Another of the big restricted free agents is off the board with the Tampa Bay Lightning signing center Brayden Point to a three-year, $20.25 million deal.

"We are very pleased to re-sign Brayden today," Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois said in a statement. "He is the consummate professional with an unwavering commitment to team success, growing as a player and improving every day. It is that mindset that makes him an outstanding role model, teammate and person, on and off the ice. We look forward to getting Brayden back on the ice with his Lightning teammates as soon as possible."

Like Toronto's Mitch Marner, Point was in an interesting position heading into restricted free agency. He put up superstar numbers last season -- 41 goals, 92 points -- but he's on a team already paying stars and therefore with cap constraints.

Hart Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov carries a $9.5 million cap hit, captain Steven Stamkos is at $8.5 million and they have five more players over $5 million.

Marner plays on the same team as high-paid superstars Auston Matthews and John Tavares.

Marner, however, got a six-year deal with an annual average value of almost $11 million, while Point gets a bridge deal. Point will again be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights when this deal expires.

The 23-year-old Point has done everything he can to increase his value, going from 18 goals and 40 points his rookie year to 32 and 66 in 2017-18 to last year's big numbers that included a plus-27.

Point did only have one goal in the Lightning's shocking four-game sweep by Columbus in the first round of the playoffs.

Point had been playing on a three-year, entry-level deal with a $686,667 cap hit.

Some of the big free agents still unsigned are Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor of the Jets, Mikko Rantanen of the Avs and Matthew Tkachuk of the Flames.

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Work has begun on a $1.3 billion arena for the New York Islanders at Belmont Park.

The 19,000-seat arena will also include shops, restaurants and a hotel. Work is expected to be completed in time for the 2021-22 season.

Until then, the Islanders will play home games at the Nassau Coliseum and at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Dignitaries attending a groundbreaking Monday included Gov. Andrew Cuomo and actor and big-time Islanders fan Ralph Macchio.

Cuomo said the project builds on two Long Island traditions: the Islanders and Belmont Park, home of racing's Belmont Stakes.

The arena is being built on state-owned property. As part of the work, developers have agreed to pay to build a new Long Island Rail Road station nearby.

Here's a look at what's happening in professional golf this week, and how you can watch it:

PGA Tour

Safeway Open

Thursday-Sunday, Silverado Resort (North), Napa, Calif.

Course specs: Par 72, 7,166 yards

Purse: $6.6 million

Defending champion: Kevin Tway

Notables in the field: Phil Mickelson, Justin Thomas, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Cantlay, Adam Scott, a-Tony Romo, Akshay Bhatia, Isaiah Salinda, Collin Morikawa

Tee times: TBD

TV schedule: Thursday-Friday, 5-9 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 6-9 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)

PGA Tour Live: Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. ET (PGA Tour Live)

European Tour

Alfred Dunhill Links Championship

Thursday-Sunday, St. Andrews (Old)/Carnoustie/Kingsbarns, Scotland

Course specs: Old – Par 72, 7,318 yards; Carnoustie – Par 72, 7,394 yards; Kingsbarns – Par 72, 7,228 yards

Purse: $5 million

Defending champion: Lucas Bjerregaard

Notables in the field: Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood, Tony Finau, Lee Westwood, Brandon Wu; amateurs – Bill Murray, Justin Timberlake, Brian McFadden, Wladimir Klitschko, Ronan Keating, Vinnie Jones

Tee times: TBD

TV schedule: Thursday-Saturday, 8 a.m.-noon ET (Golf Channel); Sunday, 7:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)

LPGA

Indy Women in Tech Championship

Thursday-Sunday, Brickyard Crossing GC, Indianapolis, Ind.

Course specs: Par 72, 6,526 yards

Purse: $2 million

Defending champion: Sung Hyun Park

Notables in the field: Lexi Thompson, Sung Hyun Park, Ariya Jutanugarn, Brooke Henderson, Angel Yin, Georgia Hall, Bronte Law, Maria Fassi, Jennifer Kupcho, a-Erica Shepherd

Tee times: TBD

TV schedule: Thursday, 1-5 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Friday-Saturday, 12:30-4 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Sunday, 1-4 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)

PGA Tour Champions

Pure Insurance Championship

Thursday-Sunday, Pebble Beach GL/Poppy Hills GC, Pebble Beach, Calif.

Purse: $2.1 million

Defending champion: Ken Tanigawa

Notables in the field: Bernhard Langer, Scott McCarron, Brandel Chamblee, Gary Nicklaus, Vijay Singh

Tee times: TBD

TV schedule: Friday-Sunday, 4-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)

United States national team star Megan Rapinoe claimed FIFA's The Best award, which is given to the top women's player, at a ceremony in Milan on Monday.

