Watford have appointed former boss Quique Sanchez Flores within minutes of announcing the sacking of head coach Javi Gracia.

Garcia has left the club after a poor start to the Premier League season with the side bottom of the table.

Watford's only point so far this season came in a 1-1 draw with Newcastle last weekend, following defeats against Brighton, Everton, and West Ham.

Sanchez Flores returns to Vicarage Road having lead the club to a midtable finish during the 2015-16 Premier League season, as well as reaching the semifinal of the FA Cup. The 54-year-old Spanish coach left at the end of the season after a poor run of form in his final months in charge.

Sanchez Flores replaces Gracia, 49, who joined Watford in 2018, guiding the team to the final of the FA Cup last season before ultimately losing 6-0 to Manchester City.

"Javi has represented Watford with great dignity and will always be deserving of our fullest respect for his achievements," Chairman and CEO Scott Duxbury said in a statement.

"Javi Gracia's staff will also be leaving the club, ahead of the imminent appointment of a new coaching team.

"Everyone at the Hornets wishes Javi and his staff all the very best for the future, and they will always be welcome visitors in the future at Vicarage Road."

Gremio president Romildo Bolzan Jr. has "beatable" Liverpool present a real opportunity for South American clubs to win the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup.

The Brazilian side are in the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores, where they will face Flamengo -- and the winners of that tie will take on either Boca Juniors or River Plate in the final.

- Everything you need to know about the FIFA Club World Cup

The winners of the Libertadores will go into the FIFA Club World Cup in December alongside all the continental champions. No non-European side has won the trophy since Corinthians beat Chelsea in 2012, but Bolzan Jr. said the South American teams will fancy their chances against Liverpool, who beat Tottenham 2-0 in the Champions League final.

"The favourites [for the FIFA Club World Cup] are always the European teams," he told Fox Sports. "I am certain Liverpool are less frightening that Real Madrid, who we faced [in 2017].

"Liverpool are a team that can be beaten. By us, by Flamengo, by Boca, by River. Real Madrid were a team of galacticos -- full of superstars.

"We lost 1-0 to Real Madrid in 2017. We could have taken the game to penalties and there, anything could have happened. Just like we did with Ajax in 1995, where we lost, and Hamburg in 1983 in extra time."

The 2019 FIFA Club World Cup will take place in Qatar from Dec. 11 to 21, with Real Madrid having won the last three editions.

England's serene progress towards Euro 2020 continued as captain Harry Kane grabbed a hat-trick in a 4-0 demolition of Bulgaria in Group A at Wembley on Saturday.

Kane opened the scoring after 24 minutes and struck home two penalties after the break as well as providing the assist for Raheem Sterling to get on the scoresheet.

- Euro 2020 qualifying: All you need to know

The Tottenham Hotspur striker's second hat-trick for his country took his tally to 25 goals from 40 appearances and put him ahead of 1966 World Cup final hero Geoff Hurst on the list of all-time England scorers.

Gareth Southgate's side have now scored 14 goals in their opening three Group A games and lead the table with nine points from Kosovo (8) who beat the Czech Republic 2-1 earlier on.

England host Kosovo for the first time on Tuesday when another victory will leave them looking virtually assured of reaching next year's tournament that culminates on home soil.

It was not a perfect display by England with Bulgaria having three good chances, one when the score was 0-0, but England proved far too strong as they left the visitors languishing at the bottom of the group with two points from five games.

"First half, we got caught on the counter a couple of times. We said at halftime we needed to try and come out and get an early goal and that's what we've done," Kane said.

"It's a good result we hope to take into Tuesday."

Bulgaria had never beaten England in 10 previous encounters, scoring only twice, and despite starting reasonably solidly and having the game's first chance through naturalised Brazilian Wanderson, they were the architects of their own downfall.

The expected home onslaught had failed to materialise in the opening quarter but England were gifted the lead.

Southgate would have been concerned by some slackness in his defence and Galin Ivanov wasted a great chance to head his side level when he was picked out by Ivelin Popov's cross.

Shortly after the break Wanderson was played in and his fierce effort from a tight angle was saved by Jordan Pickford.

Stung, England immediately counter-attacked and Marcus Rashford was sent clear and as he turned back inside in the area he was tripped by the sliding Nikolay Bodurov.

