Category Sports News

Australia are yet to make a decision on Pat Cummins’ participation in the Ashes, amid reports their captain could miss the series.

Local media reported on Wednesday the 32-year-old will miss the first Test in Perth on 21 November and is doubtful for the whole series as fresh scans showed his back stress problem had not yet healed.

However, the Australia camp has indicated Cummins remains in rehabilitation and no call has been made on his status for the first Test.

Cummins was ruled out of Australia’s white-ball series against New Zealand and India last month after scans revealed a lumbar bone stress in his back.

The Australian said he would be “aggressive” and “take risks” in his rehabilitation in order to make the series.

Cummins has a history of back injuries, with flare-ups in 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2015-16 causing him to miss three Australian summers in four years.

In 2018, he suffered a recurrence that ruled him out of the Indian Premier League in April and an October tour of Pakistan, although he has stayed relatively free of injury since then.

Should Cummins miss out, he will be replaced by pace bowler Scott Boland in Australia’s attack, while Steve Smith would likely skipper the side.

Australia have held the urn since 2018, while England are without a win Down Under since 2011.

England have their own doubts over captain Ben Stokes, who has been troubled with a shoulder injury since the Test series against India.

It’s hard to overplay what a huge blow it would be to Australia if Pat Cummins misses some or all of the Ashes, similar to England being without Ben Stokes.

Cummins leads from the front in every sense. It was the skipper who got Australia over the line in the thrilling first Test at Edgbaston in 2023, when England seemed on course for victory.

From a captaincy point of view, Steve Smith stepping up to lead would not be a problem – he is arguably a better tactician than Cummins. Scott Boland waits as the reserve seamer and has a prolific record in Australia, but Cummins is one of the premier fast bowlers in the world.

Indeed, the topic of fast bowling will dominate the build-up to the series. England have named their most hostile group of pace bowlers to tour Australia since 1970 and will keep everything crossed that the bowlers can arrive fit and firing. Australia are now sweating over Cummins.

If Cummins is out, Australia’s resources are suddenly looking thin. Josh Hazlewood has his own recent fitness problems and the rapid Lance Morris is out for a year. The uncapped Brendan Doggett would possibly be in line for a call-up, while the likes of Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson and Sean Abbott could come into contention.

It is worth remembering England have their own doubts over Stokes, who has not completed any of their past four series.

Cummins’ injury concerns heading into this winter’s Ashes could be a case of a career about to come full circle – but not in the way Australia’s captain will have wanted.

He made his debut as an 18-year-old in 2011 against South Africa, becoming the second-youngest player in the world to take a five-wicket haul in an innings at that time, despite sustaining a heel injury during the match.

But his explosive debut proved to be something of a false dawn. Cummins had to wait another six years to make his second Test appearance as a young body failed to withstand the load of fast bowling, suffering repeated stress fractures to his lower back.

Fast-forward 14 years to the upcoming winter of 2025 and back problems have once again resurfaced, albeit this time as “lumbar bone stress” rather than a fracture. He has not bowled a ball since July.

If back injuries have plagued Cummins’ Test career, periods of fitness have been filled with ebullient excellence as a thoroughbred quick.

The 32-year-old, who was made Test captain in the wake of Tim Paine’s resignation shortly before the 2021-22 Ashes, has taken 309 Test wickets at an average of 22.10.

He is even more formidable in Australia, taking 177 wickets at 19.92, while he’s also taken 91 wickets against England in just 19 matches.

In the most recent Ashes series in 2023, Cummins played in all five Tests, one of only two bowlers to do so along with Stuart Broad, taking 18 wickets.

A talismanic leader, Cummins enjoyed a glorious 2023 as captain, taking six wickets in the triumphant World Test Championship final and starring in the 50-over World Cup final victory in Ahmedabad – both against India.

He is the only captain in Test history to win the World Test Championship, World Cup and an Ashes series.

The fingerless gloves are ON! The Celebrity Traitors is coming to BBC iPlayer and BBC One from Wednesday, 8 October (21:00 BST).

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend’s new role with Red Bull is an unwelcome distraction heading into a crucial period for the national team, according to former Scotland Sevens captain Colin Gregor.