Rapinoe, 34, led the U.S. to their fourth World Cup title this summer in France. She won the Golden Ball award for best player at the tournament and the Golden Boot for most goals (six).

- Messi beats Ronaldo, Van Dijk for The Best men's top award

She beat out U.S. teammate Alex Morgan and England forward Lucy Bronze for The Best award.

The victory in France was the second consecutive World Cup title for Rapinoe, who was part of the USWNT squad in 2015. She also won a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics.

"I'm at a loss for words," she said. "This was an incredible year for women's football, for those who just noticed you are a bit late to the party. It truly was incredible, to be part of the World Cup, the enthusiasm we had was amazing."

Off the pitch, Rapinoe has been one of the leading voices in the USWNT's fight for equal pay with their male counterparts. She has also spoken out on a number of political issues in the country.

"I ask everyone here, lend your platform to other people, share your success. We have a unique opportunity to use this game to actually change the world for better. I hope you take that to heart, do something, we have incredible power in this room."

Rapinoe plays at NWSL club Reign FC in Tacoma, Washington, but has been linked to a move to Barcelona. She is the fourth American to win the honor following Mia Hamm, Abby Wambach, and Carli Lloyd.

Other The Best winners included U.S. coach Jill Ellis, who announced she'll be stepping down in October. Ellis was coach of the United States' back-to-back title teams.

All three player nominees were selected to the women's team of the year. The goalkeeper is Sari van Veenendaal of Atletico Madrid and the Netherlands. The back four consists of Bronze (England, Lyon), Wendie Renard (France, Lyon), Nilla Fischer (Sweden, Linkoping) and Kelley O'Hara (United States, Utah Royals). The midfield features Amandine Henry (France, Lyon), Julie Ertz (United States, Chicago Red Stars) and Rose Lavelle (United States, Washington Spirit). Joining Rapinoe and Morgan (Orlando FC) up front was Marta (Brazil, Orlando Pride).

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

Lionel Messi beat Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk and Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo to claim a record sixth FIFA's The Best award, which is given to the top men's player, on Monday.

The award was handed to the Barcelona and Argentina captain at a ceremony in Milan.

- Champions League group stage: All you need to know

- ESPN Champions League fantasy: Sign up now!

Messi, 32, led Barcelona to a fourth La Liga title in the past five seasons, scoring 36 goals and providing 15 assists in 35 league matches last campaign. He posted 51 goals and 22 assists in all competitions.

Croatia and Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric won the award last year, breaking up a years-long duel between Messi and Ronaldo for the prize. But Messi regained the honour for a record sixth time, having previously won FIFA's top award in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015.

Before Modric's victory, Ronaldo and Messi had won every FIFA World Player of the Year award, which was renamed the FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2010 and The Best in 2016, since 2007, when Kaka was victorious.

Messi's win is somewhat of a surprise with Van Dijk, a centre-back who transformed Liverpool's defence on the way to the Champions League crown, having won the European best player award.

In the final voting, Messi finished with 46 points, while Van Dijk (38 points) and Ronaldo (36) finished second and third respectively. The rest of the top 10 was rounded out by Liverpool forwards Mohamed Salah (26) and Sadio Mane (23), Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe (17), former Ajax midfielder Frenkie de Jong (16), ex-Chelsea forward Eden Hazard (16), ex-Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt (9), and Tottenham striker Harry Kane (5).

Additionally, Debrecen forward Daniel Zsori won the Puskas Award for his overhead kick against Ferencvaros during a Hungarian league match.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp took home coach of the year, while Reds goalkeeper Alisson was named best keeper.

United States head coach Jill Ellis and midfielder Megan Rapinoe collected women's coach and player of the year, respectively, for the USWNT's World Cup triumph this summer, while Netherlands goalkeeper Sari van Veenendaal was voted women's goalkeeper of the year after helping her country to the final of the competition.

Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa was given the fair play award.

There's lots to talk about in this week's Monday Musings after a wild weekend. Gab Marcotti is here to recap the big stories around soccer.

Jump to: Barca look lost without Messi | Liverpool 'win ugly' | Inter add to Milan's woes | Neymar gets rude welcome | Real rebound in style too | Neymar PSG's hero again | Man United are a mess | Chelsea's youth movement | Juve still a work in progress | Stop moaning about VAR! | What's wrong with Atletico? | Ref gets it right in Italy

- Gab and Juls podcast: Barca woes, Chelsea vs. Liverpool, Milan derby

Barcelona look lost unless Messi is fit and in form

Seven points from five games, behind in each of them, scoreless in 188 minutes in all competitions, one shot on target: you probably have to go back to last spring to find the last time Barcelona turned in an impressive 90-minute performance.

