Andrew Benson
BBC Sport chief F1 writer

"It's turning into quite a day for Mercedes at the second pre-season test in Barcelona. First, Lewis Hamilton has to abandon his running today because of a fever, and now it has emerged that the reason team-mate Nico Rosberg is not driving in his place is because the German has an inflamed nerve in his neck, which he has to rest.

"This, of course, puts Rosberg's planned participation in Friday's running in doubt. Reserve driver Pascal Wehrlein is driving on Thursday afternoon, but he is very inexperienced and Mercedes are unlikely to be keen on him doing the whole test if their race drivers do not recover."

Image source, Getty Images

Ahead of England's next World Cup game against New Zealand which gets underway at 01:00 GMT on Friday, BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew believes England will alter their tactics to face the Kiwis.

"It's interesting that England have made some quite significant changes to their planning, at a very late stage, in terms of personnel and tactics," he said.

"Clearly they are going to change their tactics at the end of an innings and bowl yorkers. They have been out on the pitch with a scaffold pole and a couple of bricks bowling yorker after yorker. That was not the plan to start with."

The game will be live on 5 live sports extra from 00:45 GMT and on the BBC Sport website.

BBC sports news correspondent Richard Conway on Twitter, external at the launch of Luis Figo's Fifa presidential manifesto: "Redistribution of Fifa wealth high up on Figo priorities - strategy becoming clear here for him to appeal to smaller nations in Fifa. He also proposes expanding World Cup from 32 teams to 48. Importantly drawn from non-Euro nations. Tanks being parked on Blatter's lawn here."

Ipswich Town are closing in on a deal to sign Blackburn Rovers striker Luke Varney on loan.

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Radio Suffolk understands that the 32-year-old (on the left of this photo, embroiled in what is clearly some sort of leaning competition), who has not started a Championship game this season, could be signed before Saturday's home game against Reading.

Image source, Getty Images

The action continues at the Track Cycling World Championships in Paris today with the women's and men's team pursuit teams in first round action.

Both teams finished second in Wednesday's night's qualifying with the women suffering their first defeat for four years and they will next face Canada with the men taking on Germany.

But both the men's and women's team sprint teams failed to win medals.

BBC Wales Sport, external: Scarlets sign Canada international wing DTH van der Merwe from Glasgow for 2015-16 season.

Image source, Getty Images

English duo Melissa Reid and Charley Hull are three shots off the lead after the first round of the Women's Australian Open at Royal Melbourne.

The former Solheim Cup winners both carded two-under-par 71s, albeit in contrasting fashion, with Reid recording three birdies and just the one bogey, while Hull - who had been four under with four holes to go - had a much more mixed round with six birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey six.

South Korea's Ilhee Lee is setting the pace on five under after a blemish-free 68, with Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn (69) second ahead of a trio of players on three under.

Oh my goodness, these are getting worse. Stoke's Mark Prudhoe in goal against Bolton in 1996. Was it a ploy to keep attackers away from him?

Image source, PA

Image source, Don Miles/ECB

England bowler Danni Hazell says Thursday's eight-wicket win over New Zealand in Whangarei in the first of three Twenty20 matches takes the pressure off the side.

"We were disappointed with how the one-dayers went so it was nice to get out today and put in a good performance," she told BBC Sport.

"T20 is a format we enjoy and love and it was a good pitch and our bowlers got the balls in the right areas."

There is a Q&A going on at Arsenal's Twitter page, external at the moment, with defender Kieran Gibbs answering questions from punters.

Good to see the lad isn't suffering from any lack of self-confidence.

Image source, Arsenal Twitter

Image source, Arsenal Twitter

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport chief F1 writer

"Bad news for McLaren. After a promising start, their running for the day is now over after Honda discovered a faulty seal in the energy recovery system, which requires a complete engine change. Even worse, the Japanese company need to redesign the part to prevent a repeat and this new bit will not be available until Saturday. So although Fernando Alonso will have a new engine when he drives tomorrow, the same problem could well hit him."

We're asking what is your nomination for worst sporting kit of all time? Keep them coming to #myworstkit or the BBC Sport Facebook page, external.

Dale Bradley: Norwich's home kit in '93 was pretty terrible. It looked like a really cheap, poor Hawaiian shirt.

