On Monday night, after overseeing Barcelona training for the final time that morning, Ernesto Valverde changed into his cycling gear, dusted down his bike and hit the road. He was still officially the Barca manager, but the club's president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, had already informed him his time was up. Now, Valverde just wanted to be away from it all.

Meanwhile, across the city, Quique Setien, Valverde's soon-to-be replacement, was animatedly moving glasses around a table. Each glass represented a footballer. "We are going to have a lot of fun," he said many times. Sources told ESPN that the former Real Betis coach was so excited about the possibilities that he was still discussing his ideas well after midnight, at which time Barca's representatives joked he should go home and sleep.

Setien, a devout disciple of Johan Cruyff's approach to the game, was explaining to the Barca hierarchy his blueprint to reignite a side that had stagnated. They still sat top of the league, but they had grown overreliant on Lionel Messi. Around him, player performance was getting worse and none of the club's expensive signings -- like Philippe Coutinho (on loan at Bayern Munich), Ousmane Dembele (injured) and Antoine Griezmann (being played out of position) -- had lived up to their price tags.

The new coach's challenge is no small feat. Cruyff may not have been much more successful than Valverde and Luis Enrique, who won 13 trophies between them, but he left more of a mark.

"I only guarantee one thing when I take over a new club: that we play good football," Setien said Tuesday at his presentation.

When Barca finally made the official announcement that Valverde was out, shortly before midnight local time on Monday, it did not come as a shock to many. The appointment of Setien, a 61-year-old whose biggest achievement to date is finishing sixth in La Liga with Betis, did raise some eyebrows, though.

When time finally ran out for Valverde

The tide had been turning against Valverde for months, but it was the 2-2 draw against Espanyol on Jan. 4 when Bartomeu finally began to accept that change was needed. Sources have told ESPN that just minutes after the final whistle, the president issued an ultimatum to his closest confidants: if the team don't put on an improved showing in the Spanish Supercopa against Atletico Madrid, they needed to replace the manager.

Barcelona eventually played one of their best games of the season against Atletico in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Jan. 9, but despite leading 2-1 they eventually lost 3-2 after two Atleti goals in the final nine minutes. For senior officials at the club, the game evoked memories of two damaging recent losses: those dreadful nights against AS Roma and Liverpool in the Champions League.

According to sources, Barcelona had been sounding out possible managers for a while, already planning to replace Valverde in the summer. But defeat in the Supercopa hastened those plans considerably, which was unfortunate for the embattled manager given the circumstances around the club when he arrived and the hand he was dealt.

Valverde took over from Luis Enrique in 2017 and immediately had to deal with Neymar's departure. He could do nothing to stop the Brazilian leaving once Paris Saint-Germain paid his €222 million release clause. Barca were then steamrolled by Real Madrid in the Spanish Supercopa that year, leading Gerard Pique to lament that he felt "inferior" to their Clasico rivals for the first time since he rejoined the club from Manchester United in 2008.

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Yet those feelings didn't last long. Valverde ended the 2017-18 season with a league and cup double and followed that up with another league title in 2018-19. But back-to-back humiliating Champions League exits at the hands of Roma and Liverpool, along with a Copa del Rey final loss to Valencia, left many people inside the club pushing for him to be sacked last summer.

Sources told ESPN that the sporting director at the time, Pep Segura, put Thierry Henry's name forward for the job. Other board members canvassed for Roberto Martinez, with Setien's name appearing somewhere on their list. But Bartomeu stuck by Valverde for two reasons: one, he still had the support of the players, and two, he wasn't convinced at the time by the alternatives.

Since then, results had been OK, but sources explain that Bartomeu had grown increasingly concerned about the team's "image" on the pitch. Every disappointing display was another nail in Valverde's coffin, every dropped point his fault. Purists hammered him for the team's style, complaining that Barcelona do not play like Barcelona even when they win.

Bartomeu, increasingly alone in his support of Valverde, finally changed his mind after those dropped points against their crosstown rivals, Espanyol. Sources tell ESPN he sanctioned sporting director Eric Abidal to step up the search for a replacement, and by the time Atletico scored two late goals to knock Barca out of the revamped Supercopa at the semifinal stage, Bartomeu decided enough was enough.

The president met with several players after that game in Jeddah to inform them of his plans. Sources explain that Valverde remained well liked by the squad, but two factions had developed: those who supported him almost unconditionally and those who thought the training wasn't intense enough and his style was a little too hands-off. The likes of Messi and Pique were in the first camp, both players posting messages of gratitude since Valverde's dismissal. Some of the younger players and the new signings were in the second camp.

Ansu Fati, who was handed his debut this season aged 16, was one of the more emotional members of the squad when a teary-eyed Valverde finally said farewell on Tuesday. Sources tell ESPN that Valverde requested a one-on-one chat with the youngster before leaving, telling him to continue in the same way he'd burst into the first-team picture, but while keeping himself grounded and not changing his approach to the game.

The succession plan

The day after the Atletico defeat -- and very publicly -- Abidal and CEO Oscar Grau traveled from Saudi Arabia to Qatar to see Xavi, Barca's legendary former midfielder and now the coach of Al-Sadd. They met him three times in Doha. Not only did the club's board see him as well equipped to take over, but they also saw him as a useful political tool. Xavi is closely aligned with Victor Font, who will run to become the club's next president in the 2021 elections.

