MOTEGI, Japan – Honda’s Marc Marquez collected his 10th MotoGP pole of the season during qualifying Saturday at the Twin Ring Motegi.

The pole, his first in Japan, came thanks to a strong 1:45.763 lap around the 2.983-mile Motegi circuit. He’ll be joined on the front row by the Petronas Yamaha SRT duo of Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo.

The Twin Ring Motegi was the last track currently on the MotoGP schedule where Marquez had not yet collected a pole position, but he was able to cross the track off his list on Saturday.

“First pole position on the MotoGP bike in Motegi is great, I didn’t know it was the last one,” Marquez said after his 62nd MotoGP pole. “It’s a circuit that I usually struggle at a bit but today the setup was working very well in qualifying and I was able to ride in a different way. It’s important to start on pole at the home of Honda. I felt very strong during free practice four, but the conditions weren’t really normal. It was still a bit wet out on track, tomorrow we will have a lot of pressure from Yamaha and Dovizioso I think, so we still need to work a bit in warm up. The target is to fight for the victory, let’s see what the conditions are.”

Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales headlines row two, with LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow and Pramac Racing’s Jack Miller next in the starting order.

Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci will start seventh and eighth, respectively. Aleix Espargaro and Valentino Rossi completed the top-10 in qualifying.

Golf is a game of inches.

Byeong Hun An found that out the hard way during the third round of the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges.

After chipping in for birdie on the par-4 10^th hole to tie the lead, An pulled his tee shot at the par-4 11^th way left and into the trees. He had a gap that would allow him to punch out and give himself a chance to save par, but his ball was nestled into some thick brush.

As An swung the club, the foliage grabbed the face and sent the ball left of its intended line. The ball ricocheted off a tree and deeper into the woods.

After calling a rules official, An opted to take an unplayable, going backwards to the 16^th hole, eventually dropping on one of the forward tee boxes. He played his next shot, his fourth, over the trees and into the rough between the left greenside bunker and the green.

From there, he failed to get up and down before tapping in a putt for triple bogey. The triple dropped him from 14 under to 11 under, three shots back of leader Justin Thomas.

An birdied two of his next three holes after the triple, but a closing double at the par-5 18th left An with a third-round, 1-over 73 and dropped him five shots off the pace.

"It was OK today apart from the two holes, I guess," An said. "It was really disappointing to make the triple there [at 11], but I bounced back with a couple birdies. Overall, those two holes just destroyed my day."

In a crazy turn of events on Nine Bridges' 18th hole Saturday, Danny Lee grabbed a share of the 54-hole lead with Justin Thomas at the CJ Cup. Here’s what happened in Round 3 on Jeju Island:

Leaderboard: Justin Thomas (-15), Danny Lee (-15), Cameron Smith (-12), Wyndham Clark (-11), Jordan Spieth (-11), Byeong Hun An (-10)

What it means: If Sunday's finish is anything like Saturday's closing moments then we're in for quite a treat. Thomas held a three-shot lead as he prepared to his his second shot into the par-5 18th hole, looking for his fourth par-5 birdie on Day 3. But Thomas found the water and made bogey while Lee sunk a lengthy eagle putt from the collection area left of the green.

As a result, Thomas and Lee will enter the final round tied for the lead. Earlier in the day, Thomas had looked to be running away with the tournament, especially after Lee's double bogey at No. 10 and a disastrous triple from An, the third member of the final threesome, at the par-4 11th. But Lee played his last eight holes in 4 under to draw even with Thomas. An also rinsed his tee ball at the last, making double and settling for a third-round 73.

Rounds of the day: U.S. Presidents Cup hopefuls Collin Morikawa and Gary Woodland each shot 7-under 65 to climb to 9 under through 54 holes. Morikawa was 8 under through 14 holes before playing his final four in 1 over with a bogey at the par-5 18^th. Woodland went bogey-free with five back-nine birdies.

Best of the rest: Ian Poulter, who skipped his title defense last week at the Houston Open, made two eagles on the back nine as part of a 6-under 66, which lifted Poulter into a share of seventh at 9 under. Clark used four birdies in a five-hole span beginning at No. 9 to card 67 and climb into the top 5.

Biggest disappointment: It was fun while it lasted. Viktor Hovland’s Tour-record streak of consecutive sub-70 rounds ended at 19 with a third-round 74.

