president trump usman visit to las vegas and how likely any changes in gun laws might be in the aftermath of the massacre. here, the prime minister tried to calm tory nerves in a faltering conference speech during which she was handed a p45. more analysis on how she did after apm. at10:30pm, how she did after apm. at 10:30pm, temper the papers, how she did after apm. at10:30pm, temperthe papers, my guests tonight are former adviser to david cameronjars guests tonight are former adviser to david cameron jars cunning guests tonight are former adviser to david cameronjars cunning and rosamond dillon from the evening standard. now it is time for sportsday. hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm katherine downes. northern ireland, scotland and england all play crucial world cup qualifiers tomorrow evening. we'll look ahead to all of them. england have named harry kane as their captain for the match against slovenia. he is certainly somebody whose leadership qualities are invaluable

to us as a team. will "rain stopped play" one day be a thing of the past? 7 we'll look at new plans to introduce a "roof" over cricket grounds. and back on the ice and on their way to the olympics — the story of a remarkable comeback by britain's top ice dancers. hello and welcome to the programme — plenty to come but let's start with tomorrow's world cup qualifiers. england can seal their place at next year's finals with a win against slovenia at wembley tomorrow evening. manager gareth southgate has named spurs‘ harry kane as captain. with more on england's preparations, here's olly foster. the england squad are back at tottenham's hi—tech training facility to the north of the capital in enfield. head coach gareth southgate was not giving too much

away about the type of team he will put out against slovenia in their penultimate world cup qualifier but revealed straightaway with harry kane sitting next to him that the totte n ha m kane sitting next to him that the tottenham striker would be england captain tomorrow evening at wembley. he extolled his leadership qualities and kane said he does not think that wearing the ca ptain‘s and kane said he does not think that wearing the captain's armband will ta ke wearing the captain's armband will take anything away from his goal scoring game. we have plenty of leaders in the team, whoever wears the armband, there are plenty of us who will speak up and try to help each other on the pitch. and when things get tough be there for each other. like isaid, for tough be there for each other. like i said, for me it is another game to try and help the team, try and score my goals and hopefully qualify for the world cup. harry kane, clearly one of england's world —class harry kane, clearly one of england's world—class players, but only last week southgate said there are one or two players in this squad who at the moment on form clearly don't warrant their place in it. he clarified those remarks. as a

manager you want competition for places, not just in manager you want competition for places, notjust in the squad but in the starting xi. clearly a fuel of the starting xi. clearly a fuel of the guys are not regularly playing at the club. what do we want? as a manager you do not want an easyjob where pretty much everybody available, i select, where pretty much everybody available, iselect, oryou where pretty much everybody available, i select, or you start to have difficult conversations around areas that players need to improve and get better at. southgate hoping he will be able to pick a much stronger squad for the world cup next summer, but for now all he and this england squad need are two points from their last two matches. slovenia at wembley tomorrow, lithuania away on sunday. scotland need two wins to keep alive their hopes of a play—off place. they host slovakia at hampden tomorrow and then travel to slovenia on sunday. manager gordon strachan says his

side have been used to playing under pressure. we have dealt with that 0k, we can only deal with that 0k we have dealt with that 0k, we can only deal with that ok if we have a good spirit and a good bit of camaraderie. we believed we could come back and play the way we have recently. or in recent months, anyway. northern ireland are guaranteed to finish second in group c and look certain to qualify for next year's tournament. they've won all five matches so far this year but they'll have a tough test tomorrow — they host germany. our correspondent natalie pirks is in belfast and michael o'neill, northern ireland have risen 109 places in the fifa rankings and are at a point where they do not fear the world champions coming here tomorrow night. they are unbeaten at windsor park in the last four macro matches and have not conceded a goal. although they have lost twice to germany over the last 18 months, they have not been pushed over.

