INDIANAPOLIS – American sprint car racer McKenna Haase is heading to Australia to race in the Ultimate Sydney Speedweek at Valvoline Raceway.

The deal was recently finalized, with sponsor Flair Dancewear signing on to support Haase as she competes in Australia from Dec. 26 to Jan. 18.

“I’m really excited to make my first trip to Australia,” said Haase. “I think it’s every driver’s dream to race down there and I can’t wait to line up with Brad (Sweet), Aaron (Reutzel) and Carson (Macedo) for Sydney Speedweek.”

The Iowa born and bred speedster has made a name for herself for many reasons, including becoming the first woman to win an A-Main at Knoxville Raceway.
In recent months she has moved to Indianapolis to further her motorsport aspirations.

“From what I’ve seen McKenna has many skills,” says Flair Dancewear’s Darren Park. “She will be a huge asset to any race she competes in. You can see that she’s very popular on social media and with her community leadership qualities I know that she’ll be great value for her team and her partners.”

Haase will pilot the No. U55 Flair Dancewear/Prolube/Western Sydney Mechanical Don Ott-powered Maxim for car owners Matt and Sharmane Thomas.

“We’re excited to have McKenna on board,” said Matt Thomas. “She’s a great racer and a very inspiring person. We know that Sydney fans will love her and she’s going to be very competitive. It’s a good opportunity for her to get out of the snow and also to drive a 410 car for the first time. It’s pretty cool that she’ll be doing that for the first time with us.”

VALENCIA, Spain – Three-time MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo has announced his retirement from the sport following Sunday’s season finale in Spain.

“I always thought there are four significant days in the career of a rider,” Lorenzo said. “Your first race, your first win, your first championship and then the day you retire. Well, as you may imagine, I’m here to tell you this day has arrived for me. I want to announce this will be my last race in MotoGP, and that at the end of this race I will retire from professional racing.”

Lorenzo, 32, began his MotoGP career in 2008, earning one win and finishing fourth in the series standings. He won four races the following year and finished second in the MotoGP standings.

The Spanish rider scored his first MotoGP championship in 2010 on the strength of nine victories. He went on to earn two additional championships in 2012 and 2015 while with Yamaha before departing the team after the 2016 season to join Ducati.

In two seasons at Ducati, Lorenzo struggled. He failed to win in 2017 for Ducati, but returned to victory lane with three victories in 2018. He then announced he would join the Honda factory team in 2019 alongside reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez.

His year with Honda has been a struggle, with multiple crashes and injuries hindering his performance. He noted those were primary reasons for his decision to retire.

The Premier League has committed to improving supporter experience with VAR, but has resisted pressure to use pitchside monitors unless an exceptional case arises.

Both Premier League and PGMOL, the referees' body, committed to "improving the consistency of decisions, speeding up processes and increasing communication to fans" and said that VAR should be under constant review.

However, there was no commitment to make any significant change to VAR protocol for this season but research will take place to canvas the views of fans and stakeholders.

Representative of all 20 clubs met in central London on Thursday for the league's regular meeting, and the four-hour summit was dominated by VAR as refs' chief Mike Riley was quizzed.

Riley told the meeting that the accuracy of decisions on key match-changing incidents had been improved from 82% last season to 91%, but he accepted improvement is required and that "speed and consistency of decision-making are priority areas of work and will improve as the officials become more experienced with the technology and protocols."

Controversially, pitchside monitors, which by IFAB protocol should be used by the match referee to review subjective decisions, have not been called into action once in 120 Premier League games. But calls for a change in policy have been rejected because "the pace and tempo of Premier League football remains an important focus for clubs."

However, the Premier League has accepted that communication for supporters inside the stadia and watching around the world is a major issue, and it plans to provide more precise information via screens inside grounds and to broadcasters to clearly state the offence that is being checked.

A statement from the Football Supporters' Association said: "We've made clear to the Premier League that match-going fans have been left behind when it comes to VAR use in stadiums and it needs to be urgently addressed.

"We hope today's announcement leads to an improvement for fans in the stadium and we'd also like better communication via PA systems and even pitchside advertising hoardings."

