MIES (Switzerland) – The FIBA World Ranking Men, presented by NIKE has been updated after the conclusion of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019, with USA maintaining their top-ranked status but the newly-crowned World Cup champions Spain closing in the gap. There was significant movement at the top end of the ranking, with Australia (673.6) climbing to third place and ...

Kyle Abbott finished with match figures of 17-86 as Hampshire dealt a huge blow to Somerset’s County Championship title hopes with victory at the Ageas Bowl. The ex-South Africa paceman followed his first-innings 9-40 with 8-46 as Somerset were 144 all out, chasing 281. His match figures, which helped his team to a 136-run win, are the best by any ...

England have awarded central contracts to fast bowler Jofra Archer and Test opener Rory Burns for the first time. Sussex’s Archer is handed a contract in both Test and limited-overs cricket, while Surrey’s Burns earns a Test deal. Also joining the list of contracts for the 2019-20 season is Kent batsman Joe Denly, who has a white-ball deal. However, bowler ...

Kevin Roberts, the Cricket Australia chief executive, remains cautious about the prospect of Australia resuming tours to Pakistan but said “things are heading in the right direction” following a brief visit to the country this week. Australia haven’t played in Pakistan since 1998 (although current Test captain Tim Paine was part of the World XI which travelled for T20Is in ...

Sri Lanka’s tour of Pakistan will go ahead after SLC confirmed that the Pakistan government had “reaffirmed” its desire to provide the Sri Lanka team with the same level of security afforded to visiting heads of state. “The Pakistan High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, on behalf of the Pakistan Government, has reaffirmed to the Sri Lankan government Pakistan’s desire to ...

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan off-spinner Akila Dananjaya was banned from bowling in international matches for a year after his bowling action was found to be illegal, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said Thursday. The 25-year-old was subjected to an independent assessment of his bowling action after umpires questioned his style in the first Test against New Zealand at Galle in August, ...

Last season’s runners-up Arsenal romped to an impressive 3-0 victory at Eintracht Frankfurt in their Europa League opener on Thursday as Mason Greenwood spared Manchester United’s blushes and Rangers got the better of Feyenoord. On a night which featured five British clubs in action, Unai Emery’s much-changed side enjoyed the best result of all with youngsters Joe Willock and Bukayo ...