Australia will play New Zealand in the second half of March - their latest series of home internationals outside a World Cup in more than 40 years - as a result of the dispute with the BCCI that has forced an ODI tour of India in the middle of January.

That aside, ESPNcricinfo can also reveal that a day/night Perth Test in mid-December may be the start of a tradition for Western Australia's Test match, as Perth Stadium and Cricket Australia look for more consistent programming to attract bigger crowds to the long form of the game outside of the popular Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney matches.

Not since a two-Test series against Pakistan in late March 1979 - the last matches to be played in Australia during the two-year World Series Cricket split wrought by Kerry Packer - have Australia hosted bilateral matches so late. It underlines the extent that the Board and its host broadcaster Fox Sports have been stretched by the BCCI's insistence that it host the Australians for an ODI series in mid-January.

That stipulation causes a knock-on effect whereby India then travel to New Zealand for a series, while the Australians are occupied by visits to Bangladesh and South Africa before returning home in mid-March for the three ODIs against the Black Caps. At the same time, Australia will host the women's Twenty20 World Cup in February and early March.

ALSO READ: BCCI-CA conflict leaves female stars in limbo

CA and the BCCI remain fundamentally at odds over whether dates were ever agreed for the series, with arguments dating back to ICC-facilitated workshops to iron out the FTP for the 2019 to 2023 cycle. Two major meetings in late 2017 and then February this year failed to bring a uniformity of views, but seemingly the BCCI has ultimately held sway. CA's chief executive Kevin Roberts and chairman Earl Eddings are expected to visit India for talks with their opposite numbers around the IPL final on May 11.

Given the dominance of the AFL on most major grounds in Australia after February, plenty of last-minute negotiations loom to ensure suitable venues for the series. While the 2015 World Cup was played deep into the last week of March, this was done with plenty of advance warning and planning before Australia thrashed New Zealand in the tournament final at the MCG. Similar arrangements were made for 1992 World Cup, won by Pakistan.

There will be two day/night Tests during the summer, with Pakistan ultimately acceding to CA's request for a floodlit match at Adelaide Oval to conclude their two-match series, which will begin with the return of the Gabba as the first Test of summer after missing out in 2018-19.

More intriguing will be the scheduling of the first Test of the New Zealand series as a day/night affair at Perth Stadium, given the vast time difference with Australia's major eastern states markets. Perth Stadium's management, helmed by the former CA commercial and marketing chief Mike McKenna, are eager for a more reliable time slot in the calendar, the better to attract fans to the ground not only from WA but the rest of the country.

Through Boxing Day and New Year, the Melbourne and Sydney Tests attract a major recurring following irrespective of the touring opponent each summer. Adelaide has also managed to have a similar pull for spectators given the attractiveness of the venue and its sheer convenience just a short walk from the heart of hospitality districts in the South Australian capital.

The domestic season will feature a significant change as the domestic limited-overs tournament is played in brackets interspersed with the first half of the Sheffield Shield competition to build adaptability and relevant performances in the 50-over format after six years of its use as a pre-season carnival of sorts.

Australia's first international assignment of the season will be a Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka starting in early November. CA will reveal the schedule for the Chappell-Hadlee Series on Tuesday.

LAS VEGAS -- Canelo Alvarez, boxing's biggest star, scored one of his biggest wins on Saturday night.

In a performance in which he mixed offensive firepower, boxing skills and sound defense, Alvarez won a unanimous decision over Daniel Jacobs to unify three middleweight world titles -- leaving him one shy of the undisputed 160-pound championship -- before a wildly pro-Alvarez crowd of 20,203 on Cinco de Mayo weekend at T-Mobile Arena.

Alvarez won by scores of 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113 in the year's biggest fight so far. ESPN also had Alvarez winning 116-112 in the second fight of his five-year, 11-fight, $365 million deal he signed last fall with the sports streaming service DAZN.

"It was just what we thought. We knew he was going to be a difficult fighter, but thank god we did things the right way, what we were going to do," Alvarez said through an interpreter. "It was just what we thought because of the style of fight that he brings, but we just did our job."

Jacobs, who came into the ring with a clear size advantage that was enhanced by the fact he missed weight for a contractual Saturday morning weight check, did not complain about the decision.

