KNOXVILLE, Iowa – Ryan Bernal has partnered with Baughman-Reutzel Motorsports to take part in the inaugural Corn Belt Nationals this weekend at Knoxville Raceway.

Bernal will pilot the Baughman-Reutzel Motorsports No. 17 sprint car with an eye on of the $20,000 winner’s share of the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series event.

The inaugural edition of the event takes place on Friday and Saturday atop the storied Marion County Fairgrounds half-mile clay oval.

“Aaron (Reutzel) called me and then I talked to Josh (Baughman), they got back to me and said I’m their guy,” Bernal said.  “I couldn’t say yes fast enough for a chance to race for $20,000.  And I know they’ll give me a good car with a really good chance to win.”

Bernal has raced at Knoxville Raceway twice in the past in winged Sprint Car competition.  Despite no wingless laps at Knoxville, Bernal is confident that he will be on equal footing with the best in the non-wing business.

“The USAC National guys haven’t raced there that much, so they’re not really locked in at Knoxville in the way that they are at a lot of their other tracks,” Bernal explains.  “It puts us on a pretty level playing field and gives me a lot better shot at winning this one.”

Bernal has spent recent times focusing on the winged Sprint Car ranks, moving the Tarlton Motorsports No. 21 team to the top of the King of the West/NARC 410 Series point charts in California after last weekend’s event at Placerville Speedway.

With an idle weekend for the KWC/NARC series, it’s back to non-winged sprint car fun with the BRM No. 17 team this weekend.

A winner of numerous USAC/CRA, USAC West Coast and USAC Southwest features in recent years and the all-time win leader in USAC West Coast Sprint Car competition, Bernal looks to collect his first USAC National Sprint Car win in a big way this weekend.

GOODWOOD, England – Ford and Multimatic revealed the Ford GT Mk II, a limited-edition, track-only GT, Thursday at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Sporting a 700 horsepower 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine, race-proven aerodynamics and competition-oriented handling, the GT Mk II has been co-developed by Ford Performance and Multimatic based on competitive learnings from Ford’s FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship campaigns with the Ford GT race car. The GT Mk II is engineered independent of race series rules, regulations and limitations.

“The GT Mk II unleashes the full performance potential of the Ford GT without any artificial performance limitations dictated by racing sanctioning bodies,” said Hau Thai-Tang, Ford chief product development and purchasing officer. “It’s the closest GT owners can get to the Le Mans-winning performance and exhilarating feeling of crossing the finish line in the Ford GT race car.”

Limited to just 45 vehicles, with a starting MSRP of $1.2 million, the GT Mk II joins the GT race car that won the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Ford GT supercar.

“The true off-the-hook performance capability of the GT hasn’t yet been fully showcased,” said Multimatic’s Chief Technical Officer, Larry Holt. “The road car is obviously limited by the many global homologation requirements that it must comply with, and the race car suffers from the restriction of the dreaded Balance of Performance, resulting in it being 150 horsepower down to the road car. The Mk II answers the regularly asked question of how would the car perform with all the limitations lifted: the answer is spectacularly.”

Built in Markham, Ontario, the Mk II begins life at the main Ford GT plant before being transferred to a specialist facility at Multimatic Motorsports where it is crafted into the Ford GT Mk II.

The Ford GT Mk II is focused around aerodynamic and engine improvements and shares key features with both the street-legal GT supercar as well as the GT race car. Many of its components have been track-proven in the world’s most challenging endurance racing events.

The large dual-element rear wing exceeds what the Ford GT race car offers in terms of downforce. An all-new front racing splitter and diffuser have been incorporated along with new fender louvres and dive planes, which help balance out the extra rear downforce.

These aerodynamic changes enable the GT Mk II to generate more than 400 percent more downforce than the Ford GT while fixed aerodynamic elements along with its race-proven suspension and Michelin Pilot Sport racing tires enable the car to pull more than 2Gs of lateral grip.

GT Mk II is also lighter and more agile. The street car’s adjustable ride height and drive modes have been removed, providing a weight savings of over 200 pounds while 5-way adjustable DSSV shock absorbers work with a lowered and fixed ride height to improve handling and keep the Mk II as aerodynamically efficient as possible.

