Cricket's global governing body is headed towards a confrontation with the game's biggest powerhouse after the ICC decided to include an extra tournament in the next rights cycle overlooking objections from the BCCI.

On Monday the ICC Board gave consent to include an extra global tournament in the next events rights cycle, which starts after the 2023 World Cup. As it stands, the ICC's decision, made at its meeting in Dubai over the weekend, means that its next eight-year cycle running from 2023 to 2031 would have one ICC global (men's and women's) event every year: two 50-over World Cups, four T20 World Cups and two editions of this extra event, which is understood to be in the 50-overs format.

It could, according to some officials familiar with discussions at the ICC's meetings, be a six-team 50-over tournament, along the lines of a smaller Champions Trophy.

However, the BCCI has already raised several concerns about the addition and Sourav Ganguly, the BCCI president-elect, made it clear in his first media interaction after filing his nomination that he wanted to revisit the matter of BCCI's share of the ICC's revenues. He said India should get what it "deserves", considering nearly 70% of the global cricket revenues come from India.

The ICC board's move came a day after the BCCI expressed reservations over signing off on a decision before its new administration was in place (scheduled on October 23), as well as over how another global event would eat into cricket's bilateral calendar.

ESPNcricinfo has seen an e-mail sent on Sunday by Rahul Johri, the BCCI's chief executive officer, to his ICC counterpart Manu Sawhney, in which he warns of the threat an extra global tournament poses to the bilateral calendar. Johri wrote that if the Future Tours Programme (FTP) for the next cycle (2023-31) was finalised without due deliberation, it would not only be "premature" but have "wide ranging repercussions" on bilateral cricket.

Incidentally, Amitabh Choudhary, the BCCI's acting secretary was present at the ICC Board meeting, and echoed the sentiment expressed by Johri. However, the rest of the Board members said that the ICC decided to go ahead with the proposal to save time. It is understood that the move received widespread support.

"The Board decided that the eight-year cycle commencing in 2023 will comprise eight Men's events, eight Women's events, four Men's U19 events and four Women's U19 events," the ICC said in a release on Monday.

"In examining a whole range of options, the Board felt a major Men's and Women's event each year will bring consistency to our calendar whilst complementing bilateral cricket, giving our sport a strong future foundation," Shashank Manohar, the ICC chairman, said. "It will provide clear structure and context to enable the growth of the sport and greater engagement opportunities for all of our stakeholders."

The ICC decision reinstates the global calendar as it was before the Big Three forced changes from 2015. Until that year, there had been an ICC event - or one scheduled - every single year since 1999, other than 2001. There was no ICC event in 2008, but Pakistan was scheduled to host the Champions Trophy that year, eventually held in South Africa the following year and in 2005 there was the ICC Super Series in Australia. In the eight-year cycle from 2015, however, two years have no ICC events: 2018 and 2022, and it is these kinds of gaps that the ICC want to avoid in the next cycle.

But the BCCI is reluctant to play ball. "At the outset, we would like to inform you that BCCI cannot agree or confirm to the post-2023 ICC events calendar and the proposed additional ICC events, at this stage," Johri wrote in his email to Sawhney. "The BCCI stands committed to bilateral cricket and would have continuing time requirement as in the current FTP. It is important for BCCI to fulfil all its bilateral commitments to fellow full members.

"The working group discussions are currently in progress and no recommendations have been made yet. Considering that, finalising the 2023 ICC events calendar will not only be premature but also mean that the correct procedure has not been followed. Increasing ICC events will have wide-ranging repercussions on bilateral cricket and therefore all aspects need to be discussed and analysed threadbare."

It is understood that the matter first came up for discussions at the ICC's working group meeting as well as at the chief executives' committee (CEC) meetings held over the weekend in Dubai. The working group, which comprises two ICC board members (Cricket South Africa president Chris Nenzani and Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings) along with CEOs of BCCI (Johri), ECB (Tom Harrison) and Cricket West Indies (Johnny Grave), was formed last year to formulate strategy for the growth and development of cricket. On Saturday, Sawhney briefed the bigger CEC meeting.

Johri is believed to have argued that the ICC ought to prioritise bilateral cricket before pushing for more global tournaments in the calendar. Sawhney's - and the ICC board's - view is that having an additional 50-over tournament every four years will help all members draw extra revenue from the rights the ICC sells for the events.