"I feel accomplished, l feel great. I have to go back to look at the tapes to see exactly what the judges thought," Jacobs said. "They said to me [in the corner] that I was up, so I was still pushing forward because I wanted to finish strong. He's a tremendous champion, and I tip my hat to him. I gave my all out there. You'll see Daniel Jacobs bigger and better next time."

The boxers made weight at Friday's official weigh-in, Alvarez at 159.5 and Jacobs at 160, but they had a contractual clause that called for neither man to be over 170 pounds at the morning weight check or they would face financial penalties of $250,000 per pound over. While Alvarez checked in at 169 pounds, Jacobs was 173.6 pounds, meaning a $1 million fine of his more than $10 million guarantee.

"I didn't feel any different. I'm just a naturally big middleweight," Jacobs said. "I made the sacrifice of coming in 173 and paying a hefty fine for it, but end of the day, I made sacrifices. I got the short end of the stick, but to my fans, to all my [cancer] survivors out there who appreciate me and my story, for what I represent, I thank you. The journey is not over. I continue to strive for success and be the best I can be."

Jacobs nearly died from a rare form of bone cancer in 2011 and was told he would never fight again; he not only returned, but he became one of the world's best middleweights.

Jacobs' size advantage was not an issue for Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 KOs), 28, of Mexico, who was making the first defense of the two belts he won from Gennady Golovkin by majority decision in September.

After Alvarez beat Golovkin, he went to super middleweight to face an overmatched Rocky Fielding in December and knocked Fielding out in the third round to win a secondary world title. But Alvarez always intended to return to middleweight, which he did to face Jacobs in the much-anticipated fight.

Alvarez, who earned $35 million with the win Saturday, dominated in the CompuBox punch statistics, landing 188 of 466 shots (40 percent); Jacobs landed 131 of 649 (20 percent).

The bout began slowly, with Alvarez coming forward and trying to make the fight, while Jacobs (35-3, 29 KOs), 32, of Brooklyn, New York, was content to go backward and fire only the occasional punch.

The crowd began to chant, "Mexico! Mexico!" in the second round, in which Alvarez continued to go after Jacobs and land body punches. Alvarez also connected with flush jabs, while most of Jacobs' came up short of the target.

"It definitely took me a couple rounds to get my wits about me, to figure out his rhythm, because he's a pop-shotter," Jacobs said. "He was a fast guy, very slippery. It was a great contest. I look forward to the future. I feel like I gave enough to get the victory, so I'll have to go back to the tapes to see exactly what happened."

Alvarez landed a left hand that rocked Jacobs' head back in the early moments of the fourth round in a fight he was controlling with his activity level and crisp punches, along with very sound defense. Jacobs, who claimed a vacant belt by split decision over Sergiy Derevyanchenko in October and was making his first defense, didn't seem to have much of a plan. He missed with wild punches, could barely land his jab and spent stretches backing up.

Jacobs, who sometimes switched between right-handed and southpaw stances, finally got something going in the sixth round with a flurry that backed Alvarez up and continued to land more shots in the seventh, including a big left hand.

"It's normal," Alvarez said of Jacobs' changing stances. "It's obviously just a matter of adapting when they switch righty to lefty."

There was fierce back-and-forth action in the eighth round, when both landed solid punches during lengthy exchanges, but it was Alvarez who seemed to stun Jacobs multiple times, including with a right hand and a hook behind it.

There was more sustained action in the ninth round when they took turns landing powerful shots. Jacobs landed his best punches of the fight when he connected with a pair of clean left hands, although Alvarez took them well.

Jacobs' right eye was swelling by the 10th round, but he unloaded some heavy punches on Alvarez along the ropes in one of his best sequences of the fight. Alvarez appeared to bounce back in the 11th round. And they both came out for the 12th round firing.

Jacobs launched a left hook that he missed badly as he slipped to the mat on the wet canvas. Referee Tony Weeks called a timeout to clean up the moisture, and when the fight resumed, Alvarez landed a left hook to the head. With a minute left in the fight, Alvarez landed an uppercut. And they finished in a heated exchange that brought fans to their feet.

After the fight, Jacobs' 10-year-old son, Nate, joined him in the ring.

