nudged the england selectors again with a rapid half century to help sydney thunder beat the melbourne starsbash league. hales is a t20 specialist but hasn't featured for england since failing a recreational drugs test before last year's world cup. 10 west indies players have opted out of their tour to bangladesh in the new year beacuse of covid—related concerns. kraigg brathwaite will now lead the team for two tests and jason mohammed will be skipper for the three one—dayers after getting bowled out for 36 and well beaten in the first test, india have turned it around against australia, levelling the series. they won by 8 wickets in melbourne with a day to spare. drew savage reports. from offal in adelaide, to marvellous in melbourne. the hugs, the handshake say at all, in india side that had just made a different kind of cricket history. i think this will go down as one of the great comebacks in the history of the game. to be bowled overfor 36 and then into days to get up and be ready to punch is outstanding. and punch they did. the first breakthrough came from jasprit bumrah, ending a 57—

melbourne stars bowling them out for 125 as they reached their victory target with almost three overss. the head of the rfu, bill sweeney, says the sport isn't facing an existential crisis, despite england's 2003 world cup winner steve thompson and a number of other ex—players claiming the sport has left them with permanent brain damage. they're bringing legal action against the game's governing bodies. facing questions today, bill sweeeney the cheief executive fo the rfu was asked if they acted properly. there's no direct between concussion and cte. i'm hesitant to say that because it sounds as if the governing science, her body is hiding, but there's no direct conclusion that correlates between concussion and cte. that's because there's many lifestyle and genetic factors involved, one may be more susceptible than the other. but these are the questions where we wa nt to these are the questions where we want to get as much certainty as possible. and that's why the next phase we will go in terms of research. some other stories now... they were leaving not having sex before they leveled

melbourne stars bowled them out for 125 and then reached their victory target with almost three overs reed's bid to win the race to dubai is gaining pace — he's two shots clear at the top of the leaderboard at the season—ending world tour championship, on ten under—par. england's matthew fitzpatrick is the closest challenger on eight under at the halfway mark. and it's another american amy 0lsen who will start day two of the final major of the year, the delayed us women's open in houston, in the lead — thanks in no small part to this. a hole in one at the 16th. she's four under par, a shot clear of the field, with britain's charley hull two off the pace. that's all the sport for now but there's more on the bbc sport website, including live text commentary on second practice ahead of the abu dhabi grand prix. good afternoon. the head of the european commission, ursula von der leyen, has said the bloc will decide on sunday if there are the conditions for a post—brexit trade deal. she insisted the eu's priority was to protect the single market — but the uk would also have sovereignty to

melbourne stars bowled them out for 125 and then reached their victory target with almost three oversight title fight on saturday at wembley arena, with the bulgarian pulev coming just one pounds lighter than the briton, so nothing between them. this isjoshua's first uk appearance in over two years, with his last fight coming againsts andy ruinr in saudi arabia at the end of last year. plenty of spice between the pair — words exchanged — and security had to intervene at one stage. there was unexpected drama towards the end of second practice for this weekend's season ending adu dhabi grand prix. kimi raikkonen‘s haas car caught fire with just under 20 minutes to go. the finnish driver managed to find a safe spot to pull over and got out safely before helping marshals to extinguish the flames. mercedes valtteri bottas topped the time sheets ahead of team mate lewis hamilton who's returned after recovering from coronavirus. patrick reed took control of the race to dubai with a brilliant round of 64 to put him two shots clear heading into the weekend of the season ending world tour champ

india might be without their star man in virat kohli for the second test against australia in melbournecentury has kept them on top after day two at the mcg. kohli's returned home for the birth of his first child, with rahane taking over the reins as skipper. and he's lead from the front, bringing up his 12th test century in style. and he's made the most of some good fortune — dropped here on 104 by travis head — who somehow let the ball out of his grasp. india closing on 277—5, a lead of 82, as they look to level the 4 match series. he was so patient and such a high quality bowling attack, and when you are notable... quality bowling attack, and when you are not able... it was such a magnificent knock to watch from outside. making sure he put all of them away. meanwhile at centurion south africa took advantage of a depleted sri lanka attack, dean elgar with 95, aiden markram with a half century and faf du plessis combining with temba bavuma for a 97—run stand late in the day, to leave the hosts 317 for 4 on day two of the first test. sri lanka made 396 in theirfirst innings. and new zea

india might be without their star man in virat kohli for the second test against australia in melbournet them on top after day two at the mcg. kohli's returned home for the birth of his first child, with rahane taking over the reins as skipper, and he's led from the front, bringing up his 12th test century in style. and he's made the most of some good fortune — dropped here on 104 by travis head — who somehow let the ball out of his grasp. india closing on 277—5, a lead of 82, as they look to level the four—match series. once the ball got a bit softer, the wicket was pretty placid. not many things in it any more. typical melbourne. it flattens out. even with the glass compared to what we are normally used to, it has become are normally used to, it has become a flat wicket. —— the grass. important to bat big and get into the game again. that's all your sport for now, i'll have more for your later. you're watching the bbc news channel. let's get more on the impact of the rise in coronavirus on nhs services across the uk. a little earlier i spoke to saffron cordery — the deputy chief execu