The Premier League is the only major league in Europe to show the definitive clip or image for all overturned decisions with the ground. The average time to complete a check is 33 seconds, and the average time for an overturn is 75 seconds, with an average of 6.5 checks per game and an overturned decision once every 4.1 games.

From David Beckham's red card (and subsequent redemption) to winning the World Cup, England's international history has been a real roller coaster...

The Toe Poke Daily is here every day to bring you all the weirdest stories, quirkiest viral content and top trolling that the internet has to offer, all in one place.

Jump to: England's lows | England's highs

With the England national team set to play their 1,000th international match on Thursday against Montenegro at Wembley (stream live on ESPN+ at 2:45 p.m. ET in U.S.) , we thought we'd chart some of the extreme highs and lows that have peppered the 999 outings thus far.

There have been big wins, shocking defeats, ghost goals, (multiple) penalty shootout heartbreaks, shameful red cards and wild celebrations over the course of almost 150 years' worth of international matches that all started back in 1872.

It's frankly astounding that we've managed to whittle it down to 10 of each, so let's kick off with the lows.

Lows

Defeat to the U.S.

You've got to hand it to England: when they fail, they fail spectacularly.

The famous defeat against the U.S. at the 1950 World Cup is still regarded as one of the biggest shocks in tournament history. England were one of the most revered international teams in the world and the Americans were a bit-part side of semi-professionals who had only trained together once beforehand. The latter won 1-0.

Not nearly as shocking but just as embarrassing was the 6-3 defeat against Hungary in the "Match of the Century" in front of 105,000 spectators at Wembley in 1953 -- a loss so immensely humbling that it forced a wide-scale revolution in coaching practises in England.

Proving that the debilitating defeat is not just a thing of the past, the Three Lions vintage of 2016 managed to stage a fitting tribute to their forefathers by getting jettisoned from Euro 2016 by minnows Iceland despite taking the lead in the fourth minute.

The Hand of God

The big one. England faced Argentina in the quarterfinals of the 1986 World Cup in front of 115,000 fans inside the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City and a global audience of millions. The game was won by one of the most compelling individual performances of all time, by Diego Maradona channelling both the hand and feet of god.

The opening goal is one that still sticks in the craw: the sight of a stocky, diminutive Maradona out-jumping Peter Shilton to knuckle the falling ball past him and into the gaping maw of the England net. Four minutes later, the England defence was reduced to spectators once again as Maradona went slaloming through them to add his second -- a timelessly beautiful demonstration of his grace, drive and skill -- in what swiftly became a 2-1 win for Argentina.

The game is long since over and the result will stand for eternity, but even 33 years on, the controversy surrounding it continues on a rolling boil.

"Do I not like that"

Alas, 1993 was not a good year for English football. For reasons entirely unbeknownst, national team manager Graham Taylor decided to allow a TV documentary crew into his dugout for a vital World Cup qualifier against Netherlands.

England lost 2-0 in Rotterdam and Taylor's increasingly exasperated utterances -- all caught on camera -- over the course of a frustrating evening were subsequently used as a stick to beat him with by the national press.

At one stage he was recorded telling a match official: "The referee's got me the sack, thank him ever so much for that won't you!" But it was his exasperated outburst of "Do I not like that" during a game against Poland that stuck in the nation's collective conscience.

England eventually failed to qualify and it wasn't long before Taylor was reduced to a root vegetable on the front page of The Sun.

Conceding fastest-ever World Cup goal to San Marino

Davide Gualtieri is a name that still haunts England supporters of a certain vintage, as it was he who scored for San Marino just 8.3 seconds into a World Cup qualifier in 1993.

After grinding through a fairly poor qualifying campaign, England needed to beat San Marino by seven clear goals to reach USA '94 by leapfrogging Netherlands on goal difference in their final game.

They went on to win 7-1 but, like a butterfly flapping its wings in Bologna, it was Gualtieri's lone strike inside the first minute that ultimately proved devastating

Southgate's penalty

Having seen off Spain on penalties in the previous round, England saw their Euro '96 semifinal against Germany reach the same conclusion -- only to see their frenzied dreams of continental glory crumble in an instant when Gareth Southgate's nervous spot kick was easily repelled by Andreas Kopke.

