WASHINGTON -- It was an awfully close shave.

Not the Washington Nationals' stunning, one-run, come-from-behind, wild-card win against Josh Hader and the Milwaukee Brewers. Although that was close too. The shave in question was the one on Dave Martinez's face on Tuesday afternoon.

"I screwed up," said Washington's manager, explaining why his trademark five o'clock shadow looked more like noon. "The guard on my clipper was off on one side, and I just went, oh no. I had to lower it a bit."

In other words, it wasn't some playoff superstition that Martinez had adopted during his decade as bench coach under Joe Maddon at Tampa Bay and Chicago. It wasn't a wild-card whim that the Nats' skipper woke up thinking about. It was an accident, plain and simple. But Martinez, who forever preaches about staying in the here and now, about going 1-0 today, was ready to roll with it. Maybe even hold on to it, depending on the outcome of the National League wild-card game that was about to take place.

"Let's see what happens today," he said with a chuckle.

What happened was this: Ace Max Scherzer, starting despite a rocky finish to an injury-marred season, walked the leadoff hitter and gave up two home runs to the first six batters as the Nats went down 3-0. Stephen Strasburg, coming out of the bullpen for the first time since his freshman year in college, was dominant in three innings of relief. The Nationals, down 3-1 heading into the eighth inning and facing All-Star reliever Hader, grinded out three runs thanks to a huge bases-loaded knock from 20-year-old Juan Soto (with an assist from rookie Brewers outfielder Trent Grisham, who charged in too hard on Soto's single and allowed Anthony Rendon to score the go-ahead run from first). Oh, and Washington closer Daniel Hudson pitched a scoreless ninth to end Milwaukee's season and, at least for one night, make everyone in D.C. forget about just how horrible the Nats' bullpen was this season.

But perhaps most importantly, what happened was that, unlike what transpired with his razor earlier in the day, Martinez didn't screw up. Quite the opposite.

On an unseasonably warm October night, Martinez pushed all the right buttons. He lifted Scherzer after five innings and only 77 pitches, replacing him with a guy who had never thrown a single inning of relief in 242 professional appearances. In that fateful eighth inning, he sent up pinch hitter Michael Taylor to face Hader. Even though Taylor had spent most of the season at Double-A after being demoted, and even though he had veteran Ryan Zimmerman available on the bench, Martinez liked that Taylor had reached base twice in two career trips against Hader. Two batters after Taylor reached for a third time (on a hit by pitch), Martinez used Zimmerman, who blooped a two-out single to center that kept the inning alive and helped set the stage for Soto's big hit.

Which helped set the stage for Washington's second goggle-wearing, liquid-spraying celebration in less than a week. It's the first time the Nationals have ever popped bottles after advancing in the postseason.

"You can't really look at the past; you can't really look at the future," said Strasburg, when asked to compare the feeling now to that of two years ago, when he was dominant in two starts against the Cubs during a division series that Washington lost, its fourth playoff series defeat in four tries. "The thing about the playoffs, especially the situation we're in, you can't really predict what's going to happen. You can't look into a crystal ball. You just gotta enjoy the moment and be present."

In other words, let's see what happens today.

It pretty much has been Martinez's motto all year. When the Nats suffered a four-game sweep to the New York Mets and were 12 games under .500, and Martinez was this close to being canned (if you believe everything that sports talk callers tell you), he didn't change his tune. When they rebounded to go 57-24 over their next 81 games and take a commanding wild-card lead heading into September, he didn't change his tune. When his team went cold down the stretch and nearly coughed up said wild-card lead, he didn't change his tune.

Let's see what happens today.

Because of what happened Tuesday, when Washington won its ninth game in a row, Martinez and the Nationals now have a date with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday ... and Friday and Sunday. And maybe Monday and Wednesday after that, depending on how exactly the division series unfolds.

"It's going to be tough," Nationals shortstop Trea Turner said of the daunting task that lies ahead, wherein Washington will face an L.A. juggernaut that won a franchise-record 106 games this season to complement its current of run of seven straight division titles. "But I think if there's a team that's ever been ready to face some adversity, it's this one right here."

