Alex Wakely has resigned as captain of Northamptonshire in both red-ball and white-ball cricket with immediate effect.

His decision ends a period in which the club won the domestic T20 title twice - making Wakely the first captain in Northants' history to lift two major trophies.

Under Wakely's leadership, Northants became one of the most popular T20 sides in county history as a heavyweight squad attracted growing admiration.

Off the field, he encouraged a relaxed and inclusive atmosphere which helped to revive a small and financially-stressed county, and by doing so turned the club into one of the happiest in the country.

Adam Rossington will take charge of the side for the Specsavers County Championship match away to Durham next week, with Josh Cobb leading the Vitality Blast campaign.

"It's been an honour and a privilege to captain Northamptonshire over the past few years but now I feel it's time for someone new to have that honour," Wakely said. "It's not a decision I've taken lightly. I've deliberated long and hard with family and friends for several weeks."

A product of Northamptonshire's academy and England's captain in the 2008 Under-19s World Cup, Wakely took charge of the one-day side in 2013 whilst also becoming vice-captain under Stephen Peters in the Championship.

That summer saw the Steelbacks claim the T20 honours at Edgbaston and also achieve promotion to Division One in four-day cricket for the first time in a decade.

After missing the entire 2014 season through injury, Wakely was appointed captain in all formats in 2015. The following season, despite continuing financial constraints, Northamptonshire repeated their T20 triumph in Birmingham.

In 2017 the team responded to Wakely's insistence that they were 'fed up with being average' in the Championship and surprised many observers by logging nine victories in 14 games (the club's second-highest percentage of wins in the competition, exceeded only in 1995) and sustaining a promotion challenge through to the final day of the campaign.

But those standards have begun to fall away and Wakely's disillusioned comments after another bad day with bat or ball had become increasingly common, culminating in an innings defeat against Glamorgan at Wantage Road.

He led the side 198 times in all formats (a figure surpassed only by Geoff Cook, Jim Watts and Allan Lamb) and his tally of 20 first-class victories ranks him as one of the club's top ten most successful skippers in the longer game since 1905.

"Wakers is one of the best blokes in cricket, nobody has a bad word to say about him, said head coach David Ripley. "His captaincy record is there for all to see: trophies in the bag. I look forward to seeing him go on for many years as a player where he still has loads to offer."

Northamptonshire's chairman Gavin Warren said: "Alex led the team during a period of financial challenge. He will go down in the history books as one of our outstanding leaders."

Somerset 344 and 153 (Hildreth 64, Dunn 5-43) beat Surrey 231 (Patel 63, Foakes 57) and 164 (Burns 48, Brooks 5-33) by 102 runs

A thrilling burst of three wickets in seven balls by Jack Brooks propelled Somerset towards a 102-run victory against Surrey at Guildford that will fuel dreams in the West Country of a historic first County Championship title.

Surrey were bowled out for 164 in their second innings, losing eight wickets on the final morning in just over an hour and a half. It is Somerset's fourth win from five matches this season, and takes them to the top of the Division One table with a lead of 15 points over second-placed Hampshire.

Fast bowler Brooks removed nightwatchman Gareth Batty and then claimed the prized scalps of South African Test batsman Dean Elgar and England wicketkeeper-batsman Ben Foakes in a spell of 5-1-11-3 in the first 45 minutes of a final day that began with champions Surrey, at 99 for 2, needing another 168 runs to beat the team who finished runners-up to them last season.

Having slid to 120 for 5 as a result of Brooks' triple strike, which gave him overall figures of 5 for 33, Surrey then took further heavy blows from seamer Tim Groenewald, who bowled Scott Borthwick for 45 with his first ball and followed up by pinning Will Jacks leg-before in his second over.

Left-hander Borthwick, who started the day on 35 and had featured in a second wicket stand of 72 in 27 overs with his captain, Rory Burns, on the third evening to raise Surrey hopes, was undone by a superb ball which swung back into him. Jacks, who made 0, had no answer to a nip-backer.

It was swing, too, which Brooks found from the Railway End to undermine Surrey's chase in spectacular fashion. Batty, who had begun by edging Brooks safely past third slip for four and had gone to 14 by cover-driving Craig Overton for another boundary, was bowled aiming to pull a ball that was far too full for the shot.

Elgar was also bowled, off the inside edge for a third ball duck, as he tried to dig out a full delivery that curved back into him and Foakes, on 2, nicked a lovely away-swinger and was brilliantly caught low down by Marcus Trescothick at second slip.

Groenewald picked up a third wicket when Rikki Clarke drove at an outswinger and edged to keeper Steven Davies, who took a good tumbling catch in front of first slip, and the end was near for Surrey when Ryan Patel, having swatted Craig Overton over mid wicket for six to go to 27, wafted a catch to gully later in the same over as he tried to engineer a stroke to keep the strike.

It was all over at 12.34pm when Morne Morkel lofted Craig Overton straight to mid off to go for 2, giving the bowler figures of 2 for 59. Groenewald finished with 3 for 29. Somerset took 22 points, and Surrey 4.

"I just could not be prouder of the boys, and this was a massive win for us," said Tom Abell, Somerset's captain. "Surrey had eight Test players in their team and after yesterday I would probably have preferred to be in their position coming into today.

"But we said in the dressing room before play that if we bowled better than we did yesterday evening and started to build bowling partnerships then we could put them under pressure and that's exactly what we did. The bowling unit were outstanding today, and as captain you know that they will give you everything.

Surrey captain Rory Burns said: "Obviously it's very disappointing that we could not bat better today and get to that target, having bowled so well to get back into the match yesterday.

"There are lots of little things holding us back at the moment, and dropping Bartlett on 0 in the first innings clearly did not help us. That was a crucial moment in the context of this game,

"As a batting group, we are seeming to find ways of getting out and I think we did show at times that this was not an unplayable pitch. But, when you are the two batters out there, you have to seize that moment and build partnerships.

"We know we have to start getting things right, as a batting unit and as a team, but we are certainly not giving up on defending the title. We have played five matches, so there are nine games to go and we will be aiming to win all of them - that's the attitude we will take into the rest of the season, starting next week here at Guildford against Yorkshire."

PARIS -- In the latest surprise at a French Open filled with them, defending champion Simona Halep was knocked out in the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-4 loss to 17-year-old American Amanda Anisimova on Thursday.

"The pressure was on," said Halep, saying she felt "nerves, a little bit stressed. ... Maybe expectations from myself were big today and maybe I couldn't handle the tension in my body, so I couldn't move my best."

The 51st-ranked Anisimova's first Grand Slam semifinal will come against another player making her debut in that round of a major: No. 8 seed Ashleigh Barty.

The Australian advanced by beating No. 14 Madison Keys of the United States 6-3, 7-5.

The other semifinal scheduled for Friday is No. 26 Johanna Konta of Britain against unseeded 19-year-old Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic. Because a full day of play was lost to rain Wednesday, the women's semifinals -- normally Thursday, one after another in the main stadium -- will be played simultaneously on the second- and third-largest courts. The biggest arena will host the men's semifinals, including the much-anticipated matchup between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Barty will face Anisimova on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, while Konta takes on Vondrousova on Court Simonne-Mathieu. Play on both courts is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. local time, allowing both winners to have an equal amount of rest leading into Saturday's final. Being fair to the players was top of mind for French Open tournament director Guy Forget.

