of three british clubs in champions league action later. and we hearfrom cricketing legend kumar sangakkara as he bows out of first class cricket after an exemplary career. sometimes you hold on a bit too long andi sometimes you hold on a bit too long and i always think it's better to let go sooner than later. good evening. plenty to come, but we start with cricket and the big ashes series with australia, which is looming for england later in the year. after his arrest earlier in the week, ben stokes was one of the 16 players named by the ecb in the squad to tour down under. despite his arrest and a minor fracture to his hand, that wasn't the most surprising inclusion as, our correspondent joe wilson reports.

this was a serious business of management, and ashes series to plan for. selectors showed their hand. in the case of ben stokes, a fractured hand. the legacy of a night out which turned into an arrest and bodily harm. england believe he will have recovered for the first ashes test match in november but that is still a criminal investigation into what went on in this area of bristol and england's own disciplinary inquiry. it is never a good thing to be able to deal with these situations in front of the tv camera and guys can't perform when things like this are hanging over their heads. england's most successful former captain thinks ben stokes must change his behaviour. he's on a different level and he's got a look in the mirror. no one else. what you needin in the mirror. no one else. what you need in australia is a clear run

through exactly what is happening. they're not too sure what the best team is, there are issues with their best player, i think in terms of everything that could possibly go wrong leading international series, is pretty much up there. most ca pta i ns is pretty much up there. most captains have had wild cards to deal with. for gower, it was both. you rein them in when you can and deal with it. ben stokes has matured a lot over the last three years and be thought he was making right steps in the right directions as a player and as an ambassador. this incident is a setback, no one will deny that. first thing tomorrow, we will find out if you will be fit or not. second thing is what happens with the police investigation but you won't ben stokes on that. he is the sort of character and whether or not he is vice captain doesn't matter, he is vice captain doesn't matter, he inspires a site. who else could

be picked from the many available options? then folks comes in as the back—up wicket keeper. click over tim comes in —— then that is the bowler mason crane. he could make his test debut in australia. down under, australia's captain steve smith has been standing in this promotion. all they need to worry about is selling tickets. well, it should be a series to entertain those lucky enough to get a ticket. but one person, who thinks it will be a straightforward winter is commentatorjim maxwell. he calls england's batsmen "underwhelming" and predicts a whitewash ashes win for the aussies. i grew up watching very good players. joe root is a good player, but there aren't many others. alistair cooke is probably past his best although he made

a brilliant circumnavigation of australia a few tours ago. but where's the rest of the batting? it is underwhelming and this is the biggest list of perhapsers england has ever sent to australia. i fear for broad and anderson. they could be bowling a lot of overs. stokes, final rounder. he will have to be throwing his bat at the ball and doing it brilliantly to keep this side together. the result of the series, sorry, folks, australia five, england nil. well, people have taken to social media following the announcement of the squad, the bbc‘sjonathan agnew said: "we always knew well, england are in one—day action

out on the field today at the oval. victory against west indies in the fourth match of the series would have given them an unassailable 3—0 lead. so far, though england trail by 357. stokes sto kes ha d stokes had 7a on sunday but they have to make do without him today. chris gayle, a big threat, gopher two. samuels gave chris walks a third wicket in four overs. he had

yet to fire in this series but found his feet at the oval. england's attack lacked aggression. the tourists found runs until the catch of the series. almost. west indies began to make hay. it ended cruelly when he was struck on the heel on 176, his side ending up on 350 —— 356 for five. so this is how things look currently. england are 157 for 3. they have just lostjoe they have just lost joe root they have just lostjoe root for 1h runs. a long way to go to seal the series. well, that's not the end of our cricket stories here on sportsday. coming up later in the programme, we hearfrom former sri lanka captain kumar sangakkara who says he's "happy with what he's achieved" after playing his final

first—class innings. it took 200 days of tweaking, but one postman has his dream job for the day, caddying with sergio garcia. now, there's another big night of champions league football tonight as three more british sides play their second fixtures of the group stage. manchester united are in moscow to face cska, hoping to build on their opening win. the russians also won their first match, meaning it isn't the time for united to miss key players. we don't have fellini or carrick, so all the players we lose for this batch, the solutions are not many —— for this match. but we try not to focus on individual battles or specific areas on the pitch, we try