As Turner sat at the podium and delivered his postgame comments, he wore a helmet. It wasn't a batter's helmet. Or a catcher's helmet. Instead, it appeared to be a soccer goalie's helmet. Made of white leather with red writing, it bore the logo of Turner's alma mater (NC State), and it had been sitting in his locker for months.

"I did not order this or receive this within the last week," said Turner, his voice nasal from the goggles that were still strapped over his helmet and pinching his nose. "It's been there for a while."

In fact, according to Turner, the lid had been in his cubby for about four months. Ever since the Nationals were teetering on the brink of extinction. On Tuesday, after his team came back from the brink against Hader and the Brewers, he finally decided to strap the thing on. Because why not?

"I didn't plan anything," Turner said. "It just happened."

For all we know, maybe Turner was fibbing. Maybe it was the bubbly talking and the truth is that the helmet was a premeditated prop, procured expressly for the purposes of poppin' bottles. For that matter, maybe Martinez was fibbing too. Maybe his close shave wasn't an accident at all, but rather a contrived coif meant to shake things up and help the Nats exorcise their postseason demons.

For what it's worth, those demons haven't been fully exorcised yet. Because one wild-card win doesn't erase the sting of four NLDS losses. But it's a start.

"We vowed that we won't quit," said Martinez, seemingly summing up his team's Tuesday and its season in one fell swoop. "I told the boys, I promise you, stay with it, don't quit, this will turn around. And it did. And here we are today."

Discovering her own recipe for success has brought results, increased confidence and progress for the European 5000m silver medallist who refuses to stand still

The thought of running a marathon “horrifies” Eilish McColgan. Even racing half that distance elicits a slight shudder, quickens the pulse and starts her mind ticking about whether or not such targets are achievable.

Yet there was a time, not so long ago, when she felt the same way about running 5000m, not mention recent trepidation about tackling 10,000m on the track at Highgate.

Now the former steeplechaser has arrived in Doha having competed over the 13-and-a-half lap distance at the Olympic Games and world championships, as well as winning a European silver medal last summer.

She is ready to test herself against the world’s best again, before she turns her attention completely towards tackling the 25-lap option in Tokyo next year.

Slowly, mother and coach Liz – the 1991 world 10,000m champion, Olympic silver medallist and someone who knows a thing or two about road running – has been lengthening her daughter’s disciplines and Eilish is fully accepting of the pathway which lies ahead for her.

The changing challenge has resulted in the 2017 European indoor 3000m bronze medallist surprising herself and gaining confidence in the process.

“I feel like I’ve had a good two years now and I hope to build on that for the next couple and onwards for what will hopefully be a career on the roads,” she says. “I think that’s the natural stepping stone.

“You move up the distances and this year was my first step up to the 10,000m and I really enjoyed it (McColgan ran 31:17.36 at Parliament Hill in July to finish third).

“I wasn’t prepared for it at all so the fact that I ran the time I did surprised me a bit.

“It made me think that, if I’d trained for it, if I’d prepared for it, I feel like I could run sub-31. I never believed I could do that, I never had the confidence even in my own abilities to think that would ever be possible.”

She adds: “It’s about having the confidence and belief in yourself that you can do something and I think my Mum’s been really influential in that. Every year she gradually ups the distance.

“I remember thinking that I could never run a 5k and then there I was at the Olympic Games competing over 5000m. Even last year I was thinking ‘I’ll never do a 10,000m at a champs, I don’t think I’m good enough to do it’ and now for Tokyo I’m gearing everything towards that.

“I think it will be the same for the half-marathon and the marathon. I’m sure that in the very near future I’ll be doing a half-marathon and at the moment I think ‘god, there’s no way I’ll do that’ but somewhere down the line my mum will have that in her plans.

“The idea of running a marathon absolutely horrifies me but I know that, certainly, after Tokyo that’s exactly where I’m heading. From 2020 onwards I’ll be looking towards the roads.”

“I’ve been able to look back through training diaries and you can start to see patterns and think ‘Wait a minute, why are we continuing to do that, because we know that if we do this then I’ll end up breaking down or I’ll get injured or sick?'”

The immediate task at hand, of course, comes in Qatar and McColgan is taking further confidence from the fact that she has been largely untroubled on her way to the start line.

