England pace spearhead James Anderson has been ruled out of the Lord's Test against Australia which starts on August 14, after having suffered calf trouble in the first match at Edgbaston. Anderson left the field on day one after sending down four overs and he did not bowl again in the match although he did bat - with obvious discomfort - in both England's innings.

Anderson has since had an MRI scan, which confirmed an injury which needs addressing. He will now undergo rehabilitation, working with the medical teams of England and his county Lancashire.

Also read: Joe Root defends James Anderson selection after injury undermines England attack

Anderson's problems were with the same muscle that he had torn while bowling for Lancashire in the County Championship in early July. He had passed a number of fitness tests in the lead-up to the Edgbaston game, but then found tightness in his calf during the match and went off. His absence was felt by England, who went down by 251 runs to Australia, despite having them at 122 for 8 in their first innings.

After Lord's, there are three more Tests to be played in the Ashes. England will hope he will be fit in time for the Leeds Test, which begins on August 22, although a more realistic return might be for the fourth Test, at Old Trafford in early September. He will be assessed on an ongoing basis for the same.

Jofra Archer is the leading contender to replace Anderson, although he has had injury issues himself and will play a three-day 2nd XI game for Sussex this week to try and prove his fitness after carrying a side injury through the World Cup.

Speaking after defeat at Edgbaston, Joe Root described Anderson's injury as a "freak thing" and defended his inclusion in the XI. "It was a group decision in terms of the selection of him," Root said. "He passed all the fitness tests. and it's just one of those freak things that can happen in in cricket. It's disappointing, but we've got to try and respond to that and make sure that we get things exactly how we want them at Lord's."

The BCCI's Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), led by Kapil Dev with Anshuman Gaekwad and Shanta Rangaswamy as its other members, has been cleared of conflict of interest and given the go-ahead to pick the next head coach of the senior Indian men's team. The decision is expected to be made by mid-August.

The three-member Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) received the required no-conflict notice from the panelists and subsequently voted on the issue, giving the CAC a 2-1 mandate.

CoA member Diana Edulji was the one who voted against clearing the CAC. She was one of two persons who had flagged the potential conflict-of-interest issue in this case, the other being external complainant Sanjeev Gupta, a life member of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association.

After the CoA meeting, Edulji maintained that the matter still needed to go to the BCCI's ethics officer, Justice (retd) DK Jain. She contended that the CoA had no authority to appoint an ad-hoc committee and clear it of conflict. "It was a 2-1 call [against me]," she was quoted as saying by PTI. "I said it has to go to the ethics officer to decide on conflict of interest. Ad-hoc committee is not in the constitution. As such I have voiced my dissent.

"It is not CoA's domain to decide who is conflicted or not. It has to be done by the ethics officer. An ad-hoc committee cannot pick the coach. It is not in the constitution."

CoA head Vinod Rai, however, told ESPNcricinfo that the matter had to be forwarded to the ethics officer by the CoA only if there was a "reason to" do so. "No, there's no question of sending it to the ethics officer unless there is a reason to," he said. "In this case, there was no such reason. There was disagreement [on Edulji's part], but the majority voted."

The question of conflict came up because Kapil is also part of the steering committee on the newly formed Indian Cricketers' Association (ICA) where he is also one of directors. Incidentally, the ICA is funded by the BCCI. Kapil also works as an expert for Indian television channels. As for Gaekwad, it is alleged that in addition to working as a pundit on television channels, he is also part of the BCCI's Member Affiliation Committee, a sub-committee which grants membership to state associations. Gaekwad, too, is part of the ICA's steering group, as is Rangaswamy, who is also an ICA director.

Gupta, meanwhile, had argued that only an elected BCCI administrative team, and not the CAC, was qualified to do the work.

Incidentally, Gupta had filed a similar charge against two members of the previous CAC - Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman - which Justice Jain had upheld.