The BCCI's position is unsurprising given that its bilateral calendar still holds considerable value, something which is not the case for all members. Less financially secure boards would stand to benefit on the one hand from the increased revenues an extra ICC event will provide. On the other, they would have to balance that against the value their bilateral cricket and, increasingly, their own domestic T20 leagues bring - in calendars as packed with international and domestic T20 cricket, squeezing in one extra ICC event could hit a T20 league in some member country.

Johri did point out to Sawhney that the BCCI would not be able to sign on anything considering a new administration was on the verge of being formed with the upcoming BCCI elections. Johri wrote that the new BCCI set-up would need to be involved before any final decision was taken. "The BCCI elections are presently underway, and it will only be prudent for the new board members to deliberate and provide their inputs on this issue before any final decision is taken."

The BCCI is believed to have suggested that the ICC should organise workshops to flesh out the details with all the boards. "It is imperative that the working group discussions are completed, and a report/ recommendation are submitted for the ICC CEC to consider," Johri said in the e-mail.

With additional inputs from Osman Samiuddin and George Dobell

Controversially sacked after winning the 2016 T20 World Cup with West Indies, Phil Simmons will make a return as head coach of the team. His appointment was confirmed for a four-year spell by the Cricket West Indies board of directors on Monday. CWI also announced three new selection panels, for the men's, women's and girls', and the boys' teams.

The former West Indies opening batsman last served as the coach of Afghanistan until the recent World Cup, and on Sunday won the 2019 CPL coaching the Barbados Tridents. Before that, Simmons coached Ireland between 2007 and 2015, helping them qualify for three straight World Cups.

"Bringing Phil Simmons back is not just righting a past wrong, but I am confident that CWI has chosen the right man for the job at the right time," CWI president Ricky Skerritt said. "I want to also thank the very talented Floyd Reifer for the hard work he put in while he was the interim coach."

Reifer was one of three men shortlisted two weeks ago for the role alongside Simmons and Desmond Haynes. West Indies had been without a full-time coach since the CWI management led by Skerritt ended Richard Pybus' stint in April this year - just weeks before the World Cup - following a review of the team's coaching and selection policies. Reifer had been at the helm since.

CWI's director of cricket Jimmy Adams, who was also one of the members on the interview panel, said: "I am happy, after a very robust recruitment process at the appointment of Phil to the role of Head Coach. I have no doubt that Phil brings the requisite leadership skills and experience needed to drive improvement across our international squads and I look forward to supporting him in the role."

That the position would go to a West Indian was made clear by the board before the selection process. They had said in September that "persons without West Indian heritage need not apply" for the role.

A CWI panel interviewed six candidates which were later shortlisted to three.

The new election panel for the men's team includes Roger Harper (lead selector) and Miles Bascombe; the women's and girl's panel includes Ann Browne-John (lead selector) and Travis Dowlin, and the boys' panel comprises Haynes.

The selection panels will get to work immediately with the men's team scheduled to play Afghanistan in India in November and the women's team set to host India for three ODIs and five T20Is starting November 1. The Under-19 team will host a tri-series with Sri Lanka and England in December in the lead up to the Under-19 World Cup in January in South Africa.

For the first time this season, the favorite to win NFL MVP resides in Seattle.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson moved ahead of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes this week and is now the betting favorite to win MVP at Caesars Sportsbook

Wilson has thrown for 14 touchdowns without an interception, leading the Seahawks out to a 5-1 start. He passed for 295 yards and two touchdowns, and also ran for a touchdown in the Seahawks' road win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. He has accounted for 18 touchdowns this season.

Wilson, who has never won MVP and started the season with 20-1 odds to win the award, is now 2-1, just ahead of Mahomes at 5-2 at Caesars Sportsbook.

Mahomes, last season's MVP, also has thrown 14 touchdowns with one interception, but the Chiefs have dropped back-to-back home games to the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans.

Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson is 4-1, followed by Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey at 8-1. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is 12-1, and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is 14-1.

Oddsmakers are paying more attention to Wilson than bettors are. Wilson ranks outside the top 12 in terms of number of bets to win MVP at Caesars Sportsbook, behind Chicago Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield. Trubisky is now 1,000-1, and Mayfield is 300-1.

