at what else is coming up this evening on bbc news... we'll get more reaction to president trump's speech in the un today, that's in beyond 100 days at seven o'clock with christian fraser and katty kay. one person has died as hurricane maria batters the caribbean — we'll find out how residents are coping with the second major storm in a fortnight. and we'll talk to weather experts to find out where the hurricane is heading, and how it got so bad so quickly that's all ahead on bbc news. now on bbc news it's time for sportsday. hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm james pearce. the headlines this evening. coach mark sampson says allegations of racism against him won't hinder england's women as they begin their world cup qualifying campaign in the next half hour. we'll have the latest news from old trafford where west indies have been batting first in the one day international against england. father and son team stephen and michael mcconville have been banned from racing for three years for horse doping. it's a 7 o'clock kick off tonight for england's lionesses as they begin their world cup qualifying campaign. but first we start with cricket. england are taking on the west indies in the first of their five one day internationals. despite some bright sunshine in manchester the start was delayed by a wet outfield at old trafford. the match has been reduced to 42 overs and the west indies who won the toss batted first. joe lynskey has the story of their innings. clear skies in manchester can be deceiving, this is cricket in september and the problem was the outfield, too sleepy to get going, less time for the run. the west indies, their star less time for the run. the west indies, theirstar man less time for the run. the west indies, their star man is always in a hurry but chris gayle almost got after three bowls. the drop looked costly for a time, chris gayle gets his runs straight for the boundary but the england breakthrough would come with one slope to many. joe root out on the field and out to make amends. it takes stunning catches to remove stunning batsmen. with shay hope and his wicket england were in control and jonny ba i rstow, a england were in control and jonny bairstow, a wicketkeeper by trade, ta kes bairstow, a wicketkeeper by trade, takes elastic catches. the tourists had lost early momentum and poor shots had england chipping through. a target well within the powers of the home side and the first one—day international could rest on staying dry. and this is the latest scorecard from old trafford. england batting now, needing 205 to win. jonny bairstow opened the batting alongside alex hales. 40 a0 after one as you can see the current score. it's a 7 o'clock kick off tonight for england's lionesses as they begin their world cup qualifying campaign. they take on russia in their first match since reaching the semi—finals of the euros in the summer, and so it's also their first since allegations of racism against their coach mark sampson were made public. he was cleared of any wrongdoing by an initial investigation but that could be re—opened amid further accusations. our sports correspondent katie gornall is at the game at tranmere‘s prenton park. katie, how big a distraction has this been for england's lionesses? it certainly has dominated the build—up to the match. and something mark sands and even mentioned in his programme notes. he said that since the heroes they have been through an incredibly tough time but everyone connected with the allegations would have suffered. he's been under intense scrutiny since the allegations first emerged from eni aluko at the start of august. claims of bullying and discrimination, claims which he denied and he has been cleared in separate enquiry. but the fa confirmed last week there had been further complaints made by a chelsea player so it leaves open the possibility that the enquiry could be reopened. mike samson who spoke ahead of the game said it has taken an emotional toll on him and when he spoke about this he was queens of the focus now to shift onto the football. it has been a tough group, russia are the second seeds and a difficult challenge for us on seeds and a difficult challenge for us on paper. they will come here knowing any positive result puts them ina knowing any positive result puts them in a great place in the group so we them in a great place in the group so we must guard against that. we've looked at russia in depth, we must be our best to get the result we want. i think that we can see russia just warming up there in the background on the pitch. 0n just warming up there in the background on the pitch. on paper this will be a tough opponent for england in this group. they're seeded second in the group, ranked 25th in the world. and mark sands and named a very attacking line—up of the game, three players from the north—west as well who will start. toniduggan north—west as well who will start. toni duggan and jodie taylor. the tickly special game forjodie taylor who spent the best part of eight yea rs who spent the best part of eight years as who spent the best part of eight yea rs as a who spent the best part of eight years as a tranmere rovers player from the youth setup until the first team. she never got the chance to play at this ground and if she were able to score tonight in front of the home crowd it would be a huge moment for her. she will be looking to pick up where she left off certainly at the euros. she finished the tournament as the golden boot winner. kick-off arrived 20 minutes away now. thank you very much. enjoy the match. northern ireland's women are also in action. we will get a report on that later in the programme. the third round of the english football league cup gets underway tonight. clubs in european competition had a bye to this stage. eleven games tonight. bournemouth host brighton on the south coast, that's a reverse of the weekend's premier league fixture. leicester against liverpool is one of the standout ties, withjurgen klopp already under some pressure after a few indifferent results. ido i do not feel pressure, ifeel opportunity. i feel the chance to do something really good. i see the opportunity to win. a very interesting