Former England winger Chris Ashton has joined Harlequins two days after leaving Premiership rivals Sale Sharks.

The 32-year-old had his Sharks contract terminated by mutual consent on Monday, with director of rugby Steve Diamond saying "a difference of opinion" with Ashton led to the player's departure.

Ashton, who has scored 86 Premiership tries, says he hopes the move will see him become the first past the 100 mark.

"I know that I have still got a lot to give on the pitch," he said.

More to follow.

Sandeep Patil, the former India batsman and selector, has expressed surprise at India preferring Rishabh Pant over Wriddhiman Saha in the Tests in New Zealand, which the visitors lost 2-0 in February.

Despite Saha playing all five Tests during the home season against South Africa and Bangladesh, he was replaced by Pant for the New Zealand Tests, where the left-hander averaged 15 across four innings.

"You are promoting Rishabh Pant, but playing with the career of Wriddhiman Saha," Patil was quoted as saying by Mid-day. "Saha will always be my first choice as wicketkeeper simply because you need experience and he is more experienced.

"Saha has also always rescued the team; so why are you taking away his batting confidence? I know what Saha is capable of; I was in the West Indies when he scored that hundred," he added, referring to Saha's 104 in Gros Islet.

A few months later, Saha got his career-best 117 against Australia in Ranchi.

Injuries since 2018, though, led to Saha losing his place as Test wicketkeeper. He first suffered a hamstring strain on the tour of South Africa in January 2018 before injuring his shoulder and thumb in the subsequent months.

In Saha's absence, Pant became the first Indian wicketkeeper to hit Test centuries in England and Australia in the 2018-19 season. However, his form gradually went south and Saha was brought back after the tour of the West Indies in 2019.

It was as recently as October 2019 - before India played their first Test of the home season against South Africa - that captain Virat Kohli had called Saha the "best in the world".

"He's played well for us whenever he's got a chance, with the bat also, and it was unfortunate that he was out for such a long period because of an injury, and according to me he's the best keeper in the world, so in these [subcontinental] conditions, with what he's done in the past, he starts for us," Kohli had said.

But the general consensus within the management has been that Pant is a better batsman than Saha, and in overseas conditions where spinners don't have as much of a role to play as at home and therefore the ask of the wicketkeeper isn't as much, the younger keeper is more useful.

Australia won the toss and chose to bat v South Africa

On a hot day in Bloemfontein, Aaron Finch opted to make the hosts chase in their bid to win a first series this summer. The dry appearance of the pitch led the Australian captain to believe spin would play a role and, given South Africa's history against the turning ball, it means they will be thoroughly tested as they attempt to give new coach Mark Boucher his first trophy since taking over in December.

Conditions caused Australia to make one change to the XI that lost in Paarl, with Ashton Agar replacing Josh Hazlewood and the batting line-up remaining the same.

South Africa have also given themselves extra spin options with Jon-Jon Smuts joining Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi in the team. Smuts stepped in for Temba Bavuma, who was ruled out of the series as he continues to recover from a hamstring niggle which kept him sidelined during the T20s. Bavuma will remain with the squad and is on track to travel to India for three ODIs next week.

The match presents a big opportunity for opening batsman Janneman Malan, who recovered from cramp to play in this match. He has been left out of the squad to tour India but a strong performance in the remaining two matches could make a case for his inclusion, especially if Bavuma's fitness remains a concern. For now, Rassie van der Dussen, who was due to be rested for this series has joined the playing group but will not feature in this match.

South Africa: 1 Janneman Malan, 2 Quinton de Kock, 3 Jon-Jon Smuts, 4 Kyle Verreyne, 5 Heinrich Klaasen, 6 David Miller, 7 Andile Phehlukwayo, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Anrich Nortje, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Tabriaz Shamsi

Australia: 1 David Warner, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Steve Smith, 4 Marnus Labuschagne, 5 Mitchell Marsh, 6 Alex Carey, 7 D'Arcy Short, 8 Ashton Agar, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Pat Cummins, 11 Adam Zampa,

Former India left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi has been recommended by the BCCI's cricket advisory committee (CAC) to replace MSK Prasad as the chairman of the selection panel. Former India seamer Harvinder Singh will fill the position left vacant by Gagan Khoda, joining Devang Gandhi, Sarandeep Singh, and Jatin Paranjape in the panel.

