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Grace Harris joins Surrey Women for Vitality Blast
The batting allrounder, who has represented her country 62 times in limited overs internationals, becomes Surrey's first overseas player, and the first outright in the new professional era of women's county cricket in England and Wales.
The 2025 summer will be the first time all men's and women's counties will play alongside one another in the Vitality Blast. Harris' first match will be Surrey Women's opener against Hampshire Hawks at the Kia Oval on June 5, as part of the double-header alongside the equivalent men's fixture.
Harris is renowned for her big-hitting and wily off spin, skillsets which have made her a staple across a number of franchise tournaments. As well as featuring prominently for her home side Brisbane Heat in the women's Big Bash, the Queenslander recently ended the WPL as UP Warriorz' joint-highest runscorer, and is part of London Spirit in The Hundred. She also featured in the three T20Is that made up the winter's women's Ashes, helping Australia consign England to a 16-0 defeat.
"I can't wait to take to the pitch with the team at Surrey and the Kia Oval," said Harris, in a statement released on Wednesday. "The club has shown a strong commitment to the women's side and I know the team have been preparing hard over the winter. I'm really looking forward to contributing to the team and making the most of my time with them."
Emma Calvert, Surrey's Director of Women's Cricket, added: "We are incredibly excited to be able to announce Grace as our first overseas signing for our newly professional Surrey women's team.
"Grace brings international and franchise experience which we believe will really add value to our squad both on and off the pitch. She plays exactly the style of cricket we look to play and I can't wait to see her wearing the three feathers at the Kia Oval this summer."
Surrey will play in the top league of the women's Vitality Blast, along with the seven other Tier One counties. The eight sides will play each other home and away across 14 group-stage matches, with the top three securing a spot at Finals Day, which will take place at the Kia Oval on July 27.
Sources: Clemson, Brownell finalizing new deal
Clemson is finalizing a new six-year deal for coach Brad Brownell that will keep him at the school through 2031, sources tell ESPN's Pete Thamel.
The deal is pending board approval and should be finalized in the near future, sources added.
Clemson went 27-6 overall this season, including an 18-2 mark in ACC play during the regular season. The Tigers defeated SMU in the quarterfinal round of the ACC tournament before losing to Louisville in the semifinals.
Brownell's club, ranked No. 10 nationally, earning a 5-seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Clemson will face 12-seed McNeese in first-round play on Thursday afternoon in Providence, RI.
Brownell received a new five-year contract worth $20 million after leading the Tigers to the Elite Eight last year.
In 15 seasons with the Tigers, Brownell is the school's all-time leader in victories with 292 headed into NCAA Tournament play.
JuJu, Hidalgo lead women's AP All-America team
USC's JuJu Watkins and Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame have joined an elite group, making the Associated Press All-America team in their first two seasons playing college basketball.
The duo on Wednesday became only the third and fourth players to earn first team All-America honors in their freshman and sophomore years, joining Oklahoma's Courtney Paris and UConn's Maya Moore.
Watkins was a unanimous choice from the 31-member national media panel that chooses the AP Top 25 each week. Hidalgo received all but two first place votes.
UConn's Paige Bueckers earned All-America honors for the third time, becoming just the 12th player to do that. UCLA's Lauren Betts and Texas' Madison Booker rounded out the first team. Bueckers and Betts were also unanimous choices.
Watkins led USC to its the Big Ten regular season title, the school's first conference championship since 1994, and its highest ranking in the poll. She averaged 24.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists to lead the Trojans.
"She set her own bar so high last year and then she managed to surpass it," USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. "She has the ability to lock in and get to a zone, raise her own level and galvanize those around her. Above all else, she's a winner."
Hidalgo has been dominant on both ends of the floor for the Fighting Irish. She earned both ACC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors. She averaged 24.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.7 steals. She's fourth in the country in steals a year after leading in that category.
"What a well-deserved honor for Hannah. To be one of just four players to ever make the AP All-America first team in both of their first seasons is a major accomplishment," Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey said. "I'm so proud of her and I can't wait to see what she does in March!"
Bueckers had another strong season for the Huskies. She averaged 19.0 points, 4.9 assists and 4.5 rebounds. She guided UConn to another undefeated Big East season and is the expected No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft next month.
"She makes it look like it is never hard and never a struggle to get her points and get the shots off she wants," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said.
Betts averaged 19.6 points, 9.7 rebounds and shot 63.4% from the field. She also was fifth in the country, averaging 2.93 blocks a game. She's the first player in UCLA history to earn first-team All-America honors.