Main storyline entering Sunday: Despite Thomas’ watery finish, history still bolsters Thomas’ chances of picking up career PGA Tour win No. 11 on Sunday. Not only has Thomas converted seven of his nine career 54-hole leads or co-leads on Tour into victories, but he also has owned the Asian Swing since 2013, racking up three wins and nearly 500 more FedExCup points than the next closest player, Hideki Matsuyama. Yet Lee's late heroics give him a much better chance at his second career Tour title, first since the 2015 Greenbrier Classic.

Shot of the day: Lee's eagle make was crucial, but Spieth also saved his best for last, hitting 3-wood nearly 270 yards to set up a closing two-putt birdie. Spieth shot 2-under 70.

Quote of the day: "As for the wind, I think I took an extra one-and-a-half club [at 18]. Having to play into the wind, I didn’t feel like I could drive the ball to the left of the fairway. In my practice rounds—I think I played that hole about five times—I missed the fairway all five times, so instead I used a 3-wood off the tee to generate a lower shot. From the fairway, I had about 270 yards to the pin with wind coming from the front. To be honest I thought I missed the green, but luckily the ball stopped after passing a slight upward slope on the left of the green. As for that putt, frankly I wasn’t aiming for the hole. I was just trying to get the ball to roll down the slope as slowly as possible, but it kept going." – Lee, describing his closing eagle

What a difference one hole can make.

Justin Thomas led the CJ Cup by three shots when he arrived at the par-5 18th hole Saturday at Nine Bridges. But when he walked off the island green, he was on the wrong end of a three-shot swing.

Danny Lee's eagle make from the collection area left of the green earned the New Zeleander the co-lead with Thomas, who looked to be in control until hitting his second shot into the water right of the green and making a costly bogey.

The lead is still three shots, only now it's Thomas and Lee knotted up at 15 under, with Cameron Smith lurking back at 12 under and rounding out Sunday's final threesome.

"Well, it's not too frustrating since I'm tied for the lead," Thomas said after his third-round, 2-under 70. "It would be one thing if I lost six or seven shots today, but I feel pretty comfortable when I have a chance to win the tournament."

For good reason, too. Thomas has converted seven of his nine 54-hole leads or co-leads on the PGA Tour into victories. But in order to win his second CJ Cup title in three years, Thomas will have to shake off what happened Saturday and instead take away the five birdies he was able to make, three of them on the par-5s.

Thomas entered the third round with a two-shot lead and fresh off a second-round 63. By the eighth hole, though, both An and Lee had tied Thomas atop the leaderboard. While Thomas was able to stretch his lead back to three, it was mainly the product of back-nine mistakes by his playing competitors – Lee doubled the 10th while An carded a triple and double at Nos. 11 and 18, respectively.

Still, Thomas sank birdie putts down the stretch on Nos. 14 and 16, and his two other bogeys came on lip-outs, at the par-3 second and 13th holes.

"I played well," Thomas said. "You know, I just didn't hit a lot of good putts that burned the edges and didn't quite go in. You know, if a couple of those putts fall, I don't make a bad bogey on 18 and the other two bogeys I made, I hit good putts, they just caught the edge and lipped out, today easily could have been a 65 or 66, but to not really get anything out of it and still have a share of the lead going into Sunday is a good thing."

Two holes into his third round Saturday at Nine Bridges, Jordan Spieth was on pace for yet another disappointing weekend round.

Last season, Spieth was abysmal in the latter half of tournaments, ranking 170th in third-round scoring average (71.28) and 187th in final-round scoring average (72.47). Making those stats even more glaring was the fact that Spieth hadn't finished any of the past four seasons ranked worse than 30th in either category. In 2016-17, he ranked second and first, respectively.

But after bogeying each of his first two holes, Spieth clawed back for a 2-under 70 on a day where there weren't a ton of low numbers. At 11 under, Spieth, who is making his season debut this week at the CJ Cup, is tied for fourth, just four shots back of co-leaders Justin Thomas and Danny Lee.

"It was windy, so the goal then on this course is 3 or 4 under, and I bogeyed my first two and parred the par-5 third, so to be 2 over through three, I was losing probably three shots to the field there," Spieth said. "Certainly not an ideal start, so I'm glad about the way I battled."

Spieth bounced back with four birdies in his next 11 holes after the disappointing par on No. 3. While he gave another shot back with a poor approach at the par-4 15th, Spieth delivered the shot of the day at the par-5 18th, a 3-wood from nearly 270 yards to about 15 feet, to set up a closing two-putt birdie.

