SPORTS AGENDA BY MIKE KEEGAN: Eddie Jones has included lessons on Japanese history as part of England's World Cup preparations

England have set a minimum target of 425 points in their quest to reach the inaugural World Test Championship final at Lord's in 2021. Joe Root's team claimed 56 from the 2-2 draw in the Ashes.

Steve Smith assured Jack Leach in the aftermath of the final Test that he was not poking fun at him when he donned glasses to celebrate Australia's Ashes triumph.

Aberdeen will host the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2019 in December. The favourite to land the award is Ben Stokes after his remarkable heroics in the Cricket World Cup final.

RICHARD GIBSON: As the ghost writer of a soon-to-be-published memoir of Ben Stokes' summer, I have been given the privilege of re-living these momentous events through his eyes.

He had a disastrous time at the Ashes in England, scoring just a measly 95 runs. 

Ms McCarthy travelled to England to support the off spin bowler as he represented Australia in the Cricket World Cup and Ashes between May and September.

With another year's end came another installment of SPOTY, as England cricket star Ben Stokes picked up the honour. Sportsmail went behind the scenes to capture the special moments on reel.

Sky Sports breached Ofcom's broadcasting rules on swearing during their cricket coverage this summer, but have been cleared over David Gower using the f-word in his final Test.

The Riley Lynx is a pristine example of fourwheeled elegance from the early days of motoring. But only five years ago, this 1934 Riley Lynx sports car was a burnt-out shell in Yorkshire.

EXCLUSIVE BY MATT BARLOW: The chairman of Truro City is not easily fazed. He has won the Ashes Down Under and faced the West Indies pacemen at Perth.

It's Hot or Not time again as Sportsmail's Daniel Matthews reveals what's been making him feel warm and what's been leaving him cold this week.  

England's white-ball opening batsman says he has been going 'stir crazy' during the coronavirus lockdown, hitting a tennis ball against a wall as he attempts to stay in some kind of touch.

The 37-year-old addressed the situation as he took to Twitter on Sunday to address his 3million followers.

Sian Lloyd was complaining about her journey from Swansea to Neath and said it was the 'worst ever' after it had taken her longer than usual to reach her destination.

Twitter users had a field day after Donald Trump posted tweeted an image of himself as Rocky Balboa on Wednesday. It came following recent comments he made about a health exam.

Jacqueline Jossa is reportedly set to confront Chloe Ayling about her alleged threesome with her husband Dan Osborne and fellow CBB star Natalie Nunn - claims which he strongly denied.

The DJ, 61, tweeted her frustrations at the campaign, which gives teenagers free tampons, saying her mother used to use 'old rags' and still went on to go to university and become a headteacher.

Washington Post Newspaper Guild members defended Felicia Sonmez, saying the reporter needs protection for tweeting about rape allegations once made against Kobe Bryant.

Felicia Sonmez (left) tweeted about Kobe Bryant's sexual assault case just hours after he was killed in a helicopter accident. She has been reinstated after a two-day suspension.

Matt Gutman (left), chief national correspondent for ABC News, was reporting live from the scene of the crash when he incorrectly said Kobe Bryant's other daughters (right) were on board the doomed flight.

More than 16,000 people have signed a UK petition demanding Alastair Stewart, 67, gets his job of more than 40 years back and that his accuser Martin Shapland, 34, makes a public apology.

Thousands of people on social media backed the 57-year-old This Morning host, who has been married to his wife for nearly 27 years, after he made the announcement on Instagram today.

Vanessa Hudgens has apologised for her flippant Instagram video, in which she called the potential quarantine timeline 'a bunch of bull**t'.

The 27-year-old, who works as an orthopaedic clinical nurse specialist, revealed that she took the test after losing the ability to taste and smell, while a cough and fever are listed as the main symptoms.

Portugal may have been without superstar Cristiano Ronaldo but it was not less of a shock as they slumped to an embarrassing 1-0 defeat at home to Albania in their Euro 2016 qualifier. 

Before every UEFA match there is a meeting of 'emergency personnel' who run through what to do in the event of any major incident before or during the match.

Albania's national team have been handed a heroes' welcome for their return home following the shocking violence that forced their Euro 2016 qualifier against Serbia to be abandoned.

Journalist Nick Ames provides his first-hand account of the chaotic scenes which led to the abandonment of the Euro 2016 qualifier between Serbia and Albania.

Albania claim their players were assaulted by fans, stewards and police in Belgrade at the now-infamous Euro 2016 qualifier against Serbia which was abandoned after the violent scenes.

Albanian internationals Lorik Cana, Etrit Berisha and Thomas Strakosha share the same Lazio dressing room in harmony with Serbia's Filip Djordevic and Dusan Basta.

Serbia have been awarded a 3-0 victory over Albania following their abandoned qualifier but they have also been deducted three points and ordered to play two games behind closed doors.

Antoine Griezmann came off the bench to salvage a draw for Euro 2016 hosts France with a late equaliser in Friday's friendly against Albania in Rennes.

France players including Olivier Giroud and Hugo Lloris were put through their paces at a training camp in Clairefontaine ahead of their international friendly with Albania on Saturday.

Albania have been awarded a victory over Serbia by the Court of Arbitration for Sport after a Euro 2016 qualifier was abandoned when a drone with a political banner flew into the stadium.

Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portugal team-mates were all smiles on Thursday as they took to the training ground ahead of Friday's clash with France and Monday's game against Albania.

The Portugal squad flew to Albania on Saturday ahead of their Euro 2016 qualifier and Cristiano Ronaldo and Ricardo Quaresma made sure they got the best seats... in the cockpit.

A stoppage time header by defender Miguel Veloso gave Portugal a 1-0 win in Albania and allowed them to extend their lead on top of Euro 2016 qualifying Group I on Monday.

Germany, Poland, Romania and Albania successfully reached Euro 2016 as the final round of qualifying matches continued on Sunday. Constantin Budescu struck twice for Romania.

JOE BERNSTEIN: There is no more unlikely qualifier for Euro 2016 than Albania whose footballers have shown there is more to the former Iron Curtain secret state than a fixation for Norman Wisdom.

They are the stars that will light up Euro 2016, and they have been immortalised in glossy posters ahead of the start of the biggest tournament in this year's sporting calendar.

Although the permutations over the third-place teams who will progress are complicated enough to require some serious mathematics the make-up of the individual groups are rather simpler.

Kosovo police say they prevented simultaneous attacks by ISIS fanatics, including one on the Israeli national football team which played a World Cup qualifier in neighboring Albania.

The qualifying action for Euro 2020 continues on Monday night with Portugal and France among the six matches taking place across the evening. Follow all the action as it happens.

STEVE STAMMERS AT LOFTUS ROAD: Pre-season friendlies are notoriously inaccurate barometers of what lies ahead. Score-lines are not as important as performances.

EXCLUSIVE: Both Pogba and Lingard have come under scrutiny for their activity across social media sites like Instagram in the last 12 months but Berbatov believes they must express themselves.

QPR CEO Lee Hoos said in a club statement: 'We take a very strong stance against racism and will not tolerate one of our players being subjected to the despicable comments experienced.'

Matheus Pereira has apologised to QPR after celebrating a goal with a 'cut-throat' action during West Brom's 2-0 victory in September.

ADAM SHERGOLD AT LOFTUS ROAD: Sam Baldock scored 15 minutes from time to rescue a point for the Royals as QPR only had themselves to blame for defensive complacency.

Queens Park Rangers have blasted FIFA and UEFA's handling of the investigation into their Under 18s being racially abused in Spain.