Latex Zebra: Arsenal's current 'fitted' shirts. Fine on young fit players... Me. I look like a jelly wrapped in cling film.

Robert Worsfold: Worst kit ever was the Hull City mid 90s tiger stripes abomination.

GeeC: Go Colorado Caribous! NASL 1978. Lasted one year.

Image source, BBC Sport

Can't think why Gee...

The man prevented from boarding a Paris Metro train by Chelsea football fans chanting racist slogans has called for them to be punished.

The 33-year-old, named as Souleymane S, told France's Le Parisien: "These people, these English fans... should be locked up."

Image source, The Guardian

A video shows him trying to get on a Metro carriage but being pushed off.

A group of people can be heard singing: "We're racist, we're racist and that's the way we like it."

The footage was obtained by the Guardian, external, which reported that the incident happened at Richelieu-Drouot station in the centre of the French capital on Tuesday ahead of a Champions League match.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport chief F1 writer

"Finally the Red Bull has got going after a difficult morning in the pits dealing with what the team said were 'teething problems' and on his first proper run Daniel Ricciardo put the car second fastest to Sauber's Felipe Nasr.

"Ricciardo was displaced shortly afterwards by Lotus's Pastor Maldonado, who had his own problems this morning, causing the session to be stopped twice when the car broken down on circuit.

"It bears repeating that headline times are virtually meaningless, but for Ricciardo to go that fast that quickly is a good sign. Not that you'd expect the Red Bull to be anything but a good car."

A final few words from James Buster Douglas: "One thing my father always said was 'you've got to let your hands go, you can't sit around and wait, and you seize the opportunity,' and that's what I did.

"I didn't wait and wait to get hit, and wait for this dynamic champion to do something. I just went after him and attacked him and let my hands go."

Image source, AP

On winning and shaking the boxing world... "It was a dream come true. It was like I'd achieved the ultimate goal, was becoming the heavyweight champion of the world.

"It was an awesome experience. It's something I will always live with for the rest of my life, a great accomplishment."

Catch the documentary on BBC Radio 5live tonight from 20:00 GMT.

A sneak preview of some of what James Buster Douglas talks about in tonight's BBC Radio 5live special (starting at 20:00 GMT) about his remarkable knockout of Mike Tyson back in 1990.

"My wife and I were going through some things. We were separated, and then the biggest thing was my mum passed 21 days prior to the fight," he says.

"My dad and I weren't really seeing eye-to-eye with my decisions in my career. There were a lot of things swarming around, but do you know what? I was able to see beyond that, and say 'Man, with all of these things going on in my life, this has to be my time.'

"It really made me focus and buckle down even more, because I just felt that I'd seen beyond it, that there was something bigger on the horizon for me giving me the title shot at this time."

Get set for a BBC Radio 5live boxing special tonight looking back at one of the biggest upsets in sporting history, when James 'Buster' Douglas knocked out the previously unbeaten, undisputed heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson. Douglas went into the fight a 42-1 underdog.

Image source, PA

It happened 25 years ago last week, and from 20:00 GMT on 5live Boxing with Mike Costello and Steve Bunce we will get to hear how it happened from Douglas himself.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport chief F1 writer

"Susie Wolff is having a very solid morning's running with Williams at the pre-season test in Barcelona.

"The Scot, Williams's test driver, has completed more laps than anyone so far - more than 50 already.

"Williams have concentrated on low-key test work, including a decent long run from Wolff. She's bottom of the timesheets for now, but that is meaningless given the programme the team are running."

Hull City goalkeeper Steve Harper has been recalling his experience of Europa League competition with Newcastle United following BBC Sport's study of the competition's impact on a club's Premier League position.

Figures show a club falls an average 2.3 places in the league when they compete in the Europa League.

"The good things are it does give you the chance to use your players, youngsters as well," Harper tells BBC Radio 5 live Breakfast.

"It certainly affects league form. The constant Thursday-Sunday travelling. When you have a small squad it an get exposed."

Read the full feature on the BBC website here.

Leicester Tigers chief executive Simon Cohen expects utility back Niall Morris to stay at the Premiership club beyond the end of the season, while contract talks with flanker Julian Salvi are ongoing.

Morris, 26, is out of contract in the summer and the Irishman has been linked with a return to former club Leinster.

"Everything's pretty much agreed with Niall. I'd be surprised if he was going," Cohen told BBC Radio Leicester.