Nepal v West Indies (in UAE) 2025
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Daily Mirror
5 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Match of the Day icon tells BBC to create new channel to avoid losing top sports events
The BBC is going through a new chapter after Gary Lineker left his role at Match of the Day following 25 years and former host Des Lynam feels the corporation must show "courage" and make changes Former Match of the Day host Des Lynam has urged the BBC to launch a new pay-per-vew channel that could rival the likes of Sky Sports and TNT Sports. The 82-year-old presented the iconic BBC football highlights show for more than a decade between 1988 and 1999 before Gary Lineker took over. The BBC still has coveted rights to air competitions like the World Cup, Euros, FA Cup and Wimbledon, but they are under mounting pressure from rival TV channels and Lynam believes they might have to put their biggest competitions behind a paywall. He told the Telegraph: "If they are to compete as serious contenders for big-time sport, they will have to form a separate sports channel and that means pay-per-view. They have the brand. "The only way to compete is to find the money to do so. Unless the BBC is content to cover only minor sports they will have to get out into the marketplace. "To do this, the kind of money involved means the funding must come from a source other than the licence fee and that means pay-per-view." Lynam said the BBC needed to have "courage" to do something different if they wanted to keep hold of their greatest assets. "If there is someone at the corporation who agrees with me and has the courage to fight for that cause I mentioned, get ready to summon up the blood, disguise fair nature and prepare for the incoming rage." It comes after a report earlier this month that the BBC are facing a fight to hang onto their Wimbledon rights, which they have owned for the last 90 years. The corporation currently pay the All England Club around £60m a year to cover the Grand Slam, but their current rights expire in 2027. TNT and Sky are both reportedly interested in pouncing for the next batch of rights, according to the Sun. It is claimed that the Wimbledon rights are seen as the "crown jewels" for the BBC, but while it must be aired for free on TV in the UK, it does not have to be exclusively shown on one particular channel. The BBC are in the midst of a new era after Gary Lineker stepped down from presenting Match of the Day, with hosting duties set to be shared by Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan for the start of the 2025-26 season. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
New Zealand spinner Sodhi relishing T20 powerplay challenge
July 25 (Reuters) - Ish Sodhi is enjoying the challenge of bowling in the powerplay overs in Twenty20 Internationals, the New Zealand spinner said after registering a career-best 4-12 against Zimbabwe in the ongoing tri-series in Harare on Thursday. The 32-year-old became the second New Zealand bowler, after Tim Southee (164), to claim 150 wickets in T20 Internationals as his team registered their fourth consecutive win in a tournament also involving South Africa. "Well, that's pretty nice to be able to achieve that milestone and contribute to the win," player of the match Sodhi said afterwards. Sodhi claimed three of his four wickets in the first six powerplay overs when batters tend to take advantage of fewer fielders outside the circle and bat aggressively. "It's quite a new role for me," the leg-spinner said. "I had not bowled in the powerplays a lot. This is a really strong New Zealand side nowadays, so to try and get into the side, you have to learn to be able to bowl in the powerplay. "Getting some wickets is quite pleasing. It shows, I suppose, that I can do it and it's something I want to keep doing." New Zealand will take on South Africa in Saturday's final in Harare. They will stay back for a two-test series against hosts Zimbabwe. Batting all-rounder Michael Bracewell will replace the injured Glenn Phillips for the first test in Bulawayo, New Zealand Cricket said on Friday. "Glenn's injury provided a gap in the Test squad and Michael is the closest like-for-like replacement," said New Zealand coach Rob Walter. "Michael's experience and skillset will be a great asset and allows us to keep the same balance of the team. "Given he's here with the T20 squad and his availability aligned for the first test, we're using the opportunity to include him in the squad." Phillips was ruled out of the Zimbabwe tour with a groin injury suffered in the Major League Cricket in the United States earlier this month.
