England recall Keaton Jennings and Ben Foakes for Sri Lanka tour

England have recalled opener Keaton Jennings and wicketkeeper-batsman Ben Foakes for next month's Sri Lanka tour.

Neither has played for England in a Test since the tour of the West Indies at the start of 2019.

James Anderson, England's leading Test wicket-taker, is omitted as he recovers from a cracked rib suffered in the 3-1 series win in South Africa.

Batsman Jonny Bairstow and all-rounder Moeen Ali will also miss the two-Test series, which starts on 19 March.

Jofra Archer had already been ruled out because of a low-grade stress fracture in his right elbow, but fellow fast bowler Mark Wood will make the trip.

Left-arm spinner Jack Leach came back to England from the tour of South Africa in January because of illness but returns to the squad of 16 players.

"The South Africa tour marked the emergence of a very exciting group of young players, creating a nice balance with an experienced core of senior players," said national selector Ed Smith.

https://www.extremesportsarcade.com/

Premier League reverts to longer summer transfer window

The Premier League’s summer transfer window will run until September 1 after top-flight clubs voted to bring themselves back in line with the rest of Europe.

For the previous two summers Premier League clubs have had to conclude their business before the start of the domestic season, which meant while European clubs could still recruit players from the Premier League until the end of August, no replacements could be brought in.


Liverpool chairman Tom Werner admitted that arrangement had “given an advantage” to the other European leagues and he welcomed the change, which was voted on at a Premier League shareholders’ meeting in London on Thursday.

This summer’s window, which closes at 5pm on September 1 with August 31 a Bank Holiday this year, promises to be an extremely busy one as clubs take advantage of the final opportunity to recruit on existing transfer rules, before the Brexit transition period concludes at the end of 2020.

From January 2021, new rules will be in place around the recruitment of players from the European Union, which are still to be determined by the football authorities.

It is understood title-holders Manchester City had initially been proponents of a ‘hybrid’ transfer window, whereby domestic transfers had to be done before the start of the season but the international window remained open until the end of August.

However, when it came down to a choice of retaining the status quo or extending the window for all transfers, it is understood City favoured the latter.

Manchester United did not comment on how they voted this time, but voted against the decision to bring the deadline forward in September 2017.

https://www.ladybend.com/

Tier 2 trapdoor may be triggered by score difference

Two rounds into the Allianz Football League, it already appears that points might not be sufficient to decide which teams from Divisions 2 and 3 are consigned to the second-tier championship this summer.

Left to right: Clare manager Colm Collins, Kildare boss Jack O
Left to right: Clare manager Colm Collins, Kildare boss Jack O'Connor and Cavan's Mickey Graham - all of whom have led to side's to one win and one loss in the opening rounds of the National Football League. Pictures: Sportsfile
The top six teams in Division 2 and top two in Division 3 will be rewarded with a place in the qualifiers, avoiding being pushed into the secondary championship for the 16 lowest-ranked teams.


Of course, the two relegated teams from Division 3 and the 14 others across Division 3 and 4 could yet earn a place in the backdoor system of the Sam Maguire Cup, should they reach their respective provincial championship final.

But with Cork drawn to face Kerry in a May 24 Munster semi-final and the winners of Armagh/Derry facing Donegal or Tyrone in the Ulster last four, the league would appear their best chance of full championship citizenship.

With all but Cork having dropped points across Division 2 and 3, the margins couldn’t be much tighter, and history would suggest they will remain that way up to the conclusion of the league next month.

https://www.ladybend.com/

Liam Sheedy: 'Antrim hurling a sleeping giant’

Liam Sheedy hopes Saturday’s game between Antrim and Tipperary to open Davitt Park on Belfast’s Falls Road can generate more promotion for Gaelic games in the city and county.

Gaelfast, the €1m five-year initiative to bolster the engagement levels with the GAA in Belfast and the county under the stewardship of Paul Donnelly, has already seen foundations laid across all communities in the city.

Sheedy’s association with Antrim stems back to 2017 when he assisted with their Celtic Challenge team.

That same year, he was approached by his fellow Hurling 2020 committee member Sambo McNaughton and Gary O’Kane who convinced him to help out McNaughton’s senior hurling backroom team in July 2017 and he remained a part of the set-up for the 2018 season.

His fellow Portroe man Darren Gleeson, who Sheedy brought in as goalkeeping coach in 2018, is now manager and Sheedy’s affection for the county is obvious.

“When I was up there I went into the social centre in Casement Park and when Darren and myself were in there they played ‘Slievenamon’.

“There’s a really good core of GAA people up there and it’s sad when you see what Casement Park has turned into over the last couple of years.

https://www.ladybend.com/

Real Madrid dumped out of Copa del Rey by Real Sociedad

Real Sociedad produced a shock 4-3 win at LaLiga leaders Real Madrid to reach the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey.

Midfielder Martin Odegaard – who is on a two-year loan at Sociedad – broke the deadlock against his parent club after 22 minutes.


Alexander Isak then scored twice in the space of two minutes early in the second half to leave the Santiago Bernabeu faithful stunned.

Marcelo pulled a goal back before Mikel Merino restored the visitors’ advantage. Vinicius saw a header ruled out by VAR, but Marcelo did make it 4-2.

Nacho set up a dramatic final few minutes of added time, but although defender Ander Gorosabel was sent off for a second caution, Sociedad closed out a famous victory.

Los Blancos coach Zinedine Zidane had opted for some seven changes from the side which beat rivals Atletico Madrid, but there was still no place in the squad for Wales forward Gareth Bale.

https://www.ladybend.com/

Sterling injury blow for Manchester City

Manchester City have confirmed that Raheem Sterling will miss Sunday’s Premier League clash with West Ham due to a hamstring injury.

However, there remains uncertainty over the extent of Sterling’s injury, which he sustained midway through his side’s Premier League defeat at Tottenham.

There are fears that Sterling could be ruled out for up to four weeks, which means he would miss the first leg of City’s Champions League last-16 tie against Real Madrid.

City tweeted: “Raheem Sterling will miss our game against West Ham this weekend after scans revealed he has suffered damage to his left hamstring. Everyone at City wishes @sterling7 a full and speedy recovery”.

Fortunately for City, Sterling’s injury coincides with their mid-season break, which begins after the Hammers game and lasts for almost two weeks.

City are due to travel to Leicester on February 22 before facing the Spanish giants at the Bernabeu Stadium four days later.

https://www.ladybend.com/

Premier League clubs vote for return to longer

Premier League clubs have voted to change the summer transfer window to bring it in line with the rest of Europe.

For the past two seasons, the window in England has closed the day before the top-flight campaign began.

In a statement, the Premier League said the deadline has been changed to the "traditional point at the end of August/early September".

The 2020 closing date will be 1 September at 17:00 BST.

The vote was taken at a Premier League shareholders' meeting in London on Thursday.

https://www.sportsnewsandpolitics.com/