More to follow...

Victor Crouin leads a Crimson team with incredible depth
By College Squash Correspondents

Harvard University won the Potter Cup on Sunday evening, earning the National Championship with 5-0 win against University of Pennsylvania.

This is the second straight year that Harvard has won the College Squash Association (CSA) National Men’s Team Championship and the 27th Potter Cup in program history, following their women’s team success the previous weekend.

The Crimson had dominated the competition all season long, relinquishing only four individual matches during the regular season. Penn had already clinched a historic year, earning a berth in the Potter Cup final for the first time in program history, but they were hungry for more in today’s final.

With the final being played to decision and numbers 2, 5, and 9 on court first, Harvard raced out to the start it was looking for. Harvard’s No. 5 Sean Hughes was the first on the board with a 3-0 victory, but teammates Ayush Menon and Marwan Tarek followed with 3-0 wins of their own in quick succession.

The second wave of matches began with the number 1, 4, and 8 players stepping on court, potentially with the chance to clinch the championship for their team. Despite losing the first game, Sam Scherl roared back at No. 4 to capture the fourth team point for the Crimson.

That left the deciding point up to No. 1 Victor Crouin, locked in an epic battle with Penn’s Andrew Douglas, or No. 8 Adam Corcoran, who faced the resilient Wil Hagen. Each Penn player won a game to extend the match, but in the end, Corcoran pulled away from Hagen in the fourth game to clinch the championship for the Crimson.

Soon thereafter, Crouin closed out Douglas in extra points in their fourth game to earn the sixth team point for Harvard. Having started their match after Scherl’s win, Harvard’s Timmy Brownell and Penn’s David Yacobucci continued their match to completion. In a battle of seniors in their last team match, Yacobucci jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Brownell pulled one back in the third, but with all eyes on the final match on court, the Penn Quaker closed it out for the lone team win on the day.

Harvard ends the season on a 33-match winning streak and clinched its first back-to-back undefeated seasons since 1995-1997.

US College Squash Association (CSA) National Men’s Team Championship, hosted by Harvard, MIT and Tufts.

Potter Cup Final, Harvard 6 Penn 1 (two ties not played).
Victor Crouin def. Andrew Douglas, 3-1 (11-6, 4-11, 11-5, 16-14)
Marwan Tarek def. Aly Abou El Einen, 3-0 (11-9, 11-6, 11-2)
Saadeldin Abouaish vs. James Flynn – DNP
Samuel Scherl def. Dillon Huang, 3-1 (5-11, 11-1, 11-3, 11-2)
Sean Hughes def. Yash Bhargava, 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-4)
Timothy Brownell vs David Yacobucci, 8-11, 10-12, 11-2, 7-11
George Crowne vs. Saksham Choudhary – DNP
Adam Corcoran def. Wil Hagen, 3-1 (12-10, 11-5, 7-11, 11-3)
Ayush Menon def. Ryan Murray, 3-0 (11-6, 11-6, 11-5)

Division Winners:
Hoehn Cup: Columbia University (2-seed)
Summers Cup: Williams College (1)
Conroy Cup: Dickinson College (1)
Chaffee Cup: Fordham University (2)
Serues Cup: Boston University (6)
Hawthorn Cup: Lehigh University (4)

All tournament results and the live streams from the past three days of action on Harvard’s Courts 1 through 6 can be found on the Tournament Homepage. 