Daily Mail
11 hours ago
- Daily Mail
JONATHAN BROCKLEBANK: Glasgow hosted a glorious Games - but bringing them back now feels like a terrible mistake
A kind of magic typically descends on Scotland when it hosts world sporting events. I am a veteran of several Open championships at St Andrews and, at each one, I've fallen under the spell. Seve Ballesteros holing his 12ft putt on the 18th to clinch the title in1984? I was greenside, watching the ball hesitate on the lip of the cup and then finally drop, prompting ecstasy from the Spaniard. He later described it as happiest moment of his life. It was one of the most unforgettable in mine. Some moaned about the road closures but it's the magic I remember about the UCI Cycling World Championships when they hit Glasgow two summers ago. In the 160mile men's road race Dutch cyclist Mathieu van der Poel hurtled into a crash barrier in the Merchant City after opening up a commanding lead. 'Someone call an ambulance' was my first thought. His first one was getting back on his damaged bike and hanging on for victory. Bewitching viewing. So were the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow 11 years ago. I was among the 60,000 at the opening ceremony at Celtic Park – a delightfully bonkers spectacle of dancing tea cakes and Scottie dogs in tartan coats leading out the teams from each participating nation. The late Queen was there; the Red Arrows too. Rod Stewart and Amy Macdonald duetted on Rhythm of My Heart together. Susan Boyle, bless her, did Mull of Kintyre. I was too caught in the moment to consider how all this was playing elsewhere, but I gather a UK audience of nine million tuned in for the BBC's coverage, while the estimated worldwide audience was one billion. On the streets of Glasgow the games were inescapable. A volunteer army of more than 12,000 helpers – known as Clyde-siders – saw to that. Fine by me. In a few weeks it would be the independence referendum that was inescapable. Here was a welcome chance for the city to stand as one before facing the sorry task of dividing itself in two. I struggle to think of a single occasion in the past when Scotland has not been enriched by the arrival of elite sports men and women on its shores. Why then, does the return of the Commonwealth Games to Glasgow next summer feel like a terrible mistake? Why does it bring groans rather than tingles of anticipation? And why does the same sense of listlessness seem to afflict the BBC which, last time around, cleared its schedules for such unpromising spectacles as weightlifting from the Armadillo and bowling from Kelvingrove Park? A year out from the Games, the Beeb has not yet committed to showing anything at all. And, I'm sorry to say, I kind of get it. In 2014 the athletics were hosted by Hampden Park, our national stadium. Twelve years later they are heading for Scotstoun stadium which, even with added temporary seating, will have a quarter of Hampden's capacity. There will be just 10 core sports and a total of four venues. In 2014 there were 17 sports and 16 venues. Yes, these are a scaled down version of the Games, everyone involved has readily admitted ever since Glasgow contrived to find itself the only candidate for staging them – but they will still be magic. Really? They are beginning to sound like a school sports day. I wonder if attending them won't feel rather like showing up for a wake and swapping wistful memories of the deceased. Remember 2014 when the world's fastest man Usain Bolt stood in the rain in the east end and – allegedly – delivered the verdict that whole shebang was 'a bit sh*t'? How fervently we took issue at the time. Sure, it may have lacked the wallop of the Olympics or the World Cup Finals but it was a sporting feast nonetheless. Our stadiums were filled. Our hearts were full, our voices hoarse. This time around? I cannot imagine being in any position to disagree with the sprinter's original assessment. You may remember that the Australian state of Victoria was slated to host the 2026 Games until it pulled out in July 2023. State premier Daniel Andrews – a republican – said he was not prepared to spend up to £3.6 billion on a '12 day sporting event'. 'I've made a lot of difficult decisions in this job,' he added: 'This is not one of them.' The 2022 Games were held in Birmingham after Durban in South Africa – the only bidder for the event – was ruled out due to financial constraints. The 2030 Games? They were supposed to be heading for Alberta in Canada but, a month after Victoria ditched plans to host next year's games, Alberta got its cancellation in early for following edition. Are we getting a pattern here? Is every Commonwealth country but Britain waking up to the fact the games are past their sell-by date? I'm lukewarm at best about the return of the Games not only because, by financial necessity, they will be a pale imitation of the 2014 version. It's also the fact no-one else on the planet wanted them. Victoria was prepared to hand over £100 million to Glasgow just to be shot of them. How deafening the silence from potential hosts when Mr Andrews delivered his bombshell in 2023. All around, great Commonwealth nations sitting on their hands, avoiding gazes, waiting for some muggins UK city to blink. As a sports lover, it depresses me to say it, but I wish Glasgow had sat on its hands too. If these games are to survive – and I doubt they will – then the least they require is a level of desire among nations beyond our shores to host them. That's a big ask in the 21st century. Don't forget this is an event which began life in 1930 as the British Empire Games and did not drop the word 'empire' from its name until 1970. Queen Elizabeth II may not have seen it this way – she treasured the Commonwealth – but the competing nations in this quadrennial fixture owe their right to participate to history which not all of their populations now celebrate. It's because of this history that Canadian athletes compete but USA ones do not, that practically the whole of Europe is a no show. Here in the UK our attachment to the Games is, I suspect, of a different nature to that of other Commonwealth nations – and not simply because we are the daddy. We enjoy the fact that England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland compete as separate nations rather than Team GB as they do in the Olympics. For those of a Nationalist, republican bent, it may be the one thing the Games have going for them. But I wonder if the time has come for us to worry less about keeping the Games on life support and focus more on their reputation outside the UK. Are they a thing of value or a diplomatic chore? Do top-flight athletes in Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Jamaica still see them as relevant to their careers or might they have come round to Mr Bolt's way of thinking? I don't say it should be the latter but, if it is, it's time to let go.