Kane dispatched the penalty with ease and six minutes later he teed up Sterling to score off his thigh from close range.

With the points in the bag England sent on Chelsea youngster Mason Mount for his debut while Jadon Sancho also got some game time as he replaced Sterling with 20 minutes left.

Kane was also given a breather but not before he had earned and converted his second penalty in the 73rd minute after being hacked down by Bulgaria substitute Kristian Dimitrov.

Information from Reuters was used in this report.

United States midfielder Christian Pulisic said that the squad must stop playing afraid against rivals Mexico.

"We still play with fear against them, and that is what I can't really live with," Pulisic said after the USMNT's 3-0 loss to Mexico on Friday night. "That needs to change."

Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez scored in the first half, Erick Gutierrez and Uriel Antuna had late goals four minutes apart in Mexico's win over the U.S. in the friendly at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

"We have to go and play like we're good enough to be out there, be confident and play without thinking twice about it," Pulisic added. "That's how it needs to be, and that's just not where we're at right now."

- Davis: After loss, this U.S. squad still has a long way to go
- Mexico player ratings: 'Chicharito,' 'Tecatito' stellar in win
- U.S. player ratings: Pulisic poised among poor performances

The Americans, still trying to rebound from their failure to reach last year's World Cup, lost to Mexico by three goals for the first time since a 5-0 defeat in the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup final. El Tri beat the U.S. 1-0 two months ago in the latest Gold Cup final and has won four of the last six meetings, with one draw.

"You guys are going to think I'm crazy, I'm happier about this game than I am about the Gold Cup final," U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter said. "In the Gold Cup final, I felt like all we did was play the ball long and that was our only solution. And now at least we tried to play in the way that we're envisioning."

Berhalter used just five starters from the Gold Cup final and Mexico coach Gerardo "Tata" Martinez two as many of his regulars returned. Berhalter pointed to better possession and passing accuracy, but still the Americans were outshot 10-6 and Berhalter admitted the attack "kind of stalled" in the final third.

U.S. goalkeeper Zack Steffen, who played under Berhalter in Columbus, believes in the coach's build-from-the-back system.

"We're going to eat goals, but it's a process," Steffen said. "You could definitely see where we need to improve and come together more and really trust one another and be brave and just be fearless."

Morales hit a post in the 80th minute, and when the U.S. was awarded a penalty kick, Pulisic handed the ball to 19-year-old Joshua Sargent. The forward's 88th-minute attempt was stopped by Jonathan Orozco, who dived to his right.

"Christian felt very confident in myself," Sargent said. "I was unfortunate not to make that one, but it happens and I look forward to the next one."

Dest, an 18-year-old who has gained playing time for Ajax this season, started at left back and became the third American born in the 2000s to play for the national team after Tim Weah and Sargent.

"He lacked a little bit of aggressiveness going forward when Christian was coming inside. But overall pleased with his performance," Berhalter said.

Dest can switch to the Netherlands if he doesn't play a competitive match for the U.S. He had a curling 25-yard shot in the 14th minute that was punched away.

Jesus "Tecatito" Corona created the first goal when he dribbled past Pulisic, played the ball through the legs of Dest, then took a touch and made an open cross to an unmarked Hernandez. Chicharito's diving header from eight yards was his 52nd international goal.

"It was a great action from him," Dest said. "I don't think I played a bad game or something, but it was just that moment was crucial. I have to learn from it."

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- In the lead-up to the United States vs. Mexico friendly Friday night at MetLife Stadium, the rhetoric from both sides was the same.

"I think right now, Mexico is slightly ahead of us, having beaten us in the last game and having performed well over the last few years," U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter said.

"I think that as a general panorama, our players are competing in leagues that are better than the players in the United States national team and I also think that the Mexican league is above MLS, which means it's very probable that [Berhalter] is right and that from his position he sees the Mexican national team as a little bit better than the U.S. in a general context," El Tri boss Geraldo "Tata" Martino offered.

And it was true. Heading into the friendly, the U.S. had won only one of the past five matches against its opponent, which had reasserted its CONCACAF dominance with a 1-0 victory in July's Gold Cup final. While nothing that occurred during the 90-minute friendly at the Meadowlands was going to alter that narrative, the question was how much of the gap the Stars and Stripes had closed?

