COCHRAN, Ga. – Scott Bloomquist rolled to a $15,000 payday for his victory in Saturday’s 75-lap feature during the Gobbler event at Cochran Motor Speedway.

Bloomquist took the lead from Dale McDowell on the 11th circuit and proceeded to lead the remainder of the dirt super late model event. It was his fourth victory overall this year.

Brandon Overton finished second, followed by McDowell, Friday’s race winner Michael Page and Spencer Hughes.

Ben Faircloth took home a $2,000 check for winning the companion crate late model feature.

The finish:

Scott Bloomquist, Brandon Overton, Dale McDowell, Michael Page, Spencer Hughes, Steven Roberts, Pearson Lee Williams, Jason Fitzgerald, Austin Horton, Ahnna Parkhurst, Will Harris, Will Roland, John Henderson, Jay Elliott, Dean Carpenter, Cla Knight, Ray Cook, Craig Scott, Dalton Cook, Brian Connor, Joseph Brown.

Quique Sanchez Flores has been sacked by Watford less than three months after returning to the club for a second spell in charge.

Watford lost 2-1 to relegation rivals Southampton on Saturday and sit bottom of the Premier League, six points from safety.

"Quique is a man of great integrity and it was clear how much he wanted to have a positive impact, but ultimately results have dictated our decision," Hornets' chairman & CEO Scott Duxbury said.

"The appointment of a new Head Coach is imminent, and with nearly two-thirds of the season remaining, we will provide all the support necessary to make the coming months successful."

Watford are now set to name a 10th manager since 2013.

Sources have told ESPN FC that Chris Hughton and Paul Clement are among the candidates to replace Sanchez Flores, who oversaw just one win in 10 Premier League games.

The Spaniard was previously in charge of Watford during the 2015-16 season during which he led the club to an FA Cup semifinal and a 13th place finish in the Premier League.

He is the fourth manager to be fired this Premier League season after Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham, Unai Emery at Arsenal and Javi Gracia at Watford.

Weybridge win takes Gawad above world champ Momen
By SEAN REUTHE – Squash Mad Correspondent

Egypt’s Karim Abdel Gawad has overtaken Tarek Momen to return to the top three of the PSA Men’s World Rankings for the first time since November 2017.

Gawad, a former World No.1, won two titles during November as he continued his 100 per cent record in front of the iconic Great Pyramid of Giza, beating current World No.1 Ali Farag to lift the inaugural CIB Egyptian Squash Open trophy on November 1.

Despite a disappointing defeat to England’s James Willstrop in the PSA Men’s World Championship two weeks later in Qatar, Gawad bounced back to take the honours at the Channel VAS Championships at St George’s Hill in Weybridge, downing World No.2 Mohamed ElShorbagy to ensure he rises above compatriot Momen.

Momen captured the first major title of his career in Qatar as he won the World Championship, but still falls a spot to No.4, where he sits one place ahead of the man he beat in the final, Paul Coll.

Germany’s Simon Rösner (No.6), Peru’s Diego Elias (No.7) and Mohamed Abouelghar (No.8) retain their places, while Marwan ElShorbagy rises to No.9, switching places with Miguel Rodriguez, who drops to No.10.

Egypt’s Fares Dessouky rises two places to No.11, which is his highest ranking since November 2017. Welshman Joel Makin stays at No.12, while Saurav Ghosal falls two places to No.13.

Zahed Salem rises two spots to return to a joint career-high of No.14, while Frenchman Gregoire Marche drops to No.15. Omar Mosaad falls to No.16 ahead of Willstrop at No.17, while Mazen Hesham, Adrian Waller and Mostafa Asal make up the rest of the top 20. For Asal, it’s the first time he has ever featured inside the top 20.

England’s Joe Lee is the biggest mover on the men’s tour, moving up 361 places to World No.249 after he appeared at the Channel VAS Championships last week on his return to the Tour at his home club following a long absence caused by injury. 

PSA Men’s World Rankings Top 20 – December 2019.