"I asked him, 'Do you think Daddy did a good job?' He said, 'Yes, Dad, you did a great job.' That's all that matters to me," Jacobs said. "I'll go home and be the best I can be."

With Jacobs vanquished, Alvarez can look forward to more major fights, including a possible third showdown with Golovkin or an undisputed title fight with Demetrius Andrade. Both fights are very makeable, because Golovkin and Andrade also are signed to DAZN. Both also watched from ringside Saturday night.

Golovkin and Andrade have other business first with fights they need to win next month. Golovkin will take on Steve Rolls at 164 pounds on June 8 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and Andrade will defend his belt against contender Maciej Sulecki on June 29 in the first fight of his career in his hometown of Providence, Rhode Island, at the Dunkin' Donuts Center.

Alvarez has said repeatedly he wants to unify the division this year, which would make Andrade the obvious choice. But a third bout with Golovkin, with whom he fought to a controversial draw in their first contest that many thought Golovkin won, would be a much bigger and richer event.

Alvarez wasn't calling out anyone after the fight, electing to enjoy his moment of triumph.

"I'm just looking for the biggest challenge. That's all I want. No, for me, it's over," he said regarding any unfinished business with Golovkin. "But if the people want another fight, we'll do it again, and I'll beat him again.

"That's why I'm here. That's what I was born for -- to fight, to defend what's mine. I'll fight anyone."

HOUSTON -- PJ Tucker sat on the Rockets' bench and seethed as he watched Kevin Durant's scoring flurry to give the Golden State Warriors the lead early in the fourth quarter Saturday night.

"I was pissed because I knew that's when KD goes on his runs, at the beginning of the fourth," said Tucker, who had been sitting since picking up his fourth foul just more than a minute into the second half. "[Houston coach Mike D'Antoni] still had me sitting down, so I was really pissed."

Durant scored on the Warriors' first four possessions of the fourth quarter -- a pull-up 3-pointer, a midrange fadeaway, a 16-footer off the dribble and another pull-up 3 -- and Tucker got more ticked with each shot. Tucker made it quite clear to the Rockets' coaching staff that he needed to check back into the game.

"Oh, I said something to all of them," Tucker said, cracking a slight grin after the Rockets' 126-121 overtime win in Game 3 to record their first victory of the Western Conference semifinals series.

D'Antoni didn't need any more convincing. He called timeout and substituted in Tucker. Suddenly, Durant appeared to be human again, scoring only seven points on 2-of-7 shooting in the final 15 minutes of the game, including overtime, with Tucker as his primary defender.

Tucker dominated the glass down the stretch, grabbing nine of his game-high 12 rebounds in the fourth quarter and overtime, a major factor in the Rockets' dominating the rebounding battle by a 55-35 margin. He also scored all seven of his points after checking back in with 10 minutes, 1 second remaining in regulation. He unleashed a primal screen after fighting for two offensive rebounds and muscling in a lead-changing, and-1 putback for his first points at the 7:19 mark of the first quarter and made two smart cuts for buckets in overtime.

"That's who Tuck is," D'Antoni said. "He's a winner, and he wouldn't let us lose."

Reigning MVP James Harden had his highest-scoring game of this postseason. He put up 41 points, including half of the Rockets' 14 in overtime, sinking a stepback 3 and floater in the final minute to seal the win.

Shooting guard Eric Gordon had a sensational night, scoring 30 points on 11-of-20 shooting and hitting half of his 14 3-point attempts.

Center Clint Capela made his biggest impact of the series after a disappointing first two games, scoring 13 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and rejecting an Andre Iguodala dunk attempt in spectacular fashion.

But it was Tucker, the lowest-paid and lowest-scoring member of Houston's starting lineup, whom Rockets teammates and coaches raved about the most after notching their first win of the highly anticipated series between West heavyweights.

"Tuck doesn't do any of the glamorous stuff," said guard Chris Paul, who had 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. "All of the stuff he does doesn't [necessarily] show up on the stat sheet. We say it all the time, but it's always nice for other people to get a chance to see it and appreciate it. He's easily one of the most valuable guys on our team just because of the way he plays. He plays hard, and he forces you to do the same."

