Mushtaq Ahmed has promised to "revive" the career of Yasir Shah, who has been released from Pakistan's squad after being left out of the XI for the first Test against Sri Lanka.

Mushtaq, the former Pakistan legspinner, is with the PCB as a consultant, contracted to work with spinners at all levels, from age-group to national team, for 120 days over a 12-month period. Yasir will work with Mushtaq at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore, and rejoin the Pakistan squad ahead of the second and final Test in Karachi, which begins on December 19.

Yasir has endured a slump in form of late, picking up four wickets at an average of 100.50 on the recent tour of Australia, while conceding close to five runs an over. In his last Test series before the Australia tour, in South Africa in 2018-19, he picked up just one wicket at an average of 123.00.

In the last Test Pakistan played before the South Africa tour, against New Zealand in December 2018, Yasir became the fastest bowler in history to 200 Test wickets, breaking the 82-year-old record of fellow legspinner Clarrie Grimmett.

Mushtaq believes all Yasir needs to get back to his best is a shot of confidence.

"He is not applying himself properly and with a legspinner you always have to be patient," Mushtaq told ESPNcricinfo. "He has forgotten the process he used to follow while running in to bowl each ball. He has been impatient to regain his form as quickly as possible, and trying too hard to take wickets. He is pushing himself to live up to the expectations, and it is unfair that people suddenly started to doubt him, and he isn't getting a lot of support either.

"We shouldn't doubt our best bowler, who has taken 200-plus wickets for his country. He has been winning games for us and you cannot just write him off on the basis of what he has done in Australia. Sometimes it's about form, and sometime it's about pitches that aren't really helping you, but a good bowler remains a good player. You can't judge him merely on the basis of two games. He is good as ever, but needs to be given confidence, and I am going to help him revive himself and make a strong comeback."

Mushtaq reckons that the bulk of his work with Yasir will be on the mental side of his bowling.

"I have good chemistry with him and he is a good listener," Mushtaq said. "I know three days aren't enough as far as coaching is concerned, but all I have to do is fine-tune him, and take the negative thoughts out of his mind. He probably started doubting himself, and his mindset dragged a bit.

"There are rough patches in everyone's life, but you don't leave your best cricketers behind. You have to stick with them and trust them. There are few technical aspect I am going to speak to him about, [such as] him being in a hurry all the time. He needs to calm himself down and just reassess himself. I am confident that he will be different when you see him next."

Pakistan chose to do without a spinner in Rawalpindi, and picked four fast bowlers instead. The decision to leave Yasir out was one of many left-field selections that Pakistan have made recently under Misbah-ul-Haq, who serves as both head coach and selector. With rain making only 91.5 overs possible across the first three days of the Test, it hasn't really been possible to assess the merits of the selection.

Pakistan's quicks have recovered well after a poor first session to keep Sri Lanka to 282 for 6, but with so much time lost to rain, it may not be possible to tell if they would have missed a spinner on a wearing fourth- or fifth-day surface.

World Cup winning midfielder Julie Ertz has been voted U.S. Soccer's Female Athlete of the Year for 2019.

Ertz, 27, claimed the honor for the second time in her career, earning 42% of the vote to beat out fellow nominees Rose Lavelle, Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, Alyssa Naeher, and FIFA World Player of the Year Megan Rapinoe.

While Ertz is the 10th player in the award's history to win multiple times, she is the first to do so while also having won the U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year, which she claimed in 2012 after leading the U.S. U-20 team to the World Cup title that year.

She has also won two World Cup titles at senior level, the latest of which came last summer in France where her displays in a holding midfield role saw her contribute to both attack and defense. Her efforts on the defensive side of the ball helped the U.S. concede just three goals over the course of the tournament. She was often relied on to help the U.S. transition from defense to attack, and she scored in the 3-0 group stage defeat of Chile. Overall, she logged 474 minutes in six appearances during the World Cup.

