coach anthony mcgrath ahead of their opening match against worcestershire. we started back in february, which normally we are back in november, so quite a stark difference, but i must say, we have been lucky with the weather. the ground staff have been sensational, and we have managed to be outside, albeit it's been freezing. we managed to get grass nets out here chelmsford. we are happy with the preparation we have had in the limited time. it is alwa s had in the limited time. it is always freezing _ had in the limited time. it is always freezing at _ had in the limited time. it is always freezing at the - had in the limited time. it is always freezing at the start of the county championship season. it is april in england. cricket did so well tojuggle things april in england. cricket did so well to juggle things around last year. you had that fantastic inaugural win with the bob willis trophy against summerside. what do you make of this tweaked format that we are going into this season? personally i am a fan of the two divisions, how it's been for ——

since the your 2000. it think that's promoted some good cricket and competitive crickets, so i would like it to go back to that eventually, but i think this is a different format. these rebel trophies up for grabs, the championship and then, you know, there is the bob willis trophy. it will be a crowded summer, because we have 100 coming in as well. everyone is just looking forward to sex and half months of crickets, and thatis sex and half months of crickets, and that is obviously the championship, the t20, the 50 and the hundred start —— starts this year, so it should be a really exciting summer for everyone. but should be a really exciting summer for everyone-— for everyone. but how do you think the hundred _ for everyone. but how do you think the hundred fits _ for everyone. but how do you think the hundred fits in. _ for everyone. but how do you think the hundred fits in. how _ for everyone. but how do you think the hundred fits in. how will - for everyone. but how do you think the hundred fits in. how will it - the hundred fits in. how will it impact things. will it —— is there room for it to? impact things. will it -- is there room for it to?— impact things. will it -- is there room for it to? something has to cive room for it to? something has to give domestically, _ room for it to? something has to give domestically, whatever- give domestically, whatever competition that is, because ijust think there is a lot of cricket. so we will see how it pans out. we all wanted to be a success. we know how much finances have gone into it. i think the sustainability of cricket depends on the hundred and

international cricket. so everybody is behind it and hopefully it is a success. we will see how essex guns this season as well. the british para swimming international starts in sheffield tomorrow. it will also double as the gb paralympic trials. hannah russell will be taking part. she won two golds in rio but had to take a break in 2019 because of anxiety and depression. she's been speaking to kate grey. in the 2019 season, i was really struggling. the support of british swimming, i have two boys that their support is absolutely brilliant. 0bviously mental health, is starting to be a bit of an opener and sport now. people are starting to talk about it more, which is brilliant. i deftly encourage people to do so because even though in these dark areas where you might be struggling, when you do reach out to people, the support networks are there, and for me personally, i had a lot of support around me, and me personally, i had a lot of supportaround me, and i me personally, i had a lot of support around me, and i only managed to go from strength to strength, and now here i am, hopefully qualifying for my parenting for games and striving

towards tokyo. five years ago in rio dejaneiro, ten athletes made up the the olympic games first refugee team. the ioc said it wanted to send a message of hope and inclusion to millions of displaced people aorund the world. asif sultani, who is originally from afghanistan, hopes to compete in tokyo this summer in karate, the 24—year—old spent much of his youth as an asylum seeker and in detention centres, 0ur reporter rhia chohan has been speaking with him. they robbed us of everything we had with us, and i rememberi they robbed us of everything we had with us, and i remember i was only seven years old and i was crying. i was terrified.— was terrified. this was 'ust the be . innin: was terrified. this was 'ust the beginning of his h was terrified. this was just the beginning of his journey - was terrified. this was just the beginning of his journey who i was terrified. this was just the | beginning of his journey who as was terrified. this was just the i beginning of his journey who as a child had to flee a war—torn afghanistan with his family to escape persecution. but as an asylum seeker, his next destination, iran, wasn't much of a refuge. i use to get bullied a lot, people

used to punch me, kick me, spit on me and humiliate me and make me beg for mercy. and that's when i started learning martial arts to protect myself. learning martial arts to protect m self. ., , , ., myself. he found escapism through kun: fu myself. he found escapism through kung fu and — myself. he found escapism through kung fu and karate. _ myself. he found escapism through kung fu and karate. but _ myself. he found escapism through kung fu and karate. but because i myself. he found escapism through kung fu and karate. but because of| kung fu and karate. but because of his undocumented status, he was barred from the dojo he trained out, so he took matters into his own backyard. i was heartbroken because that was the only thing that i had. i was not allowed to go to school, and i didn't have the same opportunities as other kids, so i started gathering a few of my friends together just training gathering a few of my friends togetherjust training in my backyard and watching bruce lee's movies and pretending to be like him. it wasn't a fancy sport. what we had was courage, dream and a hope. we had was courage, dream and a ho ne. . we had was courage, dream and a ho e, ., ., we had was courage, dream and a ho ne. ., ., ., , we had was courage, dream and a hoe. ., ., ., . , hope. that dream was almost crushed when at 16 years _ hope. that dream was almost crushed when at 16 years old, _ hope. that dream was almost crushed when at 16 years old, he _ hope. that dream was almost crushed when at 16 years old, he was - when at 16 years old, he was deported without his family back to afghanistan. weeks later, he had to

