World number three Karolina Pliskova outclassed Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber 6-1 6-4 to win her second Eastbourne title in style.

Pliskova, from the Czech Republic, will head to Wimbledon full of confidence after a superb display sealed victory over the German in 71 minutes.

She broke fourth seed Kerber's serve three times to take the first set and once on her way to winning the second.

The 27-year-old did not lose a set during the Nature Valley International.

"All week I was playing quite perfect," said Pliskova. "But not all the matches were as easy the score says, especially today."

The match between two former world number ones was billed as a battle between Pliskova, the great server, and Kerber, the great returner.

Pliskova's big serve dominated all week but it was the way the second seed attacked 31-year-old Kerber's serve that proved the difference.

The Czech player broke Kerber's opening service game and the German did not manage to hold her serve until the third game of the second set.

Pliskova then broke Kerber's serve at the first opportunity in the second and although the three-time Grand Slam champion played much better, the depth and power of the Czech's groundstrokes continued to give her control of the key points.

She dropped just seven points on her serve in the set and finished with seven aces.

Pliskova, who has yet to win a Grand Slam title, gets her Wimbledon campaign under way against China's Zhu Lin on Monday.

Jana Novotna in 1998 was the last player to win Eastbourne and go on to win Wimbledon.

Kerber will open the defence of her title against compatriot Tatjana Maria on Tuesday.

"Going back as a defending champion it will be a special moment stepping onto Centre Court again," said Kerber.

"I'm feeling good, I'm playing good and hopefully I can continue on my play from last year."

Analysis

Former British number one Sam Smith on BBC TV

I think that was one of the best performances we've seen on this court.

It was such an intelligent display tactically. The way Pliskova mixed up her serving Kerber didn't know which way to go and was standing so far back.

There was also clear thinking about where she wanted to hit her returns and clear thinking in the exchanges with the way she changed the pace of her shots which meant she gave Kerber constant problems to solve.

MOST, Czech Republic – Nicolo Rocca grabbed his fifth career NASCAR Whelen Euro Series pole in the tour’s debut at Autodrom Most in the Czech Republic on Saturday.

Four years and two days after his last one, the Italian clocked a 1:41.431 lap in the Superpole session, securing the best starting position for the seventh race in ELITE 1.

In ELITE 2, championship leader Giorgio Maggi took his maiden NWES pole with a 1:41.339 lap, making it eight different polesitters in the first four events of the season.

Rocca is fighting for the 2019 NWES title and Junior Trophy win with his PK Carsport Chevrolet Camaro in the ELITE 1 Division.

In his first outing on the Czech track, he was just a blink of an eye faster than Loris Hezemans, who ended up second by a mere .032 seconds.

Rocca became the fourth different ELITE 1 polesitter this season.

“Since yesterday I had a great feeling with the car on this beautiful track,” said Rocca. “I woke up this morning and was just thinking about grabbing this pole position. I knew we had the car to make it happen. The PK Carsport guys worked incredibly well the whole season and we start giving them back good results. I was fast and did a good lap, which was enough for grabbing the pole. I’m very happy. It will be a challenging and hot race, but I’m not too worried. I will give my best to bring home a good result today.”

While Hezemans came just a little bit short after being fastest in Q1, championship leader and two-time NWES champion Alon Day was third with a gap of .382 seconds from the pole.

Rocca’s teammate Stienes Longin, who sits second in the ELITE 1 Division standings, ended up fourth by clocking a 1:41.972 lap in Superpole. Jacques Villeneuve showed a promising pace in Qualifying but couldn’t reach his full potential in Superpole and will start fifth.

Lucas Lasserre finished a positive sixth ahead of Thomas Ferrando, who is racing for CAAL Racing at the NASCAR GP Czechia this weekend. The Frenchman posted his best result since the season opener and edged Sebastiaan Bleekemolen, who advanced to Superpole for the very first time in his NWES career.

Francesco Sini entered Superpole once again and was ninth ahead of Christophe Bouchut, who is back in Euro NASCAR with Alex Caffi Motorsport.

Three-time NWES champion and Valencia double race winner Ander Vilarino only ended up 15th quickest.