"It's been a whirlwind of a year and one that I'm extremely grateful for," Ertz said. "My team lifted me up in so many ways and our experiences on and off the field in 2019 just encapsulate the love I have for the national team and for wearing this crest and what it represents."

In 2019, Ertz started a team-high 22 games for the U.S., and her 1,755 minutes played were third-most on the team. She finished the year with 95 career caps, and she was recently named to the FIFA FIFPRO World XI.

"Julie was such a critical part of our success this summer," said former U.S. Women's National Team head coach Jill Ellis. "It's wonderful that she's being recognized in this way. She's always a consummate professional regardless of the environment. Whether it's in training, national team games or in the NWSL, she always brings a level of professionalism, effort and talent."

Ertz excelled at club level as well, playing in both defense and midfield to lead the Chicago Red Stars to their first NWSL title game. She was named to the NWSL Best XI as a midfielder.

"All of my teammates just had such an amazing year and we all know it takes an entire team to win a World Cup or have a successful club season," Ertz added. "We are all a sum of the people around us, so I want to especially thank [my husband] Zach and my family, all my coaches for the national team and the Red Stars, and all my teammates for their never-ending support. It's emotional to be recognized in this way and it's a cherry on top of a beautiful 2019. It's incredible."

The U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year has been awarded since 1985, when midfielder Sharon Remer earned the inaugural honor. Abby Wambach won it six times, the most of any player.

Votes are collected from respective National Team coaches, National Team players who earned a cap in 2019, members of the U.S. Soccer Board of Directors, U.S. Soccer Athletes' Council, NWSL head coaches, select media members and former players and administrators. In addition, select college coaches vote for the award.

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster is not expected to play Sunday night against the Buffalo Bills after he aggravated his knee injury during practice on Thursday, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Smith-Schuster returned to practice Wednesday as a full participant, but he left early on Thursday and was listed as a limited participant in the team's official injury report.

On Thursday, offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner was still optimistic about Smith-Schuster's return, adding that the third-year receiver was eager to get back on the field.

"He was wanting to get back last week," Fichtner said. "You know, injuries. He's got all the enthusiasm and energy and effort and want to. You know, sometimes injuries take their own time. You've just got to keep working through it."

Smith-Schuster has missed the past three games with the knee injury and had been eyeing a return Sunday night. He only returned to running in a straight line on Dec. 4.

Smith-Schuster was injured Nov. 14 against the Cleveland Browns. He hurt his knee and suffered a concussion on the same play.

Running back James Conner was injured in the same game. He has an injury to the AC joint in his shoulder, but was a full participant in practice on Wednesday and Thursday.

In the absence of Smith-Schuster and Conner, the Steelers turned to a committee of offensive skill players to fill their roles. Wide receivers Diontae Johnson and James Washington stepped up in the past two weeks, and the Steelers deployed four different running backs last week against the Arizona Cardinals.

The Steelers (8-5) are on a three-game win streak without Conner and Smith-Schuster, but coach Mike Tomlin was blunt and succinct during his Tuesday news conference when asked how much the offense needed the pair of playmakers.

"A lot," he said.

SAN DIEGO -- The Boston Red Sox came and left the 2019 winter meetings with the foundation of their roster unchanged. Despite the unending discussions among fans for months about the future of outfielder Mookie Betts, the team's best player remains slotted in to roam right field at Fenway Park. Despite inquiries from other teams, as reported by ESPN's Jeff Passan, David Price and his hefty contract (three years, $96 million) remain on the books. For all of the talk about a messy offseason requiring lots of creative roster management, Boston has remained quiet so far.

But the lack of player movement isn't indicative of the growing change within the Red Sox front office. Based on conversations with multiple executives around baseball and staffers within Fenway Park, newly minted chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom is establishing his vision for the baseball operations department. Bloom entered an organization that features front office mainstays such as general manager Brian O'Halloran and the trio of executive VPs/assistant general managers Raquel Ferreira, Eddie Romero and Zack Scott, all of whom have spent more than a decade with the team and recently signed contract extensions. Manager Alex Cora said the transition has been smooth.