- Mexico player ratings: 'Chicharito,' 'Tecatito' stellar in win
- U.S. player ratings: Pulisic poised among poor performances

The answer: not as much as the American fanbase hoped.

The Mexico squad -- bolstered by the additions of Diego Reyes, Hector Herrera, Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, and Jesus "Tecatito" Corona who didn't appear in the Gold Cup -- dominated for long stretches, winning 3-0.

"As you can see, we still have a lot to work on," U.S. midfielder Christian Pulisic said after the match. "Things just never really went our way."

The biggest indication of the gap came on Mexico's first goal in the 21st minute. After an extensive period of possession that saw the visitors work the ball easily around the field, Corona nutmegged defender Sergino Dest -- who was making his USMNT debut -- then sent in a cross that Hernandez headed past Zack Steffen. It was a brilliant goal, the type of coordinated team tally that any coach would love.

Could the Americans score a goal like that? Maybe, eventually. The way Mexico's side-to-side movement unbalanced the U.S. bears a similarity with how Berhalter wants his team to play. The Americans aren't, however, there. The shape is improving, yet the ideas, passes, and vision come too slowly. Too often the U.S. players were forced to pass back to Steffen when trying to break Mexico's pressure.

"We kind of panicked, and those are things we have to adjust to in the heat of the situation because obviously Mexico is a very pressure-oriented team," right back Reggie Cannon said. "That's something we have to learn to work around. It's not easy task to play out of the back."

The breakouts were too slow, passes a yard or two off, runs mistimed, decisions slow. The mental part of the game isn't fast enough, either.

But, of course, this was a friendly. A meaningless game where the score wasn't as important as the progress. To hear Berhalter tell it, Friday night was a step in the right direction.

"Our focus was to keep trying to focus on making progress as group," Berhalter said in a postmatch news conference. "Being brave with the ball. Looking for holes. There were times when it was good. And times when it wasn't good."

On balance, there were more times when it wasn't good. Which isn't to say that it was never good. For the Americans, there's hope. There's always hope.

Part of the hope, as always, stems from the U.S. youth movement. For better or -- mostly against Mexico -- worse, regime change is on, with Berhalter trotting out a starting roster with an average age of 24 years, 150 days. Unlike the past, where the excitement was pinned on potential, these young Americans are already an accomplished bunch. Pulisic is showing well in the Premier League. The abilities of Weston McKennie and Steffen continue to develop in the Bundesliga, as does Joshua Sargent who joined as a second-half substitute. Dest, 18, is getting looks at Ajax. Cannon is getting better at FC Dallas.

While none had his best game against Mexico -- Pulisic, fouled a game-high four times, grew especially frustrated -- each showed something. In the 12th minute, Pulisic took on four defenders, dribbling into space then releasing a pass to a teammate. Minutes later, Dest ripped a curling shot from 25 yards that forced Jonathan Orozco to make the first decent save of the match. After the half, the entire team competed better and harder (at least until the subs came on, the flow of the game broke down, and Mexico piled on two more). Sargent drew a penalty kick off a great feed from Sebastian Lletget (and then had his subsequent attempt stuffed by Orozco).

These were the highlights. They were few and far between. It turned into a long evening against a superior opponent. But the U.S. didn't give up on what it was trying to do.

"That's actually the big point that people are failing to grasp: You can't abandon the concepts when things get hard because that way we won't improve," Cannon said. "In two years, we're going to be in the same spot. When things get tough like that, when you come in against a Mexico team that is pressing the heck out of you, you have to learn how to play out. Unfortunately, that's going to come with mistakes."

On the night, there were mistakes. Pick an adjective: Disorienting. Difficult. Discouraging.

And yet: "Of course there are frustrations when you lose 3-0," Pulisic said. "There's always frustrations. But we have a style of play that we are setting out that we're still trying to execute, and obviously today we didn't pull it off at all times, but in the mix of things there were a few good moments."

Berhalter agreed. "The build-up is continuing to be a process, and I think today we showed improvement," he said.

Before Friday night, Mexico was the best team in CONCACAF. After Friday, it still is better in every phase of the game. The U.S. remain in the rearview mirror. But fortunes can change. Objects can be closer than they appear.

