Did England start well against Australia as the Ashes finally started?

It’s hard to imagine a worse start for England in the 1^st Test against Australia at the Gabba. For just the second time in the 140 years of Ashes cricket, a wicket went with the first ball of the Series, as Rory Burns got far too far across to a leg stump half volley and was bowled behind his legs by Mitchell Starc. Having won the toss and decided to bat, Joe Root must have been regretting his decision, even more so when he also went without scoring to leave England 11 for 3. Haseeb Hamed put up some fight as he crawled to 25, while Jos Buttler did his best to lead a fightback, making an attacking 39. He shared a stand of 52 with Ollie Pope, who made 35. Chris Woakes (21) was the only other player to make double figures as the tourists were skittled out for 147 just before tea. No play was possible in the final session as England prepared to bowl at Australia without James Anderson or Stuart Broad for the first time in 15 years.

1^st England Wicket (settled at 0)

England’s top order has been their weakness ever since Alistair Cook retired – and some might say for a couple of years before too – and there were plenty of sellers in this market who thought they'd found the perfect storm of a top-class attack, openers playing in their first Ashes game, a partisan crowd and a lack of practice since the tour started. Even the most pessimistic of England fans didn’t see a wicket falling first ball, but when it did, sellers of the pre-match spread of 29-33 won a maximum 29 times their bet.

What was the most exciting game in the Champions League last night?

While Liverpool already had top spot in Group B sewn up - going on to complete a perfect group stage last night for the first time with victory at AC Milan - Porto and Atletico Madrid had it all to play for, with qualification as runners-up still wide open. In an action-packed game, it was the Spanish champions who won 3-1 and claimed second spot in a game that saw three red cards and three injury time goals. Antoine Griezmann put Atleti ahead but were put under pressure when Yannick Carrasco was shown a red card. The hosts only needed a draw to go through, but they were soon down to 10 men too when Wendell was giving his marching orders, as was Agustin Marchesin, who wasn’t even on the pitch! In the 90th minute Atletico’s nerves were settled when Angel Correa doubled the lead, and a minute later Rodrigo de Paul added a third. There was still time for Porto to get on the scoresheet Sergio Oliveira slotting home a penalty with the last kick of the game.

Total Goal Minutes (settled at 326)

Going into injury time, those who bought this spread, set at 140-150 before the game, were looking at a loss of 94 times their stake, with Griezmann’s 56^th minute opener the only goal of the game. At the final whistle they’d gone from that hefty loss to winning 176 times their bet, with those three injury time goals adding 270 to the Total Goal Minutes.

Is Ronnie O’Sullivan on form at the Scottish Open?

When Ronnie plays well there are very few, if any, players in the world who can live with him. Yesterday, Michael Georgiou ran into Ronnie at the top of his game, and ended up losing 4-0 and scoring only three points in 37 minutes. O’Sullivan made short work of the Cypriot, knocking in breaks of 68, 88, 72 and 86 to move swiftly into the last 32, where he’ll meet China’s Liang Wenbo.

Points Supremacy Ronnie O’Sullivan/Michael Georgiou (settled at 324)

Unlike games with some of the other greats, lower ranked player always feel they have a chance against Ronnie, because sometimes he lacks motivation and doesn’t play his best snooker at events outside the World Championship. That was not the case at the Scottish Open yesterday as the six-time world champ went about his business clinically, ending each frame in one visit. While O’Sullivan was expected to win, his points supremacy, set at 147-177, attracted some buyers, and they were rewarded with a pleasingly snooker related profit of 147 times their bet.