It was a New Zealand surgeon who helped put James Pattinson back together and now the quick bowler will hope to show the full benefits of his career-saving treatment against the Trans-Tasman rivals.

Barring a late injury or other unforeseen developments, Pattinson is all but locked in to play his first home Test in nearly four years, on his home ground at the MCG, as Josh Hazlewood's replacement on Boxing Day. It follows his return to the Test scene during the Ashes, where he played two of the five Tests, at Edgbaston and Headingley, having gone under the knife in 2017 with the operation on his spine carried out by New Zealander Grahame Inglis.

He has had to bide his time since and, had it not been for the injury to Hazlewood, faced the prospect of going through the season without a Test appearance. At the beginning of the summer, it was billed as a head-to-head with Mitchell Starc - who is now in career-best form - but Pattinson was ruled out of contention for the Brisbane Test against Pakistan due to his code of conduct suspension, following the slur against Cameron Gannon in the Sheffield Shield match at the MCG.

Pattinson, who has played just 19 Tests since his debut in 2011, acknowledged he would learn from his errors but said he wouldn't be toning down his aggression in the middle.

"I just play cricket the way I know how to," he said. "I suppose if that's pushing the line, it's pushing the line. I think when you go through setbacks like being suspended you have to think about that a little bit more, but I think I get the best out of my cricket when I'm getting up there and going 100%.

"I'm not going to hold back, there's a line, sometimes you cross it, and if I look back on it you learn from those mistakes and you try to address them."

When coach Justin Langer effectively rubberstamped Pattinson's recall yesterday (and when the squad was named last week) he spoke of Pattinson's hunger to make up for lost time. Pattinson reiterated it.

"I've been through a lot of setbacks, the hunger has always been there, so hopefully if I'm rewarded with a game I can put in a good performance," Pattinson said on Monday. "You always have to expect things could pass you by after being through so much disappointment with my back, it's always in the back of your mind, but I like to keep a good mind on things and work one day at time."

Team-mates are looking forward to him translating his form in training to the middle. "Fingers crossed he gets through the next few days and gets all his bowling done in the middle, because he hasn't been much fun to face in the nets," Matthew Wade said.

His home return against New Zealand brings him up against an opponent he has had considerable success against with 20 wickets at 17.70 in three Tests. He made his debut against them at the Gabba in 2011, where he took 5 for 27 in the second innings, which was followed by another five-for in the first innings of the next match in Hobart, although that was a Test Australia would go on to lose by seven runs.

During the Ashes, he formed pace attacks alongside Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Peter Siddle, but this Boxing Day Test will be first time he makes a trio with Pat Cummins and Starc - the three fastest bowlers currently in contention for the Test side.

"I'm pretty excited by the opportunity," Pattinson said. "Through my whole career I've played a lot of cricket with Patty and Mitch and a lot against them in under-age stuff, so to hopefully get a chance to play for them for Australia is pretty exciting."

Following his five wickets in the two Ashes Tests, Pattinson has taken 14 Sheffield Shield scalps at 28.64 this season and one of his outings was on the MCG pitch for the match against Queensland, which was highly rated and is hoped will be the basis for the Test strip after concerns following the abandonment earlier this month.

"It was a good cricket wicket, we got a result late on day four which is great," he said. "Both teams were in with a chance the whole game. There was a bit of movement for the bowlers and you could score runs as well. Hopefully it's an exciting wicket."

New Zealand have not had the most conventional of build-ups to either of the Tests in this series, playing a day-nighter in Perth with just three days' preparation and now having to navigate a brief Melbourne heatwave which left them with a single day of middle practice ahead of the Boxing Day Test.

However, they have been industrious in making best use of what has been available, which includes Trent Boult briefly swapping sides and playing for a Victoria XI in order to get overs under his belt ahead of a comeback from his side injury. It will be a huge boost for New Zealand to have him with the new ball in hand even though it will remain a case of what-might-have-been with the pink one.

Boult faced his own team-mates on Friday as they took on a local XI on what was due to be the second day of the match. Instead, New Zealand used it all for batting with the exception of Boult who sent down 11 overs for the opposition and managed to remove Tom Latham.

