Jason Grant made a diving catch in the end zone with eight seconds left to lift Crenshaw past host Palisades 34-29 on Friday night in a battle of likely City Section Open Division playoff teams.
Danniel Flowers escaped the pocket, rolled to his right and lofted a pass to Grant, who saved the day for the Cougars after it looked like Palisades would pull off the upset against the team that lost in the section championship game last fall. Flowers ran for the two-point conversion.
“I ran an outside go route and I had to stretch out but I got my knees down,” Grant said. “We’ve been working all summer and the hard work paid off.”
Grant gave a shout-out to interim coach Terrence Whitehead, who guide the Cougars to the finals last fall in the absence of longtime coach Robert Garrett, who was put on administrative leave just before the start of the 2025 season.
“I love him,” Grant said. “He trusted me enough to put me in.”
After the kickoff, Palisades had one last chance from its own 26-yard line with two seconds left but Kyion Rattler intercepted Robert Holohan’s desperation pass at the Cougars’ 35.
Joshua Jones scores Crenshaw’s first touchdown in Friday night’s 34-29 season-opening win at Palisades.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Flowers, who was injured on a sack earlier in the fourth quarter but returned to lead his team on the game-winning drive, threw touchdown passes of 46 yards to Rattler in the second quarter and 23 yards to Jovan Clark with 6:04 left in the fourth quarter that gave Crenshaw a 29-26 lead.
Playing on campus for the first time since the 2024 playoffs, Palisades regained the lead on Holohan’s 33-yard strike to Malachi Ross with 2:48 left for the 29-26 lead. The Dolphins thought they recovered a fumble at the Crenshaw 20 on the ensuing kickoff but the officials awarded the visitors the ball and tacked on a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that allowed the Cougars to start their final drive at their own 35.
“I had to come back in,” Flowers said of his late-game heroics. “I saw the D-end coming out so I just had to wait for a teammate to get open. We knew we’d win if we played four quarters. When we got down we kept our composure.”
Joshua Jones ran for 124 yards and one touchdown in 24 carries, De’Andre Kirkpatrick ran for a one-yard touchdown and intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter to keep Crenshaw close.
“We for sure want to go back to the finals and win,” Flowers added. “Defense wins games, but our offense won this one.”
Making his first varsity start, Holohan threw for three touchdowns and ran for another as the Dolphins established themselves as early Open Division contenders. They lost to Garfield in the Open Division quarterfinals last season, playing every game on the road as a consequence of the Palisades fire.
The teams were meeting for the first time since 1984 when both played in the Crosstown League.
Dodgers president Stan Kasten wants to make it clear that majority owner Mark Walter will not sell the team.
Following Walter’s decision to sell his majority stake in the Lakers, questions about his majority ownership of the Dodgers were raised amid his company’s financial difficulties, which include a federal probe of his businesses. But Kasten said it will have no effect on Walter’s majority ownership of the Dodgers.
“The Dodgers are not being sold,” Kasten said. “They’re not going to be sold. They’re not for sale. There’s no process that has been started to sell [the franchise]. Period. … I just wanted this to be clear because this question keeps coming up. I understand the questions; I do. The Lakers thing was what we call sui generis, one of those one-of-a-kind things. Really has nothing to do with what’s happening with [the Dodgers] or the other teams.
“I wanted you to hear it definitively: We are not selling the Dodgers. We are continuing with our plans going forward, like we always have had them. This comes from Mark. He’s gung-ho about continuing to try to win, again, including next year, subject to whatever next year’s climate looks like.”
Kasten added that he doesn’t expect the Dodgers’ operations to be interrupted, describing the franchise as “very stable, well-managed, and [with] very solid ownership.”
“I know nothing involving the Dodgers is part of the investigation,” Kasten said. “I’m promising you, when it’s over, you’re going to realize [things] are being mischaracterized. You don’t have to trust me, but I’m telling you.”
When Kasten was asked about reports Walter is trying to sell his stake in English Premier League team Chelsea FC and tried to cash out of lucrative TV deals with Charter Communications, he said they were mischaracterized.
“Those things don’t go together for a bunch of reasons I’m not going to get into today,” Kasten said.
Kasten took a similar tone when asked about reports of Walter having to repay insurance companies.
“I’m not in that part of the investigation,” Kasten said. “Things are going on behind the scenes, obviously, in connection with that. I’m not privy to all of them, don’t need to know, don’t want to know. But one thing we are all certain about: the sports portfolio is going to remain intact.”
Walter has additional ownership stakes in the Sparks, the Cadillac Formula One team, the Professional Women’s Hockey League and the Billie Jean King Cup tennis event.
“I can tell you from the guy running the team, knowing how the business runs and what it can support in terms of revenues and expenses — the Dodgers aren’t going anywhere,” Kasten said. “I feel that very strongly, and Mark feels even stronger than I do. I’m 74. I don’t know how long I’m going to be running it, but Mark, I think, is going to be running it a lot longer.
“I think Mark has done an extraordinary job as an owner, and all he’s ever cared about is providing the best experience in order to make us more money, to make this project successful,” Kasten added. “I think so far it has been; I expect that to continue far into the future.”
Cleveland High football coach Mario Guzman loves the Nigerian connection of Oluwafemi Okelola and Moyosoreoluwa Odebunmi, both running backs.
Spelling their names might be the biggest challenge.
They should be major offensive contributors, joining quarterback Domenik Fuentes to fuel the Cavaliers’ attack.
Last season, Odebunmi rushed for 1,139 yards and 11 touchdowns. Okelola had 111 yards rushing and made 83 tackles and had two interceptions on defense.
The Cavaliers open their season on Friday against Narbonne.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
Mark Walter is not selling the Dodgers, his people say. Stan Kasten, the Dodgers’ president, said it again Friday. The team, as a Los Angeles Times headline put it, is the “crown jewel” of Walter’s sporting empire.
Walter was not selling the Lakers, either, until he suddenly did last week. And, amid a cash crunch triggered by a federal investigation into insurance firms his companies control, potential bidders for the Dodgers are monitoring the situation closely.
If Walter were to sell the Dodgers, a long line of interested parties could include the runner-up when he bought the team in 2012: Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of the Los Angeles Times.
On Friday, Soon-Shiong said through a representative that he would be interested in leading an investment group should Walter decide to sell the team.
“We respect Mr. Walter, and we want to make it clear we have not spoken with him,” said Chuck Kenworthy, the family attorney for Soon-Shiong. “If at some point he would like to discuss the Dodgers, we would be very open to talking.”
Walter’s TWG Global did not immediately return a request for comment.
The Dodgers could command between $10 billion and $13 billion — at the higher end, three times as much as the record sale price for a major league team — a high-ranking industry source told The Times on the condition of anonymity.
In 2012, Soon-Shiong joined hedge-fund titan Steve Cohen in trying to buy the Dodgers, with Cohen as the controlling partner. Walter and his partners won the bidding at $2.15 billion, well above the $1.6 billion runner-up bid of Soon-Shiong and Cohen.
