Gareth Bale seems to have enjoyed his first training session with Zidane. 

Well, he would say that, wouldn't he? 

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England captain Alastair Cook on Hashim Amla's resignation: "You're under pressure as a captain for a lot of the time.

"He'll have his reasons and I wish him all the best - he's a really nice guy.

"I did ask if he planned to have a couple of Tests off, but unfortunately he's still planning on batting against us.

"It's always sad when someone steps down, because to captain your country is a huge honour and a real privilege."

This year's Hillsborough Memorial Service at Anfield will be the last one, after the Hillsborough Family Support Group unanimously agreed to stop the annual service at the ground. 

Chair of the HFSG, Margaret Aspinall, said: “The 96 will never be forgotten. It is likely that the inquests will be concluded before the anniversary so this final memorial service will provide the families with some closure.

“We would also like to extend our thanks to Liverpool Football Club for their continued support over the past 27 years and for hosting the service each year at Anfield.

“We hope that the public and fans respect the decision of the HFSG and will continue to remember the 96 in their own perhaps more private way.”

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Leyton Orient president Francesco Becchetti has admitted part of a Football Association misconduct charge. 

Television pictures appeared to show him aiming a kick at O's assistant boss Andy Hessenthaler after Orient's 3-2 win against Portsmouth on Boxing Day. 

A club statement said Becchetti accepted his actions on the touchline were 'improper conduct.' 

However, it added Becchetti "strongly denied" it was violent conduct and had requested a personal FA hearing.

At the time of the incident, Orient described the exchange between Becchetti and Hessenthaler as being "in very good humour".

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Earlier we asked you the nine other England players (other than Stokes) to have scored a Test double century since 2000.... 

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Great entertainment in Perth but it's the Aussies and not the British fans who are cheering loudest at the end of it.

They were 5-2 and then 8-5 ahead in the first to 10 tie-break but Andy Murray and Heather Watson fought back to make it 9-9.

You have to win by two clear points, so on they went ... but not for much longer.

Nick Kyrgios and Daria Gavrilova won 11-9 to the delight of the crowd and Murray and Watson trudged off looking thoroughly cheesed off with life.

It was a late finish, just gone midnight in Western Australia.

Andy Murray - presumably tweeting before he stepped on curt to play the doubles with Heather Watson at the Hopman Cup - has given his support to fellow Brit Naomi Broady.

For those who missed it, Broady was involved in a stormy racquet-throwing encounter this morning which you can read all about here.

And for fans of Murray, he and Watson are having a much better time of it in the second set of their Hopman Cup encounter with Nick Kyrgios and Daria Gavrilova.

They are a break up at 4-2 in the second set, afetr losing the opener 2-6.

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They lost the first set, but Andy Murray and Heather Watson gave hit back.

They edged a mighty tense second set it on a tie-break.

There is not third set, which means it's winner-takes-all special tiebreak - first to 10 points - to decide things ... kind of like a penalty shoot-out but without the goalkeeper and with a much smaller ball. Sort of.

The game is being played in good spirits, lots of laughing and smiling from Nick Kyrgios, unlike hie feisty singles encounter with Murray earlier.

AB de Villiers, who had previously said that he was looking to 'manage his workload', will replace Amla for the rest of the series. 

“I’ve said this before that it is an incredible honour to captain South Africa in any format. The captaincy has obviously come at short notice and is the realisation of a lifelong dream,” said De Villiers.

“At the moment my priority and focus is placed on leading this team to what can be a memorable series win against England. This Test squad is motivated and determined to turn our performances around and I’m looking forward to taking up that challenge as captain.”

Follow this in more detail with our colleagues on the live cricket page. 

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Hashim Amla: "After careful consideration, I will be stepping down as captain with immediate effect"

Follow this in more detail with our colleagues on the live cricket page. 

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Andy Farrell, recently sacked as England defence coach after four years, is to join Ireland after the Six Nations. 

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt said: "It's great to have Andy coming into our coaching team. The quality of his delivery and breadth of his experience as well as the positive impact he had when coaching a number of our senior players during the 2013 Lions tour will add real value for us.” 

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Blimey. Big news from Test Match Special's South African commentator. 

More to come on this - follow with our cricket team here. 

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Cardiff-based Idris Evans has been appointed Wales Rugby League's new national development manager.

Evans, 35, who spent 10 years with Cardiff Demons as a player, coach and chairman, will be responsible for growth in the domestic game. 

Wycombe Wanderers have made utility man Michael Harriman's loan spell from QPR permanent. 

The 23-year-old, who is equally capable in defence or midfield, has scored six goals in 25 games since initially joining Wycombe on loan in July and has now signed a three-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee. 

Harriman's first game since signing the deal will be against Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round on Saturday. 

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This is not going to plan.

Andy Murray and Heather Watson, aiming to beat Australia and keep alive Britain's chances in the Hopman Cup, have lost the first set of their doubles encounter against Kyrgios and Gavrilova.

They lost it heavily too, 6-2. It's going with serve early in the second set, the GB pair 2-1 ahead.

We'll keep you posted.

An interesting point made by one of our Sportsday readers...

Heather Watson, Naomi Broady and Aljaz Bedene have all played and won .. yet Murray was put to the sword.

A are occurrence to say the least.

Why, it's almost enough to make a grown man want to pull his shirt off in anger...

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The rain has put paid to any more action in the cricket, and it's been declared a draw in Cape Town. 

Full reaction here on the live text. 

Stokes to be man of the match, surely? 

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