Unfortunately for Southgate and England, history was not on their side, with galling memories of Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle at the same stage of the 1990 World Cup, and to the same opponents, still all too fresh in the mind. The miserable penalty hex continued to plague the Three Lions for the next decade against Argentina in 1998, Portugal in 2004 and Portugal in 2006.

Still, at least we'll always have the Pizza Hut commercial.

Beckham's red card

David Beckham takes top billing here, with the midfielder's petulant flick at Diego Simeone's calf reducing England to 10 men for the remainder of their ill-fated round-of-16 encounter with Argentina, subsequently sparking an infamously spiteful tabloid campaign against the Manchester United midfielder.

Of course, Beckham isn't the only England player to lose his temper on the big stage, with Wayne Rooney also guilty of one at the 2006 World Cup. Having raced to recover from a broken foot, Rooney made his tournament debut against Portugal in the quarterfinals only to get himself sent off in the second half for angrily stamping on Ricardo Carvalho in what can politely be described as his "delicate area."

Seaman embarrassed by Ronaldinho

There have been many woeful goalkeeping moments, though it's David Seaman being beaten by Ronaldinho's speculative free kick (even the man himself later admitted he got "lucky") in a 2002 World Cup quarterfinal that leaps to the forefront of most fans' minds.

Rob Green deserves a dishonourable mention for his handling aberration against the United States in 2010, as does Paul Robinson for allowing Gary Neville's meek backpass to bobble over his boot in 2006.

Peter Bonetti was one of the first stooges to succumb to the 'keeper curse, when Gordon Banks' stand-in let Franz Beckenbauer's shot squirrel under him during a World Cup quarter-final against West Germany in 1970.

McClaren branded 'wally with a brolly'

Deepest, darkest November, 2007. England formally surrendered their hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008 on a rain-sodden night at Wembley as their manager, all sad-eyed and useless, stood watching quietly from beneath his umbrella.

England quickly went 2-0 down thanks to an inept clanger from goalkeeper Scott Carson, pulled it back to 2-2 through Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch, and then deservedly lost it late on to a 25-yarder from substitute Mladen Petric.

With that, the Three Lions failed to make it to Euro 2008 from a qualifying group containing Russia, Israel, Macedonia, Estonia and Andorra, and McClaren -- dubbed "A Wally with a Brolly" on the Daily Mail's back page -- was sacked the very next day.

Rooney blasting England fans

Technically it wasn't a defeat, but it was a goalless draw that certainly felt like one. After drawing 1-1 with the U.S. in their opening group game of the 2010 World Cup (thanks to Green's aforementioned lapse), England faced Algeria in their second game knowing a win was crucial.

What unfolded was 90 minutes of the most turgid, insipid football ever witnessed at any level of the game -- a woeful stalemate perhaps best encapsulated by Emile Heskey's ham-footed stepover attempt, coupled with the unrelenting drone of the vuvuzelas in Cape Town. Indeed, a lone bird landed atop Algeria's crossbar in the second half and at no point was it disturbed. It might still be there for all we know.

The entirely moribund evening was capped off after the final whistle by Rooney barking back at the jeering crowd by complaining "nice to see your home fans boo you, that's loyal supporters" right down the camera lens. It summed up the miserable mood shared by the players in Fabio Capello's unhappy camp and those watching their awful efforts back home.

Lampard's ghost goal

Despite their turgid performances, England still managed to reach the round of 16 in South Africa, though in hindsight they might wish they hadn't as they came up against Germany. It certainly didn't help England's chances when Frank Lampard saw a perfectly good goal ruled out in the first half.

Already 2-0 down inside half an hour, it looked for a fleeting moment like Fabio Capello's side were about to haul themselves back into the running when Matthew Upson pulled a goal back in Bloemfontein. Just 53 seconds later, Lampard cannoned a long-ranger in off the underside of Manuel Neuer's crossbar to restore parity. However, the ball was adjudged to have not crossed the line despite television replays confirming otherwise and the goal was chalked off.

Things descended from there, with Thomas Muller scoring a second-half brace to condemn England to a hefty 4-1 defeat and an unceremonious ejection from the tournament.