In 2020, Cohen bought the New York Mets for $2.4 billion. The record price tag for a major league team: $3.9 billion for the San Diego Padres, officially sold this week to an investment group led by a married couple: Jose E. Feliciano, the founder of Clearlake Capital in Santa Monica, and Kwanza Jones, an artist and enterpreneur.
The record price tag for any North American sports team: $12.5 billion, the valuation of the Lakers in the deal announced last week in which Walter agreed to sell to a group fronted by former Disney chief Bob Iger and venture capitalist Joshua Kushner.
Insurance regulators and federal investigators are looking into whether certain financial transactions between various entities controlled by Walter were properly disclosed to investors and compiled with regulations designed to protect them.
The cash — from the sale of the Lakers and other assets — can help pay off loans under scrutiny by regulators. It is uncertain whether that would satisfy the federal agencies probing potential wrongdoing. No charges have been filed and investigations often conclude without charges.
In 2012, Soon-Shiong explored buying AEG, the sports and entertainment company that owns the Kings, the Galaxy and Crypto.com Arena. AEG owner Phil Anschutz ultimately decided not to sell.
Soon-Shiong considered buying the Angels in 2022, in the window between owner Arte Moreno announcing he would explore selling the team and deciding the following year that he would not sell.
Soon-Shiong is bringing the Global Esports Games to Los Angeles in December. He also has bought a Major League Volleyball expansion franchise that is scheduled to start play in Los Angeles next year.
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx co-owner Marc Lore has agreed to sell his controlling stake in the franchises to limited partner Marc Stad at a $4.5 billion value barely a year after his purchase was finalized, according to a person with knowledge of the deal.
The person spoke Friday to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details of the agreement — the second sale in the NBA this month — were not being publicized.
Lore, a New York e-commerce entrepreneur, and partner Alex Rodriguez, the former Major League Baseball star, bought the NBA and WNBA clubs from Minnesota businessman Glen Taylor. That complicated and contentious process lasted more than four years until the $1.5 billion sale got league approval in June 2025.
Lore will retain a limited share and essentially swap roles with Stad, who is the founder of Dragoneer Investment group, a California-based firm focused on technology companies. Rodriguez will remain as a co-owner and continue as the most publicly visible owner of the pro basketball franchises.
Lore’s decision to sell his majority stake stems from his focus on his food delivery startup Wonder, according to a second person with knowledge of the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity to the AP because those details were not being made public. Lore has started the process of taking Wonder public.
Lore, Rodriguez and Stad issued a joint statement Friday expressing their commitment to the current leadership in the organization including chief executive officer Matt Caldwell, Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch, and Lynx president of basketball operations and head coach Cheryl Reeve.
“We have been working together for years with a shared goal of building the Timberwolves and Lynx into the best organization in basketball on and off the floor. Our priority is and always will be championships,” the owners said. “Our new agreement, pending league approval, is an evolution of the partnership we have built together and strengthening of our commitment to our team and our culture.”
One of the great joys I’ve had in my career is spending the last few years helping build the Timberwolves and Lynx with my friend and partner Marc Lore. I’m very excited to announce that this incredible journey reaches a new level today. Marc and Elisa Stad, who have been our…
The two teams currently play at Target Center, which opened in 1990 for the second season of the Timberwolves after they were granted an expansion franchise. Lore and Rodriguez have previously pledged a desire to keeping the teams in downtown Minneapolis, eventually in a new arena.
The Lynx were added to the WNBA as an expansion club in 1999 and have won four championships, with a healthy lead on the rest of the league this season behind star Napheesa Collier and rookie Olivia Miles.
The Timberwolves have never won a title or reached the NBA Finals, with an eight-year run of making the playoffs behind star forward Kevin Garnett their only period of sustained success until recently.
Since drafting Anthony Edwards with the first overall pick in the 2020 draft, hiring Finch in 2021 and Connelly in 2022, the Timberwolves have grown into one of the league’s best teams. They reached the Western Conference finals in 2024 and 2025 and were ousted in the second round by the San Antonio Spurs last season. They acquired point guard LaMelo Ball in one of the NBA’s biggest summer trades.
How the table looks could change drastically by the end of the weekend, with Leeds able to reclaim top spot if they beat York Knights on Sunday, while a third successive Trinity loss has them in danger of dropping to fifth on Saturday if defending champions Hull KR beat Toulouse Olympique.
Both sides had early chances to take the lead, but French was the reason that neither of them managed to open the scoring in the first 10 minutes.
First the Australian wasted a golden opportunity to send Zach Eckersley over with a forward pass, but within two minutes he came up with a stunning try-saving intervention at the other end by holding Max Jowitt up over the line before the full-back was controversially judged to lose the ball in his attempt to touchdown.
Eventually, it was French himself who broke the deadlock, pouncing on a stray Wakefield pass inside his own half before sprinting 65 metres untouched to go in near to the posts.
Two tries in five minutes from Marshall out wide put Warriors in a commanding position before the half-hour mark.
Wakefield head coach Daryl Powell called on Emre Guler for the first time soon after that, with the prop coming off the bench just two days after his move from NRL side St George Illawarra Dragons was brought forward by Trinity.
It was only five days ago that Guler, who had been due to make his Super League move next season, had started for the Dragons in their win against Wests Tigers.
Wakefield threatened to respond a number of times before Hall plucked a searching high ball from Jake Trueman from the sky to dot down for the visitors in the 53rd minute.
Hall very nearly linked up with Jowitt for another Wakefield four-pointer soon after, but the centre was forced into touch by Eckersley as he dished the ball off for the finish.
The game’s definitive moment came in the 65th minute when Field swooped on a knock-on from Mike McMeeken, who was within barging distance of the tryline, allowing the full-back to race away in the other direction to score his 15th Super League try of the season.
The Ben Stokes show rolled into Derby on a pulsating second day of the County Championship match between Derbyshire and Durham at the OurCoop County Ground.
The former England captain delivered another top all-round performance, scoring 53 with 11 fours and then taking a wicket with his first ball.
He had figures of 2-14 but then pulled up at the start of his fifth over and had to leave the field although he was back on before the close.
Ben Aitchison starred for the hosts, taking 5-70 to bowl the Division Two leaders out for 283 which included half-centuries from Alex Lees and Graham Clark.
That looked an even better score when Derbyshire collapsed to 127-6, 156 behind, with Matthew Potts and Will Rhodes both taking two wickets.
The prospect of seeing Stokes bat put a few on the gate and it was not long before he was striding to the middle.
Aitchison was getting the ball to nip around and he moved one in to trap David Bedingham lbw in the third over of a sunny morning.
Stokes edged his second ball just short of the slips but a lofted drive off Brett Randell suggested he was in the mood to repeat his hundred on this ground in the One-Day Cup last month.
Aitchison had Lees dropped on 58 by Brooke Guest diving across first slip, and he beat Stokes, who responded by glancing the next ball to the fine leg boundary.
Stokes moved into Bazball mode when he dropped to one knee to drive Nick Potts gloriously through the covers before a dismissive pull brought him another boundary.
