BARBERVILLE, Fla. – A total of 94 DIRTcar UMP modifieds packed Volusia Speedway Park’s pit area Wednesday for night two of competition at the 50th DIRTcar Nationals, prompting a format change that called for two separate, 20-lap features.

Volusia’s reigning Reutimann Memorial winner Tyler Nicely took advantage of another slick and smooth racing surface to grab the win in the first feature, while the five-time and defending DIRTcar Nationals UMP Modified champion Nick Hoffman did the same to score the victory in the second feature.

Nicely seems to be picking up right where he left off at Volusia last November.

His then-brand-new Longhorn by Loenbro chassis powered him to his first career victory in the track’s marquee event, the Emil & Dale Reutimann Memorial, in November of last year. Less than three months have passed and he’s already back in victory lane. This time, making the pass for the lead on Lucas Lee and holding off another star-studded cast of competitors for his fourth career win in the event.

“All Speedweeks I’ve been trying to get this win; I’m glad it’s on this stage at Volusia,” Nicely said. “It’s always nice to win it with a bunch of cars, standing on this stage and getting a gator.”

Nicely’s been in action since the opening round of the Winternationals at East Bay Raceway Park two weeks ago and hadn’t been able to find victory lane through those five starts plus another last weekend at North Florida Speedway. But after a third-place finish in Tuesday night’s opener, Nicely cashed out with his momentum and advanced two spots higher to collect the $1,000 victory Wednesday night.

Nicely started on the outside of the front row and immediately went to work on polesitter Lucas Lee, catching him in open track and making the pass to his inside on lap five.

From there on out, it Nicely’s race to lose. Nobody seemed to have anything for the race leader by the end of 20 circuits as he crossed to collect the checkers. However, if there had been just one more caution later in the race, he may have had a familiar foe knocking on his door.

Kyle Strickler may have gone though one of the most bizarre, painful, yet most successful runs to the front in DIRTcar Nationals history Wednesday night.

Earlier in the evening, Strickler was taken in an ambulance to a nearby hospital after severely cutting his left middle finger in the pit area while operating the lift his team uses to raise their car up.

“When I was in the ambulance after almost cutting my finger off, they told me, ‘it’s a hard no on you racing tonight,’ because that was the first question I asked them,” Strickler said. “We ended up going to the hospital, getting it stitched up and making it back here in time.”

Indeed, he did get back to the track on time. But only to tag the tail of the first Last Chance Showdown, where he snagged the final transfer spot into the first feature. This set him up for a 23rd-place starting spot in that event, where he drove all the way back to finish third, making for what will surely be one of the most memorable nights of his career.

In the second feature, Hoffman showed again why he prefers the slicker, slower racing surfaces at big tracks like Volusia. He took full advantage of it en route to his 19th DIRTcar Nationals feature victory.

Compared to the first feature, Hoffman wasted even less time in moving to the front, making the pass on polesitter David Stremme on lap three. From there on out, nobody had anything for the two-time and defending UMP Modified national points champion as he crossed the stripe for the win.

He made it look so simple, but sometimes, much of the battle is won before the race even starts in the pit area. Like Tuesday night, it came down to a tire selection to help Hoffman pick up the win.

“I knew it was probably gonna latch-up there in the second Feature, so I went with the hard tire again tonight,” Hoffman said. “Once it started to latch-up, I got really tight and just couldn’t maneuver quite like I needed to.”

Hoffman’s Elite Chassis had yet another good showing with himself and Justin Allgaier finishing first and third, respectively.

“I know every nook and cranny on that racecar, so that really helps. Just running my own chassis for the last eight years; we’ve got a really good balance, obviously, at this place. It just suits my style, momentum racing, and when it gets dead slick like this, it’s really where I’m the best,” Hoffman said.

The finishes:

Race One: 1. 25-Tyler Nicely [3]; 2. 5S-Curt Spalding [4]; 3. 8S-Kyle Strickler [23]; 4. OOEH-Steve Arpin [8]; 5. 25W-Allen Weisser [14]; 6. 12L-Lucas Lee [2]; 7. 21A-Nick Allen [1]; 8. 6A-Ryan Ayers [11]; 9. 88-Matt Crafton [15]; 10. 36-Kenny Wallace [6]; 11. 80-Rich Dawson [5]; 12. 3L-Jeff Leka [7]; 13. 7D-Brad DeYoung [17]; 14. 9-Ken Schrader [21]; 15. 2A-Matt Altiers [20]; 16. 7T-Drake Troutman [9]; 17. 32-Chad Roush [24]; 18. 23-Ryan Cripe [16]; 19. 114-Clayton Bryant [19]; 20. K19-Will Krup [13]; 21. A1-Gary Bentley [22]; 22. Z1-Zac Oedewaldt [18]; 23. 8A-Austin Holcombe [12]; 24. 21H-Clay Harris [10]