More money has been bet on Mahomes to win MVP than has been bet on any other player. Wilson is sixth in money.

An attempt to "Rick-roll" fans of the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers at the start of the fourth quarter Sunday instead wound up angering some Los Angeles Chargers players.

The opening of "Renegade" by Styx -- the Steelers' adopted anthem -- blared over loudspeakers at Dignity Health Sports Park, with the full intention of morphing it into the much-lampooned 1980s song "Never Gonna Give You Up," by Rick Astley.

However, upon hearing the opening of "Renegade," fans of the visiting Steelers -- who were quite numerous, very loud and thrilled with a 24-10 lead at the time -- took it up a notch.

"It was crazy," Chargers running back Melvin Gordon told the Los Angeles Times. "They started playing their theme music. I don't know what we were doing -- that little soundtrack, what they do on their home games. I don't know why we played that.

"I don't know what that was. Don't do that at our own stadium. ... It already felt like it was their stadium. ... I don't understand that."

Added offensive lineman Forrest Lamp: "We're used to not having any fans here. It does suck, though, when they're playing their music in the fourth quarter. We're the ones at home. I don't know who's in charge of that, but they probably should be fired."

The Chargers are playing games at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, this season while their new Hollywood Park home, which they will share with the Los Angeles Rams, is being completed in time for the 2020 season. The Carson stadium is the home of the LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer.

Coach Anthony Lynn, for what it's worth, doesn't believe the music blaring over the public-address system had anything to do with Sunday's 24-17 loss that dropped the Chargers to 2-4 this season.

"The crowd doesn't play," Lynn said, according to the Times. "If anything, I thought that crowd tonight brought a lot of energy to the stadium. It was an exciting night to play football. We just didn't execute the way we should have."

PHILADELPHIA -- Eagles coach Doug Pederson just raised the stakes for Sunday's all-important matchup at the Dallas Cowboys.

During his weekly radio appearance on 94.1 WIP on Monday, Pederson said the Eagles would win Sunday at AT&T Stadium.

"We're going down to Dallas, and our guys are gonna be ready to play. And we're gonna win that football game, and when we do, we're in first place in the NFC East," Pederson told the radio station. "We control our own destiny. We're right where we need to be."

When asked later Monday about the comments, Pederson denied ever making a guarantee.

"Never said. ... I never said 'guarantee a win,'" Pederson said. "I'd never do that."

Pederson added he had no regrets about how he phrased his comments during his radio appearance.

"No, because it shows confidence in our football team," Pederson said. "I promise you [Cowboys coach] Jason Garrett is going to say the same thing with his team, that they are going to win the football game as well. I'm not going to stand up here and go on record and say, 'We're going to go there and try and win a game. Man, hopefully we can go win this one.' It just doesn't show confidence. And I want to show confidence in our players. We got a ton of confidence in them."

Pederson made the original comments after saying he understands the fan base's mindset that "the sky is falling" following a 38-20 loss to the Minnesota Vikings that dropped the Eagles to 3-3 on the season.

The Cowboys are also 3-3 following their 24-22 loss to the New York Jets over the weekend, setting up a pivotal NFC East matchup on Sunday Night Football.

"Has it been beautiful or perfect or all of that? No," Pederson told the radio station of the Eagles' start. "But all we have to do is try to be 1-0 this week, beat the Dallas Cowboys [and] we're in first place.

"And listen, they're reeling, too. They're struggling, too. They've dropped their last three games. So this will be an exciting football game."

NBA commissioner Adam Silver held a tense meeting with players from the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers last week when he arrived in Shanghai, sources told ESPN's Rachel Nichols.

During the meeting, sources said, several prominent players voiced frustration about their perception that they were being put in the middle of the dispute between the NBA and China, and they said they were unhappy about being asked to address the situation by local Chinese reporters before Silver himself was scheduled to do so.

The relationship between the league and China was disrupted after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted in support of anti-government protesters in Hong Kong on Oct. 4. Morey later deleted the tweet and apologized. Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta denounced the tweet and said the Rockets were "not a political organization" and that Morey did not speak for the team.

During the meeting with the players, sources said, Silver was directly asked whether anything would happen to Morey, as several players said they believed that if a player had cost the NBA millions of dollars because of a tweet, there would be repercussions.

Morey will not face any league discipline for the tweet.