It was, however, far from a smooth ride, with a clip off Anuj Dal just evading mid-wicket before an edge through the slips took him to a 56-ball fifty, before Dal pouched a leading edge in his follow-through to reduce Durham to 182-5.
Clark mirrored Stokes, hitting two sixes in a 57-ball half-century and with Ollie Robinson, took Durham to 260 before the second new ball gave the game another twist.
Aitchison got the rewards he deserved when he had Clark caught at second slip to end a stand of 78 from 129 balls and then beat Robinson’s drive.
Both Brydon Carse and Potts went cheaply, the latter bowled by a beauty from Aitchison who became the first Derbyshire bowler for 61 years to take five wickets in an innings in four consecutive first-class matches.
Durham had lost their last five wickets for 23 and Derbyshire’s openers soon discovered there was plenty there for the pace bowlers.
Harry Came and Caleb Jewell were beaten numerous times by Potts and Carse but clung on until Stokes inevitably broke through.
His first ball drew Came into a defensive push which flew to third slip and in his fourth over he swung one in to beat Jewell’s drive as he went for 28.
There was concern when Stokes went off feeling his lower left side but was back on after Rhodes removed Wayne Madsen.
Rhodes then tempted Matthew Montgomery (28) into a drive before Potts struck twice late on, removing Martin Andersson for 21 and Guest for one as Durham again demonstrated their promotion ambitions.
Report by ECB Reporters’ Network, supported by Rothesay.
For Root, the innings victory sealed inside three days against Pakistan was the ideal start to his second spell as captain.
It also extended England’s run of wins at Headingley, which began in 2018. Their longest winning streak at another ground is six at Chester-le-Street.
The decision for Headingley and Old Trafford to miss out on the 2027 Ashes roster was announced in 2023.
But the match allocation has once again come into focus after the schedule for next year’s series was confirmed in July.
Nottingham’s Trent Bridge will be the most northerly ground to host a men’s Ashes Test, with Southampton given an England-Australia Test for the first time. Headingley will instead play host to a women’s Ashes Test.
Headingley staged a men’s Ashes Test in 2019 and 2023, both matches England won. The 2019 win, inspired by Ben Stokes, was one of the most legendary contests in Ashes history, ranking alongside Ian Botham’s heroics of 1981 on the same ground.
Overall, England’s record of nine home Ashes wins in Leeds is bettered only by their 17 at The Oval, and The Oval has hosted 36 Ashes Tests compared to Headingley’s 26.
“I would love to play as many games as possible here,” said Root. “It’s a great Test-match venue, a surface that provides brilliant Test cricket, and one we’ve had quite a lot of success on recently.
“It’s a shame we don’t get to play here next year, but I’m sure we will see many, many more brilliant Test matches here.”
Headingley will next host a men’s Ashes Test in 2031, from when the England and Wales Cricket has said it will keep at least one Test in Leeds or Manchester in the allocation for every home Ashes series. Southampton will get a Test in alternate men’s home Ashes.
Since Iraola replaced Arne Slot as Liverpool head coach, the Reds have signed Victor Munoz for £34.5m and Ronald Araujo on loan from Barcelona.
Jeremy Jacquet, the French centre-half, also arrived from Rennes in a deal worth £60m, but that was agreed back in January.
In terms of outgoings, Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate all left the club over the summer while Curtis Jones is in Italy to complete a £30m move to Inter Milan.
Iraola added: “You are asking me what we need – there are certain situations that for me are clear – especially now on the wing because we don’t have enough players specific to play in those positions.
“And then in other positions, I think we have to be open-minded in the market to see situations that honestly can improve our team.
“It’s not about signing because we need a player here. No, it’s about improving the squad. And we have very good players already here, so to improve our very good players, you need like a specific level of player, yes.”
In a separate interview with Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports, he said: “We will definitely sign some players. Some deals you have to wait until the end. But the end is the important picture, the one we will have on September 1. Because it is true that we are still quite thin.”
It’s not the first time that Iraola has said words to that effect, having echoed similar sentiments during Liverpool‘s pre-season tour in the USA when discussing Liverpool‘s defensive options, and internally the belief at Anfield is that it will be a busy end to the window for Liverpool
On Jones’ move to Inter Milan, Iraola said: “With Curtis, you know. I think it’s still not official but there is an ongoing situation. I understood with Curtis. I talked to him. I think in the first or second training session we talked.
“I value him a lot as a player. He loved this club – it was very clear since the beginning for me – but I understood that probably the outcome was going to be what it has been at the end.
“I’ve never hid it – for me Curtis is a very good player. A very, very good player, but I understood straight away when he talked to me about his situation. It was a situation that could happen and it looks like it is going to happen.”
Not because of his five-star, blue-chip status, leaving Warren High as the second-ranked prospect in the 2023 class and top-ranked recruit out of California.
Not for leading Tennessee to its first-ever College Football Playoff appearance and a 10-3 record — tying for the Volunteers’ second-best finish since 2001.
Instead, Iamaleava is remembered for his tumultuous exit from Knoxville, a parting characterized by head coach Josh Heupel that the program would move on without its starting signal-caller, leading the Long Beach product to UCLA.
More than one year removed after his departure, Iamaleava reflected at preseason media day on his time with the Volunteers, the effect last season had on his mental health and his mindset heading into 2026.
“In Tennessee, I was in a rough mental state as far as being far from home, but that’s what came with me growing and maturing,” Iamaleava said Wednesday. “So coming back home has been a great transition, and I can’t wait to play this year.”
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Can Mark Walter keep the Dodgers?
When the news broke last week that Mark Walter was selling the Lakers just one year after buying the storied basketball franchise, executives working for another crown jewel in his sports empire — the Dodgers — were quick to say the billionaire had no plans to sell the team.
The Dodgers have won three of the last six World Series and 12 division titles since an ownership group led by Walter bought the then-bankrupt team in 2012, and the Dodgers now are considered the most successful — and lucrative — franchise in Major League Baseball.
Yet, amid Walter’s financial difficulties, including a federal inquiry into his insurance empire regarding $16 billion to $21 billion in undisclosed loans to his own companies, questions remain over whether the blowback will hit the Dodgers.
Walter has denied wrongdoing, and sports business experts say it’s far too soon to know whether the Dodgers will be in play. No charges have been filed against Walter or anyone associated with his businesses.
“If you’re judging on that — winning and revenue created — he’s been at the helm of all of that. … He does truly look like a white knight as it relates to his ownership of the Dodgers,” said Patrick Rishe, executive director of the Sports Business Program at Washington University in St. Louis. Still, “we don’t know what the issues are, and we don’t know the severity and the magnitude.”
On Thursday, coach Sean McVay was asked if Donald, a three-tine NFL defensive player of the year, would do more workouts before deciding whether or not he will come out of retirement to join the Super Bowl-favorite Rams.
Donald worked out at Loyola Marymount when the Rams were in training camp, and last week at the Rams facility in Woodland Hills.