"It's been good. Like I said a few weeks ago, had the pleasure with Dave [Dombrowski, Bloom's predecessor]. You know, Dave has been in the business for, what, 40 years," Cora said. "You're in the business for 40 years, you're not lucky -- you're good. Chaim, who's, what, 36? It seems like he's been in the business for 20 years."

Many around Fenway Park have noticed an immediate cultural change within the baseball ops department with Bloom in charge. While Dombrowski mostly relied on the opinions of veteran executives Tony La Russa and Frank Wren, shutting much of the rest of the department out of the decision-making process, Bloom has sought advice from a much wider circle in seeking creative solutions to the team's goal to cut payroll and sneak under the $208 million luxury tax threshold. Several Red Sox staffers noted a happier working environment, in which baseball ops people up and down the organization's ladder feel their opinions are valued, a feeling that slowly evaporated over the course of Dombrowski's tenure.

"[Bloom] is basically the direct opposite of Dombrowski," according to one rival front-office executive.

Sure, sure, sure, it's easy to sing praises at the beginning of a new tenure, when the rosy-eyed honeymoon period is still intact, especially when Bloom has yet to make any major roster moves. But the praise for Bloom extends down to Tampa Bay, where he built an unusually positive reputation among other front-office executives. Those who spent significant time around the Rays noted his strong people skills, something Bloom says he is always working on, and his ability to connect with people from the front office to the clubhouse to the media.

"It's super important to me. The reason we were able to have the success [at Tampa Bay] that we did was the people and how we all worked together," Bloom told ESPN. "I hope that an appreciation has something to do with how I was raised both by my parents and then also how I was raised in this game with the people I was around. The value of that was something that was shown to me by a lot of the mentors around this game.

"You just see how much more you can accomplish when people work together when they feel valued, when everyone recognizes that no one person has a monopoly on the truth and nobody has all the answers. We are only going to achieve our full potential if we're willing to work together and willing to be vulnerable and acknowledge that we can all learn from each other."

Bloom's influence will extend onto the field, given his fundamental role in normalizing the shift and the opener among the Rays' various innovations over the course of the past decade. Cora noted in his winter meetings press conference that he and Bloom see the game from a similar perspective.

"One thing we're going to talk about with Chaim coming from an organization that's very aggressive as far as defense, is why they do it, how they do it and if that aggressiveness is going to -- he can help us out," Cora said. "And that's something that I'm looking forward to sitting with Chaim and see where it takes us."

But Bloom doesn't intend to turn the Red Sox into Tampa Bay 2.0, though Cora noted that using an opener instead of a regular fifth starter is an option for the team heading into 2020. Different circumstances demand different approaches; and the vast financial resources, the rabid Red Sox fan base and a demanding media market -- from sports radio to the newspapers -- separates Boston from the situation at Tampa Bay and has led to Bloom adapting his approach for his new work environment.

"There's nothing that I want to bring that's like, 'This is the way the Rays did it or do it.' But that's actually something that in a lot of the times we've been around each other that [Cora] and I have talked about. I know that he's very passionate about being able to use information to put players in the best position to succeed. What that means specifically, that's where the rubber meets the road.

"There's a lot of room to see that differently, but it also needs to be based around the strengths of your own players and the tendencies of the opposition, but that's something that we already talked about, and I don't want to predict if it will be more or less."

According to multiple sources, Bloom's focus is less on creating a top-heavy roster than on building more depth at both the major and minor league level, valuing versatility. Thursday's signing of Jose Peraza illuminates some of what Bloom values in a player: someone who can play multiple positions and has shown the ability to make an impact with the bat. Peraza hit .288/.326/.416 in 157 games in 2018 before dropping off to .239/.285/.346 in 141 games in 2019. Peraza reportedly signed for about $3 million, less than what Brock Holt will likely make on the open market after hitting .297/.369/.402 in 87 games.