Townsend will spend 30 days a year working on Red Bull’s global rugby strategy in a non-executive position. Newcastle are the only rugby club in their portfolio.

Having spent eight years with Scotland, Townsend recently signed a new deal that will take him through the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia, a move that was met with a mixed response from Scotland fans.

“Gregor’s almost on a seesaw – he’s in favour, he’s out of favour.

Scotland take on the United States, New Zealand, Argentina and Tonga at Murrayfield in the Autumn Nations Series, with the first fixture against the Americans in a little over three weeks.

Colin Gregor believes the timing of the announcement of Townsend’s dual role is problematic.

“I’m intrigued as to how it came about,” said the former Glasgow Warriors half-back.

“Did Gregor go to Scottish Rugby and say, ‘I’ve been approached about this’? Did Red Bull go to Scottish Rugby, and then from a Scottish Rugby perspective, if they said no, what are they losing really?

“Potentially this wealth of knowledge and expertise from high performance, but they’ve just overhauled their whole performance department to bring that into Scottish Rugby. So how come they need to access more of that?

“You just think actually you’re losing some of the focus of your head coach and only a month or so before it’s autumn internationals and into Six Nations, the busy period for Scotland’s head coach.

American fans at the Ryder Cup “probably crossed the line” with their abuse of the European team, says the USA’s Collin Morikawa.

Europe’s victory in New York last month came amid torrents of verbal abuse from the home crowd.

Rory McIlroy was the main target of the abuse, while his wife Erica was hit by a drinks cup thrown from the stands.

The Northern Irishman described some of the behaviour as “unacceptable”.

Europe won 15-13 to claim their first Ryder Cup triumph on American soil since 2012.

Before the tournament 28-year-old Morikawa, a two-time major winner, called on fans to “create absolute chaos”.

He said this week: “Ryder Cups are meant to have a lot of energy and me saying the word ‘chaos’, I didn’t mean for them to be rude.

“That’s not on me, I believe, to take credit for people being rude.”

Morikawa’s team-mate Xander Schauffele said “unsavoury things” were said on the course.

“I really wish we could have played better to have them cheer for us a bit more,” said Schauffele.

“New York’s a tough place to play for anyone. I even got a few comments to play better.”

American great Tom Watson, who captained the US at the 1993 and 2014 Ryder Cups, said last month that he was “ashamed” of the unruly scenes.

There were over 5,000 visible gambling advertisements during a recent Premier League match despite a ban that was expected to result in a reduction, researchers found.

New analysis from the University of Bristol revealed there were 5,262 instances of gambling advertising during coverage of Manchester City’s 4-0 win over Wolves on 16 August.

Of the advertising messages on show, some 91% were visible during live play, with only 9% coming in pre-match and post-match coverage, making it the fixture with the highest number of visible in-play gambling ads since the research was first conducted in 2023.

A 2019 agreement by gambling companies for a self-regulated ‘whistle-to-whistle ban’ means TV betting adverts are not shown between five minutes before kick-off and five minutes after full-time.

But the ‘ban’ ends at 9pm and does not cover other forms of visible advertising such as shirt sponsorships, pitchside hoardings and logos on stadium structures, which have all increased in recent years.

“This level of gambling advertising during the Premier League’s first weekend is frankly astonishing,” said Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP, chair of the Gambling Reform All Party Parliamentary Group.

“The industry claimed it was taking steps to self-regulate and reduce advertising, but yet again they have not kept to their word. The whistle-to-whistle ban is far too limited and is ineffective.”

Overall, there were 27,440 gambling messages measured across the entire opening weekend, a slight decrease from last year but still more than triple the tally from 2023.

The total is found by adding together every individual instance of gambling messaging from live match coverage, plus output on TalkSport, Sky Sports News and some social media channels.

There have been growing calls for a ban on gambling advertising, akin to the 2002 ban on tobacco promotion, and in 2023 the Gambling Commission recommended the government should limit the amount and frequency of gambling ads promoted within elite sports venues.

Lord Foster of Bath, chair of Peers for Gambling Reform, said: “The government must simply step in to reduce people’s and particularly children’s exposure to gambling advertising that we know can lead to harm. The government has all the powers it needs to protect people and it must do so now.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport told the BBC: “The government recognises that more work needs to be done to ensure that gambling advertising is appropriate, responsible, and does not exacerbate harm.