The 2-0 defeat at Granada offered a compendium of what ails this side right now. Antoine Griezmann offers plenty in terms of work rate but isn't yet a functioning cog in this team. To be fair, he hasn't been helped by the fact that one of his strike partners, Luis Suarez, started only his first game last week and the guy who's supposed be his other strike partner, Lionel Messi, has yet to start.

The midfield is horrendous right now, whether it's the Arthur-Frenkie de Jong-Sergio Busquets version most expected to be first choice or the ugly trio we saw Saturday, with Sergi Roberto and Ivan Rakitic joining De Jong. The back line is OK until you remember that Gerard Pique turns 33 in February and his backups are a guy coming off two injury-riddled seasons and injured again (Samuel Umtiti) and a teenager who has started 12 top-flight games in his career, none of them this season (Jean-Clair Todibo).

Poor squad construction? Sure. We've been through this even before you get into the mad chase for Neymar, absurdly played out in public in the dying days of the transfer window. De Jong and Griezmann probably will come good, but having signed them early, it's as if they took the rest of the summer off. Ansu Fati dropped out of the sky to get everybody excited, but if you think they knew that was going to happen, well, there's an unfinished Gaudi cathedral in Barcelona you might be interested in buying.

The above might be mitigating factors, but it certainly doesn't mean that Ernesto Valverde has been exonerated, either. Having gone a goal down early, he seemed to hit the panic at half-time, breaking the glass to call upon Messi and Fati. Not a terrible choice in and of itself except it also meant taking off Junior Firpo, making his first start of the campaign in place of injured Jordi Alba.

Firpo was directly responsible for Granada's first goal and had a rough 45 minutes, but it was also a humiliating change, of the sort that can destroy a player's confidence. What's more, it caused the usual uncomfortable reshuffle, with Nelson Semedo moving to left-back (not his forte), Sergi Roberto switching from midfield to right-back and a lopsided Barca with no midfield laying a disorderly siege on the Granada goal.

That is on Valverde, and it has to be a concern. Two straight years of colossal tactical blunders late in the Champions League knockout round aren't forgotten around the Camp Nou, nor should they be. Needless to say, having Messi in your team papers over a lot of cracks, and it feels as if this Messi-less early stage of the campaign is some kind of post-apocalyptic glimpse of what this team will be like when (if?) he goes.

The fact of the matter is there is more to Barcelona than Messi. But they have to be given a coherent game plan and they have to be made to look like something resembling a team, not a bunch of guys wandering through La Liga waiting for their Messi-ah.

That part of the job belongs to the manager.

Liverpool 'win ugly' to remain perfect in Premier League

There was definitely a different flavour to Liverpool's 2-1 win at Chelsea on Sunday, the one that made it six wins from six league games to open the season. Two set-piece goals, plenty of grit in midfield and the sort of efficiency that sees you through rough patches: it's not what the Jurgen Klopp stereotype calls to mind. But coming off the back of a Champions League defeat, all you really needed was three points and no injuries, and that's what they got.

It doesn't mean there aren't things to work on. Defensively, things got jittery on more than one occasion. The midfield was primarily destructive, which is fine when you have an early lead but less so when you need to get a steady supply to the front three. But it's a long slog and, for now, this will do.

As for Chelsea, when you lose half of your back four by half-time (and your best defender is already out) and you're two goals down, it's tough to get back into it. But that's what they did, exploiting N'Golo Kante's fine vein of form. (By the way, remember all those clever pundits who insisted he could play only as a defensive midfielder rooted in front of the back line? Where they at now?)

They showed guts and personality and created chances. That goes a long way towards explaining why supporters remain squarely behind Frank Lampard despite the fact that Chelsea have yet to win at home in four attempts.

Yup, it's a long slog for them too, but they're resigned to it. For now, as long as they think they're moving in the right direction, it doesn't matter how slowly they're moving.

Inter are the kings of Milan after easy derby win

Antonio Conte was looking for a reaction and got it. Saturday's 2-0 derby win over Milan was pretty much one-way traffic, which is not something you would have taken for granted before kickoff. Not with all the stories of dressing room bust-ups (real or imagined: personally, I don't mind if players get at each other's throats after a poor performance like Marcelo Brozovic and Romelu Lukaku supposedly did), Lukaku's bad back and the fact that they had yet to play anybody decent.

