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TOP STORY: Spurs jump United in move for Dybala

Spurs fans will be salivating at the prospect of their club making two major signings. First up is news of a possible move for Paulo Dybala, who reportedly already turned down Manchester United, with the Argentine expressing an interest in joining the north London club. These rumours come courtesy of Sky Sports Italia, which suggests a deal for between £62m-£65m has already been agreed between the two clubs, with just the player to agree.

Juve have made it clear that Dybala has no future in Turin, which is why he is now more open to a move to England. Mauricio Pochettino is also rumoured to have called compatriot Dybala personally over the weekend in an effort to help get the deal over the line.

Next up for Pochettino is a loan move for Barcelona's Philippe Coutinho in a deal that would see the duo reunited for the first time since they worked together at Espanyol. This comes on the heels of news which ESPN confirmed that Arsenal had no interest in the Brazilian.

Pochettino is keen to add the 27-year-old to his midfield to further enhance his new-look side following the signings of Tanguy Ndombele and Jack Clark. Coutinho's representatives are alleged to have contacted a number of Premier League clubs in an effort to get the Brazilian away from Camp Nou.

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09.41 BST: PSG goalkeeper Kevin Trapp is set to join German side Eintracht Frankfurt later today for at least €7m and will sign a five-year contract, sources have told ESPN FC.

Trapp leaving opens up a space for PSG to sign a new goalkeeper, so they could revisit their interest in AC Milan's Gianluigi Donnarumma from earlier this summer. A reminder that clubs in Europe have until Sept. 2 to complete their deals.

09.25 BST: Both Manchester City and Manchester United had scouts watching Norwegian prospect Hakon Evjen this week, according to Norwegian broadcaster TV2.

Evjen, 19, scored twice in Bodo/Glimt's 3-1 win over Stromgodset on Monday, and the club tweeted that representatives of the Premier League sides were watching on from the stands.

TV2 reported that the scouts had made the journey to watch, who took his goal tally to six goals in 14 Tippeligaen appearances this season.

09.05 BST: Fabinho's wife has reacted incredulously to rumours circulating on social media that the Liverpool midfielder has agreed a deal to join Real Madrid.

The Brazil international and his wife, Rebecca Tavares, are happy and settled on Merseyside.

pic.twitter.com/ydvLcVLqoE

— Rebeca Tavares (@reebecatavares) August 6, 2019

Fabinho is a guaranteed starter for Jurgen Klopp and the reported fee of €65m + €10m in add-ons is unlikely to have been signed off by sporting director Michael Edwards, who has a reputation for maximising the club's earnings when selling players. The club has described the rumour to ESPN FC's Melissa Reddy as "absolute nonsense."

08.29 BST: Manchester City full-back Danilo has arrived at Juventus this morning to seal his move to Turin.

The deal is set to see Joao Cancelo move in the opposite direction between the two clubs, although reports suggest that the two transfers will not be officially linked.

Danilo, 28, joined City from Real Madrid in 2017 and went on to win back-to-back Premier League titles in England.

Cancelo, 25, had been linked with a move to England before joining Juve last summer from Valencia. His move could be announced as early as today, according to reports.

08.00 BST: Welcome to Wednesday's Transfer Talk live blog. It's Transfer Deadline Eve and there is plenty going on. Tuesday's top story was Wayne Rooney's move from D.C. United to Derby County and we're going even bigger today. Jason Puncheon has signed for Pafos FC in a move labelled "the greatest transfer" in their history.

Puncheon moves to Cyprus on a two-year deal after leaving Crystal Palace on a free transfer and the 33-year-old is being talked up as "brilliant on both wings."

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PAPER TALK (by Nick Judd)

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Ozil could replace Rooney at D.C. United

Staying in north London, and not to leave out those of a red persuasion, Arsenal look like they could potentially offload Mesut Ozil, with talks planned between the German's representatives and MLS club D.C. United.