The current support staff of Ravi Shastri (head coach), Bharat Arun (bowling coach), Sanjay Bangar (batting coach) and R Sridhar (fielding coach) are all travelling with the team in the Caribbean, having been given an extension till the new support staff are in place. Meanwhile, Patrick Farhart, the physio, and Shankar Basu, the fitness trainer, have opted out of extending their contracts and have moved on.

Kieron Pollard has been pulled up for "disobeying" the on-field umpires' instructions during the second T20I against India in Florida on Sunday, picking up a 20% match fee fine and a demerit point.

The incident in question took place during the Indian innings, when, according to an ICC statement, Pollard "called a substitute onto the field despite having been repeatedly told by the umpires that a request must be made for a substitute to come onto the field and being advised to wait until the end of the next over" and he "failed to follow the umpire's instructions".

After being charged by Nigel Duguid and Gregory Brathwaite, the on-field umpires, third umpire Leslie Reifer and fourth official Patrick Gustard, Pollard denied his guilt in the matter and that necessitated a formal hearing with match referee Jeff Crowe, who found him guilty and handed out the penalties.

Pollard didn't bowl in the match and scored a run-a-ball 8 not out as West Indies got to 98 for 4 in 15.3 overs after India had put up 167 for 5, which meant a 22-run win for the visitors on the DLS method, giving India the three-match series 2-0 with one game left to play.

Pollard did have a better outing in the first game of the series in Florida - his first game for West Indies since November 2018 - where he scored 49 in 49 balls in a poor West Indies batting effort of 95 for 9.

The third and final match of the series will be played at Providence Stadium in Guyana later today.

After working out for the Arizona Cardinals on Monday, free-agent receiver Michael Crabtree received an offer from the club, but the two sides could not agree to terms, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Crabtree, who was released by the Baltimore Ravens in February after one disappointing season with the club, remains a free agent and is looking for a new team.

Crabtree, 31, made 54 catches -- his fewest in a full season since his 2009 rookie year -- for 607 yards and three touchdowns last season. He also led the NFL with eight dropped passes last season, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Baltimore signed Crabtree to a three-year, $21 million deal last March, hoping he would make tough, contested catches. But Crabtree struggled catching the ball all season and dropped a potential winning touchdown pass in the final minute of regulation in a 12-9 overtime loss in Cleveland.

Crabtree, the 10th overall pick in the 2009 draft, played his first nine seasons in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders. His 28 touchdown catches are the seventh most in the NFL since 2015, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Information from ESPN's Jamison Hensley was used in this report.

Former Wales flanker Martyn Williams says Warren Gatland's side will have their "fingers crossed" they suffer no more back-row injuries.

British and Irish Lions number eight Taulupe Faletau has been ruled out of the World Cup with a collarbone injury.

Williams says Wales are still in good shape at number eight as long as Ross Moriarty stays fit.

"It is a huge blow but Wales have managed without Faletau over the last 18 months," Williams said.

"Ross Moriarty was sensational playing number eight during the Six Nations and the Grand Slam, and obviously we had a clean-sweep in the autumn as well when Faletau was injured.

"What it does is put huge pressure now and everyone with their fingers crossed that nobody else gets injured in that back-row.

"Particularly Moriarty because he's the only specialist number eight, although maybe Josh Navidi is the other guy who could do a job at eight."

Faletau has played 72 times for Wales since making his debut against the Barbarians in 2011 and has also played four Tests for the Lions across two tours.

But the Bath player has not played in a Test since March 2018 and fractured his right forearm in October 2018.

He re-broke the same arm last January and had been on his way back from that injury before suffering the latest setback during Wales training.

"Faletau is a world-class player, he's proven for Wales how valuable he's been since he made his debut back in 2011," Williams added.

"You feel personally for him as well, because he would have worked hard to get back after such a difficult injury as his broken arm."

Wales play two Tests against England - the first at Twickenham on 11 August - and two against Ireland before their World Cup starts against Georgia on 23 September.