to focus on having heating with quality and balance to win the match. so, united play in the russian capital tonight amid security concerns ahead of next summer's world cup in the country. it follows the violent scenes involving russian fans at euro 2016. however, all seemed calm after last night's match between liverpool and spartak moscow, as our correspondent sarah rainsford reports: as our correspondent manchester as our correspondent united say they have brought manchester united say they have brought up in 1000 supporters to town tonight. it is about comfort and security, having the buses, because after the violence in france last year, some supporters are worried about coming to russia. russia wants to spend a message —— send a message that it is tough on troublemakers so any football fans involved in trouble will face severe

punishment but manchester united have told fans to keep a low profile, not a red team colours and not walk around on their own. liverpool were in moscow last night and the match went off without much trouble. there was music and free t—shirts. i think manchester united can expect much the same tonight. a heavy police presence but for prevention rather than anything else. celtic were flashed in the opening champions league match this season and even at the abbey stadium expected a's match in belgium could bea expected a's match in belgium could be a must win for them. these days than we think brussels, we think brexit. politicians, negotiations, disagreements but as the uk prepares to leave the european union, celtic

are here with a view to staying in europe. staying in beyond christmas a nyway europe. staying in beyond christmas anyway because this game this evening is being viewed by many as the first game in a two legged tie ina the first game in a two legged tie in a battle for third place. in champions league group b, celtic and anderlecht are fighting it out with paris and bayern munich. the reward isa paris and bayern munich. the reward is a place in the europa league. realistically, this is a game that both teams will be looking at, to have that realistic chance of playing in europe after christmas but all games at this level are very tough. around 1500 fans have travelled and in a city no stranger to terror, security is tight. the mood, though, is relaxed. to terror, security is tight. the mood, though, is relaxedlj to terror, security is tight. the mood, though, is relaxed. iwould love to see them pick up three

points. i don't think i've seen is when away from home in all my trips so when away from home in all my trips so it's time i saw a result! if we can hit the ball the way we can, i'm hopeful we can score a couple of goals and then sit in and hopefully ta ke goals and then sit in and hopefully take three points. . confidence perhaps coming from the fact anderlecht are struggling. there assistant is now the court and wants to become the coach but another one wa nts to to become the coach but another one wants to become it, too, so the situation is a bit bloody for the supporters, for the players. candle city hosts the grand old team with europe very much at stake. chelsea add in madrid tonight to face the 2014 and 2016 finalists

athletic —— atletico. we will have commentary. this is the new home of atletico madrid, which is different to the old venue which was a really intimidating place to go to. will it be any more welcoming for a club to come here and play atletico madrid? i think that will be the challenge of the fans. we have seen many times in england when the club is to a new stadium it is hard to be create the atmosphere. it appears the two games they have had so far, they have managed to do that, whether they sorted out the seating. they get the singing section, the chanting section, but this has always been a very pacifist crowd and i don't expected to be any different and i can't wait to get inside. we expecting diego costa here tonight? i've heard he will be watching from the presidential balcony. i've heard he will be watching from

the presidential balconylj i've heard he will be watching from the presidential balcony. i would expect he will be there to hope the fans, give everybody a bit of a lift. have a little pop at conte. i would be very surprised. could we see the scarf on the pitch or the short presentation? fat chance. i'd be surprised. we will see. speaking more broadly, what about you? ifeel that this is a chance for chelsea under conte to see exactly where they are because this team has been one of the top performers in the champions league in recent seasons. we have been very consistent without too many superstars. they have fantastic players. they have magnificent talent coming through. but it is very much a teamwork ethic. they work very hard, they

