INDIANAPOLIS — The annual DIRTcar Summer Nationals late model schedule was released Thursday during the Performance Racing Industry show.

Twenty-nine races across 33 days and seven states make up the schedule, which includes 20 returning tracks from this past year’s schedule.

Friday and Saturday night shows will each pay $10,000 to the winner; the other days of the week will serve as $5,000-to-win shows. Racing will commence six days a week; Mondays are the only pre-scheduled off days.

The race to the $25,000 championship check is once again divided into five sections, each with their own weekly point fund.

Kickoff week begins June 16 with a visit to Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway, which produced one of the best races seen on the 2019 tour as Mike Marlar picked up his fifth career Summer Nationals victory.

Legends Week action gets underway on June 23 at the Jacksonville Speedway in Jacksonville, IL, and also features a date with Granite City’s Tri-City Speedway on June 26.

Independence Week begins with the only stop in the state of Tennessee on June 30 at Clarksville Speedway. The Summer Nationals tour has not seen the likes of Missouri’s Lake Ozark Speedway in over 11 years, and that will be changing on July 3 when the late models roll into the Eldon, Mo., venue for the first time since 2008.

Challenge Week is scheduled to begin with a race on Tuesday, July 7 and another to follow, both to be announced at a later date. Macon Speedway’s Herald & Review 100 always produces some of the roughest and toughest racing seen all summer, and will be back for its 40th edition on July 9.

Finally, Champions Week will wrap-up the points battle and determine a tour champion, starting with a date on July 14 at Plymouth Speedway in Indiana. Three-straight dates in Michigan will follow (Butler Motor Speedway, Thunderbird Speedway, Tri-City Motor Speedway) before things come to a close in Ohio at Oakshade Raceway for the 21st straight year on July 18.

The schedule:

June 16 Brownstown Speedway   Brownstown, Ind.

June 17            Peoria Speedway        Peoria, Ill.

June 18            Kankakee County Speedway  Kankakee, Ill.

June 19            Sycamore Speedway   Maple Park, Ill.

June 20            The Dirt Oval at Route 66       Joliet, Ill.

June 21            Wilmot Raceway         Wilmot, Wis.

June 23            Jacksonville Speedway           Jacksonville, Ill.

June 24            Belle-Clair Speedway  Belleville, Ill.

June 25            Spoon River Speedway           Lewistown, Ill.

June 26            Tri-City Speedway       Granite City, Ill.

June 27            Fairbury Speedway     Fairbury, Ill.

June 30            Clarksville Speedway  Clarksville, Tenn.

July 1   Fayette County Speedway      Brownstown, Ill.

July 3   Lake Ozark Speedway Eldon, Mo.

July 4   Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55           Pevely, Mo.

July 5   Lincoln Speedway       Lincoln, Ill.

July 9   Macon Speedway       Macon, Ill.

July 10 Farmer City Raceway  Farmer City, Ill.

July 11 Highland Speedway    Highland, Ill.

July 12 Quad City Speedway   East Moline, Ill.

July 14 Plymouth Speedway   Plymouth, Ind.

July 15 Thunderbird Speedway          Muskegon, Mich.

July 17 Tri-City Speedway       Granite City, Ill.

July 18 Oakshade Raceway     Wauseon, Ohio

INDIANAPOLIS – Reigning USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series champion C.J. Leary is on the move to Gene Gile Racing, where he will pilot car No. 1 for the full series schedule.

Leary makes the move to the Phoenix, Ariz.-based GGR team following a single season at Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports in 2019, which resulted in a USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car title following two victories and series best 32 top-10 finishes in 34 starts.

The GGR team, led by Gene and his son, USAC Sands Chevrolet Southwest Sprint Car driver Dennis Gile, have had an eye on putting a program in place for Leary of Greenfield, Ind.

“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to drive for these guys,” Leary said. “Dennis has been trying to get me to run for him this whole past year.  He had been hinting to me that he’s been wanting to do something.  Finally, everything came together.”

Leary’s exodus from Reinbold/Underwood came just days following their championship celebration at Arizona Speedway in mid-November. The team moved forward with other plans, leaving Leary with the opportunity to team up with Gile this next season.

“Andy (Reinbold) let me go at the end of the season,” Leary explained. “He just said he couldn’t make a commitment to me.  He did everything he said he was going to.  We set out to win a championship and that’s what we did.  There’s no hard feelings there.”

