The BCCI's acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary has been asked to explain his absence from key ICC and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meetings held recently for which he was nominated as the Indian board's representative. Choudhary has been served a showcause notice by the three-person Committee of Administrators (CoA), and given a week to respond. In the notice, accessed by ESPNcricinfo, the CoA said that Choudhary's actions put the BCCI at "considerable risk" as the board went unrepresented.

It is understood that if Choudhary does not respond or if his reply is found to be unsatisfactory, the CoA could bar him from attending any future meetings on behalf of the BCCI. The first of the ICC quarterly meetings is scheduled for October. Choudhary, who is one of the three elected office bearers, is yet to make a comment and did not respond when ESPNcricinfo contacted him.

The first meeting that Choudhary did not attend was the ICC Board meeting during the global body's annual conference held in London between July 14 and 20. The second was the ACC AGM that took place on September 3 in Bangkok.

The relationship between Choudhary and the CoA has been strained ever since the panel was appointed by the Supreme Court to supervise the BCCI in January 2017. In its notice, sent on Sunday, the CoA said that even in the past ICC and ACC meetings that he attended, Choudhary never "deemed it appropriate" to brief the CoA on the agenda or "taken its mandate" or "even bothered" to share the minutes of the meetings.

The CoA pointed out that Choudhary once again kept the BCCI "in the dark" and pulled out of the two meetings at the last minute.

"It has now come to the notice of the Committee of Administrators that in the last meetings of the ICC and the ACC, not only did you not attend the meetings but kept the BCCI in dark about your unavailability either until it was too late or altogether," the CoA said in the notice. "Your aforesaid conduct left the BCCI unrepresented in the said meetings and exposed the organisation to considerable risk."

The CoA said that Choudhary sent a note directly to the ICC, and not to the BCCI, on July 12 saying he would not be able to attend the meetings in London, and that a replacement should be appointed. The reason given was he was unwell. Surprised by this, the CoA then asked the ICC to let Rahul Johri, the BCCI chief executive officer, attend the meetings as an observer, which he eventually did.

"The ICC Conference was scheduled from 14th to 20th of July 2019," the CoA said in the notice. "The Committee of Administrators came to learn of your unavailability to attend the ICC Conference scheduled in London for the 14th July on 12th July when you merely forwarded your e-mail dated 12th July 2019 to ICC, informing the ICC of your unavailability for the said meetings. The short notice did not leave any room with the Committee of Administrators to appoint a replacement to attend the said meetings in London. Consequently, the BCCI was unrepresented in the board meeting of the ICC."

For the Bangkok meeting, Choudhary, the CoA said, informed the ACC only on the morning of the meeting. It is understood that no BCCI official participated in the ACC board meeting eventually, but Johri attended some of the other ACC meetings in Bangkok which he attends as the chief executive.

"The Committee of Administrators had approved your travel to Bangkok to attend the ACC AGM on September 3, 2019," the CoA said. "Again at the eleventh hour you failed to attend the ACC meeting, leaving the interests of the BCCI unattended. You did not even deem it necessary to inform the Committee of Administrators of your unavailability to attend the said meeting. The Committee of Administrators learnt of your unavailability, and that too without knowing the reason for the absence, from the Secretary of the ACC as you had mailed to him of your unavailability to attend. Thus, the BCCI learnt from the ACC that its own representative was not attending the meeting on the morning of the meeting.

"This was most humiliating for the Committee of Administrators and the organisation. Besides the fact that in both the meetings the BCCI went unrepresented, its interests have been seriously compromised by your action."

Tim Paine has described Steven Smith as "the best player I have ever seen", after Australia sealed the Ashes with a thrilling 185-run win on the final afternoon of the fourth Test at Old Trafford.

Paine, who took over from Smith as Australia's captain last year, in the wake of the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal that led to his year-long ban from cricket, admitted to being in awe of his talents, after a haul of 671 runs in five innings peaked with his twin innings of 211 and 82 at Old Trafford.

"He's pretty handy, I won't lie," Paine said during the post-match presentations. "He's the best player I've ever seen. Obviously his 200 was phenomenal but yesterday to push the game forward put England under pressure. He's got a lot of courage to take teams on."