cup competition, that is all. probably i have pressure, yes, but it cannot be bigger than the pressure i put myself so i used to that. conor mcnamara is at that game doing commentary for radio five live. liverpool are expected to give a first start for the club to alex 0xlade—chamberlain tonight, the tra nsfer 0xlade—chamberlain tonight, the transfer deadline day signing from arsenal. he's come out as a sub in the last three games butjurgen klopp is expected to put in from the beginning tonight. both managers should use some fringe players this evening, danny ward will be in goal for liverpool, the welsh international who played one game at european championships last summer. he was on loan at huddersfield last season but will come in this evening. for leicester players like to marry grace who regularly stars ina cameo to marry grace who regularly stars in a cameo role off the bench should be in from the start tonight as well as ben chilwell who has been linked with moves to liverpool in the past. the last time these teams met in the league cup, liverpool ended up getting to the final year. let's see what happens tonight that the king power stadium. tottenham play barnsley at wembley. tanya arnold is there for us. ba rnsley fa ns barnsley fans may not have anticipated a trip to wembley this season but they're here to take on totte n ha m season but they're here to take on tottenham and they have fond recent memories of playing here. they came twice last year in the football league trophy and league i play—off final. for tottenham are still bedding into a new home, they've yet to win here in the premier league but they look impressive in the champions league just last week. we're not expecting the likes of harry kane and dele alli to start tonight. but the tottenham manager was giving little away in his pre—match press conference. was giving little away in his pre-match press conference. we want to win, first i want to win, it is a good chance for some players to have the possibility to play. because we believe in everyone. then we decide because premier league, champions league, you decide to select some player. it is a big chance tomorrow. maybe i will surprise people with the team selection. we will adapt according to how they set up, they could play variations. so if you're bothered about the opposition in front of you and can be thrown by something different, we know how we play our system against different systems. just the big difference is the premier league. there are two quarter—final ties in the scottish league cup this evening. hibs are at home to livingstone and partick thistle host rangers. you can follow all that on the bbc sport website. northern ireland's women are also in action. they were beaten a—i by norway on friday, so will be hoping for a big improvement when they host their neighbours the republic of ireland. stephen watson is at mourneview park in lurgan. northern ireland world cup bid got off toa northern ireland world cup bid got off to a bumpy start when they lost away to norway by four goals to one. but the norwegians are expected to challenge for the automatic qualification place along with the european champions the netherlands. northern ireland have never managed to qualify for the world cup final, they are the lowest ranked team in this group of five. but they've set out realistic ambitions of a third—place finish was up to do that they need to be the republic of ireland here tonight who are ranked much higher. we need to go out and get points, if we want to be fair we need to get the points in the games that we expect to get points in. the girls have been working hard and we know what we need to do. we just need to go in with a positive mindset and get those three points. the women's game has received a considerable boost in northern ireland recently with the hosting of the uefa under 19 european championships. and the women are keen to emulate the success of michael 0'neill keen to emulate the success of michael o'neill and his senior men's tea m michael o'neill and his senior men's team who have had a remarkable world cup qualifying campaign so far. the match kicks off at 7:30pm tonight and you can see all the action on the bbc sports website and on the red button. northern ireland's game is live on the bbc red button. and england's game against russia is live on bbc two. both are also on the bbc sport website. still to come on sportsday. from defender to contender — former england captain rio ferdinand takes up boxing. horse racing, and trainer stephen mcconville and his son michael have been disqualified for three years following the withdrawal of one of their horses at the cheltenham festival in march. the horse, anseanachai cliste, was found to have a prohibited substance. joe wilson was at today's hearing and explains more. father and son stephen and michael mcco nville father and son stephen and michael mcconville attended the hearing in london today but neither spoke. the father stephen is the trainer of anseanachai cliste whilst the son michael is both the owner and the scheduled jockey for the day in question. 0n race day at cheltenham stewa rts discovered in question. 0n race day at cheltenham stewarts discovered in possession of michael mcconville a couple of bottles, syringes and needles with blood. and the force had been injected with substances, one of them contained cobalt. that is a naturally occurring substance in horses but administered in high dosesit horses but administered in high doses it boosts red blood cells, it is performance enhancing and it has been a big issue in horse racing globally in recent years. a number of positive tests involving leading trainers in australia. in terms of british horse racing, the hsa peeled there is no endemic problem but they've doubled the number of out of competition test this —— test on horses under theirjurisdiction. competition test this —— test on horses under their jurisdiction. the pairsaid horses under their jurisdiction. the pair said tonight they were just trying to calm down a horse and treated to replace lost nutrients in a long journey that it had taken them to get to cheltenham. the world horse welfare charity said they believed that the