England look to desert retreat to revive flagging Ashes effort November 26, 2013 THE SCORCHED desert town of Alice Springs may seem an unlikely sanctuary for an England squad licking its wounds from a mauling in the first Ashes Test. But team director Andy Flower hopes this week’s retreat to Northern Territory, where temperatures are set to hit the high 30s, will have a restorative effect on his [...]
Murray overwhelming favourite for BBC gong November 26, 2013 WIMBLEDON champion Andy Murray is the odds-on favourite to win the coveted BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, after the full shortlist of nominees was announced last night. Bookmakers Coral have the 26-year-old best-priced to lift the award at 1/28 after he sensationally recovered from a back injury that had kept him out of [...]
Married British couple ready to take badminton world by storm November 26, 2013 NEWLYWEDS Chris Adcock and Gabby White have emerged as contenders to challenge for badminton gold at next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. The duo, who married in August, cemented their place at next month’s Superseries grand final in Malaysia – which will test their medal-winning credentials for England next summer – with victory in the [...]
Milan dump Celtic out of Europe November 26, 2013 FOOTBALL: Scottish champions Celtic bowed out of the Champions League last night with a 3-0 home defeat to Italian giants AC Milan. Brazil midfielder Kaka opened the scoring on 12 minutes, before Cristian Zapata doubled the advantage on 49 minutes. Former Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli rounded off the scoring 10 minutes later. Elsewhere in [...]
Bolasie three-match ban upheld November 26, 2013 FOOTBALL: Crystal Palace have lost their appeal against Yannick Bolasie’s sending off at Hull on Saturday. The midfielder will miss matches against Norwich, West Ham and Cardiff. But, Sunderland have seen Wes Brown’s red card at Stoke successfully overturned.
Surrey begin against Glamorgan November 26, 2013 CRICKET: Surrey will begin the revamped Division Two County Championship season against Glamorgan at the Oval on 6 April. Counties will now earn five points for a draw instead of three and 67 per cent of matches will begin on a Sunday. The 50-over Royal London One-Day Cup replaces the YB40 competition, while the renamed [...]
Injured Cleverly cancels title fight November 26, 2013 BOXING: Former WBO light-heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly has been forced to postpone his cruiserweight debut due to a back injury. The Welshman was set to fight Daniel Ammann of Australia for the vacant Commonwealth cruiserweight title.
Coalition caps payday lenders November 25, 2013 CHANCELLOR George Osborne announced a surprise cap on payday loan costs yesterday, turning the government’s previous policy towards the short-term lending firms on its head. In the face of growing pressure from both the Labour party and an influential group of peers including the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, Osborne now plans to amend the [...]
Clash looms in Parliament over banking bill November 25, 2013 AN INFLUENTIAL group of Lords is threatening to derail chancellor George Osborne’s key banking reforms with a series of challenges in parliament today. Tory ex-chancellor Lord Lawson, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, former cabinet secretary Lord Turnbull and ex-Treasury Select Committee chair Lord McFall want to crack down on bonuses and impose tougher reforms [...]
RBS calls in lawyers over claims it hit small firms November 25, 2013 LAWYERS from Clifford Chance will investigate claims RBS forced small firms into difficulties so the bank could strip them of assets, the lender’s chief executive Ross McEwan said yesterday. Reports from Business Department adviser Lawrence Tomlinson and former Bank of England deputy governor Sir Andrew Large have both found claims of wrongdoing in RBS’ global [...]