Race Two: 1. 2-Nick Hoffman [2]; 2. 96M-Mike McKinney [4]; 3. 7-Justin Allgaier [6]; 4. 35-David Stremme [1]; 5. 12H-Jason Hughes [3]; 6. 11J-Justin Haley [7]; 7. 49-Brian Ruhlman [9]; 8. 18L-Michael Long [5]; 9. 51-Brandon Green [14]; 10. 95-Michael Altobelli [8]; 11. 67-Garret Stewart [11]; 12. 11H-Spencer Hughes [12]; 13. 31G-Stephen Pedulla [17]; 14. T9-Ryan Thomas [21]; 15. O5-Dave Wietholder [19]; 16. 17X-Richard Michael [13]; 17. 77-Ray Bollinger [10]; 18. 4T-Zeke McKenzie [15]; 19. 4R-Ricky Thornton [24]; 20. 25P-Robert Poole [18]; 21. 45-Johnny Broking [22]; 22. 17T-Tyler Evans [16]; 23. 15-Joey Miller [23]; 24. 22K-Dale Kelley [20].

If the offer is "all or nothing," the Toronto Maple Leafs have inevitably settled for the latter.

They haven't won the Stanley Cup since 1967, which also was their most recent appearance in the Stanley Cup Final. Their seasons either end with the muted disappointment of air slowly seeping out of their party balloons or in absolute calamity, depending on their postseason proximity to the Boston Bruins.

They are the Charlie Brown, Lucy and the football of professional hockey, with fans and reckless idealists like yours truly annually convinced they're going to connect on a kick before falling flat on their backs yet again, bellowing, "Good grief!" to an unsympathetic populace.

Because of this history and the intense media market in which they play ("The Centre of the Hockey Universe," as it's known), the Leafs are constantly under an electron microscope of attention, their defects revealed at an atomic level. Why anyone in that position would want additional scrutiny is beyond me.

So color me baffled as to why Toronto would choose to chronicle its pain by signing up for Amazon Studios' latest season of "All or Nothing," which is filming the Leafs' 2021 campaign right now.

"For a Canadian team, and especially an Original Six Canadian team, there's a ton of scrutiny. I don't think that changes because Amazon is following us around," Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan told ESPN recently.

"Like, if we fall short of our own expectations, we're not going to say, 'Damn, too bad Amazon is here or else this could have slipped under the radar.'"

The most important word when it comes to young NHL players is one that long-suffering fan bases don't want to hear: patience.

Expectations have undoubtedly been skewed for highly drafted players of late in part because Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews destroyed the development curve for everyone else. Young talents just aren't supposed to average more than a point per game as a rookie and then hit the 100-point mark in Year 2, as McDavid did. And they aren't supposed to score 40 goals out of the gate, as Matthews did.

The truth is, there are so few players who can achieve that level of immediate impact. And as quick as we are to see their early success and anoint them the best of the game's next wave, there's a similar rush to slap the "bust" label on other top picks when they aren't immediately wowing with McDavid-esque production. It's extremely premature.

For fans of struggling teams, with so much hope pinned on players to drag them out of the doldrums, it's understandable why anxiousness takes over. Hours spent watching losing hockey are comforted only by knowing that there's a lottery pick on its way. The desire for immediate impact from those young players is natural. But man, is it rare.

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has urged social media companies to tackle online abuse and highlighted the damaging effect it is having on players.

Marcus Rashford was among several Premier League stars to receive racist abuse this week after games and he said his experience was an example of "humanity and social media at its worst."

The Manchester United striker's team-mates Anthony Martial and Axel Tuanzebe were also targeted in addition to Chelsea's Reece James and Southampton's Alex Jankewitz.

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The Football Association and the Premier League have condemned the abuse and Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said the United Kingdom government are "willing to take the harder, legislative measures" on social media companies including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

"There are all types of different abuses and I think it has to be eradicated completely," Arteta said at a news conference on Thursday.

"I think social media has a big responsibility on that because you talk about the mental health of the players and public people and how exposed they are.

"I'm open and all for people to have their opinions, but not just to be insulting and abusing people and using a screen behind a mobile phone to tell whatever you want about a person that you don't even know.

"That for me has to be eradicated because it's causing a lot of damage in football and to public people.

"So I think we have to be really strong on that and I think you guys have a big part to play to support us and the industry here."

Several Arsenal players have also been criticised online this season for their performances including back-up goalkeeper Alex Runarsson, who could be in line to make his full league debut this weekend.

