Henry Moeran
BBC Test Match Special in South Africa

Image source, AP

Two days out from the first ODI and England are raring to go. They've comfortably won two warm-up matches with runs and wickets nicely shared around, and having also spent time at a performance centre in Potchefstroom they've done all they can to get ready.

Coach Mark Robinson - in charge of his first tour - told me yesterday: "We're trying to build something that's exciting and going to last a long time."

But while it may be a building process, results are required from the off. England are fifth in the ICC Women's Championship and in need of some big performances, starting on Sunday in Benoni.

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic believes Southampton have got a bargain in Charlie Austin, who was signed from QPR for £4m.

"He's a great player," said Bilic. "He has proved himself - he's not one of those who has only done it in the Championship. He did it last year in the Premier League, scoring many goals for a team who were relegated, so for that money he should be a great buy.

"To add to that he scored the winner at Old Trafford in his first game, so it's a flying start for him. It was a bit of a surprise that he went for that kind of money. In England that is a small transfer."

Manchester City

Manchester City have announced they will play in China this summer as past of their next pre-season tour.

The news comes two months after a consortium of high-profile Chinese investors acquired a 13% stake, worth a reported £265m, in the club's holding company.

City play will be in the International Champions Cup, a friendly tournament series which annually features some of the world's glamour clubs.

What is it with football and China? City, of course, used to have Chinese international Sun Jihai on their books. Good player he was, too.

Image source, Getty Images

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Warrington head coach Tony Smith has called for improvement from his team despite beating champions Leeds in the opening game of the new Super League season.

They won 12-10 at Headingley despite spending long periods of the game defending.

"We've got to better than that with the ball, we did it the hard way," Smith told BBC Radio Merseyside. 

The body that governs world athletics has said it is investigating a letter alleging historic state-backed doping in the sport in China.

The previously unseen letter was apparently written by Chinese Olympic medallist Wang Junxia in 1995, but only published in state media this week.

Wang still holds two world records.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) said it was aware of the letter and is trying to confirm if it was genuine.

In a statement, it said: "The IAAF's first action must be to verify that the letter is genuine. In this respect, the IAAF has asked the Chinese Athletics Association to assist it in that process."

Juan Armstrong: Sharing my birthday with Ronaldo, Tevez, Neymar and Jordan Rhodes! Unbelievable scenes.

Image source, Science Photo Library

New Hearts striker Abiola Dauda insists Sunday's Edinburgh derby should be a piece of cake, having experienced crazy clashes between Partizan and Red Star Belgrade.

The Nigerian striker has joined the Jambos on a six-month loan deal from Dutch outfit Vitesse Arnhem.

"The derbies in Belgrade are do-or-die," he said. "The fans live for those matches. In the stadium, the atmosphere is really amazing. It's one of the best I've ever played in.

"But there are some really crazy things that go on. There was fighting, they would break seats. The last derby I played in, they even burned up the whole stand. There was a lot of fires and we had to stop the game."

Mmm. Not quite a piece of cake, but we see what you mean Abiola...

Do you think you have the skills to be the next star of the Six Nations?

Well the #ChuckyEggChallenge is your opportunity to show your talent to the world.

To celebrate the start of the 2016 RBS Six Nations, BBC Sport is asking celebrities, pundits and fans to take on the #ChuckyEggChallenge.

If you can't play rugby, don't worry - it's very simple. Here are the rules:

• Find a friend and an egg

• Stand six paces apart

• Pass the egg as many times as possible between the two of you in 20 seconds - passes must be like you are throwing a rugby ball. If the egg breaks, it's game over!

• Share the video of your attempt using the hashtag #ChuckyEggChallenge

Look out for familiar faces from BBC Breakfast, CBBC, Radio 1 and our Six Nations line-up having a go at the #ChuckyEggChallenge throughout the tournament and see if you can beat them.

Get chucking!

...you realise you share your birthday with this lot...

Image source, #bbcsportsday

Image source, Getty Images

West Brom boss Tony Pulis is probably chuffed that - at least for the time being - he doesn't have to answer any more questions of whether striker Saido Berahino will be leaving the club. But now the questions are more about when he will return to the starting line-up in the league.

"The supporters won't like to hear this but you can't go from him not doing nothing to him starting and turning water into wine for us," says Pulis.

"The good thing about now is that the path is clear. There's nothing that can distract him. 

"Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks we can get him fit enough to start a game in the Premier League. 

"I don't want to lose him so we have to go a little bit careful with him. Irrespective of all the work he has done in training, he is still a little bit heavier than he was last year."

Meanwhile, in Germany, ESPN are reporting, external that Borussia Dortmund supporters are set to protest against ticket prices in Germany once again.

Fans wanting to watch their game against Stuttgart will have to pay around £15 for a standing ticket and £30 for the cheapest seats.

Arsenal

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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger insists the increased television revenue for Premier League clubs must be invested in players rather than used to reduce ticket prices.

"We are a company who on one side want you (the fans) to buy more players," he said. "What will happen is the prices of the players will go up and you will need this supplement of money coming in to buy new players.

"I believe that the pressure on spending the money will become bigger and you cannot necessarily distribute the money to other people.

"What we do, we stabilise our prices to give access to other players and we have stabilised now for many years." 

That is a very interesting point from Jon, see tweet below. Should clubs be forced to save a certain amount of tickets for those who live within a, say, 10-mile radius of their ground?

Donald Imrie: In 1989 cheapest ticket for Man Utd game was £3.50. How the times have changed...

Jon Cresswell: The question is not how much is fair, it should be more about to whom the tickets are sold. Local fans are being outpriced.

Mark Regan
BBC WM Sport

Aston Villa manager Remi Garde says he'll "probably" review his future in the summer. Garde was left disappointed after Villa failed to make any signings in the January transfer window.

At this morning's news conference, Garde said: "Modern football is about more short term than long term. In my case it's more about winning the next game." On the team news front, Remi Garde has lost yet another striker to injury. Libor Kozak has a fractured ankle to add to Adam Traore's metatarsal and Rudy Gestede's hamstring.

Image source, Gett

World number one Michael van Gerwen suffered a surprise 7-4 defeat by James Wade on the opening night of the 2016 Premier League in Leeds. 

Van Gerwen went 3-0 up, including a 167 finish, before Wade punished him for missing doubles. 

With reigning champion Gary Anderson pulling out through illness, debutant Michael Smith played twice, but lost both games to Peter Wright and Adrian Lewis. 

Raymond van Barneveld beat six-time winner Phil Taylor 7-2, while Dave Chisnall whitewashed Robert Thornton 7-0.

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Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola has been giving his take on leaving the German club to go to Manchester City in the summer.

"You have to trust me, I can’t come here and talk everyday about it (Manchester City)," he says.

What about trying to steer Bayern to the Bundesliga title and Champions League glory, along with preparing for his challenge at City.

"Why would it be difficult? I am like a woman, I can multi-task and control both situations. I have a big talent for this," he adds.

It appears Pep Guardiola would prefer to talk more about tactics than his summer switch from Bayern Munich to Manchester City. Yes, really...

BBC Radio 5 Live

This morning's Your Call on BBC Radio 5 live was about the cost of ticket prices in football. Let's just say Graham in Sheffield has little sympathy...

Former England spin-bowler Robert Croft has been appointed Glamorgan's new head coach on a rolling contract.

The 45-year-old succeeds Toby Radford, who left in December, 2015 - a little over two years after taking charge.

Croft said: "Glamorgan has been my home club for 28 years as a player and a coach and it was a very special moment when I was offered the chance to lead this group of players."

Chief executive Hugh Morris said Croft was "the outstanding candidate".

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