Williams admits there is a risk that more injuries could occur during those warm-ups, but says the Wales players must go into the World Cup with tough games already under their belts.

"In some ways they're a necessary evil, you cannot have no competitive rugby if you're a northern hemisphere player and your season finished in May," said Williams, who won 100 Wales caps and played in three World Cups.

"I know a lot of people are questioning why they have four such tough games, but the players are not going to play in every one.

"It's a difficult balancing act, you don't want to lose any key players but you're just as likely to get injured in training."

One month on from that incredible World Cup final and all the agony it sparked in them, New Zealand will take on Sri Lanka in a Test match in Galle. The encounter is the sole focus now, senior batsman Ross Taylor has said, especially since it marks the start of their run in an "exciting" new competition: the World Test Championship (WTC).

"I'm excited," Taylor said, according to stuff.co.nz. "The Test Championship is a new concept. Names and numbers on your backs, but Tests need something different and I believe this can give it a bit of a kick-start and liven it up."

What about the World Cup final then? "Time's a bit of a healer, and we've got new personnel who didn't play in the final," Taylor said.

The Galle Test is one of two New Zealand play against Sri Lanka, with 60 WTC points on offer each. Sri Lanka at home is often a challenging proposition, but New Zealand are the No. 2-ranked team in Test cricket, behind only India in the rankings, and are coming off five consecutive series victories in the longest format. Besides, they have the P Sara Oval Test of 2012 to guide them along.

ALSO READ: All you need to know about the 2019-21 World Test Championship

"Going over to Sri Lanka and playing Test cricket... it's a pretty hard place to play, but we've had success in the past," Taylor said. "Obviously spin is going to play a bit part. We've picked four spinners [legspinner Todd Astle, offspinner William Somerville, and left-armers Ajaz Patel and Mitchell Santner] but the team is a very settled line-up. And don't underestimate how pace plays a part.

"We won there in 2012, and it was pace that did the majority of the damage. We've just got to assess the conditions once we get over there."

At the P Sara Oval in 2012, New Zealand won by 167 runs, with their first-choice pace duo of Trent Boult and Tim Southee claiming 15 of the 19 Sri Lanka wickets to fall to bowlers in the game. Taylor was Player of the Match, though, for his first-innings 142 and second-innings 74.

This time, Taylor and New Zealand will have a new batting coach working with them. Former Test opener Peter Fulton is set for his first series in the role. "[Playing spin in Sri Lanka] is something we've been preparing a lot for," Taylor said. "And Peter Fulton, we're looking forward to working with him and picking his brains and getting some new ideas."

It's finally August, which means it's officially fantasy football season. Training camp is in full swing, preseason games are underway, the ESPN Fantasy Football Marathon is right around the corner, and our experts are here with our latest mock draft.

On the heels of our 10-team PPR and 10-team non-PPR mocks, this is a 12-team, 16-round PPR version.

With major questions concerning the availability of running backs Ezekiel Elliott, Todd Gurley II and Melvin Gordon, it's worth noting that they all went in the first round. Time will tell whether that changes as we get closer to the regular season.

Meanwhile, the consensus top two tight ends were snagged in Round 2. As is typically the case with our experts, who nearly always wait to take quarterbacks, only two QBs were selected before Round 8.

Take a look through each of our mock drafts throughout the preseason to get your bearings on where to take certain players and see how our experts construct their teams.

The participants, in order of draft position, were Tristan H. Cockcroft, KC Joyner, Jim McCormick, Kyle Soppe, Field Yates, Keith Lipscomb, André Snellings, Eric Karabell, Mike Clay, Tom Carpenter, Matt Bowen and Matthew Berry.

Alejandro Bedoya was voted MLS Player of the Week for his long-range goal in the Philadelphia Union's 5-1 defeat of D.C. United on Sunday, after which he implored Congress to take action on gun violence following two mass shootings in the U.S. last weekend.

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Bedoya started the lopsided win in the third minute when his dragged shot from outside of the 18-yard box beat D.C. goalkeeper Bill Hamid at the far post.