First-choice Bernd Leno is suspended following his red card at Wolves and Mat Ryan, a January loan signing from Brighton, is struggling with a hip problem.

Runarsson was left out of Arsenal's Europa League squad for the knockout stages with Arteta preferring to include Ryan after a series of nervous performances from the 25-year-old, who joined the club in September from Dijon.

Arsenal had hoped to sign David Raya from Brentford after allowing Emiliano Martinez to join Aston Villa in a £20 million deal but after that deal collapsed, the club moved for Runarsson.

"We had a plan on the goalkeeper's position and we could not execute the plan the way we wanted because of different reasons," Arteta said. "But Alex's role was very clear around the squad and that hasn't changed, then he needs to earn his opportunity and earn his place -- whether that is third, second or first [choice] depending on his performance and he needs to push for that.

"Yes [people have been too quick to judge] but this is what you face when you play for a big club. People expect when you go out there for you to give your best and perform at the top level -- and if you don't you are going to get criticism.

"You know that, before you join the club, that you are exposed all the time to critics and, as well, if you do really well everybody is going to be praising more than at any other club. You have to be able, if you want to play here, to handle that pressure.

"I think he knew and he expected that, and he needs to handle that. We are here to support him, he has played some games already here, he has played some good games. He had a difficult game against Manchester City. The other night [against Wolves] he came on and I think he did well.

"He works really hard. He has fit in really well around the dressing room. He is a really nice boy, really humble, and he needs to be away from all the comments and focus on his work, focus on improving. And when he has got the chance to, perform in the best possible way."

David Luiz was also sent off at Wolves and Arsenal expect to hear the outcome of their appeal in the next 24 hours.

Following the government's official go-ahead, the Pakistan Super League 2021, which starts on February 20, will not be a closed-door event. Spectators will be allowed up to 20% of the ground's seating capacity, meaning Karachi can accommodate 7,500 people per match and Lahore 5,500.

"Fans are the PCB's biggest asset and we are delighted that no matter a small number, but some will be able to have access to the matches," board chairman Ehsan Mani said. "Their presence will add flavour and excitement to one of the biggest and most challenging leagues in the cricket calendar. We understand not everyone will get an opportunity to watch the matches due to the limited number of seats, but these are baby-steps and considering that most of the sport events are being played in empty stadium, this is a positive achievement and a step in the right direction."

In September, Pakistan's National Health Centre gave a green light for sporting activity to resume at grassroot and recreation level provided adequate safety measures were in place. In that same update there was a provision which read: "Spectators should be allowed for sports/games with outdoor pavilions while ensuring six feet of distancing between them."

It was then that the PCB approached the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) to discuss how many people could safely be allowed to watch the upcoming season of the PSL from the ground. Although the board had asked for 30% capacity initially, it eventually settled for 20%.

The PCB and NCOC will continue to monitor the situation and a decision to allow a further 10% will be taken after the group stage of the tournament is complete.

"I am optimistic that if we can maintain strict protocols during the PSL 2021 matches we will have a strong case for more fans in the 2021-22 season in which we have to host high-profile internationals teams such as New Zealand, England and the West Indies as well as quality domestic events, including the National T20 Cup, Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and the Pakistan Cup," Mani said.

Pakistan did experience a surge of Covid-19 cases over the winter, though they began to track downwards after the closure of schools last month. The government has urged people to take necessary precautions, but enforcement remains low and most public places - shopping malls, marriage halls and public transportation - are fully open.

The cricket season in Pakistan resumed in September, after a 24-week hiatus due to the pandemic. It began with the National T20 Cup - played over two legs in Multan and then Rawalpindi - followed by the first-class tournament Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, held fully in Karachi. Four games of the fifth edition of the PSL were also held in Karachi followed by a home series against Zimbabwe. The National T20 Cup and the home series against Zimbabwe were not open to crowds. Nor is the ongoing Test and the T20I series against South Africa. The PSL is scheduled to start on February 20 with 34 matches in total, divided between Karachi and Lahore.

Perth Scorchers 189 for 1 (Livingstone 77, Swepson 1-26) beat Brisbane Heat 150 for 9 (Burns 38, Hardie 3-46) by 49 runs (DLS method)

A stunning assault from Liam Livingstone and a superb spell from Jason Behrendorff helped Perth Scorchers reach their sixth BBL final with a comfortable win over Brisbane Heat in a rain-affected Challenger at Manuka Oval.

Livingstone shook off a relatively lean tournament with some trademark ball-striking in his 77 from just 39 balls, including six mammoth sixes. He revealed that he had spent the morning watching some footage of his best performances for the Scorchers last season in search of some confidence.