"I was a proud representative of Victoria yesterday," Boult said with a smile. "It was good fun. Nice to get some overs under my belt and field for a bit and get a bit of time in the legs. It's all going well. I think I've ticked the right boxes in terms of my rehab and my preparations.

"I wanted to sledge Wags [Neil Wagner] but he wasn't out there long enough."

Jokes aside, it was important for Boult to have at least some semi-competitive overs under his belt having not bowled in a match since late November when he suffered the side strain in the opening Test against England.

It was Boult himself who decided he wasn't quite ready to return in Perth but he is now primed to lead New Zealand's attack as they look to bounce back from the crushing 296-run defeat in front of what could be more than 80,000 people on Boxing Day including a large number of supporters from across the Tasman.

"Anyone who's coming back from injury will tell you that there are a few psychological walls you need to break through," he said. "But I feel I'm lucky enough to have had a taste of Test cricket. I've played around 60-odd Tests so I kind of understand what's needed from the fitness side of view. I'll be getting any of that out my head and try to give it a good crack out there.

"Everyone understands that the nets compared to the middle are a totally different kettle of fish so like I said, I've been ticking the right boxes in the nets. But come the middle, with the cameras on and 90,000 people watching you, it's definitely a different occasion. I'm certainly looking forward to embracing the situation and hopefully it's coming out in the middle as nicely in the nets."

The pitch, which has been the subject of much scrutiny after the abandonment of the Sheffield Shield match between Victoria and Western Australia, is set to have a decent covering of grass with groundsman Matt Page insisting he has not been swayed from trying to inject some life back into the surface despite the recent misstep.

The headline tactic from New Zealand in Perth was their sustained short-pitched attack (although it is something they have used regularly) which gained good results but the game was gone by the time of Australia's second-innings collapse. It is something Australia are expecting more of, almost regardless of the pitch, but Boult will be making sure he gives the ball every chance to swing and seam.

"We are looking at an unknown in terms of how that wicket's going to behave or react," he said. "We're expecting something very different in terms of the wicket here from how it's played over the last few years but there's probably going to be something there. I'll look to pitch the ball up, swing it around and hopefully get some wickets that way."

New Zealand will make at least two changes to their side with Boult replacing the injured Lockie Ferguson and Tom Blundell coming in for Jeet Raval at the top of the order. They may also give consideration to a switch in their spin attack with legspinner Todd Astle an option to replace Mitchell Santner who struggled to provide control in Perth and did not take a wicket in 41 overs.

Pakistan 191 (Shafiq 63, Babar 60, Kumara 4-49, Embuldeniya 4-71) and 555 for 3 dec (Abid 174, Masood 135, Azhar 118, Babar 100*) beat Sri Lanka 271 (Chandimal 74, Afridi 5-77, Abbas 4-55) and 212 (Oshada 102, Naseem 5-31)

It took Pakistan just 16 balls on the fifth morning to take the three Sri Lanka wickets they needed to wrap up the second Test and the series. It was made even more memorable for the hosts when Naseem Shah became the second-youngest player to take a five-for by trapping Vishwa Fernando plumb in front to seal the win.

The 15 minutes today were a microcosm of the lack of fight Sri Lanka exhibited over the previous two days. Not one run was added to the overnight total, and the first wicket of the day fell off the first delivery when a fierce Naseem bouncer brushed Lasith Embuldeniya's glove on its way to the wicketkeeper. That this would be a short day was confirmed when Oshada Fernando, on 102, nicked one to Asad Shafiq off Yasir Shah, leaving Nos. 10 and 11 at the crease.

Naseem took care of the final wicket, and for Pakistan, it ended a decade of a nomadic existence they will hope they never have to return to again. Naseem, and this generation of Pakistan cricketers, deserve that at least.

India, England and Australia may overturn the delicately balanced global cricket calendar and play an annual limited-overs tournament among themselves - with one other nation - from 2021 onwards, according to BCCI president Sourav Ganguly.

In a possible indicator as to how the new BCCI administration would like to see the game's schedule shape up in the future, Ganguly is reported to have revealed that the Indian board has been in discussion with the ECB and Cricket Australia about staging a four-nation tournament, hosted by rotation, every year. The arrangement could run against the ICC's intentions - agreed to in principle by member nations earlier this year, albeit with a host of caveats - to add an extra 50-over tournament to the ICC events cycle beginning in 2023, so there is a global event providing revenue to member nations in each year of the cycle.