On the back of Milan's performance, you might suggest they still have yet to play anybody decent. Other than Gigio Donnarumma's saves -- he kept the game closer than it should have been and looks to be close to the level he was at a few years ago, when the hype machine went into overdrive -- and Rafael Leao's endeavour (not to be taken for granted when you get thrown in at the deep end after just 17 minutes of football), Milan offered very little. Marco Giampaolo's formation and personnel decisions remain a conundrum, from Suso in the hole to Ismael Bennacer on the bench and Hakan Calhanoglu on the pitch.

Still, there's a buzz around this Inter team that hasn't been there for a long time. A lot of it is down to Conte, of course, but much of it is simply having three midfielders -- Brozovic, Stefano Sensi and Nicolo Barella -- who not only demand the ball but can do something with it.

Man City rebound in style and prove me wrong

So I predicted on the ESPN FC show that Watford might make things tough for Manchester City on Saturday. It seemed to fit. Watford had been stellar against Arsenal; City were back from a long trip to the Ukraine, and Aymeric Laporte and John Stones were injured.

I was right for about 15 seconds or so. The 8-0 masterclass was as extreme a beat-down as you're likely to see in the Premier League. It also showed that if you poke City with a stick, as Norwich did the week before, their wrath won't take long to unfold.

Real shrug off PSG shame by winning at Sevilla

It was all set up for the wheels to come off. After the humiliation at the Parc des Princes against Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid traveled away to Sevilla, where they had lost in their past four outings. Plus, there was manager Julen Lopetegui, sacked by Florentino Perez less than a year ago and out for revenge. Instead, Zinedine Zidane -- who had bemoaned his side's lack of intensity in the Champions League -- got the reaction he was looking for as Madrid won 1-0 but, more importantly, showed plenty of signs of growth.

Zidane whipped out the oldest trick in the book -- except for Sergio Ramos, suspended in Paris, he fielded the same starting XI -- and was rewarded: James Rodriguez put in a blue-collar performance, Eden Hazard showed signs of life and Karim Benzema converted when it mattered.

Zidane had mentioned in Paris that sometimes Real Madrid create chances not because they play better but because they simply have better players than most. This wasn't the case at the Sanchez Pizjuan: they were better all-around. As for Sevilla, the tools for a good season are all there, but you're left scratching your head up front. Were Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez and Luuk de Jong really the guys Lopetegui needed? You expect more from Monchi.

Neymar the hero again for PSG even as fans boo

He did it again this weekend, except this time away from home against possibly PSG's toughest opponents, Olympique Lyonnais. Neymar was greeted with the usual hail of projectiles, verbal and actual, from both sets of supporters. It went on for much of the game, which looked headed towards a scoreless draw.

And then, in the dying seconds, just like last week, Neymar popped up. This time it wasn't an overhead kick but rather a mazy run and accurate finish. If he continues like this, will he play his way back into the hearts of the PSG faithful?

Find out in the next episode of "As the Neymar Turns ... "

Man United are a mess

Maybe you're one of those who has bought into Manchester United's master plan lock, stock and barrel. The one where the kids schooled in the United Way instantly emulate Fergie's Fledglings, while Daniel James reaches the heights of that other Welsh United winger, Ryan Giggs, and Marcus Rashford wins the Ballon d'Or.

Maybe we'll get there, but before we do, we'll have plenty more days like Sunday away to West Ham. A side without Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba (Mason Greenwood and Luke Shaw too) showed not just little quality and creativity (that's to be expected, look at the names) but little fight or spirit in the 2-0 defeat. It was the sort of game that got Jose Mourinho fired, and, annoyingly for the hater brigade, they couldn't blame Pogba for the performance, either.

United had five players aged 23 or younger in their starting lineup. The worrying part is that most of them already look as if they are close to their ceiling. That's why the Solskjaer plan is difficult to buy into.

Lewandowski leads Bayern to another big win

Bayern's 4-0 thumping of Cologne saw Robert Lewandowski bag two more goals. He now has nine in five Bundesliga games (11 overall), and it could have been more. With his team 2-0 up at the hour mark, he let Philippe Coutinho take and convert (albeit on his third attempt) a penalty.

That's leadership. Lewandowski might be the consummate goal scorer, but he has no problem stepping aside when a teammate who has had a rocky start needs a boost. Coutinho himself turned in a solid performance, but you still get the feeling coach Niko Kovac isn't sure how to fit both him and Thomas Muller into the same lineup.

Juventus are still a work in progress

Juventus are still in "baby steps" mode. The 2-1 home win against newly promoted Verona saw the opposition hit the woodwork twice, and Gigi Buffon, standing in for Wojciech Szczesny, make a key late save.