Highs

First-ever international football match

The game that started it all took place in 1872 when 4,000 spectators paid an entry fee of one shilling each to watch a game against Scotland at Hamilton Crescent in Partick. England wore white shirts while Scotland, who were mostly comprised of Queen's Park players, wore blue rugby shirts embroidered with thistles.

Unfortunately, the two teams produced a drab 0-0 draw, though things were livened up a bit when England's goalkeeper, Robert Barker, decided to play outfield for the remainder of the second half.

Top of the world

The last time England actually won anything -- if, of course, you don't include the Rous Cup, FIFA Fair Play trophy and Le Tournoi as major international honours.

Geoff Hurst's hat trick, including a controversial second goal that may or may not have crossed the line, remains the only time a player has scored three times in a World Cup final.

Moore and Banks' iconic moments vs. Brazil

Amid sweltering heat and increased pressure on the defending champions, England fell short of the mark at Mexico 1970. However, they still managed to produce a handful of iconic moments that are fondly recalled to this day.

The group-stage game against Brazil is a classic in its own right. England lost 1-0 to the eventual champions but did contribute two iconic moments of their own: Bobby Moore's effortlessly impeccable tackle on Jairzinho and Gordon Banks' remarkable reflex save to deny Pele at the far post.

Lineker's golden boot

Whereas England's performances at tournaments have generally left a fair bit to be desired, they do at least have decent pedigree in the Golden Boot stakes.

Gary Lineker became the first English player to top the scoring charts at a World Cup in 1986, notching six goals in five appearances to beat Diego Maradona into second place.

It then took a mere 32 years for an England player to repeat the feat, when Harry Kane scored six times at Russia 2018 to claim the same illustrious prize.

Gascoigne's goal vs. Scotland

If you weren't there, it's difficult to accurately describe the feverish atmosphere that propelled England into and through Euro '96. Yes, there was the 4-1 win over Netherlands, but a heady summer for the host nation was best encapsulated by Paul Gascoigne's maverick performance against Scotland in their previous group-stage game.

England won 2-0, with the second goal a virtuoso effort from Gascoigne, coming just moments after David Seaman had saved a penalty at the other end. The ball was dinked over Colin Hendry's head and volleyed past Andy Goram before you could blink. Gazza celebrated the goal in equally iconic style, recreating the "dentist's chair" drinking session on a pre-tournament trip to Hong Kong that caused a scandal back home.

Owen's wonder-goal vs. Argentina

?? World Cup iconic moments:

? 30 June, 1998

?️ Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne@themichaelowen announced himself on the international stage with this fantastic solo goal for @England against Argentina. pic.twitter.com/72xtFPJ2Ce

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 4, 2018

What better way to announce yourself on the world stage than by collecting the ball on the halfway line, sprinting through a clutch of defenders and then smoothly clipping a perfect finish into the far top corner?

That 1998 effort became a career-defining goal for Owen, who never quite hit those (admittedly lofty) heights again for club or country.

It was a goal worthy of winning a World Cup round-of-16 game, but the match ended in what was fast becoming customary fashion for England at a tournament -- penalty heartbreak.

Beating Germany 5-1

A World Cup qualifying result that has long been forgotten by Germans but is still revelled in by the English fans -- perhaps an indicator of how the two nations have fared since 2001. Still, Michael Owen scoring a hat trick in Munich and the sight of Emile Heskey bulldozing through all and sundry was a treat as England came back from a goal down to dismantle their rivals at the Olympiastadion.

The result instigated a concerted nationwide overhaul in German football toward focusing on nurturing youth talent and increasing the Mannshaft selection pool. England just blithely carried on as per.

Beckham's free kick vs. Greece

His heroic shift against Greece at Old Trafford in 2001 is arguably the performance that restored David Beckham's standing in the eyes of the nation.

Despite the heorics in Munich, England were 2-1 down and on the verge of missing out on automatic qualification for the 2002 World Cup when Beckham stepped up and sank a 93rd-minute free kick to send his country top of the group on goal difference.

It didn't really matter anyway, as Germany drew 0-0 elsewhere to scupper their own chances -- though they did subsequently qualify for Japan-South Korea via the playoffs before going on to reach the final.

Rooney's goal record

He's had his ups and downs, but there can be little denying that Wayne Rooney is a latter-day England great. If nothing else, he has the numbers to back up his credentials, being the most capped outfield player in Three Lions history (and second only to Peter Shilton in the overall list).

