The hosts crushed Shan Masood’s side by 360 runs inside four days at the first Test in Perth, with pace spearheads Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood all coming through unscathed.

Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa all missed out on the chance to make a statement in the Premier League while Manchester City were away at the Club World Cup.

British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe has agreed a deal to buy a 25% stake in Manchester United for about $1.3 billion, vowing to return the Premier League club to the ‘top of world football’.

The first match in the 26-year league staged on Christmas Eve was dominated by defences with each team having only one shot on target from a combined 19 attempts.

There was much to report on this year with multiple World Cups taking place across several sporting codes

The 36-year-old, who has hit more than 5,000 Test runs including 13 centuries, will play his last Test at the Newlands ground in Cape Town starting 3 January.

England were bowled out for 132 in the decider and while West Indies never got into their rhythm, Shai Hope held their reply together and then won the game with a powerful six over extra-cover off the second ball of the final over.

South African captain Aiden Markram’s decision to send India in to bat on a slow pitch on a hot afternoon backfired as the hosts were bowled out for 218 in reply to India’s 296.

South African captain Aiden Markram’s decision to send India in to bat on a slow pitch on a hot afternoon backfired as the hosts were bowled out for 218 in reply to India’s 296.

“The FIFA and UEFA rules making any new interclub football project subject to their prior approval, such as the Super League, and prohibiting clubs and players from playing in those competitions, are unlawful,” the European Court of Justice ruled.

Fluminense coach Fernando Diniz’s free-flowing style that he has labelled the antithesis to Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola’s football faces the ultimate test when the two men face off in Friday’s Club World Cup final.

Curtis Jones scored twice and Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah were also on the scoresheet for Jurgen Klopp’s dominant team, who were trophyless last season.

The 49-year-old Portuguese coach has signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with the Midlands club after Forest sacked Steve Cooper on Tuesday.

Having trailed 2-0 in this series and having lost the ODI series in the Caribbean, England were facing a demoralising end to their tour but now have the chance to secure the series back at the same venue.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side were joined in the semi-finals by Fulham, who beat Everton on penalties, and second-tier Middlesbrough, 3-0 winners against Port Vale.

The European champions shrugged off their sluggish Premier League form to cruise past Urawa Reds 3-0 in Tuesday’s semi-final in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Left-arm fast bowler Nandre Burger and opening batsman Tony de Zorzi took South Africa to a series-levelling eight-wicket win in the second one-day international against India at St George’s Park on Tuesday.

Starc, who last played in the IPL eight years ago, made a smashing comeback when he was snapped up by Kolkata Knight Riders for 247.5 million rupees ($2.98 million), setting an all-time IPL auction record.

Contepomi, who played 87 times for Argentina and turned out for French clubs Toulon and Stade Francais and Irish giants Leinster, where he was also on the coaching staff from 2018 to 2022, moves up from the national staff to the top job at the age of 46.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said earlier this month that athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus would be able to compete in Paris as neutrals, outside of team events and as long as they did not actively support the war on Ukraine.

Two goals in the final 20 minutes in Jeddah by Jhon Arias, from the penalty spot, and then John Kennedy carried the Brazilians into Friday’s final against European Champions League winners Manchester City or Japanese side Urawa Reds.