"If I was [one of the women] playing in that stage today, I would rather play on a smaller court -- although everyone says that Simonne-Mathieu is a magnificent court -- knowing that I will have enough time to rest, at least the same of my opponent the following day, because the finals is what I'm playing for," Forget, a former professional tennis player, told reporters Wednesday. "You know, you're afraid that some players might feel that it's a lack of respect [by moving one match to a smaller court] or we are just trying to diminish -- no. Ideally, when you see historically what has happened in the tournament, we try to be fair to everyone."

Not only has none of the four remaining women won a Grand Slam trophy, none has participated in a major singles final.

"I can't believe it. I mean, I've been working so hard, but I didn't think it would pay off like this," said Anisimova, already the first tennis player born in the 2000s to even get to a Slam quarterfinal. "This is honestly more than I could ask for."

Anisimova is the youngest American woman into the final four at Roland Garros since Jennifer Capriati was 14 in 1990.

She has yet to drop a set through five matches over these two weeks in Paris and displayed the same brand of confident, take-it-to-the-opponent strokes against Halep.

After her fourth-round victory, Anisimova referred to her "effortless shots," and they sure looked that way at Court Philippe Chatrier.

Anisimova, the junior runner-up at Roland Garros as a 14-year-old, is still precocious and still seemingly unfazed by the setting or stage.

Against Halep, a former No. 1 and someone who has reached four major finals, Anisimova repeatedly aimed the ball into corners or went for difficult angles -- and repeatedly succeeded. She ended up with a 25-16 edge in winners. Most impressive, perhaps, was this: Halep had won 16 consecutive return games coming into Thursday, but Anisimova saved 6 of 7 break points.

"I'm really happy with my performance," Anisimova said, "because this is one of the best matches I've ever played."

Keep in mind: This was only the teen's 43rd tour-level match of her nascent career. And this is only her fourth Grand Slam tournament.

Barty is older, 23, but missed about two years on tour when she switched sports and played cricket. She's progressing quickly now, though: Her first major quarterfinal came at home in January at the Australian Open, and now she's gone a step further.

Against Keys, a semifinalist in Paris last year and the runner-up at the 2017 U.S. Open, Barty used her backhand slice to great effect, helping create errors on the other side of the net.

Keys finished with a combined count of 52 unforced or forced errors, while Barty had 33.

Barty was asked afterward whether she was shocked that her game, seemingly built for hard courts, has been so good on slower clay.

"Yes," she replied, "very much so. I've been learning every single day."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- On the eve of Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Kyle Lowry declared he was going to do two things: Be more aggressive, and stay out of foul trouble.

He followed through on his promise Wednesday night, and as a result, the Toronto Raptors have a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

"Because I know how I am," Lowry told ESPN after finishing with 23 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists, a steal and a block in 43 minutes in Toronto's 123-109 win over the Golden State Warriors. "I know what type of basketball player I am. I understand that these situations are never going to be easy. I understand that we know it's a hostile environment that we're going to be in, and I've got to be that guy, that confidence builder, that confident type of basketball player."

Lowry was all of those things, and then some, for the Raptors. He shot 8-for-16 from the field, including 5-for-9 from 3-point range, and had only three turnovers. Perhaps more important, he committed only three fouls.

Lowry fouled out of Game 2 in Toronto with 3:52 left in the fourth quarter after committing a careless reach-in foul on Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins 92 feet from Golden State's basket. Lowry, who was 6-for-20 in the Finals entering Game 3, admitted Tuesday that it was a "frustration foul," as he allowed himself to let the struggles he had shooting the ball through the first two games of this series cloud his mind.

During Tuesday's practice, though, Raptors coach Nick Nurse had his video coordinators cue up footage of a teamwide epidemic of bad fouls that Toronto had been committing through the first two Finals games.

"We showed our team all the dumb fouls we took yesterday," Nurse told ESPN. "All of them. And we said we have to stop f---ing doing them. And he was one of many, but he was a very important one of many.

"He took that like he should've, like a leader, and did a much better job."

In a Game 3 that was full of fouls on both sides -- Toronto committed 22, Golden State 21 -- the Raptors didn't completely get away from the problem. But Lowry, after picking up two fouls late in the first half to go into halftime with three, didn't get another the rest of the game, allowing him to remain on the court and in charge of the team.

"I was a dumb fouler," he told ESPN. "We were putting our hands up, man. We still gave up, what, 30 free throws? Steph [Curry] had 14 again, but we put ourselves in better positions and put myself in a better position to stay on the floor."

It was good he did too, because he had things going offensively in a way he didn't the first two games. He was far from alone, though, as Toronto finished the game shooting 52.4% from the field and 17-for-38 (44.7%) from 3-point range -- with 11 of those made 3s coming from Lowry and Danny Green (6-for-10).

Someone on the Raptors wrote "Let it rip" on the whiteboard in the locker room pregame -- a mantra the team took to heart throughout Game 3, and to great effect.

"We haven't really had a good team-shooting night, and I knew eventually, at some point, we were due for one," Green said. "So, luckily, we got one tonight. But we still have to do a better job defensively on that end of the floor to limit those guys better, so we don't have to rely on our offense, or our shooting, to win games for us."

Green has a point, especially with the looming possibility of Golden State's two injured sharpshooters, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant, coming back for Friday's Game 4 at Oracle Arena after sitting out Wednesday night because of injuries.

The Warriors other than Curry -- who finished Game 3 with 47 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists -- shot just 6-for-22 from 3-point range. It stands to reason those numbers will improve if Thompson and/or Durant are on the floor.

For the Raptors, though, the focus has to be on themselves. Toronto is two wins away from its first NBA title, a journey it has made, largely, because of the brilliance of Kawhi Leonard.

But while Leonard was brilliant again in Game 3 -- finishing with 30 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks in 38 minutes -- the Raptors are a far different team when his supporting cast plays the way it did in Games 1 and 3 of this series.

Not coincidentally, those are the two games Toronto has won.

And if Lowry is able to keep playing the way he did in Game 3, the Raptors will feel good about their chances of getting those two more wins they need to capture this series -- and the title.

"I expected him to get going here," Nurse told ESPN. "I just thought the opportunities were there for him to get going. Sometimes we can't get him a shot. But there were opportunities for him to drive it, shoot it, and he stepped up and took them today."

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A fan seated courtside for Wednesday night's Game 3 of the NBA Finals was ejected after shoving Kyle Lowry when the Toronto Raptors guard crashed into a row of seats while trying to save a ball from going out of bounds.

Lowry scored 23 points and made several big shots in a 123-109 victory that gave the Raptors a 2-1 series lead over Golden State. There was as much buzz afterward about Lowry's dust-up with the fan as his offensive exploits.

The league said it is investigating the incident.

