Archive May 21, 2025

First T20, Canterbury

West Indies 146-7 (20 overs): Matthews 100* (67); Bell 2-29

England 150-2 (16.3 overs): Dunkley 81* (56); Fletcher 1-27

England won by eight wickets; lead series 1-0

England’s new era under captain Nat Sciver-Brunt and coach Charlotte Edwards started with a comfortable eight-wicket win in the first T20 against West Indies in Canterbury.

The tourists posted 146-7 after captain Hayley Matthews’ superb unbeaten century, but England made light work of the chase by reaching the target in 16.3 overs thanks to Sophia Dunkley’s brilliant 81 not out from 55 balls.

Sciver-Brunt fell for a duck in her first match as permanent skipper, but her predecessor Heather Knight finished 43 not out alongside opener Dunkley.

Matthews’ sensational solo effort held West Indies together, with Mandy Mangru’s 17 the second-highest score after they had slipped to a dismal 87-6.

She reached her 67-ball ton from the final ball of the innings, having expertly farmed the strike as the wickets tumbled around her, with England’s Lauren Bell taking 2-29.

England’s new-look bowling attack after their Ashes humiliation included a recall for fast bowler Issy Wong, who took 1-35, while fellow seamer Em Arlott performed admirably with 1-28 on her international debut.

The fallout from England’s 16-0 thrashing in the Ashes that started the year resulted in a new captain and coach, and constant references to starting with a clean slate.

England were presented with a below-par target, but delivered on their promises at the first time of asking.

Opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge, dropped from the ODI side, only managed 17 but Dunkley continued her fine form from the winter when she was one of England’s rare bright sparks in a miserable campaign.

West Indies bowlers struggled for consistency on a chilly evening, offering far too much width as she dominated through the covers and down the ground with 12 fours in her knock.

Meanwhile Knight looked rejuvenated without the shackles of captaincy, seemingly happy to support Dunkley’s attacking approach as she kept to a simple plan of rotating the strike and punishing the bad balls in their unbroken stand of 94.

West Indies offered little threat with the ball, with their spin-heavy attack struggling to extract any help from the surface.

With injuries to three of West Indies’ other experienced batters in Deandra Dottin, Chinelle Henry and Stafanie Taylor, the pressure on Matthews shoulders was even greater than usual.

Given their depleted resources, the tourists started cautiously and crawled to 37-2 from the powerplay after Bell’s double-wicket maiden in the fourth over, with opener Qiana Joseph dismissed for two and Zaida James caught behind for a duck.

Wong and Arlott bowled with lively pace and bounce to unsettle the middle order, while the spin of Charlie Dean and Linsey Smith stifled them to ensure that England did not miss Sophie Ecclestone too much – and at 87-6 in the 14th over, the tourists’ innings looked to be stuttering to a sorry end.

But Matthews was unfazed, familiar with the role of carrying her team’s batting line-up. She was dropped by Charlie Dean on 73, albeit a very difficult one-handed chance at cover, but was otherwise sublime.

Any width was greeted by her trademark elegant drives and she struck the spinners firmly down the ground, the only partnership of note coming for the seventh wicket as she shared a stand of 47 with Mangru.

Starting the final over on 89, Matthews struck a four off Bell before having to turn down singles to keep herself on strike. A wide gifted an extra ball, and a scampered single saw her reach her third T20 century.

England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, speaking to Sky Sports: “Happy days, I didn’t have to do anything!

“Hayley [Matthews] is such a big player for them but stemming the runs by taking wickets at the other end was our method.

“Then that chase was calm and calculated. It was brilliant to watch.”

West Indies captain and player of the match Hayley Matthews: “It was a good day for myself but unfortunate not to get the win. We were 15 or 20 runs short.

“It is always pretty good to get a hundred. Hopefully, I can carry this form throughout this series.”

By signing Australia prop Angus Bell from Waratahs on a temporary deal, Ulster have made a serious statement of intent.

The 24-year-old loose-head will take a sabbatical from December until the campaign’s 2025-26 ends.

Bell is anticipated to play a significant role in Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies’ clash with the British and Irish Lions in this summer’s Australian Test series.