“We are consulting a wide range of evidence to inform our next steps in this space and working with industry to further raise standards.”

The University of Bristol’s analysis said there were 2,412 advertising messages for 13 gambling companies with no licence to operate in the UK.

A number of Premier League clubs are sponsored by gambling companies who offer no services in the UK, instead using the competition’s global popularity to target customers in other territories, most often China.

But advertising for companies operating in other territories can still act as a trigger to bet for people in the UK, if the name and logo is recognisable as gambling promotion.

Last week, the Gambling Commission’s annual survey estimated up to 1.4 million adults in the UK have a gambling problem.

“The Premier League is now so saturated with gambling marketing that brands are fighting each other for every inch of advertising space,” said Dr Raffaello Rossi, part of the research team.

“The evidence is now overwhelming – self-regulation has failed. Voluntary codes are protecting profits, not fans.”

Premier League clubs have pledged to introduce a ban on front-of-shirt gambling sponsorships from next season onwards, but some are concerned the move is leading to a shift in the ways gambling companies choose to advertise in football, rather than a reduction.

2026 World Cup qualifiers: Northern Ireland v Slovakia; Northern Ireland v Germany

Venue: Windsor Park, Belfast Dates: Friday, 10 October & Monday, 13 October Kick-off: 19:45 BST

BBC Sport NI pundit Stuart Dallas won 62 Northern Ireland caps and played for Crusaders, Brentford and Leeds United.

It is the biggest game for Northern Ireland in years.

Slovakia have had a great start to their campaign with two wins, and that is what makes Friday’s qualifier so huge.

People will naturally look to the Germany game, and both matches are big in their own right, but given what is at stake on Friday you cannot look past those 90 minutes.

At the start of the campaign you would have expected Germany to run off into the distance, but Slovakia’s win over the Germans in the opening game changed the landscape.

Given how things have started, if Northern Ireland can win on Friday and give Germany a game on Monday then the race for top spot in the group is blown wide open.

It will be a tough test for Northern Ireland but it is a good opportunity to go and show that they are more than capable of competing at this level.

A full house at Windsor Park will have the stadium rocking and I fully expect Northern Ireland to give a good account of themselves.

The last time Slovakia came to Windsor Park almost five years ago they ended our dreams of reaching Euro 2020.

Fans will feel like we owe them something given the heartbreak of that defeat, but that narrative isn’t there with this group of players.

There has been such a youthfulness in Michael O’Neill’s squad that I don’t think memories of that game will be a factor.

Slovakia have grown as a nation over the last number of years and have competed in major tournaments. That’s where Northern Ireland want to get to, and there’s no reason they can’t get there.

Nobody would have expected Slovakia to beat Germany, but that shows the level they are at. It will be a tough game, but at home it is a fantastic opportunity to make a statement.

Michael is building something really special. We don’t want to put too much pressure on this squad but hopefully they can go and get a result.

This group is young but they are growing together, and you can see that in Michael’s approach to leadership.

Michael isn’t in any rush to name an outright captain and he’s shared it around a number of players such as Trai Hume, Conor Bradley, Shea Charles and Paddy McNair.

I agree with that approach and he’s asking questions of each individual, and getting responsibility from players who can all bring something a bit different. He is giving different players responsibilities and that can really help the group overall.

When I was at Leeds United, although we had a club captain we had a leadership group which worked really well because everyone brings their own ideas and experiences, which help in different ways.

Each player has different leadership skills. For some that is leading on the pitch, and for others it’s away from it or the experience they bring.

Michael had full-time captains in the past with Steven Davis and Jonny Evans, but this group is different and it’s a good thing for them.

I’ve been fortunate to have played at Windsor Park when it is full and the place is rocking.

The fans at Windsor Park will have a big role to play and they can be a driving force.

They urge you on that last bit and that will be vital for this young squad in the key moments as they don’t have a huge amount of experience in the biggest games.

They can help give you the belief that you can go and achieve a big result. Michael will be aware of that as well, and the fans also realise that he is building a special team.

It is a huge game, and they now have a chance to go and lay down a marker for the rest of the campaign.