England have a window of opportunity to push for a win in the fourth Ashes Test, with play starting at 2:45pm on the penultimate day at Emirates Old Trafford after rain wiped out the morning session.

A dismal forecast in the north-west this weekend led to fears England would not have enough time to claim the six wickets they need for a series-levelling victory to set up a Kia Oval decider next week.

Overnight showers continued into Saturday morning which shelved a scheduled 11am start time but the rain slowed to a trickle then stopped, allowing the ground staff to begin mopping up just before 1pm.

There were considerable puddles on the outfield but a comprehensive clean-up operation convinced the umpires at a 2pm pitch inspection that play could get under way 45 minutes later.

England have seized total control of this Test, with Australia needing 162 just to make the hosts bat again, after closing on 113 for four thanks to Mark Wood’s three-wicket burst on Friday evening.

More rain is predicted to fall later on Saturday afternoon which could scupper plans for 59 overs to be bowled, with play able to go on until 7:30pm.

William Haggas felt Al Aasy lacked a little fitness after a lacklustre seasonal bow at Newmarket – yet he need not have worried as the six-year-old bounced back to take the bet365-sponsored Steventon Stakes at Newbury.

A market drifter, the 100-30 chance clearly had one of his going days, locking on to the bridle early in the 10-furlong contest for Jim Crowley and travelling kindly throughout.

Phantom Flight made the early running and had all bar Al Aasy at it with two furlongs to race, although he was soon easily passed by the Shadwell-owned winner, who went on to score by a length and a half.

He will now head to Haydock for the 10-furlong Group Three Betfred Rose of Lancaster Stakes, according to Haggas, who said: “He was good today and they badgered me to run over a mile and a quarter and I wouldn’t do it, but I finally succumbed and that clearly, now aged six, appears to be his trip.

“It is probably that they go a little bit faster and they help him to relax and he did it well, did it comfortably – but he should have done on the ratings.

“He will go for the Rose of Lancaster at Haydock on August 12.

“It has been a battle with him, both mentally and physically. Everything. Mentally he is not straightforward. He has had a couple of injuries, but he’s coming. He doesn’t look right in his skin still, but he’s coming.”

Sketch will take a step up in class after making an impressive winning debut under Tom Marquand in division one of the bet365 EBF Novice Stakes.

The Showcasing colt cost 100,000 guineas as a yearling and impressed when winning by five lengths for co-trainers Martyn and Freddie Meade, having made virtually all the running.

Marquand said: “To be fair, they said he had been going nicely beforehand and they have proven in the past they can get their two-year-olds ready.

“What surprised me was how quickly he got going and put the race to bed. For his first time, he was extremely professional and did everything right, and killed the race pretty quickly.

Freddie Meade said connections could look at Goodwood next for the 15-2 winner.

“We will push him up in class,” he said. “The Richmond is the obvious choice, but whether that comes a bit quick I don’t know. We will look at stakes races and see what suits. We were tempting fate to put him in a couple of races in France which closed this week before he’d run, but it is possible we’ll look there as well.”

The impeccably-bred Henry Longfellow earned Classic quotes following a striking debut in the Juddmonte Irish EBF Maiden at the Curragh.

A son of Dubawi out of seven-time Group One-winning mare Minding, the latter trained like Henry Longfellow by Aidan O’Brien,  he went off the 5-4 favourite in the hands of Ryan Moore and travelled powerfully throughout.

Mythology, a creditable fifth in the Group Two Railway Stakes, did his best to get on terms, but Henry Longfollow was well on top as he passed the post with a length and three-quarters in hand.

Betfair make the winner a 25-1 shot for both the 2000 Guineas and the Derby next season.

“I’m delighted with him. He’s a Dubawi out of Minding and he looks like a lovely horse,” said O’Brien.

“She handled that ground and he does bend his knee a bit but he quickens. You’d have to be very happy with him.

“Ryan said it was very easy and he said he didn’t touch him with the stick, he was very happy with him.

“He had been working well, he just came on the scene lately. For the last three weeks, week after week he was working well. He’s an exciting type of horse.”

Rickie Fowler gave hope to the pack attempting to hunt down halfway leader Brian Harman on day three of the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.

Fowler, who made the cut with nothing to spare on three over par, overcame miserable conditions in the early part of his round to card a bogey-free 67 and improve to one under par.