Still, Spieth lamented his sloppy ballstriking, especially with the wedges.

"I had four wedge opportunities and I didn't hit any of them inside 20 feet and that's unlike me," Spieth said. "That's just kind of like first tournament in a couple months kind of stuff that we'll kind of continue to get cleared up as we go on."

But can he clean it up by Sunday and make a run at his first worldwide victory since the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale?

"I think it would take something special and JT would probably have to have an off putting day, but he's striping his irons right now and he's probably gained 10 strokes on me on just the iron play this week," Spieth said. "That's been my sloppiness this week. I think with not much wind forecasted, I think he'll be tough to catch. But [I'll try to] go out and shoot a solid round, not look at the scoreboard, just try and go out and post a round like I did yesterday and see what happens."

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has said some club members at Camp Nou were against re-signing Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain this summer.

The Catalan side made public their desire to bring Neymar back from PSG this summer, with the French champions keen to let the Brazil international go.

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Messi had also made it clear he wanted his former teammate back, but the two clubs were unable to strike a deal for a player who cost a world-record €222 million when he left for Barca for PSG in 2017.

"We talk to Neymar often," Messi told Argentina's Radio Metro. "We still have a WhatsApp group with Luis [Suarez].

"It's difficult for him to come back, as he left here, many club members and people do not want him to come back. From a sporting point of view he would be wonderful, but the other view is also understandable. It is a bit difficult."

Messi also said that, while he is happy to stay with Barcelona for the rest of this career, he does not want a contract which stipulates that has to be the case.

"It is true that Barcelona proposed a contract for life to me, but what I said was that I do not want a contract to bind me," he added.

"I want to be fine to perform, to play and continue fighting for objectives. Being here can be for life, but not with a contract."

Last season was the first time since 2008-09 that Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were not playing in the same division and the Argentina captain said his Ballon d'Or rival's presence added something to clashes between Barca and Real Madrid.

"It is strange [Ronaldo not being in La Liga]," Messi said. "It was good when Cristiano Ronaldo was there.

"He made the Clasico much more special, he gave more value to La Liga as well"

In a stinging retort to the BCB's new rule that legspinners must bowl four overs in every innings of the Bangladesh Premier League, Shakib Al Hasan has said that the T20 league cannot be expected to "make" players. He also drew attention to the poor pay structure and training facilities in the country's domestic set-up.

Of late the BCB has been stressing on the importance of legspin, so much so that it even fired two National Cricket League (NCL) coaches last week for not selecting legspinners in their respective first-class teams.

"I think that legspinners should bowl a lot of overs in first-class cricket to gain confidence and consistency," Shakib told the Bengali daily Samakal. "The BPL is an international-standard competitive tournament where you will face scenarios that you are likely to face in international cricket. You share the dressing room with overseas cricketers. It is not the place to make a player.

"Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna and Sylhet should have a proper gym, running and indoor facilities. You cannot bat for more than 15 minutes in the Mirpur indoor facilities, it gets so hot." Shakib Al Hasan

"For so many years we couldn't select a legspinner for the senior team, but suddenly we made plans to include seven legspinners in the BPL. This decision does come as a bit of a surprise, but I would still state that the board has taken a decision that it thinks is good."

ESPNcricinfo understands that the order about including a the legspinner - and a 140kph quick bowler - in BPL XIs had come from the Bangladesh team management. At the time of announcing the rule, Bangladesh Cricket Board director Mahbubul Anam had said: "BCB wants this BPL to be about improving Bangladesh's cricketers in T20s, so we want to make sure that our batsmen and bowlers get enough opportunities [against quicks and legspinners]."

Shakib also criticised the lack of increments in the salary of domestic cricketers, calling for better communication between players and "decision-makers". He also expressed dissatisfaction about the fact that the BPL is no longer a franchise-run event, which means player payments are expected to be lower than before. The cash-rich Dhaka Premier League (DPL), which for four decades had operated with players transferred from club to club in an open market, also now has heavy caps and a draft in place to help clubs cut player payments.

"[First-class match fees] is very unacceptable," Shakib said. "It is a very small amount for a cricketer to maintain the minimum standard of living in Bangladesh. Things are getting costlier. Government officers get increments every year, but we see that it is same for us every time. It even gets reduced. BPL and DPL are big examples of this.

