ENGLAND DECISION
Mark Sampson will reveal his squad for the Women’s World Cup on Monday (thefa.com, 1pm). His side, who won all 10 qualifiers to reach the finals in Canada next month, seems likely to include Chelsea’s Eniola Aluko, runner-up for PFA player of the Year, Manchester City’s Jill Scott, who was England’s international player of the year at the last World Cup, and Arsenal’s Alex Scott, an England stalwart for a decade. But the most competitive area is in the forwards where Sampson can choose only four from Lianne Sanderson, Toni Duggan, Aluko, Fran Kirby, Ellen White, Natasha Dowie, Gemma Davison and winger-turned-striker Jess Clarke. Dowie , Liverpool’s star striker, controversially excluded from Hope Powell’s squad for Euro 2013 despite being top scorer at the time but, now returned to the fold, will be hoping she has done enough to make a comeback.
RUN FOR RIO
After winning gold in the 10,000m at the European Championships and bronze in the 5,000m at the Commonwealth Games last year, Jo Pavey begins her buildup to the 2016 Olympics with her first competitive run in seven months at the Great Manchester Run on Sunday (BBC2, 11am). Pavey has already opted not to take part in the world championships this year so she can spend more time with her family and concentrate on making it to Rio but is already eagerly anticipating her return to racing and Manchester is a great place to start. She has said she loves the atmosphere at the 10k run and has won it twice before, in 2007 and 2008.
BLAST OFF
While the machinations around Kevin Pietersen and England continue, for the moment at least, the best chance to see him hitting out is for Surrey when the NatWest T20 Blast begins this week. But Pietersen is not the only major draw this year. The tournament opens with Nottinghamshire Outlaws v Birmingham Bears on Friday (Sky Sports 2, 6pm) and the latter have secured the New Zealand captain, Brendon McCullum, for their last seven matches, which is a real coup after he made such a fearsome impression at the World Cup. Equally Sussex have signed George Bailey, a member of Australia’s world Cup-winning side and a former Aussie T20 captain, for their final seven games.
