‘Am I allowed to hold it?’: behind the seams of the MCG’s Shane Warne exhibition

Pivotal items from the legendary leg-spinner’s career, including the ball of the century, make up the exhibit“I feel like a medieval pilgrim being ushered into a chapel to behold some holy relics,” whispers Tom Holland as we head deeper into the bowels of the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The historian and The Rest Is History Podcast co-host, his wife, Sadie, and producer Dom are getting an exclusive look at some of the items that make up the new Shane Warne “Treasures of a Legend” exhibition soon to be unveiled at the Australian Sports Museum inside the famous ground. I’m lucky enough to be tagging along.Jed Smith, the genial manager of the museum, is giving us Pom pioneers the sneak peek. Money can’t buy this access, but a global juggernaut of a podcast seemingly can

Australia mull over spin question as Todd Murphy enters mix with plenty to play for

It would really be something. A Victorian spin bowler – one from St Kilda Cricket Club, no less – walking out on Boxing Day to play an Ashes Test in the shadow of the Shane Warne Stand at the MCG. Todd Murphy is not much like Warne in most respects: quiet, modest, thoughtful, bespectacled, a student of the even tempered practice of off-spin bowling rather than the lavish excess of leg-spin. But still. The links that do exist are too appealing to ignore

Venus Williams marries actor and model Andrea Preti in Palm Beach ceremony

Venus Williams married actor and model Andrea Preti over the weekend, the tennis great announced Tuesday on social media.Williams, 45, and Preti were married in Palm Beach, Florida, following a five-day celebration that included family and close friends. The couple also held a non-official ceremony in Italy earlier this year.Preti is a Danish-born Italian actor and model, according to IMDb. The couple met during Milan Fashion Week in 2024 and became engaged in January 2025

Koepka’s departure is a blow for LIV but also raises questions for PGA Tour | Ewan Murray

It was portrayed as amicable when it felt so inevitable. News that Brooks Koepka will step away from LIV Golf in 2026 comes as no shock. This never felt a particularly sensible alliance; an individual who craves glory at the top level and a disruption regime that has grasped for relevance with only varying degrees of success.Koepka has looked unhappy in his professional domain for some time. He has all but admitted he would never have joined LIV but for fears over a potentially career-threatening injury

The Spin | Women’s cricket team of the year: from Jemimah Rodrigues to Alana King

The Spin’s annual selection marks a history-making World Cup triumph for India, and work to do for EnglandIndia’s mission to build a global women’s cricket dynasty advanced apace in 2025. Few will forget the sight of Harmanpreet Kaur’s team converging joyously on the field at the DY Patil Stadium to celebrate a fairytale World Cup win that was five decades in the making.That final was the highlight of a year that included only one Test match – the Ashes affair at Melbourne at the end of January. As ever, therefore, the Spin’s team of the year is cross-format, though we gave substantial weight to performances at crunch moments in the aforementioned World Cup.And if anyone is wondering why there are only two England players in this team, you must have forgotten how 2025 started

Stokes calls for ‘empathy’ for England players and pledges support for Duckett

Ben Stokes has called for the public and the media to show “empathy” towards his embattled England players. It comes as their Ashes campaign threatens to fully unravel in response to a guaranteed series defeat and allegations of excessive drinking during a mid-tour break in Noosa.Sitting 3-0 down going into the Boxing Day Test, England have been hit by reports that their downtime in between the defeats in Brisbane and Adelaide was akin to a “stag do”. The emergence of footage appearing to show Ben Duckett drunk and slurring his words on a night out has heightened things.The video, taken by an English traveller called “Sam” and posted on social media, has not cost Duckett his place albeit England have made changes to their XI for the fourth Test