McCullum’s contract with England ends in the autumn of 2027. He said he has not thought about the possibility of an extension so, as it stands, his final Test series in charge will be the home Ashes next summer.

By then, England will have not held the urn for almost a decade and not won a five-match series since 2018.

And 44-year-old McCullum, who played 101 Tests for New Zealand, said his team must use their latest Ashes failure as a “lesson” for the challenges ahead.

“The lesson we were taught down in Australia needs to help galvanise us moving forward, otherwise it was just a beating and incredible dispointment,” he said.

“If we’re able to make good on what we’ve been taught and what we’ve gone through and it makes us a better side, whilst it still hurts, it will make us a better side.”

In the aftermath of the Ashes, players who have been discarded by McCullum’s regime have been critical of the England set-up. Liam Livingstone and Jonny Bairstow added their voices to the frustration expressed by pundits and fans.

In response to some of the Ashes shortcomings, England have added extra coaches to their backroom staff, imposed a midnight curfew on players and staff, and will soon be joined by a full-time chef.

“I’ve always had authenticity to how I like to operate as a person. It’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea,” said McCullum. “Not everyone is going to love you all the time. That’s OK.

“I have firm conviction in the way we try to she and build teams. I’m not rigid about development, improvement and refinement.

“There has been a period of reflection, things we have needed to change and things we have changed. We’ve made some adjustments and now the key from a cricket point of view is winning those moments when the game is on the line.”

Piero Hincié looks set to join Arsenal permanently after his loan from Bayer Leverkusen, but could Barcelona spoil the party? Meanwhile, Real Madrid want to bring in Paris Saint-Germain midfielder João Neves. Join us for the latest transfer news and rumors from around the globe.

Transfers home page | Men’s winter grades | Women’s grades

TRENDING RUMORS

– Barcelona are considering a move for Bayer Leverkusen‘s Piero Hincié this summer, according to The Daily Mail. Arsenal signed the versatile defender on loan last summer, which includes a permanent option clause of £45 million. But the Gunners are yet to confirm whether they will trigger that deal, which would see the Ecuador international sign on a five-year deal. As a result, Barcelona are sounding out the possibility of a move as they search for a new left-sided center back.

– COPE reports that Real Madrid want to bring in Paris Saint-Germain midfielder João Neves. Neves, 21, is one of the top prospects in Europe and has a contract until 2030, so would not come che. Another player who could boost Madrid’s flagging squad is their former winger Víctor Munoz, who could be re-signed from Osasuna as the club still own 50% of his rights. And the report also states Madrid want to secure some defensive reinforcements and are targeting Inter Milan center back Alessandro Bastoni at around €50 million.

– Juventus are interested in taking Liverpool backup goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili on loan for a season, if they can’t land the club’s No. 1 Alisson Becker on a permanent deal. Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Juve have failed to convince Liverpool to part with Alisson, who has a deal until 2027. But with Mamardashvili looking for game time, a loan may benefit all parties. Meanwhile, the

– Inter Milan defender Denzel Dumfries has emerged as an option for Liverpool, says The Daily Mail. The Reds are keen to find options for the right flank following Conor Bradley‘s long-term injury absence and the struggles of Jeremie Frimpong. Dumfries, 30, has a €25 million clause that activates in July and is entering the final two years of his contract, so is available. But the club are also discussing the possibility of bringing Jarell Quansah back from Bayer Leverkusen this summer as a possible replacement for center back Ibrahima Konaté, reports TEAMtalk. Konate, 27, is set to leave at the end of his contract and Liverpool have a return clause in Quansah’s contract reportedly valued at £69 million.

– Bernardo Silva want to move to Barcelona when he leaves Manchester City as a free agent his summer, according to The Times. Silva, 31, has been offered deals by Atletico Madrid and Benfica, while Juventus have also been in the mix, the Portugal international is keen on a switch to Camp Nou where there is an offer in the region of €100,000-a-week on the table.