"The fans have a place; we love our fans," Lowry told ESPN's Scott Van Pelt. "But fans like that shouldn't be allowed to be in there, because it's not right. I can't do nothing to protect myself.

"But the league does a good job, and hopefully they ban him from all NBA games forever."

Early in the fourth quarter, Lowry ran down a loose ball and jumped in the air as it was going out of bounds, not far from where Warriors owner Joe Lacob was sitting. Lowry knocked the ball into a referee and landed in the lap of one male fan, who appeared to grab Lowry's jersey with two hands.

A woman who was standing nearby patted Lowry on his back. At the same time, a man wearing a blue shirt who was sitting down extended his left arm and gave Lowry a hard shove to his left shoulder.

Lowry got up and complained to officials, who ejected the fan from the game. Lowry told The Associated Press the fan repeatedly cursed at him, and Lowry said he had spoken to the NBA about the incident before exiting Oracle Arena.

"There's no place for that,'' Lowry said. "He had no reason to touch me. He had no reason to reach over two seats and then say some vulgar language to me. There's no place for people like that in our league. Hopefully, he never comes back to an NBA game."

Lowry said the incident was not like the high-profile episode that involved Oklahoma City Thunder's Russell Westbrook at the Utah Jazz during the regular season when the star guard said a fan made racist remarks.

"People who sit courtside, they might get in on the action," Lowry said. "Don't sit courtside if you don't want somebody touching you."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry scored 47 points in a 123-109 loss to the Toronto Raptors in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night. It was the most he has scored in any postseason game in his career, besting the 44 he put up in the 2013 playoffs against the San Antonio Spurs.

Despite Curry's offensive brilliance, the depleted Warriors didn't have enough firepower to overcome the absence of Klay Thompson (hamstring), Kevin Durant (calf) and Kevon Looney (costal cartilage fracture), falling behind 2-1 in the series.

The good news for Golden State is that Thompson is expected to play Friday, and the Warriors are cautiously optimistic that Durant also will make his return for Game 4 at Oracle Arena.

Thompson was a game-time decision on Wednesday, but the Warriors' staff ultimately decided to hold him out, despite the All-Star swingman pushing to play.

"The whole point was to not risk a bigger injury that would keep him out of the rest of the series," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "So that was the decision we made, and I feel very comfortable with it. Never would have forgiven myself if I played him tonight and he had gotten hurt. So you live with the decision you make, you make a wise decision, the wisest one you can, and then you live with it and move forward.

"So the good thing is, Klay has done well the last two days; now he has a couple more days to heal, and hopefully he'll be out there on Friday."

Thompson injured his left hamstring in the fourth quarter of Game 2 in Toronto and exited for the remainder of the contest.

As for Durant, Kerr noted before Wednesday's game that the two-time Finals MVP continues doing more each day in his workouts and is on track to participate in some 3-on-3 scrimmages on Thursday.

"We probably won't practice, practice as a team, tomorrow," Kerr said. "It will be a film session and a walk-through. So if possible, we'll get him together with some of our young guys, maybe a few of our coaches, and try to get him out on the floor. That would be the next step."

Durant hasn't played since injuring his right calf on May 8 in Game 5 against the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference semifinals.

If Durant does return Friday for Game 4, Warriors forward Draymond Green has no doubt Durant will be able to quickly pick up a rhythm with his teammates.

"That's a good problem to have," Green told ESPN. "That's a much better problem than trying to make up for what he do. So we'll take that problem."

The Warriors remained upbeat after the Game 3 defeat, not only because of the potential return of both Thompson and Durant in Game 4, but because of Curry's performance. The two-time MVP hit shots from all over the floor, single-handedly carrying the Warriors offensively through much of the night. Curry finished 14-for-31 from the field -- including 6-for-14 from beyond the 3-point line -- and 13-for-14 from the free throw line, while chipping in eight rebounds and seven assists in 43 minutes.

"He was amazing," Green said. "I got to play better and offer him more help. I think if I played better with the night that he had, we would have won. So we need him to continue to be aggressive like he's been, and all of us got to continue to fill in and be better.

"Tonight was a special performance for him, and he definitely does stuff that I don't think we have ever seen anyone ever do, and we probably won't see anyone ever do it again."

The reality is that the absence of Durant and Thompson was just too much to overcome on Wednesday. The Raptors repeatedly hit big shots to stifle any of the opposition's runs, as Golden State struggled to find an offensive answer to augment Curry's exploits. The next-highest-scoring Warrior was Green, who finished with 17 points.

"I think wisdom prevailed in terms of this is a potentially seven-game series," Curry said, regarding the decision to hold Thompson out of the game. "And you would like to take advantage of tonight, but his overall health is important in terms of not taking away the rest of the series with something catastrophic happening. So hopefully he's back for Game 4."

Despite the setback, the Warriors remain convinced they ultimately will hoist the trophy, something Green reiterated as he spoke at the postgame podium.

"Not having anyone makes a difference because everyone -- when you assemble a team, everyone brings something different," Green said. "But no one cares if guys are hurt. Everybody wants to see us lose. So I'm sure people are happy they're hurt. We just got to continue to battle and win the next game, go back to Toronto, win Game 5, come back to Oracle, win Game 6 and then celebrate. Fun times ahead."

In a season full of emotional twists and turns, the Warriors will walk into Friday's game knowing they might not only go down 3-1 to a talented Raptors team, but also might be playing their final game in Oracle Arena. After 47 years in Oakland, the Warriors will move to Chase Center in San Francisco this September. It's a scenario that Green and his teammates aren't even contemplating as they hope to get both Thompson and Durant back and even the series on Friday.

"We've got a lot of experience," Green told ESPN. "We've been in every situation possible, so no need to panic."

OAKLAND, Calif. -- When the Golden State Warriors laid a crushing 18-0 run on the Toronto Raptors in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, their leader, Stephen Curry, declared it one of those moments when "our DNA shows up.''

It's a daunting thing, that championship DNA. If you're not careful, you can suffocate under the weight of the possibility of that dominance. Many playoff opponents have fallen victim to a franchise loaded with stars who, when they are rolling, seem invincible.

Yet one thing was abundantly clear Wednesday at Oracle Arena: Toronto had no intention of wilting under the pressure of the championship pedigree of its undermanned opponent. When the Warriors charged, the Raptors fended off their run with clutch shooting. During stretches when the Raptors faltered offensively, they righted themselves with defensive stops.

In fact, in the wake of their 123-109 Game 3 victory in one of the most intimidating buildings in the NBA, the Raptors might be in the process of crafting some promising genetic coding of their own.

"That's true,'' said Serge Ibaka, who blocked six shots in the game and knocked down a monster wing jumper with 10 minutes to play. "We are working on our own DNA, and it's defense. There are some nights when you'll make all your shots, but it won't happen every night. One thing for sure that we can do is defend.''

No one had to explain to the Raptors what was at stake. Kevon Looney is out for the rest of the series. Klay Thompson was a very late scratch because of a balky hamstring. Kevin Durant missed his eighth consecutive game because of a strained calf. For Toronto, there was no option but to win. Lose the game, and it would be a death knell for a team that is on this grand stage for the first time and must take advantage.