In previous years, the near-constant cycle of getting fit, getting injured and getting fit again meant there was a persistent feeling of playing catch-up and that, when the time came to perform, vital energy had been spent in securing her starting spot in the first place.

It’s very different now that the right training balance has been struck.

“I’ve never ever been in this shape before,” she says. “Consistency has been the key. Being able to put weeks and weeks of training behind me and I think that’s made a real difference.

“I’d say 2017 was probably the first year where I had a bit of a breakthrough as I’d call it. I broke all my PBs that year and ran 8:31 for the 3000m, I ran 4:01 for the 1500m and I’d run 14:48 for the 5000m.

“I’d like to think that I’m in slightly better shape than that but, certainly, I’d say that I’m a completely different athlete from the one I was in 2016 and previous years to that.

“I’d like to think that from 2017 to now I’ve just been building on that breakthrough and continuing to just be consistent.

“I still get injured and I still get sick, but just nowhere near the level that I was previously and I think that’s just because we’ve changed my training and we’re now training a lot smarter. Those thought processes of when you’re younger is that more is always best when actually that isn’t the case and I think that’s really reflected now in my performances and my training.”

Is that also a reflection of a growing maturity?

“When you first come into the sport, you’re very aware of what other athletes are doing, so you see all these people that are training twice a day, they’re doing sessions every two days, this and that and you think ‘I need to be running 80-100 miles a week, I need to be doing really hard quality sessions, I need to be doing strength work….’ .

“You see what other athletes are doing and feel that, in order to be the best, that’s what you need to do, but everyone’s different.

“You start to realise everyone’s bodies are different, everyone matures at different rates – some people maybe don’t have to have such a high intensity workload and perhaps have to do more quality rather than quantity.

“There are so many different ways for people to train.

“As you get older, I suppose you have to get more confident in your abilities and your own workloads – you know what your body can or can’t take. I think it’s taken a little while to get to that point but I think with having that experience I’ve been able to look back through training diaries (I’ve kept one since I was 14 years old) and after a couple of years you can start to see patterns and think ‘wait a minute, why are we continuing to do that because we know that if we do this then I’ll end up breaking down or I’ll get injured or sick or something?’.

“You can tell from the patterns what works and what doesn’t work. It’s a case of becoming a bit more confident, ignoring what other people are doing, focusing on what you can do and what’s best for your body to get results out of you.”

With Liz living and also coaching in Qatar, Eilish spends two weeks every Christmas in Doha and can be guaranteed plenty of support from her mother’s young athletics squad, all of whom have bought tickets to see her run.

Asked what she expects of herself when it comes to these championships, she says: “I have to be realistic in my own goals and I always am. Going into major championships, I always aim to try and run a personal best.

“If I can run faster than I’ve ever run before and that gets me to fourth, fifth, sixth or wherever in the world then I’ll accept it because I can’t control what other people do. It’s a case of focusing on myself and executing the race in the way that me, my team and my coach have planned.

“The aim for me is always just to get faster, to run as fast as I possibly can and to push my body to times that I know I’m capable of.

“It’s exciting now to be getting closer and closer to medal territory – perhaps not this year but certainly looking towards Tokyo next year over the 10,000m if I could break into the top five in the world at the Olympic Games – that’s certainly my main aim and a big goal for me.”

To keep coming back after surgeries and injuries, to keep pushing simply can’t happen without motivation. The source of McColgan’s is hope.

“It’s that thought of ‘what if everything went well?’,” she says. “I had a glimpse of that in Berlin that, actually, when my body is co-operating, when it’s 100 per cent, when I’ve not had any real setbacks and a smooth build-up into a race I know that I can perform at that level and produce those good results.

“It’s the thought and glimmer of hope that at some point things will click and Berlin was a glimpse of that. I felt the same thing when I won my first medal at the European Indoors. It gave me a sense of ‘actually maybe I can do this, maybe I am good enough’.”

The British heptathlete has enjoyed her best-ever preparation for a major champs as she prepares to take on world No.1 Nafi Thiam

Nafissatou Thiam and Katarina Johnson-Thompson are separated by just five points on this season’s rankings and their heptathlon battle in Doha could be just as close.