"Australia, England, India and another top team will feature in the Super Series, which begins in 2021, and the first edition of the tournament will be played in India," Ganguly was quoted as saying by Kolkata-based newspapers at an event organised by a fantasy cricket app over the weekend. This was soon after he had returned from a trip the UK along with BCCI secretary Jay Shah and treasurer Arun Singh Dhumal to meet ECB officials.

ALSO READ: Earl Eddings - from the frying pan into the fire?

Other details for the event purportedly include potential windows for each of the three nations to host it - October/November for India, September for England and October/November or February/March for Australia.

There have been plenty of discussions lately about the future shape of the global game, with CA chair Earl Eddings and chief executive Kevin Roberts recently hosting ICC chief executive Manu Sawhney for a meeting in Melbourne, in addition to Ganguly's visit to London. Eddings and Roberts are set to sit down with Ganguly and the BCCI in January, during Australia's ODI tour of India.

Some discussion is also believed to have surrounded arrangements for warm-up matches ahead of next year's men's T20 World Cup in Australia. It is understood that Australia are currently set to play India and West Indies in two series of warm-up matches ahead of the tournament proper.

When contacted about the BCCI's plans, a CA spokesperson declined to comment. Eddings, however, has previously expressed to ESPNcricinfo his reluctance to see the world's major financial powers again separate themselves from the rest of member nations, who depend largely upon revenue from ICC events for their financial health, as had taken place in 2014.

"I don't think that did cricket any favours," Eddings said of the Big Three plan. "I think there's a balance, you find that balance between looking after your own backyard and understanding your responsibilities as a custodian of the global game, and I think that's always a challenge.

"But certainly we walk into those conversations saying we need to look at bilateral cricket, but we also, as members of the ICC, have a responsibility and accountability to maximise it and make it work for everyone."

LOS ANGELES -- A Los Angeles Lakers season that started with a loss to the LA Clippers and then skyrocketed to a first place perch in the Western Conference standings for weeks has hit a bit of a snag heading into Wednesday's Christmas Day rematch with their Staples Center cohabitants.

Sunday's 128-104 loss to the Denver Nuggets was the Lakers' third in a row -- the only time they've had a losing streak of any kind this year. At 24-6, the Lakers' record is still considerably better than the Clippers' 22-10 mark, but just six days ago they were 24-3.

As much as a win Wednesday in the marquee game on the NBA's holiday schedule would seemingly set the Lakers' success back on course, there was already big-picture perspective coming from players on the purple and gold with the Clippers just days away.

"The championship is won in June, it's not won on Christmas," Dwight Howard said after the Nuggets, owners of the No. 2 record in the West, trounced the Lakers with a 73-51 second half Sunday. "This is not an ego test for us, we're not trying to see who's better right now. We want to make sure come playoff time that we're the best team going into the playoffs and at the end of the playoffs that we're the best team in the world. That's the goal. That should be our mindset.

"We can't allow emotions to get in the way of what we're trying to accomplish. I think we were super emotional in the first game and it showed. So we can't play with our emotions, we've got to play with our will and our purpose. And if we do that we should win the game."

It's a similar take on the game that LeBron James shared with ESPN two weeks ago when asked to preview the matchup.

"It's two fierce teams, for sure. It's two competitive teams. Two competitive coaching staffs. So, you can expect a lot of competition. And may the best team that night win. You don't know how the ball is going to go in, you don't know what's going to happen in terms of who is going to play well and things of that nature, but both teams want to win," James said. "But it's not the end of a season. It doesn't mark what the team is going to be for the remainder of the season on a Christmas Day game."

James, who missed his first game of the season Sunday while dealing with a thoracic muscle strain -- a pull in the rib cage area -- as well as a nagging groin issue, sources told ESPN's Brian Windhorst, is listed as day-to-day by the Lakers with the Christmas game on the horizon. However, a source close to James told ESPN he expects the four-time MVP to be in the lineup.

