MANCHESTER, England -- After 157 goalless minutes of Manchester United's FA Cup third-round tie with Wolves, a red shirt raced through on goal. Had it been anyone else, Old Trafford might have held its collective breath, but it was Juan Mata, and one delicate clip over John Ruddy later, the hosts were on their way to a 1-0 win in Wednesday's replay.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's new United have their own qualities -- pace, energy and youthful exuberance among them -- but at times, they lack a calmness that comes with experience. At 31, Mata has it in bucket loads and that is why he is still so valuable. In the short term, his goal set up a fourth-round tie with either Watford or Tranmere. The bigger picture -- and the reason he was handed a new contract in the summer -- is that he can aid the development of Solskjaer's young charges.

The hope is that Marcus Rashford -- who was forced off with a back injury -- Anthony Martial, Andreas Pereira, Mason Greenwood and Brandon Williams can learn a lot from a player who is closing in on 600 senior appearances and has won almost everything, including the World Cup.

After spending much of his United career on the right wing under David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho, Solskjaer has brought him back in from the periphery.

Playing as the No. 10 against Norwich on Saturday, he set up goals for Rashford and Martial in a comfortable 4-0 win. Picked against Wolves, he was at it again after just three minutes, lifting a pass over the top for Daniel James to chase. It was only the third time this season Mata has started back-to-back games, but he did more than enough to suggest he should be in Solskjaer's team on Sunday at Anfield, where he scored both goals in a 2-1 win in March 2015.

Without his 67th-minute goal against Wolves -- his second of the season -- these two teams might still have been playing on Sunday.

There was, at least, more excitement in 45 minutes at Old Trafford than there had been in an hour and half at Molineux. James went through twice from clipped balls over the top from Mata and then Fred. Ruddy, in for his usual cup stint in place of Rui Patricio, saved from Mata and Martial.

United also had their No. 2 in goal, Sergio Romero, and the Argentinian was needed after eight minutes when Raul Jimenez got his shot away after creating space with a delicate touch that was too clever for Williams and Harry Maguire.

Two minutes later, Wolves had the ball in the net, but United were given a let off that their calamitous defending did not deserve. Fred rifled a pass against Nemanja Matic, Jimenez beat Maguire in a battle for the loose ball and Pedro Neto tucked away his finish. It was the type of goal Solskjaer would not have wanted to watch again, but fortunately for him, VAR Simon Hooper did and noticed the ball leaping up off Maguire and hitting Jimenez's hand.

United got another warning after half an hour when Matt Doherty's header came back of the inside of the post, although the Wolves defender had strayed an arm's length offside so the goal wouldn't have counted anyway.

Then, finally, a breakthrough.

Wolves failed to deal with Maguire's hopeful ball up the left touchline, and as Martial picked up the scraps, the visitors' defence parted for Mata to race towards Ruddy. It was a moment that called for a cool head and Mata delivered, lifting the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper to win the game and give Solskjaer a couple of more days of breathing space.

When Mata released his autobiography this season, he sent each United player a copy with a personal message of encouragement inside, and at full time against Wolves, he congratulated each of his team-mates before leaving the pitch.

"When you have players like Sergio, David [De Gea], Nemanja and Juan in this group, they are boys with perspective," Solskjaer said afterwards.

"They have great experience, seen good times and bad times, and they're helping the young lads through this season. They've been top."

It is part of Mata's role as a senior member of the squad. Solskjaer has included the Spaniard in a "leadership group" that also includes Maguire, Rashford, Ashley Young and De Gea in an attempt to bridge the gap between the dressing room and the manager's office.

He is the go-between off the pitch as well as on it, playing between the lines to link midfield with attack.

Approaching the sixth anniversary of his move from Chelsea to Old Trafford, United fans still stop him in the street to talk about that overhead kick against Liverpool in 2015. Another one at Anfield on Sunday would cap a perfect week for Solskjaer's calm, quiet leader.

James Anderson says that the injury that forced his withdrawal from England's tour of South Africa was the "most pain I've ever been in on a cricket field", but insists he may yet be fit to take part in the tour of Sri Lanka in March, after being diagnosed with a broken rib.

Anderson, who claimed 5 for 40 in the first innings of last week's second Test in Cape Town, was restricted to eight overs on the final day of England's victory push, and just two in the final session, after confiding to his team-mate Stuart Broad that he feared he had "ripped a muscle off the rib".

