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Ballon d’Or awards: England’s Sarina Wiegman and goalkeeper Hannah Hampton win awards

In her acceptance speech, Hampton paid tribute to Matt Beard, the former Chelsea, Liverpool, West Ham and Bristol City manager, who died on Saturday aged 47.

“The women’s game sadly on Saturday lost a real trailblazer, Matt Beard,” said Hampton. “Matt was someone who cared an awful lot for the women’s game when no-one else did. He lit up the room whenever he was in it.

“And this is just a message to show that not everyone should have to go through these dark moments alone. Sometimes the brightest smiles in the room hide the heaviest pain. He’ll be greatly missed.”

Born with a serious eye condition, Hampton was told by doctors she should not play football. She had multiple operations to try to correct her vision but it is not perfect and she still has depth perception issues.

“Firstly I would like to say a massive thank you to France Football for this award,” said Hampton, who thanked all the coaches and her family members. “I don’t think it’s an achievement for me but for women’s goalkeeping, that the award is finally now taking part.

“I stand on the shoulders of so many great goalkeepers of the past. Sitting alongside my fellow nominees, I’m proud to be a part of such an incredible group and inspiring future generations of goalkeepers coming through and training so hard.

“I’d like to thank my family, my brother – who is here tonight – for the sacrifices that you made when I was growing up, driving me around everywhere so that I could fulfil my dream and be here tonight.

“To all the coaches, there’s so many. To Sarina for having the faith in me over the summer, with the success we’ve had. To the fans – your support does not go unnoticed and it truly means a lot.

“Finally, to Grandpa. I love and miss you every day. I hope I made you proud. We did it.”

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Joe Root surpasses Sir Alistair Cook as England’s greatest-ever Test run scorer

Joe Root becomes England’s all-time highest run scorer in Test cricket with his knock in the first innings of the first Test match against Pakistan.

Joe Root has surpassed Sir Alistair Cook to become England‘s highest-ever run scorer in Test cricket.

The 33-year-old has been gradually making his way up the all-time list in recent months, moving into sixth place during the summer.

That put the Yorkshire batsman on the brink of finally overtaking Cook, who was fifth on that aforementioned list with his 12,472 runs from 161 matches.

On a flat batting pitch in Multan, the first Test match with Pakistan this week represented an opportunity for Root to etch his name in England history with a feat that will realistically stand the test of time.

When on 67 on the third day’s play, Root sent a straight drive past bowler Aamer Jamal to break the record in front of what is a relatively-sparse crowd.

Why Root is the greatest

While the moment would have been more fitting had it taken place in front of a packed England support earlier this year, Root will be delighted to officially become England’s greatest batsman in history.

He brought up this feat in 14 fewer Test matches and 23 fewer innings than Cook, his average in the region of 51 while Cook ended on 45.35.

Root may have recorded more ducks than Cook – 12 to nine – but he has more fifties, centuries and sixes in comparison to the fellow former captain.

However, Root has some way to go to move any higher on the all-time list with India’s Rahul Dravid just under 800 runs ahead of him in fourth position.

What is the current state of play against Pakistan?

Midway through day three, England were sitting on 286-3, still trailing Pakistan’s first-innings total of 556 by 270 runs.

Root remained unbeaten on 86 from 148 deliveries, with Harry Brook hitting a run-a-ball 32 since replacing Ben Duckett after his teammate’s 84 from 75 balls.

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