From the Harvard website:

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – For the second straight season, the Harvard men’s squash team was crowned the CSA national champion. The Crimson dominated the No. 3 Penn Quakers in its final team contest of the season to win 6-1 and capture the Potter Cup.

Senior co-captain Sean Hughes was the first on the scoreboard, as he defeated his opponent 3-0 at the fifth position to put Harvard up 1-0. Ayush Menon followed suit with a 3-0 victory of his own. The first-year outscored his opponent, 33-17, to give the Crimson a 2-0 advantage. Marwan Tarek‘s win a the second spot gave the top-seeded Crimson a commanding 3-0 lead.

Samuel Scherl added a win at the fourth spot to set up Adam Corcoran, who clinched the match for Harvard with a 3-1 win at No. 8. Victor Crouin‘s 3-1 victory gave Harvard six points on the afternoon.

Harvard Highlights

• Harvard successfully defended its national title to give the program its 27th Potter Cup.
• The Crimson completed its first back-to-back undefeated-season stretch since 1995-97.
• Harvard ends the season on a 33-match win streak and improves its home win streak to 19 matches.
• Samuel Scherl finishes the season with a team-best 32-match winning streak.
• The nation’s top-ranked team posted a combined individual record of 136-5 throughout the 2019-20 season.
• Harvard improves its Potter Cup record to 22-8 under the leadership of Mike Way, Gregory Lee ’87 and Russell Ball ’88 Endowed Coach for Harvard University, James Herscot ’58 Coach of Excellence.

Next Up
The team will prepare for the individual national championships next weekend at Penn. Draws and information will be released later this week.

Pictures courtesy of  Michael Bello and CSA

‘I have a great coach, a great team behind me, and hopefully I can reach the top’ 
By SEAN REUTHE – Squash Mad Correspondent

New Zealand’s World No.5 Paul Coll has reached his first ever PSA World Tour Platinum final after overcoming Egypt’s World No.4 Karim Abdel Gawad in their semi-final clash at the Windy City Open presented by the Walter Family taking place at the University Club of Chicago.

With $500,000 split equally between the event’s male and female athletes, the Windy City Open is the most lucrative PSA Platinum tournament on the PSA World Tour this season, and Coll will have his chance to get his hands on the trophy – and the lion’s share of the prize money – after beating Gawad 11-5, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9.

The Kiwi had ended a five-match losing streak to upset World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy in the previous round, and he brought a three-match winless run against Gawad to an end after 80 minutes of action. Coll was a losing finalist at the 2019-20 PSA Men’s World Championship in November and he will now have another chance of capturing a major PSA World Tour title.

“It was quite draining, it was very tense at the end there,” said Coll. “I thought I had won it three times at the end but the ref disagreed, which is fine. I just had to keep my head which was mentally really draining. Right at the end there I just wanted to celebrate but I had to keep my emotions in check and finish the match off.

“I am trying to constantly learn and improve my game, I am not No.1 for a reason and there are areas of my game that I can improve on. I will keep doing that and hopefully I can reach the top. I have found a great coach (Robert Owen) and I have a great team behind me. It will be my first Platinum final tomorrow and I will be enjoying it.”

The 27-year-old will now need to end an 11-match losing run against World No.2 Ali Farag if he is to claim a maiden Platinum title, with Farag ousting World Champion Tarek Momen by an 12-10, 11-2, 11-8 scoreline.

The pair were meeting in a repeat of the 2018-19 PSA Men’s World Championship, which was held in Chicago’s Union Station 12 months ago. Today’s match went the way of Farag once again as the Harvard-graduate profited off a number of errors from Momen to reach his first Windy City Open final, meaning a new name will be engraved onto the men’s trophy tomorrow night.

“I keep surprising myself day after day,” said Farag afterwards. “The first game was a bit weird, neither Tarek or I did that well at the beginning, and then Nour gave me a couple of tips in between and they served me well up until the middle of the third, and then I saw the finishing line way too soon. I saw Tarek loosening up a little, so I’m very happy to get back in it for sure.”