Since making his 2020 debut, Bell has won 36 caps for Australia. He missed the November Test against Ireland in Dublin because of illness, but his country kicked off against England, Wales, and Scotland.

He stated on Ulster’s website, “I’m very excited to be joining Ulster Rugby later this year and experiencing the game in a different hemisphere.”

“It was really inspiring for me to play in a brand-new environment and step outside of my comfort zone.” I was more excited to join such a historic club after speaking with [Ulster general manager] Bryn Cunningham about it.

“We have always said that we would look for opportunities in the market to add players to our team who can make a big impact,” Cunningham continued, “and Angus definitely fits that bill.”

He has a good age range and is currently one of the most exciting loose-head props in rugby.

After taking a sabbatical, Bell’s contract will end in 2027, making a return to Waratahs.

Dan McKellar, the club’s head coach, described his decision to join Ulster as a “continued personal growth.”

He said, “We think the time at Ulster will be beneficial for his development on and off the field, which ultimately will help the Waratahs in the long term because he is a young man who came straight out of school into the Waratahs system.”

Bell’s arrival in Ireland in the second half of this year will continue the trend of short-term deals between southern-hemisphere players.

Jordie Barrett, a New Zealand international, joined Leinster in December, with his All Blacks team-mate Rieko Ioane expected to join at the end of 2025.

Bell’s short-term agreement was announced on the same day that Ulster “mutually consented” to the departure of New Zealand-born flyhalf Aidan Morgan.

At the end of the 2024-2019 campaign, Ulster signed South African back row Juarno Augustus from Northampton Saints, and the team also signed loose-head Andy Warwick.

When South Africa’s World Cup-winning loose-head Steven Kitshoff was brought to the province in 2022, he left after just one season. Kitshoff, however, did a major coup.

One of its athletes broke a long-standing world record, according to the Enhanced Games, a contentious new event that promotes banned performance-enhancing drugs.

Greece’s Kristian Gkolomeev, who was 20.89 seconds faster than Brazil’s Cesar Cielo in the 2009 world record, was reportedly 20.89 seconds faster in a 50-meter freestyle time trial in the US in February.

Gkolomeev, who finished fifth at the 2024 Olympics in 21.59, began taking banned substances after signing up for the Enhanced Games in January.

The Enhanced Games held its inaugural event from May 21 to May 24 in Las Vegas on Wednesday, at a glittery launch in the city.

It has been criticised for endangering athletes ‘ health and undermining fair play.

However, Gkolomeev swam 21.03 in textile “jammer” shorts in another attempt in April that were in line with current World Aquatic rules.

That time is faster than anyone else who has never used “supersuits,” surpassing the mark set by American nine-time Olympic champion Caeleb Dressel.

The Enhanced Games say the two times are legitimate, with Gkolomeev’s swims recorded using the same timing equipment deployed at the Olympics, staged at a certified pool which has hosted the past four US Open events, and overseen by experienced officials.

World Aquatics won’t accept any of the marks.

The world’s largest swimming organization stated in a statement that “the Enhanced Games are not a sporting competition built on universal values like honesty, fairness, and equity: they are a circus built on shortcuts.”

“The enduring power of athletes to serve as role models for children and adults alike relies on their talent, hard work, respect and friendship. That’s what we’ll continue to highlight in our champions and competitions.

“The Enhanced Games gave me the resources and the team to unlock a new level of performance – and now the whole world can see what’s possible”, said Gkolomeev, whose previous 50m freestyle best was 21.44, winning silver behind Britain’s Ben Proud at the European Championships in Edinburgh in 2018.

He added that his body type significantly altered after two weeks of doping before breaking Cielo’s record in February and then moving more quickly than Dressel in textile shorts in April.

He continued, “On the second attempt, I was on a two-month cycle.”

“I had an extra 10lbs of lean muscle – we did a pretty good job with my coach in that short amount of time to get used by my new strength and weight in the water. It came out very well.

According to the Enhanced Games, he did not disclose the substances he had consumed, citing personal privacy concerns and the possibility that others would abide by Gkolomeev’s rule. It said they were prescribed “medically and legally”.