The Scorchers suffered a blow pre-game with Jason Roy ruled with an ankle injury he suffered playing a warm-up game at training in the days leading up to the Challenger. But Livingstone shared a century opening stand with Cameron Bancroft, who also made an unbeaten half-century coming in for just his seventh game of the tournament. Mitchell Marsh also smashed 49 not out from 28 balls before rain ended the Scorchers innings at 1 for 189 with 11 balls remaining.

The Heat were set a revised target of 200 from 18 overs and got off to a rollicking start before Behrendorff removed both Joe Denly and Chris Lynn off the last two balls of the Powerplay. The Scorchers then produced a trademark squeeze to end the Heat's season. Each of the bowlers, bar Jhye Richardson, picked up multiple wickets. Behrendorff, Fawad Ahmed and Andrew Tye finished with two apiece while Aaron Hardie took a career-best bag of 3 for 46. It could have been four or five with the Scorchers' only blemish a pair of dropped catches.

The Scorchers progress to face Sydney Sixers in the final at the SCG on Saturday night, with a chance to claim their fourth BBL title.

No Roy, no worries
Roy left a big hole for the Scorchers to fill at the top of the order and they replaced him with Bancroft, who had batted just five times in the tournament and had not opened in his last 21 T20 innings, dating back to BBL 08. The gamble paid off with Bancroft and Livingstone combining for a blistering century stand in just 10 overs. It was Livingstone's show, but Bancroft played a nice support act. Livingstone was troubled by Xavier Bartlett early, who finally got to bowl three overs straight for the first time in four matches, having been subbed out of the last three. He swung the ball late to beat the Englishman on numerous occasions. But Livingstone feasted on the rest of the attack. He struck five fours and six massive sixes with the Heat repeatedly getting too straight to him. Livingstone raced to 50 off just 27 balls, taking 14 from Mitchell Swepson's first over and then 27 off Marnus Labuschagne's second over. The two legspinners, who had loomed as a threat pre-game, got their lengths and speeds wrong and Livingstone clubbed them straight and over midwicket repeatedly.

Steketee subbed before rain intervened
With Bartlett bowling three overs upfront, the Heat elected to sub the second-leading wicket-taker in the BBL Mark Steketee for regular X-Factor Morne Morkel, much to the visible frustration of the Heat quick. The Scorchers pulled an unusual move of their own when Livingstone holed out off Swepson with more than eight overs to go. They promoted Marsh above the from duo of Colin Munro and Josh Inglis. The move looked like it may have backfired with Marsh and Bancroft failing to score a boundary for four overs. Swepson ended up with tidy figures of 1 for 26 from four. But when Marsh took the Power Surge it was a masterstroke. He faced 11 of the 12 balls and struck 28 runs, including five fours and a six, off Morkel and Ben Laughlin. Bancroft did reach a half-century off 40 balls via a thick outside edge to third man but there might have been concern in the Scorchers' dug out that they were leaving a lot of power in the shed as Bancroft struggled to find his timing. But as Bancroft struck his crispest boundary of the night over extra cover, the rain came and ended the Scorchers innings after 18.1 overs.

Behrendorff bags Lynn
The Scorchers didn't have a lot of good match-ups for Lynn given he had made two half-centuries against them this season. Lynn has a superb career record against Richardson and he and Denly collared the BBL's leading wicket-taker in the third over of the chase, taking 22 to get well ahead of the required rate. Behrendorff had never dismissed Lynn previously but had conceded just 43 from 39 balls in their career match-up. Lynn muscled two boundaries off Behrendorff but also faced four dots as he was cramped for room by the left-armer's crafty inswing. It would have been five dots and the run-out of Denly had Behrendorff hit with an underarm in his follow-through when Lynn tried to get off strike after another inside edge onto pad. Behrendorff completely deceived Denly with a 105kph slower ball off the second last ball of the Powerplay. Denly and Lynn crossed as the miscue ballooned to the safe hands of Marsh at midwicket. Lynn, without any thought of seeing off the left-armer, tried to launch Behrendorff's last ball over long-on and was clean bowled by another superb slower ball to leave the Heat in a huge hole.

Scorchers squeeze
The Scorchers of old returned with a ruthless bowling display to squeeze the life out of the Heat's season. Tye and Ahmed bowled back-to-back overs that cost just seven runs. Knockout hero Sam Heazlett could not repeat his heroics holing out off Hardie. Labuschagne also felt the pinch of the required rate and was clean bowled sweeping Ahmed. Hardie and Ahmed repeated the dose in the 10th and 11th as the required rate climbed above 15 runs per over. Jimmy Peirson hit borderline high full toss to deep square leg and Lewis Gregory was trapped plumb trying to sweep Ahmed. The legspinner bowled superbly to finish with 2 for 26, while Hardie finished with 3 for 46, although he had two catches dropped by Livingstone and Tye.