Along with Leary, his championship winning crew chief Davey Jones has made the migration to GGR as well. With two months remaining until the season opener, the combo now has a team to put together basically from scratch and they’re up to the task.

“We’ve got a long two months ahead of us before Florida,” Leary said. “I’m really looking forward to getting started.  I don’t really like the offseason with the down time and what not.  The biggest part is the waiting game.  We ordered four new motors from 1-Way Technology, ordered six new DRC cars from Joe Devin and six new rear ends from DMI.  This stuff just doesn’t happen overnight.  Until we get all the parts to assemble the cars, we’re just going to sit around and wait.  When we get everything, it’ll only take a couple days to build the cars.  We’ve got a truck and trailer and a new mule on order.  It’s an all new team and it’s going to be top notch. We’re going to come out of the gate swinging.”

With the switch to No. 1 for 2020, Leary becomes the first reigning USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car champion to sport the number since Robert Ballou in 2016.

“I’ve never run the No. 1 before,” Leary admitted. “I figured, after winning the biggest title I’ve ever won, it’s probably the best time to do it. Being No. 1, you unload with some clout, you could say, and maybe a little pressure. Everybody knows you’re the past champion.  My dad thinks it might be cursed, but I think it’s going to be a really good year.”

INDIANAPOLIS – Mobil 1 is returning to the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series after inking a multi-year agreement with Kalitta Motorsports.

The deal, in partnership with Toyota Racing Development, makes ExxonMobil Kalitta Motorsports’ official lubricant partner. Mobil 1 racing oil will be used in all of Kalitta Motorsports Nitro Funny Cars and Top Fuel cars.

“We are thrilled to announce this new agreement and be part of the return of Mobil 1 to NHRA,” said Chad Head, Kalitta Motorsports General Manager. “The Kalitta team, led by Connie Kalitta, for more than 60 years, has pushed the boundaries of innovation in motorsports. We have been working closely with the Mobil 1 team to develop, test and prove an innovative new range of lubricants for our race cars. Our goal is to win a championship and we’re excited to partner with Mobil 1 and their team of engineers and scientists to help us get there.”

As part of the arrangement, Mobil 1 has developed a new drag racing motor oil. Kalitta Motorsports will utilize the drag racing motor oil in addition to other lubricants while also receiving engineering support.

“NHRA is one of the most extreme forms of motorsports on the planet, and it is the perfect place to showcase the performance of our advanced Mobil 1 synthetic lubricant technologies,” said Kai Decker, global motorsports and sponsorships manager at ExxonMobil. “ExxonMobil last competed in the NHRA back in the 1990s. Our return to the NHRA is the result of a true development and competition partnership between TRD, Kalitta Motorsports and our motorsports technology team at ExxonMobil Engineering and Research Company.”

INDIANAPOLIS – Reigning DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion Brian Shirley is prepping for a major shift in his racing plans for the upcoming season.

Shirley will return to the national stage by taking his Bob Cullen Motorsports team on the road, chasing the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series championship in 2020.

DirtOnDirt.com first reported the news.

The Chatham, Ill., driver will pilot his familiar No. 3s Rocket XR1 as he pursues his first national schedule since 2017, when he began the year with the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series before dropping off tour mid-season due to sponsor woes.

Shirley won 16 races this season, including seven victories en route to the Hell Tour crown, and also collected the DIRTcar Weekly Series national title along the way too.

Next year will mark the first time that Shirley, 38, will pursue the LOLMDS title. He previously ran full seasons with the World of Outlaws in 2007 and 2016, with a best finish in the standings of ninth both times.

“We’ve been fortunate that Bob and Lisa Cullen have stepped up their program,” Shirley told Dirt On Dirt. “We have the same cars, but we’re going to have better preparation and more help, so obviously we’re going to need to get in there and prove to our sponsors and the people that own the team that making this big investment is going to be worth it.

“We need to start winning right off the bat.”

Anthony Burroughs, who most recently served as a crew chief at Clint Bowyer Racing, will join Shirley at Bob Cullen Motorsports in the same capacity. Aaron Mitchell and Mikey Myers will provide additional crew support with the No. 3s operation.

The 2020 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series season kicks off Jan. 31-Feb. 1 at Golden Isles Speedway in Brunswick, Ga.

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Garet Williamson is about to embark upon his biggest racing challenge yet.

The 19-year-old, who drives for Bryant Paver, is tackling the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour in 2020. The series will feature more than 50 races in 17 states, ranging from California to Pennsylvania and from Michigan to Texas.

