SPORT IN SHORT
CRICKET England are looking to appoint a permanent member of staff to supervise mental health and wellbeing amid players spending weeks and months in ‘bio-secure’ bubbles.
World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan warned in October it is ‘untenable’ for players to continue spending prolonged spells inside these environments as part of the sport’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Ashley Giles, managing director of
England men’s cricket and former Lancashire head coach, said earlier this month players will be offered ‘mental health screening’ before committing to any tours.
“Ashley is in the process of appointing a mental health and wellbeing person across the team,” said ECB chief executive Tom Harrison.
“(It will be) different from the psychology and the clinical element, but actually looking at mental wellbeing as being part of our highperformance set-up as a permanent position. We want to be leaders in this.”
DARTS James Wade recorded the first ninedarter in five years at the PDC World Championship but he still joined the growing list of top seeds to suffer an early exit at Alexandra Palace.
Wade made a strong start to his third round match against Stephen Bunting but the No.7 seed’s scoring slipped dramatically and his Merseyside opponent capitalised to level at two sets apiece from 2-0 down. Bunting then nudged ahead at the start of the fifth set but watched on helplessly as Wade wrote his name into the history books with back-to-back 180s followed by a 141 checkout
Bunting, the 26th seed, won the next two sets to prevail 4-2, setting up a last-16 clash with Ryan Searle. Bunting said: “I can’t believe it, I’ve worked so hard over the last few months.”