Speaking on his BBC "Tailenders" podcast, Anderson described how he first suspected he had a problem during an exploratory over with the new ball before lunch, but that it was his two-over burst immediately after tea, with England still needing five wickets to force victory, that confirmed his participation in the tour was about to end.

"I felt a bit of side soreness from the first Test," Anderson said. "I felt fine throughout that second Test, bowled six overs on the final morning and felt pretty good. We took the new ball just before lunch and it didn't feel right.

"I didn't bowl again until after tea. We needed some wickets and Joe [Root] asked if I was able to have a go.

"I was in the most pain I've ever been in on a cricket field. I couldn't pull through properly. It was hurting every time I bowled, so I knew there was something not right."

Anderson's initial fear was that the injury was a torn muscle, which would have entailed a lay-off of up to four months - and given that he was restricted to just four overs during last summer's Ashes after aggravating a calf injury, that sort of prognosis could well have jeopardised his preparations for this summer's home Tests against West Indies and Pakistan.

"I was saying to Stuart Broad 'I think there's something really wrong here' I thought I'd ripped a muscle off the rib, so a broken rib isn't the worst outcome"

"I was saying to Stuart Broad 'I think there's something really wrong here'," Anderson said. "I thought I'd ripped a muscle off the rib, so a broken rib isn't the worst outcome. A torn muscle would be anywhere from two, three or four months. A broken rib will hopefully be healed in three or four weeks."

The circumstances of the injury were something of a mystery to England's medical team, who initially assumed he must have been struck in the ribs while batting.

"I'd have remembered if I'd been hit," said Anderson. "They think it is through the constant force of me bowling. The muscles were strong enough, but the bone wasn't.

"They said it doesn't look like a stress fracture, it's actually cracked. They said they'd not seen one like this in a bowler before.

"It's just a case of waiting for the bone to heal. I can do anything that doesn't hurt, so hopefully my fitness won't drop off too much. I can still do stuff in the gym.

"Once the bone has healed, I can get straight back into it. It might be three weeks before the bone has healed properly, then I can get straight back into it."

Anderson's optimism confirms his hunger to fight back from this latest set-back and extend his Test career - he is currently 16 wickets shy of becoming the first fast bowler in history to reach 600 Test wickets.

ALSO READ: Ollie Pope leading the charge for England's young guns

And despite intimating recently that he would be willing to skip the tour of Sri Lanka in March - where he played a bit-part role last year in England's 3-0 series win - he is now hopeful of putting his name back in the frame, and dispelling any suggestion that, at the age of 37, his illustrious 17-year England career is about to come to an end.

"I'm not ruling out being fit for the Sri Lanka trip," he said. "Obviously I'm absolutely devastated not to be part of the last two Tests, especially having bowled really well in the second Test.

"I know a lot does get talked about as you get older, but it's more knowing within yourself. I thought I could still do it, but you don't know unless you do it on the field.

"That will help me through the next few weeks, knowing that I want to come back stronger and still play a part in this England side."

Anderson still managed to play an important role in England's victory push, taking the catch at leg gully to dislodge the obdurate Rassie van der Dussen for 17. And he was able to take pride in the progress of a young team featuring four players under the age of 22.

"I feel like we progressed as a team in that week and I'm sure they will continue to do in the next couple of games," he said. "It was a bit subdued from my point of view, but one of the best wins I've been a part of.

"Obviously it didn't end well, but it made all the hard work worthwhile, proving to myself that I can still do it.

Ireland 208 for 7 (Stirling 95, O'Brien 48, Bravo 2-28, Cottrell 2-37, Pierre 2-45) beat West Indies 204 for 7 (Lewis 53, Pollard 31, Little 3-29, Young 2-31) by four runs

Ireland had come desperately close to beating West Indies in the second match of their ODI series. On Wednesday, they actually got over the line, in one of the strangest and most seesawing T20 games you'll see. They looked like they were running away with it for the first quarter of the match, thanks to a barnstorming 47-ball 95 from Paul Stirling, but West Indies clawed their way back with a brilliant display of T20 bowling smarts led by Dwayne Bravo, who was playing his first international match in three-and-a-half years.

Instead of a target in the 240-250 range, which looked eminently possible at one stage, West Indies were set 209 to win. They were always in touch with their required rate, with every member of their top six getting among the runs, but they somehow - not least thanks to some brave bowling choices and brilliant catching from Ireland - fell narrowly short.

