A section of Inter Milan ultras have defended the Cagliari fans who racially abused Romelu Lukaku when the two sides met at the Sardegna Arena on Sunday.

Monkey chants could be heard as Lukaku stepped up to take a penalty, which he scored to give Inter a 2-1 victory. On Monday, the Belgium international called on his fellow players to show unity in the fight against racism.

However, Inter's Curva Nord -- the club's primary ultra organisation -- have released a statement in which they denied Italy is a racist country and defended the right of fans to demonstrate that kind of abuse in the context of a football match.

The intro in the group's Facebook post reads: "Open letter to Romelu Lukaku. Italians are not racist.

"After the latest theatre show surrounding ultras' apparent racism by those who want to pick up the easy popularity points which are borne out of ignorance, Milan's Curva Nord has once again decided to repeat the difference between real racism and the "instrumented" version which do not concern the ultras -- as all the fake moralists out there love to make out in order to create needless panic and freely condemn our world..."

The letter then begins: "Hi Romelu. We are writing you on behalf of Curva Nord, yes the guys who welcomed you at your arrival in Milan.

"We are really sorry you thought that what happened in Cagliari was racist. You have to understand that Italy is not like many other north European countries where racism is a REAL problem. We understand that it could have seemed racist to you but it is not like that.

"In Italy we use some 'ways' only to 'help our teams' and to try to make our opponents nervous, not for racism but to mess them up. We are a multiethnic fans organisation and we have always welcomed players from everywhere. However, we have always used that 'way' with other teams' players in the past and we probably will in the future."

However, the Fare Network responded to this statement and the Lukaku situation as a whole with a much different tone later on Wednesday.

The group, whose purpose is to fight inequality in European football, issued a statement calling for strong action to be taken against anyone involved in the incident.

The statement read: "We have been appalled to see yet another incident of racism in Italy in the form of abuse aimed at Inter Milan forward Romelu Lukaku at the Cagliari v Inter Milan Serie A game.

"The abuse directed at Lukaku is one in a long list of incidents in Italian football over the past year and highlights the repeated failure to protect minority players and to tackle what is a systemic issue in Italian football.

"Sundays events have followed a familiar pattern in Italy in which players are abused, the referee fails to protect them and the authorities take insufficient action.

"The response from Cagliari, the Italian FA and Inter Milan ultras has been to deny its significance and take ineffective action.

"Videos circulating on social media show that monkey chants are clearly audible. The Italian FA and Serie A have this footage, it is clear evidence and the basis on which to take action that sends a strong message.

"We believe that dealing with racism should be a priority for the the Italian FA. A plan of action monitored by international governing bodies, UEFA and FIFA is needed. If such a plan is not developed they should face special measures and ultimately suspension."

In December 2018, Inter were hit with a two-match stadium closure for aiming monkey chants at Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly, and, upon being allowed back, the Curva Nord criticised the club for failing to defend supporters in the wake of the incident.

Inter Milan declined to comment when contacted by ESPN FC.

Spain coach Robert Moreno said he is prepared to adopt a policy of alternating goalkeepers.

Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea has been Spain's No. 1 choice since Euro 2016 but Chelsea's Kepa Arrizabalaga has started in Spain's last three games.

Moreno intends to alternate between De Gea and Kepa in goal, a situation that he believes will benefit the national team.

Speaking ahead of Thursday's Euro 2020 qualifier at Romania, Moreno said in a news conference:"If the goalkeepers are at the level that they have shown up to now, it's possible to alternate them. I don't believe that in a national team it's crucial that the same goalkeeper plays all the games."

Thursday's encounter will be Moreno's first game in charge of Spain since taking over from Luis Enrique on June 19. Moreno had overseen first-team duties in the previous two Euro 2020 qualifiers, a 4-1 win at Faroe Islands and a 3-0 triumph at home to Sweden, after Luis Enrique took a leave of absence to care for his youngest daughter.

Looking ahead to the game, Moreno, 41, said: "I'm expectant but I don't see it as a debut having felt that way against the Faroe Islands and Sweden. I'm looking forward to the game and to do well."

Spain have won all four of their qualifiers and lead Group F, five points clear of Romania.