After scoring, Bedoya ran toward the corner of the field, grabbed an on-field television microphone and shouted into it: "Hey, Congress, do something now. End gun violence. Let's go!"

Bedoya's remarks came in the wake of a shooting Saturday in El Paso, Texas, that left 22 dead and more than two dozen injured, and one in Dayton, Ohio, in the early hours of Sunday morning that killed nine people and injured at least 27.

The MLS Player of the Week for Week 22 is @AleBedoya17! ? pic.twitter.com/QZUbhbWqUS

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 5, 2019

MLS confirmed to ESPN FC and other outlets on Monday that Bedoya would not be fined or suspended for making a political statement on the field, and later addressed his actions in an official release.

"The Major League Soccer family joins everyone grieving for the loss of lives in Texas and Ohio, and we understand that our players and staff have strong and passionate views on the issue," the league said in a statement on Monday afternoon.

Bedoya said after the game that a friend suggested he use his platform as a professional athlete to spread his feelings on the issue, and he continued to share his thoughts in a message posted on his Instagram account the following day.

The goal was 32-year-old U.S. international's third of the season for the first-placed Union.

The MLS Player of the Week is selected by a panel of journalists and a Twitter fan vote.

LOS ANGELES -- Julio Urias, not long removed from being one of the brightest prospects in the industry, has been everything and nothing for the 2019 Los Angeles Dodgers, operating as a multi-inning reliever with no solidified responsibility and no set schedule.

His role for 2020 has already been determined.

"We project him to be a starter for us next year," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, "and many years to come."

But Urias' role for 2019 remains murky.

One option -- the most appealing, and perhaps also the most likely -- is to use him as a late-inning, high-leverage reliever, perhaps even as Kenley Jansen's setup man. The role remains wide open because prized free-agent acquisition Joe Kelly struggled mightily at the beginning of the season and the front office did not acquire another high-end reliever before Wednesday's trade deadline.

The Dodgers have been careful with Urias' workload since he returned from a lengthy shoulder rehab last September, but Roberts said the team is "considering" using Urias as a late-inning option who could appear in back-to-back days during the postseason.

"If we decide to go that route," Roberts said, "I still think that there is time to morph into that role, and give him the back-to-back, shorten his appearances and things like that, which kind of could simulate more of a working situation as far as playoff workload."

Kelly, Pedro Baez, starting pitcher Kenta Maeda and recently acquired lefty specialist Adam Kolarek are also among the options to pitch the eighth inning of a close game. Another bullpen option could be Rich Hill, who is still working his way back from an elbow injury and said Monday that he is open to returning as a reliever if there isn't enough time to get stretched out as a starting pitcher.

Urias, seven days shy of his 23rd birthday, pitched out of the bullpen last October, allowing only a couple of runs in a combined 6⅓ innings. He has spent the entire 2019 season in the major leagues, posting a 2.59 ERA, a 1.09 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) and a 3.10 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 62⅔ innings, with at least three days off between all but two of his 25 appearances.

Roberts said Urias "has handled everything that's come his way with flying colors."

BALTIMORE -- Sometimes, baseball isn't all that mystifying. Match a hard-hitting lineup against an inexperienced pitching staff, put them both in a small ballpark, and the result is quite predictable.

Such is the case when the New York Yankees face the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.

The Yankees hit five more home runs at their favorite road destination to set a major league record and win their 13th straight game in Baltimore, 9-6 on Monday night.

New York's power surge and sixth straight win overshadowed a memorable night for Baltimore's Jonathan Villar, who became the fifth Orioles player to hit for the cycle and first since Felix Pie on Aug. 14, 2009. Villar tripled in the third inning, doubled in the fifth, homered in the sixth and dumped a single into right field off Aroldis Chapman in the ninth. Although it looked as if Villar had no interest in heading to second base on the poke near the line, he later said he had no idea that the single completed the cycle.

