Billy Searle’s last-ditch penalty seals poignant Leicester win against Bath

Leicester-Bath this may have been, the great rivalry of English rugby, courtesy of their pre-eminence either side of the turn of the millennium, but there was as much for rugby connoisseurs to savour at half-time on the Welford Road turf as there was during the actual match. Martin Johnson led a phalanx of Leicester old boys in honour of Lewis Moody, who has announced his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.“Today’s game was a great advert for how we get behind our own,” said Geoff Parling, Leicester’s head coach. “Not just Lewis, but Ed Slater too. I was at Newcastle when Doddie [Weir] was there

Australia selector confident Pat Cummins will play major part in Ashes

Australia’s chair of selectors is confident that Pat Cummins will play in the Ashes series against England. The 32-year-old has not bowled since Australia’s 3-0 series defeat of West Indies in July because of a stress injury in his back. Cummins had admitted he was unlikely to play in the Ashes opener in Perth on 21 November.However, George Bailey said: “We know time is getting short and there’s permutations around that, not just around the back, but other factors as well. It’s positive

Curran and rain to England’s rescue against New Zealand in T20 opener

Even before the rain fell, the start of England’s winter had become something of a damp squib. On a cool Christchurch evening their batters had been surprised by movement off the seam – “You don’t expect that in white-ball cricket, so when it does do a little bit it’s almost a shock,” said Harry Brook – and becalmed by the spin of Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell. They duly wobbled their way to 81 for five before Sam Curran seemed to rescue them and then the weather definitively did.Only two batters scored more than 20, with the dismissal of Jos Buttler for 29, the former captain becoming the fifth man to fall, concluding a feeble start to the innings before Curran’s 49 improved their outlook.“He’s a very valuable player to us now with bat, ball and in the field,” said Brook

New Zealand v England: first men’s T20 cricket international hit by rain – as it happened

That’s it from us today, a washout to start the series but plenty more cricket in store over the coming days, weeks and months. Thanks for tuning in, goodbye.The Captains have a quick word:Harry Brook: “The pitch did a little bit to start with. Matt Henry, especially, made the most of the surface. We obviously want to adapt to the situation and the surface but with the depth of batting we’ve got, we can go hard all the way through

Unbeaten England eye place in semis but results have masked woeful batting | Raf Nicholson

England find themselves in a curious position at the halfway point of their World Cup campaign as they prepare to face the hosts, India, on Sunday. They are unbeaten, sit third in the points table, and – partly because India have already lost twice – have a 98% chance of qualifying for the semi-finals. One more win would seal their progress to the knockouts.Yet their batting has been woeful. With the honourable exception of Nat Sciver-Brunt, England’s top seven have looked desperately lacking in the technique and temperament that is required on tricky batting tracks at Guwahati and Colombo