According to organizers, participants are only permitted to use “medically prescribable and legally approved” substances while being watched clinically, and they are confident that they will follow US drug enforcement regulations.

Andrii Govorov, a 33-year-old world record holder in the 50 meters, and Josif Miladinov, a 21-year-old silver medalist in the 100 meters, both from Ukraine, have signed.

Govorov announced his retirement from Olympic sport this week.

He wrote on Instagram, “This choice wasn’t easy.

I spent a lot of time reflecting, putting everything on the scale, “. Competing in Los Angeles]in 2028] was my dream. However, “life had other plans.”

After critics argued that the Enhanced Games would struggle to persuade well-known names, who were still in their prime, to cross the line, Gkolomeev, Govorov, and Miladinov’s hiring is a coup for the organization.

Australian former world champion James Magnussen, 34, came out of retirement to join the Enhanced Games in 2024, but his attempt to beat the 50m freestyle world record fell well short, recording a best time of 22.73.

A 100-strong roster of participants for the upcoming Enhanced Games event is a goal for The Enhanced Games.

At Resorts World in Las Vegas, construction crews will construct a four-lane 50-meter pool, a six-lane sprint track, and a weightlifting facility.

Senior anti-doping and sports administration officials have harshly criticized the Enhanced Games.

Travis Tygart, chief executive of the US Anti-Doping Agency, called it a “clown show” and the World Anti-Doping Agency described it as a “dangerous and irresponsible project”.

Executive director of World Aquatics, Brent J. Nowicki, described it as “a farce, and an extremely dangerous one,” praising those involved in the sport for life.

The UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) CEO, Jane Rumble, told BBC Sport, “We are really, really concerned by this concept.

” It flies in the face of everything Ukad stands for and it flies in the face of fair play.

“Any sporting event that promotes performance-enhancing drugs is ultimately dangerous and unhealthy for athletes.” Their well-being is not at stake.

” There are also much broader societal implications. Steroid use has been well documented to cause domestic violence and adversity in the nighttime economy.

According to a Ukad survey released this week, 85% of UK teenagers support outlawing athletes who use prohibited substances.

Rumble said Ukad is unaware of any British athletes being approached by the Enhanced Games, but is planning for the possibility.

She said, “We have clearly thought through that scenario.”

According to Jim McVeigh, professor of substance use and related behaviors at Manchester Metropolitan University, organisers’ promises about athletes’ safety were “informed or purposefully misleading.”

They are concentrating on power sports like swimming, lifting, and sprinting, and athletes will use anabolic agents for those activities, he told BBC Sport.

” Athletes won’t use just in the weeks before. These people will be training right away if the investment is $1 million. Organisers are they looking out for them? Have they started their supervision?

As a group of steroid users who started out in the 1990s reached a certain age, we have really improved our understanding of the long-term effects of steroid abuse in the last ten years.

The impact on the brain has a significant impact, despite the fact that there are effects on the cardiovascular system. Many people will never return to normal hormonal production and function.

“We are aware that people in the Enhanced Games are taking high doses because they are aware that everyone else is doing so.”

Officials from Enhanced Games claim that their event will be safer than traditional sport because they can use performance-enhancing drugs openly and under the guidance of doctors.

They point to a study of the 2011 World Athletics Championships where athletes ‘ responses to an anonymised survey suggested almost 44% had taken a banned substance in the previous year.

In 1993, Gkolomeev was born in Velingrad, Bulgaria.

At the 1980 and 1988 Olympics in Seoul, his father, Tzvetan Golomeev, represented Bulgaria.

Gkolomeev’s mother died of medical complications shortly after his birth, and the family moved to Greece when he was young.

He won junior swimming titles at the age of five, won junior gold medals at the international and international levels, and competed in London 2012 as a teenager, placing him 31st fastest in the 100-meter freestyle.

Former British Olympic athletes Dennis Pursley and Jonty Skinner recruited Gkolomeev to the University of Alabama where he studied human performance and exercise science in addition to swimming after the Games.

He won two collegiate titles before beginning his professional career.