Tucker's toughness and versatility give the Rockets the option to go small and counter the Warriors' feared "Hamptons 5" lineup, which features Draymond Green at center. Houston played much of the fourth quarter and all but 44 seconds of overtime with Tucker, who is 6-foot-6, at center surrounded by four guards and still outrebounded the Warriors by a 17-9 margin in that span.

"He just plays extremely hard every time he's on the floor since he got into the league," Durant said. "That's just expected out of him at this point."

Tucker's most important role in this series is defending Durant, which is as tough a task as any in the NBA these days. Durant had another huge night, scoring 46 points on 14-of-31 shooting, his third 40-plus-point performance of this postseason.

But Durant did his most extensive damage when foul trouble forced Tucker to the bench. Durant had 22 points on 6-of-9 shooting during the span of 12 minutes, 47 seconds Tucker sat out after getting called for his fourth foul.

"He's going to score," Tucker said. "You can double him, you can do whatever you want and be the best defender -- he's going to score. The thing is making it tough and making him have to work for it."

That's exactly what Tucker did when he checked back into the game in the fourth quarter, swatting the ball away the next time Durant drove to the basket and making the perennial All-NBA selection fight for every step, with or without the ball in his hands.

"For him to come in and guard KD like that when he was scorching hot was incredible," Rockets reserve guard Austin Rivers. "We don't have an answer for [Durant], but PJ is the one guy who can guard him or at least slow him down. PJ won that game for us in a lot of ways."

HOUSTON -- Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry couldn't help but crack a smile in the aftermath of a 126-121 Game 3 overtime loss to the Houston Rockets that he would like to forget. The former MVP was frustrated with the way he played -- shooting just 7-of-23 from the field Saturday night -- but even he struggled to wrap his head around how so many things didn't go his way on both ends of the floor.

"It just wasn't my night," Curry said.

The most embarrassing moment from arguably his worst game of the season came with the Warriors trailing by five points and only 19.2 seconds to play. Curry found himself all alone on the way to an easy basket after a terrific screen from Warriors forward Draymond Green on Rockets guard Austin Rivers and a nifty behind-the-back move to get by Rockets all-everything guard James Harden. The basket would have cut the lead to three and given the Warriors some hope in the waning moments of overtime. But instead of going up for an uncontested layup, Curry went up for a right-handed dunk.

He missed.

A sold-out crowd inside Toyota Center reveled in his misfortune, cheering wildly as a stunned Warriors squad was so shell-shocked by the miss that it decided not to foul the Rockets to lengthen the game.

"That was pretty self-explanatory right there," Curry explained, as the hint of an embarrassed smile crossed his face.

Why didn't he just lay it in?

"Because I was feeling pretty good," Curry said. "Had a nice head of steam and probably a little bit of frustration too around how the rest of the night went, but not my finest moment."

The missed dunk only contributed to a performance that Curry -- who did not register a field goal in the fourth quarter or overtime -- would love to forget. With 1:49 left in overtime, he missed another open, driving layup that would have cut the Rockets' lead back to one. In total, Curry missed six different chances at the rim, a stunning stat for one of the best scorers in the game.

"He just had a tough night," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "I mean, everybody -- doesn't matter how good you are, you're gonna have some bad games, and just a tough night for him. Just didn't happen."

Curry tallied 17 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds, and the Rockets reduced their series deficit to 2-1.

Curry dislocated the middle finger on his left hand during the first quarter of Game 2, an injury that has forced him to tape his middle finger and ring finger together and is still causing him pain. But Curry did not want to blame his poor outing on his ailing finger.

"I just got to make those," Curry said of his misses from short range. "I'm out there playing. Got to produce, and it just didn't happen tonight."

Curry is now 18-for-52 from the field in this series, including only 8-for-32 from beyond the arc. Yet he and his teammates remain confident he will be able to break out of his funk soon.

"We know what Steph is capable of," Green said. "You grow to expect that. You don't really expect to have a guy to have an off night like he did. Nonetheless, we need Steph to continue to be Steph. Continue to shoot the basketball, no matter if he's struggling or not. When he's on the floor, he opens a lot of things for everybody else. Still have an impact that way. We know his shot will start falling."