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The women’s final will be a repeat of the 2016 and 2017 Windy City Open title deciders as World No.1 Raneem El Welily and World Champion Nour El Sherbini dismantled World No.2 Nouran Gohar and World No.7 Sarah-Jane Perry, respectively.

Both players contested the final of the 2019-20 PSA Women’s World Championship in front of the iconic Great Pyramid of Giza in November, with El Sherbini capturing her fourth World Championship crown to mark her 24th birthday.

The World No.4 has struggled with illness and a knee injury all week in Chicago, but against all the odds El Sherbini has reached a third Windy City Open final, beating England’s Sarah-Jane Perry by an 11-7, 11-4, 11-8 margin.

“I have been struggling against her a few times, but I was making sure that every time I play her that I have a game plan and I stick to it,” said El Sherbini, who had lost three of her previous four matches against Perry.

“To be honest, it is not one of the best weeks for me, but I am glad that I won and I am in the final. Whatever is happening, I just have to keep winning, that is it. I just have one more match, one more day to live and I hope it is going to be a good one.”

Meanwhile, three-time Windy City Open champion El Welily is through to her fifth final at the University Club of Chicago after putting in a majestic performance to dispatch World No.2 Nouran Gohar 11-5, 11-8, 11-9 in 31 minutes.

El Welily overcame El Sherbini in the 2016 and 2017 finals and has won 12 of their 23 matches on the PSA World Tour.

“I’m very proud to be part of such a great sport, I think we’re the first sport to have equal prize money for men and women,” El Welily said after her match.

“Chicago has obviously been one of those tournaments which started things for us a few years ago. All thanks to Mr Mark Walter and the Walter Family for putting on such a great event year after year, for raising the bar higher each year and we’re blessed to be here in Chicago every year. It’s my all-time favourite place.”

The finals will take place today (Wednesday March 4) with play beginning at 18:30 (GMT-6). Action will be shown live on SQUASHTV (rest of world), Eurosport Player (Europe only) and the official Facebook page of the PSA World Tour.

2020 Windy City Open presented by the Walter Family, Cathedral Hall, University Club of Chicago, USA.

Men’s Semi-Finals:
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt [3] Tarek Momen (EGY) 3-0: 12-10, 11-2, 11-8 (37m)
[5] Paul Coll (NZL) bt [4] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 3-1: 11-5, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9 (80m)

Men’s Final:
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v [5] Paul Coll (NZL)

Women’s Semi-Finals:
[1] Raneem El Welily (EGY) bt [3] Nouran Gohar (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 11-9 (31m)
[2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt [8] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-4, 11-8 (31m)

Women’s Final:
[1] Raneem El Welily (EGY) v [2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY)  

Pictures by STEVE LINE courtesy of PSA and University Club of Chicago 

MANCHESTER -- Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes a repeat of Manchester United's treble is "impossible" after Liverpool's chances this season were ended by Chelsea.

Liverpool are on course to win the Premier League title and are still in the hunt for the Champions League but were knocked out of the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.

Solskjaer was part of the United squad which lifted the Treble in 1999 and said the achievement may never be repeated.

"We hope we are going do it again but it's a difficult task," Solskjaer said.

"It's more or less impossible -- there so many good teams around. It has changed domestically. It was either us or Arsenal in '99 and now there's more of us."

United head to Derby on Thursday looking to keep their FA Cup campaign alive. Solskjaer is set to be without Daniel James, who missed the draw with Everton, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka is a doubt because of a back problem.

Marcus Rashford is still absent but Paul Pogba should be ready to resume training with the first team next week.

"Marcus and Paul are still out and I think Aaron might be struggling," Solskjaer said.

"He's got a test today [Wednesday] but he struggled in our last game against Everton with his back so he might be out.

"Paul is still working with the physios outside and he won't be training with the first team until next week. Then let's see how long that will take, he needs time to get his football fitness back."

