Savannah Marshall has admitted talk of a rematch with Claressa Shields will not go away as she prepares to challenge Franchon Crews-Dezurn for her undisputed world super-middleweight titles on Saturday.

Marshall is making her first appearance since she was comprehensively outpointed by Shields last October, and knows victory over Crews-Dezurn is likely to propel her towards another shot at the American next year.

The respective trajectories of Marshall and Shields have been tied together since their amateur days and Marshall told Sky Sports: “It’s the only fight out there after these fireworks.”

Marshall took four months off after her first professional loss but says the experience has turned her into a better fighter as she prepares to step up to face Crews-Dezurn at Manchester’s AO Arena.

Marshall got the better of her opponent in an amateur meeting in 2011 and believes the move to 168lbs will be a significant factor in wresting the belts from Franchon-Crews.

“I was beaten by the better fighter and that was hard to take,” added Marshall.

“I had the opportunity to become the best pound for pound in the world. I hate losing so it was a bitter pill to swallow. But it’s dead and buried.

“I’m not having to struggle to make the weight, this time it’s been a lot easier, and camp’s being a lot more enjoyable.”

Crews-Dezurn has won eight times since she lost her ambitious professional debut against Shields in 2016.

She accused Marshall of complacency heading into her bout against Shields and believes the Hartlepool fighter lacks the motivation to rebound and claim the win that would set up a prospective rematch.

“Unfortunately she got a defeat because she underestimated,” said Crews-Dezurn.

“That’s what happens when you get content, when you think everything is going to be given to you. You let somebody come to your home town and take something you thought was yours because you got complacent.”

LTA chief executive Scott Lloyd insists British tennis is “moving in the right direction” despite having just three direct entries in Friday’s Wimbledon singles draws.

Cameron Norrie, a semi-finalist at the All England Club in 2022, Dan Evans and two-time winner Andy Murray are the only UK players to have qualified for the Championships based on ranking.

British participation at SW19 will be swelled by a host of wildcards, including Katie Boulter, who replaced the injured Emma Raducanu as her country’s number one female player earlier this month.

National governing body CEO Lloyd believes there are plenty of reasons for positivity.

“Over the last 12 months, we’ve had four men in the top 50 of the world, which we’ve never had in the history of our sport in this country before,” he told the PA news agency.

“We actually had more players – men’s and women’s singles players – in the top 200 of the world than we’ve had for the last 40 years, so we’re moving in the right direction.

“Obviously we always want more players at the very top of the game inspiring the fans to follow tennis and to watch on their televisions and that’s very much what we’re striving for.

“We’re looking forward to a good Championships.”

The enforced withdrawals of 2021 US Open champion Raducanu (wrists and ankle) and Jack Draper (shoulder) have deprived Britain of two of its most talented young players for the Grand Slam tournament.

Norrie, who is ranked 13th in the world, is the only seeded British player, with Evans, Murray and the wildcard entrants at risk of drawing a star name in the first round.

While there was a complete absence of British players in the women’s singles draw at this year’s French Open, that doom and gloom has been eased by a raft of encouraging results on grass, including world number 88 Boulter beating compatriot Jodie Burrage to win her first WTA title in Nottingham.

“I think we’re the only nation in the world that has had a men’s and a women’s Grand Slam singles champion and doubles and mixed doubles champion in the last decade,” continued Lloyd, speaking in Eastbourne as part of a £30million investment by the Government and LTA which has led to 1,000 public tennis courts across the UK being refurbished.

“And I think ourselves and Spain are the only nations in the world that have had men’s and women’s singles champions (during that time).

“We’re right up there at the top of the game but obviously we want to keep doing better and better.”

England fought back with bat and ball on day two at Lord’s to haul themselves back into the second Ashes Test.

The opening day at the home of cricket was arguably their flattest in over a year of Ben Stokes’ captaincy, with former skippers Kevin Pietersen and Michael Vaughan branding their efforts “absolutely shambolic” and “utter dross” respectively.

But they rallied impressively with the game on the line, as a much-improved seam attack shared five wickets for 77 to dismiss Australia for 416.