india might be without their star man in virat kohli for the boxing day test against australia in melbournentury sees them on top after day two at the mcg. kohli has returned home for the birth of his first child, with rahane taking over the reins as skipper, and he's been leading from the front, bringing up his 12th test century in style. and he's made the most of some good fortune, dropped here on 104 by travis head, who somehow let the ball out of his grasp. india closing on 277 forfive, a lead of 82. 1—0 down in the four match series. that's all the sport for now. now on bbc news, it's the papers. hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the papers will be bringing us. with me are businessjournalistjohn crowley and sian griffiths, the education editor of the sunday times. senior conservative mps are concerned about plans to rush borisjohnson's christmas eve brexit deal through parliament before the year's end, says the observer, with fishing chiefs accusing the prime minister of "caving in" at the last minute. in coronavirus news, doctors are warning of "ppe style chaos", according t

by then, johnson already was a star of the two-day ten-event decathlon, having won the 1956 olympic silver medal in melbourneyed basketball for coach john wooden and served as student body president. he was named "sports illustrated" sportsman of the year in 1958. he appeared on the core ehe cov "time" in 1960. his gold medal was clinched in the final event. after the olympics, johnson worked with the peace corps, the state department and the 196 preside1968 campaign of robert kennedy. on june 5th of 1968, johnson was escorting kennedy's pregnant wife through the crowd at the ambassador hotel in los angeles when senator kennedy was shot and killed. johnson helped to wrestle the shooter to the ground and disarm him. he was a pallbearer at kennedy's funeral. johnson went on to become an actor, a sports broadcaster, an executive, a founder of special olympic southern california and husband for 49 years to betsy. in 1984, johnson was chosen to light the olympic flame in los angeles. rafer johnson, a trailblazing american athlete died in california, he was 86 years old. how about no no uh uh, no way come on, no n

melbourne 30000 fans were allowed in at m.c.g. is the terrorists dismissed the aussies for just 195 runs just print byrne ross starred with 4 scalps india lost one wickets in their response and closed on 36 for one baht overall it was a good day for them especially after getting thrashed by 8 wickets in the series opener so there was a constant discussion going on between the bullnose and the other gazed with the captain so you know the we could jane just after the 1st session as well it got better to back on the moisture into we saw adjusting according to their dart into the wicket i know the lines that we wanted to build so we were just trying to communicate what kind of lines we wanted to board so we could save the fuel so when there was less help so we tried to change a little bit of the line and get the feel of you know but it's got very good ball in one ops and. there was a little bit more in it so i would say middle even. the occur where we know a little bit more which is something that you probably don't say you should be here at the m.c.g. on so i think once again just we've got to make sure we adapt and make sure that wh

cricket test against india in melbourne with a one nil series lead but they tossed is also a little bit easier that's because the indians will be without the captain and star player of it at kohli for the remainder of the 4 match series kohli is on paternity leave and in another blow fast bowler mohammad shami has been ruled out of the 2nd test as well australia bowled india out for a record low $36.00 in the 1st test on sunday to win comfortably inside 3 days. i think it's important to keep moving forward. look at. yourself individually what you could have done better. which i think is important after any game with the bat well or you don't. you reflect and you say what you can do in the next game or the rest of the games for the series. to have an impact. i'll be here again a little bit later with another sports news update there thank you very much peter and thanks for watching the news hour on al-jazeera we're back in just a moment with much more of the day's news and all the latest headlines coming your way see you tonight. the latest news as it breaks the measures introduced during this way resulted in the 20 percent drop in the amount that people ar

india might be without their star man in virat kohli for the boxing day test against australia in melbourneead of 82. quite the turnaround from the first test, which you might remember was a big win for the home side, with india bowled out forjust 36 — their lowest ever test score. u nfortu nate. unfortunate. he kind of had a hold over it. and then when he hit the turf, it bounced up. thank you, john. stay with us, headlines are on the way. good morning welcome to breakfast with rogerjohnson and nina warhurst. 0ur headlines today: borisjohnson promises big changes following his brexit trade deal, with a pledge to focus on spreading opportunity and delivering for those left behind. the rollout of the pfizer biontech covid vaccine begins for millions of people across the eu — starting with italy and the czech republic. storm bella brings gusts of more than a hundred miles an hour — and amber weather warnings for parts of wales and southern england. the winds from storm bella are peaking right about now. those damaging winds, combined with very wet weather, so a risk and concern for further fl