At first, Barca tried to cover their tracks, briefing that Abidal and Grau had gone to Doha to see the injured Dembele, who is undergoing treatment there. That line quickly unraveled and more leaks from the club soon revealed the truth. But Xavi said no.

The saga was all played out in the open, with Valverde at home in Barcelona learning of each step through the media. The club's former midfielder Andres Iniesta called Barca's public search for a replacement a "little ugly."

Where did they go next? Ronald Koeman was never offered the job, sources told ESPN, despite reports to the contrary, but Massimiliano Allegri and Mauricio Pochettino were considered. Ex-Espanyol coach Pochettino's previous comments -- "I'd sooner work on a farm than for Barca" -- ultimately made appointing him too complicated, despite the fact he is good friends with Bartomeu and Ramon Planes, who is Abidal's assistant.

Barcelona B-team coach Garcia Pimienta was ruled out because some of the first-team players didn't think he was ready for the leap from the Spanish third division. An agent of one first-team player even said to ESPN he'd consider moving his client to another club if Pimienta was given the job full time.

The job goes to Setien

Setien spent the weekend in Liencres, the small village in the north of Spain where he lives, waiting for word. "[On Monday] I was walking beside the cows in my village; now I'm here training the best players in the world," he said at his presentation on Tuesday.

The ex-Betis coach, whose career has primarily played out in Spain's lower leagues, knew of Barca's interest before their first approach in December, even if he spoke of his "surprise" at landing the job at his unveiling. He was one of the coaches who had been linked in the summer, and Barca sounded him out last month and phoned him again last Friday. Some board members were concerned about his lack of European experience, but Setien knew he'd have an outside chance at the job if Xavi turned it down.

In fact, Setien knew by Sunday where he stood. Sometime over the weekend, he and his agent received a call from Barcelona representatives. "You're on the shortlist, stay cool and don't say anything," was the gist, a source told ESPN.

At the weekend, as Abidal and Grau spoke with Xavi, Setien quietly took in Sevilla's Copa del Rey game against Escobedo, according to sources. He had an offer on the table from a side in Saudi Arabia, but he had delayed giving a response in the hope that Barca's interest might become firm.

Barcelona representatives were sold on Setien even before his tactical masterclass with drinking glasses after consulting a number of players who have played under him. ESPN has learned that club officials reached out to Marc Bartra and Joaquin, who played for Setien at Betis, to get a sense of his practices, while Abidal has said that he was impressed with Setien's first training session.

Prior to that session, Setien was formally presented to the squad in the dressing room, alongside his backroom staff and Bartomeu. Despite the expectation of a fairly simple exchange, sources explain Setien seized the chance to make a mark, saying, "If you have any doubts, tell me straight away, we have to attack any problems at the roots." He also explained his plans to increase the intensity of training in a bid to restore the "essence" of Barcelona, hard work that would help the club restore their high press and quick ball movement in transition.

The squad received the message well.

Sources say the first thing Setien requested from the players was "sacrifice." He scheduled a double session on his first day and brought them in again on Wednesday, cancelling a previously scheduled day off. One first-team player told ESPN the workouts have been "intense," more intense than those under Valverde, and the rondos -- effectively piggy in the middle -- have been "smaller, quicker and fiercer." Pique and Arturo Vidal were dead on their feet after 20 minutes of Tuesday's first session, with a more tactics-based lesson following in the afternoon.

Setien has also taken the opportunity to meet privately with Messi and goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, with more meetings planned with other players. Sources tell ESPN that Messi seemed unsure before meeting with Setien but emerged from his office with a notable smile.

There was also a transition of power when Setien bumped into Valverde on Tuesday as his predecessor was collecting his things. They met twice; the first encounter was reportedly "intense," but as Valverde left, they had a second conversation, lasting more than 15 minutes. By the end, they swapped numbers and Valverde told him to call "if he needed any help."

Plans made by Valverde for a team dinner on Thursday were kept in place by Setien. It was paid for by the fines paid by the players throughout the season, although sources revealed that Dembele, the biggest contributor to the fine pot, was not able to attend. The injured Luis Suarez was also absent. There were speeches from last summer's signings and a pep talk from the club captains about where improvements can be made moving forward.

That's where Setien comes in. His task is to halt Barca's slide towards mediocrity and kick-start their season by helping them rediscover the style of football played under Cruyff and Pep Guardiola. It won't be easy, but sources tell ESPN he is relishing the challenge and believes the players will buy into his ideas. He will need them to, too, because as Valverde found out, results alone are not enough at Barcelona.

Additional reporting by Rodrigo Faez and Eduardo Fernandez-Abascal.

Mark Boucher, South Africa's coach, is in a quandary. He needs to find a way to ensure his premier strike bowler, Kagiso Rabada, does not lose his instinctive aggression but also that Rabada does not use it beyond the parameters of the ICC's Code of Conduct, as he did to his cost at St George's Park.

After bowling Joe Root with a delivery that beat the England captain for pace, Rabada continued in his followthrough all the way to the edges of Root's crease, where he let out a rip-roaring scream while squatting almost to his haunches and holding the outsides of his legs.

Match referee Andy Pycroft deemed that to be a breach of clause 2.5 which forbids send-offs that make use of disparaging or provoking language, actions or gestures, and charged Rabada with a Level 1 offence which he did not contest despite Boucher seeing "nothing wrong," with the celebration.

Rabada will miss the series finale in Johannesburg as a result of accumulated demerit points (this was the fourth in the last 24 months) and though Boucher has accepted Rabada's fate, he now faces the challenge of trying to keep him both fired up and disciplined.

