Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - Head coach Chris Silverwood has followed director of cricket Ashley Giles in leaving the England men's team following the heavy Ashes defeat.

The 4-0 loss in Australia came as part of a wider run that has seen England win only one of their past 14 Tests.

Silverwood, 46, was appointed in 2019 by Giles, who stood down yesterday.

Sir Andrew Strauss has temporarily taken over from Giles and will appoint an interim coach for the tour of West Indies in March.

A squad for the three-Test series is due to be named next week.

Silverwood, a former fast bowler who played six Tests for England, said: "It's been an absolute honour to be England head coach and I'm extremely proud to have worked alongside our players and staff."

His elevation to the top coaching job in English cricket came after he led Essex to promotion from Division Two of the County Championship, then the Division One title in successive years

When he was chosen as England coach, it came after Giles had expressed his desire for a homegrown candidate, with the national side having largely relied on overseas appointments since 1999.

-BBC

Irish rugby great dies

Tom Kiernan, the man who inspired Munster to their historic victory over the All Blacks in 1978 has died. He was 83.

The former Ireland full back played 54 times for his country between 1960 and 1973, with 24 of those caps coming as captain, and retired as the country's most-capped player at the time.

He kicked the winning score in Ireland's first-ever win over South Africa in 1965, and captained the first Irish team to a test win in Australia in 1967.

Kiernan also made five appearances for the British and Irish Lions, leading them on a tour of South Africa in 1968.

Following his retirement, Kiernan coached the Ireland national team and club side Munster, as well as serving as the president of the IRFU and director of the 1999 Rugby World Cup.

He was coach of Munster when they beat the All Blacks 12-0 at Thomond Park in 1978... the All Blacks only loss on that tour.

-Reuters

Gilmour to race Rally NZ

Emma Gilmour is the first driver to commit to WRC Rally New Zealand in Auckland, part of the FIA World Rally Championship this year.

The WRC will return for the 32nd time to New Zealand with the 11th round of the 2022 world championships to be staged in and around Auckland from September 29 to October 2.

Gilmour is one of New Zealand's best rally drivers having finished runner-up in the New Zealand Rally Championships three times, and was the first female to win a round of the championship along with being a runner-up in a round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship.

"It is very fitting for Emma to sign on as our first entry, not just because of her successful background in the sport but also as she begins an exciting global role as driver for the famous McLaren Racing in the global Extreme E Series," said WRC Rally New Zealand Auckland chairman, Peter Johnston.

Gilmour is equally pleased with the return of the WRC to Auckland.

"It's very exciting to have the pinnacle of world rallying returning to New Zealand. It's a cliche line but our roads are the best in the world to rally on. They're smooth - so they don't break the car, the roads have camber which allows the car a lot more grip and gives the best sensation when dancing the car at high speed from corner to corner and jumping over the camber," said Gilmour.

"We have great support for the event with a huge motorsport passion in New Zealand so there will be lots of fans out on the stages."

IOC to meet Peng Shuai face-to-face

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach will meet Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai inside the "closed loop" of the Beijing Olympics.

The well-being of Peng, a former world number one doubles player who has taken part in three Olympic Games, became a matter of concern in November when she alleged on social media that the former Chinese vice premier, Zhang Gaoli, had sexually assaulted her.

The closed loop is a zone all Games participants are restricted to in order to avoid spreading the coronavirus infection in Beijing. The Games officially open on Friday.

"She will enter the closed loop in order to have this meeting because she wanted this," Bach told a news conference. "Once all procedures have finished then we will have our meeting."

He did not give a date for the meeting. People from within China entering the closed loop need to provide two negative coronavirus tests.

Peng said last month she had never accused anyone of sexually assaulting her and that the post she made had been misunderstood. Zhang has not commented on the matter.

The IOC has held several video calls with Peng but wanted a face-to-face meeting during the Games.

Bach said if Peng wanted her allegations to be investigated the IOC would support her.

- Reuters

Parker targets Briton for next boxing bout

The New Zealand boxer Joseph Parker is keen to fight Briton's Joe Joyce in his next bout.

The former WBO heavyweight champion has targeted the top-ranked WBO heavyweight according to his manager David Higgins.

Parker is coming off an impressive win over Derek Chisora late last year.

"He fought Chisora and dominated him so his brand equity in the world and United Kingdom is at an all-time high," Higgins told Sky Sports.

"The question is 'who next?' Joseph has signalled that he'd like to fight as soon as humanly possible. A possible opponent is Joe Joyce.

"Joe Joyce is obviously ranked number 1 with the WBO and Parker is ranked number 2. We would not take him for granted, almost a 50/50 type fight which the fans would obviously love.

"The Joyce team have reached out to us and said they're going to make a written offer. Both sides have talked about May timing, so we'll see what that offer looks like."

Parker has a record of 30-2 with 21 KOs, while Joyce is 13-0 with 12 KOs.

Nadal and Federer team up for Europe

Tennis fans could see Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer team up one more time after Laver Cup organisers announced that the duo will be part of Team Europe's title defence against Team World this year.

Nadal created history by defeating Russian Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open final to claim a men's record 21st major title and move one ahead of Federer and Novak Djokovic, who were both missing in Mebourne.

The Spaniard, who has twice played at the Laver Cup, paired up with Federer for their first and only doubles match together at the inaugural edition of the event in Prague in 2017.

"I suggested to Roger we should play doubles together in London and he seems keen, so now we just need to persuade our captain Bjorn (Borg)," said Nadal.

Federer has not played since being knocked out in last year's Wimbledon quarter-finals following a third knee surgery, but the Swiss great aims to return by April or May.

- Reuters