ESPN SOURCES

– Tottenham are moving closer to a deal to sign Andy Robertson on a free transfer, sources have confirmed to ESPN. The 32-year-old left back has ended his nine-year association with Liverpool after playing his final game for the club last Sunday against Brentford. Read

– Brentford have tabled a bid in the region of £40 million ($54m) for FC Cologne star winger Said El Mala, sources have told ESPN, with Cologne still considering the offer. Read

– Barcelona will turn their attention to Atlético Madrid’s Julián Álvarez after agreeing a deal to sign Anthony Gordon, various sources have told ESPN. The Spanish champions are hopeful they can win the race for Álvarez, who is also interesting Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal, after being informed the Argentina forward would prefer to join them over his other options. Read

– Manchester United are close to an agreement with Atalanta for midfielder Éderson, sources have told ESPN. United are ready to pay around £35 million for the Brazil international, who is set to become the first new arrival at Old Trafford this summer. Read

OTHER RUMORS

– Tottenham are set to sign Bournemouth defender Marcos Senesi on a free transfer. (Fabrizio Romano)

– Arsenal have intensified interest in Aston Villa forward Morgan Rogers, but a deal could cost upwards of £80 million. (TEAMtalk)

– Striker Julian Alvarez has informed Atletico Madrid that he wants to leave the club, as he continues to be linked with a transfer to Barcelona in the region of €100 million. (Fabrizio Romano)

– Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott has been offered a new contract to fend off any interest. (Fabrizio Romano)

– Arsenal are increasingly confident of landing a deal to sign Leicester City youngster Jeremy Monga. The 16-year-old winger has interest from Manchester United and Manchester City following the Foxes’ relegation to League One, but the Gunners pear to be frontrunners. (TEAMtalk)

– Brighton midfielder Matt O’Riley is a transfer target for Tottenham this summer, with the 25-year-old potentially available after a loan move at Marseille earlier this campaign. (Football Insider)

– Manchester City winger Savinho is keen on joining Tottenham, with the Brazilian looking for more game time. (Football Insider)

– Newcastle, Liverpool, Tottenham and Borussia Dortmund are eyeing a move for Lille midfielder Angel Gomes. (Sun)

– Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool are interested in signing Sunderland midfielder Chris Rigg, 17. (GMS)

– Barcelona’s interest in Inter Milan defender Alessandro Bastoni has cooled in recent weeks, with the €70 million valuation set for the 27-year-old’s transfer complicating the deal. (Sport)

– Juventus are in the race to sign Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta as the 28-year-old looks set to leave Crystal Palace after firing the club to Europa Conference League glory in midweek. (Gazzetta dello Sport)

– Galatasaray are preparing an offer for West Ham defender Emerson Palmieri. (Football Insider)

For the third year in a row, Littler finished top of the Premier League standings.

He went on to reach the final for the third consecutive year and has won the title in two of them.

He set a new record for night wins in the league phase in 2025 and matched that tally of six in 2026.

Despite that, Littler said he felt like he did not want to “go to the next Premier League night”.

He added: “Tonight was one of those wins where I had to get it done. Even sat at home, I didn’t want to go out. I didn’t want to go to the next Premier League night but we’ve done it.

“We’ve all got feelings, not just as dart players, we’re humans. I can’t believe I’ve won.”

The current Premier League format lasts 17 weeks if you reach finals night and sees players travel across the UK, Republic of Ireland and Europe to play every Thursday during the league phase.

The event only features eight players – the world’s four top-ranked players and four players who are invited by the Professional Darts Corporation – and runs alongside ProTour events.

Sky Sports pundit Wayne Mardle highlighted how former world champions Gerwyn Price and Phil Taylor have felt a similar strain to Littler in the past.

He said: “It is not a rarity for the Premier League to become too much. Week after week, it is an endurance test.

“Sometimes you can feel down and if you feel down, you become mentally weaker.

“We know how strong Luke Littler is mentally but when you are feeling like you’re public enemy number one, you can feel like you don’t want to turn up, but he did turn up and this is now the by-product of turning up.”

Despite coming close to leaving the competition, Littler’s dominance in the sport continues to grow.

His victory means he has added the Premier League to his World Championship title, World Masters and UK Open successes this year.

Littler holds seven of the eight ranking titles that the Professional Darts Corporation have, plus the Premier League.

