Sport news in brief
England name 14-man squad for ODI series with Ireland
Left-armers David Willey and Reece Topley have earned recalls to England’s ODI squad as part of a 14-man squad for the ODI series against Ireland at the Ageas Bowl starting on Thursday.
Like the ongoing Test series against West Indies, the three matches will take place at the Ageas Bowl in a bio-secure environment.
As such, the squad only features eight players who were part of England’s World Cup winning 15 from last summer. Five are currently involved in the third Test at Emirates Old Trafford. Joe Denly, who played the first Test and was part of the bubble in Manchester, is also in the 50-over squad after joining the bubble in Southampton two days ago.
Full squad: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex) Captain, Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire),
Tom Banton (Somerset), Sam Billings (Kent), Tom Curran (Surrey), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Joe Denly (Kent), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Reece Topley (Surrey), James Vince (Hampshire), David Willey (Yorkshire)
Hamilton criticised after sharing coronavirus anti-vax video
Lewis Hamilton has sought to clarify a deleted post on his Instagram profile after being criticised for sharing an anti-vax conspiracy video that accused Bill Gates of lying about coronavirus vaccine trials.
Hamilton shared a screen grab of the video that included a picture of Gates – who is fronting the US’s efforts to develop a vaccine for Covid-19 – and below the still read the caption: “I remember when I told my first lie.”
Gates appeared on CBSN at the weekend to reject claims that vaccine tests had caused side effects, and the Microsoft co-founder also strongly rejected accusations that he wanted to embed tracking chips in the vaccines.
However, Hamilton’s post has fuelled a wave of criticism due to the anti-vax theory contained with the video. Hamilton subsequently deleted all of his stories on Instagram and said: “I want to be clear that I’m not against a vaccine and no doubt it will be important in the fight against coronavirus, and I’m hopeful for its development to help save lives. However after watching the video, I felt it showed that there is still a lot of uncertainty about the side effects most importantly and how it is going to be funded.”
Lallana joins Brighton on three-year deal from Liverpool
Brighton have stolen a march on domestic rivals by securing the services of Adam Lallana on a three-year deal as a free agent from Liverpool.
The midfielder, who had fielded enquiries from Burnley, Newcastle, Leicester and Bournemouth among others in the top flight, passed his medical on Monday and will help shape the club’s tactical and psychological advancement under Graham Potter.
Brighton’s technical director Dan Ashworth led a seven-month pursuit of the player, who was credited by Jurgen Klopp as being one of the foundations of Liverpool’s success during his tenure.
“There is no doubting Adam’s quality, and if you look at his footballing CV his ability is clear for everyone to see,” Potter said. “He has played at the very highest level, for both club and country, and achieved great things. He has a wealth of experience alongside his technical quality. The honours he won during his time at Liverpool, and the high regard in which he is held at Anfield, only further underline his ability and character.”
Fulham close in on Championship play-off final
Fulham emerged 2-0 winners against Cardiff on Monday evening in the teams’ Championship play-off semi-final.
Cardiff were denied a goal in the first half by some tremendous last-gasp Fulham defending, and the hosts would go on to rue that missed opportunity.
Scott Parker’s Fulham took the lead early in the second half when Josh Onomah netted, before Neeskens Kebano struck in added time to seal the win.
If Fulham can finish the job at home on Thursday, they will face the winners of Brentford vs Swansea – with the Welsh side having won the first leg 1-0 – at Wembley on 4 August.