develop. I don't know when it continues, in September or October. The ones that will be available then. There is quality but currently but at the moment this is not enough to compete with teams like [Colombia] or Ukraine and Poland."

Ramelow sympathises with Flick, and is unsure a change of coach would necessarily result in a change of fortunes. The pressure, though, is on ahead of Euro 2024.

"I think we all agree that the coach and his staff have an important role," he added. "We know what the business is like and the fact that the manager has to listen to a lot of criticism now is justified.

"He also accepts that. I see a lot of helplessness right now. No one in the interviews can say how things will continue. We all know we have good young players, which is fine, but to reach the final stages of an international tournament again is being considered very difficult. But what is the solution now?

"I feel like the manager had a lot of helplessness. He won't give up and it will go on as he said. He wants to prepare well for the next games. His task is to put a good team together and to bring back passion and mentality. You have to see a unit.

"Mentality is also a matter of character. A coach can barely train that. You either have it or you don't but he has to form a team and the results have to be good. I'm not saying anything new here, the business is tough. I think you could put anyone else on the touchline, it would be difficult for every coach."

Southampton will take on Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough in the opening match of the new Sky Bet Championship season on Friday, August 4.

Beginning life under new boss Russell Martin, the relegated Saints face a Wednesday outfit back in the second tier after winning the League One play-offs last month and currently managerless after parting company with Darren Moore.

Leicester, under new boss Enzo Maresca, and Leeds – the two other clubs to have dropped down from the Premier League – kick off their campaigns two days later at home against defeated play-off finalists Coventry and Cardiff respectively.

The other game that day sees Sunderland entertain promoted Ipswich, while League One champions Plymouth open by hosting Huddersfield the day before.

Southampton’s first home game of the campaign will be against Norwich the following Saturday, when Leicester travel to Huddersfield and Leeds are at Birmingham.

The final day of the regular Championship season on May 4 will see Leeds and Southampton go head to head at St Mary’s, while Leicester host Blackburn.

The opening round of League One fixtures on August 5 includes Wigan, who finished bottom of the Championship last term, playing at Derby as they start their season on minus eight points after being penalised over payment of wages.

Fellow relegated sides Reading and Blackpool begin at home against Peterborough and Burton respectively, while Barnsley, who missed out on promotion to Wednesday, welcome Port Vale to Oakwell.

In League Two, the return of Wrexham – owned by Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney – to the Football League, starts with a home clash against MK Dons.

Thursday’s release of the new season’s EFL fixtures also shows National League play-off winners Notts County beginning their own comeback campaign by playing Sutton away.

Sir Geoffrey Boycott has said England “have got carried away with Bazball” after they suffered defeat in the first Ashes Test.

The hosts are 1-0 down with four matches to play after being beaten by two wickets by Australia in a dramatic finale at Edgbaston on Tuesday.

England head coach Brendon McCullum has said of England’s commitment to risky, aggressive cricket – nicknamed Bazball – that “you’re not always going to win and we understand that, but we want to keep getting up and throwing punches as a team”.

Former England batter Boycott wrote in the Telegraph: “England have got carried away with Bazball and seem to think entertaining is more important than winning.

“But England supporters want one thing more than anything else – to win the Ashes. Scoring fast runs, whacking lots of fours and sixes is lovely. It is great. But only if England do not lose sight of the big prize which is to beat Australia.

“If at the end of the series Australia go home with the Ashes we will feel sick, regardless of how much we have been entertained.

“They are in danger of letting hubris be their downfall or, quoting William Shakespeare in Hamlet, being hoist by one’s own petard. They are going to defeat themselves. It would be sad if playing exciting cricket for a year is going to their heads.

“By all means entertain but cricket is like chess. There are moments when you need to defend. Sometimes you need to be patient and accept it. Do not just attack, attack, attack. England need a bit of common sense and pragmatism.”

Skipper Ben Stokes leads the team back into action when the second Test starts next Wednesday at Lord’s.

Elinor Barker is hoping to get two for the price of one when Scotland hosts the first ever combined cycling world championships in August.