Result apart, the glass is half-empty, though Paulo Dybala showed plenty of energy as a "false nine" and Aaron Ramsey opened his scoring account. We're used to Juve winning by slim margins at home except, under Max Allegri, this was rarely accompanied by late-game jitters.

I guess at this stage it's about "trusting the process," but it really feels as if it's going to take a while.

Stop complaining about VAR!

It's OK to be philosophically opposed to VAR. Less OK is getting bent out of shape over the Son Heung-Min offside (which struck off Serge Aurier's goal in Tottenham's defeat against Leicester) for the wrong reasons. Like the fact that it was close and they should stick to the "ruling on the field." (Assistant referees are told not to flag close calls, so there is no such thing as a "ruling on the field.")

Or blaming VAR for the fact that shoulders and heads can make you offside. (That's been the rule for more than a decade.)

Or bleating on about the fact that VAR has a "margin of error." (So does goal-line technology. So do human assistant referees. So what?)

Or moaning about how the lines on your television don't look right. (Presumably your TV is in two dimensions, whereas VAR's software is 3-D...)

Do you have a suggestion for improving the protocol, maybe one that's based on something other than it "not feeling right?" If so, let's hear it. Hit me up on Twitter. But it has to be something realistic that covers all possibilities. Otherwise, please stop with nonsense arguments.

What's wrong with Atletico?

Uh-oh: more points dropped for Atletico Madrid. The scoreless home draw with Celta Vigo means they haven't won since Sept. 1. If Diego Simeone is trying to give them a different dimension -- and you assume he is, bringing back Angel Correa to team up with Joao Felix and Diego Costa -- it's not working.

Equally concerning has to be Diego Costa's return in terms of goals. Since his return from Stamford Bridge in January 2018, he has just five in 34 Liga appearances, the most recent some six months ago. Sure, he's the sort of striker who can contribute even when not scoring, but the simple truth of the matter is that with Griezmann gone, somebody has to pick up the slack.

Referee gets it right in Italy

Atalanta and Fiorentina drew 2-2 but the story here is referee Daniele Orsato, who did what others should have done before him: apply the rules. When Fiorentina full-back Dalbert complained that he was being racially abused by some fans in one of the stands, Orsato took it seriously. He was nearby and also heard it, so he applied the protocol, suspending the game and issuing a warning over the stadium PA system. The abuse stopped, and, three minutes later, the game continued without incident.

This is what should have happened before but often didn't. Most in the ground were unaware of what had happened; the abuse was audible in only a small section of the ground, near Dalbert's area of the pitch. But it doesn't matter. Once it was heard by officials, action was taken.

Hopefully what Dalbert and Orsato did will empower more players to step forward and more referees to take action. There's not much point in having rules if they're not going to be enforced.

Gloucestershire 80 for 6 (Charlesworth 35*) v Northamptonshire

Any morning sense of foreboding around Nevil Road was easy to understand. Never mind the poor weather forecast or the strong form of Northamptonshire. Two unhappy facts seemed much more pertinent: Gloucestershire's dreadful record at their headquarters and the guarantee that Northants would enjoy the best of conditions by virtue of being the visiting side.

But even at their most pessimistic, members cannot have imagined just how precariously their side would be teetering after the opening skirmishes of a critical encounter. Needing nine points for certain promotion to the first division, Gloucestershire must now add 120 more runs for the last four wickets simply to secure the single batting point that could still guarantee their passage with a draw.

It may well be that Glamorgan, their rivals, fail to beat Durham, or do so with insufficient points and enable Gloucestershire to progress. Equally, rain may bucket down in the right place for them at the right time, as it did here through Monday afternoon. Gloucestershire, though, have made the task harder than it needs to be through bad batting, misjudgements and a touch of sheer bad luck.

None of which will bother Northamptonshire, who are halfway towards the four points they need to complete their own promotion. As expected, they eschewed the toss, bowling first at a ground which gives the seamers less and less help as play develops. And while they took until the tenth over to break through, they then lacerated a jittery top order to take control.

Gloucester's poor run at Bristol precedes the 2016 directive allowing away sides to insert the hosts. But results certainly haven't improved since. Stretching back to 2014, they have won only four out of 31 games at headquarters, with ten losses and 17 draws. Both home victories this season occurred at Cheltenham; at Bristol they have a draw and two defeats.

Yet opportunity springs from despair, and the unbeaten 35 by Ben Charlesworth allowed a little something to cheer. He is 18 (though he looks younger), left-handed and passed a more searching examination than anything in the A-level papers he recently sat. Composed and mature, he seemed to have time for his shots which included a couple of very stylish off drives.

