Lewis Hall is hoping he will have to miss a second summer of cricket as he chases his World Cup dream.

The Newcastle left-back has earned a first call-up under Thomas Tuchel for friendlies against Uruguay and Japan.

He will have the chance to earn a place in Tuchel’s squad for the summer tournament in North America, meaning he will be unavailable for a second successive year of village cricket for Berkshire club Binfield.

The 21-year-old skipped last season in order to focus on his recovery from injury but he is hoping to miss it for a much more positive reason this year.

“I didn’t play last summer because I was going through my injury and was so focused on that,” he said. “And I’m hoping I don’t get to play any cricket this summer either.

“I always played throughout my childhood, like a lot of my friends who did. It’s always been a good social thing for me.

“Although I’m playing at the level I am now with my football, I’m always the same person.

“So if I was playing cricket at eight years old, even though I’m playing football now, I don’t see a reason to stop. I enjoy spending time with my mates.

“I wouldn’t say I’m great. A decent enough village player. I was a bit of an all-rounder when I was younger. Now, I’m more of a batter.”

Hall was handed his debut during Lee Carsley’s temporary reign in 2024 but he has now rejoined a fierce battle for the left-back spot, which has seen Myles Lewis-Skelley, Tino Livramento and Nico O’Reilly contest a place in Tuchel’s side.

He has used his time away from the group as a learning mission to hit the ground running upon his return.

“I’ve always watched the England games, especially the ones in September. I always had the aim to be here in the camp now,” he said.

“I wanted to watch and absorb the style that the team plays.

“So if I’m selected, I should have a bit more of an understanding of the way the team wanted to play. I was able to take some information in and store it.”

File image of Kylian Mbappe.© Getty

Along with the rest of the Netflix crew, Barry Bonds made his MLB streaming debut with the service for the MLB Opening Night game between the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants on Wednesday.

The MLB all-time home run leader be working as an analyst for the Netflix pre- and post-game shows this season, and he also made an appearance in the booth during the sixth inning.

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During that interview alongside Matt Vasgersian, CC Sabathia and Hunter Pence, Bonds recalled an interesting story about his free agency following the 1992 season, when he left the Pittsburgh Pirates for the Giants.

The Yankees were one of Bonds’ other suitors at the time, and he claims it wasn’t money that ended up pushing him away from the Bronx. He said it was Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

Bonds’ recollection:

“George isn’t here anymore, so I can tell the truth. I would have been a Yankee, but Steinbrenner got on the phone and he called us. They told me, ‘Barry, we’re going to give you the money’ — the highest-paid player at that time — ‘but you have to sign the contract by 2 o’clock this afternoon.’

“I said, ‘Excuse me?’ And I just hung the phone up. I went to go get lunch and Dennis Gilbert, my agent, was like, ‘Do you know what you just did?’ I’m like, ‘Do you know what he just said?’ By the time I walked down the street to go get lunch — I said, ‘Let me just think about this’ — the Giants called me and I said, ‘I’m going home.’”

There are a few things going on in this story, so let’s take this one-by-one.

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• Bonds is apparently comfortable telling this story only because Steinbrenner is dead, which has been true since 2010.

• The Yankees were allegedly set on giving Bonds the largest contract in MLB, but supposedly only if he would meet an arbitrary deadline to sign a contract the day they made the offer.

• George Steinbrenner supposedly reached out to Bonds personally, despite the fact he was quite famously banned from baseball from 1990 to 1993.

That latter point is certainly worth pondering. Steinbrenner accepted a lifetime ban from then-MLB commissioner Fay Vincent for paying a known gambler for dirt on Dave Winfield and wasn’t officially reinstated until March of 1993. Bonds signed with the Giants in December of 1992.

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So we have a case where either Bonds is lying/misremembering or Steinbrenner was openly shirking a ban from baseball to talk to the biggest free agent in baseball. You can be the judge on what’s most likely.

You can also choose whether to believe Bonds or the newspaper of record at the time. As The New York Times reported, the sticking point between Bonds and the Yankees wasn’t so much respect as the club’s refusal to add a year to their five-year, $36 million offer. The Yankees reportedly gave him a two-day window to accept their offer and withdrew from the proceedings when he turned them down.

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As then-Yankees general manger Gene Michael explained:

“We wanted him and now it’s off,” Michael said in a phone interview from Tampa, Fla. “We’re going for pitching. Maybe it’s the right thing to do. We will not have Barry Bonds with a sixth year.”