The news follows Wayne Rooney's announced move to Derby County as player-coach and could see Ozil replace Rooney in Washington as the main marquee signing.

Any deal would see Ozil stay at the Emirates until January -- the same month Rooney will join Derby -- before making the switch to the U.S. Ozil would represent another huge signing for United.

Everton close in on Sidibe loan

Everton are on the verge of signing Monaco defender Djibril Sidibe, according to the Mail.

The Mail reports that the 27-year-old defender is arriving at Goodison Park on Wednesday for a medical ahead of a season-long loan. The France international made 26 appearances for the Ligue 1 side, which followed his forming part of the France side that won the World Cup this time last summer.

Sidibe operates at right-back but can play on either side, and Everton boss Marco Silva wants competition for places alongside Seamus Coleman after having offloaded Jonjoe Kenny to Schalke.

Silva remains hopeful of making more additions before the transfer window slams shut on Thursday (see our tap-ins below).

Tap-ins

- You might be tempted to switch off when you hear the names Wilfried Zaha and Everton mentioned together, such has been their on-off deal this summer. And tonight, the Mail reports that Crystal Palace have turned down a £70m cash deal plus Cenk Tosun and James McCarthy for Zaha from the Toffees. Palace maintain that the winger won't be sold.

- Plenty of action in Sheffield tonight too, with the Mail reporting Wednesday are set to move for Chelsea defender Michael Hector. The news follows Sheffield United's sale of Ched Evans to Fleetwood on a permanent deal earlier in the day. Like Evans, Hector spent last season on loan, making 39 appearances for the Owls. Hector has failed to make an appearance for Chelsea in four years since signing from Reading in 2015, and would welcome regular first-team action.

Australia's Ashes blueprint to starve England's boundary-hungry batsmen from scoring paid off handsomely at Edgbaston and may see Peter Siddle playing as expansive a role in the series as any of the touring pacemen.

In a plan that the national team coach Justin Langer has hinted was partly inspired by the way a 2004 touring team to India won Australia's only series victory in the country for the past 50 years, England's scoring - and boundary count - were drastically clamped down upon, after Siddle was chosen when the selectors resisted the urge to choose the faster Mitchell Starc or Josh Hazlewood on a Birmingham pitch that was drier than anticipated.

While Siddle did not have the sort of seam movement at his disposal that has characterised many of his spells for Essex over the past couple of seasons, his nagging lines and lengths, pressuring England into the sort of shots played by Jonny Bairstow in the first innings and Jason Roy in the second, helped the Australians suffocate an England team that is used to getting regular release from pressure by finding the short boundaries of their home grounds.

Over the course of the Test, England were restricted to 0.33 boundaries per over and 2.75 runs per over, a long way behind Australia's 0.47 boundaries per over and 3.99 runs per over. Across 39 overs for the match that cost 80 runs, Siddle's economy rate of 2.09, conceding just eight boundaries at 0.21 per over, made him the only bowler in the match to go under 2.5 runs per over. It was a performance that not only reaped wickets at the other end, but also prevented England from surging to high-scoring bursts that would also bring Edgbaston's crowd to life.

"We knew 10 of the [starting] XI two days before; we made a decision between Starcy and Peter Siddle quite late actually, on the morning of the game," Langer said. "We were going to have a last look at the wicket on the morning and when we got here it was a pretty strong gut feeling.

"For some reason, the way Sidds played in the practice game and the way he's been bowling and the style of cricket we need to beat England - it was a line-ball decision and it is easy to say in hindsight, but I thought Peter Siddle was almost the bowler of the game. He was brilliant. That was the best none-for I've ever seen.

"We've got a pretty clear view on how we think we can beat England in this series. I go back to 2004, India, when we finally beat India in India. We had a very, very clear [plan]. Adam Gilchrist drove that. Remember, he was the captain at the time; Punter [Ricky Ponting] was injured, so he drove that. We've got a really clear plan for how we can beat England. We'll stick to that."