The teams were in China to play two preseason games in front of the country's avid basketball fans. Officials in both countries have said as many as 500 million Chinese watched at least one NBA game last season.

Chinese officials eventually severed a cooperative agreement with the Rockets, and China's state television broadcaster canceled plans to air the games. Several NBA Cares activities with the players also were canceled, as was press availability with the teams and some Chinese sponsorships.

Silver said the NBA was "apologetic" over the reaction to Morey's tweets and the actions that occurred afterward, but he refused to apologize, saying, "We are not apologizing for Daryl exercising his freedom of expression."

The Rockets have a large following in China, partly because Yao Ming, the team's former star center, is president of China's basketball association.

CHICAGO - The Cubs will interview former Philadelphia Phillies manager Gabe Kapler and Houston Astros bench coach Joe Espada this week for their vacant managerial position, the team said on Monday.

Espada is expected to interview on Monday, during an off day for the American League Championship Series between the Astros and the New York Yankees.

Kapler, 44, was fired by the Phillies on Thursday after two seasons and a 161-163 record. He played for the Boston Red Sox from 2003 to 2006, when current Cubs executives Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer held similar positions for that franchise.

Kapler has also been linked to the San Francisco Giants, who are looking for a replacement for the retired Bruce Bochy. Kapler worked with Giants team president Farhan Zaidi when both were with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Espada, 44, has been the bench coach for the Astros for the past two years. Before that, he was a special assistant to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and also served as the team's third-base coach,

Espada is the brother-in-law of Brandon Hyde, who worked in Chicago before becoming manager of the Baltimore Orioles. Espada and Hyde, whose wives are sisters, were employed by the Miami Marlins together in 2010 and 2011.

Kapler and Espada bring the number of managerial candidates to six. David Ross, Joe Girardi, Mark Loretta and Will Venable have already discussed the job with the team.

The Cubs could make a decision on who replaces Joe Maddon soon after the latest candidates interview, as one source indicated last week that Kapler and Espada could be the final candidates to discuss the job with the team.

Industry sources have indicated for some time that Ross is the front-runner for the job.

WASHINGTON -- Victor Robles will return to the Washington Nationals' starting lineup for the first time in 10 days, batting eighth and playing center field for Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Monday night.

Robles suffered what was considered a mild hamstring strain in Game 2 of the NL Division Series on Oct. 4, prompting Michael Taylor to start in his absence. Robles did some running exercises at Nationals Park on Sunday, and manager Dave Martinez was hopeful -- though noncommittal -- that he might return with the series shifting to Washington D.C.

Robles, who will match up against St. Louis Cardinals ace Jack Flaherty, batted .255/.326/.419 with 17 home runs and 28 stolen bases in his first full season in 2019. His presence allows Taylor to return to his role as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement. The Nationals have a 2-0 lead in this NLCS.

The Cardinals are also starting Jose Martinez, who has half of St. Louis' four hits in the series as a pinch hitter, and sitting Matt Carpenter.

AS GAME 1 of the National League Championship Series nears its conclusion Friday, the man who is supposed to be pitching in it lounges on a row of wooden cabinets covered by an inch-thick brown cushion. The Washington Nationals are on the verge of sealing a 2-0 victory against the St. Louis Cardinals, and Daniel Hudson, their closer, is watching on a 20-inch flat-screen in a hospital room more than 800 miles away in Scottsdale, Arizona. He is wearing a zip-up pullover, sweatpants and a grin of satisfaction. Regardless of what is happening on the TV, this feels like a perfect ninth inning.

In his arms is 8 pounds, 1 ounce of bliss. She doesn't have a name yet. He calls her "Baby Girl." She arrived 13 hours ago to great fanfare -- all night, the broadcast on TBS has been talking about her. She is the reason her daddy isn't pitching the ninth inning, and her daddy not pitching the ninth inning has sparked a national debate at the nexus of parenting, fatherhood, marriage and sports. Instead of playing in a postseason game, Hudson has chosen to spend the first day of his daughter's life with her, her mom and her sisters.

Actually, to call this a choice is a misnomer. For Hudson, this is his responsibility. At every mention of his name on the TV, he rolls his eyes while his wife, Sara Hudson, provides color commentary from the bed next to his makeshift bunk.

