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Hugh Morris obituary: Cricketer and former ECB chief leaves stellar legacy

Despite his standing in the game, Morris was a friendly and unassuming presence around Glamorgan’s home ground in Cardiff, always happy to stop for a chat with supporters and occasionally helping ticket staff on busier matchdays.

He was a patron of Heads Up, a charity supporting research into head and neck cancer, after surviving throat cancer diagnosed in 2002, and was appointed MBE 20 years later for services to cricket and charity.

Morris was diagnosed with bowel cancer in January 2022 and, having returned to work later that year, left his role as Glamorgan chief executive in September 2023 to spend time with his family as he underwent treatment.

When he was inducted into the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame in 2024, Morris could not be at the ceremony because he was attending a family wedding.

When organisers surprised him by presenting him with the award at his local golf club, Morris was genuinely taken aback – an endearingly sincere reaction from a man who achieved so much yet remained so humble, warm and human throughout.

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“SportsCenter” host Elle Duncan leaves ESPN for Netflix

ESPN veteran Elle Duncan is leaving the network next year to become the lead host for Netflix Sports.

The streamer announced Thursday that Duncan will be the signature talent for its growing roster of live sports events. She will make her Netflix debut next year for with Skyscraper Live, where free solo climber Alex Honnold will attempt to scale Taipei 101, the tallest building in Taiwan.

Duncan, 42, had her final “SportsCenter” appearance on Wednesday. In addition to ESPN’s flagship show, she appeared on “WNBA Countdown” and “College GameDay.” She joined ESPN in 2016.

Duncan will be familiar face to sports fans, some of whom are still adapting to watching sports on a streaming platform.

“Elle Duncan’s proven ability to seamlessly move between hard-hitting sports analysis and warm, personality-driven cultural hosting makes her a perfect fit at Netflix,” Gabe Spitzer, Vice President, Sports, Netflix said in a statement. “She immediately adds credibility and familiar star power to our global programming slate.”

Netflix has been expanding its portfolio of live sporting events, including a new deal with Major League Baseball that gives the streamer the right to the season opener, the Home Run Derby and the Field of Dreams game for the next three years.

Netflix also has a double header of NFL games on Christmas day and has been the platform for a number of boxing events, including Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford super middleweight bout in September.

The streamer also became the exclusive video home for podcasts from Barstool Sports, the bro-centric digital media company led by Dave Portnoy. The video versions of “Pardon My Take,” “The Ryen Russillo Podcast,” and “Spittin Chiclets” will stream on Netflix starting next year.

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