"KG bowls at his best when he is nice and aggressive," Boucher said. "It's trying to find a balance of keeping him nice and aggressive and not boxing him in with regards to that. But just understanding the laws of the game and trying to stay on the good side of it, rather than the flip side. It is going to be tough but it is something we will have to address."

In theory, Boucher disagrees with Pycroft's decision, which he communicated at Thursday's post-play meeting. "We did voice our concerns over the rule that he quoted to us and a couple of variations of the rule," Boucher said. "It's a tough one because the talk is about excessive celebrations in the area of the batter and making contact with the batter, I don't feel he made any contact with the batter whatsoever. He wasn't even looking at him. Yes, he was in his space but there are probably different ways you can look at it. It doesn't really matter what we feel about it. The match referee has made up his mind."

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Boucher regards the Level 1 sanction as a "slap on the wrist", and not something "really bad", but acknowledged that he is not entirely familiar with the demerit system which came into effect in September 2016. In getting to know it a little bit more, Boucher's disappointment is split between the severity with which the code was applied and Rabada's lack of control over his own conduct.

"You don't want to take all the aggression out of the game of cricket," he said. "You've got two countries playing hard cricket against each other. In a heated situation, guys are trying really hard and sometimes the emotions overflow. From that side, maybe I am a little bit disappointed in the rules and regulations but if you know the rules and regulations, you have got to stick to them. KG knows what he can and cannot do and he maybe just pushed a little it too far.

"KG is a team man as well so he will feel very disappointed. It's something that we have to address and get a good balance. In our days, we didn't have to deal with this stuff because we could say pretty much we wanted and get away with it. It is a bit of a learning curve for me with all these new rules and regulations that have come in, to try and get the best out of him with his aggression but also try and monitor him in the discipline side."

While the confrontational exchanges of Boucher's playing days are unlikely to return, wars of words continue to take place. If they are audible through the stump mic, they are punished, which was the case with Jos Buttler at Newlands. Buttler was heard calling Vernon Philander a 'f****** knobhead' and was given the same sanction as Rabada - a 15 percent match-fee fine and one demerit point. It's instances like that that Boucher thinks shows the intensity of the moment and that should not be taken out of the game.

"I am a little bit worried," Boucher said. "There's been quite a few things happening in world cricket, we saw it last game, where sides are going for a win, they are pushing hard for a win. England had been in the field for a long time and the swear words weren't great, but it's aggression. In our day, we'd push very hard for a win and try make batters feels uncomfortable if we are on top. The laws have changed. I understand where the ICC want to go with it. Hopefully they find a balance where they don't take emotion out of the game. I still think there is a very big place for that in cricket."

South Africa had not forgotten Buttler's remarks and greeted him with a volley of insults in a short-lived innings, which was one of their brighter moments in an otherwise flat day. Asked whether news of Rabada's sanction affected the fielders, Boucher said he didn't think so. "I don't know if most of the guys actually know," he said. "We weren't 100 percent sure how many demerit points he had but then we found out this morning. I don't think it affected the guys too much. They still feel they've got a big chance to do well."

That will be South Africa's focus for the next three days, during which they will still have Rabada in their ranks. Then, they will move to the series-decider in Johannesburg, where they will either be in a must-win situation to save the series or a must-not-lose to avoid squaring it. Whichever it is, they will have to do it without Rabada, who Boucher said will be sorely missed.

"He is a world-class performer, especially at the Wanderers, where I think he would be very effective. So yes, very disappointing but we've got a Test match to try and save over here. We'll have to have a look at our options once we get to the Wanderers."

South Africa have three options in the current squad: allrounders Dwaine Pretorius, Andile Phehlukwayo and left-armer Beuran Hendricks who could be brought in but may cast the net wider ahead of the match.

In a heartfelt tribute to Bapu Nadkarni, who died on Friday aged 86, Sunil Gavaskar has hailed the former India allrounder's attitude and cricketing acumen. Gavaskar was in Rajkot, as part of the commentators' panel for the India-Australia ODI, when he heard the news of Nadkarni's death.

"He came as assistant manager for quite a number of our tours," Gavaskar said. "He was very encouraging. His favourite term from where we all learnt from was 'chhodo mat (hang in there)'. He was gritty despite playing in the days when gloves and thigh pads were not very good, not much protective equipment as you would get hit, but still hang in there as he believed in chhodo mat. You are playing for India. That thing we learnt from him.

Very sad to hear about the demise of Shri Bapu Nadkarni. I grew up hearing about the record of him bowling 21 consecutive maiden overs in a Test. My condolences to his family and dear ones.
Rest in Peace Sir. pic.twitter.com/iXozzyPMLZ

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) January 17, 2020

"Every time he was on a tour he was very very helpful in terms of strategy. At lunch time or tea time, he would say 'try this', if you were a fielding captain. He would tell, 'bring this bowler, or ask this bowler to bowl around the wicket.' He was fantastic. Indian cricket has lost a real champion."

Gavaskar also recalled Nadkarni's role in getting Sandeep Patil to bat in India's second innings in Sydney in 1981, after he had retired hurt following a blow to the head from a Len Pascoe bouncer in the first innings. Patil went on to score 174 in the next Test match in Adelaide.

"He [Nadkarni] was the one who kept urging Sandeep that 'it doesn't matter, you are here and you should go out and bat again.' Bapuji was the assistant manager on the tour. It was only because of him that Sandeep went on to score that 174 in the next Test match because Bapuji was constantly there with him."

