India will commence their run in the inaugural World Test Championship with a two-match Test series in the West Indies, beginning late August.

The two Tests which will be played in Antigua (August 22-26) and Jamaica (August 30-September 3) come at the back end of the tour which also comprises three T20s and three ODIs.

The tour was originally slotted to begin immediately after the World Cup but was pushed back following the BCCI's request. India will begin the tour with two T20Is, the first of which will be played in Florida on August 3. In recent times, Florida has become a regular venue for Cricket West Indies. The venue also hosted two T20Is during India's tour to the Caribbean in 2016, apart from a number of Caribbean Premier League matches.

In March, CWI had sent a request to the BCCI asking to play an additional T20I. Another request from CWI was two of the three agreed T20Is to be played in Miami. According to the minutes of meeting on March 18 between the BCCI officials and the Committee of Administrators, the first request was struck off, but the second one was approved provided the T20I series took place ahead of the Test series.

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

This will be India's only overseas Test assignment in 2019. Earlier this month, CWI confirmed the hosting of India A on a shadow tour, consisting of five one-dayers and three four-day fixtures from July 11 to August 9.

The revised fixtures give CWI a clear window for the CPL. The seventh edition of the T20 competition is set to be played between September 4 and October 12. Originally, it was slotted from August 21 to September 27. The revised schedule also means all the West Indies players are likely to be available for the entire duration of the CPL.

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Australia 307 (Warner 107, Finch 82, Amir 5-30) beat Pakistan 266 (Imam 53, Cummins 3-33) by 41 runs

A wild, seesawing game that always seemed just a little too far out of Pakistan's reach proved to be just that at the end, with Australia wrapping up a 41-run victory that was far nervier than the scorecard suggested. It came about thanks to a century from David Warner at the top end, coupled with generosity to the point of self-sacrifice from Pakistan both with the ball and in the field. Australia were so far on top in the first half of the first innings, talk of 350 and 400 rolled easily off the tongue, until a vintage performance from Mohammad Amir curtailed them to 307, his five-for bowling out a side that hadn't lost a single wicket for 22 overs.

Pakistan, in response, oscillated between dismal and distinguished. Babar Azam looked princely for a knock that lasted all of 28 deliveries, before an 80-run partnership between Imam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Hafeez looked to have put Pakistan on top. Another collapse, this one entirely of Pakistan's own making, followed, before a late rearguard by Hasan Ali and Wahab Riaz put the fear of God into Australia. They usually win such games, however, and Pakistan tend to find a way to lose them. In that sense - but strictly in that sense alone - this was business as usual.

This was such a disjointed game it's hard to know where to pick it up and thread it all together. Was it Warner's knock, the shackles that bound him so tightly against India (mostly) thrown off, the innings that set the tone for the day? Certainly not, in all frankness. Pakistan dropped catches, allowed overthrows, and committed errors in the field which were criminal enough to have interested the local constabulary, not just Mickey Arthur. In the meantime, they had Shaheen Afridi endure one of the worst games of his career, undoing much of the good work the excellent Amir had done at the other end with the new ball. At first change, Hasan didn't enjoy a much better day either, and with no semblance of a plan Pakistan's bowlers were following, Aaron Finch and Warner made hay for the best part of half the innings.

Finch benefitted the most from sloppiness in the field, which saw Asif Ali put him down in the slips. It was a position he should never have been fielding in, but Babar was deputising at point for Shadab Khan, controversially left out altogether in favour of an all-seam attack and Hafeez and Shoaib Malik in the middle order. Wahab also saw Warner put down by the same man at third man, an even easier take if possible, and with Hafeez struggling badly against Finch and Glenn Maxwell, Pakistan were running out of players to turn to.