The Raptors had to grab this one and take a 2-1 series lead, especially with Durant lurking in the shadows, plotting his return. In preparation, someone wrote a simple message on Toronto's white board just before tipoff: "Let it rip."

"That was the plan,'' said veteran Kyle Lowry, who hit some of the biggest shots of his career down the stretch of this game. "Stay cool. Stay calm. Don't let them affect what we do.''

What the Raptors did in the opening minutes was attack starting center DeMarcus Cousins in the paint, repeatedly feeding Marc Gasol in the post as if he were a reincarnation of Shaquille O'Neal. Gasol took as many shots (seven) in the opening quarter Wednesday as he did in all of Game 2. The Raptors also looked to unleash the lively Pascal Siakam in and around the key, where he is most effective. By the two-minute mark of the first quarter, the visitors' lead was 10, and Thompson was chained to the bench, his warm-ups zipped tight. He slumped forward, his angst palatable.

"I never would have forgiven myself if I played him tonight and he had gotten hurt,'' Golden State coach Steve Kerr said afterward.

"Everybody wants us to lose,'' Draymond Green said, "so I'm sure people are happy [our guys] are hurt.''

It was expected that Curry, the last supernova standing, would be asked to shoulder an inordinate load on his slender frame, and he was more than up to the task. By the end of the third quarter, Curry had popped in 40 points on 13-of-26 shooting. The only problem was the rest of the Warriors collectively shot 38% (16-of-42).

Yet there was Curry finishing a nifty feed from Andrew Bogut early in the third quarter to cut his team's deficit to seven (66-59). Golden State was surging, in the midst of a 7-0 spurt, but Toronto's transcendent star, Kawhi Leonard, who submitted 30 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, quieted the hopeful crowd with a killer transition 3-pointer. The Warriors cut it to seven again on an Andre Iguodala corner 3, but there was Lowry, lining up a long ball of his own to push it back to 10.

"Those moments were so important,'' said Fred VanVleet, who chipped in with 11 key points and dogged defense on Curry. "We're still creating our identity as a team, and every time we withstand their runs, we become a little tougher, a little stronger.''

If they were a different collection of players, the Warriors might be tempted to dwell a tad on the danger before them. What if Thompson can't go in Game 4? What if Durant remains sidelined? Do they have enough firepower to overpower a young and improving opponent that has exhibited its own brand of stubborn resilience?

Curry expressed confidence that his team will recover from this but offered a note of caution, saying, "We can't fall into the trap of thinking offense alone can win us another championship.''

Green heaped blame upon himself for not assisting Curry more with the offensive load and vowed to take better care of the ball. As he left his locker room, heading for home, he was asked if he was a little nervous.

"Nervous? C'mon,'' Green answered. "This is what we do. It's what we've always done.''

The Raptors are not naïve. They know high-level, MVP-caliber reinforcements could be on tap for Game 4. But they feel confident they are building something here. Kill the beast? Not yet, not hardly, but the Warriors are vulnerable, and Toronto is intent on exploiting their weaknesses.

"You're seeing our team build toughness, resiliency,'' Siakam said. "None of us were drafted super high. We built our careers from the ground up. That's who we are.''

The Raptors are also a team that finished with all five starters in double figures Wednesday. More importantly, they left the building with the belief they have the defensive temerity to thwart a lineup that, when healthy, is positively terrifying.

"That's true,'' Siakam said. "But honestly, we're really not afraid of anybody.''

Boston Red Sox ace Chris Sale had an immaculate inning in the eighth inning on Wednesday, needing just nine pitches to strike out the side at the Kansas City Royals.

Sale finished it off with a 98 mph fastball to strike out catcher Martin Maldonado. He started the inning by striking out Kelvin Gutierrez and Nicky Lopez.

It was Sale's second immaculate inning of the year. He also completed the feat on May 8 at the Baltimore Orioles.

Sale is the only active pitcher to throw multiple immaculate innings in the same season, and he joins Max Scherzer as the only active players to throw more than one immaculate inning in their career, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information.

It was vintage Sale on Wednesday, as he threw a three-hit shutout while striking out 12 without a walk in Boston's 8-0 victory. It was his seventh game with at least 10 strikeouts this season, the most in the majors.

"Any time you can finish a game, that's what you sign up for,'' said Sale. "I've never started a game I didn't intend to finish.''

Sale, who has suffered through a lack of run support, improved to 2-7 on the season.

"That was one of his best,'' Red Sox manager Alex Cora said about Sale's outing.

The Red Sox beat the White Sox 6-1 in Chicago on May 3, the only other Sale start this season in which Boston scored six or more runs.

Wednesday was Sale's 36th game with at least 10 strikeouts since joining Boston in 2017. Only Scherzer (37) has more such games over that span.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Mike Trout might be the best player in MLB history, but he wasn't even seen as the best player in his own draft class, or close to it. Ten years ago, he lasted until the Los Angeles Angels' back-to-back picks at Nos. 24 and 25, meaning that 21 teams could have drafted Trout but passed (the Washington Nationals and Arizona Diamondbacks each picked twice before that).

That has led to the chronic question of why the industry as a whole didn't realize Mike Trout was, in fact, Mike Trout when he was a 17-year-old high school senior. To find an answer, I went to the best sources possible: The scouts who saw him that spring, especially those with the Angels who were responsible for drafting and signing him. This is that story.

Note: All descriptions refer to the speakers' roles at the time of the draft in 2009. All italicized text is from Keith Law.

'That was the first time I saw Mike'

Greg Morhardt, Angels area scout for the Northeast: Trout started as an infielder. Don Kohler [then of the MLB Scouting Bureau] ran a workout; that was the first time I saw Mike. Mikey was 15 and playing shortstop and pitched, wore No. 1 that day, and ran like a 6.5-6.6 [in the 60-yard dash].

Mikey threw the ball across the infield, but his arm didn't work right from shortstop. The kid could run, with a quick bat, but he was not a shortstop. ... He didn't have the easy-throwing arm action to play infield. When we got him to the East Coast Pro [a summer showcase run by scouts], we put him right in center.

Roy Hallenbeck, Millville (N.J.) High School varsity baseball coach: Mike made varsity all four years. His arc went pretty fast -- as a freshman he was right away the fastest player I'd ever coached, but he was little then. We're like wow, that jumped off the page first. At the time, being a varsity player at Millville HS was everything to Mike. I said to Jeff [Trout, Mike's father]: "The way he runs, he's a varsity player. He's on any college roster in the country the way he runs!"

Sean Black was a senior at Lenape Mike's freshman year and we faced him in the playoffs. Mike worked four walks versus Black. He had become our toughest at-bat. ... His sophomore year, it was a playoff game at the end, he was pitching, couple of Yankees scouts and an MLB scout named Don Kohler saw him pitch. They filled out a report the next day and that's when it started.

Black was a significant prospect. The Nationals took him in the second round in 2006; he didn't sign, went to Seton Hall, and was drafted in the seventh round in 2009 by the Yankees, topping out in Double-A.