Johnson-Thompson scored a PB of 6813 to win at the prestigious Gotzis event in May but one month later Thiam notched up 6819 in Talence, setting the scene perfectly for one of the most anticipated head-to-heads of the IAAF World Championships.

Johnson-Thompson could hardly be coming into the event in better shape either. She has enjoyed a succession of victories at the World Indoor Championships and Commonwealth Games last year followed by the European Indoor Championships this year.

Thiam came out top in their European Championships clash last year but it was a hard-fought contest and the Belgian athlete also holds the Olympic and world titles after victories in Rio 2016 and London 2017.

But Johnson-Thompson is on a roll and says her preparation has never gone better, as she hopes to keep her momentum going in Qatar in the coming days.

“Training has been going well and competitions have been going well too,” the 26-year-old says. “I’ve had the best run-in I’ve ever had and I’m just looking forward to getting out there now.”

In the past, Johnson-Thompson’s competitive mettle has been tested but she believes she has overcome those issues.

“I’m not putting pressure on myself to win but I’m applying the pressure to do what I know I’m capable of,” she says.

“When training and competitions have gone so well, I need to show that with my performance. There’s pressure to win and there’s pressure to do well out there and compete to my best.”

She continues: “I’ve had good momentum going into each of my big competitions lately. The last two have been good, with decent scores so I think I’m once again coming into shape at the right time.”

The heptathlon schedule in Doha is unusual compared to most championships. The first event, the 100m hurdles, kicks off at 5.05pm local time (3.05pm in the UK) on Wednesday October 3 with the final event of the first day, the 200m, at 10.35pm. Then, the second day kicks off at 6.15pm with the long jump and finishes shortly after midnight with the climactic 800m.

“I’m going to enjoy every second of it,” says Johnson-Thompson, “especially the lie-in at the start of the second day!”

But she adds: “The main thing with the timetable is making sure I’ll have time with my coach. The heptathlon and decathlon are at the same time and he’ll have 17 events over two days to keep an eye on and manage. That’s the main challenge for me. I’m not fussed about anything else because we’re all in the same boat when it comes to the heat and the late evening sessions.”

As for the heat, Johnson-Thompson says that being based in France means she is more acclimatised to it. This is especially the case after this recent summer where parts of France hit record temperatures of 46C. “It was unbearable,” she remembers, “and we were saying that’s what it’s going to be like in Doha although there’s going to be air-con in the stadium.”

A prodigious young athlete, Johnson-Thompson experienced the Olympics in 2012 when she was 15th in the heptathlon in London. In 2014 she became world No.1 in the heptathlon with a score of 6682 and she began 2015 with a European indoor title setting a British pentathlon record. But the World Championships in Beijing in 2015 turned into a disaster when she fouled her long jump attempts.

Long jump has usually been a great event for her – she is a former UK record-holder and won world indoor long jump silver in 2014. Further disappointment followed at the Rio Olympics when she was sixth in the heptathlon after underpar throws and she made the tough decision to leave long-time coach Mike Holmes and her home in Liverpool to move to Montpellier in France.

On her move to France to be coached by Bertrand Valcin in a group that contains world decathlon record-holder Kevin Mayer, her recent results show it was a good decision.

“At the last Worlds it was only one summer into my move,” she says, after finishing fifth in the heptathlon and high jump in London 2017. “But I knew it was the right decision for me at the time.

“My training was going well but I hadn’t changed many of my techniques and I didn’t have as much belief in myself.

“It feels like a lifetime ago now. I feel so much better now in myself. We’re coming into the World Championships and Olympics and I’m happy with the place I’m in right now.”

Confidence is at an all-time high.

“As long as I’m still making progress in each of my events, it gives me confidence,” she says. But she also knows there is always the chance for something to go wrong in the heptathlon.

“You never know with heptathlon as there are so many opportunities to have slip-ups. In the heptathlon you do get good performances and bad ones and unfortunately the level heptathlon is, at the moment, if you have a bad performance – even a small one – it will cost you medals.

“I’m just trying to make sure I’m consistent every time I come out on to the track. That’s all I can do, really – look for consistency through all my events and hope for a big performance here and there.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had that one heptathlon where it’s all come together for me and that’s what I’m working toward and what Nafi is working toward as well.”