Maggi captured his first ever NWES pole position in Czechia and became the fourth different ELITE 2 polesitter of the season.

The Swiss driver clocked a blistering fast lap of 1:41.339 and held a .799 seconds gap to three-time race winner Lasse Soerensen.

Maggi’s lap would have granted him the pole in ELITE 1.

“It was very close on the track, but it was a very good lap,” said Maggi. “I’m a little bit surprised about myself, to be honest. For sure I will give my best to grab my second win here today, but it will be tricky in the first corner, as the straight is very long. We have to break the cars down hard, so we’ll see what happens.”

Soerensen, who sits fifth in points, edged Andre Castro by just .003 seconds. The top three qualifiers also mirror the Rookie Trophy classification.

Local hero Martin Doubek, who is back after a knee injury, put a smile on the faces of his fans by finishing fourth ahead of Advait Deodhar, who is looking to improve his current third place in the ELITE 2 standings.

Eoin Morgan has admitted England are prepared to take a risk with the fitness of Jason Roy and Jofra Archer in Sunday's match against India.

England go into the game knowing that they almost certainly need to win it to keep their World Cup hopes alive. As a result, they are desperate to play their first-choice side even if it involves risking their involvement later in the tournament.

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Roy had missed England last three World Cup games - two of which have been defeats - after sustaining a hamstring injury during the match against West Indies. His replacement, James Vince, has managed just 40 runs in three innings while Roy has passed fifty in five of his last six ODIs in a spell that includes two centuries.

Archer, meanwhile, has been suffering from some stiffness in his side. His average pace has dropped a little in that period and he did not bowl in training on Friday.

Both men are set to train on Saturday, however, and undergo some sort of fitness test on Sunday morning ahead of the game. Morgan made no secret of his desire to play both of them.

"Jason is preparing to play tomorrow," Morgan said on Saturday. "Provided he gets through today's practice and tomorrow morning unscathed. We think he might be fit to play.

"If him playing is going to rule him out long-term, then absolutely not," Morgan replied to a question asking if Roy would be risked for the game. "But if it's going to rule him out for a couple of weeks, yes.

"The exact same thing applies with Archer. "If it's long-term (risk), then no. if it's short-term, then yes.

"Again, we're going to see how he comes through today. It's the same thing he's been playing with the last three games."

Morgan also accepted that, with many India supporters expected at Edgbaston on Sunday, it may feel like an away game. Some estimates suggest as many as 80 percent of spectators may be supporting India in a scenario that reminded Morgan of the Champions Trophy final played at the same ground in 2013.

"I sort of recall the Champions Trophy final we played here against India," Morgan said. "It was a complete away game. We had a number of fans in the ground, but the noise the Indian fans make with horns makes it that much louder. So yes, tomorrow will feel like an away game."

In one way, this match may prove quite different. That Champions Trophy match was played on a very dry - though new - surface which offered considerable assistance to the spinners. This match will be played on a fresh pitch which looks considerably better than any of those seen at Edgbaston in the tournament to date. It is not expected to provide much assistance to spinners - or seamers - and could prove to be a high-scoring encounter.

"We want to play on best possible batting wicket and we always do," Morgan said. "We bat deep and we bat strong. It's an area we're more confident. Everybody knows that.

"But where we've let ourselves down as a group if adapting to conditions. It's been a bigger challenge in this World Cup than previous bilateral series that we've played. Tomorrow is going to be the same. We're going to have to adapt to conditions and to playing against a strong side in India."

TAZEWELL, Tenn. — Shanon Buckingham took over the lead on a lap-44 caution after Tyler Erb and Dale McDowell both suffered flat tires and went on to claim his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory.

For the 46-year-old Tennessee native, the Toyota Knoxville/Secret City Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram/Ted Russell Ford 50 on Friday night at Tazewell Speedway marked the biggest win of his career.
Buckingham held off first-time Tazewell visitor Jared Hawkins for the victory to become the eleventh different winner this season on the tour.

Earl Pearson Jr. finished in third place, with Hudson O’Neal and Jimmy Owens completing the top five.

