Mitchell Starc hailed as ‘greatest lefty of all time’ after piling more Ashes pain on England

Michael Neser described Mitchell Starc as “the greatest lefty of all time” after the 35-year-old top-scored for Australia and then helped bowl his side to the verge of victory in the second Ashes Test.At stumps England were 134 for six in their second innings, 43 behind Australia’s first-innings total of 511. None of their partnerships lasting as long, or scoring as much, as Starc’s with his fellow bowler Scott Boland. They scored 75 off 164 balls, with Starc ending on 77.“He’s a special player

Why is Michael Jordan suing Nascar? The blockbuster antitrust trial, explained

The basketball legend says Nascar gives teams too little power with too much risk. His lawsuit could force historic changes to how one of America’s biggest sports is runMichael Jordan took the stand on Friday in his landmark antitrust fight against Nascar, a case that could reshape how one of America’s biggest sports is run. Jordan’s team, 23XI Racing, and Front Row Motorsports say Nascar holds so much control over everything, from the tracks to the money to the rulebook, that teams have no real bargaining power. Nascar denies that and says the lawsuit threatens to blow up a system that has held the sport together for decades.The case has already pulled blunt internal messages into public view and laid bare long-running frustrations between teams and Nascar leadership

Mitchell Starc’s bat-and-ball double whammy at dusk propels Australia into the light | Geoff Lemon

England endured their tormentor’s late batting stand and when tourists surrendered to 97 for three the bowler attackedIf you really squinted – perhaps with the aid of a 36-hour plane trip or a handful of 1970s anxiety medication – there was a time when you could have claimed England had pulled off a tactical masterstroke. When the looming threat of the day was Mitchell Starc bowling in the gloaming at around 6pm Brisbane time, perhaps the smart play was to let him bat in the hot sun for four hours first, tuckering him out so your openers could smash him.It may have been a calculation Starc also considered when wondering whether to throw the bat or to keep on grinding out runs. In the end, he valued more that each of them added to Australia’s lead. The team’s principal bowling weapon burnished his series contribution with 77 runs from 141 balls, 22 runs below his highest score and three deliveries below his longest

Archer’s pillow shot becomes awkward symbol of England’s Ashes nightmare I Simon Burnton

There are often single images that come to sum up entire Ashes series and frequently they have been taken when no cricket was being played. Andrew Flintoff consoling Brett Lee; Shane Warne’s balcony dance; the sprinkler; Ian Botham celebrating a miracle win at Headingley, Ben Stokes doing the same; and all the way back to the Oval pitch invasion in 1926.Maybe this year’s has been taken, with England’s campaign in danger of being summed up by the footage of Jofra Archer arriving here on Saturday clutching a pillow. The day Archer imagined and the one Australia subjected England to turned out to be very different.With the home side six down overnight, the notoriously chilled bowler presumably thought he would help his side swiftly steamroller the lower order and spend the rest of the day being laid back, while his teammates assembled a match-winning lead

Australia close on victory against England: Ashes second Test, day three – as it happened

Here’s some post-match reaction for you, as Michael Neser described Mitchell Starc as “the greatest lefty of all time” after the latter’s heroics with bat and ball against England at the Gabba.Ali Martin has filed his report from the Gabba, so I’ll leave you with that. There are also pieces from Simon Burnton and Geoff Lemon to soak up after the day’s play. Thanks as always for your company and emails. Ta-ra!Even by his standards, Scott Boland’s control of line and length is the final session was extraordinary

Sun setting on England’s Ashes dream as Australia close on second Test triumph

“Any chance of getting a refund on the next three, boys?” bellowed a man in canary yellow shirt towards a group of England fans. They do love to stick it to the old country in this part of the world, albeit this exchange occurred early on day three of the second Test.The worst, it transpired, was still to come. Pushed into an interrogation under lights by Mitchell Starc’s stone-cold 141-ball 77 from No 9, England collapsed under questioning – the kind of late session implosion that means the Ashes urn is unlikely to be changing hands this year.Even the word unlikely is a nod to the fact that in nearly 150 years of Test cricket a 2-0 deficit has been overcome once; that it still remains mathematically possible