Rooney is also England's all-time top goal-scorer having surpassed Sir Bobby Charlton's long-standing record (49) by scoring his 50th international senior goal from the penalty spot in a 2-0 win over Switzerland back in 2015. By the time his England career came to a slightly contrived end in 2018, Rooney had amassed a tidy 53 goals in 120 caps.

Excorcising penalty shootout demons

It was an incredibly long time coming, but a great weight was lifted in the summer of 2018 when England finally, after many attempts, emerged victorious in a World Cup penalty shootout for the very first time in the round of 16 against Colombia.

Jordan Pickford's agile save against Carlos Bacca followed by Eric Dier's decisive spot kick sparked wild celebrations as Gareth Southgate, his penalty demons at least partially exorcised, marched his jubilant side into the quarterfinals.

England's only previous shootout win at a major tournament had come against Spain in the quarterfinals of Euro '96.

Mominul Haque's press conference at the end of the first day's play in Indore could be interpreted in many different ways.

The new Bangladesh captain seemed to be riled at the suggestion that his team isn't used to playing fast bowling. Mominul then tried to delicately broach the idea that journalists' questions sometimes put the players under more pressure. To be fair, the question was whether the Bangladesh batsmen were scared of India's fast bowlers, to which no cricketer would ever answer in the affirmative.

"You guys might find it funny but ahead of every series, even against Afghanistan, you [media] have a major role to play," Mominul said. "This thing can go against me, so don't take it otherwise, please. When we are playing against Afghanistan, the way you ask questions, by saying they have Rashid Khan, etc. Even if you don't want to think about them, it will creep into your mind. I just think how you present it makes it difficult."

Later, when he was asked why he was feeling under pressure at a press conference when he and other cricketers are trained to avoid much more difficult situations in the middle, Mominul didn't back down.

"I am the one who has to answer your questions, of course, but sometimes we don't think about a certain thing, and then when you ask us about it, we start thinking about it," Mominul said. "This is how the mind works. But you're right. Myself and the rest of the side have to be mentally stronger."

Throughout the press conference, it was clear that Mominul was relishing the captaincy, so much so that he let go of his usual introverted self and became a lot more outspoken. This was only his second interaction with the media after becoming captain.

But perhaps his inexperience at handling a prickly press conference got the better of him, after a tough day in the field. He perhaps didn't need to admit that he was at fault for choosing to bat first after winning the toss. Initially, when asked about the toss, he said he would have to live with the burden of the decision since Bangladesh made a low score.

"When you take this decision at the toss and things don't go your way, these questions will definitely come up," Mominul said. "Because we were bowled out cheaply, it was probably a bad decision on my part. It was totally my fault. I think if I had batted for longer with Mushfiq [Mushfiqur Rahim] bhai, we would have posted a bigger total."

Another way to look at Mominul's decision was that it was a positive one, showing his - and his team's - willingness to meet the Indian attack head-on. The trust he placed in his batting line-up was remarkable, and perhaps a positive sign from a new captain.

R Ashwin came out with the exact thought in his press conference.

"I personally thought it was a very brave decision to bat first having won the toss," Ashwin said. "We didn't expect that. We thought they'll bowl but they batted first which is very commendable on their part. I also thought some of their batsmen batted beautifully in the morning, it's never easy to come and play on a wicket that's got a bit of life. It was damp. And I thought Mominul Haque and some of the other batters batted beautifully."

It is not as if Mominul isn't used to harder challenges but handling questions at the end of a long day in the field can get the better of many top players. In only his first day as captain, Mominul can be given some leeway, but this Test series will not just be a test of Mominul the cricketer and new captain of Bangladesh, but also of Mominul the communicator.

After bowling Gloucestershire out for 205 on the first day at Cheltenham in May 2019, Lancashire had 20 overs to bat out ahead of the close. It was the sort of situation in which an in-form opening batsman thrives: there was no pressure on them to score, simply to survive by leaving, ducking, weaving and blocking.