Solskjaer will be reunited with former teammate Wayne Rooney this week after the former England striker took up a player-coach role at Pride Park.

The 34-year-old has scored four goals in 12 games since returning to England from D.C. United and Solskjaer is wary of the threat he still poses.

"Any goal he scores against us will be chalked off his goals tally," the United boss joked.

"He's a threat in and around the box and set plays. Wayne will show what he can do and he wants to prove there is still fight in the old dog.

"We've got to be on our toes, don't give him any space in midfield. He's got that Scholesy like passing range."

Jaydev Unadkat broke several records on the way to match-winning returns of 7 for 56, dragging Saurashtra out of a 50-50 situation in their semi-final against Gujarat at home in Rajkot to a 92-run win and a place in the final against Bengal.

In an absorbing contest that went down to the final session on the fifth day, Unadkat took four wickets in 3.2 overs to stamp out Gujarat's stirring counter-attack. Gujarat went from 221 for 5 to 234 all out - after fighting back from 63 for 5 - as Unadkat ended a 158-run sixth-wicket stand between Parthiv Patel and Chirag Gandhi with the former's wicket before taking a stunning return catch next ball to send back Axar Patel and turn the game decisively Saurashtra's way. He ended with ten wickets in the match, having grabbed 3 for 86 in the first innings.

This was Saurashtra's fourth Ranji Trophy final in the last eight seasons. They will face Bengal, who are making their first final appearance since 2006-07, but 14th overall.

Unadkat moved to 65 wickets in the season, the most by a pacer in a Ranji Trophy season, going past Dodda Ganesh's tally of 62 in 1998-99. He also went past Bishan Singh Bedi's tally of 64 wickets to be second on the all-time list. Ashutosh Aman, who played in the Plate Group for Bihar last season, has the record with 68 wickets. Unadkat's tally is now the most by a bowler from the Elite Group, and he will have the opportunity to overtake Aman's tally in the final.

More to follow…

Borussia Dortmund are closing in on Birmingham City midfielder Jude Bellingham and look set to beat Manchester United to the teenager, sources have told ESPN.

Bellingham, 16, has been on Dortmund's radar for a long time and he visited the club's training facilities recently, sources told ESPN.

The club are confident they can land the youngster and beat Manchester United and other top clubs to the midfielder's signature, with sources telling ESPN and local Dortmund outlet Ruhr Nachrichten that terms with the player have been agreed.

ESPN reported in January how United wanted to sign Bellingham but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did not manage to seal a deal in the transfer window.

The Birmingham midfielder has also been linked with Bayern Munich, but sources told ESPN the German giants dropped out of the race for the England youth international last month.

Bellingham has made 31 Championship appearances and scored four goals since his debut in August 2019. The central midfielder can also play on the wing.

A report in Sport Bild has said that Dortmund are willing to spend €35 million on him, which would make him the club's record signing. Dortmund did not comment on the rumours when contacted by ESPN last week, but sources have said the club are likely to agree a training compensation fee for Bellingham, just how they did with Jadon Sancho when he joined from Manchester City in 2018. At the time, BVB reportedly paid €7m but the compensation is likely to be higher this time, although not in the region of €35m.

- Transfer Grades: All the big moves rated
- When does the transfer window re-open?
- All major completed transfer deals

Over the past few years, the club has gained a reputation for introducing potential future stars to the highest level of European football, the Champions League, by giving them regular Bundesliga experience.

United States international Christian Pulisic joined BVB at the age of 16 and left for Chelsea last summer. Sancho and Erling Haaland, both 19, as well as 17-year-old Giovanni Reyna are key figures as the club push for their 11th consecutive year in a European competition. Haaland was wanted by United in January but opted for Dortmund instead.

United, meanwhile, remain interested in Sancho, but Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke has said the player is happy in Germany.

"I think he has the feeling that the club does have a good future," Watzke told BBC Sport.

"In my opinion, I don't think he wants to leave."