make another treacherous journey. i ended up from afghanistan to australia by boat and the boat journey was extremely traumatic. 0ur boat stopped working in the middle of the ocean for a couple of hours, and everyone was crying, praying, preparing tojump in the and everyone was crying, praying, preparing to jump in the water. it was like a nightmare. how preparing to jump in the water. it was like a nightmare.— preparing to jump in the water. it was like a nightmare. now his sights are set on tokyo. — was like a nightmare. now his sights are set on tokyo, where _ was like a nightmare. now his sights are set on tokyo, where karate - was like a nightmare. now his sights are set on tokyo, where karate will. are set on tokyo, where karate will take its power as an olympic sport. for him, the chance to represent team refugee will be about more than metals. i would like to be the person to send that message of hope to millions of other children that have been displaced around the world and tell them that i am there for them, yes, we lost our home, we lost everything that we had, but we are still alive and we can still dream. so that means the world to me. the incredible story there. our top

story, chelsea against porto tonight and the champions league, coventry on five live sports after 7pm for me and the rest of the team, goodbye for now. hello, good evening, you are watching bbc news. the uk's medicines watchdog has made a change to its advice on the use of the oxford astrazeneca vaccine. it 0xford astrazeneca vaccine. it stressed that the benefits of the vaccine continue to heavily outweigh any risks for the vast majority of people. but because some rare blood clots have been found in extremely small numbers of people who have received the astrazeneca jab, those under the age of 30 will be offered an alternative vaccine instead where possible. earlier, the chief executive of the and hr eight, june rein, gave more details about those who had been affected. 0ur who had been affected. our review is that the risk of this

side effect remains extremely small. by side effect remains extremely small. by the 31st of march, over 20 million doses having been given, we have had 79 case reports up to and including that date, the 31st of march. all 79 cases occurred after the first dose. of these 79 cases, 19 people have sadly died. these cases occurred in 51 women and 28 men aged 18 to 79 years. from these reports, the risk of this type of rare blood clot is about 4 million —— about four people in a million who receive the vaccine. -- about four people in a million who receive the vaccine.- who receive the vaccine. earlier, the professor— who receive the vaccine. earlier, the professor who _ who receive the vaccine. earlier, the professor who is _ who receive the vaccine. earlier, the professor who is part - who receive the vaccine. earlier, the professor who is part of- who receive the vaccine. earlier, the professor who is part of the l the professor who is part of the sage advisory group of scientists poked me in a personal capacity and gave me his view on today's announcement. an important point made by the professor is that all effective medicines are recognised to have some side effects, so i'm going to stick to my guns and say that this

vaccine is safe, but not risk—free, and that has to be put into context, for example, women will take the contraceptive pill, that is their choice to prevent pregnancy. it is about a 1% risk of deep vein thrombosis over ten years, but if they get pregnant, there is a massively increased risk of the vein thrombosis, so that you have a commonly used medicine that people take by choice which reduces risk against pregnancy and reduces risk of dvt, but has a small risk associated with it. i of dvt, but has a small risk associated with it. i suppose the differences _ associated with it. i suppose the differences that _ associated with it. i suppose the differences that women - associated with it. i suppose the differences that women when i associated with it. i suppose the l differences that women when they choose to go on the pale are able to inform themselves of the risks. the pill has been around for a long time whereas the astrazeneca jab is brand—new, and that is why people may be feeling concerned. you make a good point, but at the same time, 20 million doses of astrazeneca have now been given, and tragically, there has been 19 debts. if you put that into context, that is a tiny number of deaths in this

population. there has been far more deaths caused by covid. in context, the vaccine is safe, it's preventing death by covid. tragically, very small number of people may have died as a result of its, but we are not entirely sure. there's quite a lot of complexity here. of these have been people who have a rare reaction to the vaccine, or did some of them catch covid the time of vaccination or where they just catch covid the time of vaccination or where theyjust plain unlucky and some of them got a cot anyway. it's a very complex area. in the regulatory authorities are taking careful decisions with an abundance of caution, but if people are called for a vaccine today, than they are in the risk groups and rate age groups, then they should still be taking the vaccine, because at present, only people that have been called for the vaccine are the ones that will be benefiting from the virus of the moments, because they are not calling people under the age