One day, we might look back upon the 2019 summer transfer window and view it as a turning point. Maybe it will be the moment that clubs woke up to the reality of inflated contracts and fees, or perhaps realized that adding talent for the sake of it is only worthwhile if the price is right.

What is certain is that we have never had a summer like this, with a transfer market in which so many high-earning superstars were up for sale.

Gareth Bale, Paulo Dybala, Neymar, James Rodriguez, Christian Eriksen, Radja Nainggolan, Philippe Coutinho, Mario Mandzukic, Alexis Sanchez, Romelu Lukaku, Toby Alderweireld, Ivan Rakitic, Mauro Icardi, Emre Can, Chris Smalling, Ousmane Dembele, Danny Rose, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Ivan Perisic, Jerome Boateng, Blaise Matuidi; the list of those available goes on.

Some moved, though all but Lukaku did so on loan: Icardi to Paris Saint-Germain, Sanchez to Inter, Smalling and Mkhitaryan to Roma, Nainggolan to Cagliari, Perisic and Coutinho to Bayern. All but the latter three moved in the final days of the transfer window, after their clubs spent much of the summer trying to offload them, but most stayed put, which begs the question: Why?

Why, at a time when Europe's top clubs are hugely profitable and enjoy a massive competitive advantage, would they not look to strengthen further? Why would clubs happily announce to the world that their employees are available for transfer, knowing that doing so would diminish their value?

Every case is different, both in terms of why a player became available and to what degree he was available, but each of the players above competed for a club that was willing to listen to offers and, in some cases, explicitly told their man that his services were no longer needed. Zinedine Zidane did it with James and Bale, Inter did it with Icardi, Perisic and Nainggolan, Manchester United with Lukau. Others were more subtle, but, still, the fact that we had so many in one go is unprecedented.

The consensus among a number of executives interviewed for this column was that this was a "market correction." Clubs had overextended themselves; the gap between the very richest 10 or 12 had grown so large that the biggest found themselves with excess inventory.

"Most of the players you mention have very high wages and long contracts; they are simply beyond the budget of all but a handful of clubs," Umberto Gandini, former Roma chief executive and European Clubs Association vice-president, said. "So it's a supply and demand situation."

When a factory has excess inventory, it can sell at a large discount. But a player is -- generally -- a sentient human being, not a crate of ball bearings, and as such can turn down a deal. Moreover, unlike the crate of ball bearings or, even, in another sport like the NFL, where unwanted personnel can be cut, footballers have to be paid. If he has a long-term contract and is unwilling to take a pay cut, buyers might be simply unable to afford him, even if there is a deep discount on the fee.

Gandini added: "Maybe in the past you might have had a club in the next tier down deciding to take a risk -- and it is a risk when you consider the fee, the wages, the length of contract and the reduced resale value if it's a veteran, it's a massive risk -- but with Financial Fair Play that's not going to be possible in many cases."

Indeed, FFP has created a whole cohort of clubs just below the highest echelon who have to watch their spending like never before. The heavy investment that might have once allowed a quantum leap to the top tier is no longer possible when you are dealing with "break-even requirements."

It is not a coincidence, then, that a number of moves were loans with the loaning club subsidising the move in some cases. When a team takes a player in this way, they are either not convinced they want to invest in him or they cannot afford him.

The parent club, meanwhile, gets all or part of his wages off the books, while hoping he will have a great season and someone will want him in 12 months. It's the equivalent of those infomercials where you can try the StepMaster 3000 for free at home for three months and if you are not absolutely satisfied, simply send it back. Try before you buy, as it were.

There is another element at work, as far as the biggest clubs are concerned. While you may disagree on some of the names above, there is little question that most of them, in absolute terms, would make any club better. By how much and at what cost, though?

"Those few clubs that can afford them are already very strong and, relative to the costs involved, they don't feel that another very expensive signing, especially a veteran with little resale value, will move the needle," Michael Emenalo, former Chelsea and Monaco technical director, says. "It might make them a little better, it could make no difference at all, but relative to the cost, it's not worth the risk."

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The view is echoed by Gandini.

"The biggest clubs are entertainment brands as much as they're clubs," he said. "And I think they're being more careful about how they operate. They think more carefully about how much a player adds to the club, both on the pitch and as a brand and they put a number on it. And if they don't think they'll get a return, they don't act."