"The Nationals do not have their closer, Daniel Hudson," the play-by-play announcer says in the game's middle innings.

"Wait!" Sara says, tilting her head to look over at him. "You're not there?"

He smirks. For nearly a decade, baseball has teased and tested Hudson and his family, flummoxed them and fulfilled them. Six months ago, it rendered him an afterthought: a relief-pitching vagabond, 32 years old, fungible, jobless. Now the game is giving him what he always knew it could -- to be wanted, needed, loved -- and he isn't there.

Because here's the thing: All that time, even as Daniel Hudson searched for those things in the sport he adored, he was already getting them from his family.

IT'S 5:04 A.M. on Thursday, about 36 hours earlier, when Hudson rolls his suitcase out of the Langham hotel in Pasadena, California, and slides into the front seat of an UberX. He is operating on maybe two hours of sleep. Seven hours before, the Nationals completed a division series upset of the 106-win Los Angeles Dodgers, one of Hudson's former teams. He pitched in all three wins, including a scoreless ninth inning in the series-clinching Game 5 that preceded Howie Kendrick's go-ahead grand slam in the 10th. In the clubhouse afterward, teammates showered Hudson with booze. Despite his best efforts to scrub himself clean, he still reeks of beer and champagne.

He is headed to Ontario International Airport, about 45 minutes away, to hop on a flight home. Sara is due with their third child four days later, on Oct. 14 -- now, suddenly, a date that conflicts with Game 3 of the NLCS. And her first two pregnancies went late, which could be Game 5 or 6 or 7. So the Hudsons pivoted. On Thursday, the day between the division series and the NLCS, Sara will be induced, and if everything goes according to plan, Hudson can make it to St. Louis in time for Game 1.

The Hudsons are used to altering their plans for baseball. In 2011, Hudson was one of the game's most promising young starting pitchers: a 23-13 record and 3.01 ERA in a season and a half, a Silver Slugger award as baseball's best hitting pitcher, a playoff appearance with the NL West-champion Arizona Diamondbacks. But in 2012, the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow tore, requiring Tommy John surgery. In his first rehabilitation start 11 months later, the ligament tore again. Back-to-back UCL tears typically end careers. Hudson persisted and returned in late 2014 as a reliever with the Diamondbacks. He signed an $11 million free-agent deal before the 2017 season with the Pittsburgh Pirates, got traded to and cut by the Tampa Bay Rays the next season, then latched on with the Dodgers in 2018. By this offseason, Hudson was seen as pedestrian enough that, when he hit free agency again, no team offered him a major league deal.

He settled for a non-guaranteed contract with the Los Angeles Angels. On the eve of the season, they released him. The Toronto Blue Jays signed him, and Hudson pitched well enough for four months that the Nationals dealt for him hours before the trade deadline to help fortify their porous bullpen.

"He saved our season," says Sean Doolittle, the Nationals reliever whose late-August knee injury forced Hudson into closing duties. Hudson pitched in 15 of the Nationals' 24 games in his first month in D.C., an excessive workload for any reliever. In September, as the Nationals surged to secure a wild-card spot, manager Dave Martinez called on him in high-leverage spots, including both ends of a Sept. 24 doubleheader.

"Who else is gonna do it?" Hudson is fond of saying. This is not a shot at his teammates so much as a defense mechanism taught by his trying baseball career. Hudson's elbow had stolen more than two years of his career and consumed his life. To not be available is a sin.

Which makes his trip to Phoenix all the more meaningful. Over the previous two months, Hudson had seen Sara and his daughters, 5-year-old Baylor Rae and 2-year-old Parker Elizabeth, for three days. Their only other contact had come through FaceTime sessions. Every day, Baylor told him how much she missed him.

At 6:41 a.m. on Thursday, as Hudson prepares to board the plane, a text pops up on his phone -- Sara ensuring he is at the airport. He replies that he is and asks how she's doing. His phone dings again.

"I'm a hormonal, psychotic mess."

SARA HUDSON'S SENSE of humor borders somewhere between caustic and perverse. When she arrives at the airport Thursday morning with the girls and her mom, Scotti Russell, Sara tells Baylor to show daddy the boo-boo she got on her finger when Parker accidentally closed it in a door. Baylor obliges and lifts the middle finger on her right hand directly at Hudson.