About 20 minutes after the game ended, the media was allowed to enter the Warriors locker room, and there was Curry, still in full uniform, riding a stationary bike while scrolling through his phone, as his teammates showered and changed around him. The proud guard didn't wear a look of despondence after his rough night; he was just left to wonder what might have been if he knocked down a few more shots the same way he has done throughout his career.

"It just happens sometimes," Warriors swingman Andre Iguodala said of Curry's close-range misses. "We're all human. We all will have situations that normally don't happen to us, so not worried about that at all. He's fine. He is who he is -- same way Kevin says, 'I'm Kevin Durant,' he's Steph Curry. I don't worry about it -- he'll be fine. He'll continue to draw that much attention and continue to make amazing plays. And like I said, we're all human, we all make mistakes."

HOUSTON -- One of the enigmas that demonstrates the historic greatness of the Golden State Warriors is when their star players have a slump. It is both concerning for the Warriors and frightening for opponents.

Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson have not been themselves in the high-stakes Western Conference semifinal series with the Houston Rockets. They're shooting just 37 percent overall and 27 percent on 3-pointers, the weapon that earned them their Splash Brothers nickname.

In Saturday's 126-121 Game 3 loss, Curry and Thompson combined to miss 26 of 39 shots. In the final minutes, those misses included Curry blowing an uncontested layup and a dunk -- as an aside, Curry is now 1-of-4 on dunks this season, including one in which he almost seriously hurt himself -- and Thompson badly missed the type of clean 15-footer that any high school starter should make.

And yet, it still took 41 points from James Harden -- including a fortunate non-call on the game-clinching basket where Harden easily could've been hit with an offensive foul, probably leaving the Warriors to be the ones stewing over the forthcoming last-two-minutes report -- plus overtime for the Rockets to win a game.

This is just how tremendous of a mountain the Warriors are to climb. Even as Thompson and Curry are mired in a slump, the Warriors are still so difficult to overcome. That's why the concept is scary for opponents. Even when you hold the Warriors duo down, you sometimes barely survive.

Curry and Thompson have missed at least two-thirds of their 3-pointers for four consecutive games, the worst such streak of their playoff careers, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. They had just four made 3-pointers Saturday on 15 attempts, one of the lowest collective outputs of their now lengthy playoff careers.

In Game 3, Curry was just 2-of-9 in the restricted area and didn't score in the fourth quarter or overtime. Those seven close-in misses were the most in his career.

Thompson had a flurry in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 points that helped the Warriors erase what was a 13-point Rockets lead and force overtime, but he was also scoreless in OT.

The Rockets are working hard at overcoming the Warriors. They've started matching Golden State's small-ball lineups, playing without a true center so they can switch on screens and limit the Warriors' airspace. Eric Gordon and Austin Rivers are exhausting themselves fighting through contact to challenge shots.

The Rockets, of course, know most of Golden State's pet plays, and they scrap to try to blow them up, even if it doesn't always work.

"For the most part, we pretty much got every shot we wanted," said Curry, who admitted his failed dunk attempt came while trying to get out frustration. "The difference between winning and losing a playoff game is very thin, no matter who you're playing."

In addition to the shooting woes, Curry has been in a mental fog during the series. He has repeatedly committed fouls that have gotten him into foul trouble and messed with Golden State's rotation, which is thin to begin with. Curry has ended up with five fouls in each of the three games, and he should have fouled out of Game 1 -- twice, according to the league -- in the final two minutes.

The Rockets have something to do with it; they are purposely putting him in switch situations where he has to handle a bigger man and has been caught repeatedly making positioning fouls. But some of his risk-taking just hasn't been smart.

He has had a few major defensive gaffes, including a breakout on a switch in the fourth quarter Saturday in which he lost Rivers and gave up a vital 3-pointer.

"It wasn't my night," Curry said. "I'll be thinking about [mistakes] tonight; I'll go to sleep and turn the page."

After the game, Curry rode a stationary bike in the middle of the visitors locker room at the Toyota Center for nearly 20 minutes and scanned his phone. He pedaled in silence as teammates showered, dressed, grabbed a catered meal and headed for the bus.

The track records tell us it's only a matter of time before this slump ends for Curry and Thompson. Maybe this low moment will be a nice narrative for Game 4. It has happened before. And the deeper this Splash Brothers recession gets, the more you come to expect it.