“We’ll see,” McVay said. “I would love to be able to have all this stuff figured out but … I know he’s feeling good, and I think he will continue to work out, and I’m hopeful that we’ll have some answers on that sooner than later.”
Zach Neto was five for six with his 21st homer and a career-high seven RBIs and the Angels scored their most runs in three years to rout the Houston Astros 18-3 on Thursday night.
The Angels (51-77) had a season-high 18 hits and scored their most runs since a 25-1 victory over Colorado on June 24, 2023.
Angels starter Grayson Rodriguez (4-5) gave up just two unearned runs across seven innings while striking out six.
From Sam Farmer: Jake Slaughter could be the first Chargers player to touch the ball on every offensive snap. He has never done so in an NFL game that counts.
Slaughter, the rookie second-round pick from the University of Florida, is the leading candidate to start at center after Tyler Biadasz went down with a knee injury at practice this week. There is no timetable for the return of Biadasz, who signed a three-year, $30-million contract in March.
Although Slaughter played some guard in college, center is his natural position. He played just nine snaps Thursday in a 41-17 preseason loss to the San Francisco 49ers at SoFi Stadium.
It’s understandable that the Chargers (1-1) only wanted light duty from him, considering they slogged through a brutal 2025 season when they lost their two outstanding tackles and endured a revolving door along the offensive line throughout the season.
As is common throughout the NFL, lots of Chargers starters were merely spectators for the second of three preseason games.
Here are some more observations from the Chargers’ preseason loss to the 49ers:
From Jordan Puente: After 15 years in the WNBA, the Sparks’ Nneka Ogwumike is content with her decision to call this her final season.
“I think that ended up being a blessing in disguise,” Ogwumike said of returning to the Sparks during the offseason. “Once training camp hit, I realized, you know what? I think what I have left is one more season, and I was OK with that.”
Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said before tipoff she wanted her team to get off to a better start, but the team could not deliver Thursday and extended its losing streak to six games. The defeat officially eliminated the spiraling Sparks (12-24) from playoff contention.
1901 — William Larned wins the first of seven men’s singles titles in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn. championship.
1914 — Walter Hagen captures the U.S. Open golf title by edging Chick Evans.
1920 — Jock Hutchinson wins the PGA golf tournament with a 1-up victory over J. Douglass Edgar.
1932 — Helen Hull Jacobs beats Carolyn Babcock to win the women’s singles title in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn.
1982 — Mystic Park becomes the first 3-year-old trotter to win the American Trotting Championship.
1985 — Mary Decker sets the world record in the mile run with a time of 4:16.71 in Zurich.
2003 — Paul Hamm puts together a near-perfect routine on the high bar to become the first American man to win the all-around gold medal at World Gymnastics Championships. Needing a 9.712 or better to beat China’s Yang Wei, Hamm strings together four straight release moves during his 60-second routine — one of the toughest feats in gymnastics — for a 9.975 and the gold.
2004 — American super-swimmer Michael Phelps wins his sixth gold medal of the Athens Olympics even though he doesn’t swim the final of men’s 4 x 100m medley relay; US wins in world record 3:30.68.
2008 — At the Summer Olympics in Beijing, Yukiko Ueno pitches 28 innings in two days, including seven to shut down the U.S. softball team, 3-1, and give Japan the gold medal. It was the first loss for the Americans since Sept. 21, 2000 — 22 straight games. LaShawn Merritt upsets defending champion Jeremy Wariner to lead a U.S. sweep of the 400 meters track event. David Neville gets the bronze. The U.S. men and women both drop the baton in the Olympic 400-meter relays and fail to advance out of the first round. Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown easily wins the 200 meters to cap the first sweep of all four men’s and women’s Olympic sprints in 20 years.
2010 — Kyle Busch makes NASCAR history with an unprecedented sweep of three national races in one week, completing the trifecta with a victory in the Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Busch, winner of the Nationwide race a day earlier and the Trucks race on Aug. 18, becomes the first driver to complete the sweep since NASCAR expanded to three national series in 1995.
2011 — The Sparks run off 16 straight points to overcome a 15-point, second-half deficit and hand the Tulsa Shock their WNBA-record 18th consecutive loss with a 73-67 victory. The Atlanta Dream lost 17 in a row in their inaugural season of 2008.
2016 — Kevin Durant scores 30 points and helps the Americans rout Serbia 96-66 for their third straight gold medal. That caps an Olympics in which the U.S. dominated the medal tables, both the gold (46) and overall totals (121). The 51-total-medal margin over second-place China is the largest in a non-boycotted Olympics in nearly a century.
2018 — Liu Xiang of China sets a world record time of 26.98 seconds to win the women’s 50-meter backstroke gold medal at the Asian Games. Liu becomes the first woman to swim under 27 seconds in the event, breaking the mark of 27.06 set by fellow Chinese swimmer Zhao Jing at the 2009 world championships in Rome.
Compiled by the Associated Press
This day in baseball history
1926 — Ted Lyons of the Chicago White Sox pitched a no-hitter over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. The 6-0 victory was achieved in 1 hour, 7 minutes.
1930 — Chick Hafey of the St. Louis Cardinals hit for the cycle and drove in five runs in a 16-6 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies.
1931 — Babe Ruth hit his 600th home run as the Yankees beat the St. Louis Browns 11-7.
1947 — The first Little League World Series was at Williamsport, Pa.
1972 — Steve Carlton of Philadelphia had his 15-game winning streak snapped when Phil Niekro and the Atlanta Braves beat the Phillies 2-1 in 11 innings.
1975 — Pitching brothers Rick and Paul Reuschel of the Chicago Cubs combined to throw a 7-0 shutout against the Dodgers. Rick went 6 1-3 innings and Paul finished the shutout for the first ever by two brothers.
1982 — Milwaukee pitcher Rollie Fingers became the first player to achieve 300 saves as the Brewers beat the Seattle Mariners 3-2.
1986 — Spike Owen had four hits and became the first major league player in 40 years to score six runs in a game as the Boston Red Sox routed the Cleveland Indians 24-5 with a 24-hit attack.
2007 — Garret Anderson of the Angels drove in a team-record 10 runs in an 18-9 rout of the New York Yankees. Anderson hit a grand slam, a three-run homer, a two-run double and an RBI double to become the 12th player in major league history to have 10 RBIs in a game.
2007 — Arizona’s Mark Reynolds tied the major league record for consecutive strikeouts by a non-pitcher when he fanned in his ninth straight plate appearance in a 7-4 loss to Milwaukee. Reynolds struck out in his first two at-bats against Dave Bush to match the record. Bush hit Reynolds with a pitch in the sixth, ending the streak.
2011 — Johnny Damon lost a grand slam to a video review in the seventh inning, then hit a game-ending home run in the ninth that lifted the Tampa Bay Rays over the Seattle Mariners 8-7. Damon connected for a leadoff shot in the ninth on the first pitch from Dan Cortes. The Rays trailed 5-4 in the seventh when Damon launched a drive to right-center field. First ruled a home run, the umpires changed the call to a three-run double after a video review.