He and Sara met freshman year at Old Dominion in 2005, started dating the next semester and got married in 2011. During Hudson's 26 months of rehab from his surgeries, Sara, now 32, kept him afloat. She dragged him to trivia night with friends when he didn't want to go. She didn't judge him for playing MLB The Show as bizarro Daniel Hudson -- a made-from-scratch position player, not his actual video game self. She was supportive for so long, and in so many ways, in fact, that when their first daughter was born, she thought it only appropriate to steal Hudson's phone, pull up her contact info and enter "My" as her first name and "Queen" as her last.

"If you feel like you need to go, you can go." Sara Hudson

After more than a year of trying to have a child, Sara found out she was pregnant with their first back in 2014, while Hudson was rehabbing from his second Tommy John. Baylor was born just six weeks before his Sept. 3, 2014, return. She is headstrong, smart and sweet. Parker, who turns 3 in November, is mischievous, silly and bright. Seeing them Thursday reinvigorates Hudson -- to a point. After they head home from the airport, he reads them books. They fly a kite in the back yard. The girls go swimming. Hudson keeps asking: "You tired? Ready for a lie-down?" Truth be told, he needs a nap more than they do.

As they play, Sara is at the doctor. With years of experience as a labor-and-delivery nurse, she has scripted out how the delivery will go: Whenever the induction starts, the baby will come between 10 and 12 hours later. If she can get checked in this morning, the Hudsons might be able to leave the hospital Friday.

Of course, then they'll have to get Hudson to St. Louis. Chartering a jet on such short notice is too tricky. The direct commercial flights between Phoenix and St. Louis aren't ideal -- most leave too early for Sara to settle back at home or too late to ensure Hudson makes the game on time.

"If you feel like you need to go, you can go," Sara told him earlier in the week.

"God forbid, what if something were to happen and I wasn't there?" Hudson said.

"Valid point," Sara said.

All of it becomes moot Thursday morning when Sara's doctor tells her to return to the hospital at 8 p.m. That settles it. Hudson is missing Game 1.

The world doesn't yet know. Around midnight, as Sara receives her epidural, a commercial for the postseason shows Hudson punctuating his Game 2-ending, bases-loaded strikeout of Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager with a scream of "Let's go!" Sara points at the TV and said, "Hey, there's you!" From the uncomfortable recliner in the corner of the delivery room, Hudson is barely responsive. When his eyes close for a few minutes, Sara angles her phone to snap pictures of him mid-snooze.

Around 5:30 a.m. Friday, her water breaks and they prepare to meet the newest Hudson. They didn't learn the baby's gender this time; they want to be surprised. Hudson thinks it's a girl. Sara isn't sure. She has alternated between referring to the baby as a boy and a girl. (Sometimes she just calls the baby "it," which drew scoldings from her friends.)

At 7:02 a.m. -- almost exactly 24 hours after Hudson boarded the plane in California -- a healthy baby girl comes into the world. Hudson beams. Sara glows. A photographer captures their joy for posterity. Hudson sends texts to family and friends: "It's a girl!" They move up two floors to a recovery room. Scotti brings Baylor and Parker around 10:30 a.m. After a few minutes of shyness -- the girls didn't realize how tiny the baby would be -- Baylor is smitten. She scolds Kris Hudson, Daniel's mom, for hogging her sister: "You're holding her too long," she says. Parker is confused. She wanted a brother. "Daddy," she says. "I thought it was gonna be a boy!"

They start to solicit advice on names. Sara had picked Baylor because she liked the name when she read it in "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood." Hudson chose Parker, which he first saw when Sara was pregnant with Baylor. Baby Girl's name would be a joint decision.

Baylor wants to name her Lulu. "I like it!" Sara says to her daughter as she vigorously shakes her head "no" to everyone else in the room. Maybe a baseball-inspired choice: Natalie -- Nat for short? Nope. One particularly inspired option that doesn't pass muster: Belle, because of all Sara's weird cravings -- roast beef, Pop Tarts and cold bologna -- nothing sated her during this pregnancy quite like a MexiMelt from Taco Bell.

The name conversation continues without resolution. Unbeknownst to anyone in the room, the day is about to get even more interesting. The Nationals' official Twitter account just posted a picture with the team's NLCS roster, but instead of the standard four categories of players, they offered five: pitchers, catchers, infielders, outfielders and paternity list.