“We have to draw the line somewhere … I have no regrets saying we did not offer him a sixth year. We offered him a fantastic contract for five years. We really went out of our way to make a nice offer.”

The article does not mention Steinbrenner.

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The Giants ended up giving Bonds that sixth year on a then-record $44 million contract and kept him through 2007. In return, they received some spectacular baseball, then spectacular scandal.

Among those individuals is Tyrone Holmes, who was appointed Wales’ new defence coach after three years in the same role with Scotland.

Lynn says he has been very impressed with the South Africa-born former flanker and expects to see a “big improvement” in that area, especially with Holmes being full-time.

“It’s what we will be needing to be competitive,” said Lynn, who admits his side were “bullied off the park” in their World Cup opener against Scotland.

Brython Thunder coach Ashley Beck will attempt to revive Wales’ stale attack, while Exeter Chiefs head coach Steve Salvin will be working with the forwards on an interim basis.

“It’s new voices, new faces and big energy,” said Lynn.

“What we’re going after is that consistency, every coach who’s coming in is making sure that we are following the process.

“I want us to be more hard-working, competitive, and when you’re in those competitive games and you find those winning moments, those game-changing moments, that’s where I feel this team can grow.”

Former world champion Keith Thurman, who fought Manny Pacquiao in 2019, has offered his take on the Filipino’s rematch with Floyd Mayweather.

The two Hall of Famers will square off in a professional contest on September 19, headlining a Netflix event at the Sphere, Las Vegas.

Their first encounter took place in 2015 and, even back then, many believed that both multi-division world champions were a far cry from their primes.

Pacquiao, in particular, seemed to lack the explosive power and speed he once possessed in spades, with Mayweather ultimately claiming a unanimous decision victory.

But despite the disappointing nature of the fight itself, it is still, statistically, the most lucrative boxing event of all time, based purely on its eye-watering gate receipts and pay-per-view sales.

Because of this, Thurman believes that their second encounter is likely to generate considerable interest, especially with Mayweather putting 50-0 (27 KOs) record on the line.

In that same breath, though, the 37-year-old has told FightHype that he envisions their showdown being an even less appealing contest than it was the first time around.

“I think the story of [Mayweather-Pacquiao 2] is really the same story as always: Is today the day Floyd Mayweather loses in the ring?

“I think that’s a big selling point that certain people are going to want to see, but I didn’t see the same Manny Pacquiao [that Thurman fought] against Mario Barrios.

“But they’re both older, so I’m not sure what we’re going to get. But I believe we’re going to get lesser of a fight [when compared to their first encounter].”

After claiming a split decision victory over Thurman, Pacquiao lost a unanimous verdict to Yordenis Ugas and, just under four years later, boxed to a contentious draw against then-WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios last July.

Mayweather, meanwhile, has not fought professionally since 2017, back when he scored a 10th-round finish over Conor McGregor.

Pakistan’s Usman Tariq has grabbed eyeballs for his unique bowling action. The spinner has a lot of variations in his bowling, but the style of his delivery is the biggest talking point. Usman stops and pauses during his side-arm action and then delivers the ball. Batters have found it really tough to face him due to such a strange bowling action, with some even questioning its legality. Recently, Australia all-rounder Cameron Green accused Tariq of ‘chucking’ during a T20I game between the sides in January. It is interesting to note that Tariq’s action has been cleared twice by the International Cricket Council.

Considering the success of Tariq’s unique bowling style, many spinners are actively adopting it. A similar incident took place during a cricket game in Sri Lanka, but the umpire’s decision surprised everyone.

It happened when Richmond College and Mahinda College were playing against each other in the ‘Lover’s Quarrel’. Representing Richmond, a left-arm spinner, named Nethuja Bashitha, tried to emulate Tariq’s action with his own touch. As Bashitha delivered the ball after a long delay in his stride, the umpire called it a ‘dead ball’.

Watch it here:

A fan of Usman Tariq was spotted during the match between Richmond College and Mahinda College in Galle, Sri Lanka. pic.twitter.com/h7DOQpIFr1

— Cricketopia (@CricketopiaCom) March 21, 2026

Usman was tipped to torment opposition batters in the T20 World Cup 2026, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka recently, but the Pakistan spinner endured a largely quiet tournament as the team failed to progress to the semifinals after being eliminated at the Super Eight stage. He picked up 10 wickets in six matches with an economy rate of 7.23.