work together, they fight together, they are not particularly spanish in they are not particularly spanish in the way that they play when you think of real madrid and barcelona, they will make it difficult for chelsea. if chelsea can win this or even get a point, it really sets them up for the group. we will discredit all for you, this new stadium at what happens. we're on—air from stadium at what happens. we're on—airfrom 6:30pm stadium at what happens. we're on—air from 6:30pm tonight. commentary from 7:45pm. paris taken bayern munich in celtic‘s group one matches already under way. the top tier of the women's super league will be for full time clubs only from the 2018—19 season after the fa approved changes to the licensing system. the division will have between eight and 14 teams, but all clubs will have to re—apply for their places and new

sides could come in. brighton's tomer hemed has been given a three—match ban for violent conduct in an incident with newcastle's deandre yedlin in the 88th minute of the game on sunday. it was not seen by the match officials but caught on video. west ham and tottenham have been charged by the fa with failing to control their players during saturday's derby. spurs won the match 3—2, but a late melee occurred in stoppage time, prompting the charge. both clubs have until tomorrow to respond. a number of directors of rugby have voiced their opposition to the proposed premiership season extension. earlier this year, premiership rugby announced plans to make the season ten months long, from 2019 onwards. that's in order to reduce the overlap between international and domestic rugby. the concept has been criticised by some senior players on welfare grounds, and now various club coaches have aired their views.

there's enough voices out there now saying that extending the season is the best idea. there's look for the different way, a smarter to look after it. longer is not better. with any more games, you're really going to make players mentally drained. i think the guys meet adequate rest —— need adequate rest. my gut instinct is to say that player welfare is paramount. without the players, we don't have a game so we have to look after them. now, you may have seen over the weekend a number of american football players in the united states protesting in large numbers against racial and social inequality. they did so by "taking a knee" during the national

anthem and were spurred by president trump's words last week, in which he said anyone who chose the anthem to protest should be fired by their teams. osi unmenyiora is part of the bbc‘s nfl team and won two super bowl titles, while with the new york giants. i was iwas an i was an immigrant to america. i love that country. the american dream, idreamt love that country. the american dream, i dreamt it and love that country. the american dream, i dreamt itand it love that country. the american dream, i dreamt it and it became my reality. i will lay my life and for that country and i'm not even american —— lay my life down. i got to give a history lesson here because we are in england right now. how come the united states is no longer under british rule? does anyone know the answer? a group of people got together, said to themselves, this situation is untenable will stop all men are created equal and the status quo for us created equal and the status quo for us is unacceptable right now, we're

going to do something about it. and guess what? they did. with fire and fury, and they fought, they died and they won their independence. these same group of people known as the founding fathers had the wherewithal, the presence of mind, to put freedom of speech and the right to peacefully protest as the first amendment to the constitution, the very first amendment. do you know why? they said to themselves, this is what we are. this is what makes america america. this is a pillar of america and without this, the united states of america as we know it does not exist. we have a group of people now, a group of african american men who are looking at the racial injustice, looking at the killing of unarmed black people, looking at all the inequalities of black people in the country and they said, ok, we're rich, we have money,

but guess what? the situation for african americans in that country is untenable. the staters crawl is untenable. the staters crawl is untenable for us —— the status quo is untenable. and guess what happens? they get the finger pointed at them. "you're the bad guy. you're disrespecting our flag. at them. "you're the bad guy. you're disrespecting ourflag. you're disrespecting ourflag. you're disrespecting ourflag. you're disrespecting our heritage." now, mr trump, you're disrespecting the flag. you just respecting your heritage. because that is your heritage. because that is your heritage. the country was born out of protest. kumar sangakkara says he "never believed he would be good enough" to compete at the highest level after playing his final innings in first class cricket. after finishing on 35 not out against lancashire at old trafford, he was given a standing ovation by team mates as he left the field. the desire to compete at the highest level never really disappears. a

warm up level never really disappears. a warm up game 01’ a level never really disappears. a warm up game or a friendly, the competitiveness just comes out. but my reflections on my game is based a lot on technique, notjust hand eye coordination so i think as a result, i've had longevity and sometimes players who rely on reflex might not have, but like i said before, sometimes you hold on a bit too long and they'll think it's better to let goa and they'll think it's better to let go a bit sooner than later. england are 177 for four at the open. that's all from us.