That score was soon matched by fellow American Patrick Cantlay, with Olympic champion Xander Schauffele also four under for the day after 12 holes as the players exploited a welcome calm, dry spell at Hoylake.

A stunning second round of 65 had given Harman a halfway total of 10 under par and made him the ninth player in the last 40 years to hold a 36-hole lead of five strokes or more in a major, with each of the previous eight going on to win.

Scottie Scheffler was the most recent to do so in last year’s Masters, while Louis Oosthuizen was the last to achieve the feat in the Open; the South African led by five at St Andrews in 2010 and won by seven.

However, nearest challenger Tommy Fleetwood was in no mood to give up the chase in front of his adoring fans, having recently produced rounds of 64 and 67 to force a play-off in the Canadian Open and winning the 2022 Nedbank Golf Challenge from four behind at halfway.

“I’ve put in chases before in the past,” Fleetwood said after a battling second round of 71.

“At the end of the day, if somebody said you’re going out in the last group on Saturday, I don’t care what the situation was or what anybody had shot, I’d have probably taken it.

“I can’t have asked for any more from anybody with all the support they’re giving me out here and everybody is talking about it.”

Harman and Fleetwood were due out in the final group at 3.30pm.

Lewis Hamilton raised the prospect of springing a surprise pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix after finishing fastest in final practice.

The seven-time world champion ended the concluding one-hour running before qualifying at the Hungaroring 0.250 seconds clear of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Verstappen, who has won eight of the 10 rounds so far and six in succession, complained about the handling of his Red Bull.

“There is no f****** grip,” said the frustrated two-time world champion over the radio.

Sergio Perez took third spot in the other Red Bull, 0.263 sec adrift of Hamilton, with Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg and McLaren driver Lando Norris fourth and fifth respectively. Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate George Russell finished sixth three tenths back.

Hamilton only finished 16th on Friday, describing his machine as “at its worst”. But the 38-year-old, who has won more times at the Hungaroring than anybody else and captured his first victory in Mercedes colours at this venue a decade ago, led the way on Saturday to suggest he might be a contender heading into the remainder of the weekend.

Elsewhere, Daniel Ricciardo, back on the grid as a replacement for Nyck De Vries, clocked the 18th quickest time. His new AlphaTauri team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was 20th and last.

Qualifying for Sunday’s 70-lap race starts at 4pm local time (3pm BST).

Jockey Chris Hayes is optimistic Tarawa can open her account for the season in the Romanised Minstrel Stakes at the Curragh on Sunday.

Impressive when winning her final juvenile start at Leopardstown, the daughter of Shamardal has so far failed to add to her tally as a three-year-old, but has been keeping good company.

Dermot Weld’s filly was second to Zarinsk in a Group Three on her reappearance before placing fourth behind top-class stablemate Tahiyra in the Irish 1,000 Guineas.

She was last seen going down by half a length to Bold Discovery in the Listed Celebration Stakes and Hayes is expecting another bold showing in this weekend’s seven-furlong Group Two.

“It was a good run in the Irish Guineas and we bumped into a tough colt on ground that was probably a shade too quick for us on (Irish) Derby weekend,” he said.

“She is fresh and well and she’s handled the cut in the ground, so I’d be very hopeful of a good run.”

Joseph O’Brien is mob-handed in the seven-furlong Group Two, with course and distance winner Honey Girl and the high-class Jumbly joined by stablemates Snapraeterea and Montesilvano.

The Ger Lyons-trained Power Under Me bids for successive Pattern race wins at the track after landing the Amethyst Stakes in May, while Ado McGuinness hopes to saddle Ballycorus Stakes runner-up Real Appeal, but will keep an eye on ground conditions.

McGuinness said: “We’ll be praying there isn’t too much rain as we’re a little concerned over ground. We’ve declared him, but if it got bottomless we mightn’t run.

“It’s a solid race and he would have his chance if he gets his conditions, so we’ll just have to see how much rain arrives.”

Cosmic Vega, meanwhile, represents the training team of Mick Halford and Tracey Collins after a short head victory in the Listed Owenstown Stud Stakes at Naas in May.

“It’s a step up in class, but conditions look like being in his favour and the trip is ideal for him,” said Halford.

