The Pakistan Super League is considering postponing the remainder of its season amid the ongoing tensions between Pakistan and India.
BBC Sport understands the PSL is looking at all options, including halting the tournament for a number of weeks, moving it to a single city or outside the country.
Pakistan says 31 people have been killed and 57 injured by air strikes in the country and Pakistan-administered Kashmir since Wednesday morning as India responds to a deadly militant attack on Indian tourists in Kashmir last month.
James Vince, Chris Jordan, Tom Curran, David Willey, Sam Billings, Luke Wood and Tom Kohler-Cadmore are the English players involved in the PSL, while there are also English coaches at various franchises.
Thursday’s match between Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi Kings, due to be held in Rawalpindi, was postponed after Pakistan’s military said Indian drones were destroyed in various Pakistan cities.
A Pakistan Cricket Board official told BBC Sport one drone misfired and led to an explosion in the street behind the stadium in Rawalpindi. The BBC has been unable to verify these claims.
PSL organisers remain keen for the tournament, which has eight fixtures outstanding, to be completed, but the safety of players remains their priority.
A senior Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official told BBC Sport: “If Rawalpindi is not safe, Lahore and Karachi are not safe because drones also attacked there. Any city of Pakistan is not safe because the drones have targeted smaller cities of Pakistan”.
The seven English players have held separate discussions over whether to return to the UK, with a split in opinion over whether to remain.
They held talks with the Professional Cricketers ‘ Association (PCA) on Wednesday to discuss the situation. It is understood feelings among those in Pakistan were mixed.
Other leading overseas names in the PSL include Australian David Warner (Karachi Kings) and former West Indies captain Jason Holder (Islamabad United).
The UK foreign office currently advises against all but essential travel within five miles of the international border between Pakistan and India.
The Indian Premier League match between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals began as planned in Dharamsala on Thursday, but was called off after 10.1 overs after the floodlights went out.
Sunday’s match between the Kings and Mumbai Indians has been moved from Dharamsala to Ahmedabad.
Dharamsala is in the state of Himachal Pradesh, which borders Kashmir, and flights were cancelled to its airport on Wednesday, making it difficult for Mumbai Indians to travel.
“The venue change has been necessitated due to logistical challenges”, India’s cricket board (BCCI) said in a statement.
Twenty-six civilians were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir last month and India has accused Pakistan of supporting militants behind the attack – an allegation the neighbouring country has rejected.
Scotland slumped to a disappointing 97-run defeat by the United Arab Emirates, damaging their faltering defence of the World Cup League 2 crown.
The Scots made heavy weather of a three-wicket win over the same opponents on Sunday and on this occasion were comprehensively beaten by the lowest-ranked team in the tournament.
UAE captain Rahul Chopra made his first one day international century (101) to help steer his side to 296-6.
Opener Aryansh Sharma contributed 56 and Muhammad Waseem (41) added some late fireworks with his skipper, who made the most of his escape from a big lbw claim on 30.
Scotland’s response was lacklustre, losing a succession of batters to poor shots.
George Munsey was out for 43 in the 19th opener shortly after the departure of fellow opener Charlie Tear (27).
Richie Berrington and Finlay McCreath threatened to drag Scotland back into the contest but fell in quick succession for 32 and 33 respectively.
That left them on 164-5 at the end of the 35th over and from there the challenge quickly fizzled out as Simranjeet Singh finished with four wickets and Aayan Khan claimed three.
“Credit to UAE,” Berrington told ICC.TV. “It wasn’t our best day. At this level, you need to be a lot more consistent.”
It is just a third win from 14 competition outings for UAE, while Scotland sit mid-table with seven victories from their 13 matches.
White smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel on Thursday, signalling that cardinals locked inside have elected a new leader for the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
Thousands of pilgrims and curious onlookers in St Peter’s Square cheered and applauded as the smoke appeared and bells began to ring, indicating the 2,000-year-old institution has its 267th pope.
All eyes now turn to the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, to see who has been elected to succeed Pope Francis, an Argentine reformer who died last month after 12 years as leader of the worldwide Church.
The new pontiff will be introduced in Latin with his chosen papal name and address the world for the first time.
He faces a momentous task: as well as asserting his moral voice on a conflict-torn global stage, he faces burning Church issues from the continued fall-out from the sexual abuse scandal to the Vatican’s troubled balance sheets.