The Ford GT Mk II features the 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine that powers both the Ford GT race car and the road car but since the Mk II is not limited by any racing sanctioning body it is able to generate 200 horsepower more than the race car, making the Mk II the most powerful version of the Ford GT. The 3.5-liter EcoBoost is paired with the same seven-speed dual-clutch transmission from the Ford GT but specially calibrated for this track-exclusive application.

To add stamina to power, the GT Mk II adds innovative engine cooling technology, including a high capacity air-to-air outboard mounted charge air cooler with water spray technology. The water spray automatically activates in high temperature situations to provide cooling by applying atomized water on the charge air cooler allowing the Ford GT Mk II to maintain a consistent level of power at high temperatures.

A roof-mounted intake reminiscent of the race car engine air intake has been added for the Mk II to feed auxiliary engine, clutch and transmission coolers, giving the Mk II optimal cooling for the most extreme track day duty.

Increased engine power is paired with improved stopping power. The Mk II features braking performance beyond that of the GT race car by utilizing the street car’s carbon ceramic brakes, including 15.5-inch front and 14.1-inch rear Brembo brakes. Unique forged aluminum 19-inch wheels cover the massive brakes with race-proven Michelin Pilot Sport GT tires.

The front fascia and hood of the Mk II are similar to the street car as well as the stylized Ford GT headlamps with signature running lights.

Interior changes include a bespoke Sparco racing seat with a six-point racing harness and an optional passenger seat. A full MoTeC data acquisition system has also added to provide vital information for a track racer, which also doubles as a display for the rear camera.

The Ford GT production car, which made its first Goodwood appearance in 2017, is the most advanced and exclusive Ford road car ever, limited to volumes of no more than 250 a year, globally.

Built for the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, the Ford GT race car has been a great success for Ford, winning the GTE Pro class at Le Mans on its first attempt in 2016, exactly 50 years on from the first of four successive Le Mans victories for the Ford GT40 at Le Mans.

Ford ended its GT racing program in the FIA World Endurance Championship at the 2019 Le Mans in the GTE Pro class.  The Ford GTs will continue to race through the remainder of the IMSA season, which culminates at Road Atlanta in October.

The GT Mk II makes its public debut running in the Supercar class at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and will be sold directly to customers by Multimatic.

The Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday signed a pair of players they traded for over the past week to new contracts.

Forward Alex Kerfoot received a four-year, $14 million deal, and defenseman Cody Ceci has re-upped for one year and $4.5 million.

Both players were restricted free agents.

The Maple Leafs acquired Kerfoot from the Colorado Avalanche in Monday's trade that also brought defenseman Tyson Barrie and a 2020 sixth-round pick to Toronto in return for forward Nazem Kadri, defenseman Calle Rosen and a 2020 third-round selection.

Ceci came to Toronto in the six-player trade with the Senators that sent disgruntled defenseman Nikita Zaitsev to Ottawa.

Over two seasons, Kerfoot was a consistent bottom-six forward for the Avs. He had 19 goals and 43 points his first season and 15 goals and 42 points last season.

The 24-year-old has also improved his secondary numbers, going from 48.2 Corsi percentage his first year to 51.7 last season.

Kerfoot had finished a two-year, entry-level deal with a cap hit of $925,000 that he signed after playing at Harvard.

Ceci had seven goals and 19 assists last season, his sixth with the Senators. The 25-year-old was a first-round draft pick (15th overall) by Ottawa in 2012.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Juventus have re-signed Gianluigi Buffon on a free transfer following the Italy international's 12-month spell with Paris Saint-Germain.

Buffon, 41, had been with the Bianconeri for 17 years before his departure last summer when he moved to the French capital. He won the Trophee des Champions and Ligue 1 title during his solitary season in Paris.

- When does the transfer window close?

However, PSG announced they would not be extending his contract and he left the Parc des Princes on a free. Buffon agreed a deal to return to Turin and the move was confirmed once he passed a medical.

Buffon first joined Juve from Parma in 2001 and remained until 2018, winning 12 Serie A titles -- though two were later taken away following the Calciopoli scandal -- and the Coppa Italia on four occasions. But Champions League glory eluded him, as he was a losing finalist on three occasions.

The 2006 World Cup winner will bring experience to the dressing room. Last summer, he left alongside Claudio Marchisio, who had been at the club since 2005, while Andrea Barzagli also retired in the summer and there were fears the number of players who understood the club was decreasing.

