The prime of Richie Richardson: one man and his West Indies sun hat | Andy Bull

If you were going to tell the history of cricket in a handful of objects, the purple, wide-brimmed hat would be one of them

There’s solace in the old clips, especially of cricket. It’s not that they’re all that comforting, as such – not if you followed England anyway – more they carry you back to a time when your biggest worries were wondering when Mike Atherton’s back would give in, why the selectors insisted on making Alec Stewart keep wicket and whether Mark Ramprakash would ever make a Test century.

Closing the UK's parks and public spaces really could be a tipping point | Barney Ronay

There is always compromise, always managed space – but banning exercise in this country would be a disaster

You can take our pubs and our shopping centres. You can wall us up behind the front door with Netflix and newsagent wine. But don’t take away our glimpse of the sky, that prescribed 30 minutes of brain-soothing, body-stretching exercise.

Judging by the experiences of Spain, Italy and France, this is the next stage for the UK. Quite how long we can put off a complete ban on personal exercise is open to question. But a concerted effort is required here because, with the weather this week forecast to reach as a high as 23C, this really could be a tipping point.

PFA's Gordon Taylor not cutting salary but donates £500,000 to NHS and charity

• Taylor gives to fund set up by players and PFA donates £1m
• Clubs look set to make individual agreements on players’ pay

The chief executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association, Gordon Taylor, has said he will not take a cut to his £2m salary but has made a personal donation of £500,000 to the Premier League players’ fund for the NHS and charities in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite continued pressure from politicians, the issue of wage deferral or pay cuts for top-flight clubs remains unresolved after a week of talks. Another meeting between league representatives and the PFA ended without any resolution on Monday, with clubs inceasingly pursuing individual approaches.

David Squires on … blaming football (and Joël Bats) for Covid-19

Our cartoonist depicts the hunt for Brighton’s Dan Burn, dinosaurs v Gordon Taylor, and club owners doing their bit for society

The Spin | Walter Gilbert, the shamed thief who shone in Canadian exile

A cousin of WG Grace whose bankruptcy led him into petty crime, Walter Gilbert went on to enjoy a stellar career in Canada

In October 1908 a most curious court case took place in Canada in which someone called either Charles or Chris Mitchell, depending on which report you believe, found himself on trial for theft.

“Mr Sparling, crown prosecutor, said that Mitchell is a sneak thief who not only stole $13 from the trousers of Mr Gilbert – hung up while the owner was playing at cricket – but he has also been hanging about church dressing rooms and behaving generally in a manner that leads to a suspicion that he is not all right in the head,” the Winnipeg Tribune reported. “This indictment of foolishness was completed by Mr Gilbert’s statement that Mitchell has been heard making silly speeches about cricket, and the man was remanded until Thursday to have him examined for insanity.”

My favourite game: Nick Faldo v Greg Norman, 1996 Masters | Ewan Murray

Norman’s Augusta agony when surrendering a six-shot, final-round lead to Faldo was staggering and unforgettable

The Masters does not start until the back nine on Sunday. As a 14-year-old, getting to the back nine on Sunday was an achievement in itself. BBC television coverage meant Augusta National was far more accessible in the 90s but parental rules provided the nasty counterargument when it came to a Sunday night and a golf tournament played in eastern standard time.

La Liga prepares for return to training and sets target dates for season restart

• League president Javier Tebas looking at options from 28 May
• ‘We think we can finish in August,’ Tebas says

Spain is preparing a protocol for clubs’ return to training with three proposed dates for La Liga to restart: 28 May, 6 June and 28 June. Matches are expected to be played behind closed doors and European games would take place in parallel or at the end of the domestic season.

The plans were revealed on Tuesday by the president of La Liga, Javier Tebas, who said the possibility of annulling the season was not being considered by Europe’s major leagues. He added there were no plans for Spain’s top-division clubs to play away from their stadiums but that some could be forced to do so because of scheduled building work.

Football quiz: which managers delivered these angry rants?

Can you recall which fuming bosses uttered these quotes?