Gilchrist has spoken about how the 2004 plans in India called for the denial of boundaries to India's batsmen, playing on patience and fitness by forcing them to run frequently between the wickets. "The main thing with the quicks was that we went really negative," Gilchrist had said in 2017. "We started with one slip, a deep point, a deep square leg and just played on the Indians' egos. That was probably the key tactical change we made in that series, and it worked nicely. It was a patience game, but it came through. That allowed us to get into the game without being blown away, and the deeper you take it the more chance you have."

Siddle echoed these words in assessing how he, Pat Cummins, James Pattinson and Nathan Lyon had complemented each other in Birmingham. "That's the good place that the team is in at the moment," Siddle told Macquarie Sports Radio.

"The bowling group is happy to get the job done and build the pressure. You're not always going to be the one to take the wickets and gets the rewards. But that's the strength of this bowling group, that's how to have success in England. The second innings was a perfect example, Nathan and Patty [Cummins] got the rewards but Patto [Pattinson] and myself were able to build pressure when we had the chance. To bowl them out so cheaply, it was a great start to the series."

Travis Head, a deputy to the captain Tim Paine alongside Cummins, said that the team was committed to ensuring that they would not chase wickets too aggressively at the risk of conceding rushes of boundaries. "The only time I remember them doing it was a couple of overs on day two where we chased it a little bit. I think we bowled two overs for 10," he said. "We spoke about that, and said we don't mind going for wickets but we have to consolidate and keep the scoreboard quiet.

"We know that if we can do that there will be enough balls in the right area and enough balls to create an opportunity and then we can keep them at a low total. I think that will be the same throughout the series. You can see how quickly we scored [on day four], that great day we had.

"On the flip side of that is minimising how much they can score, as defensive as it looks, making sure we have our catches, getting our wickets, we can protect at the same time and build pressure that way. A couple of ones to the boundary is better than a four. I thought we had a really good mix of trying to get boundaries [with the bat] and containing the scoreboard [with the ball]."

Mickey Arthur's time as Pakistan's head coach will come to a close next week with the PCB deciding against renewing his contract. It's not just Arthur. The board's decision will mean that nearly the entire coaching staff of the senior men's team - batting coach Grant Flower, bowling coach Azhar Mahmood, and fitness trainer Grant Luden - will not have their contracts extended.

According to a statement released by the PCB today, the board will be "immediately undertaking a robust recruitment process" to fill these roles ahead of Pakistan's next international commitment, a Test series in October against Sri Lanka.

With the contracts of Arthur, Flower, Azhar and Luden all scheduled to end on August 15 anyway, none of the coaches have been sacked per se. But Arthur, certainly, had expressed an eagerness to continue: in an exhaustive review conducted by the PCB after the World Cup, Arthur asked for a chance to present his report, which was widely seen as a chance for him to defend his record and make a case for an extension.

The decisions were arrived at following a five-hour PCB cricket committee meeting on Monday, in which Arthur was grilled about his performance with the team over the last three years. He was keen to continue, and ESPNcricinfo understands that he asked for two more years at the job.

Ehsan Mani, the PCB chairman, said in a statement: "I am thankful to the PCB Cricket Committee for submitting their recommendations following an exhaustive and detailed review process. The committee comprised of individuals who possess tremendous acumen, experience and knowledge. The unanimous recommendation of the Committee was that it was time for new leadership and a fresh approach. I am happy to accept their strong recommendations.

"On behalf of the PCB, I want to sincerely thank Mickey Arthur, Grant Flower, Grant Luden and Azhar Mahmood for their hard work and unwavering commitment during their tenures with the national men's team. We wish them every success in their future endeavors."

The latest development means five key people will be out of the set-up following Pakistan's fifth-place finish at the World Cup in England and Wales, chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq having earlier decided against contract renewal once his stint ended in July. The only survivor from the coaching staff is fielding coach Grant Bradburn, whose contract runs until September 2021.