Twice now in international cricket, he has taken four wickets in four balls. Of the 100 hat-tricks in international cricket, he has a 5% share. And if Lasith Malinga had not produced his searing spell on Friday, which in addition to the four-in-four reaped him a match analysis of five wickets for six runs, Sri Lanka stood little chance of defending their modest 125 for 8. They would have been whitewashed.

"I always come to every match thinking I can turn the game around," Malinga, who moved up 20 spots to No. 21 in the T20I bowlers' rankings after the performance, said. "The skill that I have in taking wickets, considering the experience, is more than any other player on the field. I don't care who believes that or not, but I believe that. So I want to control the game as soon as I get the ball in hand."

The hat-trick, though, was not the only milestone Malinga ticked during his spell. His first wicket had been his 100th in T20Is - a tally no other bowler has achieved. In moving into triple figures in the shortest format, Malinga also became the first bowler in history to have 100 wickets in all three international formats.

TAKE THE QUIZ: Has Malinga dismissed him in a hat-trick sequence?

"It's just another achievement for me. It happened today and it's history now, but if I was hit badly tomorrow, these four wickets and the other achievements are all forgotten," he said. "But then, I am really happy that I could take four wickets in four balls in T20s as well, because I am playing in the latter part of my career.

"All the younger players who played with me, could see it with their own eyes. I think that could have been an inspiration to them and maybe they also think that they can something like this. That's what an up-and-coming player needs - to see something happen, and train towards that."

ALSO READ: Malinga's fifth hat-trick and 100 T20I wickets

Malinga also spoke in detail about his thinking during the four-wicket sequence, during which he dismissed Colin Munro, Hamish Rutherford, Colin de Grandhomme and Ross Taylor.

"After taking the first wicket [of Munro], the newcomer [Rutherford] was an inexperienced left hander. I thought of getting him out in the first ball. My best weapon is the inswinging yorker, so I thought of using that and he got out," he explained.

"Then came de Grandhome and Taylor. These two guys have been a real headache for us throughout the series. The other bowlers failed to get them in the other match. I was thinking how to get these two guys, and I knew we could win the game if we get them. I thought that if I could bowl two yorkers, then why not the third? So I got back to my mental preparation that I do before I bowl a yorker, and walked back to my run-up.

"The timing and accuracy was there and I got the third wicket. When I got the third, I was thinking again: 'Why not try it a fourth time?' It was all the same preparation again and I did it."

Kagiso Rabada hasn't had a quiet 2019 by any measure, being the fourth-highest wicket-taker among fast bowlers - 44 at an average of 28.65 - across the three formats. But with Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer the toast of the season, Rabada is no longer at the forefront of public memory.

Part of it is also down to South Africa's underwhelming showing at the World Cup, where they were knocked out in the group stage. But while the 24-year-old fast bowler is not fussed about not being the talk of the town as far as the chatter around young fast bowlers goes, the collective underperformance of the South African side has left him "disappointed", if not "angry".

"It's never easy maintaining a career; I've learned that there are a lot of ups and downs. I want to be the best in the world, everybody does," Rabada told iol.co.za. "You are naturally going to compete in that fashion, I'm not too worried, I'm feeling nice and easy.

"I'm disappointed, not angry [about the World Cup]. What do I do with anger? When a setback comes you want to be determined, you don't want to change a lot of things. It's about seeing where you went wrong and then putting in extra work."

"Archer is such a natural talent; Bumrah is doing wonders and that can force you to lift your game."

Two months shy of completing five years in international cricket, Rabada has collected 176 Test wickets at an average of 21.77 and strike rate of 38.8. The corresponding numbers in the limited-overs formats are as impressive: 117 ODI wickets at 27.34, and 25 wickets in 19 T20Is.

However, Rabada's average and strike rate in Tests this year have been squarely overshadowed by those of Bumrah and Archer. While the South African has picked 19 wickets at an average of 23.57, striking every 36.8 balls in Tests, Bumrah and Archer have collected 14 and 13 Tests wickets respectively, at averages of 13.14 and 21, and strike rates of 30.9 and 47.1 respectively.

"I admire those bowlers, they are good bowlers," Rabada, who will have an opportunity to better his figures in the upcoming T20I and Test series in India, said when asked about Bumrah and Archer. "However, the media hypes certain players, and that's OK; I know I have been playing very well. Archer is such a natural talent; Bumrah is doing wonders and that can force you to lift your game. You are not always at the top, that's one thing I can tell you."