During the tournament, Tariq said, “I was not expecting that I would get this much hype and appreciation from all the legends and from you guys (commentators). I’m really enjoying every moment and really enjoying my performances.”

Tariq, who honed his action while playing with a tennis ball in domestic cricket, said his unique bowling technique had been part of his game from the start and had continued to serve him well.

“Yes, even this action was developed from the beginning when I used to bowl with a tennis ball. If you check my action in slow motion, you’ll see the timing is still there, but I’m moving slowly. I just try to break the fractions of my bowling action. That’s how it is working for me,” he said.

(With agency inputs)

Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you become a smarter, better golfer.

I like trying to hit the ball hard. When I go to the simulator, I always carve out some time at the end of my sessions to swing as hard as I can. There’s nothing more satisfying than catching one just right and seeing a new personal best flash up on screen.

But while chasing speed is a fun conquest, it can also be frustrating. There are days when I feel sluggish and slow, and my swing speed reflects that. Worse yet, there are weeks on end where I’ve felt like I hit a plateau, maxing out on my swing speed for good.

Such was the case for me late last year. And after failing to add any swing speed for several weeks, I felt at a loss. That’s when I turned to swing-speed guru Bernie Najar. Not only is he a GOLF Top 100 Teacher, but he’s also taught some of the longest hitters in the game, such as Kyle Berkshire.

At last winter’s Top 100 Teacher Summit, I teamed up with Bernie for a speed training boot camp to get as many tips and tricks on speed as I could. Check out the video below to see all of them, or read on for a simple tip that will instantly boost your swing speed.

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Try this for an instant speed boost

Clubhead speed is measured at the moment you impact the ball, but if you want more power, you need to think about speeding up long before that. In fact, how fast you’re going at impact is directly tied to how fast you start your swing.

“What’s important to realize is that energy into the club happens early in the backswing,” Bernie says. “It’s not ‘take it back slow.‘”

One of the most popular adages in golf is that you should take the club back “low and slow.” But if you are trying to hit the ball longer, well, that’s a load of BS.

To get the maximum amount of energy into the golf club — and generate more speed — it’s important to put that energy into the club as soon as possible.

Think about how it looks when Bryson DeChambeau is swinging a driver. His takeaway is faster than lots of amateurs’ swings — and that’s no accident. If you want to get the most speed possible, you’ve got to start ripping the club back fast.

“We’ve got to get you putting more into the golf club early,” Bernie says. “Putting more into the golf club means you really have to rev it up a little.”

If you’re struggling to get more swing speed, give it a shot. It’ll challenge your need to feel in control throughout your entire swing, but you’ll also find that you have more speed in the tank than you thought.

Bernie Najar is a GOLF Top 100 Teacher and the director of instruction at Caves Valley GC in Owings Mills, Md. If you want to learn more about his teaching philosophies, check out his book Speed/Power/Finesse: How to Play the Three Games of Golf.

Skinner’s counter to the idea his side may have been better advised to drop slightly deeper to prevent Harder making those runs was sound.

“There are two mistakes in there from us,” he said.

“If you get pressure on the ball, you can’t play the long ball. They tried it a few times and played the ball out of play.

“It worked for them tonight but if I stop those two chances, they don’t score.”

It sounds simple. But execution is key at the highest level. If you don’t do that properly, you will get punished.

There are a number of minor details to explain why United came out on the wrong side of a tight result.

One of them is unquestionably squad depth.

Take the case of Japan midfielder Hinata Miyazawa, who played in the final of the Asian Cup in Sydney on Sunday, then travelled back to start for United.

By contrast, Tanikawa, who did not get on the pitch against Australia, started on the bench for Bayern, who were mindful of the effects of jetlag and wanted the midfielder to make an impact, which she did, by setting up Harder, then scoring the winner.

Skinner simply does not have enough players to rotate like that.

It makes the next few days, which feature another Old Trafford outing against Women’s Super League leaders Manchester City on Saturday before the trip to Germany for the second leg with Bayern next Wednesday (17:45 BST), particularly tough.

“We’ve played the most football in Europe this year, and we’ve got a really small squad right now, so it will challenge us,” said Skinner.

“It will take us to the depths. But the carrot is there for us.

“We expect it to be difficult. You can kind of trench your mind into what you must do.

“That’s why my players are at Manchester United. If they didn’t want to do it, they wouldn’t be at this club. They’re going to give it absolutely everything.”