Mike Silvestri, Angels cross-checker: At the end of the day, without Greg, it doesn't happen.

The first time I saw Michael, he was playing a lot of shortstop at East Coast, with his hat kind of pointing up and the high socks. What I remember most about that was him making a play on the other side of second base that was a routine 4-3. It wasn't pretty or what a shortstop would look like, but I don't know of anyone else who could have done that.

Jeff Malinoff, Angels cross-checker: Mo alerted everybody to him then, so our attention was drawn to him.

Morhardt: I had taken the job with the Angels, and [St. Louis area scout] Koby Perez said there's this kid Trout, you might have to look at him, he can really run.

He was facing this big right-hander, Charlie Law, and Mikey got all three hits that his team got off Charlie. I said, 'Hey, did his dad play minor league baseball? It might be Jeff's kid.' Jeff [Trout] and I played a couple of years together, even roomed together in spring training one year at the Rock in Melbourne [Florida].

Koby Perez, Cardinals area scout: I was headed to the University of Maryland and there was a kid, Charlie Law -- tall and lanky -- whom I had seen hit 84 mph the summer before. ... So I'm headed through south Jersey. He's not a priority at all, but he's on my way so I'll see the kid throw.

I was watching his game, versus Millville. He struck out 12 and gave up three hits, all three to one kid on the other team. That kid was 3-for-3 with three rockets, so I'm like, I'm gonna put this guy in and nobody knows about him. I asked a couple of fans, "What's his deal?" and of course the people from Millville knew who he was. I said, "Is he a senior?" but they said, "No, he's only a junior," I'm like [damn]! I was thinking he's a senior no one knows and I can give him [a $20,000 signing bonus] in the 30th round.

I went over to the parents and gave them the Cardinals paperwork to fill out. Back then, we used to give them the card to fill out and send everything back. They were humbled -- the mother's eyes watered up, and they couldn't believe someone was interested in their son.

"I started getting letters in the mail from colleges, and it seemed like right after that, pro teams started sending their cards, letting me know there could be a chance they could be scouting me. Getting out of New Jersey helped a lot."

Mike Trout

Morhardt: We got him to the workout at Yankee Stadium, but we had to hit in the cages because it rained. Mike came in with a 32-inch bat. Marcus Stroman and Steven Matz were on that team too and they were all hitting.

My son was a few years younger and was at the workout. I said, "Justin, who's the guaranteed big leaguer in there?" And he said, "Trout." I told him, "This is an easy one," and I technically hadn't really seen him out running yet.

We coached him on that East Coast Pro team, then we went to California to the Area Code Games. He played in everything -- he was even at the USA trials -- it's not like he snuck up on somebody. [He didn't make the 18U National team that summer.]

Damon Oppenheimer, Yankees scouting director: It all started at Area Codes. He was on the Yankee AC team out in Long Beach, and Matty Hyde [their area scout for the Northeast] was the manager. He told us, make sure you're paying attention. All of a sudden this guy runs 4 [seconds] flat, he hits a ball really hard, he hits another ball really hard, plus the ease about how he does stuff in the [outfield]. Hey, this guy's pretty good!

Mike Trout, ballplayer, on the first time he realized scouts were interested: Probably at Area Codes, then Perfect Game in Jupiter [Florida]. That's when it started getting surreal. I started getting letters in the mail from colleges, and it seemed like right after that, pro teams started sending their cards, letting me know there could be a chance they could be scouting me. Getting out of New Jersey helped a lot.

Oppenheimer: I said we got a team in Jupiter, the Texas Yankees, let's get him on the team. Trout came up into the stands and said, "I really appreciate it. I'm going to stay with my group. I owe it to my guys to play with them in this event." That showed me a lot of class and a lot of balls to say that: It's not that I don't want to play for the Yankees, but I owe it to this group. The way he talked to me, it was like a man-to-man talk, and I really felt good about the makeup.

'The Northeast stigma'

Silvestri: [At the Perfect Game event in Jupiter, October 2008] I knew he was playing for the Tri-City Arsenal, so I said, "Guys, I'm gonna do my own thing," and I stood on the golf cart down the right-field line, as far from everyone as possible, to watch some at-bats. I knew we wouldn't get any for a while because of the weather [in the Northeast]. I came out of there and to me it was a no-brainer, but the question was, "Are we going to get him there at Pick 25?"

I felt like we had a better-than-average chance. You had the left-handed hitter from Jersey who flopped, I wasn't in on that, but you had that stigma, plus the white right-handed-hitting outfielder from the Northeast stigma, you fit everything people don't want to spend money on. I thought we had a shot.

Silvestri is referring to Billy Rowell, the ninth overall pick in 2006, taken by the Baltimore Orioles out of Pennsauken, New Jersey, just one spot ahead of where the San Francisco Giants selected Tim Lincecum.

Rowell hit very well in his first pro summer, but he didn't hit well anywhere in full-season ball and the strikeouts started to mount, leading to questions about whether scouts had overrated his hitting prowess because they saw him only against bad competition in southern New Jersey. Rowell last played in 2011. In 2012, he was suspended for 50 games for testing positive for a drug of abuse, and the Orioles released him that winter.

Eddie Bane, Angels scouting director: Teams were scared because of Rowell, but it was still just an excuse. What did Rowell do compared to Mike!? But they used it, it was there, "I'm not going in to waste three days on this guy after Rowell."

Morhardt: I wasn't scouting in 2006, but I saw Rowell in A-ball the next year, and I thought, "This is an NP [non-prospect], a big guy, a big swing, who can't play." You have to have the ingredients to cultivate. If anyone says, "If he figures it out some day," don't pick the player! Give me reasons why you think he's going to hit. Rowell was never going to hit velocity. Meanwhile, Trout ran 3.85 to first base, he was a 6.4 runner, he was powerful, he played every sport, had a compact swing, had great makeup. ... You're going to compare that guy to Rowell?

"Teams were scared because of Rowell, but it was still just an excuse. What did Rowell do compared to Mike!? But they used it, it was there, 'I'm not going in to waste three days on this guy after Rowell.'" Eddie Bane, Angels scouting director

Mike Alberts, Nationals area scout for the Northeast: People would ask, "What high school position players come out of the Northeast?" Like, when you've taken a kid from college, people ask who has come out of that college? The next year there was another high school hitter from New Jersey, Carl Thomore, who had almost lost his leg. He was husky, he had a buzzcut, he talked like Trout. So scouts said, "I'm not going to miss the next Mike Trout."

The Colorado Rockies took Thomore in the second round in 2010; he hit .213/.314/.296 across four seasons, three in short-season ball, before he was released by his second team, the Chicago White Sox.

'It was a rough weather spring'

Morhardt: Mike did have 30 games because he played a bunch of scrimmages. It's not like he was playing in Maine. Coach Hallenbeck allowed Mike to take BP with wood and aluminum and get an extra 25 swings before everyone else.