“There is a point in everyone’s career when they are at their peak – we don’t know if this is his peak but we know this is peak level because Michael van Gerwen and Phil Taylor’s peak was this kind of standard,” added Mardle.

“We’re assuming he must be near his peak and it is good enough time and time again. There are no weaknesses really.”

Among the next things for Littler to tick off is glory alongside Luke Humphries for England in June’s World Cup of Darts.

If the pair play anything like they did in London on Thursday night, you wouldn’t bet against them.

That clearly suited Gordon.

Digging deeper, according to Opta, the England international has had a significantly better shot conversion rate in the Champions League (38.5%) compared to the Premier League (12.5%) in 2025-26.

Gordon has also had more shots (three) and touches in the opposition box (6.1); attempted more dribbles (3.9); and had a better dribble success rate (45.5%) per 90 minutes in Europe than when playing in the English top flight.

He averaged a goal or assist every 64 minutes in the Champions League in contrast to just one every 227 minutes in the Premier League in the campaign just gone.

The difference in numbers reflects some of the opponents Gordon has come up against after facing some particularly solid Premier League sides throughout the campaign.

But it also illustrates how he has tended to raise his game in Europe, which feeds into a wider point that Gordon’s best matches for Newcastle have often come against the biggest teams over the years.

The test at Barcelona will be to deliver week in, week out, particularly given the level of competition for a starting place, as he battles it out with Rhinha among others.

According to BBC Sport columnist Guillem Balague, Barcelona have also opened talks to sign Julian Alvarez, with an agreement in place with the Argentine forward.

But Atletico Madrid are likely to turn down the 90m euros Barca are expected to offer.

Whoever else does come in, Gordon can expect tough competition.

“That will be a challenge [Gordon] will relish to take his game to the next level,” Ritchie added.

“I don’t think the stage or badge will change him as a person. He will always have this inner drive, this mentality, to be the best.”

PARIS — There was a familiar refrain heard in the stands at Roland Garros on Wednesday. “Vamos, Rafa!”

It’s a phrase that’s been yelled thousands of times over the past two decades at the French Open, but it’s been largely absent since Rafael Nadal‘s retirement in 2024.

But the fans in the nearly full Court 7 weren’t trying to conjure up the 14-time tournament champion. Instead, the 1,500 or so who packed the seats — which included former world No. 3 and 2013 French Open finalist David Ferrer — were all there to catch a glimpse of the latest Spanish up-and-coming star, Rafael Jodar, in his first pearance at the Slam.

With every strike of the ball, every jump, and even when he took a hard tumble and found himself covered in clay, the crowd watched, enamored, as he battled James Duckworth. At the end of the three hours and 22 sweat-drenched minutes, Jodar won the second-round match 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-5 after a double fault from Duckworth.

Jodar — who grew up admiring Nadal — clinched a fist and shook an arm in celebration when it was over, as the crowd rose to its collective feet.

It’s been a staggering rise for the 19-year-old, who turned professional at the start of the season following a brief NCAA stint at Virginia. In January, Jodar came through qualifying to make his major debut at the Australian Open and reached the second round. And while he won a handful of matches on hard court in the spring, it’s on clay where Jodar has surged. In ril, he won his first ATP title at the 250-level Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakesh, Morocco. He then reached the semifinals in Barcelona and the quarterfinals in Madrid. Ranked No. 168 at the start of the year, Jodar arrived in Paris ranked No. 29 and seeded in just his second major.

“It’s been a great year for me,” Jodar said Wednesday. “I’m enjoying every tournament, and every week that I’m playing on the tour is a new chter for me. I take it as a learning year, because I think I can improve a lot.”

In his first-round match against Aleksandar Kovacevic, he lost just five games — the fewest surrendered in a Roland Garros debut since Novak Djokovic in 2005. With Wednesday’s victory, he became just the fourth Spanish teenager to reach the third round of the French Open over the past 30 years, joining Nadal, Tommy Robredo and Carlos Alcaraz. With a 17-3 tour-level record on clay, he now owns the second-best ATP debut on the surface, trailing only Andy Roddick, who started at 18-2.

