Author: The Guardian

Australia defeated West Indies by eight wickets at the sparsely populated Melbourne Cricket Ground in their first ODI since defeating India in last year’s World Cup final.Despite missing six of the eleven who won their sixth one-dayer title in Ahmedabad in November, Australia comfortably beat a battered Windy side to win Friday’s match. A score of 69 balls sealed the victory.Debutant quick Xavier Bartlett (4-17), who had Australia’s second-best score by men on his ODI debut, got his side into the fold after stand-in skipper Steve Smith won the toss and elected to bowl. Got a box seat.The Windies managed…

I started St Machar Thistle with my mates. We’d been playing seven-a-side in Aberdeen for a year when we thought about starting an 11-a-side team. I was always decent at football – I’d played at school and got back into it last year when I started university.We began the application process to be part of the Scottish Amateur Cup last year, and made a good impression to the board. We even got sponsors. But most of us are university students and haven’t been able to commit. Sometimes we’ve had to postpone our Saturday matches as we didn’t have the minimum seven…

Who will win and why?France. They are desperate to make up for their World Cup defeat, boasting Europe’s strongest scrum-half and an electric backline. Had the absent Antoine Dupont been around, they would have been a Grand Slam credential. Even without him, they were still formidable. Robert KitsonEngland. The game went well and a trip to Italy gave them a win before taking on a young Wales side. Reinforcements in Ollie Lawrence and George Martin will then return and if they can end their poor performance against Scotland then it will be smooth sailing for them. I don’t think they’re…

The prosecution: Will Sasha is weaponising gender to lumber me with all the grotty household tasks My sister Sasha and I live at our family home without our parents, as they retired and moved abroad about a year ago. Staying in the house we grew up in is cushy, but comes with its own challenges. Sasha and I usually get on fairly well, but without our parents here to mediate, it’s taken us a while to get into a new rhythm.My concern is that Sasha thinks that I should do certain jobs around the house just because I’m a man. Taking the bins…

Joe Biden won a strong pledge of support on Thursday from union autoworkers crucial to his re-election bid in Michigan, while yet more protests over his backing of Israel’s actions in Gaza put pressure on the trip.The president’s travel to the battleground state was intended as a celebration after the United Auto Workers (UAW) union recently endorsed his re-election bid. But his visit was also met with protests amid the state’s sizable Arab American community, demanding Biden seek a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war, and refusing to meet his campaign.Biden visited a UAW union hall in Warren, Michigan, where UAW…

timeThe big wheel on Marseille’s Borelli beach turns day and night in all four seasons, with two laps costing 8 euros each. It’s 55m high and from the top you can see the Velodrome stadium a few hundred meters inland, where France and Ireland were busy preparing for another go-around on Thursday afternoon.It’s been three months and 19 days since the World Cup quarter-finals here and there are still plenty of old game posters hanging around town, but it’s time for the cycle to start again and the opening game of this year’s top six. nation.At this time last year,…

Nothing is ever simple for Erik ten Hag. The Manchester United manager, these days a perpetual firefighter, has been at pains to say he has the respect of his squad despite Marcus Rashford’s latest misdemeanour and, in fairness, nobody can argue his players are not with him after Kobbie Mainoo snatched victory in style with 96 minutes and 26 seconds on the clock.Just as it seemed United, 2-0 up inside 22 minutes but pegged back to 3-3 after 95, had gone up in flames, they exploded into life and many of the substitutes on to the pitch after Mainoo, the…

Amazon’s profits jumped thanks to strong seasonal trading and strong growth in its powerful cloud computing business.The world’s largest retailer generated revenue of $170 billion in the three months to December, up 14% from the same period in 2022 and beating Wall Street expectations of about $166 billion.Fourth-quarter net profit rose to $10.6 billion from $27.8 billion a year earlier, after the company took steps to cut costs and end years of rapid expansion after the pandemic. Earnings per share amounted to $1.03.The company’s shares rose 5.5% in outside trading in New York.Amazon, which has a stock market valuation of…

I’m struggling with my relationship because there is a huge difference between my partner’s financial situation and mine. We’re both in our 50s, have been together for nearly three years and live apart. He – never married, no kids, great job – is very financially secure and has lots of spare money. I, however, as an older single parent, freelancing, some health problems, post-divorce and in a difficult economy, am absolutely skint! To the extent that I had to turn to the local food bank before Christmas, for which I was grateful but felt like such a failure.Meanwhile, it is…

Lewis Hamilton’s surprise move to Ferrari has ensured that the biggest deals done on transfer deadline day are in Formula One rather than football. Never one to shy away from a challenge, the seven-time world champion made his boldest move in the final throw of the dice of his career.This is an amazing and exciting deal. Hamilton chose to leave Mercedes for Ferrari in 2025, the most significant team change of this century. Having signed a new contract with Mercedes last August and after years of denying rumors of a move to Ferrari, the 39-year-old has announced his intention to…