When Peter Siddle retired from international cricket in the midst of last year's Boxing Day Test at the MCG, Michael Neser was doing what he has been for most of the past two years - warming up with the Australian Test squad, training with them, bowling to them and living every moment with them.

Everything, that is, except actually playing alongside them. Since he was first chosen in the group that went to the UAE to play Pakistan in October 2018, Neser's bearded face and pleasant countenance have been a fixture at the fringes, as he patiently awaits his chance to showcase the swinging and seaming skills he has demonstrated so ably for Queensland, the Adelaide Strikers and, on occasion, the Australian side in tour matches.

Siddle's decision to step aside has been both a source of pain but also opportunity for Neser: without the older Victorian ahead of him anymore, Neser has lost a source of advice in the dressing room but gained a place on the ladder towards selection. He will get another chance to push his case for Australia A against the England Lions at the MCG from Saturday.

"He helped me heaps with my game as well, so him retiring is a downer for me as well because I was learning so much off him," Neser said. "He was great around the squad and helped everyone, so fortunately for me, I'm still around him with the Strikers, so I'm still learning a lot off him and I suppose Siddsy's done a great job for Australia for many years, so it's sad to see him go.

"I learned a lot playing with him at the Strikers actually, in the moment, and just him helping me go through my thought process at the top of my mark. The thing with him, he makes sure you have a clear plan, he's very calm under those pressure situations, so I just see how he goes about it and just little things rub off. His work ethic is amazing, sticking with him at his age and he's still one of the most energetic guys in the squad, so it's inspiring and great to watch.

"There are little tricks here and there that he'll help with. The main thing with Siddsy is he changed his career from being a fast, out and out pace bowler to a more skilful swing bowler and it's transformed the way he bowled. I think it's a credit to him because he showed he's more than a one-trick pony. He's been such a skilful bowler and still is. Unfortunately, Queensland have him at the Gabba this coming up game with the Dukes, so he'll be a handful for the Queensland batters!"

Reflecting on his past 18 months in and around the Australian squad, Neser spoke of the privilege and the challenge with a strong sense of equanimity. It is no disgrace, after all, to be kept out of the Test team by Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, James Pattinson and Siddle - there are plenty of other Test sides around the world for whom Neser may already have played 20 or so matches. Before Boxing Day, he was talked up as a chance to play as a fifth bowler, only for the captain Tim Paine to subsequently describe it as a ruse to fool New Zealand.

"I genuinely have no clue! Hopefully, I was close," Neser said when asked how much of a chance he had had to play. "[The coach Justin Langer] said be ready, you never know what might happen. He pushes with all our players to be ready, no matter if you're a shoo-in or on the side, that's what he drills into us, to always be ready.

"It's a rollercoaster of emotions. I love being in the squad and it's a great honour as well, but at the same time I'm itching to go and I see where I stand in the pecking order though. Our bowlers have performed so well, so it's kind of hard for me to fit into that line-up when they're all going so strongly and playing well. But if the opportunity comes, fingers crossed I'll be ready."

A surfeit of withdrawals ahead of the Australia A match - Pattinson, Marcus Stoinis and Will Pucovski among them - have heightened Neser's role, and underlined why he would do well to closely follow Siddle's blueprint for durability in the game. And while there will likely be only a paltry crowd in attendance, Neser is one of many players on the fringe to benefit from the experience of excelling under the crowd and broadcast pressure of the BBL.

"Definitely it does [help], it adds an extra element of nerves and it's great with Big Bash, we experience that feeling around the ground," Neser said. "When I was sitting here with the Ashes watching that first ball and the crowd was absolutely amazing here with a full house, so it does add an extra element. It's really intense when the crowd is going like that, and to be blooded in Big Bash and to experience that is less daunting."

A four-day fixture against an England Lions team featuring numerous members of the Test side will be the ideal opportunity for Neser to demonstrate that, in the wake of Siddle, he can be the reliable operator Australia are sure to need on tough days in the future.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Golden State Warriors have officially ruled out Klay Thompson for the season as he continues to rehab a torn left ACL suffered in June.

"This is what I expected from the beginning given the severity of the injury," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said before Thursday night's game against the Houston Rockets. "And the normal timetable [for recovery], and so here we are. It's no surprise."

