Summertime and the living is easy. Chance would be a fine thing.

Cricket Australia has closed its investigation into Moeen Ali’s claim he was called “Osama” during the opening Test of the 2015 Ashes series after failing to unearth new details.

Irish customers are to miss out on a controversial deal that will see UK viewers benefit from Sky and BT sharing content including Premier League and Champions League matches on each other’s platforms.

Last week, with Australia having scored 138 runs for the loss of two wickets on the first day of the second Ashes test at the Adelaide Oval, four of the game’s most respected minds and former practitioners stood on the pitch and debated what hope, if any, there was for the future of Test cricket.

As the Melbourne Cup unfolded, shortly after 4.00 on Tuesday morning, you’d imagine the Australian handicapper was starting to feel decidedly uneasy.

David Cameron has denied he is a jinx for England sports teams, after the rugby union, cricket and football teams each crashed out of world cups in the group stages in quick succession.

Australia have won the Rugby Championship and ended a long barren run against New Zealand, firing a World Cup warning shot to England and Wales in the process.

Captain Alastair Cook set his sights on regaining the Ashes at Trent Bridge after England brushed aside Australia inside three days to take a 2-1 series lead.

England’s Moeen Ali believes Australia are falling into the same trap as India by under-estimating his bowling.

Joe Root made Australia pay for dropping him second ball, with a counter-attacking century which transformed day one of the Ashes in Cardiff yesterday.

John Bracewell claims his Ireland team are about to come up against a clutch of players who should have been at the World Cup, and might well have lifted England’s sorry campaign if they had been.

New Ireland head coach John Bracewell will seek a meeting with Boyd Rankin in a bid to persuade the England fast bowler to play for Ireland again.

The roofless Old Stand in Nowlan Park won’t be seen in Sky Sports’ GAA debut next month.

Australia delighted captain Michael Clarke by showing significant resilience to turn a losing position in Melbourne into another crushing Ashes victory after all.

Michael Clarke is hailing Australia’s Ashes victory as a special achievement to compare with their whitewash of England in 2006/07.

England lost the Ashes before Christmas with a third successive landslide defeat, despite Ben Stokes’ maiden Test century.

I was going to kick off this Monday by saying that mental health had popped up on the agenda once again last week, but it doesn’t seem to drift too far from the agenda at any stage nowadays.

The pressure to succeed in sport is pushing more and more athletes towards stress-related illnesses, according to Rory McIlroy, who bids to put a troubled year on and off the course behind him at this week’s Australian Open.

England team director Andy Flower said David Warner got it “horribly wrong” when he publicly criticised England batsman Jonathan Trott, who yesterday left the Ashes tour with a stress-related illness.

David Warner kept England in big trouble at lunch on day three of the Ashes, as Australia recovered their composure after donating two early wickets with false shots.

Eoin Morgan hit a superb century against his native Ireland to ensure his adopted country England avoided embarrassment in the RSA Challenge one-day international in Dublin.

England are struggling after losing four early wickets in their pursuit of 270 in the RSA Challenge one-day international against Ireland in Dublin.

England were denied the chance to make Ashes history — and complete one of the most fearless chases in living memory — when the umpires took the sides off for bad light with the Ashes fifth test minutes away from a thrilling climax.

IT’S 11 pm, and my husband and I are in bed.

Alastair Cook admitted the rain slightly dampened England’s celebrations after they retained the Ashes when play was abandoned at a soggy Old Trafford yesterday.

David Warner is not sure whether Australia will bat on or declare today as they attempt to engineer a victory against England at Old Trafford.

Graeme Swann believes the Old Trafford pitch will not offer too many surprises for the remainder of the third Investec Test.

England bowler Tim Bresnan admits patience will be key as his side attempt to break down Australia’s new-found resilience at Old Trafford today.

Graeme Swann struck in the nick of time to complete England’s 347-run victory inside four days, and ensure they moved 2-0 up in the Ashes series without the hassle of any unfinished business at Lord’s today.

Ashton Agar’s record-breaking Test debut will give Englishmen nightmares for years to come, but was just a “dream come true” for the Australian teenager.

Pace man Steven Finn was delighted to play a key role in England’s fightback against Australia on a frenetic opening day of the Ashes series.

Sam Warburton this morning returned home a proud man, having led the British and Irish Lions to victory in Australia.

Too bad water-boarding has been outlawed as David Drumm badly needs his mouth washed out after giving Ireland Anglo’s Ashes.

Maths wasn’t exactly a strong suit in the old school days, but one glance around Croke Park last Sunday afternoon seemed to offer fairly definitive evidence that the numbers just didn’t add up for what proved to be two perfectly enjoyable Allianz League Division 1 semi-finals.

Andrew Flintoff climbed off the canvas to record a points win on his heavyweight boxing debut against Richard Dawson lqst night.

Andrew Strauss today described his decision to step down as England Test captain as being in the “best interest” of the national team.

Donald McCain has decided against running Cinders And Ashes at Aintree next month and the youngster will now be aimed towards next season’s Stan James Champion Hurdle.

A serial anti-Ryanair protester was arrested after holding up a Premier League match last night by handcuffing himself to one of the goalposts at Goodison Park.

A British man flew to Australia just 10 days after having a big chunk of his skull replaced.

Rory McIlroy was on the receiving end of an absolute hammering at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Tucson today.