Milind Rege, the former Mumbai captain, said Nadkarni was a true allrounder.

"Bapu Nadkarni was a great allrounder of Indian cricket and definitely a pillar of Mumbai cricket," Rege said. "He didn't get the accolades he deserved. He was one of the lead spinners and then would bat at No. 5 for Mumbai."

Rege reckoned that Nadkarni's figures of 32-27-5-0 in his famous spell against England in Chennai would never be eclipsed. "Records are meant to be broken, but 21 overs and 5 balls without giving a run will never ever beaten by anybody."

Rege would call Nadkarni 'Bapu saheb', as a mark of respect. Rege, along with his friend and teammate Gavaskar, learned a valuable lesson from Nadkarni, a characteristic Mumbai cricket is often associated with. "The khadoos thing that applies to Mumbai cricket, he would be right at the top. He was not a stylish player at all. With that stance he had, he managed to score important runs including the 283 not out against Delhi in the 1960-61 Ranji Trophy semifinals. He just would not give anything away, he was that khadoos."

Off the field, Nadkarni was a soft-spoken man, known to be particular about details. "Bapu saheb was a lovely person," Rege said. "The gentleman cricketer. Sunil and I played with Bapu saheb when we were 17. He was among the Mumbai greats who nurtured us. He had a great sense of humour. And he could take a joke on himself and laugh it away."

Chandu Borde, one of India's leading lights in the 1960s, presented an example of Nadkarni supporting him at what he called a "crucial" time in his career. "It was one of the early Tests of my career," Borde said. "I do not recollect exactly which one, but it was in Calcutta. I got a telegram from Pune (Borde's home). It was to inform me that my relative Dayanand, who had played a big role in my cricket during my young days, had passed away in an accident.

"Bapu hid the telegram under the pillow while I was batting. Later when I read the telegram I confronted Bapu: "What is this Bapu? Why did you this?" Bapu calmly told me he did not want me to be distracted. It was a crucial match for me. Till then my performances were not exciting or big. This was a crucial innings for me and Bapu did not want me to be disturbed."

Nadkarni, Borde said, always put the team first. "He was, what we in Marathi say an ajat shatru, one who had only friends and no enemies. Bapu was a very good team man, always appreciating his teammates' performances."

According to Borde, Nadkarni's upbringing and his family's interest in sports was a major factor in his open personality. Borde recounted that Nadkarni was good at more than one sport, having played badminton at a high level. As for his cricket: "He was a very useful man to the team, a great contributor, stayed long at the wicket, was a good close-in fielder, and was a very accurate left-arm spinner."

The sign of a menacing spin bowler is how he takes his wickets.

In today's age of white-ball cricket, too often wristspinners are given the leeway of going for runs, just as long as they can get batsmen to eventually miscue an attacking shot. But on the opening day of the Under-19 World Cup, Shafiqullah Ghafari's spell of 6 for 15 reminded us all what quality legspin is all about, by putting a chokehold on his opposition and forcing them to tap out after a brief struggle.

He attacked the stumps and pegged them back four times. On the other two occasions, he trapped one batsman lbw while one edged a soft push to first slip. None of his wickets needed the help of any outfielder and each of his wickets were taken off batsmen who were simply looking to defend. What does that tell us?

It tells us how wary teams are of Afghanistan and their spin contingent. And as they continue to produce wristspinners who take the world by storm, the latest to raise his hand is Ghafari, who fell in love with the art of legspin watching videos on the internet.

"When I started playing cricket, all the time I was watching Shane Warne videos online," Ghafari said after the match." So I was inspired from him how to bowl legspin.

"Six wickets in a World Cup first match, it's a dream. It has given me confidence for future matches as well. I knew if I bowled in the right areas, then everything would work out."

He wasn't supposed to be the star of the team. For that, there was Noor Ahmed, the left-arm orthodox spinner who recently made heads turn by becoming the youngest person - at 15 - to participate in an IPL auction. But sometimes it helps to lurk in the shadows. There isn't much footage of Ghafari floating on the internet, so when he was introduced to bowl in the 14th over, South Africa didn't know what to expect.

In his second over, Ghafari got his googly to turn from a length, and bowled Levert Manje for a duck. Next over, he came around the wicket to trap left-handed Jack Lees lbw for 0 too, and when he was given a shot at dismantling the South African tail, you didn't need to be a soothsayer to know what was to come.

A ripping wrong'un from outside off stump went through Khaya Cotani's defences to hit the timber. Tiaan van Vuuren then looked to defend what he thought was a googly to the on-side, but instead the legbreak turned past him, took the outside edge and found the fielder at slip, and he got reached his five-for in a classical wristspinner's style, getting the googly to turn so sharply that Achille Cloete was trying to defend outside off stump, but the ball went through him to clip middle.

The cherry on the top was Ghafari's sixth - the wicket of big-hitting Gerald Coetzee, which turned in so sharply to go through him that the batsman was left on his knees wondering what just happened. Between all this, he conceded just the one boundary in 55 deliveries, of which 40 were dot balls, and helped his side bowl South Africa out for only 129. He effectively won the game for Afghanistan even before their batsmen had to pad up.

"When I bowl in tandem with Noor, our focus - all the time - is to bowl dot balls," Ghafari said. "We want the batsman to make mistakes. We never think about who is taking the wicket. Both of us want to bowl dot balls, keep the economy under three, and the wickets just follow."