Watch on Hotstar (India only) - Warner's century

Amir was superb, in sharp contrast to his team-mates. He seemed to know exactly what would work on this surface, and that is a trait of Amir's that hasn't quite been appreciated of late, with the focus more squarely on why he wasn't picking up wickets. He managed to fulfil roles of both container and strike bowler in one - and boy did he need to. It wasn't until his final over, where he took two wickets and bowled Australia out, that he completed his five-for, remarkably the first of his ODI career. In an innings that saw 307 runs scored, his figures read 10-2-30-5.

Pakistan might have taken heart from that second half of the first innings, but all of that seemed to have been lost in the lunch interval. Australia started tightly, save a first-ball no-ball that shouldn't have been called. By the third over, Fakhar Zaman's patience had run out, and he lashed out at Pat Cummins, only succeeding in slicing the ball to third man, in a similar position to where Asif had put Warner down a couple of hours earlier. Richardson on the boundary was far more ruthless, and Pakistan immediately found themselves on the back foot.

Babar was the big hope, and if shots counted for more based on their elegance and beauty, Pakistan might have wrapped this up in the 28 balls he was around. They fetched seven fours, each more graceful than the last, and it appeared as if this would be the day Babar stood tall in a World Cup game and became the de facto leader of this young side. What he did instead was painful to see, no matter who you supported, throwing away a start of that kind by pulling loosely at a short delivery that carried to fine leg.

The following partnership was the last time Pakistan could aspire to win the game through normal cricketing strategy. Imam and Hafeez were well in control in the middle overs. Mitchell Starc had been seen off, and when brought back, was seen off once more. But Australia persisted with tactics they had clearly worked on, Cummins frustrating Imam down the leg side until the opener swiped at one and gloved through to Alex Carey instead. Hafeez's dismissal was even more farcical, with the right-hander holing out off a knee-high Finch full toss on the midwicket boundary, and when Shoaib and Asif fell within the next three overs, a big defeat looked inevitable.

What followed was what will in hindsight make this game memorable, a breezy cameo from Hasan taking Pakistan to 200. Sarfaraz Ahmed and Wahab then found themselves batting out time for a while, before suddenly appearing to realise they had taken the game deep, and with run rate not really an issue, were in with a shot of winning it. That was when Wahab took the attack to Maxwell using a concoction of luck and brute force, waking the heavily pro-Pakistan crowd up to the same epiphany. The target was under 50, the asking rate under seven. Would this finally happen for Pakistan?

Australia, however, had quashed such a revolution just last week, when West Indies came much closer to threatening an unlikely win. As they had done then, they turned the ball over to Starc. In his second over back, he coaxed a feathered edge from Wahab, so faint Finch nearly didn't review Australia's unsuccessful appeal. Amir was beaten by a low full toss a couple of balls later, and Pakistan's back had finally been broken. There was even time for a comedy run-out to cap off things.

It was a fitting way for things to end, with a clutch Australia having signed off the game in nerveless, ruthless fashion. The last sight for Pakistan will have been their captain stranded in the middle of the pitch, bails being dislodged by a direct hit. It might just have been 41 runs, but in that moment, the contrast couldn't have been captured more accurately.

Leicestershire 36 for 3 v Middlesex

Middlesex picked up three wickets in the 11 overs that were possible on the third day of their County Championship match against Leicestershire at the Fischer County Ground, Grace Road.

Constant heavy rain having forced play to be abandoned without a ball being bowled on each of the first two days, there was a certain amount of surprise when, after Herculean efforts by the ground staff but with the outfield still damp, umpires Steve O'Shaughnessy and Ulhas Gandhe decided it was possible to start play at 3.10pm, with 48 overs to be bowled.

After Middlesex exercised the away team's prerogative to bowl first, seamers Tim Murtagh and Tom Helm were understandably tentative in their opening overs, but even so the visitors made a quick breakthrough when Leicestershire captain Paul Horton, having squeezed a Murtagh delivery into the leg side, was slow to respond when opening partner Hassan Azad called him through for a quick single.

Leicestershire's captain was well short of his ground when George Scott, running in from midwicket, turned and threw down the stumps at the non-striker's end.