2015 — Mike Fiers pitched the second no-hitter in the major leagues in nine days, leading the Houston Astros to a 3-0 victory over the Dodgers. Having never thrown a complete game in his five-year career, Fiers was dominant. He struck out 10 and walked three, retiring the final 21 batters. Fiers struck out Justin Turner on his 134th pitch to end it.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Washington, DC – Over the next two days, a portion of the United States capital will transform into a seven-turn professional-grade track for the city’s first-ever IndyCar race.
The Freedom 250 Grand Prix, championed by President Donald Trump, is one of several special events held to commemorate the country’s 250th birthday.
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But the race, which has been billed as a means of “celebrating American greatness”, is not coming without a heavy dose of criticism.
Questions have been raised about potential disruptions to life in the capital, as well as Trump’s ties to the event’s sponsor, the transportation company Penske.
Here’s what you need to know about the weekend’s automobile tournament:
President Donald Trump speaks at the White House during a showcase for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix auto race in Washington, DC [File: Alex Brandon/AP]
Why is this taking place?
In January, Trump signed an executive order establishing the race as a means of celebrating the country’s 250th anniversary and its history of motorsport.
“This will be like no other race ever,” Trump said in July. “It’ll be one of the most unforgettable racing events the world has ever seen.”
Trump, who has described himself as a racing fan, has participated in several high-profile motorsport events since returning to office in 2025.
Last year, Trump attended NASCAR’s Daytona 500 race, after serving as the grand marshal during his first term. A few months later, in April 2025, he hosted NASCAR and IndyCar drivers at the White House.
Have similar events been held?
The Grand Prix is one of several sporting events being held in honour of the country’s 250th anniversary.
Earlier this month, as part of the festivities, high-school athletes were invited to participate in the inaugural Patriot Games, broadcast on the sport channel ESPN. And in June, Trump hosted an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on the White House lawn, dubbed the UFC Freedom 250.
But members of the Trump administration have compared the race to early moments in US history as a means of highlighting its historic nature.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Washington, DC, has not seen a competition like this since Thomas Jefferson, the third US president, helped mark the country’s 25th birthday in 1801 with horse races.
Is the IndyCar race part of Freedom 250?
Not officially. While the Grand Prix bears similar branding to Trump’s Freedom 250 initiative, they are separate entities.
Trump’s Freedom 250 task force was a public-private partnership that put together events like the Patriot Games and the Great American State Fair, which took place in June on the National Mall.
But critics argued that the task force undermined America250, a separate bipartisan organisation created by the US Congress to arrange festivities for the anniversary. There was also a backlash to the perception that Freedom 250 would be a vehicle for Trump’s political agenda.
The Grand Prix, meanwhile, is being “administered by INDYCAR in coordination with the America 250 Task Force”, according to the District of Columbia government website. IndyCar is a subsidiary of Penske.
Protective panels surround a sculpture outside the National Gallery of Art ahead of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix in Washington, DC, on Monday [Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA]
What response has the race received?
The race is arguably the most ambitious of all the events Trump has hosted for America’s 250th celebration. It has also drawn concern from preservation experts.
A temporary track for the race will run 2.7 kilometres, or 1.7 miles, including through the National Mall. Part of the race will therefore take place near several buildings that contain priceless historical works and documents.
Immediately adjacent to the motor speedway will be the National Gallery of Art, featuring paintings spanning the history of Western civilisation, and the National Archives, which includes the original Declaration of Independence and US Constitution.
With race cars set to pass by at speeds nearing 321km/h (200mph), the National Gallery has boarded up some windows on its building and put barriers around several of its outdoor works.
A preservationist group has also warned that historic New Deal-era murals in the nearby Cohen Federal Building could be damaged “due to vibratory impacts”.
A Freedom 250 Grand Prix spokesperson told The Associated Press (AP) news agency that IndyCar has “tremendous respect for the history and the structures” surrounding the track.
But the race’s impacts are being felt by Washington’s residents and travellers as well.
In the days leading up to the race, commuters were plagued by hours-long congestion caused by the closure of some of the city’s popular thoroughfares as organisers prepared for the event.
The Federal Aviation Administration also announced that flights at the nearby Ronald Reagan Washington national airport will be paused for three hours on Sunday so flyovers associated with the event can take place.
Workers set up barriers ahead of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix on the National Mall in Washington, DC, on Wednesday [AFP]
Who’s paying for this?
With an expected price tag of $35m, the 147-lap race will be among the most expensive on IndyCar’s calendar.
Bud Denker, the president of Penske Corporation and chairman of the race, told AP his company will pay for the “vast majority” of the event, while the city will cover some “very limited” costs to repave streets and seal manhole covers.
A spokesperson for Washington, DC’s transportation department, German Vigil, told Al Jazeera the city “will be getting reimbursed” by the Grand Prix for those repairs.
The Freedom 250 Grand Prix website explains that the event is supported “by a group of key partners”, including Harbinger, a production company with ties to at least one previous Trump-hosted event.
CNN previously reported that the firm was hired to solicit corporate sponsors for the 2025 White House Easter Egg Roll.
The race’s website identifies Harbinger as an “official event partner” that will “coordinate logistics and the fan experience” for the Grand Prix. A spokesperson for Harbinger told Al Jazeera it was only handling “production”.
Several of the race’s sponsors have government contracts, including the aerospace firm Boeing and the telecommunications firm Verizon.
One, the building manufacturer WillScot, was in discussion with the second Trump administration about leasing mobile structures to house detainees slated for deportation, according to the publication Semafor.
Another, the aircraft company Gulfstream, was the recipient of nearly $200m in a controversial deal Trump’s Department of Homeland Security undertook to buy luxury jets for executive travel.
WillScot and Gulfstream did not return Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks speaks with US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy on the Freedom 250 Grand Prix track in Washington, DC, on Thursday [Finn Gomez/Getty Images via AFP]
How much does it cost to attend?
A reported 100,000 general admission tickets have already been given away for free, while premium viewing of the race comes at a steep price.
Tickets for the Champions Club, which offers views of the racetrack, cost $5,000 per person, while luxury suites are priced upwards of $250,000.
Will Trump attend?
Media reports have indicated that Trump himself is likely to attend the event.
The New York Post reported that the president may take a lap on Sunday around the track in his motorcade, to kick off the last day of the race.
But Trump’s involvement raises concerns, including from IndyCar drivers, that the event could be politicised. McLaren Racing’s Pato O’Ward, IndyCar’s only full-time racer from Mexico, has said it would be “ironic” if he won, given the president’s aggressive political stance towards immigration and Mexico itself.
Past the halfway mark of the Olympic quadrennial, LA28 has passed its own halfway point for ticket sales.
LA28 announced Friday it sold more than 6 million tickets during its first two drops, accounting for more than half of the expected Olympic ticket availability.
The remainder of an estimated 10.5 million Olympic tickets will move to first-come, first-served sales beginning in 2027. Additional inventory across every sport will be added during the next stage and ticket limits will be lifted, but LA28 did not announce the opening date.