So in the land where fast bowlers dream to bowl, a spinner ruled Kimberley. Ghafari reminded us that classical legbreak still has a place in the sport. And he also showed while India produce batsmen by the dozen and Pakistan is the breeding ground of pacers, it's Afghanistan who are well and truly the world's best exporters of spin bowlers.

Around the time he reached his half-century, a landmark achieved with successive cuts for four, Ollie Pope took his Test batting average above 40 for the first time.

No young player comes with guarantees. Pope is probably no more talented than Graeme Hick or Mark Ramprakash and they probably didn't, by the ridiculously harsh standards we set for these things, fulfil their potential as Test batsmen. But, as Pope celebrated his fifty, it was hard not to wonder if his average would ever dip below the mark again. It may well go significantly higher.

Pope looks, by some distance, the best specialist batsman to come into this side since Joe Root in late 2012. He has a wide range of strokes, he seems to have plenty of time for the ball, and has the appetite to bat for long periods. He also has, now, a compact technique and an ability to leave well outside off stump, giving him a game which shows no obvious weaknesses. This first Test century will surely be the first of many.

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It is worth listing those men who have scored Test centuries for England at a younger age than Pope's 22 years and 15 days. They are: Denis Compton, Jack Hearne, Len Hutton, Alastair Cook, David Gower, Peter May and Colin Cowdrey. There are only seven names there and six (Hearne is the one to miss out) can probably safely be described as among the greats of English cricket. Already, Pope is in exclusive company.

He is used to that, of course. After 30 first-class matches, he averaged more than any England player in history. He made his Test debut, aged just 20, after only 15 first-class game and is now England's youngest maiden centurion since Cook in 2006. "That's a nice little stat," Pope said with a bashful smile afterwards. "He was a great player."

His first captain at Surrey, Gareth Batty, had never heard of him until he turned up to training one day. Pope was 17 or 18 at the time and had only just signed for the professional staff from the prolific Surrey academy. But he was taking apart Surrey's first-choice T20 attack and the club captain's attention was seized.

"Jade Dernbach was reversing it sharply and Stuart Meaker was overstepping and bowling fast," Batty recalled. "And Ollie was smashing it and scooping it everywhere. Straight away I thought, 'Hello, what have we got here?' He was obviously special."

"He has to be in every side we have," was the gist of Dernbach's comments to Batty once the session finished. And he pretty much was, Surrey being Surrey. Until he was promoted into the England system, Pope was on the brink of a leadership role at the club, too, aged 20 and talked of as the captain after Rory Burns. "He's definitely leadership material," Batty said.

Surrey deserve some credit for this success. The last four maiden Test centurions for England - Pope, Dom Sibley, Burns and Ben Foakes - all came through the Surrey pathway to one extent or another. While Foakes developed at Essex, the other three, including Sibley (who had moved on to Warwickshire by the time he represented England) all came through Surrey's academy where Neil Stewart, brother of Alec, and Gareth Townsend, the coaches, are clearly doing a terrific job for club and country. Sam Curran progressed along the same path.

But it speaks volumes for Pope's character that it was from a setback that his game took its most pertinent improvement. At the start of the 2019 season, having been dropped by England, he suffered a dislocated shoulder which kept him out of the game for three-and-a-half months. Many young men, some of whom might well have played for England in recent times, could have taken the opportunity to get away from the game. To take a holiday. To chase girls, drink too much and enjoy the high life.

Not Pope. Instead, he sat down with Vikram Solanki, assistant coach at Surrey, and worked out a way he could use the time constructively. And, reflecting on his first brush with international cricket, when a certain looseness outside off stump was exploited by better bowlers than he routinely encountered in county cricket, they worked out that he should change his guard so he was further across the stumps. That way, he could judge which balls to leave with greater certainty of where is off stump was.

"I sat down with Vikram, and we decided the way I was getting out most was pushing at those fifth-stump balls that I should probably be leaving," Pope said.

"So we decided that I should move across slightly in my crease. From a technical point of view that was the main thing: allowing me to line up off stump so I could leave the ball well and actually defend close to my front pad. I've still got that strength of cutting and off my legs as well."

The period also reinforced to him how much he wanted to succeed in the game. He had experienced a first taste of the international game - two Tests against India in the English summer of 2018 - and he desperately wanted more. So he resolved to put away those airy drives and render himself a far tougher batsman to dismiss.

"From a mental point of view, I go back to those three-and-a-half months," he says now. "It gave me a real hunger to come back. It made me that bit hungrier, I think."

As he showed in the latter stages of his innings, though, he still has all the shots. To see him reverse-pull Kagiso Rabada, or ramp Anrich Nortje was to see a special talent just starting to blossom. He may play within himself most of the time, but he clearly has the ability to go up a gear when required. There's no reason at all he shouldn't thrive in England's white-ball teams in due course, as well. They have a bit of a gem here.

But limited-overs cricket can wait. As can a move up the order in Test cricket. It was a mistake to put him at No. 4 on debut and it was a mistake to hand him the gloves, albeit in an emergency, in New Zealand. He needs the sort of management Hick and Ramprakash lacked. With confidence to add to his talent, he can serve England for a decade and more.

"A lot of people chat and say 'he can do this, he can do that' but you're the one who has to go and do it," he said. "So knowing I have it ticked off is nice going forward. It makes you feel more at home in the side. It makes you more confident in yourself and your ability."