Some 133 “Princes of the Church” from five continents — the largest conclave ever — began voting on Wednesday afternoon.
Sworn to secrecy, on pain of excommunication, their only means of communicating their progress to the outside world was by sending up smoke through the chimney of the Sistine Chapel.
On Wednesday evening and then again on Thursday lunchtime, the smoke was black, emitting disappointed sighs from the tens of thousands watching.
But on Thursday afternoon just after 6pm (1600 GMT) the smoke emitted was white, confirming that the Catholic Church has a new spiritual leader.
By tradition, he now enters the Room of Tears — where freshly-elected popes give free rein to their emotions — to don a papal cassock for the first time, before returning to the Sistine Chapel so the cardinals can pledge their obedience.
Manchester United manager Marc Skinner says the inaugural Women’s World Sevens tournament will be “utter carnage and fun”.
United are one of eight teams taking part in the new seven-aside competition which takes place in Estoril, Portugal, from 21-23 May.
They are joined in the tournament – which has a prize money pool of $5m (£3.76m) – by Manchester City, Ajax, Benfica, Roma, Paris St-Germain, Rosengard and Bayern Munich.
Skinner said: “It’s tactically going to be crazy, which I think is what we want – we want carnage. It will make everyone laugh and it is entertaining.
“We listened to our players on this. If they didn’t want to go, we genuinely wouldn’t put our name in it.
“The ones that don’t want to – there’s three or four players who have pulled out for their own personal reasons – will still get any prize money if we win.”
Matches will have 15-minute halves, with extra time deciding tie-breakers, and an infinite number of substitutions are allowed throughout.
Skinner says United are in a pot with Benfica, Roma and PSG and the top two teams of that group will progress to the semi-finals.
Should they win the tournament, the prize money will be partly distributed among players in the squad, as well as being used by the club to recruit new signings.
It is significantly more than the 1.4m euros (£1.2m) this year’s Women’s Champions League winners could earn on 24 May.
“It’s a reason why we entered,” added Skinner. “For our team, where we don’t have Chelsea, Arsenal or Manchester City’s budget, it’s huge if we’re going to be successful.
‘I would love to play in it’ – Le Tissier
Skinner says United have not received any backlash from national team coaches who are preparing squads for Euro 2025.
The World Sevens takes place six weeks before the start of the Euros, which begins on 2 July, but international players are likely to be involved.
Asked if she wanted to play, England defender Maya Le Tissier said: “If the gaffer picks me, I will. I would love to play in it! It’s just a bit of fun.”
Norway striker Elisabeth Terland told BBC Sport: “It all fitted in perfectly after the season and after the FA Cup final.
“As a group, we love spending time together. That’s the biggest reason as to why we wanted to do it. Having a few days near Lisbon, playing some football, will be cool.”
England manager Sarina Wiegman said in March it would “not be too bad” as it could help players remain sharp at the end of the season.
“Well if you see now in the calendar for this summer, there is a gap – a gap with no football where players can have a little bit of rest,” she added.
“At the same time, players need to keep going because you want to be at your best for the Euros. There is a gap of no competitive games for a month.
BBC Radio 2 host Zoe Ball – who has returned to the radio station for a new Saturday afternoon show – will host VE Day 80: A Celebration to Remember for the BBC tonight
Zoe Ball will be fronting coverage of VE Day 80 celebrations for the BBC this evening(Image: Getty Images)
Presenter Zoe Ball will be back on TV later tonight as the 80th anniversary celebrations for VE Day continue. She will follow in the footsteps of Sophie Raworth who led the BBC’s coverage of the special occasion earlier this week.
Zoe, 54, will front VE Day 80: A Celebration to Remember from 8pm until 10.10pm on BBC One this evening. It will showcase a concert from Horse Guards Parade in London and has been described as the “finale” of the celebrations.
Her involvement with the special comes after she returned to BBC Radio 2 just days ago to launch her new Saturday afternoon show. Zoe had hosted the station’s weekday breakfast show for six years before leaving in December. She had announced her departure weeks prior after an extended absence last summer, which came following the death of her late mother Julia Peckham in April last year.
Ahead of her return to TV tonight, there’s been renewed interest in Zoe’s life off-screen. There’s been no update on her dating life, with her thought to be single, but the Mirror has now taken a look back at her previous relationships.