“Overall the level of enthusiasm, the interest in the Games, the excitement to commit this far out from the Games has all been really affirming for how LA28 is coming together and the excitement everyone’s feeling about it,” said Allison Katz-Mayfield, LA28’s senior vice president of Games delivery revenue.
More than 700,000 of one million $28 tickets were sold during the first two drops. While fans have clamored for tickets, many were disappointed and frustrated with high prices and limited availability that seemed to sell out almost instantaneously. Each LA28 ticket drop came with the fine-print condition of “subject to availability.”
LA28 wanted to be “conservative” with the initial inventory available during the first two drops, Katz-Mayfield said, because organizers didn’t want to sell tickets only to discover later that fans might be stuck with limited visibility of an event. For example, Crypto.com Arena’s footprint will be changed to accommodate artistic gymnastics, with up to six apparatuses on the floor along with areas for judges, broadcast positions and media. The seating plan, which will be different than ones used for Lakers games or concerts, is still being developed. The same goes for the planning of temporary venues.
“It’s a fan-focused approach from my perspective,” Katz-Mayfield said. “We don’t want to be in a position where we sell something that doesn’t equate to the experience that someone is expecting to have.”
LA28 said more tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis for every sport next year as organizers refine venue layouts. Tickets that appear unavailable one day could go on the market weeks later as organizers gain a clearer picture of setups. With first-come, first-serve purchasing, the ticketing platform will remain open continuously through the Games.
“If you’re one of those people that has a very, very specific idea of what they want and they don’t want to move off that at all … then continue to check back because we’ll have tickets on sale through Games time,” Katz-Mayfield said. “So you can check on that first day. But you could also check two months later, and it could be different.”
New sports remained a hit for fans, who scooped up all available tickets to softball, lacrosse, flag football and squash during the second drop, LA28 reported. All tickets available for Oklahoma City’s softball and canoe slalom events were sold through for both drops. More tickets for those events will be added in 2027.
Although many fans have their hearts set on a single, high-demand Olympic event, others might be open to discovering different sports during the Paralympics. Tickets for the Paralympics will also go on sale in 2027, beginning with a lottery for assigned time slots, similar to the first Olympic ticket drops. About 25% of the total 14 million tickets between the Games are earmarked for the Paralympics, which will be in L.A. for the first time.
The Paralympics are typically priced at much lower prices than the Olympics. The Paris Olympics had single tickets as high as $1,065 (980 euros in July 2024) for swimming and track and field and as low as $26 across all sports. Half a million tickets for the Paris Paralympics were $16 and half of all tickets were priced less than $27. There were also Paralympic ticket packages for multiple sports and families. The strategy paid off with approximately 2.5 million tickets sold, the second-most ever for a Paralympic Games, and a record 12 million total tickets sold between the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics.
Despite starting earlier than previous Games, LA28 said it is already on pace to surpass Paris’ sales record after the 2024 Games sold 5.39 million tickets through their second drop in May 2023. Paris sold 9.5 million Olympic tickets total.
Fans who registered for Olympics tickets will already be registered for the Paralympic lotteries and LA28 is working to open registration specifically for the Paralympics.
“[Don’t] forget how great the Paralympics are,” Katz-Mayfield said, “and how much opportunity there’s going to be there to see different sports, new sports, be a part of the Games, and see world-class athletes compete, maybe in a way that you haven’t seen before if you’ve only seen the Olympics.”
Selling millions of tickets before schedules or matchups are even set has “given [LA28] a lot of confidence in where we’re at today,” Katz-Mayfield said. The early ticket sales have given the private organizing committee a strong foundation for one of its largest revenue drivers.
Ticketing and hospitality are expected to cover almost $2.5 billion of LA28’s total $7.1-billion budget for the Games. It is the second-largest source of expected revenue to help cover what LA28 has promised will be a privately funded Games.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. There are only 34 games left in the regular season for the Dodgers. How is that possible?
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Well, nothing cures a team’s woes more than playing Colorado. But was it a cure or a placebo?
At which positions are the Dodgers excelling or struggling compared with the rest of MLB this season? One way we can tell is by looking at Wins Above Average at each position. WAA measures how many wins a player gives their team compared with an average major league player. A score of zero means the player is average, a positive score means they are better than average, and a negative score means they are below average.
Let’s look at the top five teams at each position, where the Dodgers rank if not in the top five, and at the last-place team. The number includes all players who played at that position this season.
Left field 1. Seattle, 1.9 2. NY Yankees, 0.9 3. Pittsburgh, 0.8 4. Miami, 0.7 5. Milwaukee, 0.6 20. Dodgers, -0.7 30. Arizona, -1.7
This is mostly Teoscar Hernández, with contributions from Alex Call, Tommy Edman and Ryan Ward.
Center field 1. Chicago Cubs, 5.9 2. Dodgers, 3.8 3. Boston, 3.7 4. Atlanta, 2.1 5. Angels, 1.4 30. Detroit, -1.8
If someone had told you after his miserable 2025 postseason that Andy Pages would be the second-best center fielder in baseball this year, would you have believed them? And the Angels make their only appearance here thanks to Mike Trout.
Right field 1. Boston, 3.6 2. Arizona, 2.7 3. St. Louis, 1.7 3. Chicago Cubs, 1.7 5. Washington, 1.3 22. Dodgers, -1.5 30. Cincinnati, -3.1
The corner outfielders are killing the Dodgers.
DH 1. Houston, 3.1 2. Dodgers, 2.2 3. Tampa Bay, 1.2 4. Philadelphia, 1.1 5. Chicago Cubs, 0.6 30. NY Mets, -1.9
Houston’s (no relation) designated hitter is Yordan Alvarez, traded by the Dodgers as a prospect in 2016 for reliever Josh Fields in probably the worst trade of the Andrew Friedman era.
Relief pitchers 1. San Diego, 3.9 2. NY Yankees, 2.6 3. Philadelphia, 1.9 4. Chicago White Sox, 1.6 5. Atlanta, 1.0 5. Toronto, 1.0 23. Dodgers, -2.5 30. Kansas City, -7.9
So, relief pitching and the corner outfielders are the gaping hole in the equation. But keep in mind, because I fall prey to this also: Every team has problems. We tend to focus on the Dodgers and don’t think about it this way. Every team has holes they are trying to solve before the postseason (or next season) begins. Some teams, like the Angels and Rockies, have holes almost everywhere. But even the best team isn’t perfect. And, yes, I will repeat it again, anything can happen in the postseason.
Remember last season? The Dodgers were 29th in relief pitching at -6.4. They were 29th in left field at -2.4. But they pulled it together and won. No reason they can’t do it again this year. And there’s no reason they can’t get swept in the first round.
Dodgers’ record at this point the last three seasons:
“When you start to struggle and you internalize … you find yourself going dark, and that’s a lonely place,” Roberts said Tuesday, before the Dodgers’ 7-6 win against the Rockies. “So I think that for me, trying to proactively pull conversations out of him, talk about life, talk about baseball, it just kind of opens things up, and I think that it’s freeing.
