Archive June 5, 2025

After Jacob Bethell made the squad for the first Test against India, England selector Luke Wright chose not to support incumbent number three Ollie Pope.

After missing out on a defeat to Zimbabwe while playing for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League, Bethell, 21, returns.

Ben Stokes, the Test team captain, said Bethell would make an immediate return to the starting lineup when she was available prior to the match. After vice-captain Pope completed a magnificent century at Trent Bridge, Stokes made clear that he was referring to Bethell joining the squad and that his earlier statements had been “twisted to fit an agenda.”

Wright said: “We’ll get together when we get up to Leeds and announce that two days out from the Test. Pope is still expected to retain his place at Headingley.

We’ll take into account everything, including the previous conditions. The melting pot contains all of those factors.

At the end of last year, left-hander Bethell batted at number three in New Zealand, scoring three half-centuries as Pope slipped down the order to take the wicket.

He impressed in his first one-day international against West Indies last week with 82 at Edgbaston despite choosing to miss the Zimbabwe Test to play in the IPL.

Wright speculated that Bethell would play in the opening Test, but he would be “very close.”

In reality, Bethell could pressure opener Zak Crawley or front-row spinner Shoaib Bashir to make the team, but Pope would have to be the winner.

Wright, a former England all-rounder, refrained from suggesting that Bethell’s position’s lack of clarity might uneasy the squad’s established members.

Before entering any game, everyone knows that there are always prizes to be won, Wright said. Nobody in international cricket, in my opinion, takes it for granted. That is the way it ought to be.

You desire a powerful squad. They are all accomplished professionals who are well-versed in the subject. What will the XI will be always subject to speculation. Before that first Test, I’m confident that the players will be fully aware of what is happening and how it will turn out.

Matthew Potts misses out on the Test squad, but Jamie Overton makes a comeback for the first time in three years.

While Potts had fallen behind Sam Cook in the role of Chris Woakes’ new-ball understudy, Wright explained that England wanted the choice of Overton’s extra pace.

Jofra Archer’s participation in Sussex’ County Championship game against Durham will start on June 22.

Due to a number of injuries, Archer has not played red-ball cricket for more than four years.

Without a thumb injury, he would have played for England Lions against India A on Friday in Northampton.

Leicester Tigers vs. Sale Sharks: Premiership Semi-final

Location: Mattioli Woods Welford Road Saturday, June 7 Kick-off: 15:30 BST

Sale center Rekeiti Ma’asi-White wants to clear up something before Saturday’s Premiership semi-final between the two teams.

His uncle did indeed give him a Leicester shirt when he was 11 years old. However, it’s not quite accurate to say he was a Tigers fan.

Because a young Ma’asi-White didn’t care much about the front badge or the number 12 at all.

He claims that Manu was a big fan. “I only supported Leicester because of Manu,” I thought.

He is of Samoan descent, and I am half Tongan, half English.

“I aspired to accomplish what he did,” he said. At the time, I was a forward. Thankfully, I made progress”!

It also included Tuilagi. Inspiration came from former All Black midfielders Malakai Fekitoa and Ma’a Nonu.

Tuilagi, however, was Ma’asi-White’s closest ally.

In the latter stages of his career, Ma’asi-White’s father Viliami, who represented Tonga at the 2003 Rugby World Cup, played with Manu’s brother Anitelea at Leeds. The two families shared a common goal.

When we lived in Leeds, Manu used to visit us for a little meal and conversation, says Ma’asi-White.

Ma’asi-White and fellow academy prospect Asher Opoku-Fordjour were both signed by Sale when Wasps went bankrupt in 2022. Tuilagi had previously moved to the north-west of Leicester for two years.

He claimed that I once resembled a rat. recalls their reunion with Ma’asi-White and recalls their backyard gatherings from a decade earlier.

“I did learn a lot from him after that,” he said.

However, Viliami is still his primary teacher.

Vili is now coaching Oundle, moving up to the fourth tier this year after playing into his forties.

Rekeiti, however, has a lot of impressive side projects.

Viliami will monitor every Sale training session from his Peterborough home.

Rekeiti receives a call with a list of things to do the morning before each game. He will have another chance to see if he has met those goals after that.

“It is technical, mental, and everything,” Ma’asi-White asserts.

He will say, “You are not running hard enough, you need to tackle harder,” and there is still more in you.

Ma’asi-White has dramatically improved.

The 22-year-old only made his first appearance for Sale in January, starting the season at Championship side Caldy on loan.

He helped the Sharks to a 33-7 victory under the pressure of George Ford and Rob du Preez, and he has been wearing the 12 shirt ever since.

In each of Sale’s last four games, Ma’asi-White has scored, demonstrating his ability to find gaps and knock down doors.

Last month, he received his first call into England’s senior squad.

At Welford Road, he will have a familiar face facing him. For a while, he and Joe Woodward served as England’s under-20 center partnership.

He has a good kicking game, good leg movement, and good distribution, according to Ma’asi-White, who described his former teammate as “a triple threat.”

We had some good times, and I believe we worked well together.

However, there will be only one celebration on Saturday.

Woodward and Leicester won last month at Welford Road, but Sale, who were up 10 points with 30 minutes to go, were able to reclaim the victory.

There has been a lot of discussion about Ma’asi-White saying, “We are not an 80-minutes team.”

We allowed them to play that second half, so there is a lot of discipline to be had going into this weekend in addition to minimizing penalty counts and using scrum and line out to extend the advantage throughout the entire game.

If they do, Sale will have a chance to win the Premiership.

Additionally, Ma’asi-White’s chances of facing England will increase.

He says going to Pennyhill Park for that two-day camp was thrilling and it was unique to witness all these big-time stars.

I decided to give it everything, so I decided to go with that. I was completely exhausted in the taxi home, and I had no energy.

“I have to take it step by step and do my best here, but my goal is to visit Argentina,” she said.

By 2029, the LTA has pledged to introduce equal prize money at both Queen’s and Eastbourne.

The total prize pool for the WTA event at Queen’s Club will be $1.415 million ($1.043 million), with the LTA voluntarily raising the standard prize money by a third.

However, that is not nearly as much as the men’s wage is for the week’s worth of competition at the same venue.

The ATP tournament will offer a total prize fund of 2.522 million euros (2.12 million dollars). The tour minimum prize money levels are set by the organizations.

The third-highest tier tournaments, after the Grand Slams and 1000 events, are held in the men’s and women’s categories, making them the “500” tier tournaments.

Over 80% of the tickets have been purchased for the women’s tournament, compared to the already sold out ATP event at Queen’s.

WTA week ticket sales are lower, which means the long-established men’s event will not be able to generate as much money as they did during the previous week.

The LTA claims that the summer events lost a total of £4 million last year because money spent on prize money cannot also be used to develop grassroots tennis in the UK.

Four years after the WTA’s deadline, the LTA has committed to introducing equal prize money by 2029.

While the WTA recommends that standalone events, which the Queen’s Week technically is, have until 2033, major combined events should have equal prize money by 2027.

In the week leading up to Wimbledon, both men and women will compete in Eastbourne, a combined “250” event.

The women’s prize money is $389, 000 (£286, 650) – making it the highest-paying tournament of that size on the tour this year – while the men will share 756, 875 euros (£637, 000).

This move is an important component of the LTA’s commitment to expanding women’s tennis, both at the professional and grassroots levels, according to LTA CEO Scott Lloyd.

Fans will have access to both men’s and women’s tennis on the biggest stages that we have this year.