Earlier this week, the Major League Baseball Players Association decided to reject a proposal from MLB that would have delayed the start of spring training and the regular season by a month.

While the decision closed the door on a 154-game schedule that would pay the players for 162 games while pausing their arrivals to camp until March 22 and the first regular-season games until April 28, many questions about the status of spring training, the regular season and proposed rule changes remain.

We asked ESPN MLB reporters Alden Gonzalez and Jesse Rogers to examine the most pressing issues baseball is facing in its attempt to return to a full 2021 season after the shortened 2020 campaign.

Teams are scheduled to report in two weeks. What are the chances that spring training actually starts on time?

Rogers: It's looking more and more like camps will open as scheduled, with pitchers and catchers scheduled to report as early as Feb. 16 for some teams. There are only two things which could prevent that from happening, and neither is likely to occur.

First, if local governments in Florida and Arizona deem their communities are taking a step backward and need to invoke some sort of stay-at-home order, then clubs won't be able to operate under those conditions.

The other issue is about the health and safety protocols for the players as they train all spring in the midst of the ongoing pandemic. Like last summer, the league and the players' union have to agree on how to keep everyone safe and decide on how often players will be tested and the protocols for a positive test. It's likely everything will be signed off on in order for camps to open on time using the framework from last summer.

Gonzalez: Outside of local government implementing the type of health-and-safety restrictions that would prevent teams from congregating at their facilities -- don't count on it, given that the NBA's Phoenix Suns and the NHL's Arizona Coyotes are fully operational, the latter with partial attendance -- it would have to come from the MLBPA agreeing to delay the start of spring training.

The Cactus League doesn't have the authority to do so. MLB, beholden to the terms of the collective bargaining agreement and a schedule that has long since been announced, doesn't have much wiggle room, either.

The events of this past Monday, when the union rejected the league's proposal to delay the season, made it strikingly clear: The players want to start on time. Barring them changing their minds, that's exactly what will happen.

Is the regular season currently on pace to start on time, and how likely is it that it will do so?

Rogers: Yes. Just like spring training, the regular season is scheduled to begin on time. We are still more than two months from April 1, though, so things could change -- mostly related to the pandemic, now that negotiating a delay has been ruled out.

Considering that the other major sports leagues were able to begin their seasons, expect baseball to as well -- unless something major and unforeseen occurs.

Why did the MLBPA reject MLB's recent proposal of a 154-game season with a delayed start?

Rogers: In simple terms, the MLBPA had no incentive to change the calendar. Pitchers were already ramping up for a mid-February start and, remember, teams are back to traveling cross country for games.

The last thing players want is a compressed schedule, and some even wonder if waiting a month will help all that much in terms of the pandemic anyway. They're going to have to follow the health and safety protocols then just as much as they do now. The league's guarantee of full pay, well, is the same thing the players are getting right now.

Gonzalez: I will add, too, that expanded postseason proved to be a major sticking point.

Another, which granted Rob Manfred additional power to cancel or suspend games with regards to the ongoing pandemic, was cleared up when the league offered to change its language on the subject on Monday.

But the MLBPA didn't want expanded postseason, at least not this year. Lots of players believe expanded playoffs will only further disincentivize teams from spending and thus further shrink baseball's disappearing middle class. And, perhaps more to the point, the union doesn't want to set the precedent of back-to-back years of expanded playoffs going into the negotiation of a new CBA, considering it's potentially their biggest bargaining chip. The cynic's view from the union: If this really was all about health and safety, why do you have to attach expanded postseason into the negotiation?

How much time do players really need to get ready for Opening Day?

Gonzalez: Relievers don't need much and neither do the position players. The concern is the starting pitchers and whether they would have enough time to adequately build up enough length to safely enter a regular rotation spot during the regular season.

The common theme among players is that spring training is basically two weeks too long in a normal year. You can shave that off and I don't think you'd hear many complaints. Some starters might not be fully stretched out if that is the case, but that can be mitigated by more roster spots early in the season.

There were way too many pitcher injuries last year, but many believe that was due to shutting down in the spring and building back up in the summer more so than "summer camp" not being long enough.

Will MLB have a leaguewide stance on fans in the stands during spring training and the regular season?

Rogers: Fan attendance will be determined by local municipalities, but clubs will be required to submit a plan to the league office that must be approved as consistent with the advice of their health experts.

Spring training is expected to start with limited fans throughout Florida and Arizona, pending local approval. The Boston Red Sox announced plans to have 24% capacity at their games in Fort Myers, the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals have spring training tickets on sale now and the Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Miami Marlins, Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals are among teams that have announced plans to start spring with limited fans in attendance.