“We’re hoping for a good run and if we’re in the first three we’d be delighted, it would be a great boost for the owner-breeders.

“The more rain the better for him.”

England’s push for victory on the penultimate day of the fourth Ashes Test was delayed by the forecast rain at Emirates Old Trafford.

There are growing fears the inclement weather in the north-west this weekend may not relent to give England a window to claim the six wickets they need for a series-levelling victory.

England have seized total control of this Test, with Australia needing 162 just to make the hosts bat again, after closing on 113 for four thanks to Mark Wood’s three-wicket burst on Friday evening.

However, overnight rain continued into Saturday morning and shelving a scheduled 11am start time, with England tweeting: “We’re going to be heavily delayed.”

History, if not the weather, was firmly on Brian Harman’s side as the American attempted to claim his first major title in the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.

A stunning second round of 65 meant Harman became the ninth player in the last 40 years to hold a 36-hole lead of five strokes or more in a major, with each of the previous eight going on to win.

Scottie Scheffler was the most recent to do so in last year’s Masters, while Louis Oosthuizen was the last to achieve the feat in the Open; the South African led by five at St Andrews in 2010 and won by seven.

However, nearest challenger Tommy Fleetwood was in no mood to give up the chase in front of his adoring fans, having recently produced rounds of 64 and 67 to force a play-off in the Canadian Open and winning the 2022 Nedbank Golf Challenge from four behind at halfway.

“I’ve put in chases before in the past,” Fleetwood said after a battling second round of 71.

“At the end of the day, if somebody said you’re going out in the last group on Saturday, I don’t care what the situation was or what anybody had shot, I’d have probably taken it.

“I can’t have asked for any more from anybody with all the support they’re giving me out here and everybody is talking about it.”

Harman and Fleetwood were not due out until 3.30pm in the final group, with play getting under way shortly before 9am in miserable conditions.

Persistent and occasionally heavy rain greeted the early starters, whose number included world number one Scheffler.

Scheffler made the cut on the mark of three over par thanks to a somewhat fortunate birdie on the 18th on Friday evening, but might have been cursing his luck after starting round three with bogeys on the second and fourth.

Novak Djokovic's status as the greatest of all time is unharmed despite his Wimbledon final defeat, says Marion Bartoli.

Djokovic's hopes of winning a fifth straight Wimbledon title and a joint-record eighth overall were ended by a superb performance from Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who won in five sets to clinch a second grand slam despite only turning 20 in May.

Now 36, Djokovic has won 23 grand slams, more than any other male player, and though he missed the chance for a record-extending 24th at SW19 last weekend, Bartoli maintains his position as the greatest ever cannot be questioned. 

"If you have three or four more grand slams than anyone else, how can you even start the conversation?" she told Stats Perform. "The conversation is over.

"You can sort of go into more details with the surface but overall, especially when you look at the head-to-head and we know that Novak is leading the head-to-head against Roger [Federer] and against Rafa [Nadal].

"We know he's leading on the weeks at number one in the world. We know he has won all the grand slams three times and even more. You know, we know all those numbers. So then, what else do you need?"

For all of Djokovic's success, he has not always proved the most popular of players, in stark contrast to his 'Big Three' rivals Federer and Nadal.

Bartoli does not feel this plays into the conversation of who is the best ever and believes Djokovic can continue to challenge for grand slams in the coming years despite his advanced age. 

"If it's then how much you're liked by the crowd," Bartoli said. "That is something that is, you know, not a fact. That's purely an emotion, so you can't judge based on emotions.

"Even now, when you split the first three grand slams [of 2023] only with two players [Djokovic and Alcaraz], it's fair to say that the rest of the field is not quite at the same level as them, so Novak can sustain that level [at the top for longer]."

Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic are clearly ahead of the rest of the men's singles field, but Marion Bartoli believes both can be caught.

Alcaraz denied Djokovic a fifth straight Wimbledon title last weekend with a stunning five-set victory at SW19, to secure the 20-year-old Spaniard a second grand slam title.

As a pair, Alcaraz and Djokovic have now won the last five grand slams stretching back to last year's Wimbledon, and Bartoli feels they are far ahead of the chasing pack.

The former Wimbledon champion however suggests that gap could motivate others to work on their own game in order to catch up.

