Lancashire batter Harris signs new deal
Lancashire batter Marcus Harris has signed a new deal to remain with the club until the end of the 2027 season.The 32-year-old Australia international initially signed as an overseas player for this summer's County Championship and One-Day Cup competitions.Harris has had an impressive start to 2025 despite the county's winless season so far and is the leading scorer in the County Championship, with 825 runs and an average of 63."I have loved the start of my time with Lancashire and I am really pleased to extend my contract at Old Trafford by a further two years," he said., external"It was a great honour to be asked to lead the Red Rose in four-day cricket and I hope that I can continue to make positive contributions, both with the bat and as a leader on the field."The start to this season hasn't been what we all would have wanted, but we are determined to put things right in the County Championship when we next take to the field at the end of June."Harris, who has played 14 Tests for Australia, joined having previously played county cricket with Leicestershire and Gloucestershire.His impressive form this term has seen him score three centuries and three half-centuries this season and his contract extension comes after head coach Dale Benkenstein left by mutual consent earlier this week.
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The Guardian
27 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Rachel Reeves must rethink how tax and spend decisions are made after welfare U-turn
There are many lessons for Labour's bruised leadership from last week's embarrassing U-turn on welfare cuts, but one is surely that how – and when – fiscal policy is set is not working. Binary fiscal rules, a slim margin for error (less than £10bn), and the Office for Budget Responsibility's twice-yearly forecasts, have combined to turn tax and spending decisions into a grim spectator sport. City analysts are constantly second-guessing exactly how Rachel Reeves's hand will be forced next. As the Bank of England governor, Andrew Bailey, put it last week, before the benefits climbdown, 'having the financial markets marking fiscal policy to market on a daily basis is not a good state of affairs'. The chancellor promised to hold only one budget a year, at which tax changes would be announced: a decision aimed at demonstrating stability and strength. However, the Treasury began signalling during the bond market panic in January that she was prepared to use her spring statement to make spending cuts, if higher interest costs set her on course to break her fiscal rules. Some wise heads argued at the time against the idea of hastily drawing up cuts, tailored to close whatever gap the OBR identified in five years' time – the period over which the rules are assessed. As the former Bank deputy governor Charlie Bean put it: 'I think we want to get away from this idea that we continually have to be neurotically changing taxes and spending to try to control this OBR forecast so that it's hitting our target.' In his understated way, Bailey effectively agreed with that this week, arguing: 'There is a danger in overinterpreting a five-year-ahead forecast.' They are right: one result is hasty policy changes driven by cost-cutting targets (although the Treasury lays part of the blame on the Department for Work and Pensions for, it claims, dragging its heels over the reform package). Another consequence is that the debate over economic policy ends up being reduced to a desiccated row over tax and spend. That is especially depressing, given that the contours of an economic strategy are starting to emerge more clearly, a year into Labour's term. The focus last week was meant to be the 'modern industrial strategy' – a hefty document that set out a new approach to nurturing eight strategic sectors, including clean tech, advanced manufacturing and the creative industries. There was much to praise – a senior figure at one business lobby group joked that they would struggle to know what to campaign on next, as so many of their long-running asks had been met. Unions were gratified at the focus on creating jobs and funding additional training – and the promise of workforce strategies for sectors experiencing skills shortages. The government's pragmatic trade strategy, also published last week, was another victim of the overwhelming focus on the welfare row. All this was lost in the Westminster drama of defending the cobbled-together cuts and then negotiating the concessions that already looked inevitable when Reeves insisted on Monday that there would be 'no U-turn'. Her team now have two unenviable tasks ahead of them. First, they will have to start work on a possible package of tax increases to announce in the autumn. As her aides are keen to point out, she could yet strike lucky: growth could bounce back; inflation could ease more rapidly than expected, freeing the Bank of England to crack on with rate cuts; and gilt yields could slide. Treasury officials will be pushing hard over the summer to try to convince the OBR to take into account the growth-friendly nature of some of the government's policies, perhaps nudging forecasts in the right direction. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion However, the majority of independent experts currently believe it is more likely than not that the OBR will downgrade its expectations of productivity – and therefore growth – setting Reeves on course to breach her fiscal rules, even without the £4bn-plus cost of the policy swerves on winter fuel and disability benefits. Reeves could ditch those fiscal rules, of course – but that would be sticking two fingers up at flighty financial markets. Tweaking the rules to allow herself more leeway seems less unthinkable, given how many times previous chancellors rewrote their own rules – but she would have to proceed with caution. While they deny that they are poring over a menu of potential tax rises (although they surely must be), Reeves's allies privately concede that they are thinking about how to avoid another debilitating annual cycle of fevered speculation about fiscal policy. Here they have a number of options, some of which were set out by the International Monetary Fund in its recent report on the UK economy. One is just to build up a bigger buffer against the fiscal forecasts, of course, to reduce the constant sense of jeopardy – but that would probably require an even bigger tax grab. Another would be to commission only one OBR forecast a year instead of two – dodging the spring iteration that prompted the scramble for welfare cuts. This possibility alarms the Treasury, with its echoes of Liz Truss, who saw the OBR as part of the 'anti-growth coalition' and paid the price in the bond markets. A sensible halfway house might be to continue to commission two forecasts but treat the spring one – given there is no budget alongside it – simply as a useful waymarker, for what the chancellor might have to consider in the autumn. Whatever emerges from this rethink, it must allow Reeves to be more flexible in the face of changing economic circumstances because the framework she so carefully constructed to project strength has instead trapped Labour into decisions that ultimately proved untenable.