The left-handed Azad picked up a couple of neat fours off his legs off Murtagh, but Sam Evans, making his first first-class appearance of the season, had no answer to a Murtagh delivery that seamed back in to the young right-hander and hit the top of off-stump.

Middlesex then ensured that from their point of view the 11 overs had been worth playing when Helm found the edge of Mark Cosgrove's bat and captain Dawid Malan held a fine catch two-handed high to his right at third slip to secure a bowling bonus point.

Bad light closed in soon afterwards, and the forecast for the fourth day was extremely poor but, in recent years' championships, promotions and relegations have been decided by a point. Middlesex may yet come to look back on four otherwise hugely frustrating days in the East Midlands fondly.

Match organisers in Taunton were forced to turn to the press box when it became apparent they were missing a scorer for the World Cup match between Pakistan and Australia.

Moments before the toss, James Emmerson - a stewardship officer with the Church of England - was asked to deputise when it became apparent that one of the official scorers wasn't going to arrive. The original choice claims he had no knowledge he was expected to score the game.

Emmerson is no stranger to scoring. His detailed scorecards and knowledge of statistics make him a popular figure in the press box, where he has worked from time to time as the media's scorer, while he has previously deputised as an official scorer for two Tests and an ODI at Old Trafford when the Lancashire scorer has been busy on county duty. In one of those Tests he demonstrated the unflappable temperament which served him so well in Taunton by somehow managing not to miss a single delivery despite his fellow scorer vomiting heavily over both him and his scorebook during play.

Remarkably, Emmerson managed not just to fulfil his duties as official scorer in Taunton (alongside Gloucestershire stalwart Keith Gerrish, who was the other official scorer) but fulfil his original role keeping the media updated on any items of statistical interest as they arose.

"He did an amazing job in tough circumstances," Sally Donoghue, the Chief Operating Officer at Somerset told ESPNcricinfo. "It was all very last minute, but he was very calm and seemed to enjoy every minute of it."

Emmerson said: "I did enjoy it. It was a great honour to score such a prestigious match and I hope I gave a good account of myself."

Dan Evans clearly doesn't want to dwell on his much-discussed past.

The British number three knows he "lost time" and is well aware he has no one else to blame for serving a 12-month ban from April last year for testing positive for cocaine.

Why waste energy on what's gone when the present makes much more pleasing reading for the 29-year-old?

Since returning to the tour, Evans has spent 14 months steadily climbing the world rankings and is just a strong summer away from getting back into the top 50.

Victory in the Surbiton Trophy earlier this month shows his game is in very good health at the start of the grass-court season.

"It really couldn't have gone any better," Evans told BBC Sport on Wednesday as he awaited his first outing at this year's rain-soaked Nature Valley Open in Nottingham.

"It was great to get a lot of tennis under my belt. I played five matches and got better and better with each round, and I am really happy with my form.

"The grass courts suit me and my game. I like to get into the net. I enjoy playing on grass, and winning in Surbiton was a great start."

The stats back that up. Last year saw Evans reach the semis in Surbiton - his first tournament after his suspension - before shining in Nottingham, where he made it all the way to the final.

His run ended with defeat in a tight match against Australian teenager Alex de Minaur.

But his form has remained impressive and Birmingham-born Evans is back up to 70 in the world following his success in South West London, not far from the more prestigious surroundings of Wimbledon.

It still feels like Evans has much more to give. And while he "doesn't want to put numbers" on a ranking target, he wants to "get higher than I was" - namely the 41st place he attained in March 2017.

Things looked to be pretty rosy around that time, but even before his drugs ban, Evans had spent much of his career fending off accusations of wasting his talent and not putting in the required amount of work to really break into the sport's elite.

He has twice been stripped of his Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) funding and had numerous run-ins with former coaches over his off-court attitude and a lack of discipline.

But he sees any past troubles as just that - past troubles.