"Lauren Betts has been dominant from start to finish on both ends of the floor," UCLA coach Cori Close said. "She continues to grow her versatility and her skill set and his is the deserved fruit of her labor. This is first an individual accomplishment for Lauren, but it is also a team accomplishment. So proud of it all!"
Booker, who was a second-team All-America last spring, averaged 16.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists for the Longhorns, who tied for the SEC regular season title with South Carolina.
"To be preseason (All-American) and then to go live it, getting everybody's best shot, and you're the first person talked about in the scouting report. That's the most difficult thing to do. She did it," Texas coach Vic Schaefer said.
Watkins, Bueckers, Booker and Hidalgo were all on the preseason AP All-America team. They were joined by USC's Kiki Iriafen.
Second team
The AP second team was headlined by LSU's Aneesah Morrow, who led the nation in rebounding averaging 13.6 a game. She was joined by UConn's Sarah Strong, Florida State's Ta'niya Latson, Notre Dame's Olivia Miles and Kentucky's Georgia Amoore.
Third team
The AP third team was Iriafen, TCU's Hailey Van Lith, who was the Big 12 player of the year, Vanderbilt's Mikayla Blakes, LSU's Flau'Jae Johnson and Iowa State's Audi Crooks.
Honorable mention
Raegan Beers of Oklahoma, Sedona Prince of TCU and Joyce Edwards of South Carolina were the leading vote-getters among players who didn't make the three All-America teams. Players earned honorable-mention status if they appeared on one of the ballots.
It's bracket time: Make your picks for the men's tournament
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Pirates' Jones on pause due to elbow discomfort
BRADENTON, Fla. -- Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Jared Jones is missing his next spring training start because of elbow discomfort.
Jones went 6-8 with a 4.14 ERA last season, combining with Paul Skenes to form an impressive rookie tandem on the mound in Pittsburgh, but now his status is uncertain just over a week before the season opener for the Pirates.
"He's not going to make his next start in spring training," manager Derek Shelton told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Wednesday. "That's for sure. I think with that being said, we're going to have to look at what happens going into the season."
Todd Tomczyk, the team's senior director of sports medicine, told reporters the team is currently awaiting a second opinion on Jones, who has had medical imaging done.
"We're hopeful we'll have a resolution in the coming days, at least what the next steps are," Tomczyk said. "But we are in kind of a hold, in a waiting pattern, until we can get that additional read."
Young fan says Ohtani HR ball is 'family treasure'
TOKYO -- Sota Fujimori is the luckiest 10-year-old in Japan.
Sitting in right-center field Wednesday night at the Tokyo Dome, he watched Shohei Ohtani's home run in the fifth inning fall off the hands of another fan nearby and back onto the field.
It looked like bad luck.
"I thought I missed out at first," he said, doing an interview afterward in Japanese to explain with a small group of reporters.
Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong made his night, tossing the ball back into the stands.
Young Sota retrieved it as umpires reviewed the play to ensure the ball had cleared the wall and Ohtani had his first home run of the season.
The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Cubs 6-3, making Sota's evening complete. He said it was the first time he had seen Ohtani in person. The Dodgers also won on Tuesday 4-1 to sweep the two-game series in Tokyo to open the MLB regular season.
Sota is from Saitama, located just north of greater Tokyo. He wore a blue Dodgers shirt and a baseball mitt on his right hand, and he pulled the keepsake ball out of small backpack to show it off.
He looked awestruck but delighted.
Crow-Armstrong confirmed during a postgame interview that he threw Ohtani's ball into the crowd. Even though he thought the home run call was questionable, he was pleased to hear the ball ended up in the boy's hands.
"Absolutely, I'm glad," Crow-Armstrong said.
His parents asked not to take a photograph of their son's face, and they were reluctant to give many more details. But photos of the ball were OK.
Sota told reporters he is also an outfielder and in the fourth grade.
"I was really surprised," he said. "I couldn't believe it. I'm going to keep it as the family treasure."
Venner's 'rollercoaster ride' back to England squad
After more than a year on the sidelines, Venner returned from her ACL injury and took time to regain top form.
John Mitchell called her into camp during last year's Six Nations and although a cap did not follow, a one-on-one meeting with the England coach helped spur her on to some of her best rugby this season.
Trailing by nine points in Sunday's Premiership Women's Rugby final against Saracens, Venner's dancing feet grabbed a vital try to start a run of 24 unanswered points.
England wing Jessica Breach was one of the defenders beaten by the silky footwork, who alongside Abby Dow and Ellie Kildunne have formed a formidable Red Roses back three.