While it is too early to know what attendance will look like during the regular season, the Rays are one team that has announced a specific plan -- in their case, 7,000 fans allowed at Tropicana Field -- for the start of the season in April.

Gonzalez: This is going to be a fascinating element coming off a year with no fan revenue, and it'll be interesting to watch how the five California teams navigate the exceedingly strict protocols that were prompted by elevated COVID-19 cases coming out of the holidays.

San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer took the first step there, sending a letter to fans in which he stated that the team "can see a pathway to welcoming our fans back to Oracle Park." The letter highlighted modifications to stadium entry, food and beverage purchases made exclusively through an app, an "enhanced wayfinding program" that would allow fans to navigate the ballpark while remaining 6 feet apart and socially distant seating charts.

The Giants -- and the A's, and the Dodgers, and the Angels, and the Padres -- still have a long way to go. But we at least have an early glimpse into what the ballpark experience might look like in 2021.

Where does the 2021 NL designated hitter decision currently stand?

Rogers: As of this moment, it's not happening. There will be no tradeoff of an expanded postseason for the NL designated hitter. That much is clear. It is possible that could change based on how spring goes.

Say, for example, several teams or even the entire Cactus or Grapefruit League has to shut down, and pitchers are thrown off their routines. Then, for safety concerns, the DH could be implemented. In fact, there's a chance it still might be in anticipation of such problems. But the league won't just hand the players 15 well-paying jobs without something in return unless it has to.

What about expanded playoffs? Could we see 14 or 16 teams in the postseason again this October?

Rogers: It's doubtful at this point, unless something dramatically changes to shorten the season like it did in 2020. It's a huge bargaining chip for the players -- not all like the idea anyway -- so it will be part of a bigger discussion for the next collective bargaining agreement, which needs to be negotiated before next season.

How are teams handling not knowing the rules entering February?

Gonzalez: National League teams have basically been operating under the impression that the designated hitter will not be implemented for the 2021 season simply because it's the safer approach.

Outside of that, the one thing teams are hyperfocused on is possessing as much pitching depth as possible (within the financial constraints of their respective owners, of course). A full season would mean a year-to-year jump from 60 games to 162 games -- from a minimum of 510 innings to a minimum of 1,377 innings. Coaches, executives and medical personnel throughout the industry are exceedingly concerned about the threat of injury with such a significant jump looming. There are no clear answers for how to attack it right now.

Which other rules are still unclear for 2021?

Rogers: As of this moment, the 2021 season will revert back to pre-2020 rules with the exception of the three-batter minimum, which was permanently implemented before the pandemic.

However, there is plenty of time between now and the regular season to bring back seven-inning doubleheaders and a man on second base to begin extra innings. Unlike the DH and expanded postseason, there really isn't a monetary component to those changes. With the likelihood of the pandemic having an impact on games at some point between April and October, the league and players are likely to agree to the rules which help get games completed.

Another one to watch: Games that begin and are delayed by bad weather are likely to be suspended no matter when the delay occurs. That way, teams don't have to start the game over if they've played less than five innings.

All of this still has to be worked out before Opening Day.

George North tells Eddie Butler how his life has changed after becoming a father during lockdown and how he hopes the Welsh rugby squad can help lift the public in these troubled times.

Still aged only 28, North is preparing for his 11th Six Nations tournament after making his competition debut in 2011 as an 18-year-old.

A decade on and North has scored 41 tries in 98 Wales internationals, with two further scores in three Test appearances for the British and Irish Lions.

So having already secured a century of international appearances, North is in line to reach the 100 Wales caps milestone in the next couple of months.

Watch: Eddie Butler's Six Nations on BBC iPlayer

"That was probably the hardest, most awful game they've ever played in their life. That's what they're thinking. They're thinking 'Oh my God, what has just happened?'"

An intercept try by Stuart McInally seven minutes previously is the only brief interlude to an England demolition job in which Eddie Jones' team scored four tries, a modest return for their superiority.

But in a scarcely believable second half, Scotland add five more unanswered tries to move to the brink of not just a stunning comeback but a first win at the home of their fiercest rivals since 1983, only for England to strike the cruel, yet familiar, blow in overtime to clinch a 38-38 draw.

Reid, who came on five minutes into the second half, sat down with BBC Scotland in 2020 to rewatch - for the first time - one of the greatest Calcutta Cup matches, and gives his insight from on the pitch and the changing room, including the argument that broke out between head coach Gregor Townsend and fly-half Finn Russell.

McInally stops tidal wave

After 29 minutes, England wing Jonny May gathers an audacious offload from Henry Slade, waltzes over the line, puts his hand in the air, and dives flamboyantly to score. The hosts have wrapped up a bonus-point before the opening half hour is over. They are showboating.