Paine himself contributed an important half-century in partnership with Smith in the first innings, but has now secured himself a place in Australian folklore as the first captain to retain the Ashes in England since the great Steve Waugh in 2001.

And seeing as, two winters ago, Paine had been contemplating his retirement from professional cricket after receiving an offer of a full-time role at the bat-makers, Kookaburra, the turnaround in his fortunes was doubly hard to quantify.

"It's a very funny game," he said, "even half an hour ago [during England's ninth-wicket stand] I was thinking I should have taken that job. I'm really humbled to come here as captain and do something really special. We'll enjoy tonight but we came here to win them, not just to retain them. We'd love to be 3-1 up when we hold the urn aloft."

"I'm pretty pumped," he added. "This team has been through a lot in the last 12-18 months. Some individuals more than others. The character we've shown to bounce back, even from Headingley last week, shows a lot about the quality of the people.

"It's been an unbelievable series, I've not had too much sleep during the Tests. It's been intense. Every game has gone down to the wire. That's what you expect and prepare for."

The key moment on the final afternoon came when Paine turned to the part-time legspin of Marnus Labuschagne, who prised out the obdurate Jack Leach with the final hour of the match approaching. He described that decision as a bit of a "guess", but paid tribute to the manner in which his players had held their nerve.

"I was really proud the way our bowlers kept sticking at it as they have all series and we said we'd get our rewards late," he said. "Sometimes I didn't believe it but today we did.

"We tried to stay calm, not always easy when it means so much to everyone and everyone is so invested in it. I thought we handled it pretty well, and the whole week coming out of Headingley. I'm really pumped the boys got what they deserved."

Reacting to the loss of the Ashes, a crestfallen Joe Root said: "I thought we showed great character today, I couldn't be more proud of the effort. As last week we always believed, we fight right to the end. We tried our hardest.

"We had some fantastic support, so it's bitterly disappointing. But we've got to make sure we turn up for what's still quite a big game at The Oval."

The Southeastern Conference held three of the top four spots in The Associated Press college football poll after LSU's road victory against Texas pushed the Tigers to No. 4.

Clemson remained No. 1 on Sunday, receiving 56 first-place votes out of 62 in the Top 25 presented by Regions Bank. No. 2 Alabama received 6 first-place votes and Georgia stayed at No. 3. LSU jumped two spots after winning 45-38 at Texas on Saturday to make it three straight SEC teams after Clemson. The last conference to hold three of the top four spots in the poll was the SEC on Nov. 2, 2014, when Mississippi State was No. 1, Auburn was third and Alabama fourth.

Southern California, which was unranked in the preseason for the first time since 2001, moved in at No. 24 after beating Stanford 45-20.

POLL POINTS

The SEC has half the top-10 teams in the country after two weeks of the regular season, with Auburn moving up to No. 8 and Florida rising to No. 9. The Tigers and Gators were two of several teams to get a bump in the rankings thanks to Michigan. The Wolverines dodged an upset, beating Army 24-21 in double overtime, but dropped three spots to No. 10.

Texas fell out of the top 10, dropping three spots to No. 12.

IN

- No. 21 Maryland is ranked for the first time since joining the Big Ten after a surprisingly easy 63-20 victory over Syracuse. The Terrapins have scored 142 points in two games under new coach Mike Locksley. The last time Maryland was ranked was 2013, when the Terps were still in the ACC, and they spent a week in early October at No. 25.

- No. 25 Virginia is ranked after a 2-0 start.

OUT

- Syracuse dropped out of the ranking after being handed the most lopsided loss (43 points) by a ranked team to an unranked team in 20 years. In October 1999, unranked Oklahoma beat No. 13 Texas A&M 51-6.

- Stanford fell out after USC scored the final 35 points of their game Saturday night.

- Nebraska is out after letting a 17-0 lead slip away at Colorado and losing in overtime.

- Iowa State, which barely held on to its ranking after needing OT to beat Northern Iowa in Week 1, dropped out in an idle week.