Under new boss Maurizio Sarri, Juve will look to win a first Champions League trophy since 1996 and add a ninth consecutive Serie A title.

Lionel Messi and LeBron James have a lot in common. You know, beyond the fact that one of them looks like he was carved out of some impossibly dense space material, and the other needed human growth hormone to achieve a stature that would not be out of place at your local secondary school.

Messi and LeBron were both identified as epochal talents as teenagers, and they both surpassed impossible expectations. They've been brow-beaten for not having enough titles too, but more than all that, when they're at full flight, they dominate games in a similar, omnipotent fashion: LeBron can be the best scorer, creator and passer in any game, all at once. The same goes for Messi.

During the 2015 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors, the Cleveland Cavaliers attempted to leverage LeBron's greatness to an absurd degree. After injuries to the team's second- and third-best players, the Cavs basically put the ball in James' hand every possession and let him run the shot clock down to zero and decide each possession on his own. It almost worked. The Cavs took a 2-1 lead, only to lose the series in six games, and James became the only player in league history to lead a Finals series in points, assists and rebounds.

James was then 30, the same age as Messi at the start of the 2017-18 season. Strangely enough, that's right when Leo started doing his LeBron impression.

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Messi has led La Liga in both goals and assists each of the past two seasons, which is something he hadn't done before. Meanwhile, Barcelona won La Liga by 14 points in 2017-18 and 11 points last year, marking the first time they've won the league by at least 10 points in consecutive seasons this century.

Despite Barcelona's domestic dominance, they've failed spectacularly on the biggest stage. Each result is easy enough to write off on its own, as just one goal from Barca in the second leg against Roma or Liverpool would have put Messi & Co. through to the next round of the Champions League. In both games, they conceded more goals than expected and scored fewer; just a tiny bit of good luck in a single moment, and this piece probably has a significantly different tone.

Perhaps, though, building a team that's so incredibly reliant on one player makes you vulnerable to the remontada. By design, Barcelona need Messi to play well for the team to play well.

According to TruMedia data going back to 2010, Messi created a career-high 24.2% of Barcelona's chances (assists plus key passes) when he was on the field in 2017-18. Barca were even more reliant on him to put the ball on goal, as he accounted for 39.2% of their shots, his second-highest proportion since 2010. This past season, Messi upped his importance as a creator (28.3%) while maintaining a similar proportion of shots (37.9%). If you add both numbers, Messi was responsible for 63.4% of Barca's total shots in 2017-18 and 66.2% last season. This is unprecedented, as the previous high was 55.5% in 2012-13.

Really, can you blame Ernesto Valverde? If Messi is the best soccer player of all time, why not try to make sure that said best player is influencing the game as often as possible? As Sir Alex Ferguson once said, "The work of a team should always embrace a great player, but the great player must always work."

Messi's influence isn't limited to shots, either. According to data from STATS LLC, Messi is the only player in Europe's top five leagues who, per 90 minutes, averaged at least three shots, two dribbles, four final-third entries and one shot-assist last season. Those are the four main facets of play when a team is in possession: moving the ball up the field, unsettling defenses with a take-on, creating attempts and taking shots. They aren't cherry-picked filters, either: Messi soared beyond each baseline, averaging 5.4 shots, 3.8 dribbles, 6.2 final-third entries and 2.9 shot assists.

His fingerprints are on just about everything.

"In the past three seasons of Europe's top five leagues and the Champions League, players had 748 stints of at least 570 minutes or more as wingers, attacking midfielders and second strikers," said Daniel Altman, formerly an analyst with Swansea City and the creator of smarterscout.com, an online platform for advanced player metrics.

"Only three of those stints featured a 70% share or more in the moves leading to goals, shots and expected goals: Jonathan Viera at Las Palmas in 2016-17 and Lionel Messi in both La Liga and the Champions League in 2018-19. That's stunning."

As of now, Messi's singular brilliance has worked out well for him and for Barcelona ... except for one weekday night in Rome and another one in Liverpool.

A good performance isn't necessarily enough in these individual games, either: Messi created two big chances, which Opta defines as a "situation where a player should reasonably be expected to score," in the 4-0 loss to Liverpool. In the Champions League games Messi played in this past season, Barcelona were 6-0-0 when he scored or assisted and 1-1-2 when he didn't. If we apply three points for a win and one for a draw across all games in Europe the past three seasons, Barca average 2.69 points per match with a Messi goal or assist and just 1.30 points without.