Sensational Stirling, brilliant Bravo

Of the eight batsmen to have got past the 2000-run mark in T20Is, David Warner has the best strike rate, 140.85. Who's second, at 139.77?

You've read the headline of this report, so you know who it is. And yes, Stirling has played a large proportion of his T20Is against non-Full-Member or lower-ranked-Full-Member teams. But he can do it against the top teams too.

Just ask West Indies, who seemed in utter disarray when he was in the middle. At the six-over mark, Ireland were 93 for no loss. No team had previously scored that many runs in the powerplay of a T20I game for which ESPNcricinfo has ball-by-ball data. The pitch in Grenada was flat, but Ireland's openers were also in rare form, with Stirling punishing anything in his arc with clean hits down the ground, and Kevin O'Brien pulling even marginally short balls for six.

At the 12-over mark, Ireland were still on course for a gargantuan total, with Stirling and O'Brien having moved them to 153 for no loss and set a new record for Irish first-wicket partnerships.

But this was Bravo's comeback game, and he wasn't going to let it slip by without making some noise of his own. His first over had gone for 18, with Stirling taking his first three balls for 4, 6, 6. He was picking Bravo's famous slower ball out of his hand, holding his shape, and launching him dismissively down the ground.

This pitch wasn't one for floaty slower balls, so Bravo went to his other famous weapon, and fired in three yorkers in a row. O'Brien kept out the first two, but he couldn't stop the third one, dipping late with a tiny bit of inward swerve, from crashing into his off stump.

That ball was the start of a dramatic mid-innings slump that saw Ireland losing 4 for 10, including the wicket of Stirling - who for once miscued a slog-sweep in an innings full of mighty slog-sweeps - in 19 balls. Bravo began the slide, but equally important was the quickish turn and variety of Hayden Walsh, whom Ireland's batsmen struggled to pick.

Gary Wilson and Gareth Delany got Ireland moving again with a 35-run stand, in 17 balls, for the fifth wicket, but Bravo came back and conceded just four runs in the 19th over, which included another dipping yorker to bowl Delany, and Sheldon Cottrell finished off with wickets off the last two balls of the innings, having conceded only six runs off the over, to suck away their momentum again. In all, Ireland only made 55 in their last eight overs.

Ireland tear up the match-up rulebook

West Indies know how to chase 10 runs an over, and they were going about it clinically, reaching 105 for 2 at the halfway mark. Evin Lewis, carrying on his rich form from the ODIs, had scored 53 of those runs before falling to a Craig Young slower ball in the ninth over, and Shimron Hetmyer was taking the baton from him, clattering two sixes to get to 21 off 14.

Ireland had used George Dockrell's left-arm spin against two left-hand batsmen in the eighth over, and Hetmyer and Lewis had hit him for three sixes and taken him for 21 runs. Now, in the 11th over, Dockrell came back with one left-hander still at the crease.

A single to Kieron Pollard first ball brought Hetmyer on strike, and he immediately hit the next ball for six, clearing long-off with ease. That ball was outside off stump, but within Hetmyer's hitting arc. Dockrell moved his line wider, Hetmyer tried to take on long-off once more, failed to get the desired elevation, and nearly offered the fielder a catch.

When he came back on strike for the last ball of the over, Dockrell dangled up another ball wide of off stump. Hetmyer went for it again, failed to connect cleanly once again, and this time long-off moved in quicker and dived forward to take a low catch.

At the start of the 15th over, West Indies needed 59 off 36 with seven wickets in hand, and Pollard on 31 off 13, striking the ball beautifully. Ireland brought the offspinner Simi Singh back into the attack. Pollard had hit Simi for a six and a four in his previous over; could Andy Balbirnie have turned to the legbreaks of Delany instead?

As it happened, Simi decided to bowl legspin himself. The first ball was punched back to the bowler. Pollard went after the second, went a little too hard at it, lost his shape, and holed out to long-on. The shot may have come about because West Indies had played out five dots in a row, with Josh Little tucking Nicholas Pooran up for room in his previous over, and foxing him with his pace variations.

Bravo falls narrowly short of fairytale finish

Pooran's struggle continued into the 17th over, when Dockrell, continuing to bowl a wide line to the left-handers, beat him three times in a row. He was anxious, looking to hit the ball too hard, and was on 12 off 19 balls at the end of that over, with West Indies needing 43 off 18.