Bloom said that finding the right balance between analytics and the human element is key to accomplishing what he was brought to Boston to do: Build a long-term sustainable franchise, with a strong farm system, that can contend for a World Series title every year.

"I've never felt that [numbers and people] were categorical opposites. The best process is going to allow you to take into account as many sources of information as possible and try to paint a complete picture," Bloom said. "People with different backgrounds see the world differently, and that can lead us into some debates, but I've never seen it as one side is going to win or the other side is going to win.

"I think it's really all about trying to understand the questions you want to ask about a player. What are we trying to figure out here, and we're going to need the best tools to figure that out. And even in terms of things that don't lend themselves as easy to quantify and being put into numbers, you still need to learn how to put some context to them, so you still have to figure out what we might think about this particular player that might not be a number."

Bloom will face many tough decisions before the 2020 season begins, and he hopes to have his roster finalized heading into spring training. That will require tough decisions, something Bloom was part of with Tampa Bay, involving players such as David Price and Evan Longoria, franchise superstars who were traded by the Rays. While a trade involving Betts is "unlikely to happen," as reported by Passan, Bloom's mindset in approaching the Price trade while at Tampa Bay is illustrative of his mentality toward the value of star players in trades.

"Especially when you spend time around guys, you really get to know them and attached to them. You also recognize you have a responsibility to do what's best for your organization. That's what our jobs are," Bloom said. "To a certain degree, you have to separate those things. But I think that basically allowed us to make some of the deals we made with the Rays. And I think that's no different here in terms of getting acclimated in a new environment and working with new teammates; you just want to make sure you are prioritizing what's best for the organization and achieve the objectives that you have.

"If you determine that something is more or might be, you want to vet it very closely because these decisions are difficult. But at the end of the day, you have to do something that you think is best."

Bloom spent much of the winter meetings bonding with his employees in a slightly different setting than the offices on Jersey Street. He still is getting used to the ins and outs of being a Bostonian, noting how his drenched socks serve as a regular reminder to buy a pair of boots to combat the New England winter. Across baseball, Bloom has gained a reputation as the type of leader who asks a lot of questions and tries to get as many perspectives as possible. Bloom finds himself at the head of a baseball operations department at the tender age of 36, and he notes there's a lot for him to learn, both about the Red Sox organization and the sport as a whole.

"Whether we like to admit it or not, there's a lot about this game that we don't know, and I think there always will be," Bloom said. "Our job is just to continue making forward progress and learning as much as we can and recognizing there's a lot of things we don't know and attacking our jobs with the appropriate humility that comes from that. It might be a little unsettling, but I don't think it's that different from a lot of the challenges we face on a daily basis."

Glasgow Warriors have made an offer to bring Fijian star Leone Nakarawa back to Scotstoun, but nothing has been agreed, says head coach Dave Rennie.

French club Bayonne, who had been in negotiations to sign the second-row, said he was returning to Scotland.

Nakarawa, 31, is a free agent after being sacked by Racing 92 for his late return after the World Cup.

"We've had a chat with Leone - like half the world I'd imagine - but we'll see how that pans out," Rennie said.

"We've only got a certain sum of money and whether that's going to be enough, we don't know. He's very tight with a lot of the boys here and he's got a lot of history with the club.

"It would be nice to have him here but we'll see what happens."

Nakarawa was key to Warriors' 2015 Pro12 title win in a three-year stint before joining Racing in 2016.

Jurgen Klopp has signed a new contract with Premier League leaders Liverpool until 2024.

"We decided to continue what worked. So far, not too bad," Klopp, who is ranked No. 1 among the world's top managers in ESPN's FC 100, said. "It will be good news for some, not so good for others. We love it here.