He did not have a world ranking in April 2018, but was 189th in January 2019 and 70th after winning in Surbiton.

"I don't think about what has happened now," he said, with more than a tinge of irritation. "It has gone. It's behind me.

"I have worked hard to get back where I am in the top 100 and am playing well. I don't think about where I could get to at Wimbledon, but if I make it to the fourth round then who knows."

Analysis

Russell Fuller, BBC tennis correspondent

I've felt for several months now that Dan Evans was going to be a very dangerous man to face on the grass this summer.

He's worked very hard for the past 12 months, and his ranking is nearly where it was before the ban.

If you look at his results for 2019 alone, he is a top 50 player, with Cameron Norrie the only British player above him.

Evans has beaten John Isner and Frances Tiafoe, and came very close to beating Stan Wawrinka in Indian Wells in March.

He has a lovely touch and a great slice, and so will always be very comfortable on the grass.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova is a doubt for this year's tournament after she withdrew from the Birmingham warm-up with an arm injury.

The 29-year-old world number five, who lifted the singles title in 2011 and 2014, pulled out of her first-round French Open match last month.

"Unfortunately Birmingham is too soon," she wrote on Twitter

"I'm working really hard to get back as soon as possible and keeping everything crossed for Wimbledon."

Kvitova beat British number one Johanna Konta on her way to a successful defence of Birmingham's Nature Valley Classic title last year.

Her 2017 victory at the event was her first title since she was stabbed by an intruder in her home the previous December.

"I have the best memories of Birmingham," she added. "It was the first place that I won a title after I came back from my injury. I always have the best time there and I hope next year I will see you on the beautiful grass courts."

However Kvitova's fellow Czech Karolina Pliskova will be in the draw.

The world number three joins Australian and US Open champion Naomi Osaka and newly-crowned French Open winner Ashleigh Barty among the field.

It is the first time the Edgbaston tournament has featured the world's three best-ranked players. This year's event begins on 15 June.

Warren Gatland has categorically ruled out succeeding Eddie Jones as England coach and plans to return to his native New Zealand after leading the British and Irish Lions in 2021.

Gatland was confirmed on Wednesday as Lions boss for the tour of South Africa, his third in charge.

He says he then plans to return home, and expects Jones to extend his stay at Twickenham.

"I can promise you 100% I won't be coaching England," he told BBC Sport.

"My understanding is Eddie is going to re-sign isn't he for a bit longer.

"My future is going to be the 2019 World Cup [with Wales], look at a few things in between, and then the start of my [Lions] role in August 2020.

"I'll focus 100% on the Lions for those 12 months and then hopefully have an opportunity to go back to New Zealand and pick up something and then take it from there."

Gatland has been coaching in the northern hemisphere for the best part of thirty years, and has held roles with Connacht, Ireland, Wasps, as well as his current position with Wales.

But he plans to call an end to his stint in Europe after the Lions tour, and has eyed up a job in Super Rugby.

"I would love to be involved with Super Rugby and to challenge myself with that," he added.

"I want to go back. I have been head coach with Waikato and won a championship there, and I want to challenge myself with Super Rugby."

Lions Job - 'Best in the world'

Shortly after the tour of New Zealand, Gatland stated he was "done" with the Lions, stung by an "orchestrated campaign" of criticism from the Kiwi media.

However he insists coaching the Lions is the best job in the world, and says he would have regretted not taking the opportunity to resume the role.

"When I thought about what the Lions meant to me personally, it would have been hard to say no," he said.

"The approach came and I thought to lead three Lions tour and to try and go undefeated as a head coach in a Test series, I couldn't walk away from that."

BRISTOL, Tenn. – A stretch of four straight race weekends during June can be a tall order for the drivers in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.

For Ron Capps, though, it’s not hard for him to get excited, especially when he knows one of those dates includes a trip to Bristol Dragway, which is the site of this weekend’s 19th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals.