There are other architects in this success. For a start, Pope owes a drink to Ben Stokes who persuaded him to call for a review in the nick of time when he was given out leg before on 74. "I thought I'd be walking back to the changing rooms," Pope said. "Stokesey told me to review with two seconds left, but I thought we were clutching at straws. It was a great feeling to see the replays."

England's top-order batsmen, Sibley and Zak Crawley in particular, contributed, too. As Pope put it, "the opening partnership set it all up. The amount of balls they faced meant they took the shine off the ball and we were able to capitalise." This is a team game, after all, and it reflects well on Pope that, in his moment of triumph, he remembered the people who had helped him along the way.

There are some caveats to all this. The Port Elizabeth pitch is unusually slow and Vernon Philander is clearly a man coming to the end of his international career. There were moments in the field when he looked as if he were performing a passable impression of Oliver Hardy. Australia will, no doubt, test him with the short ball - though Rabada and Nortje are hardly slow - and tours of Asia will, no doubt, test his ability to play spin. There will, of course, be some rainy days on his journey. But of all the players in this emerging Test side, perhaps only Jofra Archer has as bright a future.

January 18: Melbourne Stars v Perth Scorchers at Melbourne

Our XI: Marcus Stoinis, Liam Livingstone, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Nick Larkin, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Fawad Ahmed, Chris Jordan, Sandeep Lamichhane, Seb Gotch

NOTE: We might not always be able to tip you off about a late injury (or other relevant updates)

Captain: Glenn Maxwell

There's always been a synergy between Maxwell and the Melbourne Cricket Ground. He's got some special performances there over the years, and it's been no different in this BBL. So far in three matches at this ground in BBL 2019-20, he hasn't been dismissed. The large playing area has also meant he's come on to bowl his offspin in every game. Add to that the fact that Maxwell has been in terrific form this season with the bat, and has picked up crucial wickets at times too, and you've got a ready made all-purpose captain.

Vice-captain: Mitchell Marsh

The Scorchers haven't enjoyed as prolific a run in this tournament as the Stars, but they have had a bona fide star in Mitchell Marsh. The highest run-getter for the team, and he's got his runs at more than 9 per over, Marsh has been the fulcrum of the Scorchers line-up. He hasn't bowled regularly, sending down just 11 overs in 10 games, but even there, he has taken four wickets. If the Scorchers can pull off an upset against the Stars, it's a good bet that Marsh will be at the centre of it.

Hot picks

Marcus Stoinis

There is a strong case to make Stoinis the captain or vice-captain, but going by the purely unscientific - but strangely applicable to cricket - principle of 'he's due a failure', he's been demoted instead. Though if you were to make Stoinis your captain, there would be no solid argument against it. Ten times Stoinis has gone to bat in the tournament, and five of those times he's crossed 50. He's averaging an unbelievable 86.16, and not at the cost of quick-scoring either, as a strike rate of 133.93 shows. All this, and he's still not been called on to bowl.

Sandeep Lamichhane

Lamichhane has gone under the radar a bit with Haris Rauf and Adam Zampa being the Stars' bowling heroes, but he has been very effective. He's got 11 wickets so far in nine matches, the second highest for Stars. With neither Rauf nor Zampa available for this game, the spotlight is Lamichhane's to grab.

Jhye Richardson

The leading wicket-taker for the Scorchers, Richardson will be the man for the key strikes up front and at the death. He's got 13 wickets so far in the tournament, and has been pretty reasonable with his economy rate too, at 7.34. He's even contributed with the bat on one occasion with an unbeaten 33 off 14 balls.

Value picks

Josh Inglis:

One of the Scorchers' more consistent players, Inglis is a good bet to have given his form and his top-order batting position. He's got over 300 runs in the tournament, and he's got the best strike-rate among the Scorchers batsmen, at 159.18. Moreover, he's a wicketkeeper, which always means a greater chance of picking up points in the field.

Fawad Ahmed:

Another one in the family of leggies who have found T20 success, Fawad has proved tough to get away. His subtle variations have kept batsmen guessing, while he has the guile to outfox them and be a proper wicket-taking option in the middle overs too. The large boundaries at the MCG will only help his cause.

Point to note

These two sides played against each other just two days back, and the Stars swatted aside the Scorchers, bowling them out for a paltry 86 and then chasing down the target in 12 overs. One-sided matches tend not to repeat in T20s, but even if you can expect a better fight from the Scorchers, the Stars' form in the BBL and their record of having won all three games at the MCG so far in this tournament makes it difficult to look past them.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh defended Lamar Jackson's playoff failure on Friday, highlighting the progress the quarterback has made in two NFL seasons.

"He's 23 years old. He's younger than Joe Burrow, OK?" Harbaugh said at his end-of-season news conference. "So he's got a pretty good head start right now. I mean, he's along the way. The Manning brothers combined to ... they had five losses in their first five playoff games before they won one. [Joe] Montana, [Steve] Young and [Brett] Favre didn't start a playoff game until their third season. [Drew] Brees and [Troy] Aikman until their fourth season, and [Aaron] Rodgers until his fifth season. Interesting."

Jackson is the front-runner for NFL MVP after becoming the first player to throw for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season. But he wasn't the same dominating force in Saturday's 28-12 divisional playoff loss to the Tennessee Titans, throwing two interceptions and fumbling once.

In two seasons, Jackson is 19-3 in the regular season and 0-2 in the postseason.