Thompson initially suffered the injury on June 13, 2019, during Game 6 of the NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors. He had surgery July 2.

The Warriors' announcement doesn't come as a surprise; Kerr had hinted at this outcome since the beginning of the training camp. Kerr noted that the Warriors' medical staff ultimately made the final call and that Thompson remains on track to be ready for the start of the 2020-21 season.

Kerr also said the possibility of Thompson playing for Team USA in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics hasn't been ruled out yet.

"It's not off the table," the coach said. "It's still a possibility. We haven't really discussed it. I think the [Olympic] team meets in July, so it's still quite a ways away. But it's really not anything we're discussing at this point. It's still a possibility ... obviously his health is the No. 1 concern, and so we'll kind of cross that bridge when we come to it."

Thompson, who helped Team USA win a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, has been open about wanting to represent the Americans again, especially with Kerr now an assistant on Gregg Popovich's staff. But that decision won't come for another several months as the Warriors keep a close eye on Thompson's recovery.

In the meantime, Kerr is happy to see the All-Star swingman's progress and watch him shooting around with his younger teammates on the practice floor in recent weeks.

"Klay was expecting this," Kerr said. "It's been a very frustrating year for Klay, but I think he's almost out of the woods. He's a couple months away from this season ending and moving towards a summer of preparing for the next season with his teammates. I think that's a much better place for him to be emotionally.

"I've really felt bad for him -- Klay loves to play basketball so much. He loves this game, and it means so much to him. In some ways he's kind of been lost without it. He's been so anxious to be out there on the floor helping his teammates. He sees all these young guys, he sees our struggles, he wants to be out there, but it's been a long haul."

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Lakers were quiet at the trade deadline and have yet to acquire any pieces off the buyout or free-agency market as they prepare for the stretch run. Could four-time All-Star DeMarcus Cousins, yet to play a game this season as he recovers from a torn ACL in his left knee, become an added weapon come playoff time?

Cousins seems to think so.

Appearing as a guest on Showtime's "All the Smoke" podcast with hosts Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Cousins explained what his role could look like in the postseason.

"We got a big team. It's going to be some bump, for sure," Cousins said. "We got so many guys with different abilities. I mean, I can spot up. Bron [LeBron James] is going to draw everybody whenever he decides to move. I'm pretty confident I can knock down the shot. We got shooters all over the floor. I mean, I can playmake. Like, it's pick your poison."

James was asked if the team is thinking about Cousins' eventual return.

"Listen, first, his health is the thing we're mostly engaging in and watching him. And he's progressed every single day, every single month," James said after practice Thursday, the Lakers' first group session following the All-Star break. "To the point where he was limping and now he's actually shooting and actually jumping on the jump shots, and progressing every single day, every single week. He's out there right now, getting his work done.

"We want to continue to stay optimistic about his health. We don't want no setbacks, as he's had before in the last couple years. But his health is most important, and if we can get Cuz anywhere back to what he was capable of doing a couple years ago, it's a plus for us. But there's no pressure on him. There's no pressure on our ballclub to have him out there right away, or whenever that case may be. We want him to be healthy and have a great, clear mind and a great attitude, which he's done since he's gotten here."

Lakers coach Frank Vogel maintained his stance that the team is allowing for the possibility that Cousins returns, but did not go much deeper than that.

"There is no date, and there's really no specifics on it in terms of, I'm not even sure where he's at with exactly what he's doing day to day. I just still know he's a long way away, but they've said they're not ruling out him returning. That's really all I can give you," he said. "I just know he's not close. As he starts getting close, it could be a review thing, because [the training staff will] come to me and let me know."

Cousins could be seen having a discussion with Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka, as well as with Lakers senior basketball adviser Kurt Rambis, on the turf field across from the Lakers' practice facility Thursday.

Cousins' 66-minute podcast appearance certainly provided plenty of material to talk about.

The 10-year veteran addressed the criminal charges that have since been dropped stemming from an audio recording in which Cousins' ex-girlfriend alleges he threatened to shoot her in the head when it became apparent their child was not going to be present for Cousins' wedding.