They could not prevent their old nemesis Steve Smith (110) from bringing up his 12th Ashes century, second only to the great Donald Bradman, but would have been relieved not to concede more from 316 for three on the first evening.

Ben Duckett’s unbeaten 62 led an encouraging response of 145 for one, with Ollie Pope reaching 32no despite concerns over the number three’s right shoulder injury.

Duckett had earlier shared a stand of 91 with Zak Crawley (48), England’s best opening partnership against Australia since January 2011.

One of the men involved that day, Sir Andrew Strauss, was in attendance as he led the annual ‘Red for Ruth’ day, raising over £270,000 in the process.

Starting with Australia in a strong position at 339 for five, England tossed the ball to their two oldest stagers, James Anderson and Stuart Broad. The pair sent down 33 wicketless overs between them on Wednesday but made good on Stokes’ faith.

Broad’s first two balls of the morning disappeared for four but he ended the over with a beauty, jagging one back into Alex Carey and flicking the front pad in front of the stumps. England need DRS to change umpire Ahsan Raza’s mind, but the end result was exactly what they needed.

Anderson picked up the baton at the Nursery End, angling the ball towards the cordon and drawing a thick edge from the newly arrived Mitchell Starc. Jonny Bairstow, 24 hours on from his starring role as a makeshift bouncer in the Just Stop Oil protest, leapt in front of first slip and held the catch.

Smith was watching calmly from the other end, making his way to 99 before lashing a cover drive to the ropes to bring up his latest Ashes ton. It was an excellently judged innings, but England had the bit between their teeth and wrapped things up with admirable efficiency.

Josh Tongue, who dismissed Smith for Worcestershire earlier in the season, had the centurion well caught in the gully by Duckett as he swung hard and lost his balance and Ollie Robinson then swept up Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood in successive overs.

That left England with four overs to bat before lunch and neither Duckett nor Crawley erred.

The Kent man seized the initiative in the afternoon, breezing to 48 at better than a run-a-ball. He drove crisply with the full face of the bat and used his long strides to punish anything over-pitched.

Duckett continued his habit of refusing to leave anything, but looked in control of both attack and defence. The duo hit 75 runs in 13 overs before drinks, only for Crawley to gift his wicket after the short break.

He became the fourth English batter in three innings to be stumped dancing down the track at Lyon, with Carey collecting sharply down leg and whipping off the bails.

Pope emerged from the pavilion, easing the worst fears over his shoulder, and kept the tempo high as he and Duckett backed their positive instincts.

Hazlewood and Starc both went at more than seven-an-over as the ball travelled around the park, with the left-armer crunched through mid-wicket to bring up Duckett’s half-century in style.

Lando Norris has revealed he had a number of expensive items stolen in a robbery at a villa in Marbella.

It is the second time the British Formula One star has been targeted by thieves after he was accosted by two men and had his Richard Mille designer watch stolen after the Euro 2020 final at Wembley.

McLaren driver Norris, 23 was understood to be on holiday in the south of Spain for three days when the incident took place.

Speaking to the PA news agency ahead of this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, Norris said: “We were out for dinner and our place got robbed.

“A mixture of many things were stolen. Some were expensive and some were not so expensive. It is still an ongoing conversation so I cannot say too much.”

Norris was reported to be on holiday with a group of friends, including influencer Jennie Dimova.

Dimova posted a video to her TikTok, saying: “If you are wondering why I look like that it is because our villa got robbed and everything I have ever owned – my clothes, my shoes, my bags, my jewellery – everything has been taken – and I am left with literally nothing. I cried for two hours but what can I do?”

The popular Norris is only 11th in this season’s drivers’ championship having scored points at just three of the opening eight rounds in his under-performing McLaren machine.

The British team have brought an upgrade to this weekend’s event in Spielberg in the hope of turning their disappointing season around.

Republic of Ireland captain Katie McCabe is ready for her side to embrace “unknown territory” as they continue preparations for the Women’s World Cup.