Telegraph
40 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Lions tours need needle, not niceties: Bring on the Aussie baiting
The stadium announcer at the Optus Stadium did such a good job of pointing out some of the Lions' players alternate nationalities that one can only hope he receives the same gig for the Test series. 'And now introducing your 100 per cent pure-bred Wallabies. On the wing, there is Wimbledon-born but now magically Australian, Harry Potter. Introducing our centre, its Samoan-born, New Zealand-raised, capped by the Samoan Under-20s, Hunter Paisami. At fly-half there is another Kiwi in Noah Lolesio. Starting in the second row, it's another one born in New Zealand, of Samoan descent, who has spent most of his life in Europe, it's our big fella Will Skelton … and at prop, it's the Tongan Thor now an Aussie by residency, Taniela Tupou.' You see, that dual nationality thing cuts both ways and David Campese's description of the tourists as the 'British and Irish and Pacific Island Lions' applies far more to the Wallabies than it does to Andy Farrell's squad. Indeed, Australia's resident rent-a-quote might want to look at who instituted the project player system in Ireland which brought in players such as Bundee Aki, James Lowe and Jamison Gibson-Park, a certain J Schmidt. Really, the only countries who can legitimately mount a high horse about foreign-born players are from South America. Nearly everywhere else, the lines of what can be considered 'native', as Willie John McBride crudely termed it, have been blurred by the modern trends of global migration. People of multicultural backgrounds do not always fit into neat pigeonholes. Does Marcus Smith not have the right to represent the Lions because he was born in Manila to an English father and Filipina mother? Or if he does then surely Mack Hansen, who has an Australian father and Irish mother, must also qualify? If not, then where do you draw the line? Passport? Schooling? Accent? These are decisions that go far beyond Farrell's remit as Lions head coach and if you speak to the wonderfully entertaining Pierre Schoeman, or the engaging Sione Tuipulotu, you will be absolutely convinced of their legitimate passion to represent the Lions. Nor is this a particularly new development. Go back a century and you will find Tom Richards and Blair Swannell having represented both the Lions and Australia. Both war heroes are now honoured with man-of-the-match medals during this tour. Still, the subject of the Lions' mixed nationalities was low-hanging fruit that the stadium announcer in Perth was absolutely entitled to go for, likely a juicy full toss pitched up across the bridge at the Waca. Tuipulotu took no grave offence and almost seemed hurt that the Aussie sledging was not of a higher standard. This is standard fare for a Lions tour. Four years ago, Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus injected a poison into the series with his character assassination of referee Nic Berry that turned the tour toxic. Understandably, Farrell and Schmidt want to avoid a similar scenario and have resolved to be the picture of politeness towards one an other's sides, with Schmidt already rowing back on his own 'southern hemisphere centre partnership' comment about Tuipulotu and Aki. 'I'm conscious of (making provocative comments), and I'm conscious that other coaches do it, but I don't anticipate it happening in this Lions tour,' Schmidt told the Sydney Morning Herald last week. 'Faz and I have had a few conversations about how we'd like the narrative of the tour to be a celebration of rugby. I think for Australian rugby, we need that.' Balls to that. Lions tours need needle rather than niceties. The rancour is almost as famous as the rugby, from the '99' call in 1974 to 1989's Battle of Ballymore or the 2005 spear tackle of Brian O'Driscoll. The insults from Austin Healey's fateful description of Justin Harrison as a 'plank' or Warren Gatland getting the clown treatment in 2017 are as iconic as many of the tries from those series. Not everyone will have enjoyed Henry Pollock's in-your-face-celebrations following Elliot Daly's first try which prompted a minor kerfuffle, but Farrell will be delighted by the fact that the first person who rushed to his defence was Joe McCarthy. The distinctly non-glitzy McCarthy could not seem further removed from the Northampton flanker's personality, but this is precisely how bonds are formed on a Lions tour. Undoubtedly when Force flanker Nick Champion de Crespigny reports back to Wallabies camp, the target on Pollock's back will have grown further, one of about a dozen intriguing individual subplots going into this series. A rematch of Ellis Genge v Tupou from the 2022 England tour has pay-per-view potential. So too the super-heavyweight match-up between Skelton and McCarthy, while Carlo Tizzano has definitely kept the receipt of his last meeting with Tom Curry. This is all before we get to the even more fascinating master v apprentice coaching battle between Schmidt and Farrell. So bring on the sledging and the s---housery, the Lions are more than ready to deal with better barbs than what was thrown Tuipulotu's way. Lions laugh off nationalities jibes Lions centre Tuipulotu laughed off Western Force's jibes about being born Down Under, declaring the Australians need to up their sledging game. Before the Lions' first game on Australian soil, the stadium announcer at the Optus Stadium singled out the tourists' foreign-born players, including Tuipulotu, for particular attention when reading out the team sheet. 