Category Sports News

Former England scrum-half Danny Care has announced his retirement from rugby after amassing 101 Test caps and a record 394 appearances for Harlequins.

The 38-year-old, who called time on his international career after last year’s Six Nations, will hang up his boots at the end of the current season.

Care had previously said he wanted to end his club career after the 2025-26 season, a campaign that would have been his 20th at the Stoop.

“So, it’s finally time. Unfortunately, after 19 years of playing for this incredible club, I’m going to be retiring from rugby at the end of the season,” said Care.

He leaves with two Premiership titles to his name, along with the European Challenge Cup success secured via victory over Stade Francais in the 2011 final.

Care, a promising youth footballer, initially played for Leeds Tykes before being signed by Harlequins in 2006.

A 21-year-old Care made his England debut in June 2008, and was one of Quins’ star performers as they beat Leicester Tigers 30-23 in the 2012 Premiership final.

On the international stage, he was part of England’s Grand Slam-winning team of 2016, while also lifting Six Nations titles in 2011 and 2017.

However, he missed the run to the final of the 2019 Rugby World Cup after being left out of the team for nearly three years by then head coach Eddie Jones.

The Pakistan Super League (PSL) will resume on Saturday 17 May after its postponement because of the hostilities between India and neighbouring Pakistan.

The tournament was suspended over safety concerns on 8 May, and plans to play the rest of the matches in the United Arab Emirates were then scrapped.

There are eight games remaining, with the final to be played on 25 May – one week later than its originally scheduled date.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) was also postponed but it has since been confirmed that it will resume on Saturday as well, with all outstanding fixtures rescheduled.

The PSL schedule change means that Pakistan’s series against Bangladesh will likely be rearranged, as the first T20 was set for the new date of the final.

The league’s overseas players had all left Pakistan once the suspension was confirmed, and it is unlikely that they will return to the country.

Sam Billings, James Vince and David Willey were among the English players participating.

There are four PSL group matches left to play before a knockout stage that features a qualifier, two eliminators and the final, which will take place at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

The qualifier involves the top two sides in the six-team group table, with the winner reaching the final. The team finishing third will play fourth in the first eliminator, with the winner facing the loser of the qualifier for the second spot in the final.

Leaders Quetta Gladiators are the only side to have secured a knockout spot, with bottom-placed Multan Sultans the only team eliminated.

May

17 Peshawar Zalmi v Karachi Kings, Rawalpindi

18 Multan Sultans v Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi vs Lahore Qalandars, Rawalpindi

19 Islamabad United vs Karachi Kings, Rawalpindi

21 Qualifier, Lahore

22 Eliminator 1, Lahore

23 Eliminator 2, Lahore

Wales scrum-half Tomos Williams says he does not think he would have been called up to the British and Irish Lions squad if he had not been playing for Gloucester this season.

The number nine moved to the Cherry and Whites last summer from Cardiff Rugby and has been one of their stand-out players, making 23 appearances in all competitions so far.

Williams was one of three scrum-halves, along with Ireland’s Jamison Gibson-Park and England’s Alex Mitchell, selected by head coach Andy Farrell.

“I don’t think I’d be in this position if it wasn’t for Gloucester,” Williams told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

“I said before I’m grateful for the coaches, Lights [attack coach James Lightfoot Brown], Dom [defence coach Waldouck] and Skivs [director of rugby George Skivington] for allowing me to play the way we play at Gloucester.

Williams’ arrival in Gloucester has been instrumental in helping transform the club into one of the most potent attacking sides in the league this season.

He has scored eight Premiership tries and assisted another eight, made 23 line breaks, tops the standings for most passes (845), second for kick metres (4,246) and sits in the top five overall for offloads (19) in stats provided by Oval.

His ball-handling trickery has also caught the eye – against Bristol he collected the ball in the air before a no-look pass set up Seb Atkinson to score under the post.

The 30-year-old, who has 64 caps for Wales, was the final name to be called out at the selection ceremony in London last Thursday and said the news took a couple of hours to sink in.

Williams is one of just two Welshman in the 38-player squad for the summer series in Australia, along with back row Jac Morgan – the lowest number picked for the squad in the modern era.

Yet Williams said he hoped the duo will represent the Welsh flag “strongly”.

“I’m massively proud of Jac and really happy for Jac, he’s such a good player. You’ve seen that throughout the last couple of years and he’s such a good bloke,” Williams said.

Five players involved in the Indian Premier League have been named in England’s squad for the one-day international series against West Indies later this month.

Following the rescheduling of the IPL, the final will now be played on 3 June, the same day as the third and concluding ODI against the Windies.

Jos Buttler, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer and Will Jacks are all in a 16-man ODI squad that includes a recall for spinner Tom Hartley and fit-again pace bowler Brydon Carse, but not Liam Livingstone.

A sixth IPL player, Phil Salt, is in the England squad for the three-match T20 series, which begins three days after the tournament ends.

The England and Wales Cricket Board issued no-objection certificates (NOC) up to the original date of the final, 25 May. The ECB said those will now be under “review”.

All 10 English players involved with the IPL will hold a meeting with the Professional Cricketers’ Association on Tuesday to discuss the security arrangements around a potential return to India.

England ODI squad: Harry Brook (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Jos Buttler, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Saqib Mahmood, Jamie Overton, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jamie Smith.

From the five players included in the ODI squad, Archer and Overton play for Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings respectively, two sides that will not reach the knockout stage. That clears the path for both to return in time to play a full part in the Windies series.

Buttler (Gujarat Titans), Bethell (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) and Jacks (Mumbai Indians), could all feature in the knockouts, leaving potential decisions to make. All-rounder Bethell had already opted to skip next week’s one-off Test against Zimbabwe in order to play at the IPL.