If it comes down to the wire in Doha, will she try to get into the head of Thiam? Johnson-Thompson says no.

“I prefer to focus on myself and trying to make myself the best heptathlete I can be rather than trying to play mind games with someone and attempting to win that way,” she says.

Seven things you didn’t know about KJT

1 Striving to improve her mental game, Katarina Johnson-Thompson has called upon the services of Steve Peters. Peters is a world-beating masters sprinter who appeared on a recent cover of AW but has also worked as a sports psychiatrist with England footballers, British cyclists and snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan.

2 Few athletes have won as many national titles as Johnson-Thompson and she has taken them in events as varied as long and high jump to sprint hurdles and 300m indoors.

3 If she wasn’t an elite athlete, Johnson-Thompson has said in the past that she would like to have been an interior designer

4 KJT went to the same school in Liverpool as Jodie Comer – the actress who stars in TV series Killing Eve – and they have remained friends ever since.

5 World indoor sprint hurdles champion Andy Pozzi is Johnson-Thompson’s boyfriend but in the past she has dated DJ Nick Bright.

6 In the past KJT has admitted to being addicted to Candy Crush and also watching too much daytime television, although that was before she moved to live and train in France.

7 The athlete has two pet dachshunds, Chorizo and Bronx, who are back home in Liverpool.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Mazda is coming back to the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge in 2020.

The manufacturer has 36 Michelin Pilot Challenge victories but has not competed in the series since the race at Lime Rock Park in 2018. That’s about to change dramatically, as the new Mazda3 TCR race car was publicly unveiled this afternoon at the manufacturer’s U.S. headquarters in Irvine, California.

“TCR represents a great opportunity for us to showcase the new Mazda3 and provide our customers another avenue to race Mazda vehicles,” said Masahiro Moro, Chairman and CEO, Mazda North American Operations. “Some of our most important successes in IMSA and SRO TC Americas have been thanks to dedicated customers who chose to race with Mazda, and we hope the next generation of Mazda racers see the same potential in the new Mazda3 TCR.”

The new car will be powered by a turbocharged, four-cylinder engine with 350 horsepower and a six-speed paddle shift transmission. The car is homologated to compete in any of the 36 TCR-sanctioned championships around the world, including the Michelin Pilot Challenge TCR class.

“The Mazda3 features the outstanding design and engineering that Mazda is known for, and because of that, it is a fantastic foundation for our new Mazda3 TCR,” said Mazda Motorsports director, John Doonan. “We have looked forward to returning to the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge for several seasons, and everyone at Mazda is very excited that we will do just that in 2020.”

The Mazda3 TCR is expected to make its Michelin Pilot Challenge debut in the four-hour BMW Endurance Challenge at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, Jan. 26 as part of the Rolex 24 At Daytona event weekend. The car has been developed and is supported by Long Road Racing, which also manufactures the Global Mazda MX-5 Cup race car.

Speaking of Global MX-5 Cup, the first driver of the Mazda3 TCR also was introduced as part of this afternoon’s unveiling and it is 2019 Global MX-5 Cup champion Bryan Ortiz. The Puerto Rican driver won the championship on Sept. 21 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and is utilizing the $200,000 career advancement scholarship from Mazda to return to the Michelin Pilot Challenge.

Ortiz actually debuted in the series in 2005 and also was part of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program for three seasons before shifting his focus back to sports cars. He has competed in Global MX-5 Cup since 2017, with six victories and 18 podium finishes.

“To have this opportunity that Mazda has given me is a huge honor, Ortiz said. “Mazda gives aspiring drivers an opportunity that no other company does, and that’s to advance to the next step in their career. Now that I am the Global MX-5 Cup champion, I’m proud to represent Mazda and have the trust of the company to race the new Mazda3 TCR. Now, I’m focused on working with everyone at Mazda Motorsports to be ready for the first race at Daytona in January.”

“One of the reasons we launched the Global MX-5 Cup platform was to provide an equal playing field that would enable driving talent to shine through, and to then provide a career advancement scholarship to help the drivers make the next step,” Doonan added. “Bryan has taken full advantage of that, and having seen him compete and getting to know him over the past three seasons, I’m very excited that he will continue to be a part of the Mazda family as part of our Mazda3 TCR program.”