'Our former Aussie at No 14, Mack Hansen 'Another Aussie at No 12, Sione Tuipulotu 'At No 11, it's the Kiwi now Irishman, James Lowe. 'At prop, the former SA schoolboy now Scotsman, Pierre Schoeman.' The Lions were apparently unaware of these jibes being made in real time, but when the comments were relayed to Tuipulotu, who was born in Melbourne but qualifies for Scotland on account of his grandmother, he seemed genuinely amused rather than hurt. 'I knew there would be some 'good humour' coming back home to Australia,' Tuipulotu said. 'These are all things we've got to take in our stride. To not announce the elephant in the room, I am from Australia. I was born here. I don't know how funny that gag is to everyone! 'I'm loving my rugby playing for the Lions and I'm really passionate about it. Andy's brought the group together so well and to play under a coach like him, I can see why Ireland have been so successful in the past because I feel like the way he's bringing this group together, we're headed in the right direction.' Tuipulotu is the only player to have delivered back-to-back 80-minute games and looked far more comfortable playing alongside Garry Ringrose at his preferred inside-centre slot. 'I love it, I'm starting to get my feet back underneath me,' Tuipulotu said. 'Obviously I haven't played Test rugby since the autumn so I'm getting my feet back underneath me. I still feel like I've got massive growth during this tour, but I'm getting my feet back underneath me and I know I can start playing my best rugby towards the big games at the end of this tour. 'Yeah, I loved (playing with Ringrose). Geez mate, he's a missile out there, isn't he? He backs himself to make those reads and geez, he left a few sore bodies out there including himself. What a player and I really enjoyed playing with him and I also enjoyed when Shaggy came off the bench and got some valuable minutes after being out for a while now. We're linking quite nicely and we've just got to keep building towards the Test.'
The Sun
42 minutes ago
- The Sun
Jonathan Rowe's remarkable rise from Wembley mascot and horror injury to becoming England's hero at U21 Euros
JONATHAN ROWE has gone from England mascot to Three Lions hero. He thought he had already lived the dream aged nine. 9 9 9 9 9 9 Rowe not only accompanied David Luiz out in front of a packed Wembley, but he got to watch Frank Lampard secure England a 2-1 victory over Brazil. He called that day in 2013, also his first time visiting Wembley, his favourite memory supporting England. Fast-forward 12 years later and it's the now 22-year-old who is the matchwinner after his extra-time header downed Germany. Back then the forward was playing for AFC Wembley, but his first big break came when Norwich snapped him up in 2014. But life was tough. Rowe, just 11, was struggling to juggle a three-hour daily commute from London to East Anglia as well as looking after his ill mother and helping to bring up his sister. It didn't get any easier. He was blighted by injuries over the following years as he battled Osgood-Schlatter disease - a common cause of knee pain. Though not even all of that can stop our boy Rowe. In 2021, his first-team debut for the Canaries arrived and in the 2023/24 campaign he enjoyed his breakthrough. Rowe scored 13 goals as Norwich reached the Championship play-off semi-finals. That caught the eye of French giants Marseille, and he was soon waving 'Au Revoir' to Carrow Road for a new adventure on the French Riviera for £17million. England 3 Germany 2- Young Lions retain Euro U21s crown in THRILLER as supersub Jonathan Rowe wins it in extra-time But with a fresh chapter comes new challenges - and Rowe admits he's struggled. He started just six of his 22 Ligue 1 appearances. But the move away for Rowe has again come with challenges. He started just six league games last season, with 22 more appearances coming from the bench and he admits he worried whether that would cost him a place in Lee Carsley's squad for this tournament in Slovakia. Rowe, who will have Marseille new boy and fellow England U21 star CJ Egan-Riley as a team-mate next term, said: 'There were times where I thought there is a lot of talent and a lot of competition, healthy competition. "But I always back myself. I had to make sure I was here and I think I showed tonight why. 'The last camp before this I wasn't picked for it and it's those type of things that kind of get to you sometimes. 'You have got to look at the bigger picture and make sure that you prove yourself again and I fortunately got to do that. 'I got in the squad and I'm so glad I could help the team win this trophy once again.' 9 9 9