“Go big or go home,” Williamson quipped. “If we’re going to do it, we might as well do the whole thing. We want to learn as much as we can and make a name for ourselves.”

The team formed toward the end of the 2019 season and competed in seven ASCS-sanctioned events. Williamson’s best ASCS National Tour showing was a run from 22nd to 16th on Oct. 12 during the Fall Fling at Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, Okla.

His top sprint car result was a 10th-place finish with the ASCS Warrior Region on Oct. 5 at Lake Ozark Speedway in Eldon, Mo.

“It’s definitely a lot different,” he said. “It’s harder to be faster. Everyone is so good. It takes a lot of laps to be running up front. You have to be really consistent and can’t mess up. It’s a big learning curve.”

Williamson began racing go-karts when he was four years old. He transitioned into junior sprints before climbing into micro sprints at 10 years old. Williamson has also spent time competing in a midget.

Now that the focus is on sprint car racing, Williamson said the team only plans on running ASCS National Tour races in 2020.

“The goals are Rookie of the Year, no DNFs and to run in the top 10 as much as we can,” he said. “We have a good group of guys behind us that want to see us succeed. As long as they keep pushing me and I push myself we can do anything.”

The 2020 season kicks off February 28-29 at Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria, Ariz.

George Parros buzzed out of the NHL board of governors meeting Tuesday after being a fly on the wall for two days in Pebble Beach, California.

There were no grand presentations made by his department of player safety to the billionaires in the room. The biggest topic of conversation was physicality off the ice, between abusive coaches and players.

Sometimes at these meetings, Parros is asked to explain trends of violence in the NHL or his department's own controversial decisions. But in a season in which the most notable suspension was for a loogie hocked by Garnet Hathaway of the Washington Capitals at Erik Gudbranson of the Anaheim Ducks -- a three-game ban that wasn't even in his jurisdiction -- things have been quiet for Parros & Co.

Perhaps too quiet.

There have been six suspensions this season for illegal physical acts on the ice between players. The longest ban was four games, given to St. Louis Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo for cross-checking and injuring Viktor Arvidsson of the Predators. Two others were for three games. In total, the department of player safety has handed out 15 games' worth of suspensions since the start of the preseason.

• By this time last season, there had been 11 suspensions totaling 44 games; take Tom Wilson out of the equation, and it's still 10 suspensions for 24 games.

• By this time in 2017, there had been 11 suspensions for 29 games. Take Radko Gudas out of the equation, and it's still 10 suspensions for 19 games.

• By this time in 2016, there had been 10 suspensions for 31 games. Take Gudas out of the equation (again), and it's still nine suspensions for 21 games.

While suspensions are down this season, it's not like there haven't been opportunities for the department of player safety to bump up its total. There have been seven fines handed out this season, all for physical acts; last season, we had five of them at this point.

As we stood in the foyer of a lovely golf course inn on Pebble Beach, I asked Parros if he thought the suspension totals have been a little low this season.

"You mean length-wise? Or the number of them?" he responded

Well, a little of both. Maybe a few suspensions seemed like they should have been four games, but they were two games instead. Maybe a few fines should have been suspensions, if only because the financial hit to the player is much more significant during a suspension. Unless you think a player like Evander Kane really cares about a $5,000 fine when he's pulling down $8 million this season.

The vibe I get is that the department of player safety is aiming a little lower this season.

"I can't comment on your vibe," said Parros. "But we try to be consistent, like we have in the past. Whatever incident it might be -- cross-checking, elbowing, boarding -- we compare it to others, see where it stacks up and try to be consistent about it."

This may not be the answer everyone is looking for, but it's the answer I was hoping to hear.

The department of player safety gets maligned a lot by fans and media. The perception is that illegal acts would be even rarer than they are now if player safety dropped the ban hammer and had guys sit out for a dozen games rather than, say, three. Never mind that the collectively bargained neutral arbitrator would reduce those suspensions like he's wielding a shrink ray.

I appreciate those who lobby for harsher punishments, but my biggest concern with the department of player safety has always been consistency. And when Parros says they go through the process of comparing an act to previous ones, he's not kidding: Almost every decision to suspend or not to suspend is tied to an example from the past. Bortuzzo got four games in part because he pulled the same nonsense with Brock Nelson in 2017 to earn a fine. Alex Ovechkin didn't earn a suspension for a hit on Jonathan Drouin because there were similar ones involving players like Cal Clutterbuck in which their skates leave the ice before a check, but it's not a suspendable play.