michael o'neill has told his side that although germany are certainly formidable, they are not invincible. this is a game where we have everything to benefit from, we should not fear the outcome of the game. the players have done the work in this group, they have guaranteed second spot. we are approaching it with optimism rather than anything else. one thing they definitely have in their favour tomorrow will be the green and white army, their supporters. they have gathered loads more fan since their exploits at the euros last summer, and the germans definitely know they will bring the party. tomorrow will be great, i think there is a healthy respect between there is a healthy respect between the two countries, supporters wise. i remember in paris it was thomas miller and schweinsteiger were

videoing ourfans miller and schweinsteiger were videoing our fans when they stayed and sang, they were impressed with the level of the noise. we need the crowd to get this more energy, to energise the team when i will be times in the game whether players will be extremely tired, and hopefully they can draw on that energy from the support they are getting in the stands. northern ireland have not been to a world cup since 1986 and it is very clear from speaking to the players, manager and fans just what it would mean to them. but a win against germany tomorrow night would be historic and put them in a perfect prime position for the play—offs. england's u21s will also be playing european championship qualifiers against scotland in middlesbrough on friday and andorra on monday. one of their players is jack harrison, who left manchester united's academy at the age of 1a to try his luck in the unted states. he now plays for new york city and told simon stone how his manager — former arsenal and manchester city midfielder patrick viera — broke the news to him. before the game in chicago, patrick

called me over and he mentioned i had been called up for the u21s, i did not believe him at first because he is alwaysjoking. he did not believe him at first because he is always joking. he said seriously, you have been picked. i was ecstatic. he said i was not meant to tell you before the game but i will tell you anyway. it was a great moment to share with him, the first person i called was my mum to tell her, but she was not answering. wishy back in england, or...?|j tell her, but she was not answering. wishy back in england, or...? i was in chicago and she was in new york, iam not in chicago and she was in new york, i am not sure what she was doing but she was not answering. she knew i had a game as well, she was probably thinking why is he calling me right now?! ifinally got thinking why is he calling me right now?! i finally got on the phone with her about 15 minutes and i was like, mum, i have made the u21s but now i have to warm up. it was quick but exciting and we were both happy. lots made of the development of young players in england. you are

playing in a major league for a big tea m playing in a major league for a big team in front of a lot of spectators, you are almost the archetypal what we want from our young players, apart from the fact young players, apart from the fact you are doing it in the united states, not europe? ithink it is definitely a great situation to be in. i would definitely recommend it toa in. i would definitely recommend it to a lot of the younger players who are maybe not getting as much playing time as they would like. i think it is a great opportunity to go out there and get the playing experience under your belt and to have that, i am so grateful to be in that position. i think with the support of new york behind me as well, it is really special. england's jack harrison. in the women's champions league glasgow city are facing elimination at the last 32 stage for the third year running. they lost their first leg 3—0 in kazakhstan. later this evening manchester city will begin their campaign at austrian side st polten, while chelsea ladies host german giants bayern munich. premier league clubs have rejected an initial proposal to end the equal

distribution of overseas tv money. the six richest clubs want the fact that they're a bigger draw reflected in their income. a plan presented by the league's executive chairman richard scudamore suggested a proportion of global revenue should be divided based on league position. but in a meeting of club executives no vote was taken due to a lack of support. a great source of strength from the premier league is its collective strength, is the fact that that money works its way all the way to the bottom of the league1 makes every match day competitive. on any given saturday, any team could beat any other, that is a key source of strength for the perennially, a key source of competitive advantage versus spain or italy or other leagues and the reason the premier league has risen to be the world's popular league. that is all your football news for now. still to come on the programme... she thought she may never skate again —

we'll hear how ice dancer penny coomes has beaten the odds to qualify for february's winter olympics. and will giant see—through tents make "rain stopped play" in cricket a thing of the past? that's all coming up, but first let's look at today's other sports stories. tyson fury has announced on twitter he'll not be applying for a fresh boxing license. the former world champion has not fought since july 2015 when he beat wladimir klitschko in dusseldorf. fury had his licence revoked in october 2016 and was charged with a doping offence injune. former two—weight world champion carl frampton will face mexican horacio garcia in his comeback bout next month. it'll be frampton's first contest since losing his world featherweight title back injanuary. leicester city's appeal to register adrien silva has been rejected by fifa. leicester and the football association had asked fifa to ratify the midfielder‘s transfer after the paperwork for the £22 million deadline day move from sporting lisbon was submitted 1a seconds late. england and harlequins prop karl sinckler has been banned

