Australia rounded off one of the more bizarre Ashes cricket series in recent memory – which often resembled a contest to see who could lose by the biggest margin – with an innings and 46-run thrashing of England in the fifth Test at the Oval, London. Thus was it a fitting send-off for retiring Australia captain Michael Clarke and opener Chris Rogers. Although, with the Ashes already in the bag, England were able to somewhat sheepishly celebrate a 3-2 series victory. “Maybe we underestimated the emotional high from Trent Bridge and how hard it would be to get back up to that level you really need to be at to beat Australia,” said England captain Alastair Cook. Cricket also bade farewell to Sri Lanka’s inspirational batsman Kumar Sangakkara, who played the final innings against India of a Test career spanning 134 matches and 12,350 runs at a career average of 57.40.
Hamilton wins at Spa
Formula One ended its brief dalliance with the concept of drivers from teams other than Mercedes – well, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel anyway – winning some of the races, as Lewis Hamilton took the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. The Briton led from start to finish and was never troubled as he extended his drivers’ championship lead to 28 points over team-mate Nico Rosberg.“I completely messed up the start,” sulked the German, who wheelspun in the first lap but nonetheless recovered to finish second. Meanwhile, sad news arrived from IndyCar after British driver Justin Wilson died from injuries sustained during Sunday’s race at Pocono Raceway, Pennsylvania.
Anyone’s guess for US Open
The men’s event at tennis’s US Open, beginning next week, suddenly has a decidedly, well, open look to it after Roger Federer made light work of world No 1 Novak Djokovic in a 7-6, 6-3 win in the Cincinnati Masters final. That, coupled with Andy Murray’s Rogers Cup win over Djokovic a week earlier, bolstered the view that any of the big three could prevail at Flushing Meadows this year. Women’s world No1 Serena Williams recovered from her blip in Montreal earlier this month to triumph in Cincinnati, beating Simona Halep 6-3, 7-6, and will likely take some stopping again in New York where she is pursuing her seventh US Open title.
France warming up nicely
Europe’s rugby union behemoths continued to clunk heads gingerly in preparation for next month’s World Cup. Part two of the friendly double-header between England and France ended in a 25-20 win for the French in Paris, with two late tries from Danny Cipriani and Jonathan Joseph putting a respectable gloss on an otherwise lacklustre display by the visitors and World Cup hosts. In Rome, Scotland averted a seventh straight international defeat thanks to a late try by Henry Pygos for a 16‑12 win over Italy.