An Olympic and five-time world champion on the track, Barker has been focusing more on the road this season and said the opportunity to compete in both disciplines on home turf this summer would be unique.

“Racing a home worlds doesn’t come around very often,” Barker told the PA news agency. “So to be able to race effectively two home worlds – with the track and the road – would be phenomenal.”

Given her growing ambitions across two disciplines, Barker has put her name forward for several different events across the road and track at the Championships, and must now await the selection process.

Racing everything she has entered is out of the question. This experimental new format for a world championships, due to be used every four years before an Olympics, involves plenty of schedule clashes and riders who favour more than one discipline must compromise.

“I’ve put myself up for more races than is physically possible,” Barker said. “I guess the best-case scenario is to have to choose because there are clashes between some of the road and track events.

“I’ve put myself up for six races and if I get one or two, that will be fantastic and I’ll go all out for those. Just to be able to race would be a fantastic experience.”

Barker long planned to shift her focus more to the road after the Tokyo Olympics, signing a long-term contract with the Uno-X team, although the process was put back after she became pregnant. The 28-year-old welcomed son Nico last March.

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So much has changed for the Welshwoman since then that she had no idea what to expect of herself this season, but she has relished the challenge.

“It’s going really well,” she said. “There’s still a lot to learn and a lot of experience to gain. What I’ve been enjoying is the number of race days and also the variety.

“If one race doesn’t go to plan or I’m not as good on a cobbled section or a gravel section or whatever, that’s fine.

“There’s either a similar race in a few weeks’ time or a totally different race in a few weeks’ time and both are equally motivating, either a chance to rectify it or a chance to do something totally different.”

On Wednesday, Barker finished third in the British time trial championships as Lizzie Holden took the title ahead of Anna Morris.

It was an encouraging enough result for Barker, who was an impressive seventh at Gent-Wevelgem in March and made it to the finale of La Fleche Wallonne with the lead group in April before taking 16th.

The Giro Donne is next on the agenda, assuming the Italian race goes ahead amid problems for the organisers, and Barker is hoping to earn selection for the Tour de France Femmes which takes place at the end of July.

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She has not been ignoring the track – in February she collected Madison and team pursuit gold at the European Championships – but Barker said she feels more like a road rider these days.

“My loyalties lie with Uno-X in a situation where there is a conflict of programmes, and the track team know I’m working around it,” she said.

“In that sense I’m more of a road rider and track fits around that. I’m enjoying this approach to it and I can take the experience I get from the road and put it into the track.

“I think it makes me a better track rider than I would have been had I just continued with what I was doing with full focus on the track.”

The sizzling Cincinnati Reds are now on their longest winning streak in 66 years after rallying for a 5-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday.

Jake Fraley's tie-breaking two-run homer in the eighth inning lifted the Reds to their 11th consecutive win, the franchise's longest streak since a 12-game run from April 30-May 12. The streak is also the longest by a National League team this season, surpassed only by the Tampa Bay Rays winning 13 in a row to start the campaign.

Colorado, which has now lost eight straight, took a 3-0 lead after four innings on solo home runs by Brenton Doyle, Elehuris Montero and Randal Grichuk off Reds rookie Andrew Abbott. Cincinnati responded by scoring three times in the bottom of the fifth, with Luke Maile contributing a two-run single and TJ Freidl following with an RBI single that tied the gae at 3-3.

After Fraley followed Elly De La Cruz's double in the eighth with his ninth homer of the season, Buck Farmer pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save.

Abbott allowed just four hits and struck out a career-high 10 in his fourth major league start.

The NL West cellar-dwelling Rockies have now lost eight in a row for the second time this season, previously doing so from April 11-19. 

Sean Hjelle pitched four scoreless innings and the San Francisco Giants turned four double plays to beat the San Diego Padres 4-2 and extend their winning streak to 10 games.

The Giants did all their scoring in the fifth inning against Yu Darvish, as Joc Pederson, Mike Yastrzemski and J.D. Davis delivered RBI singles.