DANIEL HUDSON DELETED his Twitter in July 2016, amid the worst stretch of his career, because the negativity so overwhelmed him. When he pitched well, he received a few huzzahs. If he blew a game, a deluge of tweets pointing out his worthlessness followed. What happens Friday afternoon, then, takes a small step toward restoring his faith in social media.

It starts with a laugh from Sara. She had just seen the Nationals' tweet -- and is reading the replies.

Hudson is the first player to use MLB's paternity-list policy in the postseason, and the cocktail of the playoffs and paternity leave is internet red meat. Sara can't get enough of it. She reads her favorites aloud.

This is a terribly weak move -- in the postseason. Regular season, totally fine. Championship on the line? Not a real Nat.

"I kind of wish I had Twitter," Sara says, "to be like, 'You're right, he's not. He's a rental.'

She keeps reading: "Oh, I like this one: 'Used to be it was safe for a National to get busy around mid-January. Good process, bad result.' "

"Well, technically," Hudson says, "I actually didn't have a job when we got pregnant."

"Bringing a child into the world is a miracle. And if you have a chance to be there and share that experience with your wife and your family, you take it." Sean Doolittle

The Hudsons are pleasantly surprised to find that the positive responses far outweigh the negative. But what stirs the masses most is a tweet from David Samson, the former president of the Miami Marlins, who says: "Unreal that Daniel Hudson is on paternity list and missing game 1 of #NLCS. Only excuse would be a problem with the birth or health of baby or mother. If all is well, he needs to get to St. Louis. Inexcusable. Will it matter?"

Samson got his first job in baseball from Jeffrey Loria, the owner of the Montreal Expos and then-husband of Samson's mother, Sivia.

"So his whole baseball career exists because of family?" Hudson asks.

It does. And the responses bring Hudson solace. Thousands of tweets pillory Samson. To Hudson's defenders, he is a proxy for something greater -- for the sanctity of fatherhood, family and prioritizing. All these years, slogging along, trying to find his place in baseball, and all it took for the world to care about him was staying true to the thing that made him keep grinding away in the first place.

HUDSON IS STILL trying to reconcile what it means to matter. He wears permanent scars -- actual and emotional -- that have convinced him he doesn't. Coming into this season, Hudson had been a slightly above-average pitcher for his career and slightly below-average since his surgeries. Even if he still believed greatness lurked, it couldn't last. Could it?

"Going through what I've been through, you're just kind of waiting for the wheels to come off again," he says. "I know that sucks, but it's happened how many times?"

That's why he marvels at this season. It seems so perfect. The soft landing in Toronto. The trade to the Nationals, who were relying on the hit-or-miss Fernando Rodney and sundry other lesser-equipped relievers for big at-bats. The faith Martinez showed, giving him the final three outs in the come-from-behind wild-card win, after which Hudson wound up and chucked his glove in elation. The epic division series strikeout of Seager, in which Hudson threw seven consecutive fastballs before telling catcher Kurt Suzuki he wanted to throw a slider -- then unleashing a perfect 88 mph tumbler through which Seager swung.

"I don't think I've ever called my shot like that," Hudson says.

Two games later came the Will Smith at-bat. Win-or-go-home game, 3-3, bottom of the ninth, walk-off waiting to happen. Hudson hung a slider to the Dodgers' rookie catcher. "Of course the worst one I throw in six weeks would end our season," he says. Smith hit it to the opposite field and flipped his bat. Dodgers players leapt over the dugout railing. They were convinced it was a series-ending home run. The ball -- conveniently for Hudson not flying nearly as far this postseason as it did during the regular season -- died in right fielder Adam Eaton's glove.

"For me, it would have been a fitting end," Hudson says. "That s--- always happens to me."

He's not sandbagging. Even a relatively uncomplicated baseball career can beat you down, and Hudson's career has not been uncomplicated. So you can excuse him for thinking this is all a big joke when he's saving postseason games like Mariano Rivera, even with an elbow that has proved far too tenuous for him ever to really trust it and a right knee that, for the past three months, has been in constant pain because of a strained medial collateral ligament. If Hudson sits for more than 10 minutes, his knee barks when he stands up. The team doctor won't give him a shot because he worries it could further damage the ligament. Only adrenaline and anti-inflammatory drugs allow him to pitch. When they met at the airport Thursday, Sara put on her nurse hat.