May has added to tries by Jack Nowell, Tom Curry and Joe Launchbury. But four minutes later, comes some hope for Scotland. "There he goes, interception," Reid says as he watches McInally charge down Owen Farrell's attempted cross-field kick just out Scotland's 22.

"I was off my chair [on the bench] at this point screaming probably louder than the whole stadium 'GO, GO, GO'. It was like one of those fat kids trying to run away from a dog or something, or seeing the ice cream van and running for it. The winger, Jonny May, one of the fastest wingers in the world couldn't catch him. Rambo has got some speed."

McInally remarkably holds off both May and Farrell to score under the posts. It's a rare moment of joy on the bench, but thoughts of a comeback are still remote. "We were sitting talking," Reid recalls. "We didn't believe. Nobody would expect us to come back and do what we did."

"We're going inside and we're going to get a bollocking," Reid says, watching the players traipsing off at half-time.

What happened inside the dressing room was thrown into sharp focus last year, after Russell was excluded from the Scotland squad after a breach of team protocol, amid a fractious relationship with Townsend.

"I'm sitting trying to convince Allan Dell to stay on because his knee's hurting. I'm trying to convince him to stay on for 70 minutes as I'm a 10-minute man, 20 minutes at a push," Reid laughs.

"On the other hand, you've got Finn and Gregor just kind of having a big domestic. It was more about tactics. I think we kicked a lot in the first half, it didn't really work and we needed to change it. Gregor wasn't really happy. You've got some people who say things just to be heard, for their voice to be recognised. But when Finn says something, he's saying it for a reason.

"You've got one guy who's out on the park getting eaten up and spat back out. Then you've got another who's just angry. These two guys come head-to-head. But after a while the anger settles down and they start a conversation, 'right how do we work together and get the team back up, or try not to get embarrassed out there'."

Reid recalls how calm Townsend was as he delivered his message to his troops - there was no hairdryer involved. "I expected him to come in and lose his mind," the prop says.

"I've had coaches flinging water bottles, flipping up tables. But he was so calm. He just came in and, instead of losing his head, he's saying, 'Let's wipe the slate clean and win this second half. Let's go out there and put the best performance you've ever put in in a Scotland jersey.'"

'A bit of hope'

Reid, now on the pitch, already notices a big shift in Scotland's intensity as they pour forward for the first of their second-half tries. Russell puts Sam Johnson through a gap and, after a series of offloads and some quick ball, Darcy Graham steps past two white shirts to score in the corner.

"You can see the speed at breakdown, that's like two seconds, one-and-a-half seconds," he says as he points to the replay of the score. "No team can cope with that when you get that fast ball. When you get that in the wee man's [Graham's] hands, he's exciting. He's a tiny boy but he sure punches above his weight. Darcy's try gave us that lift, that bit of belief, a bit of hope."

'We can win this'

The momentum is now slowly shifting. Magnus Bradbury gathers the kick off and blitzes through three tackles before eventually being hauled down. Scotland passes that hit the deck before the break are now going to hand, and there is a speed to their play and a sluggishness about England.

And, perhaps most importantly, the bounce of the ball seems to being going in Scotland's favour. Price attempts a chip over the top inside his own half, gathers and feeds the onrushing Bradbury from nowhere to charge under the posts.

Townsend watches on without even a hint of a smile. But on the pitch, something is stirring. "We can win this game. That was the belief," says Reid. "When you're down that much, nothing really matters anymore. You've got nothing to lose, and that's when you manage to find that extra bit of energy, that extra grit to get in there and do it."

'We're on the cusp of something special'

"The wee man again," Reid laughs as Graham races in at the right-hand corner for his second score, and Scotland's third in just 13 minutes as Twickenham is stunned.

Russell's prints are all over this try as he loops a ridiculous pass out to Sean Maitland, who feeds Graham for the finish. As Greig Laidlaw puts the conversion wide, England are huddled under the posts in frantic discussion, there is hysteria in the stands, but Scotland remain calm.

"It's just total focus," Reid explains. "We know we're on the cusp of doing something special but it's just a matter of 'we just need to keep going'. We know how good a team England are, we know they do come back so we need to keep our foot on the throat."

'It puts chills down your back'

Sitting in front of the screen, Reid watches on, engrossed in a contest he knows the outcome of. "You can definitely see it in England's defence and attack - they're slow to the breakdown, slow to get set."

Just moments later, the prop watches Russell race under the posts having picked off Farrell's pass. "It puts chills down your back," he says. "When you're watching it again, you're like... not many people have been involved in a game for Scotland, never mind one like this.

