TODAY: Dec 18

1971: Stan Mellor became the first National Hunt jockey to ride 1,000 winners when he partnered Ouzo to victory at Nottingham. 2005: Ding Junhui won snooker’s UK Championship with a 10-6 victory over Steve Davis. 2006: England surrendered the Ashes after losing the third Test in Perth by 206 runs to hand Australia an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. 2012: Lionel Messi agreed a new contract with Barcelona running until 2018. 2014: Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli (above) was banned for one match, fined £25,000 and ordered to attend an education course after making racist and anti-Semitic comments on social media.