Having swung one way, the match immediately swung the other, with Sherfane Rutherford clattering a pair of sixes, over long-off and wide long-on, off the first two balls of the next over, bowled by Barry McCarthy. Pooran came on strike for the fourth ball, and suddenly discovered some clarity, carving McCarthy for a pair of fours through the off side, and launching him for a straight six in between.

The seesawing wasn't quite done yet, though, with Pooran picking out deep backward square leg in the next over, and Bravo coming in and playing out successive dots off Young in a 19th over that went for just three runs.

This left West Indies 13 to get off the last over, which would be bowled by Little. Rutherford fell first ball, miscuing a leg-side heave, before Bravo put the pressure back on Ireland with a trademark pull-whip for six. Seven off four became five off two, and another pull-whip brought the stadium off its feet only for a sudden hush to descend as the ball disappeared inside deep midwicket's hands. Hayden Walsh had to hit a six to win it, or a four to tie, but Little nailed a blockhole ball that he simply couldn't put bat to, and Ireland, despite all the lost momentum, were over the line.

Sophie Molineux has returned to the Australia side after she took mental health leave and the teenager Annabel Sutherland is in line for her international debut at the T20 World Cup that will culminate in the tournament final at the MCG on March 8 - international women's day.

In a squad that will face enormous expectations to defend the title they won in the Caribbean in 2018, Molineux and Sutherland were the standout additions to what is an otherwise highly settled group, forcing out the likes of Molly Strano, Tahlia McGrath, Belinda Vakarewa and Heather Graham from an event that the Australian team has been building towards for quite some time.

Led by Meg Lanning, the tournament hosts will also take part in a preliminary triangular series against England and India, before warm-up matches against West Indies and South Africa. They kick-off the T20 World Cup proper against India at Sydney Showground on February 21.

ALSO READ: The mindset change that transformed Australia's T20 cricket

"This was an incredibly difficult side to pick with selectors looking at the overall mix of the squad and the roles required, and we feel we've got great cover for all teams and scenarios," the national selector Shawn Flegler said. "The tri-series will be the perfect warm-up against two of the best sides in the world and will give the team the chance to finalise its preparations ahead of the World Cup.

"We've had a really stable squad over the last few years and having players such as Molly Strano, Tahlia McGrath, Belinda Vakarewa and Heather Graham miss out illustrates the depth of Australian cricket. All four of these players are really unlucky to miss out but at the same time could come into the side at any stage and play a role."

Sutherland, who missed part of the WBBL to complete her Year 12 exams late last year, took nine wickets in six matches against India A across the one-day and T20 formats. She has shown impressive form at the resumption of the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) with scores of 43 and 67 alongside four wickets in two games.

"We're really please for Annabel Sutherland, who has been playing domestic cricket for a few years now, as well as being a part of Australia A and Under-19 sides," Flegler said. "She has progressed significantly over the past few months. Anyone who has seen her play will know how special a talent she is, and we know that if called upon she'll be able to play a variety of roles in the side. This will be another terrific experience for someone who we see as the future of Australian cricket."

Molineux, 21, withdrew from this season's WBBL to look after her mental health after playing the Melbourne Renegades' first 10 games of the competition, and will be closely monitored by the national team's staff over the build-up to the T20 World Cup. She has played 17 T20Is taking 16 wickets at 21.37 and an economy rate of 5.94 and was part of the team that won the previous tournament in the Caribbean.

"It's also really pleasing to welcome Sophie Molineux back into the side, having spent some time out of the game for mental health reasons and getting her shoulder right," Flegler said. "She was part of the side that won the 2018 World Cup and is a multi-skilled player that offers us another left-arm spinning option alongside Jess Jonassen. Sophie made herself available for both tours and we'll continue to manage her health as we go along. Her health is our number one priority.

"For most players this was one of the biggest selections of their career with not many people getting to play in a World Cup in front of a home crowd, but we're really confident this squad can go out and defend its title and do Australia proud."

The money that Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. distributed on the field after LSU's national championship victory Monday was real, Tigers quarterback Joe Burrow said in a podcast interview released Wednesday.

"I'm not a student-athlete anymore, so I can say yeah," Burrow said on the most recent episode of Barstool Sports' "Pardon My Take."

The university's athletic department issued a statement Wednesday saying it was aware of video showing "apparent cash" being given to players by Beckham and that it has been in contact with the NCAA and the SEC regarding the matter.