CONFERENCE CALL

Big Ten -- 7

SEC -- 6

Pac 12 -- 5

Big 12 -- 2

ACC -- 2

American -- 1

Mountain West -- 1

Independent -- 1

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Tyreek Hill left the Kansas City Chiefs' lineup with a shoulder injury after being tackled by cornerback Jalen Ramsey late in the first half of Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Hill, who was carted off the field after the injury, did not return to the game.

The Chiefs' other starting wide receiver, Sammy Watkins, had a career game in Hill's absence. Watkins had a career-high 178 yards in the first half, breaking his personal best by 10 yards. Watkins also had two first-half touchdowns, one going for 68 yards after he took a short pass and outran defenders to the end. The other was for 49 yards.

Patrick Mahomes threw for 313 yards in the first half.

Hill signed a three-year extension Friday, with sources telling ESPN's Adam Schefter that it is worth $54 million and includes $35 million guaranteed.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Quarterback Nick Foles' debut for the Jacksonville Jaguars lasted less than a quarter.

Foles suffered a left-shoulder injury when Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones drove him into the ground after Foles released the ball on a 35-yard touchdown pass to DJ Chark. He left the sideline for X-rays and was ruled out of the game shortly after.

Backup quarterback Gardner Minshew, the team's sixth-round pick this past April, entered the game on the Jaguars' ensuing drive. The Jaguars don't have another quarterback on the active roster. They signed Chase Litton to the practice squad last week.

Things got even worse for the Jaguars in the second quarter when middle linebacker Myles Jack was ejected after throwing a punch at Chiefs receiver Demarcus Robinson.

Jack was penalized for illegal contact on Chiefs receiver Sammy Watkins in the end zone. Jack shoved Watkins after the play and Robinson ran over and shoved Jack from behind. The two players exchanged words and Jack tried to punch Robinson in the helmet. Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey ran up and jumped into the scrum, as well.

Robinson, Jack and Chiefs running back Damien Williams were penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct. Jack was incensed and had to be restrained by teammates from going after Chiefs players after his ejection was announced.

Jack was the Jaguars' most experienced linebacker and one of the defensive captains. He was replaced by Najee Goode.

The Jaguars signed Foles to a four-year, $88 million contract with a team-record $50.125 million guaranteed in March. He led Philadelphia to a Super Bowl LII victory while subbing for an injured Carson Wentz (he was named MVP in that game) and subbed for Wentz to lead the Eagles to the playoffs last season.

Foles has dealt with injuries throughout his career and was on the injury report this week because of soreness in his oblique muscle. Foles played in only 19 snaps in the preseason -- the third game against Miami -- because coach Doug Marrone did not want him on the field unless the starting offensive line was healthy and able to play.

Foles has entered the season as his team's unquestioned starter just twice before and failed to finish the season. He missed the final eight games of the 2014 season with a broken collarbone and was benched for Case Keenum in 2015.

SHENZHEN, China -- In the Rio Olympics three years ago, Team USA averaged 101 points a game with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Carmelo Anthony leading an electric offense.

In the 2014 World Cup in Spain, the Americans averaged 105 points with Irving, James Harden, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson combining to shoot a sizzling 46% on 3-pointers.

Back in 2012 in the London Olympics, an absolutely loaded Team USA with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Durant, Anthony and Harden averaged an incredible 116 points in each 40-minute game.

That firepower was how the U.S. dominated those events, bludgeoning the opposition with scoring. But in the 2019 FIBA World Cup, that hasn't been the case at all.

The Americans are a perfect 4-0 after their quality victory over Greece on Saturday night and are all but assured a spot in the quarterfinals that begin Wednesday. A victory over Brazil on Monday night would clinch the top spot in their group and a more favorable matchup when the knockout round starts.

So they're getting the job done. But the days of offense to spare are in the past for now.

Ten days into the tournament, the U.S. is averaging just 87 points per game, only eighth best in the 32-team field. Frankly, it's remarkable that the team ranks as high as that, with a woeful 20th in field goal percentage at just 42.6% and 18th in 3-point percentage at 32.8%. With the closer 3-point line in FIBA play, that is a disappointing number to say the least.