St Edward's School, in Oxford, has a strong cricketing reputation. Alumni include Miles Hammond, batting at No. 3 in this game. Further back there is Teddy Wynyard, an Edwardian Test player and FA Cup winner with Old Carthusians, international tobogganer, WG Grace impersonator, Army major and feared martinet. He would have had something to say about certain dismissals here.

Charlesworth, the latest product, is planning a more monochromatic career: despite grades of A-A-B in history, geography and economics he will not be heading to university. But he does anticipate going to Antigua and South Africa with England Under-19s this winter having completed the first year of a three-year contract with Gloucestershire. A county captain in the making, almost certainly.

He took a realistic view of proceedings after play was called off at 3.50pm. "On another day, we might be 80 for three," he said. "Three of the wickets were unfortunate and left us behind the eight-ball. I don't think the pitch has a lot in it, it is not an 80 for six pitch by any means. There is plenty of batting to come and we can still get past 200, then we are right in the game."

David Sales, the Northamptonshire batting coach, agreed with Charlesworth's assessment of the surface. "We thought it was a bit flat after the first two overs," he admitted. "We thought it would be hard work and I guess we picked up a couple of lucky wickets with the run outs. We were delighted to have them six-down by lunch."

It was rather like a drill pushing against wood: slow, grinding work before the tool thrusts forward once through the hole. Gloucestershire saw Brett Hutton out of the attack and were dealing carefully with Ben Sanderson until James Bracey drove a little loosely to give Sanderson his 59th wicket of the season, thus starting a collapse of four wickets for five runs in 23 balls.

Hammond edged to second slip where Hutton took a good catch low to his left before the critical run out of Chris Dent, Gloucestershire's leading scorer this season. Gareth Roderick pushed into the off side and surprised his partner by running. Hesitation may have been slight but it allowed Luke Procter to collect from cover, set a steady base and throw down the stumps: an exemplary piece of fielding.

Worse followed when Roderick was lbw next over despite Sanderson, the bowler, being slightly late with his appeal. And if Dent was partly culpable for his demise then George Hankins, who was playing capably, suffered terrible fortune when Doug Bracewell deflected a good return drive by Charlesworth on to the stumps at the bowler's end for the second run-out.

Charlesworth managed to put the dismissal behind him, but his job became harder again when Ryan Higgins fed square leg with an ill-advised pull off Bracewell. The sunshine of the first session gave way to gloomier skies during lunch and only two balls were possible on the resumption. Plenty of time for Gloucester to stew as Glamorgan made progress of their own in the north-east.

Surrey 246 for 2 (Borthwick 109*, Pope 78*) v Nottinghamshire

A century from Scott Borthwick and a strong batting performance from Ollie Pope on the day of his England Test recall defined proceedings before cloud, gloom and rain brought play to an early conclusion during the evening session. Borthwick played patiently for his hundred, reaching 109 from 243 balls, while Pope also displayed his class as he eased to 78 not out.

Surrey played for much of the day like reigning champions should - despite their position second from bottom of Division One. Nottinghamshire, the team below, were a stark contrast. Already relegated and with their heart-breaking weekend T20 Blast semi-final loss still fresh, they seemed mentally checked out for the season. They played without direction and with little strategy.

Nottinghamshire were not helped by a batsman-friendly pitch and the ease with which Surrey played for much of the day can attest to that. They may also feel aggrieved by the constant changing of balls. The umpires had decided to change the ball twice before the seventh over, and a fourth was selected in the 33rd over.

Jake Ball showed international pedigree early on, but Surrey's opening batsmen saw him off with relatively few jitters. The pair put on 70 for the first wicket, before Paul Coughlin produced the only truly dangerous over of the day. The Nottinghamshire strategy of bowling down the leg side to Mark Stoneman paid off after he edged behind, before 19-year old Jamie Smith was also caught behind for a four-ball duck, pushing too hard at one which moved away slightly.

Pope then joined Borthwick at the crease. As his recall to the England Test squad to tour New Zealand was announced, 21-year old Pope displayed the traits that have seen him likened to James Vince and Ian Bell, where batting appears easy, elegant and effortless. Out for much of the season through injury, this match is only his fifth in the Championship. However, with this innings included he has accumulated 533 runs at an average of 88.83 in eight innings. To put that into context, Stoneman is Surrey's top scorer this season, with 685 runs, but has required 13 matches and 23 innings to do so.

His innings here wasn't without blemish though. Pope escaped a stumping chance and was lucky that Ben Slater dropped a low catch at midwicket too. England needn't worry. One gets the sense when watching Pope that as the format of cricket increases in difficulty, so does his level of concentration.