"I wasn't paying attention to that,'' he said. "When I hit a base hit right there, the coach at first, he said, 'Congratulations, you hit for the cycle.' Right there, I knew I hit for the cycle.''

Mike Tauchman delivered a bases-empty drive in the sixth inning and a solo shot off Paul Fry (1-4) in the eighth, his first career multihomer game. Austin Romine, Brett Gardner and Mike Ford also connected for the Yankees.

Not exactly Murderers' Row, but certainly effective enough.

"That's been a theme for us all year,'' manager Aaron Boone said. "They can come from a lot of different places, and the bottom of the order is a place where we've gotten really good production and a place where we feel really confident.''

New York has hit 32 home runs at Camden Yards, a single-season record for most by a visiting team in one ballpark. The mark was previously held by the Milwaukee Braves, who hit 29 at Cincinnati's Crosley Field in 1957. The Yankees did it in only eight games, and they can add to the record on Tuesday and Wednesday against a woeful pitching staff that has yielded the most home runs in the majors.

Ford, a rookie, didn't need much time to realize that it doesn't take much to hit a baseball over the close-in outfield fence on a toasty night in Baltimore.

"This is my first time here, but just seeing it tonight, the ball flies pretty good,'' he said.

Orioles starter Gabriel Ynoa, part of a staff that has yielded 223 home runs, said of facing the Yankees: "You know that if you miss your pitches, something bad may happen to you.''

Since July 2018, New York has won 13 in a row in Baltimore. That matches the Yankees' longest road winning streak against one team since they dominated the St. Louis Browns from May 1939 to June 1940. Adam Ottavino (5-3) pitched the seventh inning for New York and Chapman worked the ninth for his 30th save.

Yankees shortstop Gleyber Torres started at designated hitter, less than 24 hours after he left a game against Boston to be treated at a hospital for a core issue. Torres underwent an ultrasound test and was given medication to deal with an injury he described as "something weird I never felt.''

Torres went 0 for 5 and jogged to first base after hitting a grounder to third in the fourth inning.

The Orioles had runners thrown out at the plate in the third and fourth innings. Trey Mancini was cut down trying to score on a double by Anthony Santander, and Jace Peterson was tossed out on the front end of a double steal. Manager Brandon Hyde didn't like the call on the latter play, which was upheld after a replay review.

"I thought it was joke, to be honest with you,'' he said. "I thought it was pathetic.''

New York No. 9 hitter Breyvic Valera hit a two-run triple and scored in the fifth for a 4-1 lead. Homers by Gardner and Tauchman made it 6-1 in the sixth before the Orioles countered with five runs in the bottom half. Peterson and Villar each homered with a man on around a sacrifice fly by Chris Davis.

Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka gave up five runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings.

STREAKY DIDI

Didi Gregorius singled in the fifth inning and now has reached base safely in 31 straight games against Baltimore. He's gotten at least one hit in 29 of those games and has a 12-game hitting streak against the Orioles that began in April 2018.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Yankees: 3B Gio Urshela did not play Monday after fouling balls off both legs in the same at-bat Sunday. Urshela said he was feeling better and insisted he could play. ... C Gary Sanchez (10-day IL, left groin strain) is scheduled to rehab Wednesday and Thursday at Triple-A Scranton. "He'll catch both days and then hopefully travel to Toronto and be an active player by the weekend,'' Boone said.

Orioles: OF Dwight Smith Jr. said his injured left calf is improving but he doubts that he will be fully ready to play when he's eligible to come off the 10-day IL on Friday. . RHP Miguel Castro is still battling an illness and his availability for the series opener was "iffy,'' Hyde said. Castro hasn't pitched since July 30.

UP NEXT

Yankees: Jonathan Holder (5-2, 6.28 ERA) will make his first start of the year on Tuesday night.

Orioles: Rookie Asher Wojciechowski (2-4, 4.15) had his two-game winning streak end Thursday night in an 11-2 loss to Toronto.