The opposition is about to get much better, so it stands to reason Team USA is going to have to find some more offense at some point if it's going to win its third straight cup.

"We obviously want to shoot better, we have to get better," said Joe Harris, who is one of the few bright shooting spots, as he has made 58% of his 3-pointers in the four games. "Sometimes shooting is contagious, the rhythm hasn't necessarily been there."

Day after day in China, coach Gregg Popovich and various players have talked about the importance of defense with this combination of players. And they're playing it, they're active and they pressure the ball and they rotate and they cheer for each other. The Americans have been one of the World Cup's best defensive teams, giving up just 64 points a game on a very impressive 36% shooting.

You could go back to each of those past three offense-laden teams and point out how much better the Team USA defense has been with this group. For example, in Rio the Americans gave up 78 points a game. Nonetheless, the shaky offensive output is worrisome.

"The defense is ahead of the offense for sure, but that's expected with 12 guys who have never played together before," Popovich said. "Each day that we have we hope that our execution can get better and better and we learn as coaches what's best for these guys."

Kemba Walker has been the only consistent option, averaging 14.8 points and shooting 40% from 3-point range. Donovan Mitchell, who is being counted on for offense, is shooting just 44% overall and has gone through cold spells. Before he got hurt, Jayson Tatum was shooting just 32 percent. Khris Middleton, whose role for this team is to be a scorer off the bench, is shooting 39%.

"When you look at past USA teams, scoring has not been an issue. There's been a lot of talent," said Harrison Barnes, who was on the 2016 team. "For us, defense is how we're going to stay in games and compete and that's what has been carrying us right now."

Maybe "right now" lasts another week -- that's all they need. But it's a little bit of an uncomfortable position that the team isn't used to, worrying about points. There are times when the U.S. is generating good shots and missing. But the more the missed shots pile up, the more the opposition makes it harder on Team USA.

Over the past three games the Americans have seen healthy doses of zone defense as opponents look to cut off Walker's and Mitchell's driving ability. With that team 3-point percentage so low, it's a guarantee that will continue. The players aren't used to seeing zone, and a few weeks of practice against it doesn't break old habits.

"Teams are going to play zone against us and we have to be confident, we can't be reactive, we've got to be aggressive hunting shots," Harris said. "I think we'll inch our way there."

All-Star outfielder George Springer is back in the Houston Astros' lineup Sunday after missing three games with a concussion.

Springer is leading off and playing right field Sunday against the Seattle Mariners.

He suffered the concussion on Tuesday against the Brewers after crashing into the center-field wall while making a catch in Milwaukee.

Springer is hitting .297 with 30 home runs and 78 RBIs this season.

NEW YORK -- Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper is still out of the starting lineup because of an injured right hand.

Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said he hoped Harper could pinch-hit Sunday against the New York Mets if needed. Harper could start Monday night at home against Atlanta.

The Phillies began the day three games behind the Chicago Cubs for the second NL wild-card spot.

Harper hasn't played since being hit by a fastball from Mets lefty Steven Matz on Friday night. X-rays were negative.

Harper is hitting .254 with 30 homers, 100 RBIs and an .869 OPS, including 12 homers and a .965 OPS in 30 games since Aug. 1.

On June 19, 2018, Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Steven Brault sang the national anthem before a home game against the Milwaukee Brewers. He crushed it, which should come as no surprise given his background.

Growing up outside of San Diego, Brault (rhymes with "salt," not with "so") started performing as a kid. His first show was "Rip Van Winkle," which led to roles in "My Fair Lady," "Guys and Dolls," and (of course) "Damn Yankees." In high school, he joined the choir and fronted a rock band called Off the Water (you can still find their tunes on Spotify). After graduating, Brault attended Regis University in Denver because it was the only school that would allow him to do a vocal performance major while also playing baseball.

The decision worked out pretty well, as Brault was eventually selected in the 11th round of the 2013 draft. Three years after that, he made his big league pitching debut with the Pirates. And two years after that, he made his big league singing debut.