To some that might be a little chilling, but you can see the logic. Take Neymar, whose proposed transfer from Paris Saint-Germain to Barcelona fell through. He is a massive brand and a great footballer, but how much less of a brand is Barcelona (or Manchester United or Bayern Munich) without him? If that number is substantially less than what he would cost, well, you can see why potential buyers would go in another direction.

The case of Mathijs De Ligt illustrates another factor in the window that was. The Ajax defender was on the market and Juventus eventually beat Barcelona for his signature, which cost 75m Euros (around $80m). But there were other clubs that might have had a need for his services.

Manchester City and Liverpool, for example, enjoyed successful seasons, but both could have used a new central defender, given that Vincent Kompany left the former and Joel Matip had a year left on his deal at the start of the summer. Neither the Premier League nor European champions showed much interest in De Ligt, though.

Why? Possibly because both have hugely powerful and successful managers with very specific ideas about what they want. Adding De Ligt makes you more talented, sure, but it can also be disruptive to bed in a player after a season in which you gained 98 (City) and 97 points (Liverpool) and combined to win three other cup competitions.

Even if he does bring about improvement, are those clubs going to surpass last season's achievements? Probably not. And because managers are evaluated not just on results, but on results relative to spending, such a massive signing, coupled with only marginal improvement (or, more likely a step backwards) is not going to help.

Emenalo cites Rodri -- by no means cheap at 70m Euros ($74m) when he moved from Atletico Madrid to Manchester City -- as the kind of signing managers like Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp are likelier to make.

"Clubs realize that you can't win everything every year and, more importantly, you don't need to win everything every year to preserve your standing as a club, the strength of your brand or the revenue you earn," Emenalo said. "If the right player comes along, who fills a specific need then they might sign him, maybe even at great expense to get him in early. But if they are already strong and competitive, they are reluctant to go to great expense to sign even a very talented player if it means disrupting what they have. That's a relatively new phenomenon, I think."

Viewed through one lens, the "Great Correction of 2019" is a positive. Clubs are smarter about how they pay players, and are less willing to take risks and throw money around. (It is obviously due in part to Chelsea's transfer ban, but the net spend of the Premier League's six biggest clubs was the lowest it has been since 2012).

Equally, though, if it means "doing just enough" to stay on top while also ensuring owner-investors continue to earn handsome profits, that might not sit well with everyone.

"I heard somebody say that there used to be professional clubs and amateur clubs," Gandini said. "Now we have amateur clubs, a large group of professional clubs just trying to survive and a smaller group of professional clubs who maybe have an illustrious past and are desperately trying to move to the top tier but finding it very difficult.

"And then we have the ones at the top, which aren't clubs at all, but entertainment brands," he added. "They are made up of entertainers and they act like entertainers. It may be an exaggeration, but not by much."

Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis and Shehan Jayasuriya are unlikely to be fit for the third T20I against New Zealand, to be played on Friday - both of them picked up knee injuries after an on-field collision in the final over of the second T20I on Tuesday.

Jayasuriya was running from long on, and Mendis from midwicket, in order to intercept an aerial Mitchell Santner hit that, if caught, could have turned the game in Sri Lanka's favour. As it transpired, Jayasuriya did catch the ball, but as he was still running, was tripped up by the onrushing Mendis, and sent crashing into the boundary. That turned what could have been a wicket into a six, Jayasuriya unable to jettison the ball before he made contact with the rope.

Mendis also fell to the ground outside the boundary, and both men were clearly in significant pain. They took several minutes before being helped up.

"Mendis has suffered an injury on his knee on the right leg, while Jayasuriya has sustained an injury above the knee on his right leg," an SLC statement said. "Mendis has undergone an MRI scan today and the report is due later in the day."

No replacements will be named, according to chief selector and team manager Ashantha de Mel, even though Sri Lanka only have one extra batsman - Danushka Gunathilaka - in the squad.

Sri Lanka have already lost the three-match series 2-0.

The Pakistan Cricket Board appears to have made peace with potential conflicts of interest with the appointment of Misbah-ul-Haq as the head coach and chief selector.