"Very much, when you look at the first three grand slams [of 2023], it's clear that there is Novak, Carlos and the rest and there is quite a gap between those two and the rest," she told Stats Perform.

"That's quite obvious with the results. That said, I think that's going to push them to sort of catch back just like Novak did with Roger [Federer] and Rafa [Nadal].

"With [them] having more Grand Slams than him and wanting to be part of the conversation, that just pushed him to elevate his level.

"I think it's going to be the case on the ATP. I don't think the guys are going to look at Carlos and Novak saying 'Oh my god, they're just untouchable, and we're going to lose to them'.

"I think they're going to really try hard. Especially I can see [Holger] Rune, I can see [Stefanos] Tsitsipas, I can see [Daniil] Medvedev, all those and [Jannik] Sinner, being very eager and very hungry to just go and chase.

"I'm sure they can actually push them to work harder on their game to come up with something even better. So I don't see it as a runaway completely and there is no opposition.

"I think maybe it's going to take a little bit of time before they reach that level, but I just don't think it's going to be that easy in a way for Novak and Carlos to just win everything without having a say from the other players."

Bartoli, who won at SW19 in 2013 before retiring in 2018, believes Alcaraz has taken the best qualities of the 'Big Three' of Djokovic, Nadal and Federer and feels he is one of those spearheading a new era in tennis.

"In the eras before, when you look at Pete Sampras, and all those players, it was one way to play and then if you would take that play away it was a lot more difficult for them," she explained. 

"If you take Alcaraz for me, what is very interesting is he has almost the best of Novak, Roger and Rafa combined and that is new. I think it's very much sort of total tennis, when you feel there is just not one department that maybe is lacking a little bit.

"There is a lot of players from this or sort of the past generation that are not that complete, who are really going to suffer against those new kids like Alcaraz, Rune and Sinner who are coming in and just having nothing you feel that they could really do better.

"In that sense, I think that's going to be the new sort of tennis we will see for the next 10 to 20 years."

Republic of Ireland midfielder Denise O’Sullivan has reflected on an “unbelievable” first taste of World Cup football and admitted adrenaline meant she felt no pain during Thursday’s defeat to Australia.

O’Sullivan had been a doubt for their Group B opener after she suffered a soft tissue and bone bruise injury during last week’s warm-up match with Colombia that was cancelled after only 20 minutes.

North Carolina captain O’Sullivan was able to recover in time to play the whole match in front of a record crowd of 75,784 at Stadium Australia and she has talked up the vocal support of the Irish fans even before the narrow 1-0 loss.

“It was sore in the game, but the medical team done a few things to make sure I wasn’t in that much pain. I think honestly the adrenaline was so high I didn’t feel anything,” O’Sullivan told RTE after Ireland’s major tournament debut.

“It was unbelievable. I can’t even describe it. We were in the tunnel waiting to walk out and we could already hear the Irish fans.

“We were just all smiling and looking at each other. It was a moment I will never forget and then walking out.

“Even to do the warm-up, they started singing right away and that’s all you could hear in the stadium, Irish fans. We definitely have the best fans in the world. It was an unbelievable experience for our opening game.”

A 52nd-minute penalty from Australia’s stand-in captain Steph Catley consigned Ireland to an opening defeat, but there were plenty of positives for Vera Pauw’s side who play Olympic champions Canada next on Wednesday in Perth.

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Eighteen-year-old Abbie Larkin was a bright note for the Girls in Green and she has been backed to further shine.

O’Sullivan said of Larkin: “Honestly, no fear. She is a little gem. I have been saying it in training leading up to this game, she is a different player.

“She’s been excellent and coming into the game, it is a lot of pressure for an 18-year-old, your first World Cup game, but she took it in her stride. She came on and was absolutely fantastic so I am really happy for her.”

When O’Sullivan broke through as a teenager in 2011, the state of Irish football was markedly differently but the 29-year-old is delighted with their progress and to finally make her major tournament debut with so many long-serving team-mates.

She added: “It was tough back then. I don’t think we had many resources and facilities or investment as we do right now.

“I would have dreamed to be at a World Cup when I was 18-years-old but it just wasn’t possible back then.

“Always in the back of my mind I did have that belief that some day I would make it to a World Cup and I am just really grateful I am here with this group of players. Some of them I have been playing with for 10 plus years and it is great to be on this journey with them.”