Bradburn's continuation in his position underscores the PCB's stated position that no one has been removed, their contracts just haven't been renewed. However, with the men leaving interested in staying on, it's really a distinction without a difference.

Arthur was appointed as head coach in May 2016 after the side's disappointing performance at the World T20 in 2016 ended with Waqar Younis' stint coming to a close. Arthur immediately adopted a tough stance on the fitness and fielding standards of the players and brought in Steve Rixon as fielding coach. Several players were cast aside - Umar Akmal, Mohammad Irfan, Wahab Riaz and Sohail Khan for example - for not being at the levels Arthur wanted, while Pakistan's fielding numbers soared under Rixon's watch; in the 12 months before he left in June 2018, Pakistan were a better fielding side than South Africa and Australia.

Under Arthur, Pakistan reach the top spot in the T20I rankings and, following a 2-2 series draw in England in 2016 - it was his first assignment as head coach - they rose to the top of the Test rankings. That didn't last long, though, as Pakistan endured a disappointing run in the format after that, losing nine of the following 11 they played, including 2-0 at home to Sri Lanka. It was Pakistan's first Test series loss in the UAE since it became their home away from home. Overall, Pakistan won ten and lost 17 of the Test matches played under Arthur, by far the most disappointing aspect of his coaching record with the side.

But there were also concerns that his robust, high-intensity methods, and no-nonsense headmasterly style of coaching was beginning to wear out his players. There was a high-profile falling out with Umar Akmal in 2017, following which the player was sidelined for over a year, only to play in a five-match ODI series where Pakistan rested half-a-dozen frontline players. Then, in South Africa last year, Arthur had a go at several players following a second-innings collapse in Centurion, and also had tough words for Babar Azam following a loss against England in a five-match ODI series in May this year. Babar had scored a hundred in the game, but Arthur felt his strike rate was a contributing factor to the defeat.

Flower's departure, meanwhile, means Pakistan have let go of the longest-serving member of the coaching staff. Flower, who ESPNcricinfo understands was also willing to continue, was appointed in May 2014 as batting coach, and it was during this time that Sarfaraz Ahmed emerged as the No. 1 wicketkeeper-batsman in Test cricket, and players like Babar, Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman all broke through.

The highest point for the team, of course, was winning the Champions Trophy in 2017, where everything came together brilliantly. Arthur was the motivator as Pakistan turned a thumping early loss to India around with four wins on the trot. The top-order batting clicked in semi-final and final thrashings of England and India, while the pace bowling in those two games was exquisite. The fielding still hadn't touched the heights it would in the 12 months to follow, but there were signs that a corner was being turned.

Now, they have chosen to try and turn another corner and they will have to do it with a whole new group of people for company and guidance.

Rachel Taylor has been appointed as the first female Welsh Rugby Union regional academy skills coach.

The 36-year-old former Wales forward, who won 67 caps, will coach North Wales academy players alongside new RGC head coach Matt Silva and under academy manager Josh Leach.

It is another first for Taylor, who in 2018 became Colwyn Bay men's first female head coach.

Taylor will also help develop female players in North Wales.

Dave Roberts takes over from Taylor as WRU rugby coordinator for North West Wales, with Wales wing Jessica Kavanagh replacing him as Women and Girls' Game Changer for North Wales.

WRU community director Geraint John said: "We are thrilled to appoint Rachel Taylor as North Wales academy skills coach.

"She is hugely experienced as an international player and rugby development professional and it's exciting to see her use that expertise to develop both male and female players in North Wales.

Taylor's expanding CV has also seen her take on coaching roles with the Crawshay's and the Barbarians women's sides.

MIAMI -- Gerard Pique says Neymar must speak out if he wants to push through his "complicated" return to Barcelona from Paris Saint-Germain this summer.

Sources have told ESPN FC that Barca have looked into a deal for Neymar, while PSG sporting director Leonardo has confirmed the club would sell the Brazilian forward for the right price.