Though it has not been made public or official yet, Misbah is also on the verge of becoming the PSL franchise Islamabad United's head coach but the PCB contends that allowing him to coach at the PSL will ultimately be to "Pakistan's benefit". That by itself would represent somewhat of a U-turn by the board, given that PCB chairman Ehsan Mani has, in the recent past, spoken about looking at such cases and acting on it.

The issue had come under the scanner with Misbah's predecessor Mickey Arthur, who was also head coach at Karachi Kings, as well as Azhar Mahmood, who was Pakistan's bowling coach as well as Karachi Kings'.

"We have reviewed the policy and made a strategic decision by allowing Misbah to have coaching exposure elsewhere," Wasim Khan, the PCB chief executive officer, said. "He has been a world-class player, he has captained elite players but he didn't work enough as coach so it's good for him to have coaching opportunities.

"It's for Pakistan's benefit because he will work in high-pressure games and get experience. Otherwise out of 365 days Pakistan is going to play only 42 days of international cricket. For the sake of Pakistan's success and the bigger picture it's good to have him get experience so we have discussed and reviewed it and decided to give him the opportunity."

Mani, who was not part of the board when Arthur took over as Pakistan coach in 2016, had questioned the decision to allow Arthur in both roles at the time. After becoming chairman, Mani took up the issue to try and form a policy against such instances. Mani had said he would look at it on a "case-by-case" basis.

It is understood that PCB has now found middle ground not only with Misbah but a junior team selector, Arshad Khan, who is also head coach of Balochistan, although now with the precedent set, the PCB will not be able to restrict other officials who wish to play such dual roles in both the national set-up and the PSL.

Last year, the PCB, under Mani, had removed chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq from the PSL player draft committee because of a potential conflict of interest since he was involved in a talent-hunt programme run by one of the tournament's franchises, Lahore Qalandars. Tauseef Ahmed, who was part of the national selection committee while also serving as Islamabad United's spin coach, was also left out of the PSL draft committee.

Sheldon Jackson has questioned India's selectors over the absence of players from his domestic side Saurashtra in the recent India A squads.

In a series of tweets, the middle-order batsman said it was inexplicable that despite Saurashtra's three Ranji Trophy finals appearances since 2012-13 - including last season - no players from the team were picked for 'A' squads, and wondered whether the selectors attached any importance to the feat.

1/1 Saurashtra has played the ranji trophy finals this year, and surprisingly still no player even after performing at all platforms, dont get picked for the A series. so is the importance of playing the Ranji trophy finals zero.

— Sheldon Jackson (@ShelJackson27) September 2, 2019

2/2 or is that small state sides arnt taken seriously coz in the last 5 years @saucricket has played 3 finals under sitanshu kotaks coaching, (we have some very good performers since recent years with the bat and ball. ) but not got the deserved credit.

— Sheldon Jackson (@ShelJackson27) September 2, 2019

i am told not to question, but i strongly believe that we represent this beautiful organisation and association and we as players surely deserve to know why, and where we lack , orelse our carriers are just to goin to end wondering why. selectors should be transparent.

— Sheldon Jackson (@ShelJackson27) September 2, 2019

Jackson, 32, was part of the Saurashtra team that reached the Ranji Trophy 2018-19 final too, where they lost to Vidarbha in a tightly contested game. He was Saurashtra's leading run-scorer in the season, with 854 runs in 11 matches at an average of 47.44. His tally was the fifth-highest among the Elite teams, comprising Groups A, B and C.

However, he wasn't selected in the squads for the ongoing Duleep Trophy. While team-mates Dharmendrasinh Jadeja and Jaydev Unadkat are part of Duleep Trophy, and playing in the final, neither of them was selected in the squads that will face South Africa A in two unofficial Tests later this month.

Wicketkeeper Snell Patel was the other Saurashtra player included in the Duleep Trophy.

Jadeja and Unadkat both had standout seasons in 2018-19. Jadeja took 59 wickets, at an average of 27.16, to top the wicket-takers' charts among the Elite teams. In addition, he also scored 277 runs at an average of 21.30, and struck two half-centuries.