"We are aware of the situation regarding Odell Beckham Jr. interacting with LSU student-athletes and others unaffiliated with the team following the championship game Monday night," the LSU statement said. "Initial information suggested bills that were exchanged were novelty bills. Information and footage reviewed since shows apparent cash may have also been given to LSU student-athletes.

"We were in contact with the NCAA and the SEC immediately upon learning of this situation in which some of our student-athletes may have been placed in a compromising position. We are working with our student-athletes, the NCAA and the SEC in order to rectify the situation."

An LSU spokesperson on Tuesday morning had told the Baton Rouge Advocate that the money being handed out on the field by Beckham, a former LSU star, was counterfeit.

In a now-private Twitter video that initially went viral, Beckham was filmed handing out what appeared to be real cash to LSU players in the aftermath of the Tigers' 42-25 victory against Clemson for the university's first national championship since 2007.

After the game, LSU coach Ed Orgeron said he wasn't aware of the incident.

"First I'm hearing about it," Orgeron told reporters in New Orleans after the game.

If the money being doled out by Beckham was real, as Burrow said Tuesday, it would be a violation of NCAA bylaws. Cash is an example of impermissible benefits that are prohibited by the governing body.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Guard Damion Lee signed a multiyear contract with the Warriors on Wednesday, as expected, given his time as a two-way player had expired and Golden State wanted to keep him for the remainder of the season.

The team also brought back forward Marquese Chriss as a two-way player after he had been waived to clear room for Lee's promotion. With Lee coming up, that left an open two-way spot and Chriss came through waivers and was available.

Chriss, 22, will split time with the Santa Cruz Warriors of the G League. He has provided a boost for the injury-plagued Warriors after signing as a free agent in late September, averaging 7.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 17.7 minutes over 37 games with three starts.

Coach Steve Kerr was asked before Tuesday's 124-97 home defeat to the Dallas Mavericks whether it surprised him Chriss remained available.

"It did. I guess the one thing that maybe hurt him in terms of not being picked up was the trade deadline coming up and teams wanted to hang on to roster spots and flexibility. That would be my only guess, but we are the beneficiaries of that," Kerr said. "Assuming everything goes cleanly tomorrow, it would be good to get him back and back in the flow."

The 27-year-old Lee, Golden State star Stephen Curry's brother-in-law, also spent last season as a two-way player. With all the Warriors' injuries this season, he has provided valuable minutes and contributions. He is averaging 12.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists playing 26.8 minutes over 26 games with 13 starts.

ATLANTA -- Atlanta Hawks forward Chandler Parsons was involved in an automobile accident after practice Wednesday.

The team said Parsons sustained a concussion and whiplash.

Parsons will enter the NBA's concussion protocol and won't travel with the Hawks for their game Friday at San Antonio.

The Hawks provided no additional details on the accident.

Parsons is in his first and likely only season with Atlanta, which acquired him from Memphis last summer in a trade of overpriced players.

The 31-year-old Parsons is making more than $25 million in the final year of his contract. He has played just five games for the rebuilding Hawks, averaging 2.8 points.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

BOSTON -- Alex Cora admitted to playing a central role in the sign-stealing scheme that the Houston Astros used in their 2017 World Series title run, according to the brass for his current team, the Boston Red Sox.

Red Sox owner John Henry, chairman Tom Werner, president Sam Kennedy and chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom addressed the media for the first time since Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch were suspended by MLB and subsequently fired. Cora was mentioned prominently in MLB's ruling, and he and the Red Sox decided to part ways Tuesday night.

"Alex, by his own admission, we agreed, played a central role in what happened in Houston," Werner said. "And we all agreed that it was wrong, and we had a responsibility as stewards, as John has said, to have a standard here where that sort of behavior is not acceptable."

When Astros owner Jim Crane dramatically announced on live television that he was letting go of Hinch and Luhnow, the architects of the analytics-driven behemoth in Houston, the focus turned to Boston and its 44-year-old manager.

"It's not ideal," Henry said. "It's not what we would like to be doing at this point. We were all surprised to read this report on Monday. But this is ... I don't know if you would call it a logical conclusion, but this is where we are as a result of that."

When asked about the ongoing investigation by MLB into the allegations that the Red Sox stole signs during their 2018 World Series run using the video replay room, the leadership group repeatedly declined to comment and added that the league has directed them not to talk about the investigation. Red Sox officials noted that it was made clear to Cora what the rules were regarding the use of in-game video.