Neymar, 27, left Barca for PSG in a world record €222 million transfer two years ago and the way he forced through his exit angered some people at the Catalan club.

However, Pique says he would be delighted to welcome him back to Camp Nou but added the caveat that it will not be easy to come up with a formula to satisfy the French champions.

"I think Neymar's a great player that knows the dressing room, the city and the club," the defender said in a news conference ahead of Wednesday's game against Napoli at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

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"There are people that weren't happy with how he left, but there are a lot of people who were very happy with his performances. It's a complicated operation. He's a PSG player and the squad that we have is good enough to win every trophy.

"If the opportunity comes up, you know the relationship I have with him. I would be delighted if he came back, but he's a PSG player. A personal opinion doesn't change anything.

"It has to be Neymar who speaks out. Of course we speak with him, but it's not right to reveal private conversations. If he wants to speak out or give his opinion, he has to come out and say it. He's a crack on and off the pitch and we're waiting to see what happens. I can't say anything else."

Barca had to take out a loan to finance the €120m signing of Antoine Griezmann in July so are unlikely to be able to meet PSG's asking price. Therefore, they would either have to offer players in exchange or sell before they buy. A loan with an obligatory option to buy later, and therefore defer the payment, has also been mooted.

Philippe Coutinho could be key. Barca are keen to sell their club-record signing and sources have told ESPN FC they're looking to move him to a Premier League club before the transfer window shuts in England on Thursday. Tottenham Hotspur have emerged as an option.

"I don't know what will happen with Coutinho," Pique added. "Obviously I want him to stay but at the end of the day it's what he wants and I want him to be happy. Let's see.

"Until the last day of the transfer market, we will not know if he stays or not. But it's not my decision, it's the club's and Philippe's."

If Neymar did come back to the club, he would become the fifth signing of a busy summer following a disappointing end to last season. Barca were heavily criticised for their Champions League loss to Liverpool and the Copa del Rey final defeat to Valencia.

However, they did still win the league for the second year in a row, this time by a margin of 11 points, and Pique echoed comments made by Lionel Messi earlier in the week calling for more value to be given to their domination of La Liga.

"To [win eight of 11 leagues] in Spain, which has one of the strongest leagues, deserves a lot of credit," he said. "It's not valued because we win it by 15 or 20 points. Instead of adding value because we've been superior to the rest, it's taken away.

"We could throw the league and the Copa del Rey and focus on the Champions League, but we don't like playing Russian Roulette. Sometimes, everything comes off, other times it doesn't."

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa is set to return to Club America from Standard Liege, the Liga MX side announced on Tuesday evening.

Ochoa was thought to be intent on staying in Europe, but offloading Agustin Marchesin to Porto last week left America in need of a starting goalkeeper and the 34-year-old has chosen to return to the Mexico City club he made his professional debut for in 2004.

"'Memo' Ochoa is without doubt one of our fans most beloved players and one of the references of Club America in recent years," read an club statement, which didn't give details of the length of contract or transfer fee.

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"Home sweet home," tweeted the player.

The Guadalajara native played 281 times for Club America before moving to French side Ajaccio in 2011. Ochoa became the first Mexican goalkeeper to play top flight football in Europe, but he never managed to play in the Champions League, leaving Ajaccio for Malaga, then Granada and finally on to Belgium's Standard Liege.

Ochoa is regarded as one of the Mexican national team's most popular figures and the keeper starred at the 2014 and 2018 World Cups, earning plaudits for El Tri while his club career failed to spark.

America is Liga MX's most successful club on 13 titles and bringing in Ochoa is a significant coup for an institution that has had a turbulent last few weeks, with Marchesin and Colombia international Mateus Uribe sold to Porto, Edson Alvarez leaving for Ajax and Chile striker Nico Castillo fracturing his fibula last Saturday.

Ochoa could travel to Mexico as early as Friday and could potentially make his first appearance back against Atlanta United in the United States in the Campeones Cup on Aug. 14.