After Ryan Walker worked one scoreless inning, Hjelle allowed three hits with five strikeouts and Camilo Doval pitched the ninth for his 20th save.

San Francisco, which moved a season-high 10 games over .500 at 42-32, have won 10 in a row for the first time since 2004.

Shohei Ohtani struck out 12 over seven stellar innings but Freddie Freeman and Miguel Vargas homered to lift the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 2-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels.

Ohtani’s only mistake was serving up Freeman’s 14th home run in the fourth inning in the tough-luck loss. The Japanese superstar allowed five hits with two walks and went hitless in three plate appearances with a walk.

Vargas extended the lead with a ninth-inning home run and Evan Phillips closed it out to give the Dodgers their second straight 2-0 win and a sweep of the two-game Freeway Series.

 The Boston Celtics are acquiring Kristaps Porzingis in a three-team deal that will send Marcus Smart to the Grizzlies and Tyus Jones to the Wizards, according to reports on Wednesday. 

Memphis is sending the No. 25 pick in Thursday's NBA Draft and a 2024 first-round pick to the Celtics, while Boston will move the 35th pick in the draft to the Wizards. 

Porzingis had decided to opt into his $36 million player option for the 2023-24 season, according to the report.

He set personal highs with 23.2 points per game and 49.8 percent shooting last season while also averaging 8.4 rebounds – the third-most in his career.

The Knicks selected Porzingis with the fourth overall pick in 2015, and he was with New York until being traded to Dallas in January 2019. The Mavericks then sent Porzingis to Washington in February 2022.

Porzingis has averaged 19.6 points and 7.9 rebounds in 402 regular-season games.

Smart has spent his entire nine-year career with the Celtics, averaging 10.6 points, 4.6 assists and 3.5 rebounds. He started all 61 games he appeared in this season and averaged 11.5 points and a career-high 6.3 assists. 

It’s been a busy offseason for the Wizards, who could start the 2023-24 campaign without their three top scorers.

Washington has agreed to trade Bradley Beal (23.2 ppg) to the Phoenix Suns in a deal that will see Chris Paul land with the Wizards, and Kyle Kuzma (21.2 ppg) has reportedly declined his $13 million player option.

Jones is coming off his best season as an eight-year pro, the last four with Memphis. He set career bests with 10.3 points and 5.2 assists in 2022-23. 

Human rights must be a key consideration in selecting the hosts of the 2030 World Cup, according to a new survey.

Fifty-three per cent of the 17,477 people from 15 countries who took part in a YouGov poll commissioned by Amnesty International said human rights considerations were vital in choosing the host of the World Cup and other major sporting events, rising to 60 per cent among UK respondents.

Saudi Arabia has been linked with a joint bid alongside Greece and Egypt to host the 2030 or 2034 World Cup, while the Middle East state has already been selected to host the Club World Cup in December.

Representatives of more than 200 national associations will vote on who should host the 2030 finals at a FIFA Congress next year.

FIFA made human rights criteria part of the bidding process for the 2026 finals, which were awarded to the United States, Canada and Mexico, following the decision by the governing body’s now-defunct executive committee to award the 2018 and 2022 finals to Russia and Qatar respectively back in 2010.

However, organisations such as Amnesty and Kick It Out remain concerned that not enough importance is being attached to human rights in future decision-making processes.

The poll showed that, after safety and security (57 per cent), human rights was the most commonly-chosen consideration for determining tournament hosts.

This was the top consideration in seven of the countries surveyed and highest in Switzerland (68 per cent), where FIFA is based.

More than four times as many people chose human rights as a key factor over “commercial revenues for sports bodies” – just 13 per cent.

Amnesty’s head of economic and social justice Steve Cockburn said: “It is clear that the public wants human rights to be a high priority so that the World Cup is a celebration of the game they love and never provides a platform for exploitation, repression or discrimination.

“FIFA must rigorously apply the highest human rights standards in evaluating all bids to host its flagship tournament, demand clear human rights action plans and reject any bid that fails to credibly show how serious human rights risks would be prevented, independently monitored and remedied if abuses occur.”