“He’s a cerebral guy by nature, internalizes a lot. But still, for me, he’s with a new ballclub, he’s scuffling, so I want to get that out of him.”
Tucker dropped a relatively easy fly ball during that game, and Roberts said:
“There’s indecision, and catching a baseball at your ankles kind of speaks to where his head is at right now. It’s not from lack of effort, or care. It’s just right now, I think he’s kind of fighting. So we’ve got to keep supporting him.”
Forgotten Dodger: Zack Wheat
Dodgers manager Wilbert Robinson, first baseman Jack Fournier and outfielder Zack Wheat in the dugout in 1921.
(Associated Press)
One of the things the Dodgers don’t do very well is celebrate their rich and diverse history, especially if something happened before 1947. With that in mind, this is the first in an occasional series of items looking at Dodgers that often get overlooked.
Zack Wheat played for the Dodgers from 1909 to 1926 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1959. He is still the all-time Dodgers leader in games played (2,322), hits (2,804), doubles (464), triples (171) and total bases (4,003).
He has yet to make the Dodgers Dugout Dodgers Hall of Fame. Of course, there aren’t a lot of people alive who saw Wheat play, probably hurting him in the voting. Many voters tell me that they can’t judge someone they never saw, but I don’t need to have seen Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Tris Speaker or Al Simmons to know they were all-time greats.
Wheat’s best season might have been 1918, when he led the league with a .335 batting average. Or it might have been 1916, when he hit 32 doubles and 13 triples and led the league in slugging. Or it might have been 1922, when he hit .335 with 29 doubles, 12 triples, 16 homers and 112 RBIs. Or it might have been any number of other seasons. He finished with a .317 career batting average.
And don’t think he was only a hitting machine. He was a great defensive outfielder.
Baseball Magazine in 1918: “What Napoloen Lajoie was to infielders, Zack Wheat is to outfielders, the finest mechanical craftsman of them all. He is the easiest, most graceful of outfielders with no close rivals.”
Wheat got married during the 1912 season and his new wife, Daisy, became his agent. In the same Baseball Magazine story, she said, “I made him hold out each year for seven years and each time he got a raise.”
Other things of note about Wheat:
—He has an OPS+ of 130. Among Dodgers with 5,000 plate appearances (Wheat had almost 10,000), that is third all time, behind Duke Snider and Jackie Robinson.
—He is fourth in career WAR among batters, behind Snider, Robinson and Pee Wee Reese.
—To make money during the offseason, Wheat raised mules and sold them to the Army, which used them as pack animals during World War I. It was because of the money he made doing this that he was able to hold out for a better contract each offseason. The most money he earned in one season as a player was $16,000.
—Wheat recommended the Dodgers sign his longtime friend, Casey Stengel. It’s unlikely any other team would have signed him, so Wheat is basically responsible for Stengel’s career.
—Wheat and manager Wilbert Robinson never got along. Longtime Dodgers owner and team president Charles Ebbets died in 1925 and was replaced as team president by Ed McKeever, who named Wheat the manager of the team, making Robinson a front-office executive. McKeever died two weeks later, and, with no team president, the Dodgers’ board of directors named Robinson manager again.
—No longer needing Wheat and thinking he was getting too old, the Dodgers released him before the 1927 season so he could negotiate with any club he wanted to, instead of trading him to a team he didn’t wish to play for. Wheat signed with the Philadelphia A’s and hit .324 in 88 games.
—Wheat was listed as 5-10, 170 pounds, but many thought he was smaller than that. He wore a size 5 shoe and suffered from ankle problems throughout his career. A bruised heel brought an end to his career.
—Wheat didn’t stay in baseball when he retired. When asked why years later, he said, “Nobody asked me to.”
—Wheat was 10th all-time in hits when he retired, with 2,884.
—Wheat became a farmer after retiring, then became a police officer in Kansas City after the Depression caused him to sell his farm.
—While on a police call in 1936, Wheat crashed his car and suffered a fractured skull, broken wrist and 15 broken ribs. He spent five months in the hospital and retired as a police officer. He moved with his family to a lakeside house in Sunrise Beach, Mo., and opened a 46-acre hunting and fishing resort.
—Wheat was voted into the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1957. Unfortunately, he wasn’t eligible to be voted in by the Veterans Committee because he hadn’t been retired long enough. So they elected him again in 1959.
—When told he was finally elected for real, Wheat, 70, said, “That makes me feel mighty proud. I feel a little younger, too.”
—In 1971, Wheat was asked if he had any advice for boys who wanted to become major leaguers. “Yes,” he said. “Tell them to learn to chew tobacco.”
—Wheat was once asked his secret for playing so well for so long. He said: “I smoke as much as I want and chew tobacco a good deal of the time. I don’t pay any attention to the rules for keeping in physical condition. I think they are a lot of bunk. The less you worry about the effect of tea and coffee on the lining of your stomach, the longer you will live and the happier you will be.”
—Wheat died of a heart attack in Missouri on March 11, 1972. He was 83 years old.
Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Former England bowler Kate Cross has announced she will retire from cricket at the end of the summer.
The 34-year-old, who played 102 times for England between 2013 and 2025, has been playing in domestic cricket since losing her England contract last year.
“It is incredibly hard to imagine ever saying goodbye to playing the sport that has been such a huge part of my life and shaped me into the person I am today but the final chapter is in sight,” Cross said.
“I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to play the game I love professionally and get to do it at the highest level.”
Dame Sarah Storey, the chair of Lancashire where Cross made her debut aged 14 and became the first woman on the county’s academy, described Cross as a “true Lancashire legend”, adding she “made an incredible contribution to both Lancashire and England Women”.
Cross, who played in The Hundred final for Sunrisers Leeds last weekend, is due to play the reminder of the season for Lancashire, including against The Blaze on Sunday in Nottingham.
Cross made her England debut aged 22 in a T20 in West Indies and featured in England’s 2013-14 Ashes win – their most recent victory in the Women’s Ashes – that winter.
The seamer fell out of favour after a run across formats, meaning she watched England’s iconic 2017 World Cup win at Lord’s from a hospitality box.
But Cross regained her place and was a regular in the Test and 50-over England side until being left out by new coach Charlotte Edwards last summer.
Her last international was an ODI against India last July.
She finishes her career with 25 Test wickets, 101 in one-day internationals and 14 in T20s.
Carr won seven of his 21 Super League matches in charge and leaves with the Tigers ninth in the 14-team table.
Chester, who has led the team in the past two matches, said last week that they were not “actively looking” for a new head coach.
Owner Martin Jepson said he was “sorry” that Carr had left the club.
“We have had a difficult set of circumstances to deal with and unfortunately not been in a position to provide more information to the fans. However, our actions have been, and always will be, in the best interests of the club,” he said.
Jepson confirmed that Jason Netherton would assist Chester and Luke Robinson for the remaining four games of the campaign.
The Tigers visit St Helens on Saturday, looking to build on last week’s win at Hull FC.
Aston Villa have completed the signing of West Ham defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka on a season-long loan deal.
The deal for the DR Congo right-back includes a “conditional obligation to buy”.