"I always get a feeling that cricketers in our country are being suppressed. This is not right. Everyone should have equal opportunity. A player should be left to earn what he feels he deserves. If the team doesn't want to take the player at that payment, the player will deal with it. But to stop him from [freely naming his price] is not right.

ALSO READ: Bangladesh's first-class system struggles in a Test Championship world

"If the decision-makers don't think that they need to sit with us, then we don't have much to do. I think that discussion with players or a group of players will help cricket's development. But I am glad that they are focused on cricket development. Like, the concern shown towards fitness, although they could have announced it earlier. Papon bhai (Nazmul Hassan, the BCB president) did say that fitness tests will become tougher but they will announce it earlier."

Shakib also drew attention to the indoor facilities in Mirpur, where batsmen struggle while training during the summer months due to the lack of air-conditioning.

"Only focusing on the national team shouldn't be the main job of the organisers. Places like Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna and Sylhet should have a proper gym, running and indoor facilities. You cannot bat for more than 15 minutes in the Mirpur indoor facilities, because it gets so hot. They haven't installed ACs even after being told for ten years.

"It is quite disappointing, especially when we see indoors in other countries that have clear lighting and ACs."

Adelaide Strikers 4 for 120 (Devine 72*, Brown 2-15) beat Melbourne Renegades 7 for 117 (Duffin 44, Taylor 3-26) by six wickets

A sublime all-round display from New Zealand's Sophie Devine helped Adelaide Strikers to a win against Melbourne Renegades in their opening WBBL fixture at Karen Rolton Oval.

Devine made 72 not out from just 45 balls to single-handedly run down the Renegades target of 118 after earlier delivering four overs for just 16 runs and picking up the key wicket of Renegades skipper Jess Duffin.

Strikers elected to bowl first and it paid off immediately with their star-studded attack claiming four wickets in the Powerplay. Devine tied up an end as Megan Schutt and Stafanie Taylor tore through the Renegades' talented top-order.

Dani Wyatt was sent back by Schutt after absorbing six dot balls, and he fast bowler then took a superb caught and bowled two balls later to dismiss Sophie Molineux. Taylor picked up Claire Koski and Tammy Beaumont in the last over of the Powerplay to leave the Renegades at 4 for 21. Renegades never really recovered despite the best efforts of Duffin. She made 44 off 32 with five boundaries but Josie Dooley was the only other player to reach 20 as they limped to 7 for 117 from their 20 overs.

Strikers' chase did not start well with Lea Tahuhu dismissing Suzie Bates and Tahlia McGrath in the second over to leave the home side 2 for 4. That become 3 for 32 in the 5th over when Bridget Patterson was bowled by a brilliant inswinging yorker from Maitlan Brown.

But Devine took control, while Taylor provided a steady hand from the other end in a 62-run stand. The Renegades could not contain Devine's power as she struck six fours and four sixes to see her side home with 28 balls and six wickets to spare.

Queensland 7 for 242 (Hemphrey 64, Street 53*, Agar 3-29) lead South Australia 221 (Andrews 78, Cooper 69, Neser 5-56) by 21 runs

Patient half-centuries from Charlie Hemphrey and debutant Bryce Street helped Queensland claim the lead against South Australia on a rain-affected second day at the Gabba.

Just four balls were bowled in the morning session as rain denied the Redbacks any chance to make further inroads following Wes Agar's triple-strike late on day one.

Marnus Labuschagne and Hemphrey batted steadily when play resumed post-lunch building a 63-run stand while the ball still nipped and swung for South Australia's seam bowlers. Labuschagne's frustrating run of uncapitalised starts continued when he edged a superb delivery from the Nick Winter to second slip, having been squared-up on the back foot.

Hemphrey was joined by Street and the pair set about recapturing their form from Queensland's 2nd XI earlier this month where they combined for a sensational 412-run stand against Victoria's second XI. On that occasion, Street made 345 not out and Hemphrey 151.

Against a highly-skilled first-class attack on a more challenging Gabba strip, they had to settle for hard-working half-centuries in an 83-run stand that took nearly 46 overs to compile. Hemphrey struck eight boundaries in his 64 but would be very disappointed with his dismissal. Having nearly steered Queensland into the lead he inexplicably chipped Tom Andrews to mid-off to expose the lower order against the second new ball with the lights in full effect to brighten a dark grey sky.