Andrea Florence, the director of the Sports and Rights Alliance, added: “Since 2017, FIFA has made important progress in recognising its human rights responsibilities. But human rights assessments and considerations have not been applied systematically when awarding FIFA tournaments.

“To demonstrate they are serious about their own policies and statutes, it is critical that FIFA puts human rights front and centre when choosing the host for the 2030 men’s World Cup.”

FIFA has been approached for comment.

The Boston Celtics are nearing an agreement to acquire Kristaps Porzingis from the Washington Wizards in a three-team trade that also involves the Los Angeles Clippers, according to multiple reports on Wednesday.

Boston will be sending Malcolm Brogdon to the Clippers and Danilo Gallinari to Washington, while Marcus Morris, Amir Coffey and the 30th pick in tomorrow’s NBA Draft will go from Los Angeles to the Wizards.

Porzingis set personal highs with 23.2 points per game and 49.8 percent shooting last season while also averaging 8.4 rebounds – the third-most in his career.

The Knicks selected Porzingis with the fourth overall pick in 2015, and he was with New York until being traded to Dallas in January 2019. The Mavericks then sent Porzingis to Washington in February 2022.

Porzingis has averaged 19.6 points and 7.9 rebounds in 402 regular-season games.

It’s been a busy offseason for the Wizards, who could start the 2023-24 campaign without their three top scorers.

Washington has agreed to trade Bradley Beal (23.2 ppg) to the Phoenix Suns in a deal that will see Chris Paul land with the Wizards, and Kyle Kuzma (21.2 ppg) has reportedly declined his $13 million player option.

Brogdon, the 2016-17 NBA Rookie of the Year, was named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year this season after averaging 14.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists in his first campaign with Boston.

Gallinari sat out his only season in Boston in 2022-23 with a torn left ACL after averaging 11.7 points and 4.7 rebounds with the Atlanta Hawks the previous year.

Morris contributed 11.2 points per game in 65 starts for the Clippers this season and Coffey averaged 3.4 points in 50 games, including nine starts.

The three-team deal that would have sent Kristaps Porzinigis to the Boston Celtics has fallen through, according to reports on Wednesday. 

Boston would have sent Malcolm Brogdon to the Clippers and Danilo Gallinari to Washington, while Marcus Morris, Amir Coffey and the 30th pick in tomorrow’s NBA Draft were to go from Los Angeles to the Wizards.

The Wizards are still trying to get Porzingis to the Celtics in an opt-in and trade scenario, but it won't be with the 3-team deal with the Clippers.

Porzingis still could decline his $36 million player option and become a free agent. He has a midnight deadline on Wednesday to do so. 

He set personal highs with 23.2 points per game and 49.8 percent shooting last season while also averaging 8.4 rebounds – the third-most in his career.

The Knicks selected Porzingis with the fourth overall pick in 2015, and he was with New York until being traded to Dallas in January 2019. The Mavericks then sent Porzingis to Washington in February 2022.

Porzingis has averaged 19.6 points and 7.9 rebounds in 402 regular-season games.

It’s been a busy offseason for the Wizards, who could start the 2023-24 campaign without their three top scorers.

Washington has agreed to trade Bradley Beal (23.2 ppg) to the Phoenix Suns in a deal that will see Chris Paul land with the Wizards, and Kyle Kuzma (21.2 ppg) has reportedly declined his $13 million player option.

Brogdon, the 2016-17 NBA Rookie of the Year, was named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year this season after averaging 14.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists in his first campaign with Boston.

Gallinari sat out his only season in Boston in 2022-23 with a torn left ACL after averaging 11.7 points and 4.7 rebounds with the Atlanta Hawks the previous year.

Morris contributed 11.2 points per game in 65 starts for the Clippers this season and Coffey averaged 3.4 points in 50 games, including nine starts.

Ben Johnson believes Ashley Cole’s influence can be key in England Under-21s’ bid to end their 39-year trophy drought.

The Young Lions host the Czech Republic in their Euro 2023 opener in Georgia on Thursday.

