Author: The Guardian

rightAjkot, the venue for the third Test between India and England, is situated on the T-Shirt Sleeve peninsula on India’s west coast. Compared to the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, it has been less used on the cricket circuit and has hosted only two Tests, totaling nine centuries. The ballpark there is not known as “butter” without return.All of which is very much to the taste of Rajkot’s (and Hough’s) favorite son, Cheteshwar Pujara, a fellow coach with India coach Rahul Dravid. Dravid’s awesome running machine carved into the same granite. The 36-year-old Pujara, who joined Sachin Tendulkar, Dravid and…

Early riser? I’m an ex-Goth and a night owl, so I don’t go to bed until 2am, and the earliest I ever get up is 10 o’clock unless I really have to.Sunday morning? I neck an incredibly strong coffee, then take the dogs, Truman and Fitzgerald, for a long walk in Cheltenham’s Pittville Park. I think it’s illegal to own anything except black labs in Gloucestershire. I’ll turn my back and there will be about 80 black labs. Sometimes, I think I must have taken the wrong dog home.Sunday breakfast? At the moment, I’m only doing one meal a day,…

timeHe predicted rain during Saturday’s game. Both coaches have been keeping an eye on the weather apps all week, with Warren Gatland already having to cancel Wales’ outdoor training because conditions were so poor in the build-up to the game that they have plans in place to suit. Eighty thousand spectators wearing boots, coats and hats, holding umbrellas, everyone expected another gray, rainy day and a tough game, but what they got instead was the first sunny afternoon in February. A routine, chaotic game.The game started under a gorgeous sunset, which illuminated the old ground in the West Stand a…

Ian Doncaster is remarkably chipper for a man about to undergo major surgery. “I have a busy life. So it’s nice to have a break,” he jokes. It is 8.30am on a chilly December morning and here at Warwick hospital he is about to receive a new knee – or part of one.At 62, Doncaster has always been active: he played rugby when young, until a knee injury and subsequent operation meant he had to trade that in for a host of other sports. But now the knee is causing problems again. As a self-employed chartered engineer, he needs to…

Stephen Curry’s 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds left gave the Golden State Warriors a 113-112 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night for their sixth win in seven games.With the Warriors trailing 112-110 with 3.3 seconds left, Curry caught an inbounds pass from Brandin Podziemski, turned around and hit a 33-foot 3-pointer. It was his ninth three-pointer of the night. He scored 30 points.Devin Booker scored 32 points and Kevin Durant scored 24 points for the Suns. After Curry hit a three-pointer, the Suns had two chances, but Booker fouled under the basket. For the first time, Durant was unable…

The question I’ve been married for around eight years now and I have a beautiful daughter and love my wife, but the passion has completely gone and I’m no longer sexually attracted to her, which has led to an issue.I have found myself, over the last year, being attracted to other women and strongly attracted to one of her best friends in particular. At first, I didn’t think anything about any of the interactions we had, but when I look back over the past year or so, little things – holding hands or a hug on a night out –…

Opals legend Lauren Jackson has confirmed she will not compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics after Australia beat Germany 85-52 to qualify for the Games.The 42-year-old officially announced her retirement from international basketball following Saturday’s win in Belém, Brazil, nearly 18 months after she made a stunning comeback at the 2022 World Cup.”I’ve had enough… I love Brazil, Brazil has been very good to me,” said Jackson, who was part of the Opals’ 2006 World Cup-winning team in Brazil. “How fitting that I can end my international career in Brazil for Australia. It’s special.”Arguably Australia’s greatest ever basketball player, Jackson…

Seeking a second presidency as the Republicans’ presumptive 2024 White House nominee, Donald Trump has said he would “encourage” Russia to attack any of the US’s Nato allies whom he considers to have not met their financial obligations.The White House described the remarks as “appalling and unhinged”. Trump made the statement on Saturday during a campaign rally in Conway, South Carolina, ahead of the state’s Republican presidential preference primary on 24 February.The former president has voiced misgivings about aid to Ukraine as it defends itself from the invasion launched by Russia in February 2022 – as well as to the…

Even the famously no-holds-barred Phoenix Open places limits on debauchery on the golf course.The game is being held at TPC Scottsdale, and fans will no longer be allowed in around 2 p.m. Saturday because the venue is too crowded. They also briefly halted alcohol sales at several locations around the ballpark in hopes of slowing down the partying.This is the first time the Phoenix Open has had to turn away ticket holders (at least briefly).Despite less than ideal weather conditions, large crowds of people flocked to Scottsdale. It rained most of the morning with temperatures in the mid-40s until the…

Midnight in the Czech Republic’s Ore Mountains. Australians Geoff Lawford and Rod Gray pause for food, a brief respite after a punishing 12 hours of racing through the forests. Another 12 hours of competition remain. They turn off their head torches to conserve their batteries. It was pitch black, Lawford recalls. “Although Rod was only two metres away, I couldn’t see him.” And then they hear it, the sound of a large animal running through the forest towards them.Competitors had been warned of possible encounters with wild boar or deer. Lawford senses the animal stop in front of him. Scrambling,…