horse had suffered abhorrent abuse. bbc sport understands british bobsleigh is set to withdraw funding from its women's team — just five months before the winter olympics. britain's top driver mica mcneill says she's "gutted and shocked" to be told by bosses there was no money left to fund her team because of "an overspend". the british bobsleigh and skeleton association will continue to support three men's teams but it is now uncertain whether team gb will be represented in the women's bobsleigh competition in pyeochang. british para athlete bethany woodward says she'll be handing back one of her relay medals because a member of the team was giving them an ‘unfair advantage'. the classification system in para—sport has been criticised for sometimes allowing less impaired athletes to compete against those with a much greater disability. woodward says "handing back this medal will mean all the medals i won are to do with me, my cerebral palsy and my strength". britain's hannah barnes has finished ninth in the women's individual time trial at the world championships in norway. barnes — who missed out on selection for the rio olympic games last year — finished just one minute twenty—three seconds off the lead. olympic gold medallist elinor barker finished behind her in nineteenth after suffering a mechanical problem. dutch rider annemiek van vleuten took the world title ahead of her compatriot anna van der breggen. a bit annoyed, i had a mechanical problem and was stuck in quite a high gear which is not ideal. it messed with my head a little bit after that. it made the hill even more difficult than it should have been. but what can you do. chris froome will race in the time trial at the world championships tomorrow but admits he hasn't been able to train specifically for the event. he's had a busy summer... becoming just the third rider to win the tour de france—vuelta double in the same year, and the first to do so since the spanish race was switched to follow the french one in 1995. froome spoke to the bbc‘s jill douglas in norway. physically i think i have bounced back pretty well considering what the body has been through for the past few months. i think mentally i'm a bit tired, i have not seen my family and friends for quite a while. it was horrendous, brutal this year. i have to admit all the grand tours i've done, the tour de france, the giro d'italia, the vuelta, this was by far the hardest. so extremely grateful to have been able to back it up from the tour de france. how can you get yourself up and go again? i mean, it is the world championships now, not necessarily something, or sleep with the last few months with the tour de france and the vuelta, it is not something i necessarily have been able to train specifically for. i'm here with whatever form i've got on the back of the tour de france and the back of the tour de france and the vuelta. still feel good, still fresh. i feel the vuelta. still feel good, still fresh. ifeel up the vuelta. still feel good, still fresh. i feel up for it so i'm the vuelta. still feel good, still fresh. ifeel up for it so i'm going to get on the saddle and just give it everything i've got. i know i'm up it everything i've got. i know i'm up against time trial specialist who focused specifically on being ready for this and did not waste the vuelta so that makes a challenging the same time i would rather be here and give it my best and be at home and give it my best and be at home and wonder where i would've finished. and we will find out by watching live coverage on bbc two tomorrow from 2:30pm. also on bbc website. the former manchester united and england defender rio ferdinand says he is targetting a title after making the decision to become a professional boxer. his move into the ring is being promoted by the bookmaker betfair, so there are some questions about his exact motivation and he is yet to apply for a boxing license. he'll be trained by the former world champion richie woodhall and is likely to fight at cruiserweight. he's 38 and retired from football in 2015, he also lost his wife to cancer in the same year. it is something for me to focus on, the last couple of years been through quite a few things in my life and this is a way of being able to channel but aggression i get sometimes and shift the emotions into something i can really focus on. it isjust into something i can really focus on. it is just something into something i can really focus on. it isjust something i'm kind of into, i have the utmost respect for the boxing fraternity. i'm not sitting saying i will be world champion, there are many hurdles to get over. i will meet them head—on. there's been plenty of reaction to that announcement on media. super middleweight champion james degale said ‘welcome to the hardest sport in the world, good luck bro'. whereas curtis woodhouse, a former birmingham city midfielder who became a professional boxer posted this photo with the caption ‘no pressure champ'. and former manchester united teammate gary neville couldn't resist a joke saying ‘hey @rioferdy5 when you're boxing does vidic come in and take the punches, whilst you cover round the back with me? well it's my turn to go and hide around the back for a bit now. england are 69—1 after roughly ten overs in the cricket. that's all from this edition of sportsday, but i'll be back with updates throughout the evening here on bbc news. you're watching bbc news. let's get more now on hurricane maria which is sweeping through the caribbean — just a fortnight after hurricane irma devastated some of the islands. 0vernight the latest category 5 storm hit the island of dominica with winds of 160 miles per hour. it's now heading towards guadelope — where there's a communications blackout — and also the british virgin islands. some of the islands in the path of hurricane maria have barely started cleaning—up after the devastation wreaked by hurricane irma. 0ur correspondentjeremy cooke is in the british virgin islands — which could be hit hard again within the next 12 hours. these islands are bracing for a second parcel hurricane injust these islands are bracing for a second parcel hurricane in just two weeks. that was when hurricane emma came through