The Sport Matrix: Friday 1 May 2015

Farah steps down to 1500m distance

Mo Farah will race over 1500m at the Birmingham Grand Prix on 7 June. The double Olympic champion over 5,000m and 10,000m steps down in distance as he hones his finishing speed for the World Championships in Beijing in August.

It is the first time the 32-year-old has run in the 1500m since he set a European record of 3min 28.81sec in Monaco two years ago.

Godleman ban for ‘dangerous’ throw

The Derbyshire batsman Billy Godleman has been suspended for two games for “throwing the ball at or near a player, umpire or official in an inappropriate and dangerous manner” during their County Championship Second Division victory against Gloucestershire this week. Godleman will miss Championship matches against Glamorgan and Northamptonshire.

Albasini wins as Froome stays third

Michael Albasini of Switzerland won for the second day in a row as Chris Froome held on to third place overall in the Tour of Romandie. Albasini, who also sprinted to victory on Wednesday, eased past Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe at the end of a 172.5km ride from Moutier to Porrentruy. Today’s fourth stage on is a 170km ride, from La Neuveville to Fribourg.

Murray gets clay season off mark

Victory was nothing less than Andy Murray should have expected against an opponent ranked 650 places lower, but his opening win of the clay-court season yesterday should give him encouragement for the challenges ahead. Murray needed only 74 minutes to beat Germany’s Mischa Zverev 6-2, 6-2 at the BMW Open in Munich to set up a quarter-final with the Czech Republic’s Lukas Rosol, the world No 41 today. “It wasn’t too easy,” Murray told the BBC.

Brough miss hands draw to Leeds

Danny Brough missed a last-minute drop goal which would have capped Huddersfield’s thrilling fightback in a 24-24 draw with Super League leaders Leeds. Rhinos had raced to a 22-8 lead by half-time, but four tries for the home side – plus four goals from Brough – turned the match.