Josh Richards and Jimmy Owens led the field to the start of the race before a huge crowd of fans. Richards took the lead on lap one ahead of Owens before the first caution of the race flew on lap eight for Moyer Jr., who had a flat tire. Jonathan Davenport subsequently suffered a drive-line failure, putting him out of the race.

The field was slowed again on lap ten for Owens, who suffered a flat tire along the frontstretch while running in second. When the race resumed, Richards continued to show the way until Erb took the lead. Richards then slowed on lap 42 with a flat tire while running in second.

Buckingham was emotional in Lucas Oil Victory after winning in his home state.

“We have worked so hard for this,” said Buckingham. “When we set out to do the Lucas Oil Series this year, we had a goal of winning some races. To do it here at Tazewell, in front of all of these people is just fantastic. I want to say thank you to everybody who got us to victory lane tonight.”

Hawkins earned the hard-charger of the race, coming from 15th to finish second behind Buckingham and was pleased with the Tim Logan Racing entry.

“I have heard a lot about this place,” Hawkins said. “Trust me, I was on YouTube a lot this week to check it out. It was fun out there tonight. We just stayed out of trouble and came home in second. Congratulations to Shanon on the win.”
Pearson’s third-place finish moved him to second place in the standings.

“We just stayed out of trouble tonight,” Pearson said. “There were guys wrecking in front us, some had flat tires as well, but we stayed up there and had a solid finish.”

The finish:

Shanon Buckingham, Jared Hawkins, Earl Pearson Jr., Hudson O’Neal, Jimmy Owens, Tim McCreadie, Kyle Strickler, Vic Hill, Devin Moran, Ryan King, Tyler Erb, Josh Richards, Dale McDowell, Billy Moyer Jr., Kyle Bronson, Jeff Wolfenbarger, Jeff Neubert, Stormy Scott, Dakotah Knuckles, Michael Norris, David Payne, Jonathan Davenport, Jason Trammell, Steve Smith.

OREGON, Wis. — It was a patient Kody Swanson who won Friday night’s USAC Silver Crown Series Dairyland 100 at Madison Int’l Speedway.

Swanson led the first 12 laps from the pole but fell back to third where he’d run for the first half of the 100-lapper as David Byrne, then Kyle Hamilton took turns at the front.  Swanson wasn’t sure a win on this day was in the cards. However, the Kingsburg, Calif., native kept grinding and working until he put himself in a position to pounce.

“Earlier, I didn’t know if I’d have anything for Kyle and David,” Swanson admitted. “Not only were they faster than me, they were able to do it with ease. That’s a disheartening feeling, but I love that they’re 100 laps. The track changes and your car changes. I just stayed with it and kept moving around. I like what dirt teaches you, that you need to move around and follow the racetrack so that you’re prepared for a position like that when you’re in traffic.”

At midway, though, the complexion of the race was altered. On the 51st lap, fourth-running Justin Grant’s car went up in smoke, dumping liquid and turning the surface in turn three into a skating ring, sending sixth-place Derek Bischak and eighth-place Travis Welpott sliding uncontrollably at the entrance of turn three.

After the unplanned mid-race break, Swanson knew he had been able to preserve his equipment in the first half.  The timing was now right to make a run, he felt.

“One of the biggest factors here is when you’re on the brakes,” Swanson explained. “No matter how fast you are, if you run out, you’re sunk.  I felt like once we got in the second half, it was okay to try what I could to keep pace. I felt like the longer it went, the better we got.”

On lap 57, the timing was just right to set the first domino into motion. The top-three of Hamilton, Byrne and Swanson ran nearly nose-to-tail. Swanson hustled and forced Byrne into pressuring Hamilton, which opened the door on the bottom at the exit of turn four, where Swanson pulled even with Byrne near the end of the front straightaway before Byrne shut the door, albeit momentarily.

Byrne couldn’t quite hold the bottom line, drifted up off turn two, which allowed Swanson to stay the course underneath to drive away with the second spot on the backstretch with Hamilton now the only contender left in his sight as the pair began to encounter lapped traffic.

“When catching lapped cars, you never know what can happen at the end, or anytime,” Swanson reiterated. “You never know when you might be in a position to win one or not. With 12 to go at Williams Grove (two weeks ago), I thought I had a shot, but I made a mistake. We were battling issues. We all are. That’s what I love about Silver Crown. Nobody gets a perfect game. You’ve got to figure it out, but I didn’t. I missed it.”