Asked if Jackson has a tendency to be too self-critical, Harbaugh said, "I think he understands what it is to take responsibility. And he also has a great sense of urgency to be successful and what it takes to be successful. So no, Lamar doesn't lack for confidence. He's not doubting himself, if that's the implication that those people are making."

Jackson met with Harbaugh in his office "for a good while" Wednesday. Harbaugh asked Jackson where he needs to improve.

"Without getting into what they are specifically, he nailed it, the priority list, in the exact same order that [offensive coordinator Greg Roman] and I nailed the priority list when we were talking on Monday," Harbaugh said.

At the start of the season, the biggest question surrounding the Ravens was whether Jackson could become a legitimate NFL passer. He led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes and finished third in passer rating (113.3).

Last year, Harbaugh acknowledged that some receivers might not be excited to play in Baltimore's offense. Does he anticipate that not being an issue now?

"Yes I do," Harbaugh said. "If you remember last year, I said it in a way like, 'They're going to find out.' Yes, I absolutely believe players are going to be very excited to be here and part of this offense."

NEW ORLEANS -- Lonzo Ball knew just how to celebrate his friend and teammate's big night.

Brandon Ingram was still on the court, doing his postgame television interview after pouring in a career-high 49 points and helping the New Orleans Pelicans end the Utah Jazz's 10-game winning streak with a wild 138-132 victory on Thursday. So Ball made sure every player in the locker room had a bottle of water. Most grabbed two.

When Ingram walked in, the Pelicans did their best to stay calm before dousing the 22-year-old with water from every direction. Televisions, lockers, the floor -- everything was soaked.

Ingram tried to bolt out of the room, but he still got wet.

"Man, I tried to get out as fast I could," Ingram said with a smile. "I know the first person that threw something on me gotta pay for my next hairdo."

It was a jovial atmosphere for the Pelicans after what seemed like a surefire victory was put into peril because of a call at the end of regulation.

New Orleans was up 122-121 with 0.2 seconds to go after Ingram hit a shot over Royce O'Neale. Rudy Gobert then drew a foul on Pelicans rookie Jaxson Hayes before the ball was inbounded for Utah.

After an official review, it was determined Hayes did grab Gobert's arm, sending Gobert to the line.

It was the second time in under two weeks that the officials played a big part in a Jazz-Pelicans game in New Orleans. On Jan. 6, officials ruled that Gobert didn't foul Ingram on a drive to the basket as time expired and Utah escaped with a two-point win. The NBA's Last Two Minute report the next day said Gobert made contact with Ingram's arm and the Pelicans should have had two free throws to try to tie it up.

Utah almost escaped with another victory on Thursday, but Gobert hit only one of two free throws to send the game to overtime.

Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry was fired up about the call but said his players had a calming message on the bench. "They said, 'Don't worry about it, we'll win the game in overtime,'" he said.

Pelicans center Derrick Favors, who finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds and had a team-high seven points in the overtime period, said regrouping on the bench helped the team get back in the game.

"I think guys on the bench were just kind of like, 'Not again,'" Favors said. "We took a minute, took five breaths and said we've got to let that go and move on. That's what we did."

New Orleans fell behind by as many as five in the overtime period but held Utah scoreless over the final 2:28 to come away with the six-point victory.

The Pelicans made all four field goals they attempted in overtime and went 8-for-14 from the free throw line while Ingram led the charge. Ingram went 5-of-9 from the line but had three drives in the lane where he dropped it off to Favors for easy buckets.

Ingram had 13 points in the third quarter and 14 points in the fourth to help him reach his career high. He went 15-for-25 from the field, 3-for-8 from deep and 16-for-20 from the line (career high in free throws made and attempted).

He joined Shaquille O'Neal and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only players in NBA history to score 49 or more points on 25 or fewer shots before turning 23, and the 49 points are the second most in a game this season by a player with 25 or fewer shot attempts.

"I felt good," Ingram said. "I think the guys did a good job of seeing me when I was open. I just took whatever the defense gave me, and [Favors] did a really good job on screen-and-roll and just getting my man off me a little bit. ... Overall, it felt pretty good."

Ingram, who is ninth in Western Conference frontcourt All-Star voting, is enjoying a career season in New Orleans. He's averaging 25.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists -- all career highs -- while also shooting 48 percent from the field, 40.6 percent from deep and 86 percent from the line.

Ball, who played with Ingram the past two seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers before the two were dealt to New Orleans, fired off a tweet minutes after the game advocating for Ingram to be in the All-Star Game.

"He's been in the gym the last three years. The only thing that's slowed him down has been injuries," Ball said. "This is his fourth year, and he came into his own. It's Brandon Ingram time now.

"Since I've known him, he's been a confident person. But this year, he's been on another level. Obviously, he knows he's our go-to guy on this team and we trust him."

Ingram's career night helped the Pelicans stave off a Jazz team that had won 15 of its previous 16 games. It also put a damper on Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell's night, as he tied a career high with 46 points.

Just as the Pelicans rode Ingram in the second half, the Jazz went the way Mitchell took them. He scored 36 of his points after halftime but went 2-for-9 in overtime as the Pelicans left with the win.

"Our guys have been terrific in the clutch," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. "Tonight we'd been getting some stops. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get some key stops and some couple of key defensive rebounds."

The Jazz had the referee's whistle go against them in overtime when Gobert fouled out with 1:19 to play with Utah up 132-130. Snyder challenged the call, but after a review, it stood.

In a pool report, crew chief Mark Ayotte said, "We did not see clear and conclusive evidence to overturn the play."