Currently part of a pre-tour camp in Pretoria, Rabada will be spearheading a pace attack in Tests that will be without the recently-retired Dale Steyn on the tour of India. Given South Africa lost their last Test series in India 3-0, in 2015, having won both the limited-overs legs of the tour, Rabada hopes for an improved performance from the Test side with the knowledge of "terrible" tracks holding them in good stead.

"You need to figure out what you need to do to give the team a better chance to win that is what I try to focus on," Rabada, who made his Test debut on that tour in 2015, told PTI. "When you have played there before you will have an idea of what to do in certain tough situations.

"The previous tour we were successful because we won the T20 and ODI series but the Test series was a bit of a shambles because those wickets were just terrible. If I could give an example the first Test match it was 200 v 200 in first innings. If we batted first it was going to be a different ball game because we ended up having to chase the game. We lost 3-0 and we were truly hammered."

In what will be the team's first assignment since their World Cup exit, South Africa will play three T20Is starting September 15 followed by as many Tests in Visakhapatnam, Pune and Ranchi, starting October 2. Their last Test series win in India came way back in 2000, and their most recent outings in the longest format on Asian soil, too, ended in despair, with Sri Lanka crushing them 2-0 in 2018.

With spin likely to be a key factor again, Rabada underlined that the prior experience of playing in India could help the majority of the South Africa players fashion better individual results than what the Sri Lanka Tests yielded.

"On our recent tour to Sri Lanka it was tricky conditions," Rabada said. "There is a whole lot of talk about how to approach spin but we will see how it goes. What helps is that there are guys who have played there in the past and I guess what you can do is to use what worked and what did not work during the Sri Lanka tour to have a base.

"When you go there for the first time it's weird and you don't know what to do. If you look at how Faf [du Plessis] batted in Sri Lanka, he got good starts which showed that he had played there and knew the conditions."

Banlgadesh women 130 for 5 (Sanjida 71*, Murshida 33, Boochatham 2-31) beat Thailand women 60 for 7 (Padunglerd 15*, Sharmin 2-9, Akter 2-17) by 70 runs

Asia Cup champions Bangladesh women won their second title in as many years by beating Thailand women in the final of the Women's T20 World Cup Qualifer in Dundee on Saturday. A valiant and unbeaten opening effort of 71 off 60 balls from Sanjida Islam and two wickets each from spinners Nahida Akter and Shaila Sharmin highlighted their 70-run win as they defended 130.

As both teams had already qualified for the Women's T20 World Cup to be played in Australia next year, Bangladesh's win on Saturday put them in Group A (Australia, India, New Zealand and Sri Lanka) whereas Thailand head to Group B (England, South Africa, West Indies and Pakistan).

"We are very happy to be heading to Australia for the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in February. Being at the world stage helps us grow the women's game back home in Bangladesh. We hope they can watch and be inspired to play," Bangladesh captain Salma Khatun said.

The Bangladesh openers made full use of their decision to bat with a partnership of 68 in 10 overs before Murshida Khatun was bowled by legspinner Suleeporn Laomi for 33 off 34 balls. Sanjida hardly got anymore support from the rest of the line-up but her maiden T20I fifty carried Bangladesh all the way till the end as she struck six fours and three sixes in all. No other Bangladesh batsman scored in double digits as Jahanara Alam was run out for 3 and Fahima Khatun was stumped on her first ball which was a wide.

Thailand stuttered in their chase early by starting slow and losing three wickets in the first six overs. Their top four fell for single-digit scores, totalling 14 runs in all, as Nahida dismissed the openers in her first two overs. They couldn't put on any substantial partnership until Wongpaka Liengprasert and captain Sornnarin Tippoch (8) came together for 24 runs for the fifth wicket. Tippoch was soon caught on the legside off Sharmin, leaving Thailand with a tall task of scoring 90 runs in the last five overs. Leingprasert was boweld by Sharmin for 11 off 29 in the 16th over and Ratanaporn Padunglerd's unbeaten 15 off 14 with a four and a six only reduced Thailand's margin of defeat.