Working from home: athletes find inventive ways to train – in pictures

Around the world, athletes are working on new ways to stay fit at home during the coronavirus lockdown

Kelly Loeffler: the WNBA owner against everything the league stands for

The Republican senator wants to keep politics out of sports. But her views on everything from guns to abortion are alienating many fans

Could Simone Biles really do the unthinkable and retire before Tokyo 2021?

The gymnastics superstar has refused to commit to appearing at the next Olympics. Team USA would still be strong even without her though

Fifa exco members took bribes for Qatar World Cup votes, US prosecutors allege

• Former Conmebol president among executives named
• Jack Warner allegedly received $5m to back Russia 2018

Prosecutors in New York have revealed new details of alleged bribes paid to Fifa executive committee members to gain their votes for Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup.

An indictment unsealed on Monday in the US District Court in Brooklyn says Nicolás Leoz, the Paraguayan then president of the South American governing body, Conmebol, and the former Brazil federation president Ricardo Teixeira received bribes to vote for Qatar at the 2010 Fifa executive committee meeting.

Talking Horses: a win for the north as Brian Hughes is champion jockey

Hard-working and admired rider from Armagh was told the news while celebrating his child’s first birthday

Three weeks after horse racing in Britain was stopped by the coronavirus, the authorities have confirmed that Brian Hughes is champion jockey for the season that was supposed to end at Sandown a fortnight on Saturday. Hughes got the news on Monday while celebrating the first birthday of his daughter, Olivia, and was grateful that 6 April will now have more positive professional associations for him than was the case a year ago.

The Open 2020 cancelled but US golf majors set new dates

• R&A cancels rather than rearranges July’s Open
• Ryder Cup unmoved with Masters set for November
  

The Open has emerged as the outlier in this year’s major scene after cancelling its 149th staging at Royal St George’s in Kent this July.

No sooner had the R&A confirmed that unprecedented step in peacetime than golf’s other big three – the US PGA Championship, Masters and US Open – issued new dates for 2020 despite the coronavirus crisis. The Ryder Cup also remains in its designated position from 25 September at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.

Radomir Antic, former Atlético Madrid manager and Luton player, dies aged 71

• The only man to manage Real Madrid, Atlético and Barcelona
• Antic famously scored to rescue Luton from relegation

Radomir Antic has died after a long illness, aged 71. The Yugoslav footballer and manager whose late goal rescued Luton Town from relegation in May 1983, famously sending his manager David Pleat skipping and leaping across the pitch at Maine Road, had pancreatitis.

Antic, the son of Bosnian partisans, had a 17-year playing career which took him from Sloboda Uzice to Partizan Belgrade, Fenerbahce and Real Zaragoza before finishing at Kenilworth Road in 1984, where he had spent four years.

Jos Buttler wants England's salary donation to help grassroots cricket

• England players agreed 20% pay cut for three months
• Buttler awaits top bid for World Cup-winning shirt

Jos Buttler has said England players want their recent £500,000 wage donation to help cricket’s grassroots initiatives during the coronavirus pandemic.

Last Friday England’s 16 centrally contracted players agreed the equivalent of a 20% pay cut for three months but split the amount between good causes and the England and Wales Cricket Board, rather than solely reduce the burden on their employer.

Formula One could lose four teams due to lost income, says McLaren chief

• Williams and Racing Point put staff on furlough
• F1 is in a very fragile state, says Zak Brown

The McLaren chief executive, Zak Brown, has warned of potentially devastating effects for Formula One from the coronavirus pandemic.

Brown cautioned that as many as four teams could be lost if F1 does not act aggressively to tackle the substantial loss of income.

Dogs, doughnuts and the day Palace pipped Liverpool to the FA Cup final

Crystal Palace had been hammered 9-0 at Anfield earlier in the 1989-90 season but they had the last laugh in the FA Cup

English football's blame culture makes it unable to come together | Jonathan Liew

Matt Hancock is merely the latest patsy to offend a game that was dysfunctional even when it was awash with money

I don’t expect to make too many friends saying this, but perhaps it’s time we all gave Matt Hancock a break. Isn’t it typical how, as soon as things take a turn for the worse, everyone starts singling out the health secretary?

Yes, clearly he could be doing more to deflect our attention from the failings of his dangerously shambolic government and the chronic underfunding of the National Health Service. And he wants to do more, too.