Unadkat, who had also assumed captaincy midway through the season when Jaydev Shah retired, spearheaded the attack with 39 wickets at an average of 17.17. His returns with the bat were modest, but included a vital 46 from No. 10 in the final.

Unadkat last played for India A in the longer format in 2013, while Jadeja has never represented India A.

Jackson has played one game for India A in four-day matches and been part of the Duleep Trophy only once, in 2016-17, when he ended the tournament with 368 runs in five innings at an average of 122.66. His last appearance for India A in a 50-over match was in a warm-up game against an England XI in January 2017, when he scored 59 off 56 as the entire top order came good to chase down 283 in less than 40 overs.

You wouldn't normally think that Boris Johnson and David Warner had much in common. But, as Warner trudged off the pitch at Old Trafford on Wednesday, he could be forgiven for identifying with Johnson and ruing how hard it can be to leave something. Even if you really want to do so.

For the second time this series, Warner had been dismissed trying to leave but failing. Perhaps more revealingly, it was the fifth time in the series - so the fifth time in seven innings (and 87 balls) - he had fallen to Stuart Broad. This time it took Broad only two balls to get him.

That marks quite a turnaround in the head-to-head record between the two players. Going into this series, Broad had taken Warner's wicket only five times in total - that's five times in 29 innings (and 527 balls) - with each wicket costing him 64.80 runs. In this series, Warner's wicket is costing him just 6.40 runs each time.

Key to this change in the balance of power has been Broad's decision to aim more at Warner's stumps. He has, in the past, looked to find the outside edge of Warner's bat. And while he has alternated between bowling round and over the wicket to him, in this series Broad has operated exclusively round the wicket to Warner, angling the ball and testing both edges of the bat. Broad had never previously dismissed Warner while bowling round the wicket.

At the same time, Broad is also bowling fuller than ever. Prompted by the coach and analyst at Nottinghamshire, Broad realised his leave percentage - the number of deliveries which batsmen were able to leave against him - was too high and resolved to bowl fuller more often. He has never exceeded the percentage of full deliveries he has bowled this series in any previous home summer - 37 percent - and, perhaps tellingly, he has never enjoyed a better average (currently 20.39) or strike rate (38.10), either. He reckons he is bowling better - and quicker - than for three or four years. He may be something of an old dog, in cricket terms, but he has shown he has the hunger to learn new tricks.

"Up until this series, Warner has had the better of me, really," Broad admitted ahead of this game. "I'd always focussed on his outside edge thinking running the ball across him would bring in the slips.

"I had a change of mindset in this series a little bit to try and bring the stumps into play more to him. I'm looking to nip it back onto off-stump. Then, if it holds its line, it brings the outside edge into play and that actually limits the scoring options slightly."

There are other factors at play. Conditions in England at present - the pitches, the weather and the balls - have all combined to make life desperately tough for opening batsmen of both sides. Over the last two seasons, opening batsmen in Tests in England dare averaging a meagre 22 - almost half the figure it was between 2000 and 2009 when it was 40 - with the England bowlers mastering the wobble-seam delivery that gives the batsmen few of the clues of conventional swing or seam bowling. You have to go back to 1932 to find a summer in which opening batsmen have averaged lower.

"I don't want to take too much credit for out-thinking him or anything," Broad admitted. "The fact is it's been a really good time to bowl with that new ball. And the pitches have been in our favour, too."

All this has created something of a perfect storm for Warner. Already standing out of his ground in an attempt to negate the lateral movement of the ball, Warner has given himself less time to judge which way the ball will move and, as a consequence, is increasingly unsure which balls to leave or play. The crisp, certain movements that have typified his career have been replaced by hesitancy and timidity. Here, where he lasted just two balls, he looked confused and muddled.

That is borne out by the manner of Warner's dismissals to Broad. Three times Warner has been dismissed by the ball angled in to him - twice leg before; once bowled - while the other two occasions have seen him caught in two minds; knowing, on one hand, that he should be leaving the balls outside off stump but unsure, on the other, if they were the ones jagging back into him. The result has been two tentative leaves, with the ball brushing the edge of the bat as the batsman half-heartedly tried to withdraw it.

The emergence of Marnus Labuschagne and the sustained excellence of Steve Smith have allowed Australia to cope with Warner's decline. But in one key battle, England clearly have the edge.