Seldom on a single day can it have been possible to see the two leading batsmen of their team more far apart in terms of their command. Steven Smith's lowest score of a remarkable series was also his most impudent and domineering, making a wearing pitch and desperate England bowlers look like a computer game in beginner and/or practice mode.

The flip side, though, was the seemingly inevitable departure of David Warner for his third duck in a row and his sixth dismissal out of eight by Stuart Broad in this Ashes contest.

By this stage, both Warner and Broad looked very used to their roles. When Broad skidded his sixth ball through a backtracking Warner and into his pads in front of middle and leg, he ran towards the slips in celebration without even bothering to appeal to the umpire Marais Erasmus. When Warner walked down the wicket in the direction of his partner Marcus Harris, who motioned the possibility of a referral, he simply offered the rebuke "that's salmon" trout, aka out.

Batsmen sinking to such depths in series past have taken varying approaches to their plight. In 1989 Graham Gooch, his feet and mind muddled by Terry Alderman, asked to be dropped late in the series and had his request granted. In later years his answering machine message is said to have been "I'm out, probably lbw Alderman". Daryll Cullinan, having been rendered useless by Shane Warne and his flipper across several series, sought the help of a sports psychologist, only to have Warne greet him with, "what colour was the couch, Daryll?"

Whatever the approach Warner chooses to take, it is beyond all doubt that his chosen method for this Ashes series has proven faulty. With the exception of a single innings on the first day at Headingley, where he admirably played the line of the ball as it zipped repeatedly away from him, Warner has been left looking indecisive, defensive and above all vulnerable to the new ball. It is not a sensation many of the opposing bowlers and captains to face Warner in Test matches have ever felt before.

Old Trafford, in fact, was Warner's first pair in Tests, three ducks in a row in all after the second innings at Leeds. That statistic underlines how superbly consistent he has been for Australia, as does another: as of this moment his career Test batting average stands at 46.01 - the lowest it has been since early 2014. Back then, Warner was in the midst of the best year of his Test career, being the dominant Australian performer in series in South Africa and the UAE, underlining his aggressive versatility in a range of conditions.

In England, Warner has never performed at his very best, to this day being unable to make a Test century here, but on both the 2013 and 2015 Ashes tours he looked to be on an upwards trajectory as a batsman. There were times in both series when he felt only a strong half an hour away from soaring to a match-shaping hundred. Four years later, older, wiser and refreshed by an enforced 12 months out of the game, he seemed intent on sanding down his usual English method to a point of perfection.

As he put it in Leeds: "My theory has always been the same when I come to England ... for me it's about taking out that lbw equation but then not trying to get out nicked off from a good length ball and knowing where your off stump is there. So it's about creating ... you want them to come into your pads when you bat outside off and you can get the cheeky one inside midwicket, that's the thought process behind it."

At the same time, Warner had worked on his tempo, trying to calm himself down and ensure he was not forever batting in a state something near to rage against his opponents. To achieve this he had taken measures including the use of headphones when batting in the nets, listening to chill out music by the likes of Lewis Capaldi, and generally trying to take on a more pacific air around the Australian team.

Unfortunately for Warner, he has come up against parallel evolution from a genuinely great bowler in Broad, who had enjoyed some success against him in four previous Ashes encounters, but nothing to suggest he would b quite as dominant as this. The cornerstone of Broad's attack has been to attack both stumps and edge from around the wicket, causing Warner to be worried on both sides of his bat with a range of consequent dismissals.

Nothing has underlined the muddle quite like the fact that Warner has twice been dismissed edging balls he was never fully committed to playing and ultimately tried to leave. It's the sort of indecision that Alderman used to provoke in a host of English batsmen while taking 83 Test wickets across two tours here in 1981 and 1989. But it is more or less unheard of for Warner, who has generally taken the approach of playing shots and asking questions later.

There are, of course, mitigating factors for Warner. Collectively there have been few Test series more dicey for opening batsmen than this one, with the decision to use the older vintage specification of the Dukes ball aiding new ball bowlers on both sides. Equally, the struggles of those around him have also hurt: so often Warner has eased pressure on his partners by getting the scoreboard moving early. This time, when he perhaps needed some help in the other direction, it has not been forthcoming from Cameron Bancroft, Marcus Harris or Usman Khawaja.