"I drove six hours to see Trout in my area, which put me in a strange mood. Then you get down there, it's not a great field, really beat up, and it's not great competition. That sets the table for you as an evaluator -- it's human nature." Mike Alberts, Nationals area scout for the Northeast

Trout: Coach did a good job. He made it work. He wanted to get the scouts a chance to see me hit BP. You can't do that when you're hitting BP with the team -- you're taking five swings and getting out of there. He made it a fluid schedule for me.

Alberts: The first thing I noticed was how far down Vineland [New Jersey] was, considering I'm from Massachusetts. Newark is in New Jersey, which I could get to in [3 hours, 15 minutes] sometimes. So I'm driving and driving and I feel like I'm about to hit North Carolina. I drove six hours to see Trout in my area, which put me in a strange mood. Then you get down there, it's not a great field, really beat up, and it's not great competition. That sets the table for you as an evaluator -- it's human nature.

Silvestri: It was a rough weather spring in the Northeast. I don't think I got into see him until May.

Oppenheimer: He was tough to see, but when we were there -- myself, Donnie, Brian Barber -- he was good. He just didn't have bad days: He ran exceptionally, hit balls hard, ran sub-4 flats. The BPs were good when he wasn't trying to switch-hit. He was fooling around hitting left-handed, but right-handed it was consistent, a short swing, then bam!

'He said names I shuddered to hear, like Mickey Mantle'

Bane: I knew of Trout, but the first time I saw him was at a high school game up in Millville. Greg had done his job, but he said names I shuddered to hear, like Mickey Mantle.

Alberts: He was strong, but nobody would describe him as fluid. He wasn't [Ken] Griffey Jr. He wasn't crude, but his stance was crude and there was some muscle in his swing. Mo [Greg Morhardt] would say, "Dad did it the exact same way. Dad could hit." There was length in the swing.

As far as passing the eye test, he didn't jump off the page. He was 6-foot-1, 175 [pounds], then you'd watch him play, and depending on what type of day ... I remember getting a run time on him late in the season in Atlantic City. It was a wet day, I'll never forget this, the dirt was like beach sand, and I got him 3.9 down the line on a ball he pulled to short. We tend to make excuses for guys, but he ran 3.9 in the worst possible conditions. [For a right-handed hitter, a run time of 3.9 seconds is an 80 out of 80 speed grade.]

Silvestri: I stayed in the Philly Renaissance, Tommy Allison [then the Diamondbacks' scouting director] and I had dinner that night before. I didn't think they were in on Trout, but when I went to the ballpark the next day, there were a lot of people there.

Greg was nervous. He came running up to me, but I said, "I'm going to say who our competition is, it's the Yankees but they're behind us, I don't know about Boston and they like [Rey] Fuentes too, but Ray [Fagnant, Boston's area scout for the Northeast] liked him." The one thing I didn't know about was Oakland.

Billy Beane, Oakland Athletics president: Our guys, to say the least, really liked him. Farhan [Zaidi] and I -- further proving the Peter Principle -- flew out together to go watch him, normally not a trip I would make, to see a high school outfielder from a small town across the country. Trout went like 0-for-5, popped out, so we didn't even get to see him run.

Alberts: I had a 55 on him, an above-average major league regular and frequent All-Star. So I nailed him! But I may have been light. (Laughing.)

He was throwing 87 off the mound, so his arm wasn't going to keep him out of center field. Saying you didn't like him because of his arm was a cop-out. I liked the fact that he was physical. He reminded me of a running back.

Malinoff: During the year, when I would go to see him, he didn't get much to hit. He hit one home run, but had walked three times previous. You just saw so much in him, I've always loved that kind of guy where you could dream and use your imagination and put the dots together.

Silvestri: We were still using Donnie's old system for grading players. [Donnie Rowland preceded Eddie Bane as the Angels' scouting director; in 2009 he was scouting for the Yankees. He was there the day I saw Trout that spring.] The numbers it was spitting out, I was embarrassed. It spit out a 75 [on the 20-80 scale, meaning a potential Hall of Famer]. I took it down to a 68 because I'd never thrown a 70 on someone before! So I felt pretty good coming out of that day, I sent Eddie in immediately.

"The numbers it was spitting out, I was embarrassed. It spit out a 75 [out of a possible 80]. I took it down to a 68 because I'd never thrown a 70 on someone before!" Angels cross-checker Mike Silvestri

Bane: I was there with Jeff Malinoff, and after five innings I said, "Let's go, I've seen enough." We got in the car and I said, "If that guy's there I'm gonna take him." I'd just seen Donavan Tate, there was no comparison.

Tate was the only kid on his high school team who didn't homer in BP! Trout ran better than everybody else and put everything he had into his fielding and throwing.

Tate, from Cartersville, Georgia, went third overall to the Padres, but never got out of A-ball.

Silvestri: Eddie sees him and called me, "I'm going to dinner, I'll call you after." He calls me after dinner with the family, said, "I'm in." He'd never seen him before.

Justin Hollander, Angels director of baseball operations: We would send voicemails to all-office. Eddie would always call it the Great 48, and he'd let the group know if he saw something unusual during a game.

After he saw Trout he said, "I saw him go 0-for-4 with two popups, he did absolutely nothing, I love him, we're taking him."

'No, I'm not letting anyone screw up Trout!'

Hollander: The whole draft year was really fun, since we had five of the top 48 picks. Greg pulled me aside in the bathroom of the Marriott in our January meetings to say how much he loved Trout.

Morhardt: Jeff [Trout] called me, said [A's assistant GM] Dave Forst saw him hit three home runs in a weekend, and Jeff said, "Well, he wants [Mike] to come to Oakland for a workout."

I'm thinking if you spend the whole day with Mikey you're gonna take him and Billy's a smart guy. I'm thinking I've got to stop this, I said, "Trouter, we have a workout the same day," which we didn't. But I would have told Eddie we have to have a workout that day. Doesn't he have homework that day or something?

If Billy had gotten him there, it would have been over. You get Mike in your ballpark, and I don't know where he would have been hitting balls.

Beane: Since then, Trout went on his own personal iron fleet in the Greyjoy. He's the fourth Greyjoy, just destroying us, with a vengeance worse than Euron's to remind the A's they should have taken him.

[The A's took USC shortstop Grant Green instead of Trout with the No. 13 overall pick.]

Alberts: I remember Mo asking cross-checkers, "Would you take Trout or [Dustin] Ackley?" and they'd laugh at him. But I think teams didn't like to take the guy ranked 25th in the country third or fourth in the draft.

Bane: There were teams that didn't even cross-check him.

Silvestri: We get to Anaheim, Greg's a nervous Nellie the whole time. Greg likes nobody as a scout! He is so good with hitters, one of the best hitting guys I've ever heard talk. He's really good with that.

I have back surgery scheduled for that spring. We were going to see Evan Chambers [another draft prospect] and Eddie sees me getting out of the car. He says, "Schedule your surgery now." I said, "No, I'm not letting anyone screw up Trout!"

'The price has changed'

Bane: I brag about my [internal preference] list, but I still had [Stephen] Strasburg first, so I was wrong too (laughing).