On the 77th lap, Swanson was amidst this very situation heading down the back straight, but was sort of in the bystander role, waiting to see what Hamilton does and counter that move. Hamilton chose the high route and got clogged in by a group of three lapped cars at the exit of turn four. Hamilton was stuck, but Swanson had an open space on the bottom to stick his nose in and forge forward with the lead.

“I love when you catch them in a group like that…in second place,” Swanson clarified. “It’s a huge advantage there.  It’s your job to take care of it. When you’re trying to decide whether to go high or low, you pretty much get to pick the lane he doesn’t. I was hoping he’d pick high personally just because the way I felt my car was rolling the bottom really well. I was able to make a move and get alongside and, from there, you have to capitalize on things like that. He’s good enough, if he gets back out front, there may not be enough time left to get another opportunity.

Swanson was more than eager to put this one on ice, where he opened up a near four-second lead by the closing laps.  That is, until Austin Nemire slipped sideways to a stop in turn four as Swanson was eying the checkered flag, necessitating a green-white-checkered finish.

“Here, we were within coasting distance of making it happen, but they say, ‘no dice,'” Swanson recalled. “On the radio, I was just quiet. What a bummer it really was, but I had to get focused and it’s like ‘hey you got to let it go.’ It is what it is. It’s our job to do the best two laps we can and finish this thing.”

Swanson had no trouble on the final two lap sprint, opening up a 1.678-second gap at the finish to score his 27th career series win.

Hamilton hung on for second despite getting clipped in turn three by Byrne in a battle for the runner-up spot.  Hamilton maintained the grip and hung on for second over Byrne, Bobby Santos and Eric Gordon.

To see full results, turn to the next page.

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — It just doesn’t seem to matter what track or who the competition is, Brandon Sheppard and the Rocket1 Racing team are dominant.

Even when pitted up against the most seasoned drivers of the DIRTcar Summer Nationals on Friday night at the Terre Haute Action Track, Sheppard doesn’t flinch.

For the ninth time this season on the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series tour, Sheppard earned the win and extended his lead in the overall championship. Sheppard blasted to the lead in the series’ second visit to historic half-mile and methodically paced the field over a hard-charging Bobby Pierce and Darrell Lanigan, who garnered his 10th top-10 finish of the season.

Setting fast time in his qualifying group, winning his Drydene Heat race and redrawing the pole, Sheppard took off like a Rocket and, at one point, opened up a near-four-second advantage over his competition.

Leading all 30 caution-free laps for $10,000, Sheppard made it look easy. He entered several waves of lapped traffic but disposed of each one with ease, giving him the separation he needed to build a cushion around his large lead.

This victory also gave Sheppard his second Summer Nationals win of the year — the other coming just 10 days ago at Jacksonville Speedway in his family-owned #B5 machine.

“It’s a dream season,” Sheppard said. “I hope we can keep it rolling.”

Pierce put on quite the show once he cracked the top-five with 13 laps remaining. Riding the cushion, right where he’s so often found, the three-time Summer Nationals Champion turned some of his fastest laps of the race in the final 10 circuits while in hot pursuit of the leader.

“The motor was running hot, and if it wasn’t, I really would have pushed the issue even harder than I was to catch Brandon,” Pierce said. “The oil temperature and the water temperature gauges were blinking at me for about the last 15 laps, so I didn’t want to I didn’t want to push it too hard.”

Coming from the eighth starting spot, “The Smooth Operator” chipped away at the cars in front of him and made steady progress towards the front, eventually reaching the rear bumper of Lanigan on lap 24.

Pierce drove it hard into turn three underneath Lanigan and appeared to have the spot secured coming out of turn four, but Lanigan made an excellent crossover maneuver to take the spot back at the start/finish line.

Once again, Pierce threw it in hard on the top groove heading into turn one and, this time, made it stick as he swiped third away and cracked the whip to reach his next target, Billy Moyer. It didn’t take nearly as long for Pierce to get around Moyer, disposing of him in just two corners. Now, with just five circuits remaining, Pierce was running out of time in his pursuit of Sheppard.