Surrey's batsmen have endured a disappointing summer. Following the home loss to Kent in July, Surrey's director of cricket, Alec Stewart, said: "People say we have batsmen out of form. No, we have batsmen out of runs. They are hitting the ball well, but their shot selection is costing them dearly." Unfortunately for Surrey, the runs never really came until Pope's return.

Borthwick's shot selection on this occasion was imperious, offering only a difficult catching chance to leg slip during his entire innings. His innings also marked a batting milestone of which he can be personally proud: as he swept Matt Carter to the backward square leg boundary, he became the first Surrey batsman to hit a second century in the County Championship this summer. Only Pope and captain Rory Burns did so last year, finishing the season with four each in total. The side have missed that weight of runs and are lucky only one team is being relegated from Division One this season.

Durham 197 for 6 (Watling 83*) v Glamorgan

Before Marnus Labuschagne came to wider attention in the Ashes series, he set an unlikely event in motion: a Glamorgan promotion challenge. Few would have predicted that a year ago after they finished bottom of the heap in Division Two.

Those of fiercely patriotic bent were not exactly happy to see county cricket providing Labuschagne with a grounding in English cricket ahead of the Ashes. They would have moaned all the more if only they could have pronounced his name.

But it certainly worked for Glamorgan. By the time Labuschagne-or-however-you-pronounce-it had left, he had 1114 Championship runs at 65.53. Life has been tougher since then: Glamorgan have lost three of their last four, only finding relief with a win against the bottom club, Leicestershire.

But their 16-point deficit is not insurmountable, especially as the sides in second and third, Gloucestershire and Northants, are meeting at Bristol. The easiest route to promotion for Glamorgan is for Gloucestershire to lose against Northants while they pick up more bonus points than Gloucestershire in beating Durham at Riverside.

And yes, thank you, everyone knows it might rain. A survey once suggested that on average the English waste 10 months of their lives complaining about the weather - presumably nobody dared to ask the Welsh. That's 17 minutes a day which is obviously preposterous as the English don't spend half that long making polite conversation, but it serves as a reminder that the forecast is best ignored.

It's going to lash down all day Tuesday apparently.

Glamorgan restricted Durham to 197 for 6 in 71 overs on the opening day but they might have been hoping for better. They ran up against BJ Watling, the New Zealand batsman who was brought in for the last two games of the season because Durham envisaged a promotion challenge that immediately ran aground when they lost at Northampton last week.

Finding himself 12,000 miles from home for no good reason, Watling occupied himself as best he could, which in his case meant an unbeaten 83 on a pitch that was shifted at the last minute because rain had got under the covers.

It was repositioned well over to the Lumley Castle side of the ground, so much so that the ghosts said to haunt it might have complained to the council about the noise. Reputedly, the pitches on that side can do a bit, but considering it is September 23 in the north of England - the autumn equinox no less - this one behaved itself well enough. There was the occasional flame of rearing bounce but Glamorgan hoped for more.

It is Watling's first stint in county cricket and, although circumstance had dictated that Durham would have been better keeping the money in the bank, he looked a shrewd acquisition.

He played strongly through the off side, particularly against Marchant de Lange, who whether by accident or design he pretty much resisted single-handedly. De Lange can look a daunting sight, the 90 emblazoned on his broad back acting as a reminder of his potential speed, but Watling's seventh Test century, against Sri Lanka at the P Sara Stadium last month, was a reminder that, at 34, nothing fazes him.

What, one wonders, does Michael Hogan make off the possibility that he might be in Division One next season? He is 38 now - a strip of the lad compared to 43-year-old Darren Stevens who has finished the season so spectacularly with Kent - and retains a strong, high action and an accuracy that keeps batsmen honest.

Hogan took four of the wickets to fall. Three came to lbw decisions: Cameron Steel falling to an inswinger in his second over, Alex Lees' 45 coming to grief because of a mystifying leave-alone and Ned Eckersley beaten by one that seamed back. Solomon Bell, an 18-year-old on debut, also found him a bit hard to handle, contriving to play outside a back-of-a-length ball that struck his off stump.

Durham have made progress in four-day cricket this season and they will anticipate more of the same next season after announcing that they have re-signed Australian international Cameron Bancroft in all three formats for the 2020 season.

Somerset 75 for 4 (Cook 2-5) v Essex

James Hildreth gets inside the line of a ball from Simon Harmer and sweeps it to the boundary just to the right of Gimblett's Hill. The locals at the County Ground applaud the stroke and are momentarily buoyed by fresh hope. But it is a rare reverse for Harmer, who will shortly trap Hildreth and Tom Banton leg before wicket in the space of three balls. The offspinner has now taken 80 wickets in the Championship and is a bowler of rare skill and subtlety. He dismissed Hildreth for 32 when bowling round the wicket to cramp the batsman for room and then accounted for Banton in more conventional style from over the wicket. Both balls turned appreciably but this pitch has not yet behaved sufficiently erratically to send the pitch inspectors into a ferment.