"Regarding the ongoing investigation here in Boston, MLB is doing a thorough investigation -- as thorough as what took place in Houston -- and we believe that all the facts will be ascertained," Henry read from a prepared statement. "We would ask that everyone reserve judgment until MLB completes its investigation and determines whether rules were violated."

The Red Sox officials were asked if they believe Boston beat the L.A. Dodgers fair and square in 2018, when they clinched a World Series title in five games.

"Absolutely, yes," Kennedy said.

On Monday, MLB said that the investigation into the Red Sox is ongoing and that a punishment for Cora is coming soon. The statement on the Astros mentions Cora's name on 11 different occasions, saying that he was the only coach or front-office person who actively helped implement the system the Astros used to steal signs.

The Red Sox decided not to wait for Cora's punishment to make a decision, especially with the team's Winter Weekend event on Friday and Saturday, where Cora was scheduled to appear. Kennedy added that the team deciding to part ways with Cora was "exclusively" related to the results of the report on the Astros and unrelated to the ongoing investigation in Boston.

"We met with Alex yesterday, and as John has said, everyone went into that meeting trying to answer the question, 'What was in the best interest of the Boston Red Sox?'" Werner said. "Alex was professional, understanding that he had made a mistake, so after a couple of conversations, we all mutually agreed that we needed to part ways. ... He admitted that what he did was wrong, but that doesn't mitigate, in our opinion, the extraordinary talent that he has. And we continue to be very fond of Alex."

The most awkward moment of the news conference arose when the Red Sox leadership group was asked if they believe Cora will ever manage again in the big leagues. After a long pause, Kennedy jumped in to answer.

"I think Alex is an incredibly talented manager, and accomplished great things with us," Kennedy said. "And he's now -- he expressed remorse; he apologized yesterday to us for the embarrassment that this caused. And I think, he'll go through a process of rehabilitation and we'll see what happens. It'd be hard to speculate, but he is an extreme talent."

Bloom did not rule out an interim managerial solution for the 2020 season but said he'd like to "get it done as soon as possible." He also did not rule out the possibility that the team could enter spring training without a manager.

"There's no question it's an unusual time to be doing a managerial search -- being at the point in the winter that we are, being this close to spring training," Bloom said. "It's impossible for that not to be a factor in how we process, but it's not going to be the only factor, and we want to make sure we do this justice."

Bloom acknowledged that the new manager enters a "unique situation."

"We would want to make sure that whoever is in that chair next has the ability to handle it," he said.

Several longtime former managers are on the market, such as Bruce Bochy, Buck Showalter, Mike Scioscia and Dusty Baker, but Bloom is known for his analytically driven approach. He said he doesn't like to categorize people by their age or experience level.

"In my past with the Rays, I worked with someone who would probably roll his eyes to hear me say this, but over time especially as [Joe Maddon] got some tenure on the job, became one of the older managers in baseball and then worked with one of the youngest," Bloom said. "Everyone brings different things to the table. I don't like to categorize people, typecast people. It's unfair to them and in doing that, it would be unfair to us. It's the sum total of all the characters that someone brings to the table."

Bloom shared his disappointment that he would not be working with Cora, once one of the main attractions of the Red Sox baseball operations department.

"It's really disappointing. I told you guys on that day that I had really high regard for his talents as a manager and I still do," Bloom said. "Unfortunately because of what came out in that report, it just wasn't possible... Although I don't know him as well as the other folks that were up on the stage with me, I would echo everything. It was very clear in the time we spent together and getting to know each other that he was an extremely impressive person and there's nothing but sadness that this is where we are."

Over the course of the 45-minute news conference, the Red Sox leadership group praised Cora for everything from his passion, to his energy, to his sense of humor and his ability to work with all personality types. But they stressed that Boston's focus now must turn toward the new season, despite the dark cloud of MLB's investigation.

"Well, of course it's disappointing, but yesterday we all mutually agreed that Alex couldn't lead this organization going forward," Werner said. "And so we've turned the page, and after this press conference, we're gonna address the 2020 season. So we move on."

BBC Weather presenter Simon King brings the forecast for Australia amid the ongoing bushfires in the country.

Tennis' Australian Open is due to start on Monday 20 January in Melbourne but qualifying was cancelled on Wednesday.

READ MORE: Australian Open qualifying cancelled