Katherine Grainger: 'We’re suddenly in a very different world' | Donald McRae

Former Olympic champion is still excited about UK Sport’s future – not only in terms of medals but having a positive impact on society

“We are asking hard questions like who might be facing bankruptcy in the short term, because that’s the reality right now,” Katherine Grainger says, in her role as the head of UK Sport, as she considers the financial devastation of the global coronavirus pandemic.

“These are the honest conversations we need to have. Some sports are at short-term risk while other major sports have much bigger budgets. But because they don’t have money coming in from their partners and they are not hosting events they expected some of the big sports could also be under threat. It’s across the board. People’s jobs and the future of sporting bodies are at stake. We just don’t want to see any of the sports going under.”

Wolves' Diogo Jota: 'I'm coaching Telford United on Football Manager'

The forward talks about how his club have helped players, missing family in Portugal and his boyhood team

Diogo Jota has not been making headlines recently because, like most people, he has been observing the British government’s lockdown. But in the simpler time before football and society were placed into suspended animation, Jota looked to be building towards something sensational.

His devastating bursts from the left side of Wolves’ attacks brought six goals in five matches before the hiatus, taking his tally for the season to 15 goals. Wolves were well placed in both the Premier League and the Europa League. Then the whole world pressed pause and none of that was important.

NRL Island: recipe for ruin or world-leading game-changer? | Larissa O'Connor

The ‘bubble’ proposal is gaining momentum but what could set the tone for global sport could equally send the game into financial freefall

This week we will find out just how desperate the NRL is to get the competition back up and running, when the league’s brains trust reconvene on Thursday to consider an idea so seemingly outrageous it might just work.

Sadio Mané: Made in Senegal, trailer for documentary on Liverpool forward – video

Made in Senegal takes an in-depth look at the rise of Liverpool forward Sadio Mané, who is the current African player of the year. The documentary will be exclusively available across Europe on Rakuten TV’s free Rakuten Stories channel from 8 April.

My favourite game: Sheff Utd v Nottm Forest, First Division play-off 2003

On a wild Thursday night, the Blades fell 2-0 down in the first half before staging a Paul Peschisolido-inspired fightback

There are moments in football fandom that, in retrospect, you realise were the emotional high-water mark. The time when it mattered that much more, when the blade, now long dulled by experience, cut right through to the core. For me, that peak came at Bramall Lane on 15 May 2003.

In truth I can’t recall much about events surrounding the game. Googling the date today reveals – unexpectedly – that it was a Thursday. So I must have got the train up from London where I was at university. My dad would’ve driven up from Derby with my brother, uncle and cousin, parking up near Heeley city farm in an awkward traffic-bothering style that had long been known as “the Manoeuvre”. At that time my uncle’s superstition was, I think, at the everybody-has-to-have-a-lucky-mint stage.

Liverpool reverse decision to furlough staff after fierce criticism

• Club had said they would furlough around 200 staff
• Chief executive says Liverpool ‘truly sorry’ for mistake

Liverpool have reversed their controversial decision to put around 200 non-playing staff on furlough after receiving fierce criticism for seeking government assistance during the coronavirus crisis.

Gareth Southgate takes 30% pay cut as FA warns losses could exceed £150m

Luke Shaw says season should be scrapped if restart not possible

• Manchester United defender wants fans present
  
• ‘If we can’t carry it on, it’s got to be void’

The Premier League season must be scrapped and declared null and void if it cannot be restarted, Manchester United’s Luke Shaw has said.

Razor sharp: Cheltenham players and coaches shave heads for NHS

Club captain Ben Tozer started coronavirus initiative to fund a ventilator and is hopeful of roping in manager Michael Duff

When Cheltenham Town next reconvene for a video conference call, the mosaic of on-screen faces will resemble a game of Guess Who? with a twist, given several players and staff are sporting buzz cuts after shaving their heads to raise funds for the NHS.

The club captain, Ben Tozer, was the first to give his teammates a shock on Friday morning. “I’d just done the Joe Wicks PE workout with my son in fancy dress, so I jumped straight on to the conference call dressed as Woody from Toy Story, whipped my hat off and a few of the lads had a laugh, so it’s all good fun,” says Tozer, who hopes the money can go towards funding a ventilator to help tackle coronavirus.

