Tribe’s Lions heroics fuel Glamorgan’s belief on return to Championship elite

The daffodils were in suitable bloom in Cardiff, swathes of them, creeping from under the trees in Bute Park, yolky heads bobbing in the spring sunshine. A few hundred metres up the road, Glamorgan’s players were gathering at Sophia Gardens before their biggest season in years, back in Division One of the County Championship for the first time since 2005.Their campaign last year was a slow burner but blossomed, a close-knit side playing confidently. Alongside a thousand runs each from Colin Ingram and Kiran Carlson were eye-catching performances from two talented then 21-year-olds, Ben Kellaway and Asa Tribe, who went on to be picked for the Lions tours in the winter. In their shellacking by Australia A in the unofficial Test, Tribe hit an unbeaten 129, which was enough to get him a namecheck from the England managing director, Rob Key, in pre-season media musings – the only non-capped player to be mentioned

MCC rules out rescuing crisis club Middlesex after Gatting’s damning letter

The MCC has ruled out buying or investing in Middlesex as their ­tenants at Lord’s begin another ­season in a state of crisis.A group of distinguished former players, led by the ex-England captain Mike Gatting, has called on the chair, ­Richard Sykes, to stand down because of poor performances on the field and longstanding financial and governance problems, with an open letter claiming that Middlesex are “­drifting towards irrelevance.”As Middlesex’s landlords since 1877 with annual revenues of around £70m an MCC takeover has long been mooted as a potential solution to the club’s problems, but it will not happen under their present leadership.While MCC remain committed to extending Middlesex’s lease at Lord’s and will provide further help where possible, there are no plans to offer them direct financial assistance or become more involved in the running of the club, as there is no business case to do so.The MCC’s membership ­secretary, Mahdi Choudhury, was seconded to Middlesex as interim chief ­operating officer this year after the ­sus­pension of the club’s chief executive, Andrew Cornish, but he will return to his employers this month

The Spin | ‘It keeps you young’: England Over-70s bask in glory of Ashes and World Cup wins

Late-age cricket leagues are growing fast and the national Over-70s thrived on their winter southern hemisphere tour“You could compare and contrast if you so desired,” says the England Over-70s manager, Chris Lowe, offering the straightest of bats to my shameless prod. “You’re the journalist, so you probably will.” It would be professional negligence not to so let us duly look at the fate that befell Brendon McCullum’s England team over the winter, alongside that of their Over-70s counterparts, whose itinerary bore a startling resemblance to their junior brethren.For both it began in Australia where Ben Stokes’s side succumbed to a bruising 4-1 Ashes defeat, weeks before the Over-70s swept to a 3-0 triumph in the wonderfully named Silver Ashes.Under pressure to keep his job, McCullum then reconvened his troops for the T20 World Cup, where their involvement ended at the semi-final stage against India, the eventual winners

Can Congress stop the ‘straight greed’ of US sports teams leaving their cities?

WWE star CM Punk called it “straight greed”. Illinois governor JB Pritzker called it a “slap in the face”. An overwhelming majority of fans say they will hold a grudge.This cacophony of disgust has been prompted by the real possibility that the Chicago Bears could relocate to Hammond, Indiana. The Bears’ owners bought a site in Arlington Heights, Illinois, for a new stadium, but negotiations over property taxes have stalled construction

ECB accused of allowing non-disabled players to take place of disabled cricketers in top domestic league

The England and Wales Cricket Board has been accused of allowing non‑disabled players to participate in its Disability Premier League, blocking the pathway to international cricket.The parents of Jai Charan and Alex Jervis – both former England players who have diagnosed learning disabilities – say their sons have been replaced in the DPL by players who do not meet the disability criteria under the ECB’s assessment process.The DPL is intended as the top of the pathway to the England Mixed Disability team but another parent, who requested to remain anonymous, estimates that 12 out of 64 players selected in the December draft are non-disabled.The ECB is a signatory to Virtus, the international sports federation for athletes with an intellectual impairment, meaning all players wanting to play internationally under the LD (learning disability) category must show they have an IQ of 75 or lower.Owen Jervis, who is also the volunteer manager of Yorkshire’s disability team, alleges the ECB has allowed several neurodiverse players to participate in the DPL, despite not meeting the criteria in the LD assessment process, carried out by an educational psychologist

From the Pocket: Voss has had every chance to succeed but Carlton backed the wrong coach

Michael Voss often speaks about standards and habits. Right now, the Carlton coach’s team are habitual dwindlers. It’s on the whiteboard of every opposition coach. It’s in the marrow of every Blues player and supporter. And it goes back a long way