But in May 2019, Haseeb Hameed was not an in-form opening batsman. He came into this game on the back of two tame dismissals to the unheralded Worcestershire seamer Charlie Morris: trapped lbw looking to work a straight ball to the leg side in the first innings, and caught in the slips playing an expansive drive in the second. His previous 32 first-class innings had brought one hundred and no fifties; his director of cricket Paul Allott had suggested that he was "hanging by a thread" at the club.

One can only wonder what was going through his head at the non-striker's end as Keaton Jennings clipped one off his pads out to straight midwicket, but on external evidence, it wasn't a lot. He stared vacantly at the ball as Jennings called him through for a single, and looked up to see his partner bounding down the track towards him. Panicked, he put his head down and charged towards the keeper's end but the throw was good, the keeper whipped off the bails, and Hameed's miserable run had continued. He looked to the skies, dejected.

Hameed played six more Championship games in the season and was dropped without ceremony. In November 2016, he had made a battling, unbeaten half-century with a broken finger in Mohali, an innings so dogged and resolute that Virat Kohli marked him out as a "future star". Since then, he has averaged 20.55 in first-class cricket, passing 50 five times in 67 innings.

Where did it all go so wrong?

***

The theories behind Hameed's downturn in form are plentiful, though many of them rely on speculation. He played his first List A game at the start of 2017, and some suggest that playing 50-over cricket has made him lose his judgement outside his off stump.

Others blame the influence of his father, who took it upon himself to become Hameed's batting coach during his teenage years. One source suggests that Lancashire's coaches were frustrated with the extent to which Hameed allowed his father to influence his game, though it is all too easy to pedal the pushy Asian father stereotype: when things were going his way, it didn't seem to be such a problem.

Justifiably, some feel he was hung out to dry by Allott. It is all too easily forgotten that Hameed is only 22 - that Lancashire's director of cricket repeatedly expressed his disappointment to the press about Hameed's form cannot have been helpful.

And finally, there is the suggestion that he might not have been the player many hoped in the first place. Of course, nobody makes nearly 1200 Division One runs as a 19-year-old without a great deal of talent, and he has long been marked out as a superstar in the making.

But, the theory goes, Hameed has always been a better player of spin than seam: 60 percent of the balls he faced in his only Test series were from spinners, and in the past three Championship seasons, only four of his 48 dismissals have been against spin. In three of his four Championship hundreds in his breakout year, more than a third of deliveries he faced were bowled by spinners; in his first ton, against Warwickshire, Jeetan Patel bowled 48.8 percent of the balls he faced.

ALSO READ: Hameed signs for Notts after Lancashire release

In truth, it is hard to isolate a single factor with any great confidence. What those outside of Hameed's close circle know is that he is a talented young player who has lost his way dramatically and publicly in the past three seasons: a switch of counties will surely do him good.

Hameed's move to Nottinghamshire, initially on a two-year deal, seems like it will suit him. Several counties were interested in securing his signature, and while it is easy to point to the struggles of some of those batsmen who have moved to the club recently - Ben Duckett, Joe Clarke and Ben Slater, for example - as evidence that the grass isn't always greener, it feels like a fresh start can only help him.

It was no surprise to see Hameed mention both Mick Newell (director of cricket) and Peter Moores (head coach) in the press release that accompanied the announcement of his signing, and while it might seem like a stretch, the wording - "a special mention to [them] for believing in me" - hinted at a sense of isolation towards the end of his time at Lancashire. And while Moores' wider reputation has never recovered from his second spell as England coach - in particular the fallout from the debacle that was the 2015 World Cup - he remains one of the most popular and respected coaches on the county circuit, and young players relish the chance to work with him.

Throw in the prospect of playing on pitches that are generally pretty flat at Trent Bridge and the fact that his first season will see the club play in Division Two, and the move seems to lay the ideal foundations for a comeback. Hameed seemed destined for greatness three years ago, and is surely too good to endure many more lean seasons; both for his immediate interests and for his career in the long run, he needs this signing to work out.

Lockie Ferguson is set to make his Test debut over the coming weeks, having been named in a 15-man New Zealand squad to play England and Australia.

Ferguson, who finished as second leading wicket-taker at the 50-over World Cup this summer, has played 44 white-ball internationals, but a Test call-up has escaped him despite an impressive first-class record on account of New Zealand's strong seam attack.