"It's an unfortunate situation. So, you know, I had a special moment in my life. I wanted all my family to be there. A little piece of happiness going through whatever I'm going through. Things didn't work out the way I wanted it to for my day. I was little upset. So I said some things I shouldn't have said but that person knew where it was coming from," Cousins said on the podcast. "I mean, I've seen a lot of things, heard a lot of stuff -- don't get me wrong, I'm 100 percent against domestic violence. Like, 100 percent. I watched my mother go through that as a child. So when it comes to that, I'm the first advocate for that. But with that being said, I said the wrong thing. Heat of the moment. We've all done it. ... We've all done it. ...

"My mama's said way worse, you know what I'm saying? But when it comes to your kids, it's a whole other situation and I'm pretty sure anybody with kids can speak on that. But it was still wrong."

ESPN's request to speak to Cousins on Thursday was declined by the Lakers.

Cousins also blamed himself for the August pickup run he participated in when his injury occurred.

"I fly home that day, I went to the gym," he explained on the podcast. "I had just landed. Damn near [cross country]. And I'm like, I don't want to miss no days in the gym. I'm getting into that mode, you know what I'm saying? I don't want to miss no days. So I go to the gym, I get there a little late ... I didn't have no business being out there. I just wanted to get my burn, like something, to make sure that I had a productive day. I had no business out there. Last play. Last basket of the game."

Cousins also praised James for being "a real dude" and revealed that he has tried to convince him to run for political office.

"I told him the other day, I'm like, 'Bro,' ... he's probably going to get pissed [when he hears this]. 'Bro, you need to run for president,'" Cousins said on the podcast. "If there's anybody ... if there's any NBA player to do it: LeBron James.

"And he's going to do it the right way. I mean, obviously that's just me talking and my opinion. He probably feels totally different. But I think he could do it. He has that type of impact, influence and just being a genuine person."

James smiled when Cousins' suggestion was brought up, but won't be looking to hire him as his press secretary anytime soon.

"No, I'm not considering it," James said. "And yes, he's said it a few times as the season's been on. So, nah. I appreciate it."

ATLANTA -- Trae Young didn't attribute his first 50-point game to confidence gained from his first All-Star start.

Belief in himself has never been a problem for the high-scoring guard with a fondness for 30-foot jumpers.

Young had a career-high 50 points and the Atlanta Hawks scored the last 10 points of the game to beat the Miami Heat 129-124 on Thursday night.

Young made 18 of 19 free throws and 8 of 15 3-pointers to set his scoring high in his first game after starting in the NBA All-Star Game.

"I've always had confidence in myself," Young said when asked if he was boosted by the All-Star Game experience.

Young scored 20 points in the final period. It was the third time this season Young scored 20 points in the fourth quarter, breaking a tie with Bulls guard Zach LaVine for the most 20-point fourth quarters this season.

"A big game from our leader," Atlanta's John Collins said. "We got some big plays from our big-time guy."

The Heat had no answer for Young's barrage of 3-pointers, many from well beyond the line.

"He just got into such an incredible rhythm," Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. "He's pulling up from 6 feet behind the line. ... There's not a lot of things you can do about that."

Young became the fourth-youngest player in league history to score 50 points in a game, trailing Brandon Jennings, LeBron James -- who did it three times -- and Devin Booker, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information.

Young also broke a tie with Shaquille O'Neal for most 40-point games by a player in his first two seasons in the league since the 1976-77 merger with his 11th such game.

Bam Adebayo had 28 points and a season-high 19 rebounds for Miami. Adebayo, the NBA All-Star skills champion, added seven assists.

Miami couldn't hold a 124-119 lead. After De'Andre Hunter's tying 3-pointer, Cam Reddish scored with 31 seconds remaining following his steal from Goran Dragic to give the Hawks a 126-124 lead. Young's two free throws increased the lead to four points.

Kevin Huerter and Hunter each scored 17 points for Atlanta.

Young hit a jumper for Atlanta's first field goal of the final period. On the Hawks' next possession, Young's crossover dribble had Andre Iguodala on his heels, and Young then sank a long 3-pointer for a 97-all tie.

"He's shooting 50-footers," Adebayo said. "At the end of the day, you've got to live with that."