While James' presence would certainly buoy this Lakers group, Anthony Davis pointed to a more pressing need than the four-time MVP: Team defense.

"With or without (James), we sucked defensively," Davis said after the Nuggets game. "We lost our defensive edge. We're not guarding no more. We're not rebounding. Getting back cut. Our attention to detail on the defensive end and awareness has slipped the last couple games, and we're not aggressive on that end anymore. That goes back to even back to the road trip. We were winning games, but we had a lot of slippage on the defensive end. We got to be able to correct that."

To Davis' point, the only team that had a worse defensive rating than L.A. in the past week was the Phoenix Suns and no team had a worse defensive rebounding percentage. It came to a head against Denver with the Lakers allowing a season high in points and tying a season high for points in the paint allowed (62).

"We haven't been guarding," said Davis, who tweaked his right knee but was able to finish the game. "That's everybody, even myself. A lot of blow-bys. Just been lackadaisical on the defensive end. We're very talented on the offensive end, but the way we're going to win games is defensively. We can't bank on outscoring everyone. We got to continue to defend, and once we get the edge back, we'll be fine."

For as stellar of a season it's been for the Lakers with James' name being tossed around in the MVP conversation, Davis making a case for his first Defensive Player of the Year award and the team looking like a real championship contender, they enter Wednesday with a backdrop of uncertainty.

"We never expected to lose three in a row," Davis said. "We didn't expect to lose two in a row. But ... it's not going to get any easier. We got a tough one coming up in two days, so we got to get back to the gym and work on our defense, and make sure we'll be ready to go on Christmas Day."

Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger has urged Tottenham Hotspur to find and punish the individuals who allegedly directed racist abuse at him during Sunday's Premier League match.

The German was involved in an incident in which Tottenham's Son Heung-min was red-carded in the 62nd minute and indicated shortly afterwards he had been the victim of a monkey gesture from the home section.

The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) called for a government inquiry into racism in the English game following the match, which Chelsea won 2-0.

"I really hope that the offenders will be found and punished soon, and in such a modern football ground like the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with dozens of TV and security cameras, it must be possible to find and punish them," Rudiger tweeted.

"If not, then there must have been witnesses in the stadium who saw and heard the incident. It's just such a shame that racism still exists in 2019. When will this nonsense stop?"

Tottenham have vowed to take the "strongest possible action" if any fan is identified as having made racist gestures.

Rudiger is the latest Premier League player to suffer alleged racist abuse in a match, with Manchester United's Fred targeted by a Manchester City fan earlier this month.

A series of racist incidents have tainted European soccer recently too, with Inter Milan's Romelu Lukaku and Brescia's Mario Balotelli subjected to racist insults from rival fans during Serie A matches in Italy this season.

"It's really sad to see racism again at a football match, but I think it's important to talk about it in public. If not, it'll be forgotten again in a couple of days [as always]," Rudiger added.

"I don't want to involve Tottenham as an entire club into this situation as I know that just a couple of idiots were the offenders. I got a lot of supportive messages on social media from Spurs fans as well... thank you a lot for this."

Another wild weekend in the Premier League is done and dusted. We get you caught up on the action with the Weekend Review.

JUMP TO: Ancelotti and Arteta see the task they have | Ferguson leaving a mess for Ancelotti | Why we can't be apathetic in the face of racism | United continue to be the Prem's weirdest team | KDB could make anyone look foolish | McGinn's injury could sink Villa | Ings getting better and better | Norwich miss their big chance | McGoldrick isn't a failure | Almiron finally registers | Luckiest moment of the weekend

Ancelotti and Arteta see the task they have

After the UK election in 2010, the outgoing Labour chief secretary to the treasury Liam Byrne left a note for his Conservative successor. It simply read "I'm afraid there is no money." It was supposed to be a light-hearted joke, but actually betrayed the reality of things, and it sprang to mind when watching Everton vs. Arsenal on Saturday, a game which felt like a 90-minute version of Bryne's note.

The 0-0 bore draw was a game of such sweeping, wide-ranging incompetence that the new managers Carlo Ancelotti and Mikel Arteta might have been forgiven for a quick call to their respective agents, just to double-check all the paperwork was final and they definitely couldn't back out of this.