"It's a wonderful club. We really feel at home. I thought it's a good moment to continue at the club. It was not a difficult negotiation.

"For me personally this is a statement of intent, one which is built on my knowledge of what we as a partnership have achieved so far and what is still there for us to achieve."

The former Borussia Dortmund and Mainz boss, who led Liverpool to their sixth Champions League title in May, had previously signed a six-year contract with the Anfield club in 2016.

Happy Friday, Reds! ??? pic.twitter.com/7qUWOsszb6

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 13, 2019

"We are absolutely delighted we have been able to reach an agreement with Jurgen -- as well as Peter and Pep -- on extending their time with the club," a Liverpool statement read.

"As we are sure our supporters would agree, it is truly wonderful news and we are all extremely thrilled, not only professionally, but personally too.

"We feel this represents one of the big moments of our stewardship of Liverpool Football Club so far as we believe there is no better manager than Jurgen. The decision also keeps with the club's overall strategy of building from a position of strength.

"It means Jurgen will oversee the ongoing transition from Melwood to the new Kirkby training base as the club continues to pursue a vision of being elite in all facets of the industry."

Klopp's assistants Peter Krawietz and Pep Lijnders have also signed new deals at the club.

Sources told ESPN in June that Klopp, who arrived in 2015, could take a year's sabbatical at the end of his Liverpool contract, which at that time ended in 2022.

Provided Klopp sees out the remainder of this deal, he would become the club's second longest serving manager since Bob Paisley.

Liverpool, who are on a club record 33-match unbeaten streak, are eight points clear of second-placed Leicester in the Premier League and booked their place in the Champions League knockout rounds earlier this week.

Later this month they will aim to win the Club World Cup for the first time.

Mark Boucher, the former South Africa wicketkeeper and current Titans coach, will be unveiled as South Africa's interim coach by acting director of cricket Graeme Smith on Saturday. ESPNcricinfo has learnt that interim team director Enoch Nkwe will stay on and work with Boucher; a source said the pair is "keen to work together".

The Boucher news comes two days after Smith was named director of cricket for three months. A key part of Smith's job was to appoint coaching staff for the men's national team as it prepares to take on England at the turn of the year. There was doubt over whether Nkwe, who was appointed in August, would stay on under Smith, but that question seemed to be cleared up now.

It is also likely that former South Africa allrounder Jacques Kallis will be named batting coach in the near future.

Boucher was appointed Titans coach in August 2016 and is in his fourth season in charge there. In that time, the franchise has won one first-class trophy, two one-day cups and two T20 tournaments. They have also had Aiden Markram and Lungi Ngidi go on to be internationally capped.

Forty-three-year-old Boucher will take over at a time of strife for South Africa on and off the field. South Africa have lost five Test matches in a row following a forgettable performance at the 2019 World Cup, Cricket South Africa's CEO stands suspended over allegations of misconduct, and the board is under mounting pressure to revamp itself.

Boucher, a veteran of 147 Tests, 295 ODIs and 25 T20Is, last played for South Africa in March 2012 before an eye injury ended his career.

More to follow

Jurgen Klopp has signed a new contract with Premier League leaders Liverpool until 2024.

"We decided to continue what worked. So far, not too bad," Klopp, who is ranked No. 1 among the world's top managers in ESPN's FC 100, said. "It will be good news for some, not so good for others. We love it here.

"It's a wonderful club. We really feel at home. I thought it's a good moment to continue at the club. It was not a difficult negotiation.

"For me personally this is a statement of intent, one which is built on my knowledge of what we as a partnership have achieved so far and what is still there for us to achieve."

The former Borussia Dortmund and Mainz boss, who led Liverpool to their sixth Champions League title in May, had previously signed a six-year contract with the Anfield club in 2016.

Happy Friday, Reds! ??? pic.twitter.com/7qUWOsszb6

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 13, 2019

"We are absolutely delighted we have been able to reach an agreement with Jurgen -- as well as Peter and Pep -- on extending their time with the club," a Liverpool statement read.

