England pair to learn fate

®ÊRUGBY UNION

ENGLISH rugby bosses have shut the door on Premiership promotion and relegation being scrapped this season.

The RFU’s interim chief executive Nigel Melville branded the idea “wishful thinking” after some clubs were understood to be pushing for the English top-flight to be ring-fenced.

Just four points separate the bottom seven teams in the 12-strong Premiership, with one side dropping into the Championship.

®ÊCRICKET

BEN STOKES and Alex Hales will learn this week whether they face punishment from England cricket chiefs over bringing the game into disrepute.

Stokes was cleared of affray at Bristol Crown Court after a trial in relation to an incident outside a nightclub in the city in September 2017.

Hales was with Stokes but faced no criminal charges.

The disciplinary hearings will take place today and on Friday. JACK LISOWSKI wants to ruin Ronnie O’Sullivan’s birthday today.

Lightning-fast Lisowski, 27, beat Hong Kong’s Marco Fu 6-3 at York’s Barbican Centre to set up a last-16 clash against ‘The Rocket’.

Holder O’Sullivan, who turns 43, is seeking a record seventh UK Championship crown.

But rising star Lisowski (left) said: “I would certainly rather win than let him have a good birthday!

“It could be a cracking match, I think we are the second and third-fastest players on tour.”