Hopefully both men knew the scale of the jobs they were taking on before this game, but if not then it was nice of the two teams to spell it out for them.

What's constructive about Ferguson subbing the sub?

A quick word on Duncan Ferguson substituting a substitute for the second game in a row. Perhaps this is one of those football conventions that people get upset about for no real reason, and in this case Cenk Tosun had 69 minutes to make a case to remain for the duration, so it wasn't quite as egregious as the removal of Moise Kean at Manchester United last week.

But while that might all be logically true, Ferguson should also have considered any damage to morale that his decisions may have made, damage that won't be his responsibility as of Monday. It might be slightly different if Ferguson knew he would be a longer-term manager for Everton, but he has potentially left a festering problem for Ancelotti, and for what? To make a point? What point exactly?

Everton are pretty thin in terms of striking options anyway, and on his way out of the dugout Ferguson has just publicly humiliated two of them. All the best, Carlo.

Why we can't be apathetic in the face of racism in football

Whenever a racist incident occurs at a football game, the line constantly trotted out is that this is society's problem, not just football's. But that always feels like a tacit or indeed explicit abdication of responsibility, to turn the attention away from football and just think that someone else can deal with it so we don't have to.

Of course it's society's problem, and the fact that racists feel emboldened to express their prejudice at football games, as one or more allegedly did towards Antonio Rudiger at Tottenham, is in large part due to the wider climate.

But football is such a significant part of society that it not only reflects the ills of the world, but it can be a significant force in combating them too. Inevitably, all the usual suggested methods to stamp out racism in football feel impotent, futile, pointless even. But they're better than nothing: Report incidents, throw people out, arrest them, ban them, stop games, issue fines, dock points, play games behind closed doors.

Maybe none of it will work, but it's better than nothing. The most dangerous thing we can all do, as a collective in this game, is be frustrated into a position of apathy.

Man Utd continue to be the Premier League's weirdest team

Good lord, Manchester United are a weird team. There they sit, eighth in the table, having not lost a game to any of the teams above them, but having been defeated five of the 11 times they've played teams below them. They have only won one game when they had the majority of the ball, which was against Norwich.

"Not necessarily," was Nigel Pearson's telling response when asked if he expected more from United after he guided bottom side Watford to a 2-0 win. Of course not -- why would you?

They could easily put the defeat to Watford down to individual errors, by David De Gea and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, but that would be to ignore the very clear pattern: Despite Ole Gunnar Solskjaer constantly harking back to their glorious past, United have become an outfit with a small-team mentality, able to perform against the big boys but not rouse themselves for the more prosaic tests, like lower-league mid-table teams getting up for the occasional cup tie.

Why that is? Who knows. But until they fix the problem, they will never challenge for the top four, let alone the title.

De Bruyne could make anyone look foolish

Caglar Soyuncu has been rightly regarded as one of Leicester's many success stories this season, a defender purchased a year ago and sensibly eased into the side, now excelling under Brendan Rodgers. He was made to look a buffoon on Saturday on a number of occasions, but it's entirely understandable because most people would be made to look a buffoon by Kevin De Bruyne at the moment.

De Bruyne continues to be a sensation, registering his 10th assist of the season against Leicester by presenting Gabriel Jesus with a chance he couldn't possibly miss.

It sometimes feels like De Bruyne is almost spoon-feeding his teammates, putting them into positions where they can't not score: It's certainly not De Bruyne's fault that their win over second-placed Leicester merely took them to within 11 points of leaders Liverpool, who are now 10 clear at the top of the table with a game in hand, which is against West Ham. Even when Liverpool don't play at the moment, they win.

McGinn's injury could sink Villa

If we're taking nominations for the most important players in the Premier League, measured by how their teams cope without them, then John McGinn must be up there with the best of them. Granted, Aston Villa haven't exactly been world-beaters with him in the side, but observe the way they fell apart against Southampton on Saturday without him, after McGinn was forced off with what turned out to be a fractured ankle.

That's the sort of injury that, while perhaps not entirely ruling a player out for a very long time, is likely to mean getting back up to speed and his previous levels will be a struggle. This could be a season-defining injury for Villa.