America made headlines earlier this summer, when it signed Ochoa's international teammate Giovani dos Santos, who scored and assisted on his Estadio Azteca debut in the team's 3-1 win over Club Tijuana last Saturday.

Rishabh Pant came good in the third T20I against West Indies, his unbeaten 65 off 42 helping India negotiate a potentially tricky chase to sweep the series. He top-scored for India and hit the match-winning six, prompting his captain Virat Kohli to say "we are looking at Rishabh Pant as the future".

Kohli said all the youngster needed after two poor outings on the bounce was one innings to settle in and show the world what he could do. The message was for him to finish the game - there's a lot of confidence that comes with hitting the winning runs and walking off the field with bat raised, and Pant needed to experience that, Kohli said.

"For the first two games, he was disappointed that he didn't get any runs," Kohli said. "He was playing really well, hitting the ball really well, but that's how T20 cricket goes. Sometimes you don't have the rub of the green. But today he made sure he applied himself and batted to his skills and backed himself to hit the big shots when required and really played with the tempo of the innings.

"He's got a lot of skill and talent. [But] it's about winning and finishing games like these and gaining confidence, which he wants to do as well. It's about giving him a bit more space to ease himself into international cricket and not putting too much pressure because of the way he's played in the IPL.

"At the international level, you need to tackle pressure differently and play yourself into the whole set-up. He has come a long way since he started. If he plays like this more regularly, we will see his potential shine for India."

With the focus now shifting to the ODI series, starting on August 8 at the same venue - Providence Stadium - Kohli said he was glad the team got a full game despite the early rain, and got the chance to have a proper hit. All the while, with an eye on the bigger picture: the priority is to make sure India play consistent cricket, with young players like Pant and Rahul Chahar - the debutant legspinnings - helping strengthen the team's resources.

"I think the priority is to keep Indian cricket at the top, go out there and win games and find ways to win games for your team," Kohli said. "That's the reason we have been one of the top teams in the world for a while now."

The players are going to take the day off on Wednesday to rest and recover ahead of the 50-over games, Kohli said, as the humidity and the high temperatures would be tricky to deal with over a whole day.

And when the ODI action begins, the teams would know that the weather - the forecast isn't ideal for cricket - might not deny them 100 overs of action, based on the evidence on Tuesday. The drainage at Providence is excellent: a downpour earlier in the morning had resulted in a one-hour delay to the start, and at one point it was coming down so hard that there were concerns over whether a single ball would be bowled. But, as Kohli said, one could hardly tell it had rained as much as it had.

Behind all the talk and beneath the abrasive exterior, Matthew Wade hid a well of anxiety in each of his first 22 Test matches as a wicketkeeper-batsman.

It's only in the aftermath of his 23rd, and first as a specialist with the bat, that Wade has been able to reveal the fact that, in reality, Edgbaston 2019 was the first Test in which he was able to actually enjoy himself - a sensation writ large across a second-innings century that played its part in setting up Australia's resounding victory.

First chosen for Australia's Test team a few months after his 24th birthday, Wade was in many ways seen as part of the new breed, selected by a set-up led by a captain and selector in Michael Clarke and a coach in Mickey Arthur, who were aggressively pursuing results in the wake of the Argus review the year before.

When he was chosen to keep wicket for Australia a second time, in late 2016, Wade's was the selection of a desperate national panel, trying to find fighters after the loss of five consecutive Tests. Both these circumstances, while not altering the competitiveness instilled in Wade from his earliest days as a backyard cricket opponent of Tim Paine in the Hobart suburb of Lauderdale, certainly enhanced his feeling of needing to be striding, competing, fighting all the time.

"When I was batting out there [at Edgbaston], I was looking at the crowd and I was just enjoying being in the moment. I don't think I've ever done that at Test level," Wade told ESPNcricinfo. "I've probably been chasing the next game, chasing the next score, feeling anxious and feeling the pressure. But I really enjoyed the other day, it was cool to be back out in the middle of a Test match with a big crowd. It's a little bit different to playing first-class cricket when there's not too many people around.