The exact terms are not known, with the Hammers having previously asked interested clubs to pay a £25m fee.
The 28-year-old missed Championship club West Ham’s first two matches of the season during negotiations for a return to the Premier League.
Wan-Bissaka joined West Ham United on a seven‑year contract from Manchester United in 2024. He has made 65 appearances across his two seasons at the club, including 25 last season when the Hammers were relegated to the Championship.
He previously played 190 times for Manchester United, winning the League Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024.
More recently, Wan‑Bissaka started all four of DR Congo’s matches at the 2026 World Cup, helping them progress to the round of 32.
The new signing may feature in Villa’s first game of the Premier League at Brighton on Sunday (14:00 BST) and will also compete in the Champions League after the Villans finished fourth and won the Europa League under Unai Emery last season.
Having just been promoted from the National League South, Bromley finished 14th in the National League in the 2015-16 season.
That same year, Leicester City were upsetting the odds with their famous Premier League title win.
Such has been the rise of Andy Woodman’s Bromley, they can expect plenty more comparisons like that this season and, such has been the Foxes’ fall from grace, they will get similar.
While the Ravens are delighted to be in League One, Leicester are still rubbing the bruised ego which followed their disastrous relegation from the Championship on the back of demotion from the Premier League, amid various financial woes and points deductions.
Now under Russell Martin, rather than opening their home campaign against Arsenal, Liverpool or even Brighton, it is Burton Albion who will make the short trip to the King Power Stadium (15:00 BST) and home fans will find Gary Bowyer’s side have little respect for reputations.
Bromley’s home opener against Cambridge United (15:00 BST) may well be a re-run between two promoted sides from last season, but the hosts have already served notice of their intentions with their 1-0 win at Barnsley last weekend.
Iga Swiatek moved into the semifinals of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters as Elena Rybakina was forced to retire with a heel injury less than half an hour into their clash on Thursday.
Rybakina’s withdrawal raised concerns over the fitness of the world number two Kazakh just 10 days before the start of the US Open.
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Trailing 4-1 in the opening set of Thursday’s Cincinnati quarterfinal, Rybakina suddenly pulled up short at 40-all, heading to her bench and consulting with the trainer.
She went back out and played one more point before quitting.
“I was feeling anxious watching the whole situation,” said her opponent Swiatek. “I hope she will be fine. Health is always the priority.
“This is an important tournament, but the US Open is the US Open. I hope she is ready for that,” she said, referring to the major which begins in New York on August 30.
“It was a shame she was injured, we were having a good match.”
Had two-time Grand Slam winner Rybakina reached the Cincinnati final, she would have risen to number one in the world for the first time in her career, following incumbent Aryna Sabalenka’s shock exit to 20-year-old Sara Bejlek.
Defending Cincinnati champion Swiatek said she had “gained a lot of confidence in the last weeks,” which have also included her victory over Rybakina in the final of this month’s Toronto event.
“I feel great, ready to play my game … I’m happy to be playing the tennis that I am.”
Poland’s Swiatek now plays a semifinal against Jessica Pegula, who is reportedly carrying a hip niggle after defeating Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4).
Sixth-seeded Anisimova converted all five of her break points against Pegula, breaking her three times in the second set, before the world number three rebounded to win.
Pegula is setting WTA records at age 32. She is the fourth player since 2009 to reach five or more Masters 1000 quarterfinals after turning 30, along with Li Na, Serena Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Pegula needed just 34 minutes to pocket the opening set.
But Anisimova struck back in the second, earning a double break for 4-0.
After Anisimova squared the match at one set each, Pegula regrouped with an opening break in the deciding set.
They would each be broken twice as they went to the tiebreaker, where Pegula sealed the win on her first match point.
Pegula’s win was her sixth without a loss to Anisimova.
“I know I have a good record against her, but literally every single match is like it was today,” she said.
‘Sweet’ victory
In the men’s draw, Flavio Cobolli advanced to the final four with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Tommy Paul, gobbling down a handful of sweets for an unorthodox boost midway through the match.
The Roland Garros runner-up asked for the candy to be brought to the court and seemingly took energy from the pause before dispatching Paul, who had himself eliminated top seed Alexander Zverev 24 hours earlier.
“A sweet with chocolate makes me happy,” Cobolli said. “I’ve tried it in doubles so why not singles?”
Cobolli mounted the comeback after dropping the opening set.
With the match tied at a set apiece, Paul needed an extraordinary effort to hold serve for 4-3 in the final set, battling through five deuces and saving four break points.
But Cobolli ignored the showing and closed out the victory.
“It was a difficult day,” the winner said. “I’m proud of my effort, my game and my mental strength. It is all good practice for the US Open.
Cobelli will play for a place in the final when he faces Arthur Fils, who defeated Thiago Tirante 6-3, 6-2 in just 64 minutes — the shortest men’s match of the event.
Fils, the eighth Frenchman to reach Cincinnati semi-finals in the Open Era, said he was impressed by the weight of his opponent’s big game.
“He has an unbelievable serve; I was surprised by the speed of his ball,” he said.
“I tried to make him play a bit more. I stayed solid in my head and it worked pretty well for me.”
Ex-Australia batter Hussey said he was informally approached by Stephen Flemming, England’s new red-ball coach.
Published On 21 Aug 202621 Aug 2026
Australian great Mike Hussey could face his own country in the Ashes after saying he was open to joining England as their Test batting coach.
England host Australia in the Ashes in June, July and August next year, looking to take possession of the urn for the first time since 2015.
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Hussey has had an informal approach from England’s new red-ball coach Stephen Fleming, the duo having spent 15 years as teammates and then coaches at Indian Premier League side Chennai Super Kings.
“We obviously get on really well and work a lot together,” former Test stalwart Hussey told Fox Sports, where he is employed as a commentator.
“So it was just a bit of a passing comment, really saying, ‘Look, what do you reckon? Would you think about being the batting coach?’”
Australian cricketer Mike Hussey played 79 Tests and 185 ODIs for Australia before retiring in 2013 [William West/AFP]
Hussey, known as “Mr Cricket” for his technical expertise, has just returned home after coaching Welsh Fire in The Hundred and said he had not given it proper consideration yet.
“To be honest, I have not been able to give it any thought whatsoever,” he said.
“Would I? I mean, I wouldn’t say never to anything really. I just love the coaching side of the game, and just to be able to work with different players.”
Should Hussey accept, it could see him plotting the downfall of Australia with Fleming when they tour England for the Ashes series next year.
Hussey admitted it would “feel a bit weird”.
“I have worked with England once before at the T20 World Cup (in 2022), and I must admit it did feel very weird pulling on that training shirt for the first time,” he said.
“But once you get in the nets and you start working with players, you sort of almost forget what shirt you’ve got on.
“So, look, I haven’t fully considered anything at this stage. I’m sort of just trying to take a bit of a break from it all at the moment and will give it some thought in due course.”
Fleming was appointed coach in late July following the sacking of fellow New Zealander Brendon McCullum, who remains in charge of England’s white-ball teams.