First, there was Steven Smith. At Edgbaston and Lord's, through three consecutive innings after his return from the Newlands scandal ban, he drove England's bowlers to distraction. They tried all manner of plans, filed placings lines, too many really, without much at all in the way of success. Two centuries went by and a third beckoned, even as Jofra Archer cranked up his pace on an up-and-down pitch, angling the ball back down the slope.

Watching, waiting, anticipating and perhaps dreaming a little, was Marnus Labuschagne. No-one in the Australian squad more closely resembled Smith's voracious pursuit of batting knowledge, skill and method, with both as likely as each other to keep teammates awake in the middle of the night with the sound of their bats tapping on hotel room carpet, miming shots for the next day. Labuschagne was watching closely when Archer homed in on Smith, felt the jolt alongside 28,000 spectators, and rushed for a vantage point to see if he was ok.

Struck down but not out, Smith returned briefly, distractedly, having passed concussion tests in the immediate aftermath of the blow. He did not fare as well the following morning, and as he netted in reserve on the Nursery Ground ahead of the final day's play, Labuschagne was given the word from the captain, Tim Paine: he was in as Smith's substitute. Having removed one obstacle, England found another immediately. Labuschagne, too, was hit by Archer, but only on the helmet grille. His resultant half-century scrounged a draw.

More was to come at Headingley, in two innings from Smith's customary post at No. 4. Thrice Labuschagne passed 50, runs that could have, indeed should have, been enough to secure an Australian victory at Leeds and retained the Ashes there and then. If he was the beneficiary of several dropped chances in a second innings of 80, his first-day contribution of 74 out of 179, when conditions were at their hardest, more than compensated for this good fortune. At the end, cruelly, one of Ben Stokes' match-winning sixes floated a matter of centimetres beyond Labuschagne's hands on the boundary.

Watching it all was Smith, leavening his pain at the result with appreciation of its extraordinary circumstances. Each day of the Leeds Test he gradually increased his level of activity, batting under the studied eye of the team doctor Richard Saw, before facing pace bowlers and taking part in a tour match against Derbyshire. Throughout, he tried to get used to the addition of a protective stem guard to the back of his helmet, even though it wade him so claustrophobic as to feel as though his head was inside an MRI machine. Nets against throwdowns were deemed, subconsciously, as more useful preparation than match batting against Derbyshire spin.

In Derby, Smith and Labuschagne played together and did not bat together, but they did not have long to wait. Chosen and Nos. 3 and 4, displacing Usman Khawaja, they trained together pre-match, Smith sidearming balls down at Labuschagne, who also enjoyed the rare sensation of having Steve Waugh clean mud out of his spikes. "A bit surreal, I had Steve Smith throwing sidearms to me for 30 minutes," he said. "I love talking to him about the game and learning off him, obviously a great experience and a great player. I'm taking it all in as much as I can."

For all the shuffling of Australia's top order to try to secure a better start, none could be found at Manchester. Again, the openers were separated before the score was into double figures, David Warner edging Stuart Broad when trying to leave him alone for the second time in the series. Marcus Harris, looking a little more comfortable, was nonetheless figured out pretty quickly by Broad, who quite obviously targeted the line of the stumps and won an lbw verdict before the score had reached 30.

Also read: The key to Broad's edge over Warner

Labuschagne had looked comfortable once more from the moment he arrived, leaving the length ball well outside off stump and scoring from anything that drifted either full and wide or too straight onto his stumps and pads. He had spoken before the series of sculpting a game very much around making lots of adjustments within lots of plans for every bowler in every set of conditions, eschewing the time-honoured Australian line of "playing my natural game" for something more scientific.

Smith, of course, had rather pioneered this method among contemporary Australian batsmen, keeping at least one step ahead of the world's bowlers for most of the last six years. Together, they were a hive mind of ideas, adjustments and tweaks, all done within the context of a moving ball and an English pitch. They have one inbuilt advantage, that of being right-handed and so denying Broad and Archer the chance to bend the ball away from them from around the wicket in the manner Warner, Harris and Khawaja have had to contend with, but the rest is skill and forethought.

