Parker trails ‘big three’

Joseph Parker, right, is among a clutch of heavyweight contenders who might be too small to beat ‘‘the big three’’, claims former world champion Lennox Lewis. Lewis, who retired 15 years ago as the last undisputed world champion in heavyweight history, said Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury were the ‘‘top of today’s current crop of heavyweights’’. ‘‘They are at the very top of the division, and then there’s everyone else, who can be interchangeable, yet still dangerous, opponents. ‘‘You have [Dillian] Whyte, [Joseph] Parker, [Dominic] Breazeale, [Bryant] Jennings and [Luis] Ortiz. All of these guys are solid fighters that have the potential to break through with a great fight. However, one major difference is that they aren’t physically built like the big three. Heavyweight bodies have grown bigger, taller and stronger over the years. In order to compete with, or beat any of the big three, these fighters must fight them very smart.’’ James Anderson lifted England with a fourwicket burst to help restrict hosts West Indies to 264-8 on the opening day of the first test in Barbados yesterday. After West Indies reached 174-3 at Kensington Oval, Anderson helped turn the contest in England’s favour, seeing off the settled duo of Shai Hope and Roston Chase, bouncing out Shane Dowrich and finishing with a caught and bowled off captain Jason Holder. He closed with 4-33, while Ben Stokes pounded some life into a gentle pitch to claim three wickets. Hope led the West Indies batsmen with 57 runs off 148 balls before nicking an inside edge to the alert Ben Foakes, one of three half centuries on the day. Chelsea signed Gonzalo Higuain on loan from Juventus for the rest of the season yesterday, reuniting the Argentina striker with coach Maurizio Sarri in an effort to cure the team’s scoring problems. The deal included an option for Chelsea€to extend the loan by another season for 18 million (NZ$30.1 million), or buy Higuain outright for €36 million ($60.3 million). The 31-year-old Higuain scored a record 36 goals in 35 Serie A games in his one season under Sarri at Napoli, in the 2015-16 campaign. Since then, he has played for Juventus and been on loan this season at AC Milan, where he has scored eight goals.