Cost of children’s sport rises in Australia as voucher programs fail to budge participation

Parents of young cricketers, footballers and basketball players are now paying more than $500 a year on average for their children to play, plus more on equipment, according to a national survey highlighting Australia’s most expensive codes, as state governments pledge hundreds of millions of dollars to ensure sport is not just for the wealthy.But new research from the University of Sydney has found subsidising families’ sporting costs through the use of government vouchers alone is not enough, after two prominent recent examples – including a high profile New South Wales scheme – failed to increase sport participation at scale.This evidence comes as the Queensland government expands its voucher scheme, now costing taxpayers $62.5m a year, and similar programs have been in place in every state.At the same time, the increasing price of children’s sport has been highlighted by cost breakdowns in the government’s AusPlay survey, released again in 2025 after a year’s break due to a change in methodology

England are right to stick with a settled top six – Bethell should follow the Lara model | Mark Ramprakash

There always seems to be one man under pressure in England’s batting lineup and consensus over the winter seemed to be that Jacob Bethell’s emergence had put Ollie Pope’s place at risk. Pope has clung on to his place for the start of the India series and my view is that Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum should be very careful before they mess with what is probably the most settled top six of any Test side in the world at the moment.There was speculation about Pope and Zak Crawley before they scored centuries in last month’s game against Zimbabwe, but that performance should have secured their spots for this series at least.Bethell is a huge talent and some really top cricketers have spoken very highly about his performances and potential – clearly his time will come. He was impressive in New Zealand over the winter and since then we’ve seen exhilarating glimpses of his ability in shorter formats

Hail the Prince: Shubman Gill’s India captaincy a prophecy fulfilled but Test doubts remain

After a run of greats at the helm, the tourists’ early promotion of their new leader is an intriguing choice to steady a listing shipShubman Gill was a pretty laid-back character when he played for Glamorgan three summers ago. So laid back, in fact, that early on during his time there he parked the brand new Volvo the club had arranged for him and apparently left the keys in the ignition. Sure enough, after training, he returned to find it had been pinched.Cue panic in the finance department at Sophia Gardens, calls to the insurers and the like. But at least his new teammates had material for some lighthearted mickey-taking

Wallabies name squad for Fiji Test as James O’Connor misses out ahead of Lions series

Veteran fly half James O’Connor has been overlooked for the Wallabies’ first Test of the year against Fiji next month, all but ruling him of out of British & Irish Lions series.Coach Joe Schmidt has preferred Noah Lolesio, Ben Donaldson and Tom Lynagh to the 34-year-old O’Connor, who moved to the Crusaders this season and is set to play off the bench in the Super Rugby Pacific final against the the Chiefs on Saturday.Schmidt said O’Connor’s skill set and versatility were attractive, and his experience could have been important for “player-to-player coaching”, but he wanted to stick with the three younger pivots.“We’ve invested in three guys in that [No.] 10 spot, and we felt trying to balance things up, we’re going to keep investing in those guys,” he said

Lakers to be sold to Dodgers owner at $10bn valuation, per reports

The Buss family is entering an agreement to sell a majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers at a $10bn valuation, ESPN reported on Wednesday, marking the end of an era for one of the NBA’s most influential families.Mark Walter, the CEO and chair of holding company TWG Global, is set to take the majority ownership under the agreement, ESPN’s NBA insider Shams Charania said in a post on X. Walter was already a minority owner in the Lakers and is also primary owner and chair of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball, and the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA.The Lakers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The late Jerry Buss bought the Lakers in 1979 and turned it into one of the most popular and valuable franchises in all of professional sports, winning five championships during their now-iconic “Showtime” era in the 1980s

Marcus Smith at full-back against Argentina as Lions aim to ‘set tone’ for tour

Maro Itoje will captain the British & Irish Lions for the first time against Argentina in Dublin on Friday after the head coach, Andy Farrell, included him and eight other Englishmen in the starting XV for the warm-up match for the upcoming tour of Australia.England’s other starters include Marcus Smith at full‑back along with Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith at half‑backs. Ireland’s Tadhg ­Furlong will be given the chance to prove his fitness after struggling with a calf injury that ruled him out of Leinster’s United Rugby ­Championship final win against the Bulls last weekend. Furlong is included on a bench that also features the hooker Ronan ­Kelleher, the only player to be involved against Argentina six days after taking part in the end-of-season finale.Farrell’s injury list looks like being clear by next week – it will most likely be clouded somewhat by the final whistle against the Pumas – but for now it is a good place to be