Report by SEAN REUTHE (PSA). Edited by ALAN THATCHER. 

Pictures courtesy of PSA

QUEEN CREEK, Ariz. — Taking the lead from the right of the front row and never giving it up, Sterling Cling became the 15th different winner with the San Tan Ford ASCS Desert Non-Wing Series on Saturday night to open the fourth annual Copper Classic.

The eighth different winner on the season, Cling had to fight to hold on the lead on the closing lap as traffic nearly slammed the door on him.

Able to squeeze his way through, Cling crossed ahead of Dennis Gile with Stevie Sussex taking the final podium step. Pete Yerkovich and Joshua Shipley completed the top five.

The finish:

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 34-Sterling Cling, [2]; 2. 4T-Dennis Gile, [4]; 3. 12-Stevie Sussex, [6]; 4. 3-Pete Yerkovich, [1]; 5. 2-Joshua Shipley, [3]; 6. 7K-Bruce St. James, [21]; 7. 34AZ-Dustin Burkhart, [10]; 8. 66-Colton Maroney, [12]; 9. 25AZ-Rick Shuman, [14]; 10. 9X-Randy Nelson, [7]; 11. 43-Ryan Oerter, [9]; 12. 25W-Ronald Webster, [17]; 13. 7X-Ryan Murphy, [13]; 14. 7-Wayne Siddle, [18]; 15. 76-Jesse Stonecipher, [11]; 16. (DNF) 22-Braidon Moniz, [15]; 17. (DNF) 0G-Kyle Shipley, [5]; 18. (DNF) 9-John Shelton, [16]; 19. (DNF) 42-Danny Mathus, [8]; 20. (DNF) 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold, [19]; 21. (DNF) 50S-Rocky Silva, [22]; (DNS) 33-Brad Weiss,

QUEEN CREEK, Ariz. — Opening the fourth annual Copper Classic at Arizona Speedway on Saturday night, California’s Kyle Larson brought his momentum from the midgets to the ASCS Southwest Region with his first career victory against the Arizona-based tour.

Taking the green flag from sixth, Larson worked into the top three on the first lap as Hunter Schuerenberg showed the way with Christopher Bell in tow.

A red with 23 laps to run, the restart saw Bell take a shot at the lead with Schuerenberg able to fend off the charge. Settling back into second, the position would be short-lived as Kyle Larson made his way by.

Closing quickly on Schuerenberg for the lead, the caution paused his advance with 20 laps remaining. Looking top shelf on the restart for the lead, Larson worked off the second turn with momentum.

Rolling the cushion in turn three before diamonding off with the lead in sight, Larson took command on lap six just as brake issues struck Schuerenberg, forcing him off the pace entering the second turn.

With Christopher Bell tied to his back bumper on the restart, Larson was able to pull away and keep pace to the checkered flag. Bell would hold onto second with Justin Sanders moving up from 10th to complete the podium.

Bill Balog and Colton Hardy made up the top five.

The finish:

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson, [6]; 2. 21-Christopher Bell, [4]; 3. 17-Justin Sanders, [10]; 4. 7B-Bill Balog, [7]; 5. 74-Colton Hardy, [5]; 6. 75X-J.T. Imperial, [8]; 7. 01-Thomas Kennedy, [15]; 8. 3-Craig Stidham, [3]; 9. 25-Geoff Ensign, [11]; 10. 13-Mark Dobmeier, [9]; 11. 22B-Jesse Baker, [12]; 12. 9-Dustin Freitas, [14]; 13. 7-Ryan Linder, [17]; 14. 6-Bud Rowe, [24]; 15. 3V-Jim Vanzant, [22]; 16. (DNF) 5K-Patrick Krob, [21]; 17. (DNF) 34-Sterling Cling, [18]; 18. (DNF) 99-James Aragon, [19]; 19. (DNF) 19AZ-Hunter Schuerenberg, [2]; 20. (DNF) 2B-Billy Chester III, [13]; 21. (DNF) 45-Lonnie Cox, [20]; 22. (DNF) 7Z-Zane Blanchard, [1]; 23. (DNF) 45L-Jeff Lowery, [16]; 24. (DNF) 18J-Paul Jones, [23]; (DNS) 8-Eric Wilkins, ; (DNS) 2-Alex Pettas,

Watford are set to sack manager Quique Sanchez Flores before their midweek game against Leicester, sources have told ESPN FC.