With Hawks fans still buzzing after watching Young's knee-buckling fake on replays during a timeout, Iguodala answered with back-to-back baskets, including a 3-pointer, as Miami reclaimed the lead.

Young wasn't finished. He kept the Hawks close by scoring 14 of Atlanta's first 18 points of the final period. Young's three-point play tied the game at 119-all.

Miami led 36-32 after the first period before a shooting drought in the second quarter as Atlanta took the lead with a 15-0 run. After trailing 41-37, Atlanta led 52-41 after the run, capped by Hunter's 3-pointer.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Denny Hamlin entered elite company on Monday night after taking the checkered flag first in the 62nd annual Daytona 500 at Daytona Int’l Speedway.

With his third victory in The Great American Race, Hamlin became just the sixth driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to win the biggest race in the sport three or more times.

Hamlin ties NASCAR Hall of Famers Bobby Allison, Jeff Gordon and Dale Jarrett at a hat trick of Daytona 500 triumphs. Those three Daytona 500 wins are among the 38 Cup victories overall that Hamlin has.

Only Cale Yarborough (four) and Richard Petty (seven) – also NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees – have put their names on the iconic Harley J. Earl perpetual trophy more than Hamlin has.

It’s a fact that’s not lost on the Chesterfield, Va., short track ace, who also became just the fourth man to win the Daytona 500 in consecutive years, joining Petty (1973-74), Yarborough (1983-84) and Sterling Marlin (1994-95) in that category.

“Man, I need time to process it,” said Hamlin of the historical significance of his third Daytona 500 score. “I was saying actually at lunch today, I didn’t feel good about the race … not because of my car or the speed, just that we’d managed to get to the finish of these races for a lot of years in a row, and it’s like ‘how have we just kept avoiding the inevitable wrecks?’

“Really, we had a great strategy there at the end of stage one to put us up front at the beginning into stage two, and I was able to kind of maintain good track position at that point and obviously got shuffled, but it worked out in the end.”

Considering the kind of company that Hamlin now shares – all of the above names mentioned are Hall of Famers, with the exception of Marlin – it seems almost inevitable that once Hamlin retires from competition, his name will eventually be called to join them and he’ll receive an iconic blue jacket.

But Hamlin isn’t ready to think about that yet. In his mind, he still has a long way to go to catch up.

“When I think about the names, and Chris (Gabehart, crew chief) is always quick to remind me of what a win would do here, where does it put you and the names that it puts you with … I consider those (guys) professors of racing like this, and I’m just a guy that’s a student (of the draft),” Hamlin said.

“It’s been great to be on the run that we’ve been on the last five years at this race track … and really, it’s been eight years or so that we’ve been fantastic here, but I just can’t fathom that we did it again, being that it’s harder to win today than ever before because all the cars are so close together and the attrition and the wrecks do take their toll as it goes on,” Hamlin continued. “It’s harder to win (the Daytona 500) now than ever. To win it again, I don’t know what to think.

“You’re going to have to check with me in Las Vegas, but it’s a great feat and I’m proud of our team.”

Alex Ovechkin scored in the first period of the Washington Capitals' home game against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night, giving him 699 career goals.

The goal snapped a five-game streak without a point (tied for the longest of his career) for the Capitals star. He last scored Feb. 4, collecting a hat trick against the Los Angeles Kings.

Thursday night's game is ongoing.

Only seven players have scored 700: Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Jaromir Jagr, Brett Hull, Marcel Dionne, Phil Esposito and Mike Gartner.

Ovechkin's goal is his 22nd against Carey Price, tied for the third-most in his career against a single goalie. The only goaltenders he has scored more goals against in his career are Marc-Andre Fleury and Henrik Lundqvist (24 each).

The world No. 1 is out for a little bit of revenge in Mexico City. Here's how things look after the first round of the WGC-Mexico Championship, where Rory McIlroy is in position to improve upon last year's runner-up result:

Leaderboard: Rory McIlroy (-6), Bubba Watson (-4), Justin Thomas (-4), Bryson DeChambeau (-3), Louis Oosthuizen (-3), Billy Horschel (-3), Corey Conners (-3)

What it means: McIlroy got left in the dust last year behind Dustin Johnson, but he was not alone in that distinction. After a solid week at Riviera in his return to world No. 1, the Ulsterman was firing on all cylinders Thursday en route to building a two-shot lead. A winner already this year at the WGC-HSBC Champions, McIlroy is looking for his second WGC title in as many chances by capturing the lone WGC event he has yet to win.