ALSO READ: Ferguson has sights set on Test breakthrough

Kane Williamson returns from the hip injury that kept him out of the recent T20I series against England to captain the side. There are two changes from the squad that drew 1-1 in Sri Lanka, with Ferguson and legspinner Todd Astle replacing fingerspinners Will Somerville and Ajaz Patel.

"There's no doubt Lockie has been knocking on the door for a while now and we're delighted to finally bring him into the Test fold," said selector Gavin Larsen.

"It's well documented he has raw pace, but he also possesses a quality bowling skill set and has proved his durability. He showed good form against England in the recent T20 series and backed that up with a solid outing for the Auckland Aces in the Plunket Shield, where he claimed 4 for 23 against the Wellington Firebirds.

"Our pace bowling stocks are strong at the moment and we feel Lockie will add another dimension to the picture, and will create some great competition.

There is also a place for Matt Henry, alongside established seam trio Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner, and head coach Gary Stead has suggested that his side will learn from Australia's rotation policy during the recent Ashes series as a blueprint for selection.

"It would be silly for us not to look at that," he told stuff.co.nz. "They did rotate their bowlers and it was horses for courses a bit. Like us, they have quite a bit of difference in their attack and definitely we have to consider that."

There had been fears that Williamson's injury would keep him out for a prolonged period, and he has played only four games since the World Cup final on July 14. But he is set to lead the side in both series, starting with the inaugural Test at Mount Maunganui on November 21.

"Kane's made good progress over the past fortnight," said Larsen, and we're delighted to welcome back a player of his class and experience."

New Zealand Test squad: Todd Astle, Tom Blundell, Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Jeet Raval, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling (wk), Kane Williamson (c)

Fixtures:

vs England (home)

November 21: First Test, Mount Maunganui
November 29: Second Test, Hamilton

vs Australia (away)

December 12: First Test (D/N), Perth
December 26: Second Test, Melbourne
January 3: Third Test, Sydney

Graeme Smith has withdrawn his interest from Cricket South Africa's director of cricket role, citing a lack of "confidence" in the administration. Smith announced his decision via social media on Thursday.

"I would love to have taken on the role. However, despite my obvious desire to make a difference, during the long and, at times, frustrating process over the last ten or so weeks of discussions, I have not developed the necessary confidence that I would be given the level of freedom and support to initiate the required changes," he wrote in his statement.

Please see my statement below on the Director of Cricket role for Cricket South Africa pic.twitter.com/uuv4kjIF3j

— Graeme Smith (@GraemeSmith49) November 14, 2019

Last Saturday, ESPNcricinfo broke the news that Smith was interviewed for the position alongside at least two other candidates: suspended interim director of cricket Corrie van Zyl and former national selector Hussein Manack. Local media has since reported that a fourth person, Dave Nosworthy, who has coached in South Africa and the United Kingdom is also in contention. A decision is expected to be made imminently, with the appointment due to be confirmed before England tour South Africa next month.

While Smith did not go into detail about the reasons for U-turning on what will be the most important position in South African cricket, he used words that have become part of the cricketing rhetoric in the country.

CSA is fighting fires on several counts including against the players' association (SACA), that has taken the board to court over a proposed domestic restructure, and against the second-biggest association in the country, Western Province, whose board has been suspended. Like Smith, SACA has reported frustrations in their dealings with CSA, dating back 18 months when a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between CSA and SACA, which governs the players' employment conditions, was being negotiated. Delays saw the previous MoU expire and a new one only come into place three months later.

CSA's most significant battle is financial and they have projected losses of R654 million in the next four-year cycle. A large portion of those losses are caused by the ongoing Mzansi Super League (MSL), which is in its second season. After failing to sell broadcast rights for the first edition, CSA had to foot the entire bill for the tournament, which is believed to be in the region of R80 million. This season, the public broadcaster, the SABC, is understood to have paid a small fee as a token gesture and CSA will once again spend millions of Rands.

Smith has no involvement with the competition, despite carving out a career as a commentator, because it is not being broadcast on the pay television channel SuperSport. Smith did not elaborate on his future plans but he is expected to be behind the microphone when England visit, and said he remains available to "give my advice and guidance wherever I can."

