Long-awaited County Championship restructure at risk of year’s delay
The long-awaited restructure of the County Championship could be delayed by another 12 months after a crucial meeting of club chairs broke up on Wednesday without resolution.With no consensus emerging following the summit at Lord’s, a planned vote on a proposal to cut the Championship to 13 matches next season has been put on hold, leaving the entire restructure in doubt.The counties agreed to cut the Twenty20 Blast from 14 matches to 12 earlier this season following recommendations of the players union, the Professional Cricketers’ Association, but their call to trim the Championship has proved more difficult to execute.Four proposed new structures from the current 10/8 divisional split had already been rejected before the meeting, when a convoluted compromise that would involve most counties playing 13 Championship games from next season also failed to win sufficient support.In the model discussed on Wednesday, a 12-team County Championship Division One would be split into two pools of six, with the remaining six clubs in Division Two.
At least 12 out of 18 counties must vote in favour to alter the structure of the Championship, which has led to a standoff.Surrey, Yorkshire, Middlesex, Essex and Somerset have publicly stated they will oppose any reduction to the 14-game season, while Derbyshire, Sussex and Kent are also yet to be convinced by the various alternatives offered to the status quo.The 10-strong advocates of a restructure are equally reluctant to back down, however, which led to more informal discussions between the counties on Wednesday over whether any of the previously rejected models can be revived.Those include three conferences of six, a single 18-team league with a Champions League-style Swiss-model fixture list, a midseason split similar to that of the Scottish Premier League, as well as several different variants of the current 10/8 divisional makeup.With 83% of players in a survey last year expressing concern over their physical wellbeing because of the volume of domestic cricket played, the PCA will continue to lobby hard for a cut.
The possibility of a players’ strike has been mooted by some of the unhappy county executives, although that dramatic course of action has yet to be discussed in any detail,Sign up to The SpinSubscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week’s actionafter newsletter promotionWith just three rounds of the County Championship this season remaining, beginning next week, the most likely outcome is a further delay with the vote taking place during the winter if an agreement cannot be reached before then,The PCA has not given up of persuading enough counties to change their position in time to for a positive vote this month, however,
‘We are hunting them’ – Breach urges England to be predators not prey against Australia
Jess Breach said England want to be “the predator” not other teams’ prey at the Rugby World Cup after she was named to win her 50th cap against Australia in the Red Roses’ final pool game.Australia need to beat the World Cup hosts on Saturday or pick up bonus point to secure a quarter-final spot; beyond that it will come down to points difference and on how the USA v Samoa game pans out.Messaging in the England camp this week has been about flipping the script to being viewed as the hunters.“We want to reverse it,” Breach said. “We know we get hunted by every team
Jannik Sinner outclasses Lorenzo Musetti to storm into US Open last four
Jannik Sinner continued his march toward a second consecutive US Open title on Wednesday night, dispatching the 10th-seeded Lorenzo Musetti 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in two hours flat in the first ever all-Italian men’s quarter-final at a grand slam tournament. The world No 1 and top seed in New York was tested only in flickers but proved unmovable, saving all seven break points he faced while converting five of his six opportunities. The result laid bare once again the gulf between Sinner’s metronomic consistency and the rest of the field, even when confronted with a compatriot armed with one of the most elegant backhands in the sport.Sinner burst from the gate, taking the first five games from an unsettled Musetti and pocketing the opening set in just 27 minutes. His depth and weight of shot locked his fellow Italian into defensive exchanges, and while Musetti produced stylish winners in spurts, they were outweighed by errors both unforced and otherwise
Naomi Osaka back in US Open semi-finals for first time since birth of daughter
Naomi Osaka is back to her resilient ways. On Wednesday night she turned back 11th-seeded Karolina Muchova for a 6-4, 7-6 quarter-final victory at Arthur Ashe Stadium in just under two hours’ time. The former world No 1, who is just two years removed from watching the tournament from the stands, now finds herself back in a major semi-final for the first time since giving birth to her daughter, Shai, and well on her way toward reprising her mantle as a women’s tour standard-bearer.The two-time US Open champion enters Thursday’s matchup against Wimbledon finalist Amanda Anisimova as the sentimental favorite. All four times that the Japanese has reached a grand slam quarter-final in her still-young career, she has gone on to win it all
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Guardian writers’ predicted position: 10th (NB: this is not necessarily Suzanne Wrack’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)Last season’s position: 11thSomething needed to change after a disastrous 2024-25 season but pinpointing what exactly went wrong is difficult. Under Robert Vilahamn Tottenham had reached a first FA Cup final and finished sixth in the WSL at the end of the 2023-24 campaign. The club felt like it was in a really strong place with confidence in the project sky high.Fast forward to May and Spurs were one off the bottom, their cup heroics a distant memory and there was lots of head scratching. It was inevitable that Vilahamn would depart and it was probably the correct decision given the lack of cohesion on the pitch and backward slide
Anisimova gains revenge for Wimbledon by beating Swiatek to make US Open last four
Amanda Anisimova conjured the performance of her career on Wednesday afternoon in New York, banishing the ghosts of her Wimbledon nightmare with a sensational 6-4, 6-3 quarter-final victory against second-seeded Iga Swiatek in 1hr 36min. Less than eight weeks after she had been double-bagelled by the Polish star in the final at the All England Club, the 24-year-old American struck back with fearless ball-striking and nerveless resolve to reach her first US Open semi-final.Swiatek, a six-time major champion and the 2022 US Open winner, looked intent on reprising the script when she broke immediately to extend her personal run to 13 consecutive games in the rivalry. But the eighth-seeded Anisimova struck back on her third break point, finishing with a thumping forehand overhead that drew a roar from the Arthur Ashe crowd and ensured this would bear no resemblance to the rout in July. “Honestly, when I wasn’t able to hold in that first game, I was really, like, OK, here we go,” Anisimova admitted afterwards
Djokovic unsure if he’ll be fit enough to beat Alcaraz in US Open semi-finals
Novak Djokovic has admitted he is unsure of how physically ready he will be for his US Open semi-final against Carlos Alcaraz but is determined to do all he can to give himself the best chance against the Spaniard when they face each other on Friday.Djokovic reached the last four late on Tuesday night with a tremendous 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 win against the fourth seed Taylor Fritz. Although Djokovic found himself under constant pressure in his service games and at times was outplayed by his American opponent, he showed his peerless mental toughness by saving his best level for the most important moments as he eked out a victory in four sets.The win set up another meeting with Alcaraz, the second seed and French Open champion, who eased into the semi-finals with a straight-sets win over Jiri Lehecka.“It’s not going to get easier
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