The past 11 months have been difficult for Logan McAllister.

He lost his swing.

He lost his lineup spot.

He lost his confidence.

But Tuesday at Pumpkin Ridge, the Oklahoma sophomore’s journey back from near obscurity finally reached its renaissance. In one of the toughest events of the season, the Nike Golf Collegiate Invitational, McAllister won his first college tournament since November 2018 in wire-to-wire fashion, besting Vanderbilt standout John Augenstein by a shot and topping a field that included All-Americans Cole Hammer of Texas, Austin Eckroat of Oklahoma State and Trent Phillips of Georgia.

“It’s big for the confidence after being off that much time,” said McAllister, who shot 65-67-70 to finish at 11 under and help the Sooners to a four-shot team victory over Wake Forest. “When you’re away for that long, there are some doubts in your head, you don’t really know if you can still compete.”

McAllister was a prized recruit for Oklahoma coach Ryan Hybl last fall before he compiled a respectable 71.22 scoring average in three starts his first semester. But after McAllister for 33^rd at the Sooners’ fall finale in Hawaii, he sat down with Hybl and they decided that he needed to re-tool his game, particularly his swing.

For years, McAllister played a roping draw, getting the club super laid off at the top, bringing it down way inside and then hitting significantly up and out at the ball. Often times, his swing path would reach as much as plus-7 degrees.

“You could go to your local country club and see about 10 guys on the range with that path, but none of them could break 100,” McAllister said. “It was a miracle that I was even in the position I was in swinging like that.”

McAllister started working with Ryan Rody, director of instruction at Southern Hills, last winter. Rody, who also teaches Oklahoma players Garett Reband and Quade Cummins, helped McAllister tear down his wildly inconsistent swing and build it back up.

The process, however, was tedious. McAllister didn’t tee it up for the Sooners at all last spring. While his teammates were competing, the freshman often spent hours along at the team’s practice facility trying to hone his new swing.

“He was getting beat down a lot,” Hybl said. “College golf is hard when you’re not playing. But he knew that he wasn’t ready to be playing, either; his game just was not there.”

Late in the season, however, Hybl made the decision to allow McAllister to travel with the team, beginning with the Big 12 Championship. While technically the team’s sub for regionals and nationals, McAllister never hit a shot, but the experience proved invaluable.

Each round, Hybl would have McAllister follow a different teammate and pay attention to certain aspects of that player’s game. The freshman would take notes and report back to Hybl what he had learned.

“I can’t say enough about how much just being at those events meant to me,” McAllister said. “For one, I don’t think I’d be where I am right now if it wasn’t for that just because I was able to see stuff that you kind of notice when you’re playing with guys but you notice it so much more when you’re sitting there watching every shot.

“I learned something every single minute I was out there.”

McAllister had an unspectacular summer but did manage to score a top-10 finish at the Monroe Invitational. When he arrived back on campus, he had shown improvement, though it still wasn’t enough to crack the lineup for Oklahoma’s first two fall events.

But after McAllister returned from a lesson with Rody two weeks ago, Hybl noticed a significant change.

“You could see it immediately,” Hybl said.

McAllister went out and won the team’s four-round qualifier for the Nike. He then opened the tournament in 6-under 65 and recorded just two bogeys in his first 36 holes. With three holes to play Tuesday, McAllister was tied with Reband at 11 under while Augenstein was in the clubhouse at 10 under – but it was Reband, a senior, who bogeyed his final two holes, while McAllister made three clutch pars to win by a shot.

“That feeling of being in contention, it’s one that I’ve had before but I haven’t had in a while,” McAllister said. “It was definitely pretty nerve-racking coming down the stretch, but those are the kind of nerves that you want, that’s why you play golf, so it was fun getting to feel that again because it’s been a long time.”

McAllister admitted that his victory was unexpected. Moving forward, though, it would be of little surprise to see the sophomore firmly establish his place on an NCAA title contender.