The trio scored a combined 18 tries in last year's Six Nations, although it is off the field where Venner is learning from her competition.
"I see it more as an opportunity to improve my game by working with the best three in the world," she revealed.
"The amount of work Jess and Abby do off the pitch is something you don't see.
"Their analysis is so in-depth, they are looking at the other team and not just themselves. This morning Abby had about two pages of notes on Italy.
"It is amazing to see and something I am going to have to get into."
Mitchell called up 19-year-old Bristol Bears wing Millie David - who was the joint-leading try-scorer in Premiership Women's Rugby with 17 tries - in the wider Six Nations squad, and capped Loughborough Lightning wing Bo Westcombe-Evans, 22, in October at WXV1.
Venner edged out both young wingers to earn a spot in the Six Nations pool, which may prove to be the difference when it comes to selection for this summer's home Rugby World Cup.
For Venner, however, it is one game at time - and hopefully a second cap in York on Sunday against Italy.
"It is just about being able to maintain form at the minute," she said.
"I am focusing on a Six Nations squad now but a World Cup squad is where everyone wants to be, it is what we work hard for every day.
"It is what you thrive for as a rugby player in order to be the best of the best. To do that, you have to work with the best, it is everyone's aim. It would be truly amazing."
Bristol Bears centre Amber Reed, who was part of England's World Cup-winning squad in 2014, has retired.
Reed, who could also play fly-half, won 67 caps for the Red Roses after making her international debut in 2012.
The 33-year-old also won Grand Slams, Six Nations titles and the WXV1 with England but was overlooked for this year's Women's Six Nations squad, having not featured since John Mitchell took charge of the side.
The Bristol-born centre has spent her entire senior career with her hometown club and her final game was Bears' Premiership Women's Rugby semi-final defeat by eventual champions Gloucester-Hartpury.
"After 16 seasons and nearly 200 appearances for club and country, it's time for me to hang up my boots and bring an end to my playing career," said Reed.
"From gracing the school sevens field, all the way to winning the World Cup and everything in between, it's been one helluva ride!
"Through every success and failure I've encountered throughout my career, I can say that I've always given 100% for myself, my team and the supporters. As my younger self looking into the future, it fills me with immense happiness that I can step away from the field knowing that I gave it my all every time and I have no regrets.
"To the fans: Thank you for being incredible. I will always remember the feeling of that pitch side roar playing in front of so many of you; the stuff dreams are made of.
"None of it would have been possible without you - please keep showing up and together we can make amazing things happen, especially with England 2025 on the horizon."
MOORESVILLE, N.C. Sixteen-year-old racer Carson Brown is on the fast track.
For the third time in as many months, the resident of New London, N.C., will make a racing debut, this time in the ARCA Menards Series East season opener Saturday night at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla. Brown will drive the No. 4 ebb Logistics/PayCafe Chevrolet for Hettinger Racing.
Ive known Chris Hettinger for a while and have always been impressed with the racecars he puts together. Weve talked about making this happen, and now we finally did, Brown said. We tested last week and it went really well, and I feel confident in what weve got for Saturday at Five Flags. Its a track where Ive spent a lot of time and have had a good amount of success, and being able to take this next step with Hettinger Racing makes it even better.
Since winning the Allen Turner Pro Late Model championship last year at Five Flags Speedway, Brown has been making an upward climb on the racing ladder. He made his Super Late Model debut Jan. 17 at Cordele (Ga.) Motor Speedway and then scored two Super Late Model wins in the span of six days during the World Series of Asphalt Feb. 7-15 at New Smyrna (Fla.)
Speedway. A week later, Brown was turning left and right on the twists and turns of Sebring (Fla.) Intl Raceway during his first career start in the TA2 division of the Trans Am Series, finishing an impressive eighth in the 39-car field. Now, it is ARCA that beckons, with a 150-lap race around a half-mile paved oval on the southwestern edge of the Florida Panhandle that Brown knows well.
Im really familiar with Five Flags and all of its nuances, so that gives me confidence going back there in an ARCA car, Brown said. The car is different, but I know the track. So if we can get ahead and get the car where it needs to be early in that practice session, then I feel like we can run well. If you practice well, you qualify well, and you race well. We just need to go down there, make the most of our track time, and execute.
Browns racing career began just five years ago in Bandoleros. Twenty-one wins spread across two seasons in 2020-2021 led him to Legend Cars. From 2021 through 2023, Brown tallied eight championships. With dirt experience initially gained in Legend Cars, Brown kept after the craft, running winged and non-winged 600cc Micro Sprint Cars from 2022 through 2024, winning twice in 56 starts.