"When I was batting out there [at Edgbaston], I was just enjoying being in the moment. I don't think I've ever done that at Test level"

"When you're a younger player you're chasing every game, you're chasing every tour, selection's always on your mind and you think that's the be-all and end-all, to be honest. You never want to be on the other side of being dropped - it's a fear factor. I've been on that side and it's not as bad as what you put in your mind. You get dropped, you go home, you go and play cricket, you make yourself better. I'm not scared of that anymore, and I'm really relaxed off field. So it's been a cool two years to reinvent myself as a person and as a player."

The reinvention had its roots in the circumstances around Wade being discarded from the national team in 2017, ironically for Paine's return as part of that year's home Ashes squad. He had spent much of his playing life trying to fit a model of player - the Adam Gilchrist-inspired batsman-keeper - that Australian cricket fervently desired, only to find diminishing returns the older he got.

Those who saw and were critical of some of Wade's performances behind the stumps, notably his struggles at times to hold chances presented off Nathan Lyon, did not see the mental strain Wade experienced each time he tried to fulfil the role. At Edgbaston, able simply to run around the field and even bowl, Wade could not help but notice the difference.

"To go out and sing the anthem, to go out and play the first session, the first ball, they're things I probably haven't enjoyed in the past," he said. "The anxiety of playing and the pressure and selection and doing your job is probably something you're thinking about in those moments... and keeping, always thinking you've got to go out and keep."

In winning his 2016 recall and then being dropped again the following year, a few months before the Newlands ball-tampering scandal engulfed Cricket Australia, Wade came to realise, too, that his reputation for abrasiveness and a football-inspired mentality were hindering him as much as it helped. Not least to be chosen in place of Peter Nevill at a time when his performances in first-class cricket were less of a point of difference than his vocal presence in the field.

"I probably wasn't in my best form. At that stage they were after people who would compete and it's just in my nature," he said. "It doesn't really matter what I'm doing - if I'm at home with my cousins playing basketball in the backyard, we're a competitive family and we like to do things well and we like to win as much as we can. It's just been bred into me.

"Perception is huge in cricket and I thought maybe my opportunity was going away slowly and that I'd been pigeonholed and I wasn't going to get back in the Australian cricket team. But once you get to know me off ground, I'm a completely different person than what I am on ground. I think it takes people a little bit of time to know that, so I probably thought I wouldn't be back here."

But in that conclusion came a valuable move towards self-awareness. Irrespective of whether he would play for Australia again, Wade wanted to make the most of his life in the game and also the years beyond it. To that end, he committed to making the most of his batting talent, in particular, while also taking on a carpentry apprenticeship while building a new family home in Hobart - where he had moved back to in 2017 after a decade in Victoria.

"I've got an interest in property development when I finish," he said. "It just so happens that we moved back and we were starting to build my house, so I jumped into it. It was the first winter I'd had off for probably eight years I think, so I wanted to do something different.

"I've always been driving to play for Australia but I think I made up my mind that I just wanted to be the best cricketer I could possibly be. I think every player, if you can do that at the end of your career, then hopefully you've played a long time for Australia. If you haven't, as long as you're getting the best out of yourself, then it doesn't really matter what level it is."

"I feel like I'm a different player, I almost feel like I'm starting my Test career again"

Much of the playing method Wade found was underpinned by close work with Tasmania's batting coach Jeff Vaughan, who was a source of reassurance even after Wade's brief first innings at Edgbaston, providing reminders that all their groundwork together, and the avalanche of runs for Tasmania, Hobart Hurricanes and Australia A that it reaped, would hold up in the Ashes. Come the second innings, Wade was far calmer than he might have been in earlier years.