“By the time I got past Lanigan, I was looking for Brandon,” Pierce said. “Finally, I spotted him, he was so far gone without having a caution during the race. One side of me was wanting to go for it and dig hard to catch him, but the other side of me was thinking, ‘Well, this is a good points night, second’s not too bad.’”

The finish:

Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard [1]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce [8]; 3. 29-Darrell Lanigan [2]; 4. 21-Billy Moyer [5]; 5. 18-Shannon Babb [15]; 6. 3S-Brian Shirley [7]; 7. 157-Mike Marlar [11]; 8. 7W-Ricky Weiss [3]; 9. 99JR-Frank Heckenast, Jr. [9]; 10. 25-Shane Clanton [6]; 11. B1-Brent Larson [13]; 12. 97-Cade Dillard [14]; 13. 28-Dennis Erb, Jr. [4]; 14. 99B-Boom Briggs [10]; 15. CJ1-Rusty Schlenk [21]; 16. 25F-Jason Feger [19]; 17. 18J-Chase Junghans [20]; 18. 6-Blake Spencer [17]; 19. 14S-Steve Godsey [16]; 20. 31AUS-Paul Stubber [18]; 21. 25H-Chuck Hummer [22]; 22. 10-Paul Parker [12]; KSE Hard Charger Award: 18-Shannon Babb[+10].

MALTA, N.Y. — Matt DeLorenzo, one of the hottest drivers at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway last season, has been consistent but not fast enough to win in 2019.

Friday night he finally broke loose, handily winning the 35-lap DIRTcar modified feature, taking the lead in the tight points battle as well.

Three yellows in the first four laps kept the field closed up but didn’t let the 12^th-starting DeLorenzo build up much momentum around his favored outside groove. Mike Mahaney benefitted most from the early yellows, scooting from 10th to stand third on the lap four restart. But from there he stalled out and DeLorenzo closed rapidly on the lead pack under an extended green.

With Mahaney working second place Don Ronca behind leader Kris Vernold, the fleet DeLorenzo swept around the lead pack, going from third to first in one swoop on lap 13. By halfway, he was long gone, with Vernold, Mahaney, Brian Berger, Ronca and Rocky Warner dueling behind him.

A yellow right after halfway broke DeLorenzo’s momentum momentarily but a return to green saw him drive away again as Warner clawed his way to second just before the lap counter hit 30. By then, hard track specialist Marc Johnson had arrived from the last row to challenge Warner, finally grabbing second with three to go.  Warner followed DeLorenzo and Johnson to the checkers, with Mahaney and 15th-starting Peter Britten rounding out the top five.

Brandon Emigh bested Josh Coonradt and Dan and Darrell Older to claim the Pro Stock feature, while Derek Bornt prevailed in the $1,000-to-win Dean’s Electric Service Sportsman Shootout. He was trailed by Brian Calabrese and a fast closing Tim Hartman Jr.

Manchester United have completed the signing of defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Crystal Palace.

The England under-21 international becomes United's second signing of the summer following the arrival of Dan James from Swansea City.

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The 21-year-old has signed a five-year deal, with the option of another 12 months, worth around £80,000-a-week.

"It's an unbelievable feeling and an honour to call myself a Manchester United player and something I know that only a small number of players have the privilege to say," Wan-Bissaka said.

"I can't wait to get going and integrated into the squad. I will have a short break now after the European Championships but I'm looking forward to starting training with the manager and my new team-mates on the preseason tour."

United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made Wan-Bissaka a top priority this summer after right-back Antonio Valencia was released.

The Old Trafford club had an initial bid of £35 million plus add ons rejected and Palace grew frustrated as negotiations dragged on.

But sources told ESPN FC that United made a breakthrough in the talks and will pay an initial £45m with a further £5m in add-ons.

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"Aaron is one of the best upcoming defenders in the Premier League," Solskjaer said. "He has the right work ethic, talent and mentality to play for Manchester United and he fits exactly the type of player that we are looking to bring into the squad to help us improve and push on further.

"Aaron is a young, hungry player and eager to learn and that's important at his age. I am delighted he has signed with us and we look forward to continuing his tremendous development so far."