It's Messi, or it's nothing.

"The overreliance tends to lead to predictability of playing style, as well as the obvious ability of the opposition to limit supply," said Ben Darwin, the founder of Gain Line, a sports analytics company.

He added: "Teams can have a habit of getting what we call 'top heavy,' i.e. all the focus is on a few senior guys critical to the success of the team. Overreliance in these cases can be quite dangerous, and the fallout of an injury to that player can be pretty disastrous."

Messi's continued health despite his slight frame is one of the under-appreciated aspects of his storied career -- he has appeared in at least 30 La Liga matches in each of the past 11 seasons -- so the soccer world takes his production as a given. But everyone's body starts to break down at some point. Just ask LeBron and the Los Angeles Lakers. Plus, even if Messi doesn't get hurt, he's going to slow down eventually, right? Most players peak between 24 and 28, and the fact that Messi is four years beyond that and has yet to really decline is the main reason Barcelona remain one of the two or three best teams in the world every season.

They have an irreplaceable player carrying an unprecedented load while the downside of the age curve looms. It's unlikely that Barcelona (or any other club, for that matter) will ever have another player capable of reproducing what Messi is doing right now, and that creates a conundrum -- one that everyone else would love to have but a conundrum nonetheless: Do you sacrifice the future and go all-in on the last few years of an all-time great by surrounding him with in-their-prime stars? Or do you fill the squad with young talents who can contribute now and will hopefully be reaching their peaks when Messi finally falls from his?

The deals for Ousmane Dembele and Philippe Coutinho, two proven youngsters who were just entering or still years from their primes, seemed to suggest the latter. Same goes for the recent move for the 22-year-old Frenkie De Jong. However, the rest of this summer's rumored business points in the other direction. Sources have told ESPN that the club is considering signing both Antoine Griezmann (28 years old) and Neymar (27), with potentially Dembele, Coutinho and 25-year-old Samuel Umtiti heading out as makeweights. Barcelona had the fourth-oldest average starting eleven in La Liga last year. If those moves come off, they're only going to get older.

"It seems Barcelona have not gone back to the well," Darwin said. "One of the biggest things we find is that a pressure to reproduce success means that the clubs will not return to a youth policy but look for players who can deliver now."

If Neymar and Griezmann both come to the club, Barcelona are essentially saying that now is all that matters. If they win the Champions League, it'll be hard to argue with the results. But by pushing all of their chips into the present, they're ensuring that the transition into a post-Messi world especially painful.

Remember what happened in Cleveland when LeBron left for Los Angeles? With him, the Cavaliers made the Finals four years in a row. In their first year without him, they won 19 games ... in an 82-game season.

Big Picture

There is realistically no chance of either side making the semi-final, to the extent that this needn't be a talking point. This match is, for all intents and purposes, a dead rubber. But both sides would want to hold their heads up that little bit higher at the end of their campaign.

Pakistan did win four important games against top opponents but a crushing opening defeat against West Indies mean they have an inferior net run rate to New Zealand, for which they will pay the price even if they beat Bangladesh. Pakistan's performance has been difficult to read throughout. They started with that shocking defeat at the hands of West Indies. Following that, they were hit and miss, but damaging defeats to Australia and India meant they needed assistance from other results much too early in the tournament. That luck ran out with England completing two wins at the end to guarantee their own progress, quashing Pakistan's flickering hopes in the process.

Their only chance to make it into the semi-final is to bat first and win the contest by a margin of at least 316 runs, a feat never before achieved in ODI cricket. If Bangladesh win the toss and bat, Pakistan are out before a ball has been bowled.

Bangladesh, meanwhile, have had an excellent World Cup, never quite being blown away by any side, and claiming the scalps of several fancied teams. Eliminated now, the task at hand will be to finish off with a win against Pakistan, which will give them four wins out of eight completed matches, and ensure they finish as the best of the rest - the highest-placed team not to make the semi-finals. Their batting has centred on the brilliance of Shakib Al Hasan's purple patch. He is the second leading run-scorer so far with 542 runs at 90.33 at a strike rate of 100.30 against pacers and 91.50 versus spinners. He is the only allrounder to get both 1000 runs and over 30 wickets in World Cups. No other Bangladesh player has even completed one of those feats.