Favors, who had played with Mitchell the previous two years in Utah, said it was fun to watch the two young guns go at it.

"Donovan was a good player, too. He can make a lot of plays, can shoot the ball really well and attack the rim," Favors said. "He put a lot of pressure on the defense."

According to ESPN Stats & Information research, it's just the fourth time in the past 10 seasons that two opposing players have scored at least 45 points in the same game.

With the win, New Orleans improved to 9-3 since Dec. 23 with only the Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks and Jazz having better records over that time. Zion Williamson is expected to make his debut next week -- and the Pelicans have the easiest remaining schedule in the league, according to ESPN's BPI.

So the only bad thing to look at postgame was Ingram falling a point short of his first career 50-point game. That's not something he's too worried about, though.

"No, [the chance for 50] will come again," Ingram said. "My mom is gonna be more upset than me. But it will come again."

NEW YORK -- Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo, Boston's Jayson Tatum and Dallas' Luka Doncic are seeing their jerseys sell more briskly than ever, the NBA said Friday when announcing its latest list of most popular merchandise.

LeBron James still has the most popular jersey, part of the reason why the Los Angeles Lakers remain atop the team rankings based on sales made at NBAStore.com from October through December.

Antetokounmpo was No. 2 jersey on the sales list, followed by Golden State's Stephen Curry, Tatum, Houston's James Harden and Doncic.

Also in the top 10 in jerseys are a pair of players on new teams -- the Los Angeles Clippers' Kawhi Leonard and the Lakers' Anthony Davis -- in seventh and eighth. They're followed by Philadelphia's Joel Embiid and Brooklyn's Kyrie Irving.

New Orleans' Zion Williamson sits at No. 15 in top jersey sales, notable because the No. 1 overall pick from the 2019 draft has yet to make his regular-season debut. The Pelicans believe that will happen Wednesday against San Antonio.

Boston is No. 2 in team merchandise behind the Lakers and Philadelphia is third. NBA champion Toronto was fourth, a franchise best, followed by No. 5 Milwaukee.

The rest of the team merchandise top 10: Golden State, Houston, Chicago, Miami and Brooklyn. The Nets made the top 10 for the first time since 2014.

NEW YORK -- Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving said he has spoken to teammates about comments in which he listed the players he saw as being a part of the team's future.

"I reached out to make sure nothing was taken out of context -- making sure that the guys knew exactly what I meant," Irving said on Friday after practice. "And that is the only thing that matters. Everyone can say, 'If I was in this position, I would've said this, I would've done this.' They have have no idea because they've never been at this level, so how could you even comment on it?"

He continued: "The most important thing is making sure these guys -- they have the belief in themselves and I continue to reiterate that confidence we have as a team. It is going to come down to that in order to be at a championship level to compete against the West, we need more. It is what it is."

Following Wednesday night's loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, Irving told reporters that he felt it was "glaring" that the Nets "need one or two more pieces to complement" himself, Kevin Durant, DeAndre Jordan, Garrett Temple, Spencer Dinwiddie and Caris LeVert.

Irving, Durant, Jordan and Temple are each in their first season with the Nets, with Durant expected to miss the entire season as he recovers from an Achilles injury. Irving himself has missed 26 games with a right shoulder impingement, with Wednesday's game being his third since returning.

Irving insisted that his comments after the Sixers game were not meant to implore the Nets' front office to make significant moves before the Feb. 6 trade deadline. Instead, Irving said, he was trying to give an honest assessment of where the Nets are nearly midway through the season. Currently, Brooklyn holds an 18-22 record -- good for eighth in the Eastern Conference. The eighth seed, though, is not the goal Irving had for the Nets when the season began.

"I think we have championship aspirations," Irving said. "Do we want to be the eighth seed going into the playoffs? The seventh seed? But you're able to be real with the team that you have here, and you're able to collectively, cohesively come together as a group. That is what you figure out. But the goals are still to win a championship. I don't come in every day to frickin' be mediocre or to be in the middle of the standings."

Irving admitted on Friday that he could have "reworded" his comments after the game in Philadelphia and said that he probably should have "said a few names so it didn't feel like no one was getting underneath the bus, like I was not leaving anyone out."

Irving's comments in Philadelphia once again opened the door to debate the All-Star point guard's leadership abilities. Irving has publicly criticized his teammates before. After one loss to the Magic in January 2019 when Irving was playing for the Boston Celtics, Irving told reporters, "The young guys don't know what it takes to be a championship team."

Whether or not it was meant maliciously, it caused a rift in the Celtics' locker room. In Brooklyn, though, Irving's teammates have continually praised his leadership. Irving said on Friday that he doesn't have control over the narrative that he is a bad leader, and all he can do is "continue to be a pillar in our locker room."

"I'm going to continue to push," Irving said. "I'm going to continue to demand greatness out of myself and demand greatness out of my teammates and we go from there. If it's harsh as a leader or too much for anybody, if you're not in our locker room, stay the f--- out. It's as simple as that."

The Nets' schedule doesn't get easier in the upcoming week. On Saturday, they face the Milwaukee Bucks, the No. 1 team in the NBA. Then they host Philadelphia and the Los Angeles Lakers.

"I feel like they've taken this dominative approach where they're just coming in and smashing teams," Irving said of the Bucks.

The Nets will be without Jordan for a few games. The center dislocated his finger against the 76ers. The team said the injury will not require surgery and that Jordan will be reevaluated the week of Jan. 20.