Round of the day: McIlroy got things going quickly with an eagle on his second hole of the day, and he only dropped one shot on a day where many in the elite field struggled to break par. While the leaderboard was tightly packed for much of the afternoon, McIlroy distanced himself with three birdies over his final four holes, holing 51 feet of putts in the process.

Best of the rest: Like McIlroy, Watson thrived on the greens at Chapultepec, taking just 21 putts to complete his round of 67. Watson surprisingly missed the cut last week at Riviera, where he had won three times since 2014, but he bounced back Thursday with a round that included five birdies against just a single bogey.

Biggest disappointment: It does not appear that Dustin Johnson will be back in the winner's circle come Sunday. A winner at this event in 2017 and 2019, DJ has dominated Chapultepec's brief history but was a shell of his former self en route to a 5-over 76 in the opening round. Johnson made only one birdie all day, trails McIlroy by 11 shots and beat only four players among the 72-man field.

Main storyline heading into Friday: McIlroy remains the man to watch. Coming off a year that included four victories, he has hardly lost a step now that the calendar reads 2020. Further separation could cement his status as the man to beat on a course where only one player came within five shots of him a year ago. But don't look past Thomas, a playoff runner-up here two years ago who has already won twice this season.

Shot of the day: Paul Casey took advantage of an easy opener Thursday, hitting his tee shot on the 303-yard first hole to 18 feet. The subsequent eagle helped the Englishman to a 2-under 69 in the opening round.

Quote of the day: "I got beat last year, I didn't lose. I played pretty well. Hopefully this year I can go one better." - McIlroy

MEXICO CITY – Following his brush with the Rules of Golf at the Hero World Challenge in December, Patrick Reed has been forced to respond to criticism from many circles, but following another wave of second-guessing, the American seems to have said everything he plans to about the incident.

After his opening round at the WGC-Mexico Championship, Reed was asked to respond to criticism from world No. 2 Brooks Koepka and former CBS analyst Peter Kostis.

“I said what I have to say about what happened in the Bahamas, and at the end of the day, all I'm trying to do is go out and play good golf and trying to win a golf championship and hopefully run [leader Rory McIlroy] down,” Reed said following a first-round 69 that left him tied for eighth place in Mexico.

In a town hall interview this week on SiriusXM PGA Tour radio, Koepka was asked about Reed’s penalty for improving his lie in a bunker last year in the Bahamas. “Yeah. I don’t know what he was doing, building sand castles in the sand,” he said. “But you know where your club is. I took three months off and I can promise you I know if I touch sand. If you look at the video, obviously he grazes the sand twice and then he still chops down on it.”

In a recent episode of the No Laying Up podcast Kostis added, “I've seen Patrick Reed improve his lie, up close and personal, four times now.”

MEXICO CITY – Rory McIlroy this week at the WGC-Mexico Championship became the first high-profile player to take a hard stance against a proposed new tour,  and the early feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

“I received some nice messages,” he said following his first round at Club de Golf Chapultepec. “I wasn't hoping for anything. I was just sort of providing my point of view and getting it off my chest, and that's what I felt. I wasn't trying to do anything or prove a point or try to get any sort of praise.

“I've sort of been sick of talking about it for the last few months, and I'm happy that everyone knows where I stand on that, and I'm happy that I know where I stand on it.”

On Wednesday, when asked about the Premier Golf League, the world No. 1 said he didn’t “like it” and that he was “out” of the proposed league which is attempting to woo the game’s top players away from the PGA Tour and European Tour.

Specifically, McIlroy said he didn’t like the idea of giving up the autonomy of being an independent contractor and that he valued his legacy over any potential financial gain.

McIlroy said he received numerous messages regarding his comments and when asked if one of those messages was from PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, he cracked smile. “Maybe,” he answered.