of 30 four the astrazeneca vaccine at the moment.— at the moment. indeed. you talk about an abundance _ at the moment. indeed. you talk about an abundance of _ at the moment. indeed. you talk about an abundance of caution i at the moment. indeed. you talk| about an abundance of caution by stopping the astrazeneca vaccine for the under 30s. can you explain to people what the head of the medicines regulator meant when she talked about the balance of risks being more finely balanced for younger people? being more finely balanced for younger maple?— being more finely balanced for younger people? being more finely balanced for ounuer n-eole? ., �*, ., ., younger people? that's the one that is sli . htl younger people? that's the one that is slightly easier _ younger people? that's the one that is slightly easier to _ younger people? that's the one that is slightly easier to answer, - is slightly easier to answer, because younger people are so less likely to die of covid, providing they are otherwise healthy, than if you are very unlikely to be harmed by the virus, then the benefit side of that balance is actually quite small. and that is what is tipping the balance in this case, not so much that the risk is higher in this group from the vaccine, but that the benefit of the vaccine is slightly smaller. so that's why the decision is going in this direction.— is going in this direction. faster count speaking _ is going in this direction. faster count speaking to _ is going in this direction. faster count speaking to me _ is going in this direction. faster count speaking to me a - is going in this direction. faster count speaking to me a little i is going in this direction. faster| count speaking to me a little bit earlier. now it's time for a look

at the weather with nick miller. hello. it's hard to think of two weeks of spring weather that could be more opposite. last week, we had the warmth, temperatures into the 20s. this week, it's the cold, the frost, the snow, not even as much sunshine around the wintry showers today. we are turning things for the next couple of days a little less cold, the arrows not pointing down from the north, but coming in from the atlantic instead. but it'll be very short—lived, because the arctic air comes right back at us into the weekend. now with this less—cold air coming in from the atlantic, we're starting to bring in a bit more cloud today, and we may see a bit of rain out of that, as well. northern ireland through the evening, overnight pushing them toward scotland, the western side, some rain into wales and western parts of england. east of all of that, with any clear spells, temperatures will still fall low enough for a touch of frost, but not as cold as it was last night. so tomorrow, plenty of cloud around again — out of that cloud, some rain, particularly northwest scotland with a strengthening wind here. elsewhere, it willjust be very patchy in nature — some sunny spells in northeast

scotland until the afternoon, and for east anglia and the southeast, although a fair amount of cloud, a few brighter breaks, but not much of any rain as we get into the evening. the winds are picking up with the rain in scotland, it's a breezier day elsewhere — but remember, this is that less—cold air coming in from the west, which is why there are actually some double—figure temperatures showing for thursday. now as we go on through the evening, we'll take this area of rain, clear it away from scotland, push it across northern ireland and into northern england — that's our cold front, behind which the arctic air is coming back. on friday, it's very slowly moving further south through england and wales where it clears from northern england, northern ireland, and scotland back into the cold arctic air. there'll be some sunshine around again, also a few wintry showers, and these snow showers are packing in once again to northern scotland. now looking at the picture going into the weekend, the cold front clears away only to be replaced by more weather fronts heading up from the south this time, toward southern england. some uncertainty about how far north any rain will get from those

on saturday before clearing on into sunday, so keep across the forecast. but for many areas over the weekend, it's cold, quite sunny, chance of a few wintry showers — and coming back will be those frosty nights again.

hello, i'm ros atkins, this is 0utside source. there's no advice from regulators on the astrazeneca vaccine.— the astrazeneca vaccine. blood clots... the astrazeneca vaccine. blood clots--- but— the astrazeneca vaccine. blood clots... but authorities - the astrazeneca vaccine. blood clots... but authorities stress l the astrazeneca vaccine. blood i clots... but authorities stress the vaccine is highly effective and is saving lives —— new advice. the saving lives -- new advice. the benefits of— saving lives -- new advice. the benefits of the _ saving lives —— new advice. tue: benefits of the astrazeneca saving lives —— new advice. tte: benefits of the astrazeneca vaccine in preventing covid—19 overall outweigh the risk of side effects. the uk now says under—305 will be given a different vaccine instead. the risks of blood clots are very small, we'll take you through the detail. also in the programme... more police testify against former officer derek chauvin. 0ne police expert says the pressure from his knee on george floyd's neck constituted deadly force.