Wan-Bissaka could play some part on the summer tour of Australia, Singapore, China and Norway and is in line to make his Old Trafford debut when United start their Premier League campaign against Chelsea on Aug. 11.

The surprising thing about Aaron Wan-Bissaka is not that he is reportedly about to become the most expensive right-back in the history of football. It's that only two years ago, the man who Manchester United are rumoured to be spending north of £50 million for, wasn't even a right-back.

In fact, for much of the time the 21-year-old spent in the Crystal Palace youth ranks, he was not even especially highly rated. In those days he was a relatively modest winger, not close to being cut adrift but definitely not pegged as a future star. He was consistent, a seven-out-of-ten player, but not one to catch the eye, despite his remarkable pace and long, snaking legs.

"In his under-20 year, we weren't exactly concerned, but he probably wasn't scoring enough or assisting enough -- not of the level you'd want from a Premier League winger," Gary Issott, Palace's academy director, tells ESPN.

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Indeed, in October 2017, only a few months before he made his senior debut (Feb. 2018) and slid into Premier League life like it was a perfectly-tailored suit, Palace were trying to find a League One club to loan him to. That January, he tried to persuade Palace to let him join a club in League Two. The problem was, none of the managers they spoke to were interested.

It was former first-team coach Kevin Keen who first suggested to academy coaches that he might have the ability to play at full-back. And one morning when the first-team squad were playing a practice match at the club's training ground, he got his opportunity. The team were short of someone to play at right-back, so Wan-Bissaka was asked to fill in.

This wasn't just your average practice match, though. Wan-Bissaka's opponent was Wilfried Zaha, destroyer of full-backs and the cause of twisted blood in many experienced defenders. Zaha didn't get a sniff, marked out of the game and was physically and tactically bested by the youngster.

"He was one of the few players who could match Wilfried's pace and power," says Issott. That performance stuck in the minds of everyone at Palace, even though his initial outings at the back for Palace's youth sides were a little rough and he couldn't see a future in the position. After a clutch of injuries left Roy Hodgson short in defence, Wan-Bissaka was called upon.

He wasn't exactly eased in. While most youngsters might expect a couple of substitute appearances or a run-out in the League Cup to get them used to first-team football, Wan-Bissaka's first three senior games were starts against Tottenham, Manchester United and Chelsea. His fifth saw him face Liverpool.

A look at the team sheets in those games shows the debutant, barely out of his teens, was up against Eden Hazard, Christian Eriksen, Sadio Mane and Marcus Rashford. But rather than breathing slowly into a paper bag, as most callow youths might be forgiven for doing when faced with those opponents, he excelled. The United game is remembered particularly for the moment he chased down and put in a statement of a tackle on the aforementioned Rashford. If you didn't know better, you would have sworn he had been there for years.

All of which bodes well for a potential move to the pressure and chaos of Old Trafford. "He's got a fantastic temperament," says Issott. "I'm sure he does get nervous but he doesn't show it. He reacts very well in high pressure situations." He will need all of that with United, a club with high expectations but currently short of the players to deliver upon them.

The first thing you notice about Wan-Bissaka when you see him live is how natural and easy everything looks. He just seems to be moving quicker than everyone else on the pitch without seeming to strain himself at all. "The best athletes, that's how they look -- effortless," says Issott. "He's as quick as anybody we've ever had."

Next, you notice how clean his tackling is. No defender in the Premier League made more successful challenges than him last season, something that's even more remarkable when you consider most defenders have been learning this art from an early age, whereas he's barely been doing it for two years.

"I have no idea where I get it from," he told the Guardian last season. "I'm just as confused when I see all the stats. I'd never tackle on Walton Green [where he played as a kid in Croydon, South-East London]. I was too busy doing the tricks, and I just didn't like defending." The players he watched and looked to emulate weren't Dani Alves or Philipp Lahm, but rather attackers Ronaldinho and Thierry Henry.

As a late convert to defence, he's had to learn fast, and the good news is he's doing just that. As an example, early last season he was sent off against Liverpool for a misjudged challenge after reeling in Mohamed Salah when clean through on goal. Yet in the following 23 games he was only booked once, and was cautioned only three further times in the campaign. Wan-Bissaka has had to do most of his education at the top level, but he's maturing remarkably quickly.