Fatboy Slim
Zoe Ball (left) was once married to Norman Cook (right) and they have remained close since separating(Image: Getty Images)
Zoe had a high-profile relationship with musician Norman Cook, now 61 – better known as Fatboy Slim – after meeting whilst both in Ibiza in 1998. The presenter was out there hosting BBC Radio 1’s breakfast show from the island.
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She got married to the DJ the following year and their son Woody Cook, now 24, was born in 2000. The couple then briefly split in 2003 after she had an affair. She told the Mirror in 2012: “It was a mix of everything. I wasn’t happy.”
Zoe reflected: “[We] met in Ibiza and lived this crazy, party life and got married within a year. Then we had Woody and suddenly I was all settled down. I thought ‘do know each other?’ […] Reality hit me hard when we started a family.”
She ended up reconciling with Norman though and their youngest child Nelly Cook, now 15, was then born in 2010. Six years later, the couple however announced back in 2016 that they had decided to separate after 18 years together.
The exes have remained on good terms over the years. As previously reported, Zoe told Red magazine in 2020: “[Norman] is such a good friend and a good guy. It’s not always been easy and it’s taken time. He’s been through a lot, I’ve been through a lot, but now we’re in a great place as parents together.”
Zoe and Norman were said to be spending “more time” together last year following the loss of her mother. A source told OK! magazine in September: “Zoe has really struggled these past few months as she copes with the loss of her mum and just lots of changes in her life. And despite them splitting up, Norman is the one person she can still rely on and he has been her rock, as he always is.”
Speaking to the Mirror recently, their son Woody dismissed any suggestion of a rekindled romance though. Asked how his family are doing, he said: “It’s pretty good, for a half-estranged family unit. Not a lot of turmoil at the moment. We are very excited, the four of us. Not that we are actually ‘a family’. They are still very much not together. As much as the papers keep trying to insinuate they’re back together. Just to clarify that!”
Billy Yates
Zoe later had a relationship with the late Billy Yates, who died in 2017(Image: Instagram)
Following the end of her long-term relationship with her ex Norman, radio host Zoe began a romance with camera operator Billy Yates in 2017. The pair are said to have been friends for years before their relationship developed.
Billy was said to have given Zoe a “new lease on life”. Just months into their romance though, it was announced that he had died, aged 40. It was later reported that Billy had taken his own life and Zoe’s paid tribute in the years since.
Remembering him on Desert Island Discs in 2020, she said: “He had lived with depression for a huge chunk of his life. It’s so hard to sit and watch someone you love and care for struggle with mental health.” She shared: “Losing him was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with in my life.”
Zoe continued: “I think something that’s really important to share [is] that there is hope. There is help available, there are ways, we’re still learning. For some people, the drugs work. For some people that isn’t the case. But I think it’s so isolating to be trapped in your mind like that, where you doubt yourself, you doubt everything you’ve ever known. You doubt your family love you. You doubt that your friends care for you.”
She added: “I don’t want people to remember him for how he died. I want people to remember Billy for how he lived his life. He was so full of love. He would help anyone in need. He was always there for all his friends. He brought so much [into our lives]. He loved to dance and he loved to laugh.”
Just days ago, she reflected on the loss on the anniversary of his death. Alongside a photo of her late partner, she wrote on Instagram: “8 years forever in our hearts Billface #mateswithyates.” She included emojis of a rose, stars and a heart.
Michael Reed
More recently, she had a relationship with Michael Reed, though they reportedly split in 2023(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
Zoe is said to have begun dating model Michael Reed towards the end of 2017. A source told the Sun in December that year: “She has had a tough time of it this year so deserves some happiness. It is early days with Michael but Zoe seems quite taken with him.”
Two years later, there was speculation that they had split up though the couple are now thought to have remained together after then. It was subsequently reported four years later that they had ended their relationship in 2023.
A source told the Sun two years ago: “Zoe is gutted.” They went on to say: “[They] started spending a lot less time together, went away on separate holidays and drifted apart. Now it seems the relationship has finally run its course.”
If you’re struggling and need to talk, the Samaritans operate a free helpline open 24/7 on 116 123. Alternatively, you can email jo@samaritans.org or visit their site to find your local branch.