I think many people would find it maddening if player safety dealt in arbitrary and inconsistent rulings rather than logic and precedent. So far this season, it has been the latter.

Now, I don't think Parros' team is perfect. There's always room for improvement. And frankly, it wouldn't hurt to have a few of those fines converted into short suspensions.

But it's indisputable that the department, in conjunction with NHL rule changes, has had a positive impact on the league. New fans to the NHL might not remember the parade of stretchers we had that led to the passing of Rule 48, banning hits to the head. Player safety's mandate was to educate players on the "right" way to deliver hits, and to target repeat offenders. I'd argue suspensions are down thanks to both.

Parros said there is one trend he's happy to see.

"We ask so much of these guys. The game is so fast," he said. "The trends that we see are the result of missed hits by a fraction of a second or an inch. There's very little intention behind a lot of the stuff we see, so that's all good."

Yes, things are quiet. Perhaps too quiet. But that's the thing about the NHL. Quiet can get loud pretty quickly.

"If you had asked me two weeks ago, we had hardly any suspensions," said Parros. "These things come in waves."

Jersey Fouls

From Smashville:

Thanks to @MrsCoachLane for allowing me to add another #Snossis to the collection!!! pic.twitter.com/8JdAg2zW4G

— The Ultimate Predator (@IAmUltimatePred) December 11, 2019

This might be the oddest Jersey Foul trend of the season. Via the masked man himself, the Ultimate Predator, it appears some Nashville Predators fans are ordering Colton Sissons jerseys and getting ... Colton "Snossis" jerseys. It's a nameplate that does require a modicum of attention, because it's easily flipped. And flipped it was for these "Snossis" fans.

Three things about the World Cup postponement

1. For the second time this year, the World Cup of Hockey has been bumped from the tentative schedule because of the ongoing CBA talks between the players and owners. There was optimism from NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly that the World Cup could return in February 2021, an in-season tournament favored by the players. The two sides are targeting 2024 and 2028 for the next World Cups. If the NHL chooses not to return to the Olympics -- and that's really up to the IOC and its unending avarice to decide -- it will have been eight years between best-on-best tournaments. Heck of a way to grow the game, huh?

2. I'm convinced this is just a scheme by the Canadian stewards of the NHL to delay the inevitable, which is the pending American dominance of the international stage. Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Brock Boeser, Matthew Tkachuk, Quinn Hughes, Johnny Gaudreau ... an entire generation of proud patriots ready and willing to end the tyrannical dominance of the Canadians, like their sisters-in-arms on the U.S. women's national team did in the Olympics. Meanwhile, the Canadians buy a few more years to work on the next Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid grown in whatever twisted laboratory from which they spring forth.

3. As it stands, the NHL plans to transform the 2021 All-Star Weekend into some sort of international event. Gary Bettman mentioned the North America vs. the World format. On the one hand, it could mean the return of those wicked eggplant-colored jerseys. On the other ... been there, done that. Here's a better idea: Some kind of a Ryder Cup-style 3-on-3 round robin, played on a single day, with the following teams: Canada, USA, Sweden/Finland and Team Ovechkin, which is a ragtag collection of European players that pledge allegiance to the Czar of Goals. Start the games at 10 a.m., roll all day. It would be a blast.

Listen To ESPN ON ICE

Emily Kaplan and I broke down the Jim Montgomery firing and the NHL's four-point plan for addressing the coaching abuse scandals. Plus, U.S. women's star Amanda Kessel joined us to talk about this week's showdown with Canada. Listen to it here, and be sure to rate and review!

Winners and Losers of the Week

Winner: Rick Bowness

It's not how anyone wants to earn a head-coaching job. But after the Dallas Stars were forced to fire Montgomery, Bowness was named the team's interim coach for the remainder of the season. He has been a head coach for five different teams, but last served as head coach for the 2003-04 Phoenix Coyotes. He has been waiting for another shot, while being one of the league's most respected assistant coaches. And unlike other new coaches this season, he takes over a team in line for a playoff spot.

Loser: Doug Wilson

What a fall from grace for the San Jose Sharks, tumbling from the Western Conference finals to a point where firing Peter DeBoer seemed like a necessity to save the season. The Sharks are capped out. They don't have many future assets to mortgage. They're a porous defensive team whose offense may no longer be potent enough to overcome it. GM Doug Wilson has seen his team counted out before. But it shouldn't have come to this.

