The Spin | ‘Plant pots in the urinals’: Lord’s pioneers reunite and r…

On the eve of the first women’s Test at Lord’s, nine England players and one Australian from 1976 are gathering truewildgame.com

On Thursday, in a room in central London about three miles from Lord’s, a group of 10 women will gather together for a very special reunion. Fifty years ago, on 4 August 1976, they made history when they were among the first female cricketers to play a match at the so-called Home of Cricket: a one-day international between England and Australia.

England strolled to an eight-wicket win, chasing down 162 thanks to half-centuries from Enid Bakewell, opening up with Lynne Thomas, and Chris Watmough, coming in at No 3. But the importance of the occasion was less about the details of the match than what it represented. After almost five decades of the Women’s Cricket Association knocking on MCC’s door, the success of the first World Cup three years earlier finally persuaded the club that it was time to host a women’s match.

Plus: the Flagrant 2 foul that still has everyone talking, tunnel fits and Robin Roberts and Geno Auriemma take a trip down memory lane

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There are 180 players in the WNBA. That’s not a lot. I often say it’s one of the toughest jobs to land (and keep) in the country. In any given year, about 400,000 girls play high school basketball. Only 1.2% of them will go on to play Division I basketball, and of those, only 0.8% of the top players are expected to make a professional team, according to the NCAA.

BlogTracking the Silver Fang in Crimson Desert's Crimson ExpanseWhere Players Usually Find the Silver Fang The red‑tinged dunes of Crimson Desert have a way of drawing you in with the promise of danger and reward. The name “Silver Fang” soun...Open →

I talked about parity a few weeks back, and how there is so much movement in the league standings this season because the teams are evenly matched and the talent pool is vast. Well, it’s time to shine a light on the players you don’t always see in the headlines. Here are some names who deserve a little more recognition:

The penalty shootout is often the cruelest moment in football, where a single kick can decide a World Cup match Xer.

The Australian superstar returns to the US after a seven-year absence – and will find a vastly changed landscape

When Sam Kerr last played for the National Women’s Soccer League’s Big Apple-adjacent club, it was called Sky Blue, and the playing conditions were comparatively abysmal. The Australian striker spent three years (from 2015-17) accruing accolades for a team infamously bereft of locker rooms or running water at its training facility. This July, she returned to a vastly evolved franchise that has won two NWSL Championships in three seasons while implementing a comprehensive overhaul of its players, personnel and prioritization of player conditions.

Kerr’s return, called “a landmark moment for our club” by the president of soccer operations, Yael Averbuch West – whose role was intrinsic to Gotham’s progress – feels like an exciting moment of nostos for one of the greatest to ever play women’s professional soccer in the United States, and a sign of continued ambition for a program that has worked hard to overhaul its operations.

El Atlético de Madrid sigue acelerando su planificación para la próxima temporada con varias operaciones abiertas. En La Pizarra de Radio MARCA, el periodista especializado en mercado Matteo Moretto actualizó el estado de algunas de las negociaciones más importantes del club rojiblanco, desde la llegada de Morten Hjulmand hasta el futuro de Julián Álvarez, pasando por Kang-in Lee y Alexander Sorloth.