“He’s a big-time player, we’ve known that for a while, but I don’t know if he quite had the tool set that he needed,” Hybl said. “For him to go back and re-work everything and now do this, I’m really pumped for him. I imagine his confidence is going to be sky high after this and hopefully he just takes off.”

McAllister has rediscovered his confidence.

His lineup spot? That, too.

And his revamped swing, well, it’s looking pretty good at the moment.

Sydney Thunder have signed England batsman Alex Hales for the upcoming BBL season.

Just a day after it was announced that AB de Villiers would be joining Brisbane Heat, the Thunder have signed Hales to bolster their top order.

The Thunder had Jos Buttler and Joe Root for the early part of the tournament last season but both had to depart halfway through due to international duty. Hales joins South African allrounder Chris Morris as the overseas signings at the Thunder this season.

ALSO READ: Darren Lehmann hopeful AB de Villiers will play multiple seasons in BBL

He is currently out of favour with the England side and appears unlikely to be part of England's tour to South Africa which takes place during the BBL having not been handed a white-ball central contract for the next year following his axing from the World Cup.

He has already played for the Melbourne Renegades, Adelaide Strikers, and Hobart Hurricanes in the BBL but has not appeared since 2015.

"I really can't wait to return to the Big Bash," Hales said. "It's such a hugely respected tournament around the world. The standard of cricket is amazing and any chance you get to visit Australia and play over there is amazing, so I'm really looking forward to it.

"Sydney Thunder is the full package. Sydney is one of the best cities in the world, getting the chance to work with Shane Bond - who is a highly respected coach - and it's a young club, so hopefully, I can be part of building a successful family there. As an opener, you want to be one of the leading run-scorers, so that's definitely one of my aims."

Hales is coming off an excellent season with Nottinghamshire in the T20 Blast where he made 418 runs in 12 innings at a strike-rate of 140.26, including five half-centuries, to help them reach the semi-final. Thunder coach Shane Bond was delighted to get a player of his calibre.

"He's one of the best T20 batters in the world. To have someone of his quality available for the whole tournament for us is a great pick up," Bond said. "I spent a little bit of time with him at the Mumbai Indians and came up against him when I coached New Zealand and he smacked us a number of times.

"He's one of the most destructive batters, is an outstanding fielder and is also obviously a highly experienced player. He's highly respected at Notts and does a great job with their young players. With players like Sangha, Gilkes, and Davies, to have someone who has been there and done that, Alex has played in leagues all around the world and is an outstanding batsman in this format. To have someone like him to learn off is perfect.

"Obviously Alex is on the outer with the England squad at the moment, but I think he's still got a lot to offer so hopefully this is another chance for him to show his maturity and make a claim for the T20 World Cup next year."

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MINNEAPOLIS -- Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins offered a mea culpa to receiver Adam Thielen after he failed to connect with his teammate on a handful of plays during Minnesota's 16-6 loss at Chicago in Week 4.

Thielen was a guest on Cousins' weekly show "Under Center with Kirk Cousins" that airs on KFAN, the team's flagship radio station. Moderated by Minnesota Hall of Fame broadcaster Mark Rosen, Cousins was asked whether he took offense to the comments Thielen made following the loss about needing to complete deep-ball passes and execute plays in the passing game when the Vikings aren't able to run the ball successfully.

"No, like he said, it's reality," Cousins said. "I really want to apologize to him because there's too many opportunities where we could have hit him on Sunday and postgame. And I talk to the media, I always say until I watch the film, it's hard for me to really give you a straight answer. Well, now it's Tuesday night. I've watched the film. And the reality is there were opportunities for him."

The play that stood out most to Cousins was a pass he overthrew to Thielen on third-and-10 near the end of the first quarter. The receiver created separation from his defender and outstretched his arms for a ball that would've resulted in a touchdown had the throw been completed.

"He's shown -- No. 19's shown -- that he will make that play, and he'll probably finish that play in the end zone and pull away from the defender," Cousins said. "Adam's not just a really good player or one of the best players on the Vikings. He's one of the best players in the NFL, one of the best players in the world, period, regardless of position. We want to, we need to -- and when I saw 'we,' really I mean I need to -- get him more opportunities, get him the football.