Major League Baseball's investigation into illegal sign stealing is expected to expand beyond the 2017 Houston Astros and look into whether other teams, including the 2019 Astros, used technology to aid hitters, sources familiar with the situation told ESPN.

The fallout from former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers telling The Athletic that the 2017 Astros used a center-field camera feed in a monitor near the dugout to steal and relay signs has rocked the sport and brought into question the methods used by people involved in at least the past three World Series, sources said.

The initial stages of the investigation already have begun, sources said, with league personnel contacting people from both the Astros and Boston Red Sox organizations Wednesday. The league is attempting to cull tangible evidence from the widespread paranoia of front offices and teams around the game about others cheating and has indicated it will consider levying long suspensions against interviewees who are found to have lied, according to sources.

While there is considerable crossover between the 2017 and 2019 Astros teams, multiple witnesses who were not with the 2017 team are expected to be interviewed, sources said.

Among those the league plans to interview in its investigation are Astros manager AJ Hinch, Red Sox manager Alex Cora and New York Mets manager Carlos Beltran, according to sources. The three were part of the 2017 Astros championship team -- Hinch the manager, Cora the bench coach and Beltran a player. Their involvement in the investigation was first reported by The Athletic.

MLB, sources told ESPN, spoke Wednesday with former Astros bullpen coach Craig Bjornson, who joined the Red Sox with Cora in 2018, the year they won a World Series. MLB also intends to interview former Astros assistant general manager Brandon Taubman, though he has retained a lawyer through whom he is communicating, according to sources.

As baseball's general managers meetings neared their Thursday conclusion in Scottsdale, Arizona, the league was grappling with the scope of the investigation and how wide-ranging it could become, sources said.

MLB's department of investigations has begun gathering a wide-ranging list of potential interviewees and is expected to talk with players as well as managers, coaches and other team personnel, sources said.

Any conversations with players would need approval from the Major League Baseball Players Association. When the league investigated the Red Sox in 2017 for the illegal use of an Apple Watch, the union participated in interviews with the players.

The penalties for illegal activity are determined by commissioner Rob Manfred, though if the league can prove wrongdoing, the severity could be unlike anything seen in the sport's recent history, sources said.

The heaviest penalty assessed to a team during Manfred's tenure was a $2 million fine and the forfeiture of two top draft picks by the St. Louis Cardinals in January 2017 for a scheme in which they stole scouting information from the Astros' computerized database. The Cardinals' scouting director, Chris Correa, was banned for life from the sport and went to prison. Former Atlanta Braves general manager John Coppolella was banned 10 months later for lying about the team's circumvention of international signing rules. The Red Sox in 2016 were barred from signing international players for a year after running afoul of the signing-bonus statutes.

Before the 2019 season, MLB instituted new rules to clamp down on illegal sign stealing. Unsanctioned cameras between the foul poles were outlawed, an eight-second delay on in-house camera feeds was mandated and an official sat in replay rooms off the dugout to monitor teams to try to prevent cheating.

The allegations against the Astros are the first to include on-the-record comments outlining a purported scheme. "That's not playing the game the right way," Fiers told The Athletic.

Fiers described a scenario in which the Astros received the feed near the dugout, decoded the sign flashed by the catcher and, if the sign was for an off-speed pitch, hit a trash can to signal to the hitter that it wasn't a fastball, according to Fiers.

Though the theft of signs is an avowed part of baseball, the game's unwritten rules long have limited it to players at second base picking the sign and signaling hitters through slight, prescribed movements. The use of technology is widely considered beyond the pale and has left the sport facing questions that, if evidence corroborates Fiers' accusations and exposes wrongdoing beyond that, could strike at the heart of the sport's integrity.

"I'm not aware of that camera," Beltran, who was hired by the Mets less than two weeks ago, told the New York Post in a text message Wednesday. "We were studying the opposite team every day."

During the 2019 American League Championship Series, after the New York Yankees called the league to report whistling from the Astros' dugout during Game 1, Hinch denied any wrongdoing.

When asked about the Astros on Wednesday, Dodgers president Andrew Friedman, whose team lost to Houston over seven games in the 2017 World Series and to Boston in five in 2018, declined to talk about specific allegations, fearing they would sound like "sour grapes."