Sport

World number 176 Liam Broady, Brydan Klein, Ed Corrie and Dan Cox will enter the main draw which commences on Tuesday June 2nd with qualifying commencing on Sunday.

Matthew Hoggard, Simon Jones and Mark Ramprakash will grace Timperley Cricket Club for a spectacular Twenty20 contest to cap their ECB Club Open Day, with treasurer Dave Howarth hoping the event can inspire a new generation of stars.

The 2012 London Olympic Games were a watershed moment for Jonnie Peacock and he has since followed his win with gold medals at the World Championships in Lyon in 2013 and European gold a year later.

Clermont Auvergne full-back and European Champions Cup player of the year Nick Abendanon plus Toulon forward Steffon Armitage, who won the accolade last year, did not get a look in for the 50-man World Cup training squad, something Mark Cueto has little sympathy for.

The ‘Find a Flag’ competition takes place in the city tomorrow, from 9am-9pm, and hopefuls must upload a ‘flag selfie’, to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, using #EmiratesFlag after former England and Sale Sharks player Mark Cueto has hidden it.

One lucky 14-16 year-old will lead the teams out at a Rugby World Cup fixture in Manchester, experiencing first-hand the atmosphere and what it’s like to be a professional rugby player.

Macclesfield’s Matt Nottingham will now prepare himself for June 7 and Finals Day, with the Surrey Smashers set to play fourth-placed Loughborough Sport for a spot in the showpiece later that day.

Premiership player of year George Ford and Owen Farrell – a British & Irish Lion and still just 23 – will go head-to-head in pursuit of the fly-half starting berth at this year’s World Cup with Danny Cipriani waiting in the wings.

The manner of former WBO Light-Welterweight Champion Chris Algieri’s only defeat, against Manny Pacquiao, indicates that Amir Khan should very much be classed as favourite come May 29.

Starting in the USA five years ago, Spartan Race has almost one million participants at 130 events in 20 countries and is coming to Manchester’s Heaton Park on the first weekend of July.

Stockport-based pensioner Mary Jinks was rewarded as she picked up the William Hill Fan of the Year gong at The Non-League Paper’s National Game Awards in association with The NLFA on Wednesday.