Anuj Dal: Derbyshire all-rounder signs new one-year contract

Jessica Ennis-Hill has been advising England’s squad on how to deal with expectation after being invited to talk at their Brighton training camp.The London 2012 heptathlon gold medallist took part in a Q&A organised by Maro Itoje and George Furbank to assist Eddie Jones’ team in their Six Nations title quest.“She was obviously an outstanding athlete and it’s a great story with the resilience she showed and the expectation she had to cope with,” Jones said.“I embarrassed myself at the start by calling her the wrong name. It’s a bit embarrassing for the team that their head coach is such...

Paul Collingwood believes Chris Jordan is the “perfect” Twenty20 cricketer but admits England’s shortcomings while bowling at the back end of innings have been highlighted recently.Jordan is renowned as one of the world’s best fielders and his batting in the first two T20s against the West Indies has been a fillip in the Caribbean, although he has seemed to go off the boil while bowling at the death.For so long England’s go-to as the game reaches a crescendo, Jordan was pummelled by Jimmy Neesham in England’s T20 World Cup loss against New Zealand in November, leaking 23 in the over...

Yorkshire could discover next week if their right to stage international matches at Headingley will be restored.The county had lucrative matches scheduled for this summer removed from them by the England and Wales Cricket Board last November over their handling of an investigation into allegations of racial harassment and bullying by former player Azeem Rafiq.Members of Yorkshire’s leadership team, including new chair Lord Kamlesh Patel, will make a presentation to the ECB next Tuesday, with club members voting on changes to the county’s board structure at an extraordinary general meeting the following day.ECB deputy chair Martin Darlow told a select...

Forward Lewis Dobbin has signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract with Everton until June 2025. The England youth international joined the Toffees' academy at the age of 11 and made his first-team debut for the club as a substitute in the win over Norwich at Goodison Park in September 2021. "It’s...

England’s build-up to the Guinness Six Nations has been disrupted by their first outbreak of Covid after Joe Marler tested positive for the second time in three months.Marler’s case was confirmed by lateral flow and PCR tests on Tuesday morning and the Harlequins prop has withdrawn from Eddie Jones’ 36-man squad that is training in Brighton this week.He was forced to miss the autumn victory over Australia for the same reason, but subsequently returned as a replacement against South Africa a week later.Covid can eat shit…… 😤 but it does mean I can go back to my diet of chillis...

Past and present Yorkshire and England cricketers were among the mourners at the funeral of Ray Illingworth.Former umpire Dickie Bird was one of those to pay tribute to the former Yorkshire, Leicestershire and England all-rounder, who died on Christmas Day aged 89.“It’s a very very sad day,” said Bird. “I’ve lost a great friend.“He was a great cricketer and, if I had any problems in cricket, I used to give Ray a ring and he used to have a long chat with me.“Obviously I umpired many matches when he was captain of England and he was the finest captain England...

England captain Owen Farrell will miss the whole of the Six Nations, it has been confirmed.Head coach Eddie Jones confirmed at the tournament launch on Wednesday morning that his skipper suffered a “freak” injury to his ankle in Saracens training that requires surgery.Farrell’s injury follows similar concern around wing Jonny May while prop Joe Marler has withdrawn from the squad after testing positive for Covid.The 30-year-old has not played since injuring his other ankle during the win over Australia at Twickenham in November.He was set to return for Saracens on Sunday before suffering this setback. A spokesman confirmed they expect...

For the first time in nearly two years, fans are set to return to the stands for the 2022 Six Nations.Rugby’s grand old continental competition is set to again be enlivened after the last two editions were held partly or totally behind-closed-doors.Restictions in both Scotland and Wales had caused some to call for the relocation of the tournament to a single location, but with those now lifted it is full speed ahead.The six teams will battle across five rounds in February and March, with the tournament likely to be decided in the traditional denouement on “Super Saturday” in what could...

Six Nations chief executive Ben Morel continues to rule out relegation from the championship in the belief that Italy’s dismal record does not threaten its credibility.Italy have failed to win a game in the tournament since dispatching Scotland 22-19 in 2015 and have never finished higher than fourth, an achievement they last managed nine years ago.A trip to favourites France on February 6 opens their campaign and they host another strong title contender England seven days later, pointing to further misery ahead.Georgia are strongest among the developing nations pressing to join Europe’s top table, while South Africa are perennially linked...

Worcester’s incoming rugby director Steve Diamond says he is confident of fielding a “highly-competitive squad” that will be “respected” in the Gallagher Premiership.The former Sale Sharks boss will succeed Alan Solomons, who retires from coaching in June, at the end of this season on a two-year contract.Worcester who also announced that head coach Jonathan Thomas has left Sixways with immediate effect, appointed Diamond in a rugby consultancy role two months ago.📑 Club Statement.— Worcester Warriors (@WorcsWarriors) January 25, 2022And, while he will remain in that capacity for the remainder of this campaign, Diamond also immediately takes charge of Worcester’s...