Ireland have been drawn in Group B of this summer’s global showpiece alongside Canada, Nigeria and tournament co-hosts Australia, who they face in their opening match on July 20.

It marks an historic moment for the Irish women, who will be competing for the first time in a major tournament finals and McCabe is looking forward to the challenge ahead.

“It’s unknown territory for us, we’ve never qualified for a major tournament before, this is all new for us,” she told the PA news agency.

“So we’re just going to take it in our stride, I think taking it day by day and ultimately focusing on what’s important, which is training and the football side of things.

“It’s going to be an amazing summer, it’s something we’ve dreamt about for as long as we’ve been playing football.

“So to say we’re actually on the way there now next week after we play France in our send off game, heading to our first major tournament is going to be fantastic.

“We’ve got a really tough group, Australia – the hosts, Canada – Olympic champions, one of the best teams in Africa…

“By no means is it going to be easy, but we’re certainly not going to go there to just take part in it and happy to be there, we’re going to compete and really challenge ourselves.”

Ireland have been preparing for the tournament with recent friendlies against current World Cup holders the United States and Zambia.

The will also face France next Thursday before travelling to Brisbane, where they play Colombia in another warm-up six days before their opener against Australia.

They kick off their campaign against the Matildas at Stadium Australia in Sydney, a ground which holds 81,500 fans and McCabe believes the size of the venue shows how far women’s football has grown.

“I’m hoping we drown out the Australian fans, the Irish fans there – we’ve got the best fans in the world with the support we get all over the place, it’s fantastic,” the Arsenal player added.

“It speaks volumes the stadium’s getting moved from a 40,000 seater to an 80,000 seater, it goes to show that it’s going to be the hottest ticket in town and this World Cup is going to be a new one in women’s football.

“You think the growth of the game went through the roof the last few years, it’s only going further now.”

Dual Group One-winner Nashwa adds star quality to proceedings at Newcastle on Friday as the headline act in the Jenningsbet In Shiremoor Hoppings Fillies’ Stakes.

Trained by John and Thady Gosden, Nashwa helped Hollie Doyle create a piece of history when winning the Prix de Diane (French Oaks) last season, meaning she became the first woman to ride a Group One European Classic winner.

Doyle and Nashwa went on to double their top-level tally against older fillies and mares in the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood.

Nashwa ended her season by finishing second in the Prix de l’Opera and fourth at the Breeders’ Cup, where she lost all chance with a slow start.

Slightly below her best on her seasonal reappearance in France behind Above The Curve, the daughter of Frankel looks the one to beat in this Group Three with no penalty.

Owner Imad Al Sagar’s racing manager, Teddy Grimthorpe, said: “She had hard races in the Opera and at the Breeders’ Cup.

“She needed her first run back in the Prix Corrida, she really needed that, so to try to get a good run at the nice autumn prizes we wanted her to hopefully get back to her level with the plan then possibly being to head to the Nassau.

“We need to get her back on track now and the timing of this race is good with the Nassau a month away.

“Hollie is on a roll, she completed a full set of winners (at British Flat tracks) at Carlisle so that is good.”

He went on: “Imad has shown patience, these fillies pretty much tell us when they are ready so it is a question of hopefully getting everything lined up in the right order.”

Nashwa’s main market rival is the Roger Varian-trained Al Husn, winner of a Listed race at Ayr last time out.

Hughie Morrison’s One For Bobby, Simon and Ed Crisford’s Misty Dancer and the Karl Burke-trained Bright Diamond are also among the nine runners

Aberdeen manager Barry Robson has welcomed Peter Leven to his backroom staff.

The 39-year-old former Kilmarnock and MK Dons midfielder will take on the first-team coach role vacated by Liam Fox, who left at the end of last season to become Hearts’ B team coach.

Leven began his coaching career in Middlesbrough’s academy and had a spell as assistant at Killie under Lee Clark and then Lee McCulloch, while his most recent roles have been abroad in Belarus and then Russia.

“Peter is someone I have known for a while,” said Robson told the Reds’ website.