Oppenheimer: Legitimately, he was the second guy on our board. It was Strasburg, then him, then a HS pitcher, then Ackley. Eddie did tell me before the draft we weren't getting him, then I think he really toyed with me and didn't take him with the first pick.

Bane: I even told him before the draft: If you're thinking about some kid from Jersey, you can just forget that.

Morhardt: Eddie didn't tell anyone, didn't tell me, didn't tell Malinoff, he just did his thing. At the end of the day the scouting director's neck is on the line, so he's the one who has to make the final decision. He did it. Eddie had to be persuaded that, in his heart, he thought "this is the guy." He deserves a lot of credit for doing that.

We met with Jeff, Debbie and Mike the week before. Our slot was like $1.2 million, and we were a team that stayed pretty much to slot. Tony Reagins [the Angels' GM at the time] said we had to stay within slot, so if they don't want the slot, we'll move on to the next guy. About five hours before the draft, Eddie calls and said that some teams that had more money said they'd give Trout a million [dollars] more than that.

"I said he's Mickey Mantle but not a switch-hitter, Rickey Henderson but right-handed ... Tony said, "You just threw out [the names of] two Hall of Famers," and I said, "He might be better."" Mike Silvestri

Bane: [Agent Craig] Landis called, said the price has changed.

Morhardt: Eddie says, "I'm hearing from the agent that it's not going to be slot, it's going to be more than that." I said, "I think we're fine," so I call up Trouter [Mike's father] and there's dead silence on the other end.

He said, "Mo, we were offered a million more." I said, "Trouter, I'm gonna take him, in six years he'll be making $20 million-plus a year, I gotta go." I called up Eddie and he said, "What did he say?" and I said, "He's all set to go!" What am I gonna do? I'm gonna let the best player go?

Silvestri: Two days before the draft, we get called into Eddie's room, which is a mess. I sit in his room and go, "What's up?" He says, "He's got an agent now, they want $3.5 million!" I said, "That's not him, that's the team behind us telling him to do that." We've all played that game in the draft. He goes, "You're OK with that assessment?" I said, "I'm willing to bet anything you want on it."

Eddie tells me [in the draft room] that tomorrow [Angels manager Mike] Scioscia and Abe Flores and Kenny Forsch and Tony Reagins are all coming in, so I'd have to give a speech about Trout and why we should take him. Easiest thing I've ever done.

Hollander: I turned to Mike in a break after we'd been talking about Trout, I said, "Who is it?" He said, "I don't want to say because people would laugh at me, but it's Rickey Henderson ... and I might be light."

Silvestri: I don't have a comp! I said he's Mickey Mantle but not a switch-hitter, Rickey Henderson but right-handed. He cupped the bat in his top hand. I never saw that kind of athlete with that explosion and shortness to the ball before. He played running back, played center in basketball. Tony said, "You just threw out [the names of] two Hall of Famers," and I said, "He might be better."

'We were taking him with one of those two picks'

Malinoff: We had those two picks at the top when we knew that we had a chance to get both of them [Trout and Randal Grichuk]. Since Mike was the tougher sign at the time, it was a strategic deal to take Mike second and get him closer to the [bonus] number that we had, which was a real hard and fast one. The consensus in the room was, I think, by comparing apples to apples, you'd pick Trout first.

Hollander: Trout was eighth on our overall board, but with the understanding we were taking him with one of those two picks.

The Angels had two picks in the first round, 24th overall (from the New York Mets for free agent Francisco Rodriguez) and 25th overall (from the New York Yankees for free agent Mark Teixeira), and then picked again at 40, 42, 48 and 80. It turned into an epic haul of talent: They took Randal Grichuk and Mike Trout at 24 and 25, Tyler Skaggs at 40, Garrett Richards at 42 and Patrick Corbin at 80. The only pick of the top five to fail to make the majors at all was lefty Tyler Kehrer, from the University of Eastern Illinois, a hard thrower who had control problems in college and had them in pro ball, topping out in high-A in 2012, his last year in pro ball.

Hollander: Everyone always feels like they killed it in the draft, but we had Trout, Richards, Grichuk and Skaggs all in our top 20 on our board. When you're through the 42nd pick and you have four of our top 20, everybody was just over the moon. I thought, I can't believe this is happening to us.

'Mikey's driving us nuts, we're just gonna take the money.'

Morhardt: After the draft, of course, the agent wants to get more money. Tony [Reagins] calls me up and says, "Mo, this is gonna be tough. Let me take it from here." I go, "Tony, first of all, the Trouts' word is good. This is a confusing time, but you can trust them. Mikey's gonna sign. Give him whatever you want, but I would give him slot because I think they're gonna take it and go out. Mike's worth $10 million. You just got the biggest freak on the planet" -- Tony never saw him -- "wait 'til you get a load of him, you just got the biggest steal in the draft."

I get a call from Jeff [Trout] the next day and he leaves a message on my home answering machine, he said, "Mo, Mikey's driving us nuts, we're just gonna take the money. He wants to play. I called Tony at 9 a.m. Pacific to say it's done, he's taking the money."

Bane: Two weeks after the draft Jeff called and said, "Would you just get him out of the house? Let's go."

Hollander: Jeff called and said, "You have to get this kid out of the house and onto a baseball field, he just wants to sign." Kathy Mair [the Angels' baseball administration coordinator] and I took him out to lunch, then he worked out for us. He was hitting balls out to right-center in the old configuration of Angel Stadium.

Silvestri: My only job in the spring was to make sure we didn't screw this up. I still tell our guys today, find the guy who's different. Trout's power/speed combo -- I was heaviest on the power, saying he had 25 homer power, I think most people didn't think that. I was wrong, obviously, it's better than that, but he put a bunch of balls in the rocks in right-center field in his BP session after he signed, and then he just bolted through the system.

Trout: You want to spend time with your family as much as you can. Your life's going to change once you head to Arizona, so I spent a couple of weeks with family and friends, but then I wanted to get out there and just get started. That half a year, I could have waited it out and went to rookie ball [in 2010] instead.

'This is the best thing I've ever seen'

Trout was one of the youngest players in the Arizona League, but hit .360/.418/.506, finishing second in the league in average, seventh in OBP and 14th in slugging, while stealing 13 bases in 15 attempts, earning a September bump up to full-season A-ball.

Silvestri: One of our guys went to see our Arizona League club, then he put Greg and I on a conference call and said this is the best thing I've ever seen, he's going to move quickly through our system, his arm was the only tool not average.

Hollander: Trout's setup and swing were very different back then. The thing we didn't anticipate was that his feel in the box and his recognition skills were very apparent from Day 1 in Arizona, as compared to what he saw in [New Jersey]. His natural feel for understanding the zone, for discipline, for making adjustments, were off-the-charts good, and that was something we never talked about.

Silvestri: The other things that are so hard to figure out, the makeup stuff, we knew all that because of Greg.

Mohrhardt: When you're looking at personalities to choose, makeup isn't whether the guy is nice to me, but how does he react to general situations, or what does it take for a guy to throw a towel in. He's not easily discouraged. We had another player a few years after, who went very high in the draft, who was a terrific kid. But that part of the game, because he was going to strike out a lot, his personality was going to make it tough for the combination of a lot of failure and taking it too personal. It was a tough combination.