Ings getting better and better

Speaking of badly-timed injuries, there surely cannot have been one more more cruel than the one Danny Ings suffered back in 2015, when he damaged his cruciate ligaments in his first training session under Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, having started his Anfield career brightly. He suffered another serious knee injury a year later, meaning that by the time he regained anything like full fitness Liverpool had moved on without him.

The mental strength required to come back from that is pretty remarkable, never mind the physical effort, but after a solid season on loan at Southampton last term, this season he is back to showing the potential that he did when playing for Burnley six or so years ago. His strikes against Villa were his 10th and 11th of the season, meaning only Jamie Vardy has scored more than him so far.

International recognition isn't the ultimate affirmation of a player's quality that it once was, but it would feel like a fitting reward for him to receive his second England cap at some point in 2020, five years after his first. He deserves it.

Norwich miss their big chance

They're six points from safety which with half the season remaining is not exactly an insurmountable gap, but it feels like Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Wolves could turn out to be the moment Norwich look back upon as a tipping point in their season.

"The game should be buried at half-time," said Daniel Farke after the game. "Nobody could have complained if we were 4-0 up."

He wasn't really exaggerating either: Norwich spurned a plethora of chances, including two missed one-on-ones by Teemu Pukki, in theory their most reliable goalscorer.

This was the chance, and not taking it was made all the more painful by Watford's win over Manchester United on Sunday.

McGoldrick isn't a failure despite his lack of goals

The job of a striker is to score goals, so by definition a striker should theoretically be considered a failure if they are not scoring goals. But David McGoldrick, who hasn't found the net at all this season, is still a crucial part of the Sheffield United team that remain in a remarkable fifth place.

He's in the phase of looking like he's trying too hard to score now, but despite his lack of goals he's still contributing plenty to the Blades, the standout moment this weekend being an astonishing pass to John Lundstram in the first-half against Brighton. The goal will come, but if it doesn't, then McGoldrick shouldn't be thought of as a failure.

But Almiron finally registers

And when that goal does eventually come, presumably his reaction will be similar to Miguel Almiron's, after he finally registered for Newcastle, nearly a year after his arrival at St James's Park.

"I was delighted for him," said Steve Bruce after the game. "He said in his broken English 'Thank f--- for that' or something like that."

Like McGoldrick, Almiron's contributions have been valuable without him scoring, but nobody is going to turn down a few more goals.

Luckiest moment of the weekend

This week the nod of fortune goes to referee Anthony Taylor, who enjoyed the fortune of officiating in a league with VAR.

In initially giving Tottenham the free kick, after Paulo Gazzaniga had battered into Marcos Alonso, Taylor made one of the season's most baffling refereeing decisions, and he was fortunate that the technology ensured it ultimately didn't cost anyone anything.

Cricket Australia is preparing for the possibility that play in the New Year Test in Sydney could be halted by smoke from the bushfires that are devastating vast areas of New South Wales.

On Saturday, the BBL match between the Sydney Thunder and the Adelaide Strikers in Canberra was abandoned when heavy smoke drifted across the Manuka Oval with the game four balls short of being a result. The initial reason for the suspension was the reduced visibility caused by the smoke although the poor air quality was also an issue.

Sydney has suffered a number of days of thick smoke shrouding the city and earlier this month the Sheffield Shield match between New South Wales and Queensland was completed in a heavy haze which produced an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 170 which sits in the 'unhealthy' band.

An AQI of 300 and above falls in the 'hazardous' level and is when ICC guidelines say umpires can consider suspending play.

"We hope not, but potentially," Peter Roach, CA's head of cricket operations, said of the Test being possibly halted. "What we've seen in Sydney and Canberra is that it comes to a point where it becomes a challenge. Rules are in place, like rain, to add time for suspended play.

"What we are finding is that it can come in quick, but it can also go quick so it's unlikely it will be there for a full day. We might see some challenges across that day, but we'll play it like rain or adverse weather. What we've seen is about one day in ten is proving a challenge, we hope it won't come during the Test but we also understand that it might.

"We have concerns when the smoke is around because it is a challenge on those two metrics: visibility and breathing."