“I was on my pro licence with him and I was really impressed. He’s really intense, enthusiastic and he also has great contacts all over Europe which will be really beneficial as we prepare for the challenges which lie ahead in European football this season.

“He’s also worked with young players who are getting close to the first team so that wide-ranging coaching experience will be invaluable as he supports the pathway for young talent here at Aberdeen.”

Leven is relishing the opportunity to work alongside Robson and his assistant Steve Agnew.

“Aberdeen is a huge club, so I am delighted to be given the opportunity to be part of Barry’s staff,” he said.

“Barry has a clear vision of what he wants to achieve this season and has high standards driven by himself and his coaching staff, so I am really excited about the challenge which lies ahead.”

Frankie Dettori will miss the ride on Coral-Eclipse favourite Emily Upjohn at Sandown next week after failing in his appeal against the nine-day careless riding ban imposed for his ride on Saga at Royal Ascot.

Dettori attempted to switch right-handed towards the rail in the early stages of the Wolferton Stakes and in doing so caused James McDonald to quickly snatch up Cadillac. Certain Lad and Notre Belle Bete, who were behind Cadillac, were also hampered in the scrimmaging.

Owned by the King and Queen and trained by John and Thady Gosden, Saga eventually finished fifth in the 10-furlong Listed event, which was won by Royal Champion.

An independent disciplinary panel of the British Horseracing Authority on Thursday considered evidence from all relevant parties, including Dettori, and elected to uphold the careless riding offence originally decided upon by stewards on the first day of Royal Ascot.

The panel then retired to deliberate over submissions from Dettori’s legal representative seeking a reduction in the penalty, but ultimately decided that nine days was appropriate and made no amendment to the sanction.

The BHA, who called Rob Hornby, rider of Foxes Tales, as a witness, made the case that Dettori had been unaware of the presence of Cadillac on his inside when riding towards the rail on the first bend of the race.

Charlotte Davison, representing the BHA, pressed Dettori on whether or not he would have made the manoeuvre had he spotted his horse on the inside, to which Dettori repeated he was “surprised” that McDonald had taken that line.

Davison put forward that Hornby and McDonald were both entitled to move towards the rail as they did as no orange markers had been deployed to prevent it, and that it was Dettori’s carelessness with regards to his surroundings that had caused the incident.

Rory Mac Neice, representing Dettori, argued the jockey had positioned himself to account for the false rail and that the incident was set in motion by McDonald riding into a gap that would inevitably close when the rail came into play.

Mac Neice agreed that riders were entitled to track across the inside rail as soon as the race began, but said that in doing so Saga was left short of room and unsettled, causing Dettori to seek cover – at which point he submitted that McDonald had ridden into the gap left on the rail, a gap he described as a “cul-de-sac”.

That act “sandwiched” Dettori, Mac Neice argued, and though he was aware of the horses surrounding him, he was in a “no-man’s land” and unable to prevent the incident.

After several hours of listening to each party and their submissions and evidence, the panel confirmed it found the careless riding rule had been breached.

They then considered any change to the penalty imposed after further submissions on either side, but again returned to say they were adhering to the original findings of the stewards on the day and that the nine-day penalty had not been reduced.

James O’Mahony, chair of the panel, said: “Coming to our conclusions, firstly it is clear, and as Mr Dettori has accepted, that he did move laterally right. He said to get cover, and we do find that his lateral movement right was connected with the interference as a matter of cause and effect.

“Secondly, he couldn’t and shouldn’t have moved right if he was aware of the presence of Mr McDonald as he was not clear. He says he was not aware of the presence of Mr McDonald, our conclusion is that he should have been aware.

“It may have come as a surprise to him that Mr McDonald would take that course, and maybe with his experience Mr Dettori wouldn’t have taken that course so close to the rail, but there it is – he did and he was there.

“We have carefully assessed the relevance and question of to what extent, if any, there was pressure on Mr Dettori from the outside, from the presence of other horses, in particular Rob Hornby’s mount.

“We have carefully sifted and worked through the evidence of Mr Hornby and Mr Dettori and our clear conclusion on balance of probabilities is that there were no significant problems in relation to the presence of other horses.