Sources have told ESPN that United expect Chelsea and a host of top European sides to also be in the running for Sancho. The issue then becomes whether they can convince one of the best young players in the world that Old Trafford is the place to reach his potential.

Big picture

It's going to be the world's No. 1 batter against the world's No. 1 bowler. That wasn't true just a couple of weeks earlier, before the Women's T20 World Cup started. But with the league stage done, Shafali Verma has zoomed to the top of the batting rankings, while Sophie Ecclestone has ascended to the top of the bowlers' table.

Both players have been crucial to their teams progress to the last four stage, though whether they get to square off against each other will not entirely be in their hands. The forecast for semi-final day in Sydney, where the matches will be played on Thursday, isn't promising. There isn't much wriggle-room in case of lengthy rain interruptions. Then too, given the minimum requirement of at least ten overs a side for ICC knockout matches, a spell of rain could mean an incomplete match. If that happens, India will go through to the final. That's because they won all their group stage matches while England lost one, India thus finishing as the higher-ranked team. Both sides would rather play and beat the other to go through, of course, but if that doesn't happen, India's early consistency will have served them well.

ALSO READ: Shafali Verma, Sophie Ecclestone top T20I rankings

India have the added motivation of avenging losses to England in the last two World Cups: they were handily beaten at the same stage at the T20 World Cup in 2018, and lost in heart-breaking fashion in the final of the 50-over event in 2017.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)

India: WWWWL

England: WWWLL

In the spotlight

If you were told an Indian batter has aggregated 26 runs in four matches so far and is the only one with a sub-10 average, Harmanpreet Kaur might be the last name you would think of to fit those stats. Yet, incredibly enough, the woman who has played some of India's most defining limited-overs innings and is still among the best white-ball players in the world has had a subdued T20 World Cup. Kaur has shown, though, that she is the archetypal big-match player, and there aren't too many bigger matches than a World Cup semi-final.

Four matches, three fifties, and the top spot among the run-getters' list. Nat Sciver has been turning it on in some style at the T20 World Cup. England's loss to South Africa in their opening match only served to galvanise the team, and Sciver was at the heart of much of the subsequent run of three straight wins that have put them in the semi-final. She has hit half of her eight T20I fifties in her last six innings, and is in the form of her life.

Team news

India will not want to tinker too much with a winning combination, and barring injury concerns, it's tough to see them replacing anyone from the side that beat Sri Lanka to seal their top spot in Group A. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur said the team was well prepared for any shortened contest too.

India (probable): 1 Shafali Verma 2 Smriti Mandhana 3 Jemimah Rodrigues 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt) 5 Deepti Sharma 6 Veda Krishnamurthy 7 Taniya Bhatiya (wk) 8 Shikha Pandey 9 Radha Yadav 10 Poonam Yadav 11 Rajeshwari Gayakwad

England came back well after a first-match loss to South Africa, and were particularly impressive in brushing West Indies aside in their last league match. They are also likely to stick to the same XI.

England (probable): 1 Danni Wyatt 2 Tammy Beaumont 3 Natalie Sciver 4 Heather Knight (capt) 5 Fran Wilson 6 Amy Jones (wk) 7 Katherine Brunt 8 Anya Shrubsole 9 Maddy Villiers 10 Sophie Ecclestone 11 Sarah Glenn

Pitch and conditions

This is the first semi-final, and with another game scheduled after this, it is likely that a prolonged patch of clear weather will be needed to get in a complete game. The SCG has traditionally been more friendly for spinners than most other Australian surfaces, but the rain around might alter that. The rain subsided around noon on match eve, but the covers remained on.

Stats and trivia

• 5-0 - that's England's record against India in T20I World Cups. They have won in 2009, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018.

• Shafali Verma's strike rate of 161.00 is the highest in the competition for any player with a minimum of 10 runs.

• Sophie Ecclestone's economy rate of 3.23 is the best in the competition