Sanchez Flores returned to Vicarage Road for a second spell in charge after they sacked Javi Gracia in September.

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However, following a damaging 2-1 defeat to struggling Southampton on Saturday, Watford are bottom of the Premier League and sources have told ESPN FC that Flores could be sacked later today.

Watford recovered from two goals down to draw his first game in charge against Arsenal but endured a humiliating 8-0 loss at Manchester City the following game.

Sanchez Flores has only overseen one victory in 10 matches and Watford find themselves six points from safety.

Sources have told ESPN FC that former Brighton boss Chris Hughton and former Swansea City manager Paul Clement are among the candidates to replace Flores.

Sanchez Flores was previously in charge of Watford during the 2015-16 season during which he led the club to an FA Cup semifinal and a 13th place finish in the Premier League.

Rory Burns admitted he was left with a "bittersweet" sensation at the end of the third day of the second Test in Hamilton.

Burns had earlier recorded his second Test century to help England into a potentially match-winning position. But his run-out opened the door to a New Zealand recovery and saw England lose three wickets for 61 runs in the latter stages of the day.

On a slow-scoring surface on which England were looking to bat only once, Burns and Joe Root appeared to have given their side an excellent platform with a third-wicket stand of 177. But from 201 for 2, England subsided to 269 for 5 at the close with their chances of establishing a match-defining first innings lead having receded sharply.

ALSO READ: Much-needed hundred gives Root breathing space

All of which left Burns - believed to be England first moustached (but not bearded) Test centurion since Jack Russell in 1996 - slightly frustrated. But while he accepted England had made life "more difficult" for themselves, he also viewed the episode as a learning example of the sort of ruthlessness required to prosper in Test cricket.

"It's been a positive day but it could have been a better day," Burns said. "Bittersweet is probably the overriding feeling. I enjoyed the fact I made a century, but at the same time I'm disappointed that I couldn't stretch it.

"There are fine margins in Tests. Could me and Rooty have stretched our partnership to get us deeper into the game? We're still in a very good position but we've probably made it slightly more difficult for ourselves. These are the things to iron out if you want to become a really good side."

It was the manner of Burns' dismissal which most frustrated. Although he gave two chances early in his innings on day two, he had batted almost faultlessly in reaching his century on day three. But moments afterwards he was run out by an inch or two after attempting an unnecessary second run.

"I didn't really feel there was a second there," he admitted. "But I came back for it anyway and the result was the result. It's disappointing. It was my call at the end of the day."

While the end was disappointing, Burns could be proud of his batting on day three. Having admitted he struggled to adopt the correct tempo to his innings at the end of day two, he settled down admirably on day three. And while there was a period when he appeared troubled by Neil Wagner's short ball - he was struck twice, once on the chest and once on the back by such deliveries - he later pulled with impressive command.

"I struggled a little bit with my tempo on day two," Burns said. "I basically just kept seeing it and wanted to climb into it and give it the kitchen sink. It more of a mindset shift rather than a technical shift on day three. I just tried to let the ball come to me and kill it underneath my eyes.

"Initially I felt pretty comfortable riding Wagner's short balls and he bowled a couple of good ones. But I thought 'I'm actually seeing them quite nicely' and I've been working on the pull for a while, so I thought I'd get it out and put it to work. I felt pretty comfortable with that and thought I played it quite nicely.

"I just tried to apply myself for as long as I could. It came to a slightly disappointing end but I thought I played quite well. It was nice to take the opportunity on a flatter surface, but I would have liked it to be bigger."

Burns had also appeared to struggle to adapt to the demands of the match position in the second innings of the first Test. But he explained that his dismissal - top-edging a sweep - was more a reflection of his discomfort against the left-arm spin of Mitchell Santner than an attempt to dominate the bowling.