Winner: Kim Davis

Davis is the NHL's executive vice president of social impact, growth initiatives & legislative affairs. She's now charged with directing a "multidisciplinary council to suggest initiatives, monitor progress and coordinate efforts with all levels of hockey" as part of the NHL's four-point plan to deal with coaches' abuse. I've spoken at length with Davis before. She's the kind of change agent that hockey needs, someone who's a realist about the NHL's demographic challenges but optimistic they can be overcome. A more prominent role for Davis is only a good thing.

Loser: Whistleblowers

The NHL deserves credit for creating a hotline in which team personnel can report abusive behavior from coaches and team officials. It's an important step in trying to clean up the culture. But absent whistleblower protections, how many people are going to utilize it, knowing how easy it's going to be for the accused to piece together who may have made the complaint? Bill Peters allegedly tried to demote Akim Aliu to the ECHL after Peters was confronted for his racist comments. The NHL needs to reassure players it'll have their back if something like that happens in the future.

Winner: Jack Eichel

The Sabres star extended his points streak to 14 games. He's the seventh different player in franchise history with a point streak of 14 or more games and the first since Tim Connolly from Dec. 23, 2009 to Jan. 25, 2010. He has played the Sabres into a playoff spot, and played himself into the Hart Trophy conversation.

Loser: Alexander Wennberg

A two-seasons-long "slump" for the Columbus Blue Jackets forward culminated in him being a healthy scratch this week. He has two assists in his past nine games and 10 points in 29 games this season. "Listen, I thought Wenny was really set to go. I watched him during camp, I knew where his concentrations were ... and it's at the other end right now, so I'm not waiting," coach John Tortorella told the Columbus Dispatch.

Puck Headlines

Ron Francis addresses the Bill Peters matter with the Seattle Times -- including his reasoning for signing Peters to a new contract after he had disciplined Peters for physically abusing players. "We looked where the team was and how it was playing," Francis said. "It was moving in the right direction. We'd made a huge increase from where it was the year before to where we were that year. And quite honestly, we looked at that [physical abuse] situation, we addressed it and we felt it was behind him."

From Ed Willes' story on the coaching controversies, and a conversation with Colin Campbell: "Campbell, who can charitably be described as old school, said change had to come to the game, but he was uncomfortable with 'turning back the calendar' and judging events that occurred 20 or 30 years ago by the standards of 2019. It was, by any measure, a reasonable answer, but the next morning someone called from the NHL office wondering whether Campbell had spoken about coaches."

Valeri Nichushkin is one of the best low-key stories of the NHL season.

P.K. Subban on his beverages of choice. "I love wine and I started collecting it. Although I don't drink often, because it's tough when I'm training. When I can drink, I enjoy wine or a really good tequila. I have a pretty big wine cellar, so I try to put more in each year. It's been really fun to collect and taste wines from all over the world."

Good piece on the Chicago Blackhawks' record-setting trainer.

Sidney Crosby and CCM Hockey are providing 87 sets of equipment to players in need around Nova Scotia.

The Minnesota All-Hockey Hair Team guy made a parody of "The Mandalorian" called "The Minnesotalorian."

Hockey tl;dr (too long; didn't read)

Does the NHL have a gambling problem?

In case you missed this from your friends at ESPN

Dimitri Filipovic did a terrific job with the NHL All-Regression team. On Taylor Hall: "There are some red flags about how his game will age into his 30s, and whether his injury-riddled history makes him a risky long-term investment this summer. But for a team that's looking at buying him as a pure rental this season in an attempt to win the Stanley Cup, his shooting percentage and counting stats aren't a real concern."

The Premier League on Thursday announced that Richard Masters had been appointed their new permanent chief executive having performed the role on an interim basis.

It comes a fortnight after David Pemsel informed the Premier League he would not be taking up the role next year following allegations in the media about his private life.

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Pemsel, the CEO of Guardian Media Group (GMG), had been set to succeed Richard Scudamore in February after his appointment was approved at a shareholders' meeting in October.

Masters' appointment was approved at a special meeting of Premier League clubs on Thursday.

"Richard took on the role of Interim Chief Executive a year ago," Bruce Buck, Chelsea Chairman and Chairman of the Premier League Nominations Committee, said in a statement.

"Since then, the clubs have seen Richard rise to the occasion, dealing with our various stakeholders and partners with aplomb and skill. As interim Chief Executive, he has faced challenges head-on and has proved himself.

"The clubs believe that this is the right appointment now in the long-term interests of the Premier League."