Capps loves every aspect of racing in Thunder Valley and its shows on his resume, as the former Funny Car world champion has back-to-back wins at the picturesque facility in his 11,000-horsepower NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat.

He’ll try to make it three straight on Father’s Day weekend, but Capps’ love of Bristol Dragway also includes much more than his Funny Car-best five victories at the track.

“Bristol is such a cool and historic place, and it starts with the people there,” said Capps, who has 63 career wins. “There’s so many cool people at this race, and it’s just a fun place to go. Every single driver is at the fan fest with all the fans, and that doesn’t happen very often. When someone asks me about what race they need to go to, Bristol is in my top three. You’re in Thunder Valley and the sound is echoing off the hills. It’s just a wonderful facility and a lot of fun there.”

Bristol is the 11th of 24 events in the NHRA season, and the action includes a Friday night primetime qualifying session starting at 7:30 p.m., with fireworks to follow.

Those marquee moments get Capps motivated to perform in Bristol, especially as it comes as the third race in a grueling four-race stretch. Warmer conditions make staying mentally strong even more important, but Capps has proven to be a top competitor in that regard.

Capps posted back-to-back wins last month in Richmond and Atlanta, currently sits fourth in points, and he likes how his team – led by crew chief Rahn Tobler – has performed over the last handful of races.

“We really feel like we’re in the sweet spot of the schedule as a team,” Capps said. “As a crew chief and a team, you want to find your happy spot and what your overall tuneup package is throughout the summer. It can be demanding on a team, but we always look forward to this stretch. You have to pay attention to the parts attrition, but I’ve always been super proud of the way Rahn runs the car. He’s methodical about the decisions he makes, and I never want to be mentally or physically at a disadvantage as a driver.

“I don’t want to be the weak link when it gets late in the day on Sunday.”

Capps and the entire Don Schumacher Racing Funny Car team, a group that also includes Jack Beckman, Matt Hagan and Tommy Johnson Jr., have dominated at Bristol in recent years, claiming six of the past seven wins.

While Capps is responsible for two of those, he’ll also have to deal with current points leader Robert Hight, defending world champ J.R. Todd and John Force, who is seeking his milestone 150th career win.

But Capps is well aware of what it takes to win in Thunder Valley, as well as the significance of a Father’s Day victory.

“If you can stand in the winner’s circle after a win like Bristol and it’s a battle of attrition, you feel like you accomplished a little more than normal,” Capps said. “It’s one of the most demanding races we have, but you want to do well on Father’s Day. I was able to give a trophy to my dad after the win last year, and it’s always fun to do that.

“It was pretty neat to pull off a win and dedicate it to him, and hopefully we can again.”

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Road America and Henry Repeating Arms have reached an agreement that will make Henry Repeating Arms the new landmark sponsor of Road America’s Turn 10 Bridge.

“We are thrilled to launch this new partnership and we are proud to be associated with a company as involved and committed to expanding its brand presence in racing as Henry Repeating Arms,” said Mike Kertscher, President and General Manager of Road America. “America’s National Park of Speed is a premier destination for everyone and we are proud to have a wonderful American brand, displayed on one of our most prominent landmarks – now appropriately named the Henry Rifles Bridge.”

Henry Repeating Arms – headquartered in Bayonne, N.J., but with a large manufacturing facility in Rice Lake, Wis. – is the leading lever-action firearm manufacturer and one of the top-five long gun manufacturers in the country.

“All of us at Henry Repeating Arms are excited to expand our presence at Road America. Racing fans in the upper-Midwest are very brand-loyal outdoor enthusiasts, and the Henry Repeating Arms brand fits perfectly with their interests and passions at our home track in Wisconsin,” said Anthony Imperato, President of Henry Repeating Arms.

Along with over 500 events held seasonally at the 640-acre facility, 10 major weekends are open to the public, which include the NTT IndyCar Series, the MotoAmerica Series, three vintage racing events, numerous Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) events, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the NASCAR Xfinity Series.