Streaming service DAZN asks Premier League to defer rights payments

• Company looking for ‘reasonable solutions’
• Burnley manager Sean Dyche defends players

An online streaming service has written to the Premier League to defer payments due to the suspension of competition due to the coronavirus outbreak. It is understood that DAZN, which holds rights to stream all English top-flight matches in Brazil, Canada, Japan and Spain, is in negotiations to halt payments until there is clarity on when and how the season can be completed.

West Ham manager David Moyes takes voluntary 30% pay cut

• Moyes the third Premier League manager known to take cut
• Steven Gerrard and his Rangers players agree to defer wages

David Moyes is taking a voluntary 30% pay cut at West Ham to help the club through the financial problems caused by the coronavirus crisis.

Triathlete's virtual race ended after husband pulls out plug – video report

Australian triathlete Mirinda Carfrae lost out in a virtual race after her husband tripped over and disconnected the electrical cord of her smart bike. Carfrae, a former triathlon world champion, was competing in the inaugural Ironman VR Pro Challenge womens race from her home in Colorado, and was well placed in second when disaster struck.

Coronavirus: athletes say Tokyo 2020 postponement is 'perfect decision' – video

Athletes who were on their way to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics have spoken about their relief that the Games have been postponed. 'We felt under pressure to train, we felt under pressure to compete,' said Team GB's Adam Peaty. The Olympic breaststroke champion added that it was important to channel resources to the NHS instead

Tokyo 2020: how coronavirus forced an Olympic postponement – video timeline

The Tokyo Olympics are to be postponed until 2021 after talks between Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, and the International Olympic Committee president, Thomas Bach. Abe felt that postponing the games was the most appropriate response to the global disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Here's a look back at events over the past seven years that led to the games being postponed

'Look out for each other': Prince Harry postpones Invictus Games due to coronavirus – video

Prince Harry has apologised to athletes due to compete at the 2020 Invictus Games in The Hague in May, after they were postponed until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The Duke of Sussex said it was 'the most sensible and the safest option' in light of the global health crisis, which has frozen the majority of the global sporting calendar

NBA players going 'stir crazy' amid coronavirus shutdown, says Adam Silver – video

NBA commissioner Adam Silver has admitted that he doesn't know when the NBA season will recommence after the suspension due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Speaking on ESPN, Silver said that players were going 'stir crazy', adding 'a lost year or lost portion of a season in their careers is very different than other people'.

Coronavirus: Gary Neville says NHS staff will stay at his hotels for free – video

Gary Neville has announced that two hotels he co-owns with former Manchester United teammate Ryan Giggs will close to the public from Sunday and be made available to NHS staff free of charge. Hotel Football and The Stock Exchange, both in Manchester, will remain fully staffed to offer accommodation to health workers who cannot live with their families due to the coronavirus pandemic. 'The whole of our industry needs to show solidarity, not just for our staff in these uncertain times but obviously for those who need the accommodation most in the coming months,' Neville said. 'It will operate free of charge and our staff will operate the hotels as normal.'

The Fiver | Sean Dyche spreadeagled on a chaise longue in his red silk kimono

Grand National 1977: Red Rum pulls off historic treble – as it happened

With Tiger Roll’s hat-trick bid being shelved for now, look back at history being made at Aintree in 1977 instead

4.10pm BST

4.10pm That’s all from us. We’ve seen a real piece of sporting history made here, with Red Rum becoming the first horse to win the Grand National three times. And let’s not forget that only one other horse this century has won the race more than once, that being the mighty Reynoldstown back in the 30s. Think of all the great horses that have tried to win the National, legends like Golden Miller. Maybe they could manage it once but they came back the next year and found they’d got too old, or couldn’t carry the extra weight they’d been given, or didn’t fancy it so much the next time. Red Rum has trumped the lot of them and in two of his wins, he’s carried top weight. Surely his record will be unmatched for a very long time. Farewell from Aintree!