So do they.

"It sucks that we lost, but we have an opportunity on Monday to take a commanding lead," Thompson said. "And we will if we do what we're supposed to do."

MILWAUKEE -- Ryan Braun knew the best night of his career at the plate wouldn't mean much if the Milwaukee Brewers didn't win.

Braun made sure they did with his career-high sixth hit, a two-run single with one out in the 18th that lifted the Brewers to a 4-3 comeback victory over the New York Mets on Saturday night in the longest game in Miller Park history.

"That's a game you badly want to win because if you do win it, it feels like you won two or three games," Braun said. "If you lose, it feels like you lost 10."

Braun stood on first base with his hands raised above his head as Yasmani Grandal slid across home plate with the winning run, ending the game that lasted 5 hours, 22 minutes. A jubilant bunch of Brewers ran out to greet Braun, who was the only Milwaukee player to have multiple hits.

"We had 11 hits and one guy had six of them," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "That should say everything about how crazy this game was."

The Mets took a 3-2 lead in the top of the 18th on Jeff McNeil's run-scoring single off Taylor Williams (1-1), who was Milwaukee's eighth and final pitcher. McNeil was thrown out at second base for the third out after trying to stretch his hit to a double.

Eric Thames then drew a leadoff walk from Chris Flexen (0-2), who got Mike Moustakas to fly out to center. But Flexen, just recalled from Triple-A Syracuse earlier in the day, walked Grandal and Travis Shaw to load the bases for Braun. The Brewers' longest-tenured player hit a sharp grounder past first baseman Pete Alonso and into right field, scoring the tying and winning runs.

"I thought I had a chance to make a play," Alonso said. "The corners were in, so I didn't have much of a reaction time."

Manager Mickey Calloway praised the overall performance of his staff after the Mets (16-17) fell below .500 for the first time this season.

"We threw the ball great," Calloway said. "There at the end, we didn't throw the ball over the plate. You give free passes, you're going to be beat."

Miller Park, which opened in 2001, had two previous 17-inning games, in 2003 and 2015. Both teams used eight pitchers and all of their position players in this one.

Alonso had tied the game in the ninth with a first-pitch, leadoff home run off Brewers reliever Junior Guerra.

"This one really doesn't sit well," Alonso said. "This is a really tough pill to swallow. It was really unfortunate to come up on the short end of this one."

But both teams struggled offensively in the extra innings. The Brewers had a chance to end it in the 17th when Braun led off with a double off Flexen but was stranded.

The Brewers slugger also doubled off Robert Gsellman, the seventh Mets pitcher, with one out in the 14th.

Williams allowed one run and three hits with three strikeouts in four innings to earn the win.

Much earlier in the night, the Brewers got a strong outing from Gio Gonzalez, who made his second start after signing as a free agent on April 27. Gonzalez retired 11 of the last 12 batters he faced. He gave up three hits and one run in 5 1/3 innings, didn't walk a batter and struck out seven.

NL MVP Christian Yelich didn't start for a sixth consecutive game due to lower back discomfort but came on as pinch hitter to lead off the 10th and lined out to center on the first pitch from Seth Lugo.

The Mets got a run in the second on Amed Rosario's run-scoring triple.

The Brewers tied it in the third on Lorenzo Cain's run-scoring single off Zack Wheeler, then took the lead on Moustakas' double, which scored Cain.

Wheeler allowed six hits and two runs in seven innings, and had 10 strikeouts while tying a season high with 111 pitches.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Mets: Placed LHP Luis Avilan on the 10-day injured list with left elbow soreness. Avilan left Friday night's game in the eighth. "We're going to get him to New York and have him evaluated there," Callaway said. Flexen took Avilan's spot. ... INF Jed Lowrie, who has been on the injured list since opening day with a left knee capsule strain, started for Syracuse on Saturday on a rehab assignment. He went hitless in four at-bats.

Brewers: Yelich took batting practice for a second consecutive day. "The guys who have been playing have done a really nice job filling in, but we want (Yelich) in the lineup, for sure," manager Craig Counsell said.