Perhaps the most obvious counter offered up by Smith was in how he played Archer's bouncers, choosing to ensure he took evasive action to the off side of the ball, to eradicate the chance of him being hit by a delivery that follows him as he tries to sway back away from it. If the Old Trafford pitch was not yet a speedy one, and Archer was somewhat short of his best, the bouncer caused Smith zero trouble at all, leaving Joe Root and company with yet more thinking to do. At the other end, Labuschagne could only admire it.

"One thing he's very good at [is problem solving], I see that at the other end but I think you can see that as a spectator," he said. "When different guys come on, how he changes, different guards, the way he bats, different pre-movements and I think that's what makes him the best in the world. He's always one step ahead and thinking ahead, not waiting, not being reactive, he's being proactive, which makes him very hard to bowl to because he's always thinking ahead.

"We were constantly talking out there about what the bowlers are trying to do, what he's trying to do and we're thinking similarly and trying to think about where they're trying to get us out and stuff like that. Always trying to learn off everyone really, it doesn't matter whether your'e a batter or bowler, just trying to learn different things off different people and trying to make sure you're always open to learning off anyone.

"It was good fun, good to have some time. I'd never batted with him before so it was a good experience to see how he goes about it and learn from him out there."

Late in the day, heavy winds swept through a shower that was intense enough to have the umpires virtually suspend play, only for the same wind to have it disappear so quickly that Craig Overton, having twice stopped in his run to the wicket due to the rain, ended up bowling uninterrupted. So stop - start was the day that it looked made to ruin a batsman's concentration, but Labuschagne's well is clearly deep. When Overton did finally bowl, he dabbed the resultant delivery neatly down through third man to the boundary, and at the end of the over walked down the pitch gesticulating repeatedly how the ball had skidded off the surface.

It was a mannerism instantly familiar - not from Labuschagne, but from the man at the other end. Amid the broken nature of this wet and windy day, Labuschagne and Smith were the ideal men for Australia to have in the middle, not only as their leading run-makers this series but as two cricketers never happier than when cocooned at the batting crease. And even though Labuschagne did allow one through his guard in the closing overs, granting Overton access to the top of the off stump, Australia had the platform for the 300-plus score coach Justin Langer has so craved this week.

A deal reportedly struck between Labuschagne and Smith after Edgbaston - for the younger man to clean up Smith's bag at the end of each Test in return for a couple of the former captain's bats - may need revision should this century stand be the bulwark of the victory Australia need. There will be a few other members of the Australian top six who, on the basis of their runs together, might do well to clean up the bags of Smith and Labuschagne both.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- With just days left before the Arizona Cardinals unveil their secretive offense against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, first-year coach Kliff Kingsbury still can't get a read on how his star quarterback, No. 1 pick Kyler Murray, is handling the moment.

No one can.

Murray is quiet by nature, and has been since he was a child growing up in Lewisville, Texas, but he has yet to open up now that he's in the NFL and playing for a coach he has known since he was 15.

"Y'all have interviewed him, right?" Kingsbury asked. "What does he usually give y'all?"

Not much.

"It's the same," Kingsbury said. "That's what he is and who he is. I guess he thought he was going to be here his entire life, so it's just the next step for him. I've said it all along: He's a rookie quarterback in the NFL starting Week 1. There's going to be some ups and downs. We're going to make some mistakes. We'll work through those and try to continue to improve together."

Kingsbury can't even get Murray to tell him which plays he wants to run this week.

"It's like pulling teeth with him trying to [get him to] tell me that 'I don't like a play' because he wants to make them all work and that's his attitude," Kingsbury said. "But there's good conversations and after today, walking off the practice field, I'll try to get, 'Hey, what don't you like?' and he'll say, 'I love it all' and we'll move forward. That's how he is.

"He's competitive, and he wants to make it all work. But, yeah, there's definitely those conversations going on. We want to make sure he's as comfortable as possible because it will be a tough challenge. It's hard to step in as a rookie Day 1 and win a football game, and we understand that, so we're going to try to help him as much as possible."

Kingsbury said he might have been "overstating" Murray's quietness a little, but it wasn't by much. And he expects Murray to open up a bit, be more opinionated on plays and start talking more as the season goes on.