“In our judgement, on the balance of probabilities, Mr Dettori was in breach of the rule preventing careless riding and this appeal, as far as that matter is concerned, is refused.”

Dettori’s dates of suspension are July 4-12, while he will also be out of action from July 13 after picking up an eight-day whip ban for his ride on Queen Anne runner-up Inspiral, which sees him miss the July meeting at Newmarket.

Winner of the Coronation Cup at Epsom, Emily Upjohn is odds-on in places for the Eclipse, which takes place on July 8.

Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki has announced her intention to return to tennis after a three-year retirement.

Wozniacki, who won the 2018 Australian Open and was runner-up in two US Open finals in 2009 and 2014, is targeting her grand slam return at Flushing Meadows later this year.

The 32-year-old Dane wrote on Twitter: “Over these past three years away from the game I got to make up for lost time with my family, I became a mother and now have two beautiful children I am so grateful for.

“But I still have goals I want to accomplish. I want to show my kids that you can pursue your dreams no matter your age or role. We decided as a family it’s time. I’m coming back to play and I can’t wait!”

Wozniacki won 30 tour-level titles and played her last match in the third round of the 2020 Australian Open, where she was beaten by Ons Jabeur.

Wozniacki told Vogue: “I’m going to play the US Open. There’s just an electric atmosphere in New York that I can’t get enough of.

“I’ll start out playing in (the Canadian Open in) Montreal just to get back into the groove, and then we’ll all head to New York.

“After that, I’ll have a couple of months to prepare for Australia, and we’ll take it from there. The Paris Olympics are definitely a goal too.”

Gareth Davies is enjoying the grind of Warren Gatland’s Rugby World Cup training camp as the Wales scrum-half turned heads with photos posted on social media.

The 32-year-old has been working to get into peak physical shape since the end of the season with Scarlets.

Gatland’s approach to World Cup warm-ups have become famous in recent times for how hard he likes to push his players to prepare them for the challenge ahead.

Wales face Fiji on September 10 in their first game of Pool C, with Davies and his team-mates aiming to be at their best for the clash in Bordeaux.

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The official Welsh Rugby Union Instagram accounts have been posting images from training sessions, with Davies’ physique catching the eye.

“I’m not on Twitter or anything like that, so I’ve not seen too many comments,” he said.

“But the boys have given me a bit of stick. They think there’s a few filters on the pictures. Maybe the cameraman has put some filter on it!

“I’m feeling pretty good. We’re only four or five weeks in, but from day one, I’m feeling fitter than where I was. I’m working really hard and hopefully I can keep improving.”

In a change to routine training sessions, the squad spent a day at ‘The Green Mile’ – a health and wellness centre where the players were also subjected to other, psychological challenges – something Gatland has since defended.

“It was a good day,” Davies said of the different approach as he explained the activities undertaken.

“We really enjoyed getting off site. We didn’t really know what we were in for to be honest before we got there. It was a tough couple of hours physically – running up a steep hill with a log and jumping in a pool trying to do a lap under the pool without breathing.

“There was a lot of breathing work – trying to recover quicker and stuff like that. We did that for a couple of hours with some power endurance and some wrestling and some circuits and stuff like that.

“That was the first block and then we had a mental challenge where they put us in some stressful positions. We weren’t allowed to talk for an hour. They put a bag over our head so we couldn’t see where we were and they moved us around the camp.

“There were some weird stressful noises in the background. It was good, quite challenging. We knew it was going to be around the hour mark but it felt like we were there for three or four hours.

“We felt really good after it. We bonded well as a team and got some good positives from it.”

Culture secretary Lucy Frazer is confident Russian and Belarusian players will abide by strict neutrality rules allowing them to return to Wimbledon.

Players from the two countries were banned from competing at the All England Club in 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine.

They are permitted to take part in this year’s Championship, which begins on Monday, but must follow a series of guidelines outlined by the government.

Frazer, who is in charge of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, believes it would have been “totally inappropriate” to not impose conditions in relation to the ongoing war.