After the Sheffield Shield match, NSW spinner Steve O'Keefe said: "That air quality was shocking. The doctor was all over it and speaking to us about it, and the fact the game wasn't going to go all day was considered, but in the future they need to look at it because it's not healthy - it's toxic. It got to the stage we weren't going to come off for quality, it was more about visibility. It was getting hard to pick the ball up. I'm sure they'll address it. It's a bit left field to have something as severe as this."

Peter Siddle, playing for the Strikers, was on the field when play was suspended in Canberra. "I'm feeling alright…the smoke was thick, we'd dealt with it the night before at training, as you could see from TV it came in quickly - into that fifth over it changed dramatically," he said. "If you sit next to a camp fire, just imagine that, that's what it felt like in the field."

In statement issued at the weekend, CA said: "CA, alongside relevant state cricket associations and BBL Clubs, is closely monitoring the air quality and visibility in areas impacted by bushfires.

"In line with ICC, Australian Institute of Sport and relevant government guidelines, we are maintaining vigilance on the ever-changing air quality in locations where games are impacted by poor air quality.

"As the safety of players, fans and staff is our number one priority, the guidelines state what needs to be measured and looked for. We will constantly monitor the situation and be prepared on the ground in the case of any circumstance, as we know conditions change very quickly in these scenarios.

"At BBL games played in areas impacted by bushfires, a discussion and assessment about air quality will be added to the pre-match medical briefing hosted onsite 60 minutes prior to the scheduled match time."

In November a T20I between India and Bangladesh in Delhi was severely impacted by smog which led to an AQI of over 400.

PHILADELPHIA -- Even as the losses piled up, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones believed all along his team could get on a fairy-tale ride to Super Bowl LIV.

After Dallas' 17-9 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, the Cowboys' chances for making the playoffs are almost as remote as their making it to the championship game for the first time since 1995.

"When you get in this spot, you give yourself a chance to be real disappointed. We are," Jones said. "The fact that we didn't get any [touchdowns], the fact the game turned out the way it did, they played well. Not a lot to say about anything else other than it's very disappointing. We all expected to leave here as NFC East champs. We're not. We'll just go to Washington."

At 7-8, the Cowboys need to win their Week 17 finale against the 3-12 Washington Redskins, and the 8-7 Eagles, who have now won three games in a row, have to lose to the 4-12 New York Giants for Dallas to make it to the postseason.

Had the Cowboys won, they would have clinched a playoff spot in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2006-07 and become the first team to repeat as NFC East champions since the Eagles in 2003-04.

Instead, they have had one of the more disappointing seasons in franchise history that began with a promising 3-0 start.

"Frustrating," quarterback Dak Prescott said. "Sat here after every game pretty much, win or loss, and said the good part about it is we control our own destiny. That's gone. That's out of our hands. And that's unfortunate. It's very disappointing because we had the chance, right? We had the chance to control our destiny and be where we wanted to be. But now that it's out of our hands, we've got to control what we can control, and that's getting a win next week."

Prescott said his sprained right shoulder, which did not allow him to take a meaningful snap in practice leading into the game, did not affect him. He completed 56.8% of his passes (25-of-44 for 265 yards), which was his second-lowest percentage of the season.

"I missed some throws. I can't say I had pain or felt it in my shoulder," Prescott said. "It could be maybe a lack of reps this week, who knows? But yeah, it wasn't my shoulder. It wasn't anything I was feeling. I felt good."

A week after running for a season-high 263 yards, the Cowboys ran for just 54 yards against the Eagles.

Ezekiel Elliott was limited to 47 yards on 13 carries, the first time he had not rushed for at least 96 yards against the Eagles in his career. On a key moment in the third quarter, Elliott was out for two plays after an 8-yard run for a breather and his replacement, rookie Tony Pollard, fumbled on a third-and-1 run from the Philadelphia 25, ending a scoring threat.

In the fourth quarter, the Cowboys opted to pass on another third-and-1, and it was incomplete.

"Just pissed," said Elliott, who was given $50 million guaranteed as part of a $90 million deal in September, of the outcome of the game. "Pissed we didn't go out there and get it done."