That being said, Australia's selectors have been left with a lot of questions about their top order for the future. While Smith has been magnificent and Marnus Labuschagne has emerged, there is very little certainty to be found elsewhere, even from someone as good as Warner has been. Quality over an extended period should be recognised, and Warner has this very much in his favour. At the same time, Khawaja's dropping for Manchester provided a reminder that no-one is indispensable, as the coach Justin Langer continues his search for a deeper well of prolific Australian batsmen to choose from.

Ironically, a source of potential inspiration for Warner was provided by the fortunes of Mitchell Starc on day four. Initially left out of this series and then struggling in his first spells, Starc showed how he had learned and adapted to English requirements, while not losing the impact that has made him so striking an option for Australia down the years. In the long session after tea on day three during which he did not bowl a single ball, Starc had time to ponder how he had bowled in his first spells of the series.

Undoubtedly he had not targeted the stumps enough, dropping too short and also offering width. But with Ben Stokes and Johnny Bairstow fairly well entrenched on the fourth morning, he was granted the chance to make amends with the brand new ball. At Headingley the second new ball had been struck about firmly by the same two England batsmen, but here Starc was able to bend it to his will. Smartly mixing up scrambled seam deliveries - devised to move off the pitch - with straighter seam offerings searching for swing, he was soon discomforting both batsmen.

Stokes nicked one centimetres over his stumps, and Bairstow was little more comfortable. A couple of deliveries shaped to swing back without going the whole way, but eventually Starc got one exactly right, swerving neatly through Bairstow's expansive drive. It was his biggest swinging delivery of the match so far, and had a sequel soon after when Stokes went back and could not cover a ball with bounce and just enough seam away, resulting in a third catch of the innings for Steven Smith a second slip.

In this spell, Starc demonstrated not only his strike power, but also an evolving ability to ask different questions in English climes: exactly what the selectors had wanted from him when they left him out of the first three Tests. It was a spell that had a huge bearing on Australia's commanding position by the end of the day, but also provided something in the way of an example for Warner to look towards. For him, the only way is up.

England 301 (Burns 81, Root 71) and 18 for 2 trail Australia 497 for 8 (Smith 211, Labuschagne 67) and 186 for 6 dec (Smith 82) by 365 runs

It's been suspected all summer long, but at last we have definitive proof. Steven Smith is playing a different game to the rest of the combatants in this Ashes series. How else do you explain the events of the fourth day at Old Trafford, a day on which his ninth consecutive Ashes half-century carried Australia to the brink of what will surely be their first successful defence of the Ashes in England since 2001.

Hot on the heels of his 211 in the first innings, and into the teeth of a frenzied bowling onslaught from Stuart Broad and a reinvigorated Jofra Archer, Smith made light of Australia's pre-tea scoreline of 44 for 4 to josh and flinch, and poke and swat his way to a bafflingly indomitable 82 from 92 balls.

It was Smith's lowest score of the series maybe, but incredibly, for the fourth time in five dismissals this summer, his departure was more or less self-inflicted. With a lead of 345 already in the bag and Australia straining for a late-evening declaration having bowled England out for 301 in their first innings, Smith's inside-out carve picked out Ben Stokes at deep extra cover to complete a match aggregate of 293 runs - a tally which accounted for more than three-quarters of England's eventual target of 383.

Steadfast in adversity then cocksure once on top, Smith had to ride his luck against Broad in particular, who was magnificent, but backed his peerless judgement on an afternoon when the rest of Australia's top five managed a top score of 12 between them. That included the hapless David Warner, to whom Broad delivered the first pair of his Test career, while bagging him for the sixth time this series, and for the seventh single-figure score out of eight in a grim campaign.

And then, as to confirm just how other-worldly Smith's efforts really had been, in steamed Pat Cummins with the shadows looming at the start of a nervy mini-session for England's top order. Four balls into his evening's work, he had torn out the spine of England's intended rearguard, inducing a third-ball leading edge to have Rory Burns caught in the covers for a duck, before serving up an absolute snorter that pinged the top of Joe Root's off stump for a golden duck - the perfect line, the perfect pace, and - unlike the one that zagged into Root's pads in the first innings - the perfect jag off the seam to beat the outside edge of his crestfallen bat.