EXTRA INNINGS

The Brewers played their first extra-inning game of the season, while the Mets played their third. It marked the Brewers' longest game in innings since May 1, 1991, when Milwaukee defeated the Chicago White Sox 10-9 in 19 innings.

STREAK ENDS

The Brewers failed to hit a home run at home for the first time this season. The streak of home runs in 19 consecutive home games ranks as the second-longest streak ever to start a season, trailing only the Toronto Blue Jays, who hit home runs in 21 consecutive games to start the 2000 season.

UP NEXT

Mets: Jason Vargas (1-1, 5.75 ERA) pitched a season-high 5 1/3 innings against Cincinnati on Tuesday. Is 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA in two career starts against the Brewers.

Brewers: Zach Davies (3-0, 1.38) will make his seventh start. He is 2-2 with a 5.76 ERA in six career starts against the Mets, including 0-2 with a 9.72 ERA in two starts last season.

Fantastic French women dethrone England whilst English men regain title on home soil
By JULIE O’HARE – Edgbaston Priory Club

A dramatic final day of the European Team Championships at Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham witnessed a remarkable victory by France’s women’s team while England regained the men’s trophy.

England were hot favourites for the women’s title, having beaten France in the last five finals and won the title on all but one occasion in the event’s 41-year history. Their sole defeat came in the 2010 semi-final to – and in – France, where the Netherlands went on to win the final.

Camille Serme put France ahead as she beat Sarah-Jane Perry in four games but Laura Massaro also won in four against Coline Aumard to take the match to a decider. Melissa Alves came flying out of the block, taking the first two games 11-1, 11-3 against England’s much higher ranked Victoria Lust.

Lust fought back to take the third, and again from 1-7 down in the fourth to level at 8-all. But it was Alves who took the next two points, and on her second match ball the impossible happened, a front court winner from Alves, a no let for Lust, and to French disbelief and delight they had finally become women’s European Team Champions.

“We thought it was possible,” said a delighted French manager, Philippe Signoret.

“Melissa can play very well and she was on fire in the first two games. This squad has a great history, I’ve known them since they were seven, so to see them do this is fantastic for them, and for France. And in England, too!”

Camille Serme was ecstatic: “We’ve been trying to win this for so long now, it feels great. Thanks to England for pushing us over the years, we’re delighted to finally win one.”

In the men’s final England faced third seed Spain, who had beaten defending champions France in the semis. England had beaten Spain 4-0 in the pool stages, but Spanish number one Borja Golan missed that match and immediately made amends as he beat Declan James in the opening match, James unable to properly compete in the fifth after an injury.

James Willstrop put England level with a straight-games win over yesterday’s Spanish hero Iker Pajares. Daryl Selby put England ahead with a five-game win over Bernat Jaume, which left England needing one game from the final match and Spain needing a three-nil win and points countback.

Tom Richards was always ahead against Edmon Lopez, and finished the match as he took the game 11-9, Lopez diving in vain into the back corner.

“I’m really proud to have been able to captain this team to the title,” said Captain Selby. “It’s been a long time since the event was held at home, so to do it here with the support of the crowd makes it even more special.

“It’s been a great event, superbly organised, and we’re all grateful for that and the support of the referees, volunteers, ESF, Edgbaston Priory Club and all the England Squash support staff.”

The day started with the women’s 3rd/4th match which saw Belgium’s Nele and Tinne Gilis take them to victory over Scotland for a second Bronze medal in a row.

“Very happy,” said Belgian manager Ronnie Vlassacks. “Not only with the Bronze medal, but to see how we’re closing the gap to England and France. With Nele and Tinne still so young and having a few years to improve, we hope what they’re doing will help us get some more young players to strengthen the depth of the team.”

The Scottish men went one better as they beat France in the men’s 3rd/4th, after narrowly losing to the former champions in the pool stages.

Elsewhere:

Across the four days over 700 local schoolchildren attended coaching clinics at the glass court venue, and enjoyed watching some of the matches.

Finland’s Men return to Division One after a three year absence, led by Olli Tuominen playing in his 22nd ETC in a row. Also promoted were the Czech Republic who beat Finland in the final.

The Finnish women beat Czech Rep to go back to Division One for first time since 2010, before losing to also promoted Germany in the final.

Pictures courtesy of : Edgbaston Priory Club