"I thought was playing really nicely in Mount Maunganui," he said. "But I didn't enjoy having the short leg in. Santner was getting some to spit and I thought I was worse off playing with a straight bat. I wasn't fully backing my defence so I saw fit to get one and get up the other end. It wasn't trying and hit it for four."

Pakistan 302 (Yasir 113, Azam 97, Starc 6-66) and 3 for 39 (Masood 8*, Shafiq 4*) trail Australia 3 for 589 dec by 248 runs

Pakistan ended the third day needing 248 more runs simply to avoid an innings defeat, with the scorecard reading 3 for 39. However, they arguably won the day, and unarguably enjoyed their best one all tour as Yasir Shah produced one of the more unexpected Test centuries.

That there's no contradiction in those statements tells you much about how the previous two days might have gone. With Pakistan having bowled - and then batted - themselves out of any prospect of winning or probably drawing, they emerged unburdened from expectations and, for the first time, made Australia work for their wickets. Babar Azam agonisingly missed out on back-to-back hundreds by three runs, with the standing ovation the Adelaide Oval gave him suggesting they wouldn't have begrudged him getting there.

But for the faithful in Pakistan who rose early on a Sunday morning, the reward would come in the form of a deliciously insouciant maiden first-class century from Yasir, whose assured strokeplay did little to flatter his team-mates already back in the pavilion. Partnerships with Azam and Mohammad Abbas took Pakistan up to 300 in their first innings, before much of that good work was undone by yet another top-order capitulation. Imam-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali and, most damagingly, Azam had all been dismissed in a rain-interrupted final session that keeps Pakistan on life support for one more day.

The pitch appeared to have flattened out significantly from the previous evening, any hint of lateral movement having disappeared. Azam and Yasir found themselves more confident when driving on the up with little variable bounce to concern them. There was, perhaps, less intensity in the field from Australia, and an expectation (not exactly unreasonable) that Pakistan would just give up their wickets tamely. But Azam was digging in, as he always does, while Yasir had quickly realised batting here was much more fun than bowling, and determined to be remember in this game for all the right reasons.

There was fortuitousness for the legspinner; he was missed on no less than three occasions - on 35 (a stumping), 43 (a dolly of a caught-and-bowled to Marnus Labuschagne) and 106 (another simple chance to Labuschagne at short leg) - while Steven Smith's position at slip to Nathan Lyon meant a couple of potential chances fell short. But just when Azam began to take on Labuschagne and move inexorably towards three figures, one lapse in concentration would cost him. Mitchell Starc angled one across and Azam drove on the up, only to get an edge that would see Tim Paine take a sharp diving catch. In denying Azam his milestone, Starc got his: a five-wicket haul that would become six the very next delivery when he pinned Shaheen Afridi lbw.

However, instead of folding, Abbas had some scores to settle, too. The sort of unfashionable patience and grit he reserves for his bowling came in handy with the bat as the scoreboard ticked over. Even as the new ball was taken, Abbas held firm, ensuring Yasir would be allowed to complete a remarkably unlikely century in a ninth-wicket stand of 87. Yasir looked for all the world to have scooped one to mid-on when one run short, but the ball went over, and Yasir roared exultantly.

Much of the day had been dominated by speculation of when exactly it would rain and whether it would impact Paine's decision to enforce the follow-on. With Pakistan having hung around longer than anticipated, Australia were expected to bat again, but with the evening session under lights looming Paine put Pakistan back in for a tricky four overs before the dinner break.

It was too long for Imam, who failed to keep out a Josh Hazlewood inswinger on his ninth delivery. When Azhar nicked off to second slip soon after, moments before a cloudburst forced everyone off the field, the feel-good factor that had accompanied the wagging of the tail had long since evaporated.

The rain came and went for much of that final session, but there was still time to deal the heaviest body blow to the solar plexus of the Pakistan line-up. It takes an exceptionally good delivery to leave Azam flat-footed, but that's exactly what Hazlewood delivered with his slightly short length around off stump that drew the edge.