The appointment of Masters, formerly the Premier League's managing director, ends a protracted search for Scudamore's successor. Susanna Dinnage was originally chosen but later declined the role to remain at media organisation Discovery.

Marnus Labuschagne is forever blowing bubbles and, over the last few weeks, scoring Test hundreds.

With a skip down the pitch at Mitchell Santner he deposited the ball over long-on, for just the second six of his career, to reach his third century in three innings following his scores of 185 in Brisbane and 162 in Adelaide. The 25-year old is only the third Australian batsman to manage such a feat after Charles Macartney in 1926 and Don Bradman in 1937-38.

"I got within one shot and I wanted to do it because scoring was quite slow so I was waiting for the right ball," Labuschagne said at the post-day press conference. "I didn't get all of it but luckily enough for it to go over."

He is a batsman with a few idiosyncrasies and a close watch will show he is rarely without his chewing gum. It has become an integral part to his batting routine since he started playing for Glamorgan - a time when runs flowed and propelled him into the Ashes squad.

"It started it in the second game of the County Championship last year," he said. "It was something I used because at times you play so much cricket and you need something to get you going and to get you in the contest. It's helped me to relax especially when I'm subconsciously blowing bubbles and keeping my mind at rest between balls."

There were no free runs on offer on the opening day in Perth, so full focus was needed. Without taking anything away from his runs against Pakistan, that was not always the case in the first two Tests of the summer. In this innings his first fifty took 102 balls, with Australia well behind their usual scoring rate, before moving to three figures off a further 64 deliveries. It was the innings of a player who can be at No. 3 for a long time to come.

"You never want to take any runs for Australia for granted," he said. "Cricket can be a tough game so you have to cash in when you're doing well. No hundred comes easy, but today there were patches where scoring really dried up completely and you just had to trust you would come out the other side

Before the Test, Tim Paine revealed there had been conversations about moving Labuschagne down the order to No. 5 to allow him to settle into Test cricket after being thrust back into the team during the Ashes.

"He didn't want a bar of it," Paine said. "He wanted to go out at three. He wants to be a star Test match international cricketer. He sees himself as a No.3. He wants that challenge. He'd be hard to move out of there now, that's for sure."

Labuschagne recalled a slightly different tale from the Brisbane Test when, with David Warner and Joe Burns having added a double-century stand, Justin Langer suggested - perhaps in jest - that he may want to slip down the order having spent so long waiting with his pads on.

"Justin asked me at the 'Gabba, because we waited so long to bat and you burn a lot of mental energy. He said do you want to go down? I kind of laughed as in 'you're kidding, aren't you?' I still don't know if he was serious, but I thought there's no chance I'm letting [Steven] Smithy bat in front of me. I enjoy getting out there; sitting and watching can be draining."

Batting is coming easily for Labuschagne at the moment, but he believes being in good form brings a need to be even more careful. "It's just about riding the wave, not trying to get too high when you are going well. Keeping a clear mind on the field then you just play the ball as it comes. People say you nick balls more when you are in form because you a seeing it so well so it's about keeping a high price on decision making."

At the moment, he's making a lot of good decisions. He'll hope the run-scoring bubble doesn't burst anytime soon.

Aneurin Donald is set to miss the whole of the 2020 season after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

Donald, the 22-year-old batsman, joined Hampshire from Glamorgan towards the end of the 2018 domestic season, and impressed in his first full season at the club, hitting a 144-ball 173 against Warwickshire in the Championship and regularly scoring quickly at the start of a T20 innings.

But after suffering the injury to his ACL last week, Donald underwent an operation this week, and Hampshire physio James Clegg confirmed that his is expected to miss most of the upcoming domestic season.

"Thanks to all the doctors/nurses/surgeons who have looked after me the past week or so," Donald posted on Instagram. "Long road back to recovery starts now.. Appreciate all the love and support I've received to date. Will be back stronger."

The news represents a major blow to Donald, whose move to the Ageas Bowl came about in part due to his hopes of an England call-up.

He first announced himself as a 19-year-old in the Glamorgan side when he spanked 234 off just 136 balls, equalling the record for the fastest double-century in first-class cricket, in a remarkable maiden Championship ton at Colwyn Bay. He hit Derbyshire's attack for 15 sixes, and made headlines as a future star.

There were flashes of brilliance in his fledgling white-ball career, including a 40-ball 76 at The Oval in 2017, but he failed to make a half-century in 2018, and finished last season with a disappointment when he found no takers in the inaugural draft for the Hundred.