Given that the 26-year old lefty/tenor listens to the anthem every day for his job -- and has now performed it in both the minor leagues and in The Show -- he's pretty much an expert. So we asked him to go deep on all things anthem, and some other music stuff, as he prepares to make his encore today at PNC Park.

Cardinal anthem sin: "People that do it too slow. People that add too much. Adding a little bit, making it your own? Totally cool. But adding a bunch of vocal runs and making the thing a completely different song? No. If you don't hit the right notes, that's annoying, but the main thing for all of us is pace. You can ask any major league baseball player. We love it when you just bang it out. Just sing it, sing it right, and just get through it and get done, and we can all be happy."

Best anthems: "It's very rare to have something that absolutely blows you away. I don't remember the woman's name, but I was in Triple-A with Indianapolis in '16, and this woman sang an absolutely incredible anthem. It was quick, but perfectly on pitch. Nice, colorful voice. It was just a great experience for everybody involved. Have you ever seen Jack Black sing the national anthem? Check it out online. He has one of the best anthems. It's really, really good. I love his voice. He can do anything. I've seen 'School of Rock' a million times."

Worst anthems: "Instrumental national anthems. I don't like the Jimi Hendrix one. You have to embellish it to make it interesting, but you have to keep it short. We saw a guy who's the head violinist at the National Symphony Orchestra in D.C. in 2017, the last weekend. And he was so good. He played electric violin, and it was a baseball bat that he made into a violin [Glenn Donnellan and his batolin]. I don't like the Whitney Houston one, either. It's just too long. It's too much. You can be a great singer, but you can still ruin the anthem. It's got to be perfect. Twice this [past] spring, we heard this guy play it on the steel drums, and it was pretty good actually. Very tropical."

Ever screw up the anthem? "No, thank god. There's only one time that I screwed up the words on stage in anything that I've done, and I remember it so vividly because I completely froze. I was in eighth grade, and this girl asked to me sing with her on 'Think of Me' from 'Phantom of the Opera.' I went on stage and I just froze. Froze. Didn't say anything. Just stood there sweating like crazy, frozen. And then badda-bing, badda-boom, the part ended, and I just walked right off stage. She kept singing, and I started crying backstage. I'll never forget that, and hopefully it won't happen again."

Anthem pet peeve: "Pair-oh-liss instead of pair-ih-luss. It's not a word. Through the pair-oh-liss fight? That is not a word. So that would be my pet peeve. Also, a lot of people, when they go 'by the dawn's early light,' they don't hit the right note on 'early.' They'll do something different in there. Don't get me wrong -- I'm not perfect. But my anthem was strong. I was happy with it."

#Pirates pitcher Steven Brault is slated to sing the national anthem on July 2. Here's Brault as an 11th grader in "Damn Yankees." (Courtesy Brault family) pic.twitter.com/lUBUMzFfpV

— Eddie Matz (@ESPNeddiematz) July 1, 2019

Idol or Voice? "I watched 'American Idol' a lot when it first came out, when I was younger, for the first few seasons. And then I watched 'The Voice' when it first came out because I thought it was a cool idea. But since then, not really. Now there's just so many variety shows, it's not fun. It's kind of overdone at this point. I thought about trying out for 'The Voice.' Two years ago, my agent and I were actually going to get a scheduled audition, but the only auditions they had were right before spring training, so then I would have to miss spring training to do the audition, and that's not going to happen."

Non-anthem rotation: "My favorite musician is Chris Cornell, the lead singer of Soundgarden and Audioslave. Temple of the Dog, all that stuff. I love Pearl Jam, and then getting into more recent stuff, I like rap. I like J. Cole, I like Logic. I still listen to a lot of musicals, too. Right now, I've been listening to 'Catch Me If You Can,' 'Waitress,' and obviously 'Dear Evan Hansen,' 'Hamilton,' and all those super-popular ones. I love 'Wicked.' I love, love it. I think I've seen it four times. Haven't seen 'Hamilton' yet, but I know every word. I just don't want to pay $400 a ticket. I'm just always late on those things. I usually see it on the second time around -- like 'Wicked,' I didn't see for the first two years. And then I saw it and I was like, god damn it, now I have to see it again and again and again and again."