Azam would be forced to trudge off for 8, the sixth time Hazlewood had dismissed him at the cost of just 69 runs. It might have been the cue for the rest of the side to begin packing their suitcases, but the rain ensured there is at least one more day before another sorry chapter can be added to the miserable book that chronicles Pakistan's tours to Australia over the past quarter century.

To avoid being held in contempt of court, the BCCI has decided to wait for the Supreme Court of India's approval before carrying out sweeping changes to its constitution, which would result in significantly rolling back the Lodha Committee's reforms. The court is likely to hear the matter on December 3, listed "tentatively" as the date for the next hearing.

Although the BCCI took a precautionary stance on altering the constitution, it went ahead and reversed one key decision taken by the court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) that supervised the BCCI until elections were held in line with Lodha reforms in October this year. BCCI secretary Jay Shah will attend the next meeting of the ICC's chief executive committee (CEC), instead of CEO Rahul Johri attending as per the CoA's decision. Incidentally, before the court got involved in BCCI matters, it was the board secretary who attended the ICC's CEC meetings.

The BCCI took these decisions at its annual general meeting (AGM) on Sunday in Mumbai, which was attended by all its 38 members (state associations).

Immediately after taking charge of the BCCI in October, the BCCI's newly elected administration led by former India captain Sourav Ganguly recommended six amendments to the board's constitution. The proposed changes included stopping the court from having a say if BCCI wanted to tweak its constitution, modifying the cooling-off period rule for the board's office bearers, revising the disqualification criteria, and allotting supreme powers to the board's secretary.

The recommendations were meant to be passed at the AGM without any opposition if they were proposed. As per the constitution, a three-fourth majority is required to pass any amendment. It is understood once Ganguly read out the amendments to the general body, a majority of the representatives gave verbal agreement indicating they were willing to pass the amendments.

However, according to one state association's representative, who was present at the AGM, the amendments were not officially put to vote. "There was no passing of the amendments," the representative said. "They did not put the amendments to vote or in front of the general body. They just said this would be required to be clarified by the Supreme Court first."

It is understood that more than one state association was willing to voice concern if the amendments were put to vote, pointing out passing them without the court's approval would amount to contempt of court.

Board secretary Shah to attend ICC CEC instead of CEO Johri

On Sunday, Ganguly proposed that BCCI secretary Jay Shah attend the ICC's CEC meeting, and this was approved by the general body, reversing the decision taken by the CoA.

When the CoA was appointed as supervisory authority by the court in January 2017, in its very first meeting, it had designated that BCCI CEO Johri would attend the ICC's CEC meetings. Incidentally, the court had said that the BCCI's then acting secretary Amitabh Choudhury and treasurer Anriduh Chaudhry would accompany CoA members to the ICC's meetings, comprising the CEC meeting, Finance & Commercial Affairs (F&CA) committee meeting and the ICC Board meeting.

In a note to the state associations, sent as part of the AGM agenda last month, the BCCI pointed out that in order to "protect interests" of the Indian board, which it feared were being "eroded", representatives to ICC meetings needed to be experienced and have the skills to negotiate.

As for the BCCI representative for the F&CA and ICC Board meetings, the general body left the decision to the board's Apex Council. The next round of ICC meetings are scheduled for March 2020.

Before the court got involved in BCCI matters, the board secretary would sit on the CEC while the board president attended the F&CA and ICC Board meetings.

No committee to pick selectors, yet

As per the constitution, the BCCI has to appoint a cricket advisory committee (CAC) at the AGM, which in turn will appoint the men's senior selection panel. The general body was told that the CAC and the other cricketing committees would be finalised by the BCCI office bearers in the near future.

The terms of two members of the current men's senior selection panel - MSK Prasad (chairman) and Gagan Khoda - have expired. However, Ganguly's administration wants to approach the court to relax the conflict of interest rules, which would then allow it to have reputed former players as part of the CAC as well as other key committees, including the selection committee.