4.04pm BST

1st fence
Duffle Coat fell
Pengrail fell
Spittin Image fell
Willy What fell
Huperade unseated rider
War Bonnet brought down
High Ken brought down

3rd fence
Burrator fell
Inycarra fell
Royal Thrust fell
Davy Lad unseated rider

My favourite game: Lithuania v Bosnia-Herzegovina, World Cup qualifier 2013

A 1,125-mile trek to Kaunas brought the Bosnian diaspora together to celebrate a momentous qualification

Abdulah had been the previous three days’ life and soul but now he stood still, arms outstretched, at the edge of a precarious concrete overhang. He was sprightly to a degree beyond his 70 years but, in any case, instinct had overtaken him. As the full-time whistle blew, and as Bosnia-Herzegovina began to absorb the scale of their achievement, he had vaulted a barrier at the front of this creaking Soviet-era stand’s top tier and wiped away tears before surveying the scene below. “Hajmo Bosno!” (“Go, Bosnia!”), he shouted through the misty air of an evening that would have seemed unremittingly bleak if something this momentous had not just occurred. “We did it!”

Football quiz: which players set up these famous goals?

Who provided the assists for these iconic finishes?

Philippe Auclair on Fifa, Cantona and board games – Football Weekly Extra

Second-tier sport video games, toilet roll skills and Scotland v Netherlands | Classic YouTube

This week’s roundup also features a rugby league rumpus and a thwarted horse’s previous endeavours

1) While most of us are cooped up indoors, it’s a great time to dig out old games consoles from the attic to reaquaint yourselves with some old favourites. Or, indeed, to check out some that are … less classic.

The Breakdown | Vive la différence: French rugby tome still resonates 60 years on

The Rise of French Rugby, written in 1960, offers insights into the Gallic game as it was then, and partly still is now

Sixty years ago, two writers decided on a book explaining the history and unique features of French rugby before the national side’s tour to New Zealand the following year. The upshot was The Rise of French Rugby, written in English by Alex Potter and Georges Duthen and published in Auckland.

It is a time for spring cleaning and dusting volumes that have been deprived of light for too long but this book has remained close to hand. Written in a style all of its own, as if translated too literally and enthusiastically, it had an early hook: “Chase the natural away and it comes galloping back.”

David Squires on … The English Premier League Game

Our cartoonist envisages Julian Fellowes being commissioned to reboot the end of the season

Fabio Capello: 'I asked the players – Joe Hart or Calamity James?'

Former England manager on his ‘perfect’ 2010 World Cup plans, selection issues and how Lampard’s ghost goal still haunts him

The fact Fabio Capello saw it coming and had warned them made it harder to take. “The most incredible thing that’s happened to me,” he calls it, which is saying something for a man who spent 56 years in the game, won the European Cup, four league titles as a player, nine as a manager, and has been to the World Cup with three countries.

'I'm hooping my way through the lockdown': how readers are keeping fit

Want to stay active during the coronavirus shutdown? Our readers have a few creative suggestions

Age-resistant, Tic Tac-powered Jamie Vardy deserves shot at golden boot | Barney Ronay

Spare a thought for the Premier League’s current top scorer, whose own season is one of the great unfinished subplots

There have been a lot of lists doing the rounds this week of the best foods to boost your immune system. These seem to be mainly things such as oily fish, yoghurt, spinach, elderberries, ginger and raw shaved garlic, although having followed these ingredients to the letter I can confirm they don’t actually make for a very nice sandwich.

From a Premier League perspective there are some notable absences from the roster of miracle foods. Cheese and ham omelettes. Shotgunned cans of Red Bull. Skittles dissolved in vodka. Chewing tobacco. Watered-down port drunk from an old Lucozade bottle.

England cricketers willing to dig deep but county game will be hit hard | Vic Marks

The £500,000 donated by Joe Root and his team is a worthy start but clubs and their players face a difficult balancing act

The last time I was in the Lord’s museum I spotted a letter of 1981 with the familiar Somerset CCC logo at the top in one of the display cabinets. It had been sent to Viv Richards and was the confirmation of his salary for the forthcoming season. At the bottom was Viv’s signature. The sum agreed was just under £9,000 for a six‑month contract. That equates to a salary of £31,000 today.

At the time Richards was the best batsman in the world, just as Brian Lara – arguably – was in 1994 when Warwickshire paid him £40,000 for a season, which now equates to about £68,000.