The rocks of England's first-innings reply had been shattered, and though Jason Roy in his current form would have been Cummins' dream pick for a hat-trick target, he endured to the close alongside Joe Denly to carry what remains of England's fight into the fifth day. For let's be realistic - for all that England hunted down 359 to complete the miracle of Headingley, this Old Trafford pitch is a different beast entirely, offering stump-threatening skid and late movement to those who pitch it up, not least the lesser-spotted Mitchell Starc, whose three wickets in the morning session had been a harbinger of the dramas to come.

Starc had been Australia's weak link at the start of England's innings, bowling just 11 expensive overs on the third day as Cummins and Josh Hazlewood showed the way for their side with their devotion to sharp pace on a good length. But with England resuming 98 runs shy of saving the follow-on, and charged with extending their innings as deep into the day as possible, it was Starc's swing that tore the stuffing out of their morning's efforts, as Jonny Bairstow was bowled on the drive by a hooping inswinger (for the 32nd time in his career) before that man Stokes succumbed for the first time since the Headingley first innings, expertly extracted by a curler on off stump that he couldn't help but nudge to slip.

For the remainder of England's innings, it was hard to know whether to stick or twist - to reduce the deficit quickly before the wickets ran out, or to stick to the original gameplan of eating as much time out of the game as possible. In the event, it turned into a curious tribute to that Headingley run-chase, as the tail rallied around Jos Buttler to tick off the runs required for a small psychological win - the avoidance of a follow-on that Australia almost certainly would not have enforced anyway. They duly managed it, with Jack Leach once again resolute at No.11, but when Buttler missed a slog to be bowled for 41, the remaining deficit of 196 was still pretty daunting.

When England emerged for Australia's second innings, however, with Ben Stokes - tellingly - giving the team-talk as they huddled before the first ball, it was clear that the spirit of Headingley was still infusing their self-belief. Six balls later, there could be no doubt at all. In spite of his flatlining form, Warner remains one of the most deadly second-innings batsmen in the game, especially when presenting with the chance to build on a lead. Half an hour of his devil-may-care thumping could have cooked England's goose by the tea-break. Instead he was thumped on the knee-roll by a pumped-up Broad, and sent on his way for his third duck in a row, a massively motivating scalp for the team and a partisan crowd.

Six overs later, Broad repeated the dose to extract Marcus Harris in identical fashion - round the wicket, swinging in, pinned in front of middle and leg, and when Broad scuttled his second ball to Smith, who jammed his bat down late to dig it off his stumps, battle had been well and truly joined. Not least by Archer, who might well have been piqued by the reaction to his first-innings display, but was undoubtedly riled by the sledging he had received during a brief innings in which he had almost run himself out first ball.

Suddenly his pace leapt back up by that missing 5mph, and the crowd revved up in response, as Marnus Labuschagne became the third lbw of the innings - again round the wicket, again clipping leg, and cheekily waved goodbye by Broad as he turned to offer some chat to the England huddle after unsuccessfully reviewing. Travis Head then had his middle stump dynamited on the same angle, as he too paid the price for engaging in the verbals in the course of an over that peaked at 93mph.

But throughout it all, Smith batted with the abandon of a man who had already been batting for 319 balls on this surface. At times, he seemed so carefree he seemed liable to pop his own bubble, but such is Smith's talent, that even when he seems not to be fully focused, he retains the wherewithal to avoid errors against the genuinely threatening deliveries, and to keep the score ticking ever upwards.

Even so, Broad continued to hound him like few bowlers have managed since that Archer duel at Lord's, and on 28, he came excruciatingly close to playing on as he dug out a yorker - the first ball of a new spell - and watched it trundle millimetres past his leg stump. And then, on 48, came the moment of near-genius that all but dislodged a genius. As he stooped to reverse-sweep the leaky spin of Leach, Stokes at slip saw him inverting his stance and sprinted to gully, where he dived to his right and all but clung onto a stunning catch in both hands. But the ball wriggled out and the moment was lost. So too, the last chance for England to dictate any remaining terms in the innings.

By the close, the die was cast. England limped to 18 for 2 at stumps - an outstanding deficit of 365 that Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy and Jos Buttler would find a challenging ask in white-ball cricket, let alone red. Consecutive miracles is asking too much of any Ashes campaign. Especially when it's the opposition's star player who is batting like a God.