Guys like Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro [whom Morhardt played with in summer ball in college] had cleaner and more beautiful swings, but Mikey did more things and he did it with strength and with speed. The strength factor and the speed/power were there. Mike didn't take a backseat to anybody in regards to a competitive mind. His mind was sharp and quick, he understood timing and angles of things, but he was in a football body. I think it threw people off a little bit. We like to project the tall lean guys who'll grow into Darryl Strawberry.

Malinoff: He was a pretty good player, better than we all thought. People saw bits of it, but nobody other than, again, Mo and Eddie really thought that he would put absolutely everything together, and develop like he has. His aptitude is so great, like in his ability to master the strike zone. He just came in with maturity well beyond his years. Probably few people have that kind of outlook, charisma and joyfulness about their approach to the game. That has a lot to do with it. Everybody was sure that he was our guy, but only Greg saw real glitter and gold.

After overcoming career-threatening injuries, javelin man Harry Hughes now throws with metal pins in his elbow and is in the form of his life

When Harry Hughes threw 80.32m at Loughborough last month it was the first time a British javelin thrower had broken the 80-metre barrier since Mervyn Luckwell in 2012.

Achieving the feat helped Luckwell qualify for the London Olympics, whereas Hughes hopes it will provide a springboard for success at the European Under-23 Championships in Gävle in July.

More than anything, though, Hughes hopes it signifies the start of an injury-free season after nightmare back and elbow injuries have hindered his progress in recent years.

The 21-year-old from Suffolk was a big teenage talent – winning several English Schools titles and throwing for Britain at the World and European Junior Championships – but he missed the 2018 season entirely and now competes with metal pins in the elbow of his throwing arm.

“After taking the last year and a half off it’s nice to be back now and throwing well,” he says. “The last couple of years before that I was always around but had injury problems so I was never the best that I could really be. Now my hard work is coming to fruition, which is really good.”

Was it a surprise to crack the 80-metre barrier at the Loughborough International? “No,” he swiftly replies. “A few days before the BUCS Champs I’d thrown over 80m in training and had been close all winter so we always knew it was going to be there.

“So when I opened up at BUCS with 78.63m (and 78.89m at Loughborough in February) despite it being a bit rough technically, then I knew it would happen. Even the 80m throw at Loughborough was way off when it comes to good technique so there’s plenty more to come.”

“Even the 80m throw at Loughborough was way off when it comes to good technique so there’s plenty more to come”

But he adds: “For me it’s now about consistency and simply being able to compete and getting to the end of the season without being injured or feeling battered. I want to throw around the 80m mark as much as possible. Then the bigger throws will hopefully come out when it really matters.”

Despite his fine throwing as a teenager – he ranked first in the UK under-20 rankings in 2015 and 2016 and is No.4 all-time in that age group – he says he wasn’t an immediate success.

“As a young child I was the least sporty out of my brothers,” he remembers. “I was uncoordinated and only dabbled in a few sports like rugby but was never very good at it. I thought I’d be the academic one and they’d be the sporty ones.”

He only took up athletics after going to watch one of his brothers train for triple jump. “I asked my mum what I could try and she told me to have a go at everything,” he recalls. “Apparently I said I wanted to throw and then I spent the first three or four years throwing shot, discus, javelin. I was drawn to throwing and seemed to excel at javelin more than the others.”

Soon, javelin throwing became a huge part of his life. “From being a kid I loved every training session and was excited to do it and it was the highlight of the week,” he says. “I had a natural passion for throwing javelins.”

But like so many top teenagers, injury struck with back problems and then an elbow injury. “There are lots of good junior athletes who never make the transition to seniors but in javelin we find that more than in other events,” he says. “It’s such a destructive event.”

Hughes continues: “There are plenty of guys I competed against at European and world junior events but now they’re nowhere. I could have very easily been another one of those athletes.

“Maybe I was a bit more resilient simply because I experienced a hell of a lot of injuries at a very young age but for some reason I’d always do every single bit of rehab I could to make sure I could get back. I did this for the same injury on my back and it would have been very easy at the time to say that my body is not ready for this.

“But I always had the driving force behind me with a good support system and good coaches so I never thought about stopping at any point. I knew where I wanted to be and that kept me going.”

“There are plenty of guys I competed against at European and world junior events but now they’re nowhere. I could have very easily been another one of those athletes”

He adds modestly: “As a junior I was never amazing. I think I was always just okay. I qualified for the major competitions but never won a medal and that helped as I always had something to strive for. So now, as a senior, I want to go and get those medals.”

The same stubborn streak that helped him battle through the injuries was double-edged, too. In 2017 he unwisely kept throwing despite a sore elbow, which only made the problem worse.

“My growth plates in my elbow joints had not fused,” he explains. “Instead they were pushing apart because they were irritated by the force of throwing the javelin.

“The pain lasted for about three years and eventually the fluid in the joint meant I could hardly move the arm and it was agony and at that point they had to operate. I had two screws put through the growth plate into the joint so it forced it to fuse.”

Will these now stay in his arm forever? “Potentially,” he replies. “There was concern that the screws could force themselves out over time due to throwing the javelin but right now they’re sitting comfortably in my elbow so there’s no reason to try to take them out.”

Friends and family have no doubt dubbed him the ‘bionic man’? He laughs: “It’s well known that javelin throwers go through numerous injuries. It’s the nature of the sport but we try to limit it and I hope I don’t become the bionic man and try to stay as healthy as possible.”

“I hope I don’t become the bionic man and try to stay as healthy as possible”

Helping him achieve his potential is Mark Roberson. Hughes was previously coached by Mike McNeill but he now does a couple of throws sessions per week with Roberson, a former 85.67m thrower.

“We also do weights sessions in a really good gym he’s built in his back garden,” says Hughes. “We talk pretty much every day and he also does my soft tissue therapy. In addition he focuses on me and has no other athletes and I’m in a very privileged position to have a coach who can do that.”

Last weekend Hughes was victorious at the Halle throws international and this weekend he returns to Germany for another event in Jena.

“But the big one for me is the European Under-23 Championships,” he says. “Everything we do is with that in mind. After that it’s a case of whatever competitions come my way, enjoying myself and doing well at the British Champs.”

Athletics aside, Hughes spends his time on university assignments – he is in his penultimate year studying sport and exercise science at Essex University – and is also developing a mobile app called Dangler with his two brothers.

The app, he says, is “a social market place for people to buy and sell fishing tackle”. He adds: “Ever since a young age the three of us have always really enjoyed fishing, so it’s good to start a tech business in an area I’m passionate about.”

His brothers are older – aged 24 and 28 – and keep fit in the gym but do not specialise in a particular sport. Still, Hughes says they have regular physical contests for fun.

“I have the upper hand at the moment as I’m training full-time,” he says. “I’m also the youngest but now the biggest, which is quite nice! They always had the upper hand growing up but now the roles have switched, although we all get along pretty well!”