It is the pacers who have let Bangladesh down in the tournament somewhat. The Bangladesh quicks have picked up only two wickets in the 79 overs they have bowled in the competition inside the first 20 overs. Mustafizur Rahman is the best in the lot taking 15 wickets in the tournament, but none of them have come in the first 15 overs. The batting has helped the side along but, with their World Cup campaign set to end, the question is whether their bowling can complement that effort.

Form guide

Bangladesh LWLWL (Last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan WWWLL

In the spotlight

In six out of seven innings at this World Cup, Mohammad Hafeez has been caught out. Several of these dismissals have been soft, cheap ones, and on two occasions he was dismissed by Aaron Finch and Kane Williamson. The 38-year-old batsman started his ODI career in 2003 and has gone on to play play 217 ODIs with a batting average of 32.93. Originally an opener, his batting position has been a matter of debate and scrutiny for many years now and he has found himself dropped down the order. With Shoaib Malik out of the side, Hafeez is the senior-most player, and has been given a long run at the No. 4 spot. He did well there with a match-winning 84 against England, but since that innings he has been dismissed three times under 30. In what could be his swansong, he will look to leave with a favourable impression.

The Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza needs to lead his bowling attack from the front. Only one wicket in seven matches is a major concern for a bowler who had taken 265 wickets in 209 matches before the start of 2019 World Cup - the highest wicket-taker and most capped player of his side. In the death overs, his economy is 13.80 and he is one of six bowlers (to have bowled a minimum of 20 overs) who average above 50 and have conceded more than six runs per over this World Cup. Bangladesh need a lift, and in what is probably Mashrafe's last match at a World Cup, this is the chance to go out on a high note.

Team news

Mushfiqur Rahim got struck on the elbow during a nets session on Thursday, but there is no big threat yet. "I've had no chance to see the physio yet. Generally, that sort of area most people are okay," their coach Steve Rhodes said. "I don't remember too many people breaking elbows or forearm of the bottom hand. So I'm hoping that he'll be okay."

Otherwise, Mahmudullah is likely to return after recovering from his calf injury, which means Sabbir Rahman will have to make way despite a run-a-ball 36 against India. Rubel Hossain should play again, which means Mehidy Hasan could be confined to the bench once more.

Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Shakib Al Hasan, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Liton Das, 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Mosaddek Hossain, 8 Rubel Hossain, 9 Mohammad Saifuddin 10 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), 11 Mustafizur Rahman

Wahab Riaz picked up a minor hand injury in a fielding session before the Afghanistan game. He was cleared to play that game, but now with this match set to be a dead rubber, Pakistan may decide to give him a rest. Mohammad Hasnain, who has not featured at all this World Cup, could be allowed a game for an experience that Pakistan will hope will serve them well in the years to come.

Pakistan (probable): 1 Imam-ul-Haq, 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Mohammad Hafeez, 5 Haris Sohail, 6 Sarfaraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Shadab Khan, 9 Mohammad Amir, 10 Wahab Riaz/Mohammad Hasnain, 11 Shaheen Afridi

Strategy punts

• Pakistan must look to add Asif Ali for the final game. He might have struggled in England, averaging 26, but his strike rate is still the best among Pakistan players - 126.80 in seven games he has played. He was dropped after two games but with him in the playing XI, Pakistan can score big. It is, faint though it might be, the only chance they have of inflicting a big defeat against Bangladesh that can push up their net run rate.

• Bangladesh should bowl Shakib intensively in the first 20 overs, where he has taken four wickets in 28 overs while his team-mates have managed only three wickets put together. During the first 20 overs in this World Cup, Bangladesh have taken the fewest wickets (seven), at the worst average and economy rate - 106.7 and 5.30 respectively. They have picked just 13% of their wickets inside the first 20 overs, the lowest for a team this edition, and there's no time they need Shakib more.

Pitch and conditions

Here's the pitch for #BANvPAK. Same one that was used for #PAKvSA nearly two weeks ago. You could say it has a *slight* tinge of green. #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/HdclAjcJGn

— Melinda Farrell (@melindafarrell) July 4, 2019

The pitch to be played on for this game was used for the Pakistan-South Africa clash, which was more than 10 days ago. That should give the track, which had a strong green tinge, some freshness. Weather is not expected to play spoilsport, although it's likely to be hot and sunny, like it has been in London this week.