"I didn't get any runs in the first innings and I spoke to him [Vaughan] briefly a few times, backwards and forwards texts, just making sure that I was still trusting what I've done for two years and not running around in circles trying to change things," Wade said. "It's my defence and being able to leave the ball and make the bowlers come to me a little bit will help me score. I probably chased the game a little bit hard when I was a younger player and playing as a specialist batsman after you follow Gilchrist, the perception is that you're going to be an attacking batsman."

That evolution includes an acknowledgement that, while ostensibly the back-up gloveman on this Ashes tour in the event of an injury to Paine, Wade knows his final few years in the game will be primarily as a batsman. He is, at long last, completely comfortable to be playing that one, single role.

"I don't think that I'll keep very often in the longer format," he said. "I'm comfortable if something happened [to Paine] I could jump in and keep in a game, that's no problem at all. Probably, mentally, the pressure of not having to keep day to day to day in longer formats, you're more relaxed in the mind, so you probably keep better anyway.

"I feel like I'm a different player, I almost feel like I'm starting my Test career again, but an Ashes hundred, it probably hasn't sunk in, it's definitely the best moment I've ever had as a cricketer. It's nice to put all that work in and then get a little bit of reward. It was fun."

CHICAGO -- After giving up 10 earned runs -- the second most in any start of his career -- Chicago Cubs left-hander Jon Lester called himself the "weakest link" in the team's rotation.

"I feel like they had a better plan than I did," Lester said Tuesday of the Oakland Athletics hitters. "Plain and simple. They executed their plan and before we could make the adjustment there's eight runs up there."

Oakland sent 12 batters to the plate during an eight-run second inning, then plated three more in the fourth on a Stephen Piscotty home run. Dustin Garneau also knocked in three with a long ball in Oakland's 11-4 win.

"What happened is I gave up 11 runs, so it doesn't matter how I feel," Lester said. "Doesn't matter about a game plan, doesn't matter about executing pitches, doesn't matter about anything. I gave up 11 runs, so it really doesn't matter."

Lester has given up 35 hits over his past four starts, and his ERA has ballooned to 4.46. He was asked about the injuries to the Cubs' bullpen but pivoted the conversation back to him.

"When it comes down to it, the injuries are the injuries, but I'm pretty much the weakest link in the rotation right now and have to figure out a way to right the ship, pick my end up, and do better," Lester said. "Flat-out do better.

"Our rotation has pitched well, except for me."

Cubs manager Joe Maddon said he didn't read much into the outing.

"Jon has been there before," he said. "This is a waste can kind of a night. You just dump it and move on."

There was one bright spot in the loss, which snapped a four-game Cubs winning streak. Reliever Duane Underwood struck out all six batters he faced in his season debut with the team.

"Out of some bad, some good occurs," Maddon said.

Added Lester: "That was impressive. He probably should have started the game."

New York Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres left Tuesday night's 9-4 win against the Orioles in Baltimore with what the team is calling "core pain."

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Torres was headed back to New York for more tests, and he expected to have an update on his young star Wednesday. Torres also left Sunday's game because of a core issue.

"Similar sensation that he was having when he came out the other night," Boone said. "So we'll just continue to explore and try and try to get to the bottom of it as best we can, and hopefully have more information for you guys tomorrow."

Boone said a stint on the injured list for Torres is possible, but he also said he wouldn't be surprised if it's a day-to-day situation.

After exiting Sunday, Torres was in the lineup the next night against the Orioles, serving as the designated hitter. He went 0-for-5.

Boone was asked if he thought the pain is completely behind Torres.

"Well, when I DHed him [on Monday], we thought he was through it and good to go," the manager said. "The DH wasn't about easing him back, it was more picking that day and kind of our alignment and everything. And even when I saw him this morning, he felt good and really wanted to play the field. So we'll just continue to see what it is the best we can."

The 22-year-old was 0-for-2 before leaving Tuesday's game, with Breyvic Valera taking his place.

In total, 25 Yankees have spent time on the IL this season. Torres is the lone member of New York's Opening Day starting lineup to have avoided the IL this year.