If the trio wish to complete the IPL, England would then have to rule on an NOC. It may be that the ECB wish to avoid a confrontation with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

In addition, the IPL has implemented a policy of enforcing two-year bans on any players pulling out of deals, though an exception could be made in these extreme circumstances.

The ECB said: “We’re keen to support the IPL and the BCCI in getting the schedule up and running, and to facilitate players’ return should they choose to go back.

“No Objection Certificates have been granted based on the original IPL dates, so we’ll need to review any potential extensions, particularly in relation to any clash with the final white-ball squad. We’ll continue to work closely with the BCCI and the IPL as the situation develops.”

The one-day series against West Indies is significant as Harry Brook’s first as England’s new white-ball captain.

England are looking to rebuild their white-ball teams following an awful 18-month period, which culminated in defeat in all three of their games at the Champions Trophy in February.

Opener Salt and all-rounder Livingstone are out of the ODI squad, with left-arm spinner Hartley back in an England party for the first time since the T20 World Cup last June. Jacks is also recalled after being omitted for the Champions Trophy and could open the batting.

Spin-bowling all-rounder Liam Dawson, a World Cup winner in 2019, is named in the T20 squad and is in line to play international cricket for the first time in three years.

Chosen with an eye on the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka in the early part of next year, the Hampshire man is rewarded for his consistent good form both in domestic cricket and overseas franchise leagues.

There is no place in either squad for Sam Curran or Reece Topley, two left-armers with central contracts and involved in the IPL.

While England’s path to the World Cup in 2027 is precarious, it is not as straightforward as they would like.

The top eight teams in the International Cricket Council rankings qualify directly for the tournament, or the top nine should co-hosts South Africa be in the top eight.

England are currently eighth after a dismal run in 50-over cricket.

West Indies are currently below them in ninth but would swap places with England if they win the upcoming series and win a three-match contest against Ireland beforehand.

England then do not play 50-over cricket again until September, by which time they could have dropped out of the top nine if Bangladesh win a series in Sri Lanka.

England would still have time to recover the situation, however, as the qualification cut-off for the places via the rankings is not until 2027.

Britain’s Jack Draper recovered from being “bamboozled” by Corentin Moutet in a lively match to reach the Italian Open quarter-finals.

Draper battled fatigue and the shot-making variety of his French opponent to come through 1-6 6-4 6-3 in just over two hours in Rome.

The 23-year-old looked lost in the first set but regrouped admirably, including keeping his composure after a brief drama over a video review.

Moutet called for the technology after he felt Draper hit the ball into the ground, but was unhappy with the angles he was shown.

Draper was awarded the point and showed excellent grit to take the set and ultimately the match.

“At one point I was looking at the slides I’d been doing – I was covering the whole court, I don’t know what was going on. I’ve got a dizziness from it,” world number five Draper told Sky Sports.

“I’m proud of my efforts today. I was a bit bamboozled in the start, I haven’t played someone like that ever.

“There’s no doubt I came out a bit all over the place today – but I’m in the quarter-finals now and there’s no time to be tired.”

It has been a superb season so far for Draper, claiming a maiden Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells, improving his fitness and finding another level of power behind his shots.

But he was the weaker player in the first set, capable of out-hitting Moutet but too often dragged out of position.

He hit 15 unforced errors to four from Moutet, who sealed the opening set with an emphatic ace.

Draper jogged to his chair at the end of the set to try and find some energy, often shouting “Jack, come on!” after an error and berating himself.

He steadied himself well after the video review, requested by Moutet at 4-3 in the second set. The video showed Draper had got his racquet head to the ball, with the frame causing the ball to bobble awkwardly and draw the error out of Moutet’s forehand in response.

Moutet briefly argued with the umpire and, perhaps distracted, played a poor next service game to be broken and allow Draper to serve for the set.

The Frenchman looked to have recovered when he broke Draper back to love, but Draper kept up the pressure and forced a deciding set on a long lob, with the Briton cupping his hand to his ear, urging more support.

Both served well in the third set but fatigue again played a part, with Moutet forced to take a medical timeout at 4-3 down after struggling with his thigh.

Draper promptly broke in the next game and then served out the match, closing it out with a well-timed serve and volley.

“I had a word with myself after the first set – I needed to really knuckle down and focus and I knew his level wasn’t really going to drop,” Draper added.

“I came out in the second set and fought for every point and found a way in the end to pick up my level.”

Earlier, British pair Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski advanced in the doubles, beating India’s Rohan Bopanna and Czech Adam Pavlasek 6-3 6-3 to reach the semi-finals.

Former Manchester United sporting director Dan Ashworth is set to be unveiled as the Football Association’s head of elite men’s and women’s development.

Ashworth left Manchester United in December having spent just five months at Old Trafford, after Ineos hired him from Newcastle United.

The 54-year-old was previously at the FA between 2012 and 2018 – in charge of England’s elite men’s and women’s teams as well as FA education and coaching.

Part of Ashworth’s new role will be to oversee the development of homegrown coaches.

Only two current permanent Premier League managers are English, and FA chief executive Mark Bullingham recently confirmed that changes are being made to address the issue.

As first reported by the Telegraph, John McDermott, the FA’s men’s technical director, is to remain in his position.

The FA has declined to comment.

In February, it was established through United’s accounts that hiring and firing Ashworth cost £4.1m, but the club have not said if there would be any reduction in that figure if he returned to the FA.

In an interview with BBC Sport earlier this year, Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe called hiring Ashworth “an error on our part”.

It was also revealed in February that Ashworth was working with Warwickshire County Cricket Club, advising on performance strategy.