“We’re really looking forward to Wimbledon, it’s one of the most important competitions in the calendar,” she told the PA news agency.

“We’ve made our position very clear: there are certain circumstances in which it would be totally inappropriate for Russian and Belarussian tennis players to take part.

“We put that in our guidance and that is being followed by Wimbledon.

“There are procedures in place to ensure that they don’t (breach the rules) and I’m confident that those will be followed appropriately.”

Wimbledon will fall in line with the other three Grand Slams by allowing Russian and Belarusian players to compete.

Men’s world number three Daniil Medvedev and Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, ranked second by the WTA, are among those set to return.

Participation was dependent on players signing a personal declaration of neutrality, meaning they cannot express support for the invasion of Ukraine, or for the leadership of Russian president Vladimir Putin or his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko.

Players may also not be in receipt of state sponsorship, while they cannot be seen with any item containing a symbol which might indicate support for the war, or the Russian and Belarusian regimes.

With the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on the horizon, Frazer believes it is important there is a unified international stance on the situation.

“As a country we are working with other countries in relation to, for example, the Olympics,” she said, speaking in Eastbourne as part of a £30million investment by the government and LTA to refurbish 1,000 public tennis courts across the UK.

“I held a summit with around 35 other countries to set our position in relation to the Olympics because we need to ensure that across the world we’re taking the same international stance.”

LTA chief executive Scott Lloyd says guidelines for Russian and Belarusian players have been respected at warm-up competitions for Wimbledon, such as Queen’s and the ongoing Rothesay International at Eastbourne.

“We’ve worked extremely closely with the government and indeed the international tennis tours – the ATP, the WTA, the ITF – to ensure that there is a process in place that follows the UK government guidance and makes sure that players are able to play on the specific terms that that lays out,” he said.

“It’s worked well so far over the last few weeks of grass court tournaments here in Britain and I’m certain that will continue into the Championships next week.

“Those relationships with the tours are extremely strong and we are all aligned in making sure that the tournaments go according to plan.”

Former champion Justin Rose justified his position as pre-tournament favourite with a superb opening round in the Betfred British Masters.

The world number 31, the top-ranked player in the field, carded eight birdies and a solitary bogey to record a seven-under-par 65 at The Belfry.

That gave Rose a one-shot lead over former Ryder Cup team-mate Jamie Donaldson, who birdied five of the last six holes in his 66, with Germany’s Yannik Paul and English amateur John Gough two shots further back.

“I felt very comfortable with my game from the first shot,” said Rose, who won the British Masters in 2002 and hosted the event in 2018.

“I hit a beautiful little wedge into the 10th hole, made a nice birdie there and I think that’s the cleanest round of golf I’ve played in a long, long time.

“I really drove the ball well, the irons were being struck pretty cleanly and I actually hadn’t made many putts through the front nine to be four under so it was great to manage to make a few coming in.

“It all amounted to a very good day’s work.”

Asked about being a short-priced favourite to win the £2.7million event, Rose added: “I haven’t really paid any attention to that, even though I played with the Betfred lads [in the pro-am] and they were telling me about the pricing of the field.

“It’s obviously somewhat of a compliment but it doesn’t mean anything, does it? You have to go and play well.

“Quality players, if they play well, they are going to be hard to beat, but the hard part is playing well. Obviously I’ve done the first step, got off to a good start, but got a long way to go this week.

“Coming off a missed cut at the US Open and a week off without too much practice, the beginning part of this week was important for me to get tuned back in to my feels and it’s nice to get off to a good, positive start.”

Donaldson, who sealed the winning point at Gleneagles in 2014, was just one under par after 12 holes of his round before picking up shots on the 13th, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th.

“Nothing was going in, it was all a bit slow at the start and suddenly it all kicked in on the back nine,” the 47-year-old Welshman said. “Five in six holes to finish, so yeah, fantastic.

“I was just trying to be patient. There were a lot of downwind holes towards the end there, so it made it easier to have birdie chances and hit a few good shots.”