"As we are sure our supporters would agree, it is truly wonderful news and we are all extremely thrilled, not only professionally, but personally too.

"We feel this represents one of the big moments of our stewardship of Liverpool Football Club so far as we believe there is no better manager than Jurgen. The decision also keeps with the club's overall strategy of building from a position of strength.

"It means Jurgen will oversee the ongoing transition from Melwood to the new Kirkby training base as the club continues to pursue a vision of being elite in all facets of the industry."

Klopp's assistants Peter Krawietz and Pep Lijnders have also signed new deals at the club.

Sources told ESPN in June that Klopp, who arrived in 2015, could take a year's sabbatical at the end of his Liverpool contract, which at that time ended in 2022.

Provided Klopp sees out the remainder of this deal, he would become the club's second longest serving manager since Bob Paisley.

Liverpool, who are on a club record 33-match unbeaten streak, are eight points clear of second-placed Leicester in the Premier League and booked their place in the Champions League knockout rounds earlier this week.

Later this month they will aim to win the Club World Cup for the first time.

Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter and his coaching team have agreed new three-year contracts with the club.

Baxter, head coach Ali Hepher, forwards coach Rob Hunter and skills coach Ricky Pellow have all committed to Chiefs until 2023.

Under the coaching team, Exeter have reached the past four Premiership finals - winning the title in 2017.

Baxter, Hepher and Pellow led Exeter to Premiership promotion in 2010, while Hunter joined the club in 2013.

Former Exeter player Baxter has been tipped as a possible successor to England boss Eddie Jones, having ruled himself out of the running to succeed Stuart Lancaster after the 2015 World Cup.

The quartet all had deals that ran out at the end of this season.

Under Baxter and his coaching team, Exeter have established themselves as a force in the top flight.

After clinching their maiden title in 2017, Chiefs have since lost the past two Premiership finals to Saracens, having finished top of the Premiership table in both of those campaigns.

They are currently top of their Champions Cup pool and have won the Anglo-Welsh Cup twice, as well as bringing through England players such as Henry Slade and Jack Nowell.

"Together, we understand the ambitions of the club moving forward - and of how exciting this next period is going to be for the rugby club," said Baxter.

"I think as a group we all feel that everything we want to achieve can be achieved here over these next three years, so it's exciting times for all of us and I'm looking forward to us building on the fantastic foundations we have laid as a collective group."

Somerset have confirmed that they will not be appealing against the decision to dock them 12 points for preparing a substandard pitch for the 2019 Championship title decider against Essex.

The ECB's Cricket Disciplinary Committee (CDC) imposed the deduction last month after rating the Taunton surface as 'poor', noting its "excessive unevenness of bounce". While Somerset accepted the charge, they disputed the suggestion that the pitch was not the best they could have produced.

However, after reviewing the CDC's full report and relevant procedures, the club has decided not to appeal because of the "heavy burden of proof" required to overturn the original verdict.

"This conclusion has been reached because it is clear that, in order to overturn the decision, the club would have to demonstrate conclusively to the Panel who originally implemented the sanctions that they had come to the wrong decision," a Somerset statement said. "Such a heavy burden of proof is extremely difficult for any appellant to discharge.

"The club are very disappointed with the Panel's decision but has concluded that it is in the best interest of all parties to move forward.

"We can now focus on preparing the team and the venue for the demands of the season ahead, with a specific focus on performing successfully, with a highly talented and competitive group of players and a clear focus on developing broader strategies to support this objective through our teams off the field. The club notes the strong message the Panel ruling sends to all first-class Counties."

Somerset finished the 2019 season second in Division One, 11 points behind Essex, after drawing a rain-affected final game - extending the club's wait for a maiden Championship title. They will begin 2020 on minus-12 points, with a further, suspended 12-point deduction hanging over them.