Stats and trivia

• Mustafizur Rahman needs two more for 100 wickets in ODIs.

• Imam-ul-Haq has gone eight innings without an ODI hundred. Should he fail to reach three figures at Lord's on Friday, it would be the longest he has ever gone without a century.

• Bangladesh have taken 46% of their wickets at the death, the most by a team in this edition. However, those wickets have come at a cost. From overs 41-50, Bangladesh have the second worst economy rate (8.50) and the worst balls-per-boundary ratio (6.3) in this World Cup.

Quotes

"A few of the [Bangladesh players] went straight out onto the dressing room balcony and looked at the marvellous scene in front of them with a beautiful carpet of grass and big stands everywhere, and they were taking it all in."
Bangladesh coach Steve Rhodes on the excitement of the younger players coming to Lord's for the first time.

"Pakistan did lose the last four matches [against Bangladesh], but it is a World Cup match. So both teams look stronger, so hopefully we will do well as a team."
Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed on their record against Bangladesh since 2015.

Simon Katich, the former Australia opener, has been named as coach of the Manchester Originals team for the inaugural season of The Hundred.

Katich, 43, is the first coach to be confirmed for the eight-team tournament, which begins in July 2020, and is understood to have been handed the role ahead of the former Lancashire coach, Peter Moores, who would have had to take time away from his regular role at Nottinghamshire.

Katich played 56 Tests for Australia, scoring more than 4,000 runs, then finished his first-class career with a successful season at Lancashire in 2013, in which he scored 1137 runs at 66.88 with four hundreds and a highest score of 200.

He will be assisted in the Manchester role by current Lancashire head coach Glen Chapple and assistant coach Mark Chilton.

Katich could be one of five former Australia cricketers to land a coaching role in The Hundred, with his former team-mates Ricky Ponting (Oval), Shane Warne (Lord's), Andrew McDonald (Birmingham) and Darren Lehmann (Leeds) all in the running for next year's inaugural season.

Stephen Fleming (Nottingham), Mahela Jayawardene (Southampton) and Gary Kirsten (Cardiff) are other notable overseas names in the frame.

"I am incredibly excited by the opportunity to lead the men's Manchester-based team in The Hundred, starting next year," said Katich.

"This is a competition that is catching the eyes of the cricket world, in terms of the calibre of players and coaches it will attract, and I'm so excited to start planning and working as men's Head Coach for this new side.

"Having played at Emirates Old Trafford for two years, I know what a special place it is, and what an incredible cricket ground it has transformed into over the last decade. This competition is going to be a ground-breaking moment for cricket across the world, and I'm honoured to be part of it."

Katich has honed his coaching experience in recent years, having won back-to-back Caribbean Premier League titles with the Trinbago Knight Riders (2017 and 2018). He has also served as an assistant coach with Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL since 2016.

He also captained the Perth Scorchers to their first Big Bash League title in 2014.

Sanjay Patel, managing director of The Hundred, added: "We've been delighted by the interest from world class players and coaches who are excited to be part of The Hundred. Simon is a brilliant signing and a dynamic coach who will bring his cricketing knowledge and international experience to the men's Manchester team."

The five-week tournament will be played in the middle of the English summer and will feature eight city-based teams from Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham, Birmingham, Cardiff, Southampton and two in London (Lord's and The Oval).

The men's Player Draft is set to take place live on Sky Sports on Sunday, October 20.

Rahul Dravid is set to take charge as head of cricket operations at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, with an eye on converting the academy into a high-performance centre, the BCCI's target for a long time now. Although the tenure of the contract could not be ascertained, ESPNcricinfo understands that it would be a long-term arrangement.

With the NCA job, Dravid's role in Indian cricket has been expanded. He is also head coach of the India A and India Under-19 men's teams, positions he has held since 2015. It is believed that Dravid will continue in those roles, but will have the authority to delegate coaching duties to the assistant coaches in case he is unable to travel.

Dravid was meant to take charge at the NCA in early July, but it was delayed because he is also a paid employee of India Cements, owned by former BCCI president and ICC chairman N Srinivasan. It would have led to a conflict of interest situation, but as reported by The Hindu, Dravid has taken a leave of absence from India Cements until such time he serves as the head of NCA.