Elliott's absences in key moments wasn't the only strange substitution pattern. At key moments on the Cowboys' final two drives, leading receiver Amari Cooper was on the sideline. On the Cowboys' final play, a fourth-and-8 from the Eagles 23 when Prescott tried a throw to Michael Gallup in the end zone, Cooper and Randall Cobb, who had five catches for 73 yards, were not on the field.

"I don't have an answer for you," Prescott said when asked about why Cooper was out.

Cooper has been troubled by heel, quadriceps, ankle and knee injuries for parts of the season but was not on the injury report during the week of practice, and no announcements were made during the game about his health.

"I wasn't winded, no," said Cooper, who had 24 yards on four catches. "Some of the routes we have, a deep post or a go ball, and we usually rotate to keep our legs fresh and things like that."

As disappointed and frustrated as the Cowboys were in the locker room after the game, the sting grew deeper, as the team's chartered flight back to Dallas was delayed because of mechanical issues. The Cowboys boarded their plane close to 11 p.m. ET, roughly 90 minutes after their scheduled departure.

"We're too talented of a team and individuals to not make the plays, starting with myself," Prescott said. "It's disappointing. It's frustrating, but we all take responsibility. It begins with me, and we're too talented. We just didn't execute the way that we're capable of doing, and they did."

PHILADELPHIA -- A season that has been among the most disappointing in Dallas Cowboys' history has reached its low point.

Sunday's 17-9 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles does not cost the Cowboys a chance to win the NFC East, but for it to happen, they now need some help.

The Cowboys (7-8) will have to beat the Washington Redskins (3-12) in Week 17, and the Eagles, who have now won three straight, will have to lose to the New York Giants (4-11) for Dallas to advance in the postseason.

Even as they lost seven of 10 games after their 3-0 start, the Cowboys kept falling back on a familiar refrain of controlling their destiny within the division. The only reason why they maintained that chance was because of the struggles by the Eagles, Giants and Redskins.

Now all Dallas can do is hope.

This is the fourth time in coach Jason Garrett's nine seasons the Cowboys lost de facto NFC East championship games in Weeks 16 or 17. In 2011, the Cowboys lost to the Giants. In 2012, they lost to the Redskins. In 2013, they lost to the Eagles.

When they look back at Sunday's result, the Cowboys can blame:

• A bad start for the defense, giving up 125 yards on the first two drives to fall behind 10-0 after giving up 120 yards in the first half of their Week 15 blowout win against the Los Angeles Rams. The Eagles did not have their best offensive target, Zach Ertz, for a stretch of the game, and their offense had been gutted by injuries, but the Cowboys could not get a takeaway.

• A bad start for the offense with the unit gaining 14 yards in the first quarter, the Cowboys' fewest in an opening quarter since putting up 3 yards against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 3 of the 2017 season. Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, who had at least 96 yards rushing in his five career contests against the Eagles, gained 9 yards in the first half, the second fewest of his career.

• A bad decision in the third quarter that saw the Cowboys go to rookie Tony Pollard on third-and-1 from the Eagles' 25-yard line with an option run. The rookie fumbled on the play, ending a scoring threat. Elliott was off the field even though he had 20 yards on four runs on that drive. Just a reminder, the Cowboys made Elliott the richest running back in NFL history with a $50 million guarantee in September.

As a result, a bad season has one week left and Garrett's tenure might be entering its final week -- win or lose against Washington.

QB breakdown: All eyes were on Dak Prescott entering the game because of a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder that kept him from taking a meaningful snap in practice during the week. Prescott completed 56.8% of his passes -- his second lowest of the season. While he won't admit it, the shoulder had to affect the quarterback's accuracy, but he wasn't helped by a few drops as well. He was wild with some easy throws and missed wide receiver Tavon Austin late with a deep ball that could have gone for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

Troubling trend: Amari Cooper should sign one of the richest deals for a receiver in the offseason, and if he could have produced better on the road everybody might feel a little bit better about it. He was held to four catches for 24 yards against the Eagles, and unlike his low-production games against Detroit, New England and Buffalo, he was not facing cornerbacks Darius Slay, Stephon Gilmore and Tre'Davious White. At crucial parts of Sunday's game, Cooper was not on the field. While no injury announcements were made during the game, Cooper has been bothered by injuries for most of the season.