"What you see is what you get," Kingsbury said. "He's not going to be over the top, rainbows and sunshine with you, and I like that because that's how he carries himself. He's very confident, very competitive. I like where he's at. I don't ever see him bringing me cupcakes on game day or anything like that. I think he's going to be who he is and we'll continue our relationship."

Murray's confidence that he can run every play stems from his familiarity with Kingsbury's system, which he was first introduced to in eighth grade. From the day he arrived in Arizona, Murray understood some of the operation, execution, reads and terminology, Kingsbury said.

And it has helped Murray adapt to NFL football quicker than most rookie quarterbacks.

"It's not like he's coming in here trying to learn Chinese as a lot of those first-year quarterbacks are," Kingsbury said "Therein lies a little bit of comfort level that maybe some of those other guys didn't have going into Week 1 having to be starters."

All that familiarity will help Murray on Sunday, when he runs the Cardinals' offense for the first time in a game. Kingsbury kept it tightly under wraps during the preseason -- maybe even a bit to the extreme, he admitted Wednesday.

Kingsbury did not run all of his base plays during the preseason, he said, but it won't matter.

"You just rep it in practice, and you make those situations as game-like as possible and take advantage of your practice reps," he said.

But Kingsbury has a strong belief that his version of the Air Raid will work in the NFL because of one primary reason.

"Because it's never been used before in the NFL," Kingsbury said. "I know Chip [Kelly] did a version of what he does, but yeah, there's only one way to find out and it's never been used. Nobody really knows what we're going to do or what it's going to look like and so, we'll kind of take it one game at a time."

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- New York Jets running back Le'Veon Bell will play a football game Sunday for the first time in 20 months -- 601 days, to be exact -- but he's not interested in easing into the regular-season flow.

"Don't hold back," Bell told coach Adam Gase, the playcaller.

In other words, Bell believes he's ready for a full workload in what could be the Jets' most anticipated debut by a veteran player since Brett Favre in 2008.

Bell, their prized free-agent addition, was held out of the preseason for precautionary reasons, but he didn't miss a single day of practice and insisted he's ready for heavy duty.

"I can carry 50 [times] if you ask me," Bell said Wednesday after practice. "When I say, 'Don't hold back,' I mean literally that. I don't want to go out there and try to sprinkle me in or anything like that. I'm ready to play football.

"I've been waiting a long time for this moment. A lot of people are excited to see me play. Quadruple that, and that's how I feel."

The Jets will open against the Buffalo Bills at MetLife Stadium. Bell has faced the Bills only twice in his career -- most recently on Dec. 11, 2016, when he rushed for 236 yards and three touchdowns and added 62 receiving yards.

Bell sat out the 2018 season in a contract dispute with the Pittsburgh Steelers, as he refused to sign the franchise tender for $14.5 million. Because of the extended layoff, his return has attracted a lot of attention.

"I'm not trying to prove anybody wrong," said Bell, who signed a four-year, $52.5 million contract with the Jets. "I'm not trying to prove the Steelers wrong. Everybody is trying to format me with the Steelers. I'm not talking about the Steelers anymore. I'm done talking about the Steelers. I want to worry about the Bills, and I want to worry about the Jets. That's it.

"I'm going to go out there and prove to myself I'm the same player, if not better. I want to prove to my teammates I'm the same player, if not better -- and the Bills."

In five seasons with the Steelers, Bell averaged 129 yards from scrimmage per game, the highest average in NFL history among players with at least 50 games played.

Initially, Gase wasn't enamored with the idea of signing Bell because of the cost, sources said. On Wednesday, he was upbeat about his new running back.

"I love it, it's going to be fun," said Gase, adding that he rewatched old Pittsburgh tape "to remind ourselves who that is back there."

Bell said he will have "a lot of butterflies, anxiety and nerves, and all types of things will be hitting me before I hit the field."

The Jets are planning to capitalize on Bell's versatility, making him a key component in the passing attack. Gase said "the whole playbook opens up" with Bell on the field. He called him the best running back he's ever coached.

"Not even close," said Gase, who coached Frank Gore -- the NFL's fourth all-time leading rusher -- last season with the Miami Dolphins. "There's a reason why the guy has been what he's been since he's been in the league."