Football news  

City make £4m bid for Argentina left back

Window watch: Roberto Mancini looks to strengthen his defence with capture of Cristian Ansaldi from Rubin Kazan

• Vieira joins forces again with Mancini

• Club-by-club guide to January transfer window

Rodríguez set for Liverpool in £1.5m deal

Anfield club are expected to conclude a £1.5 million deal for the Atlético Madrid and Argentina winger in the next 24 hours

• Funds-free January on cards for Benitez

• Liverpool facing fight to land Rodríguez

Gazidis sees Wenger in charge for many years

Arsenal chief executive believes that a large haul of silverware will follow the North London club’s new-found financial stability

• Gazidis: ‘We'll only spend on right player’

• Arsenal to pay Bolton fans' travel costs

Vieira joins forces again with Mancini

Former Arsenal midfielder likely to agree 18-month deal to become Manchester City’s first signing of January transfer window

• Club-by-club guide to January transfer window

• Chelsea have Iaquinta in their sights

Cricket news  

Collingwood inspires famous escape

South Africa v England: Batsman steers England through a day of tension and courage to secure a thrilling draw

• Strauss hails defiant Onions as ‘a legend'

• Why saving the day is all in the mind

Strauss proud of England’s fighting spirit

Captain praises the ‘unbelievable partnership’ between Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood but is angry over ball-tampering claims

• Collingwood’s resistance inspires famous rearguard

• Strauss proud of England’s fighting spirit

Smith 'hugely frustrated' at failure to win

South Africa captain praises fighting qualities of England's batsmen as his team fail to land knockout blow again

• Relive the thrilling final day with Hawk-eye

De Villiers: 'We should have made complaint'

South Africa player refuses to let ball tampering allegations drop after ICC says England have no case to answer

• Smith’s boldness leaves England on the brink

• South Africa have done themselves a disservice

Rugby news  

Wilkinson set for second season at Toulon

England fly half, who has been a huge success since joining the Top 14 club last June, ready to take up option of second year

Hot air gives hope to Leicester and Worcester

Premier Rugby officials remain optimistic they will not lose entire programme of Guinness Premiership matches to weather

Clubs switch more big matches to Twickenham

London Irish switch Heineken Cup match to HQ, which will also host Wasps and Bath in the Guinness Premiership

Date fixed for Venter's disrepute hearing

Evidence against Saracens director of rugby centres on radio interview rather than lengthy look at refereeing standards

More sport  

Pacquiao promoter: Mayweather bout dead

Two days of mediation fail to resolve impasse between Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao, with the American branded ‘a coward’

Robson told to endure growing pains

Coach Martijn Bok is confident he can deliver having been charged with task of bringing talented teenager’s skills to fruition

Baulch still searching for overdue gold

Member of Britain’s successful 4 x 400 metres relay team in 1997 launches campaign to obtain medals from UK Athletics

The big questions facing athletics

Resolving the Caster Semenya case tops season’s agenda

Racing and Betting News  

Derby switch considered for Diamond Jubilee year

Epsom classic could be run on Tuesday, instead of its usual Saturday, in 2012 as part of four-day royal celebrations

Virtual racing generates real profits for bookies

White-out of British horse racing fails to stop punters from parting with their hard-earned cash on other forms of betting

Reform group initiates trial of decimal odds

Experiment is one of the first ten of a series of measures designed to deliver positive change for the sport

Twiston-Davies hits back at doubters

Trainer insists the statistics do not add up and reckons that his horses are running better than the bare figures imply