MEN’S CRICKET: If the rain holds off, the Twenty20 Blast is due to start tomorrow evening.

The seven-week-long group stage begins with last year’s runners-up Essex at Gloucester, Northampton taking on Derbyshire, Yorkshire against Worcestershire and Lancashire hosting Durham.

Three-time winners Hampshire, captained by James Vince, play Surrey in Southampton.

Defending champions Somerset get their ball rolling against Essex in Taunton on Friday evening.

MEN’S BASKETBALL: Anthony Edwards top-scored with 29 points and Karl-Anthony Towns hit 25 as the Minnesota Timberwolves edged to a narrow 105-100 win at Dallas on Wednesday morning to stay in the NBA’s Eastern Conference play-off final.

No team has come back from a 3-0 deficit in the history of NBA seven match play-off series but Minnesota now trail 3-1 as they head into a home game on Friday morning.

SPEEDWAY: Cup holders Ipswich Witches will again be without injured captain Danny King, Jason Doyle and Adam Ellis but have home advantage when they take a 48-42 lead into the second leg of their Premiership Knock-Out quarter final with Leicester tomorrow evening.

Wednesday night’s winners will face a semi-final tie against Birmingham who are in Premiership action this evening when they visit defending champions Sheffield.

MEN’S FOOTBALL: England play Italy in the quarter finals of the Under-17s Euros tomorrow evening at the AEK Arena in Larnaca, Cyprus.

The Italians qualified from Group C with a 100 per cent record, conceding only one goal, while England escaped from group D on goal difference after beating Spain 3-1 in their final match.

Tottenham’s Mikey Moore is currently the tournament’s leading scorer with four goals from three games.