Keeping in mind the exponential growth of the game in India, especially after the advent of the IPL, the BCCI has wanted an experienced person at the helm at the NCA, someone who would chart a pathway and structure for young talent to flourish. It is understood that Saba Karim, BCCI's general manager of cricket, and Rahul Johri, the BCCI chief executive, were the key people involved in getting Dravid on board.

As part of Dravid's role at NCA, he will help create coaching and development programmes for both the men's 'A' and the age-group teams, as well as for women's cricket. Dravid is also expected to create a programme for the development of physiotherapists and strength and conditioning coaches, keeping in mind the focus on fitness in modern cricket.

The BCCI has always wanted to model the NCA on the same lines as the high-performance centres in Australia, England and South Africa, which have not just been breeding grounds for young cricket talent - male and female - but have also developed coaching staff and support staff including physios and trainers.

For long, the NCA has been run on an ad-hoc basis, although in the past decade the BCCI has tried to create a structure of sorts by appointing coaches and consultants to assist the second-string of Indian cricketers as well as age-group players. As part of the revamp, Tufan Ghosh was appointed chief operating officer at the NCA in late 2017 following a search for a professional with management experience from outside cricketing circles.

The NCA is also expected to move out of its home at the Karnataka State Cricket Association premises in Bengaluru to the outskirts of the metropolis in Arebinnamangala village, where the BCCI owns 40-odd acres of land. Ghosh is expected to play a key role in setting up the facility there and creating a centre of excellence.

Tom Banton's star continues to rise: after a brilliant Royal London One-Day Cup campaign, which included two fifties and a hundred in his three knockout innings, he now tops Somerset's Championship averages thanks to score of 79 and 70 against Hampshire.

Banton is a natural strokemaker, and will have plenty of attention on him when he opens the batting with Pakistan's stand-out batsman in the World Cup, Babar Azam, in the T20 Blast. We are not surprised to hear that scouts from franchise T20 tournaments - including the IPL - are already beginning to circle.

*****

Amar Virdi is one of England's most exciting spin prospects. He has already represented England Lions and last summer ended his first full season playing Championship cricket with 39 wickets, the most by any English-born spinner in the competition.

The turbaned Sikh's bushy beard makes him instantly recognisable, but as he approaches his 21st birthday he has yet to bowl a single ball in Championship cricket this year. Gareth Batty, twice his age, was again preferred in Surrey's defeat against Yorkshire at Scarborough and is having a decent season.

Virdi began the season with a stress-related back injury suffered in a winter training programme, but the word is that Surrey are not entirely happy with his general fitness. At Scarborough he fulfilled the role of drinks waiter. He would do worse than to learn from Batty, who is still an energetic and feisty competitor at 41.

***

Cricket has been mourning the loss of Dennis Silk, who has died at the age of 87. A schoolmaster by profession, he played 83 games as an amateur for Cambridge, Somerset and the MCC, was warden of Radley College for 23 years, where Andrew Strauss later became a pupil, and after retiring became president of MCC as well as chairman of the Test and County Cricket Board (which preceded the ECB).

Silk's life was full of variety, but he once claimed that his greatest life lesson has been provided by an English cricket journalist on the 1992-93 tour of India. The tour was beset by travel difficulties and Silk cadged a lift on the press coach on a long journey to a one-day international.

On route, the coach was stopped by dacoits - Indian highwaymen - who had blocked the road and refused to move the boulders until satisfactory bribes were paid. They were so surprised when a cricket writer leapt recklessly from the coach to proclaim "We are the England cricket media - get this road unblocked now" that they did precisely that.

Silk, in characteristically urbane manner, murmured: "Extraordinary. I have heard much about the power of the English cricket press, but to see it in action must rank as one of the greatest lessons I have ever witnessed."

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The Vitality Blast returns in two weeks, and will feature a string of high-profile overseas players including AB de Villiers, Aaron Finch, and Babar Azam. But several of the World Cup's leading lights, including Kane Williamson, Andre Russell and Shakib al Hasan, have signed up for the Global T20 in Canada instead.

The upshot is that the sums players can earn from three weeks' work in Canada are substantial compared to those in the Blast, which drags on for over three months including the knockout stages. The Global T20 is organised by the same Indian consortium that will run the Euro T20 Slam in September; it clashes with the knockout stages of the Blast, so Imran Tahir, Rashid Khan, and Babar will all be absent if their teams reach Finals Day.