Despite a dismal weather forecast there is a large crowd at Taunton, which is only fitting on the first morning of the match which will decide the destiny of the County Championship. Sky are covering the game and there is a bevy of radio commentaries, both local and national. Everyone is focused closely on the immediate moment and the destiny of the greatest prize in English domestic cricket. In order to accommodate other media, the written press are housed in Portakabins, just as they were when Tom Abell made his maiden first-class century four sweet summers ago. That rehousing was necessitated by the construction of the Somerset pavilion, which is only the latest of Taunton's new buildings and, in a glorious piece of eccentricity, the fourth of its pavilions.

And yet, even on a ground so obviously clothed in modernity, the past exerts a powerful hold, an effect achieved not simply by the large pictures and brief biographies of Somerset cricketers which are placed every few yards on the perimeter wall and inside the Ondaatje Pavilion. Somerset's history is fondly remembered partly because the county has been freakishly lucky in the quality of its cricket writers, many of whom worked in the old press box with its high desks and its scant acknowledgement of technological change.

This was a good day for Essex. Sam Cook removed Murali Vijay and Steve Davies inside the first 20 minutes of the morning and when the predicted rain arrived at 12.10pm Somerset were 75 for 4. Their chances of posting the sort of total that might help them to embarrass their opponents in the remainder of the game have been significantly damaged. Yet this has still been a fine season for Somerset cricket and one wonders what men like David Foot and Alan Gibson might have made of it.

Foot worked mainly for newspapers in the West Country and also for the Guardian. His books of essays, Beyond Bat and Ball and Fragments of Idolatry, are as good as that form has produced. Rich in knowledge and insight, they capture a cricketer's character in a phrase. Take this, for example, from "Twelve O'Clock Low", Foot's brilliant essay on Bill Andrews:

He was the most popular figure Somerset cricket ever had. Certainly Sammy Woods, who also liked the raucous chatter of a skittle alley and possessed the classless bonhomie that becomes an Aussie, was his only rival. Lionel Palairet's popularity was largely confined to the hotel lounge, Gimblett's to the Taunton (and Frome) grounds and fourth-form romance, Farmer White's to the harvest suppers around the Quantocks and Botham's to the pulp forests of the tabloid devotees.

Andrews' bowling action was known as "Twelve O'Clock High". The title of the essay refers to the depression with which this fine cricketer was cursed. Foot knew Andrews so well that he was able to see how an apparently extrovert character also suffered the sideswipes of fate.

The old wooden stand from which Foot watched countless days of county cricket is gone; the famous Stragglers Bar is gone; and the old press box with those desks and its hot water urn chuntering in the background is gone, too. Yet time was when at least one journalist used to sit in that box comforted by the fact that it was where Foot and Gibson had worked.

Alan Gibson's reports in the Times were favoured both by those who played the game professionally and those who simply watched it. Sometimes he did not write about the play so much as the experience of attending a match. Railway stations featured as frequently as pavilions, a fact beautifully reflected in Of Didcot and the Demon a glorious and very honest book, written and edited by Gibson's son, Anthony, and lovingly produced by Stephen Chalke's Fairfield imprint.

There were occasions when all the inspiration Gibson needed was a chance meeting. Take this from 1971:

I knew it was going to be a good day when I passed Jeremy Thorpe at Taunton station. "So do great ships pass in the night," he said, a remark I hereby pass on to my grand-children, with supplications to the compositor for no misprints. I might even have guessed that it would be a good day for Brian Close, another man who has been bludgeoned by fate but repeatedly emerged unbowed and unbloody, except in the strictly technical sense. Both, also, are not afraid to hit out at bowling of the slow left variety.

Gibson concocted fine soubriquets for his favourite cricketers. Robin Jackman was the "Shoreditch Sparrow"; Colin Dredge was the "Demon of Frome". As one watched Somerset battle away in this game they must win to take their first title, one wondered what Gibson would make of today's cricketers. Would the Overton twins be "The Instow Monoliths"? Would Jack Leach be "Sainsbury's Archivist"?

But that's the point about writers so rich in human sympathy and so bounteously endowed with talent as David Foot and Alan Gibson. Their writings live on, even through their palest imitators and even on damp days when the title may be slipping away from Somerset. "The past becomes the present inside your head," says Margrethe, Niels Bohr's wife, in Michael Frayn's play Copenhagen .