Winter returned to wreak havoc. He found the outside edge of Jimmy Peirson with a similar delivery to that which removed Labuschagne, swinging in and nipping away from the right hander from a good length. He nearly trapped Michael Neser lbw first ball with a full inswinger but got him a couple of overs later with one that swerved late back through the gate to finish with three wickets for the day.

Street held firm reaching his maiden half-century in his debut innings with a lovely straight drive. The umpires decided the natural light had faded too much with two balls left in the 87th over and called an end to the day. Queensland will resume on day three with a slender lead of 21.

The past, present and most definitely the future of the Australian cricket team was on display at North Sydney Oval on Friday.

Alex Blackwell, who was capped 251 times by her country, padded up for another WBBL season and struck 56 off 38 balls. Ellyse Perry and Alyssa Healy, two stars of the current world-beating Australia side, did what they often do and sent the ball to all parts.

And then there was a 16-year-old on debut who will, probably sooner rather than later, be part of that Australia team.

Phoebe Litchfield only lasted 22 balls, but played out in front of a worldwide TV audience the innings went to reinforce why she has been talked about as one of the most talented players of the next generation.

Earlier this year, a video posted on Twitter by New South Wales of Litchfield batting the nets went around the world. "I sort of didn't know at the time," Litchfield told ESPNcricinfo. "I thought they were just videoing our whole squad and then my friend was like 'nice video' and I was confused at the start, but it's got a lot of views which puts on a bit of pressure on."

Some pretty good shots here.

Introducing Phoebe Litchfield. pic.twitter.com/IR1umhErky

— NSW Breakers (@NSWBreakers) July 9, 2019

There was only a few days to get her head around a WBBL contract. "The nerves sort of climbed from there to the first ball," she said.

Pressure, and expectation, it appears are things Litchfield is able to take in her stride. On Friday, against a star-studded Sydney Sixers side, and walking in with her team 3 for 25, key internationals Rachel Priest and Rachael Haynes dismissed, she showed her range of strokes with a flick over midwicket followed by a deft scoop over fine leg. "I guess I go where there's no fielders. It was on, so I went for it," was her matter-of-fact response.

It was an attempt at a repeat that saw her go lbw, but even the dismissal was significant as the wicket-taker was fellow 16-year-old Hayley Silver-Holmes.

"To see such class from a 16-year-old is really impressive," Alyssa Healy said. "That's what's so great about this competition, these young girls are getting opportunities."

Litchfield has already had plenty of representative honours, selected for a Governer's General XI, touring with Australia U-19s, and a few weeks ago playing for a Cricket Australia XI against the Sri Lankans. Her WBBL debut, on a landmark night for the competition, was another milestone.

"I aspired to be in the Big Bash and now I'm playing in it, so it's a great experienced and I'm just happy to be here," she said. "It was crazy and felt like a dream. It was a great experience, having [Alex Blackwell] out there made me a bit more calm which was nice. It's a very good spot to watch, at the other end, Alex go at it."

It is some age gap between the two batters in the middle ! Well played Phoebe on debut. Another cracking kid from country nsw. It was an enjoyable 50+ run partnership. @SixersWBBL too good for us tonight. We get a chance to turn things around on Sunday 2pm v The Heat #WBBL05 https://t.co/NAnon0m7GA

— Alex Blackwell (@AlexBlackwell2) October 18, 2019

There is both excitement and a degree of caution within the Thunder camp - not wanting to overwhelm Litchfield early in her career - but also an acknowledgement that her maturity stands her in good stead.

There are more shots in the locker, too, with Litchfield having a 360-degree game with parts of hockey, the other sport she plays at representative level, playing a part.

"I have to play hockey right-handed so it took me a while to get good at that. I didn't do a reverse sweep today, but the reverse comes out and that's sort of a hockey shot," she said.

She is part of the Australia Under-16 hockey side and at the moment is pleased to be able to split her focus between two sports. She knows a decision looms at some point in the future but it is not something that has been discussed yet and the Thunder coach Trevor Griffin sees it as strength that Litchfield has another focus in her life to retain a balance.

"I like having the off-season to get my head off cricket, it's a nice fitness booster and I think if played cricket all year I'd probably get sick of it, so it's nice to switch over," Litchfield said. "Most likely [I will have to choose] because the season is getting bigger and bigger and there's lots of competitions around the world, but I'm not thinking about that soon. If cricket asks me to stop, I'll stop, but for now I'll keep playing both."