Brown still kept a foot firmly planted on asphalt, running a Pro Late Model in 2023. He won in just his second start, taking the victory Feb. 12 at New Smyrna in a stout, 31-car field.
Dirt, however, remains an integral part of Browns racing repertoire. He began racing dirt Super Late Models in 2023, winning in his sixth start Aug. 19 at Moler Raceway Park in Williamsburg, Ohio. Brown continues to sling Super Late Models sideways on clay ovals, and if that werent enough, he enjoys getting dirty in off-road trucks, competing in select AMSOIL Championship Off-Road races. Brown ran 13 off-road races in 2024, earning two podiums among nine top-five finishes to end the season fourth in the championship standings.
All the dirt racing helps me adapt to different track conditions and different cars quicker, Brown said. Everything is always changing on dirt, so it forces you to adapt. As Ive moved into bigger cars, especially this year, I feel like Im able to make adjustments faster and take what the car is giving me.
In dirt racing, you get two or three hot laps and then youre right into qualifying. You kind of have to figure it out on the fly. Its allowed me to find ways to help the car even if its not handling the way Id prefer. Thats given me a little bit of an advantage, especially at the beginning of practice and even in the race when everybody is still learning the gist of everything and figuring out how tight or how green the track is.
In five years, Brown has assembled an incredibly diverse racing background. It is what drew Chris Hettinger, owner of Hettinger Racing, to put Brown in his race car.
Carson is a talented young driver, and everything finally lined up for him to be with us this weekend at Five Flags, Hettinger said. What makes Carson stand out is his versatility. Hes won in Pro and Super Late Models, shown speed on road courses, has raced and won on dirt hes fast in anything he drives. That kind of experience is really going to help him as he takes this next step, and were proud that its going to be with Hettinger Racing.
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. Joe Gibbs Racing announced Tuesday evening that the organization has signed an agreement with Progressive Insurance to sponsor Denny Hamlins No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE in 18 NASCAR Cup Series races this season beginning with Sundays race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Progressives name and branding will be prominently displayed on Hamlins No. 11 car and race suit, and his crew will also be sporting Progressive branded gear.
Progressive is a premiere national brand and a leader in the insurance industry. We are thrilled to have them partner with Denny (Hamlin) and our No. 11 team, said Joe Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs Racing. We all know that NASCAR fans love being active, and on the move, whether it is in their cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats or recreational vehicles and we look forward to raising awareness on how Progressive can protect them and their families.
Taking Flo to @HomesteadMiami this weekend!@progressive @ItsFlo @dennyhamlin #NASCAR #DennyHamlin pic.twitter.com/B4KNSqYNly
Joe Gibbs Racing (@JoeGibbsRacing) March 18, 2025
Beyond this weekends race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Progressive is scheduled to be the primary sponsor of Hamlins No. 11 Toyota for races at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (March 30), Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (April 13), Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (April 27), Texas Motor Speedway (May 4), Kansas Speedway (May 11), the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway (May 18), Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway (June 1), Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (June 22), the Chicago Street Race (July 6), Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway (July 20), Indianapolis Motor Speedway (July 27), Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Intl (August 10), Richmond (Va.) Raceway (August 16), Illinois World Wide Technology Raceway (September 7), New Hampshire Motor Speedway (September 21), the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL (October 5) and Phoenix Raceway (November 2).
In addition, Progressive will also be featured as a full-season associate partner with Hamlin and the No. 11 team.
When the opportunity arose for us to be a part of the Joe Gibbs Racing family and support renowned NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin, we were all in, said Sean Freeman, Progressives Business Leader of Direct Media. We love JGRs pursuit of excellence and Hamlins proven success on the track. Together, our marketing and their driving styles align well and cant wait to see the No. 11 in action.
Hamlin is competing in his 20th full-time season in the Cup Series. He is tied for 12th on the all-time wins list with 54 victories, including three wins last year. His Cup Series career has included monumental wins like his trio of Daytona 500 victories (2016, 2019, 2020), three Southern 500 wins (2010, 2017, 2021), and a Coca-Cola 600 triumph in 2022. Early in the new season, Hamlin currently sits 12th in the Cup Series standings with a best finish of second at Phoenix Raceway.
This is a huge deal for our No. 11 team and everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, said Hamlin. Were really looking forward to having Progressive on board and being able to deliver for them on and off the race track.
For me, its exciting to team up with a brand like Progressive that is so innovative with their marketing and the different ways you seem them activate. I cant wait to get going with them starting this weekend.
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