Cole – England’s most capped full-back with 107 appearances – has been part of Lee Carsley’s backroom staff since the boss was appointed in 2021.

He made his Premier League debut for Arsenal in May 2000 – when full-back Johnson was only four months old – and the West Ham youngster knows Cole’s input is crucial.

He said: “Ash is a top guy and a top coach. I think there could be a perception of him being here because of what he’s done for the seniors but his coaching is top drawer.

“He is a real encouragement to the lads. We respect him anyway but we respect even more for what he’s done in his career. So to be coached by him and learning tips off one of the best full-backs ever is such a big plus for me.

“It’s really surreal, just having banter and just speaking to him as if he’s just a normal guy.

“I remember him a lot at Chelsea and that was probably when he was at the peak of the game.

“To have him in this environment, to learn off and to speak so openly to is something that will go a long way and something I’ll take on for the rest of my career.”

The closest England have got to winning the tournament for the first time since 1984 was in 2009 when they lost to Germany in the final.

A semi-final place in 2017 is their most recent brush with glory and since then they have crashed out of the group stages in 2019 and 2021.

They also face reigning champions Germany and Israel next week in Georgia but Johnson believes Carsley’s men can justify any favourites tag.

He said: “I’ve been in a few teams and people have always said we’re favourites. We know how tough it is going to be but just looking around the changing room, seeing how many players we’ve got with Premier League experience and ability is just so encouraging.

“So, for us, it’s about focusing on us within the group. The staff are helping us to get right for one game at a time and we’ll see how far we can go.”

The leading figures in the controversial partnership between Saudi Arabia and the PGA Tour have been summoned to attend a United States Senate hearing next month.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan and LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman have been asked to appear at a Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations meeting on July 11 to examine the Tour’s shock unification with LIV Golf.

The PGA Tour announced a fortnight ago it was creating a new commercial entity with the DP World Tour and PIF, a move it said would “unify golf” and which brought an end to a legal dispute between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.

The surprise merger has attracted criticism, with the Senate announcing it would open an investigation, which has been followed by this announcement of the hearing.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, who chairs the committee, said in a statement posted on his Twitter account: “Our goal is to uncover the facts about what went into the PGA Tour’s deal with the Saudi Public Investment Fund and what the Saudi takeover means for the future of this cherished American institution and our national interest.

“Americans deserve to know what the structure and governance of this new entity will be. Major actors in the deal are best positioned to provide this information and they owe Congress – and the American people – answers in a public setting.”

Senator Richard Johnson, who also sits on the committee, added: “Fans, the players, and concerned citizens have many questions about the planned agreement between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.

“I look forward to hearing testimony from the individuals who are in the best positions to provide insight to the public regarding the current state of professional golf.

“I hope that this hearing and any other role that Congress plays in this matter will be constructive.”

Kilmarnock have completed a triple signing by bringing Matty Kennedy back to Rugby Park.

The Ayrshire club earlier signed Kyle Magennis from Hibernian and brought in Bournemouth goalkeeper Will Dennis on a season-long loan.

Kennedy began his career with Killie before making a move to Everton as a teenager in 2012.

The 28-year-old joins from Aberdeen on a three-year deal and is reunited with former Dons boss Derek McInnes.

He told the club’s website: “This is my team. I love the club and it’s somewhere that always felt like home, so I’m delighted to be back here. I always wanted to come back at some point.”

Magennis joined on a two-year deal after being allowed to leave Hibernian. The 24-year-old midfielder made 49 appearances during a near three-year spell at Easter Road which was badly affected by injuries.

“The gaffer has always been interested in me and he’s someone I wanted to work with, so over the past few weeks the move has fallen into place,” Magennis told his new club’s website.

“It’s a fresh start for me. I’ve had a tough few seasons with injuries, but I’m feeling good and ready to go. I know that if I’m playing, I’ll be a big asset to the club.”

Dennis is a 22-year-old who has made one first-team appearance for the Cherries, in a 4-1 FA Cup win over Oldham in 2021, and has had loan spells at Guernsey, Weymouth, Wealdstone and Slough Town.