"There's a couple as I go back and watch it, a dagger, a corner post, a fade throw in the end zone where I can make it easier on him, give him opportunities. Yes, was the Bears' front seven really good? Yes. Did they make plays on the back end occasionally? Yes. But I didn't help things with giving him more opportunities. If we run the ball successfully, if we run the ball more consistently, so be it. But when we do take our shots or we have our chances, we've got to hit them. The reality was I didn't, we didn't, and that's where I think you're frustrated after a game, and you're looking to improve going into the next week."

Thielen clarified his postgame comments on KFAN on Tuesday and said he was speaking in a broad sense -- not critiquing Cousins or playcalling -- when asked after the loss about finding other ways to generate offense when the team's run-first approach isn't working.

"First of all, I think it's interesting how media or fans take things that you say and make it what they want it to be," Thielen said. "I don't think I could say anything more generic that any offense would say. You can't be one-dimensional in this league. It's very, very, very difficult to win. If you listen to defensive coordinators talk, they want to make the offense one-dimensional, and that's how they want to win.

"You have to hit deep balls, No. 1, because otherwise corners sit on you. You have to be able to run the football when you need to, and you have to be able to throw the football because like Kirk said, some games are going to dictate that you have to throw the ball to win, some games are going to dictate that you have to run the ball to win, and it doesn't matter how you do it, as long as you are doing the things you need to do to win. It was as general as I could've got, but obviously people will find a way to twist it and make controversy and try to split your team. We're not going to let that happen."

Thielen finished with two catches for 6 yards, his lowest output since the 2015 season.

Although Cousins has been criticized for up-and-down play through Minnesota's first four game, especially after he routinely left his receivers open downfield and settled for a checkdown play in Chicago, the quarterback brought his focus back to igniting the passing game when the Vikings face the New York Giants on the road in Week 5.

"I look forward to giving him and Stefon [Diggs] more opportunities in the weeks ahead," Cousins said.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Of all the additions the Los Angeles Lakers made this offseason, it's two centers -- Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee -- who are standing out the most to first-year coach Frank Vogel.

"Our centers have really impressed me," Vogel said Tuesday at the conclusion of his team's sixth practice session through the first four days of camp. "Both Dwight and JaVale."

The most heralded acquisition, of course, was DeMarcus Cousins, the 10-year veteran whom L.A. plucked from Golden State after he spent the bulk of last season rehabbing a torn Achilles as a member of the Warriors. His injuries persisted after signing with the Lakers, as he suffered a torn ACL in his left knee in August while playing an offseason pickup game.

Cousins has been present at the Lakers facility for practices but hasn't participated in any on-court work with his team, instead using the time to rehabilitate. On Sunday, he walked laps around the perimeter of both courts at the UCLA Health Training Center, quipping to a team staffer, "You see me power walking?" On Tuesday, he rode the exercise bike before embarking on his laps.

Cousins is facing a misdemeanor domestic violence charge after allegedly threatening his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his 7-year-old son during a phone call this summer.

An NBA spokesman refuted a TMZ report Tuesday that NBA officials are working with the Mobile (Alabama) Police Department to coordinate a surrender date for Cousins.

"It is categorically untrue that the NBA reached out to the Mobile Police Department to facilitate DeMarcus Cousins' surrender," NBA spokesman Mike Bass told ESPN.

Legal concerns aside, Cousins' injury will keep him out for the entire 2019-20 season. The Lakers were granted a $1.75 million disabled player exception (half of Cousins' salary), which they must use by March 10 on a replacement player, or it will expire.

In the meantime, L.A. has McGee -- re-signed to a two-year, $4.2 million deal after averaging a career-high 12 points last season along with 7.5 rebounds and two blocks per game for the Lakers -- and Howard -- signed to a nonguaranteed $2.6 million veteran's minimum contract after impressing in a workout set up after Cousins went down -- to fill the void.

"JaVale's performing at a really high level," Vogel continued. "Dwight Howard has been all business since he came in this time around. We're asking our whole group to have a seriousness about ourselves. He's been an all-business type of guy. It's really helped us to be focused and working on the task at hand."

So far, both players have had the chance to play alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis -- Vogel's only two confirmed starters at this point -- as the coach tries to find a first five he likes.