"You're just buzzing. It was the same at the World Cup [in 2015] when we played against Australia. Unluckily we lost that with the last kick of the game, but it was the exact same when Mark Bennett intercepts the ball, it just sends chills down your back."

'Can you blow the whistle now?'

Remarkably there is a period of 15 minutes without a try. But it's still frantic. Slade is just nudged into touch as he races down the wing, and Maitland has a rampaging run for Scotland. Laidlaw misses a penalty, but it's not a day for three points.

It's open, unstructured rugby, and up steps Russell again. He identifies Billy Vunipola defending in midfield, with space to his left. Russell carries towards the England number eight, who attempts to smash him, and without looking, the fly-half puts Johnson careering through the gap.

"You would never expect him to finish that," Reid says of the centre. "Even when you look at it, there's two English players back, you don't expect him to score."

But with the help of an almighty fend, Johnson does score, and Scotland lead with three minutes left.

"I'm tired, but there's just that emotion, like 'oh my God'. You're knackered but you're like 'come on!', and I'm talking to the ref saying 'can you blow the whistle now?'."

'Boys are absolutely blowing'

Having rocked England for 40 minutes, it's Scotland's turn for some pain as they are forced to close out the game. "You're defending like your life depends on it," Reid says. "Boys are absolutely blowing. It's finger-biting."

The prop sighs as Scotland hooker Fraser Brown is penalised at the ruck as the clock turns red, allowing England to kick to the corner. Phase after phase is repelled, but penalty advantage is awarded to England for another infringement. It's desperate stuff.

"They go wide here and the best thing they could do was score really, but look at the bodies on the line," Reid says as Jack Nowell is stopped inches short in the left-hand corner.

But back in-field they come, and George Ford shows and goes inside Johnson under the sticks, giving himself an easy conversion to tie the game at the death. A cruel blow.

'We should have won'

From down and out to on top of the world, to the sucker of conceding at the death, the Scottish players had been through just about every emotion it's possible to feel on a pitch.

Fans and pundits sang their praises for their comeback and the style of it, too. It was Scotland at their best, the like of which has not consistently materialised in the two years since. But in the bowels of Twickenham, there was deep disappointment.

"We had the president come in and all the committee people at the SRU and they're all rubbing your back, but deep inside you just want to tell them to get tae," Reid says. "It was an amazing game to watch and everybody who watched it said that - but we should have won."

Townsend's face at full-time told the story of his own frustration at not holding on, but he was philosophical with his players.

"He was gutted as much as anyone else but proud that we went out and won the second half," Reid recalls. "Obviously everyone was writing us off at half-time and saying this is going to be a disgrace, a 70-pointer, the biggest defeat in international rugby and all that rubbish.

"Not every team can come from 31-0 down to then scoring those great flair tries in the second half. We retained the Calcutta Cup which was great, but we should have won."

Kane Williamson has said he is "chuffed" at New Zealand making the World Test Championship (WTC) final, and believes that their position is reflective of the team's "hard work through the summer". The New Zealand captain is currently nursing an elbow niggle, but he is confident it will "settle" well before their T20I series in Australia that starts on February 22.

New Zealand became the first team to qualify for the inaugural WTC final, following the postponement of Australia's tour of South Africa. On their way to securing their place, New Zealand swept two two-match series at home, against West Indies and Pakistan, and were aided by points dropped by Australia in a home defeat to India in addition to slow over-rate penalties. The postponement of South Africa-Australia means New Zealand will definitely finish at least second on the points table.

"It's really exciting and really chuffed for all the guys," Williamson said on Thursday. "It acknowledges a lot of hard work through the summer.

"Obviously Covid changed the qualifying a little bit but it meant a number of teams were in the hunt. Coming into our summer it was going 'right, if we win these four Tests, that gives us an opportunity to be there [in the final]'. We did manage to do that and play some good cricket along the way and it's really exciting to get the nod. The Test guys will be really excited at that prospect."

Speaking of his injury, he said he will not be part of the upcoming domestic T20 Super Smash round, starting tomorrow, as a precaution.

"It's just an inflammation in a tendon in my elbow, but it's just precautionary, so unfortunately I won't be playing this next round. I'm hoping that will just take a week to settle, like I say, a precaution, have been advised that the wisest move would be to take that week and hopefully not worry about it."

Williamson and his team-mates face a lengthy stint away from home this year, starting with the IPL (if scheduled as expected during the regular April-May window), followed by a Test tour to England, the WTC final, then the T20 World Cup and a Test series in India, before the New Zealand home summer. He's not planning too far ahead though, since, he said, the pandemic made that near impossible.

"Loose sums, it could be nine months or so, maybe more [away from home]. It is a challenge and we haven't planned it out exactly and I don't think you can. You can try and throw in a few contingencies to see how it might all unfold."