Jodar will next face Alex Michelsen, a rising 21-year-old American, on Friday with a chance to reach the second week. Pablo Carreno Busta or Thiago Agustin Tirante, both unseeded, would await in the fourth round.

And no matter what, it seems clear that Jodar’s star will continue to rise in Paris and beyond. Even if he’s just focused on one match and one tournament at a time.

“I think I can improve a lot,” Jodar said. “I can do better things in the future, but always with the same mentality, that I can be better in every tournament and in every match.”

This time last year, Jodar was some 4,660 miles away from Paris in Little Rock, Arkansas, preparing for a Challenger event. He was ranked No. 707 in the world and was watching what he could of the French Open.

He lost in the first round of the Challenger.

“It was obviously another chter of my life,” Jodar said after his first-round win. “But I think that chter also helped me, you know, to develop a lot and to be a better player now. I think about those times as times that helped me to be on court.”

After a strong junior career in which he won the 2024 boys title at the US Open, Jodar made an immediate impact as a freshman during the spring 2025 semester at Virginia. With a 19-3 singles record, he was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Rookie of the Year and the ACC’s Freshman of the Year, in addition to earning All-American honors. Less than two weeks after the college season concluded, Jodar was in Little Rock and getting ready to play a number of Challenger events.

He then opted to skip the fall portion of the NCAA season. It proved to be the right decision — he won three Challenger titles in that stretch. His ranking and results were good enough to qualify him for the ATP’s Next Gen Finals in December. By the end of the month, he announced he was turning pro.

“My time in college has played a huge role in my growth both as a player and as a person, and I now feel prepared to take this next step and embrace a new challenge in my life,” he wrote in an Instagram post.

While some players struggle in their first months on tour, there was no such learning curve for Jodar. He won 10 of his first 11 matches, coming through qualifying to reach the Challenger final in Canberra before rolling through qualifying and into the second round in Melbourne.

The victory in Marrakesh raised his profile and proved he was a legitimate talent, but it was his matches in Barcelona and Madrid that put him in an entirely different conversation. In Madrid, his hometown, he recorded the first top-10 victory over Alex de Minaur. Jannik Sinner, the world No. 1, sat in the stands to watch. Two days later, Jodar defeated Joao Fonseca, the 2024 ATP Next Gen champion whom many had dubbed “the next big thing,” in three sets. In the quarterfinals, he lost to Sinner but pushed him to a tiebreak in the second set.

The two had a lengthy embrace at the net and Sinner later shared that he told him to “Keep working, keep improving.” Sinner then wrote, “What a player” on the camera lens in recognition of his young opponent.

– Tennis TV (@TennisTV) ril 29, 2026

“He’s already a very solid player, and I think he has shown why,” Sinner told reporters after the match. “He’s playing very, very high-quality tennis. … Everyone is improving, you know, so you need always to be in the present moment. That’s also one of the reasons why I went to watch him, you know, him and Joao Fonseca. I like to watch because I know that they are going to be potentially the future opponents most of the time.”

Fonseca echoed Sinner’s thoughts on Jodar, calling him “super solid” when speaking to reporters after his own third-round victory Wednesday.

On Wednesday, with Ferrer, a childhood role model and ctain of the Spanish Davis Cup team seated with his father, Jodar was challenged by his opponent and the conditions, but he ultimately believed that would help him down the road.

“I think this match will help me a lot because, ultimately, I see this year as a year to learn a lot,” Jodar said in Spanish. “I’m not going to win every match, obviously, and I’m aware there will be losses, but I’m going to try to learn a lot from both the victories and the defeats.”

Before the match, Jodar hadn’t looked very far ahead in the draw and only found out he would next be playing Michelsen when his father told him ahead of his news conference. But he said he was expecting another tough challenge against the American — “he’s won two matches for a reason” — and was looking forward to having Thursday to recover and prepare.

Jodar doesn’t seem to be thinking about how far he can go this year in Paris. And with Sinner — who is currently on a blistering 30-match win streak — in the draw, it seems unlikely that Jodar will win the title. But a Spanish teenager named Rafa winning Roland Garros in their first pearance isn’t unheard of. Nadal did just that in 2005.