"It's when talent meets opportunity," says Issott, explaining Wan-Bissaka's rise. You suspect those opportunities will keep on coming for the talented 21-year-old.

"There has never been a better time to be a professional cricketer," according to Daryl Mitchell.

Mitchell, chairman of the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA; the players' union in England and Wales), was speaking after the PCA committee voted unanimously to approve a new five-year (2020-2024) deal with the ECB that ensures all professional players will benefit from the improved broadcast contracts.

The County Partnership Agreement (CPA) will ensure a rise in the salary collar (the minimum amount a county can spend on player salaries) and the salary cap (the maximum amount a county can spend on the salaries of its players), an established minimum wage for full-time professionals and a raft of other improved benefits for players. All concessions were in the face of initial resistance from the ECB.

Although ESPNcricinfo reported many of these improved features in March, the final details have taken some time to agree on and the vote - involving representatives from all 18 first-class counties and the England women's squad - only took place on Friday.

"Today is a big moment for every current and future professional cricketer in this country," Mitchell said. "This has been a long and testing process but ultimately a very rewarding outcome.

"I made a bold statement just over a year ago that we needed to ensure every player benefits from the CPA and after constant dialogue and deliberation between stakeholders and over 70 formal meetings, I am delighted we have achieved this.

"The new retirement pot will bring a country-wide benefit to all players who will be supported through extra funding to help with their transition into a second career. David [Leatherdale, PCA chief executive] has fought particularly hard for the implementation of this and with it now agreed, the PCA committee will decide a distribution model for the estimated £5 million that counties will contribute over the five-year period.

"This deal will not only see players directly rewarded but with future funding for the PCA in place and substantial donations to be made to the Professional Cricketers' Trust for the first time, the welfare of players will be protected."

The deal may also serve as something of a legacy for Leatherdale, who has endured a torrid time, which has included taking an extended break to deal with a stress-related problem following a succession of family tragedies. He has already confirmed he will be standing down in the coming weeks, but this deal will ensure he moves on to the next challenge confident he has made a significant positive contribution for his fellow and future PCA members.

"This historic deal creates a reinvigorated approach to playing cricket professionally which will see players rewarded through their careers like never before," Mitchell said."Young players coming into the game will have the best ever chance to be successful with minimum guarantees while improved policies around welfare issues as well as the rise in salary caps and collars will benefit all.

"We know the first two years after retirement is an incredibly difficult time so the new retirement pot will bridge a gap to help the transition into a second career. One of the most exciting successes is the PCA gaining 100 extra members through the women's game. The players who participate in the eight new 'Hundred' teams will be represented by the PCA as the women's game continues to evolve in the professional era.

"In terms of the England men's and women's deals which have been negotiated alongside the CPA through the Team England Player Partnership and England Women's Player Partnership, these deals are also close to being agreed which will ensure representing your country has never been more rewarding."

Key points in the deal

• Minimum 26.5% of ECB central revenue received by players

• Projected £5,000,000 retirement pot to be distributed to players

• Doubling of salary collar from £750,000 to £1,500,000

• Salary cap rising to £2,500,000

• New, binding minimum wage of £27,500 for full time professionals

• Formal rookie contracts introduced

• Increased accountability with PCA to receive a copy of every county contract

• Doubling of payment made to players when released or retiring from the game

• Injury period before termination of contracts doubled with new and improved insurances

• Increased allowance for personal development time

• Secured freedom of movement for overseas cricket between October and March

• Fairer HR procedures on issues such as grievances, discipline and appraisals

• £8,000,000 going to players through The Hundred

• 12.5% retained by counties to allow release for The Hundred for 12.33% of year

• Increase in revenue for Team England Player Partnership and England Women's Player Partnership - through separate agreements

• 100 new female PCA members due to creation of a new professional structure

• PCA funding uplifted by 23%

• Funding for three new PCA Personal Development Managers

• ECB to make a significant contribution to the Professional Cricketers' Trust

• Salary collar to rise

• Salary cap to grow

• Minimum wage to be set

• Every male and female professional player to benefit