Few at the ECB will shed a tear about counties missing their stars, but the pull of those leagues poses a problem for The Hundred next year; the salaries for top earners in that tournament are very competitive, but those picked lower in the draft could have their heads turned by the lure of some Canadian cash.

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Beleaguered Nottinghamshire seem to have succumbed to a touch of double-think as they deal with the flak coming their way during a season spiralling towards relegation, 33 points adrift of safety.

Reaffirming the club's traditional willingness to front up to their critics, all the key figures in the Trent Bridge hierarchy donned their tin hats to face agitated supporters at a members' forum during the defeat to Essex.

Head coach Peter Moores said: "We aren't making excuses. I wanted members to know we're passionate about the club and who we represent. The questions were blunt but fair. When you aren't playing well at a club with high expectation there is pressure. Rightly so. You have to front up to that."

It was behind-closed-doors openness on this occasion, however. As Moores extolled the virtues of fronting up, Nottinghamshire decided that their customary invitation to award-winning Nottingham Post reporter Matt Davies would this time be withdrawn.

Additional reporting from Matt Roller and Jon Culley

Dead rubber? What dead rubber? That's the question Bangladesh coach Steve Rhodes and Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed seem to be asking on the eve of their final World Cup group game at Lord's

Net run-rate keeps Pakistan interested but if Bangladesh decide to bat first, their exit from the World Cup will be confirmed. If Pakistan bat first, they have to win by more than 300 runs to make the semi-final, which is why no-one is really giving it much thought.

Rhodes said that it is a special occasion for Bangladesh who will be playing their first ODI at Lord's, and their first game here in nine years. A win over Pakistan would give them four wins out of eight games at the World Cup.

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"Bangladesh versus Pakistan at beautiful Lord's, there's no such thing as a dead rubber," Rhodes said. "Both teams are desperate to beat each other. We certainly are. I'm pretty sure they are. They've got a lot to play for as well. We're looking to obviously win. We want to win. We've practiced well today. We've come up with some good plans. When we lost against India, we were out of the tournament, but we all recognise that there's one more game to go and one special occasion at Lord's and a very good, tough team to beat as well. So if we can take the scalp of Pakistan in the World Cup, we'll be very, very proud of the boys."

"If you score 600, 500 or 400 score on a pitch then you think you can get the other team out for 50?" Sarfaraz Ahmed lays out the impossibility of the task ahead of Pakistan

Rhodes said that given the outlandish equation in front of Pakistan, they would be the team under more pressure going into this game. "I don't really feel the pressures of that because, you know, with Bangladesh, we've got the pressure of 170 million back home wanting us to win, but Pakistan can still qualify. Maybe the pressure is all on Pakistan going into this game."

Sarfraz said that it wouldn't prudent for Pakistan to think about net run-rate right now. "Obviously we are here to win all the matches. We will do our best to win the last game as well. We will do our best but we need to be realistic. If you score 600, 500 or 400 score on a pitch then you think you can get the other team out for 50? It will be tough but we will still give it a try.

"The target is in front of us, there are no secrets that [we have] to score 500, 550 and then win by 316-run margin. But if you look at the tournament then, realistically it is a 280-300 tournament."

Sarfraz said that getting beaten by Australia, when they had Aaron Finch's men under pressure early, really broke their back, and perhaps cost them a place in the semi-final. He also said that pitches in most of their games were tough for batting, with the ball not coming on to the bat.

"The turning point was the loss against Australia. We were in a better position to win that game but lost the way in the middle overs. "And if you look at the pitches, they were not for free and open cricket, all the matches they were tough for batting, spin was there and ball was not coming on the bat."

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Bangladesh too would rue their two-wicket loss to New Zealand, but by improving their bowling in the first 20 overs, they can hope to improve their overall performance.

"If you look back to that India game," Rhodes said, "We didn't turn up for those first 20 overs when we were in the field. That was a bad area for Bangladesh. We know what we want to try and do tomorrow. If we can start the game well against Pakistan, then we don't have to play catch-up, and that's what we did against India.

"There are some other aspects of our game we want to just obviously sustain and try and do what we did against India, which was fight hard, and we played well at times with a bat during that game as well. But that's the main area. We want to start the game really, really well."