for seven weeks for eye gouging. it means he will miss england's first two autumn internationals. castleford's luke gale has been voted super league's man of steel. he kicked a match—winning drop—goal that saw his side reach saturday's grand final 16 days after having his appendix out 20—year—old durham batsman jack burnham has been banned for a year after testing positive for a recreational drug last month. durham say burnham will receive their support in tandem with the professional cricketers' association and ecb. and australia will be missing a key man for the ashes. fast bowler james pattinson is suffering from a back problem and has been ruled out of the series. so australia without one of their key fast bowlers for ahead of the ashes, and england of course could be without their key all—rounder ben stokes. stokes will be withdrawn

from england's squad if he remains under police investigation when the tour to australia begins. england are due to fly out on the 28th of this month. stokes was arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm following an incident outside a bristol nightclub in september. police have put no timescale on the inquiry. so can england win the ashes without him? ben is such a key player, when you see the likes of someone like jack kallis for south africa, it makes such a difference to a team when you have a genuine all—round position. obviously ben has been that for england for a couple of years. i think it will be very tricky to go down there and really win the ashes, but you never know, you never know. you can't rely on one person to ever win the ashes or win any competition you play in, but they go a role because of the long way they play,

so because of the long way they play, so it would be a big loss. we will find out for certain in the coming weeks whether ben stokes will trouble with england. there has not been much rain in australia. it's long been the bane of our summer sport. "rain stopped play" has cursed cricket for as long as the sport has been played, but the mcc and ecb have started to explore pioneering new technology that could put an end those frustrating interruptions. could a giant tent be the answer? the mcc‘s chief executive has been speaking to our sports correspondentjoe wilson. there is some technology being developed in the states, to be frank i have not seen the practical manifestations as yet. we have already been talking to the ecb and looking at options, this is the start of a journey, effectively, seeing what is practical and possible. it will not be viable initially but i think we have a role here at mcc to investigate and look at new technologies. this ground and this club have always been at the forefront of innovation, despite the traditions that have been here, we should get

on and do that work as well. there are an enormous number of technical challenges and issues but thatis technical challenges and issues but that is not to say we should not look seriously, technology is changing and developing all the time. see—through screens, drop—in wickets. we need to look forward and do everything we can to maximise the amount of play for the spectator and the broadcaster. theoretically, to imagine cricket without rain stopped play, that would be a revolution, it would transform the way we could market and play cricket? certainly. if you look at where cricket is played around the world in indoor stadium, in australia for example, the experience is really good. the challenges of a cricket field are much different to wimbledon, both in terms of size and scale. don't hold your breath, but we will see how we get on. only once before as a professional has rory mcilroy gone through a season without a win, but he still faces that prospect as he prepared for the alfred dunhill links championship in scotland tomorrow.

he's struggled for form this year, hampered by a persistent rib injury and he told our reporter stephen watson he's planning on getting back to full fitness for 2018. yeah, it hasn't been quite what i'd wanted. i had grand ambitions to start this year and felt i was going to have a really good year. i had a great off—season and practised really well, but then this injury set me back. yeah, hasn't been the yeari set me back. yeah, hasn't been the year i wanted but i am looking forward to playing my last event of the year and hopefully ending on a positive. you have had some time off, whatever you plan to make 2018 a real success when you come out of the box, firing on all cylinders? trying to get myself healthy is most important, it hit home to me this year how much if i want to have a long career and play to the best of my ability for a long time, my body needs to be in the right place and this year it has not been, so trying to get really

healthy and fit and give myself the opportunity to play 25, 30 weeks a year, give it my best every week that i play. olympic champion adam peaty has been named as one of the first swimmers in team england's commonwealth games squad. olympic medallists james guy and siobhan—marie o'connor are also included, with 17 places to be awarded at a later date. next year's games take place on australia's gold coast in april. nick hope's report contains flash photography from the start the commonwealth may be dubbed the friendly games that you can be certain that when england's best ta ke certain that when england's best take on the rest of the world, they will be fully focused on winning the major medals at the gold coast games in australia next year. that is something we have become well accustomed to seeing adam peaty achieved recently, with olympic, world, european titles and a few world, european titles and a few world records. his unbeaten run in the hundred meter breaststroke stretches back to the loss, of games

in 2014, his first major international medal. he will be looking to maintain a success and challenge for some other medals later next year. it is where it started, were i got my first major win and i belt, and taking down the previous olympic champion put me on a stepping stone. project 56 is probably in coming very soon, i was very strong at the world championships, coming into the commonwealth i can't be any stronger, really. there are several other established names in the swimming the line—up, including olympic james