"Everything hurts," Hudson said.

"You need, like, five Aleves?" Sara said.

"I need something," he said.

"I told him he needs to slow down," she said. "If he needs a kidney, it's not coming from me."

Even in this dream season, Hudson often feels like he's barely getting through the pain, the self-doubt, the certainty that this can all fall apart. And so Hudson flew to Phoenix to see his child born, yes, but for so much more than that. A recalibration. A reminder that, even with the extreme highs and lows baseball provides, there is something that will forever center him. That he's got Sara and Baylor and Parker and Baby Girl, and that their want and need and love, unlike the game's, is unconditional.

It's what makes this time with his family so heartening. About an hour before Game 1 is set to begin, Hudson drives to his house to pick up his suitcase. Sara booked him a flight for early Saturday morning so he could make it to St. Louis in time for Game 2, and he needs his luggage so he can spend the night with her and Baby Girl. Baylor and Parker are at Scotti's, and she asks whether he can bring the girls' pink scooters to her house.

When Scotti opens the front door, Baylor and Parker stand behind her. Each is cradling a baby doll. If they can't be with their sister, they at least want a reasonable facsimile. Hudson bends his knees, grimacing at the creak in his right one, and opens his arms. The girls lean in for hugs and say goodbye. They ask where Hudson is going. "Daddy has to go play more baseball," he says.

THIRTY-FIVE MINUTES after the first pitch of the NLCS on Friday night, Sara picks up her phone and starts to scroll. The photographer sent the first batch of pictures from that morning, and Sara is taken by one in particular. It shows Hudson, sitting in the uncomfortable recliner, a smile spread across his face, holding Baby Girl, her eyes wide open, a bow on top of her head, her right hand trying to break through the swaddle that enveloped her.

"That was worth Game 1," Sara says.

Over the next three hours, Hudson and Sara's attention vacillates between the game and the baby. In one breath, they dissect the butterfly changeup of Nationals starter Anibal Sanchez, who is carrying a no-hitter deep into the game, and in the next they debate the baby's name. Both of them like Millie, a homophone for Sara's maiden name, Milley, but they're still not entirely sure.

Throughout the night, the broadcast team never misses an opportunity to bring up Hudson's absence. It becomes such a recurring theme that Craig Hanks, a friend of Hudson's, sends him a text proposing a new drinking game: "Every time they say Daniel Hudson take a drink ... I might die." When Sanchez loses his no-hit bid, Hudson turns into an especially important talking point. This would have been his time to pitch, the broadcast notes, his save to secure.

"All this time I thought I'd married Rodney," Sara says, "and it turns out I married Rivera."

After the first out in the ninth, Hudson passes Baby Girl back to Sara. With one out remaining, he sits up and gazes at the TV -- composed, even stoic. No fist-pump when Marcell Ozuna stares at a first-pitch strike from Doolittle. No disappointment when Ozuna takes a ball to even the count. Nothing even when Ozuna swings and misses at a fastball that ends the game and gives the Nationals a 1-0 series lead.

"Told you we were good," Hudson says. "Got it locked down."

"Look at that," Sara says. "Team picks you up in a team sport."

About 10 minutes later, Hudson's phone buzzes with a text from Martinez, the Nationals' manager: "You need to name your daughter Anibala Sean."

As tempting as that might be, it doesn't fit. Around midnight, about 3 1/2 hours before Hudson would awaken and head to the airport for his 6:05 a.m. flight, he and Sara agree that Baby Girl will be called Millie Lou Hudson. You can never go wrong honoring the family.

SOUTHWEST FLIGHT 3558 lands in St. Louis about 30 minutes early Saturday morning. Hudson scored the best seat on the plane -- 12A, in the exit row and without a seat in front of it -- allowing him to flex his right knee and prevent soreness from creeping into the joint. As the plane parks at the gate and passengers reach for their belongings from the overhead bins, a man two rows in front of Hudson turns around.

"I just wanna say thanks for beating the Dodgers," he says.

Hudson appreciates the acknowledgment, especially a year after he ended the season on the injured list instead of the Dodgers' postseason roster. Now he is headed to his first NLCS. Hudson winds his way through the airport, grabs his bag and arrives at Busch Stadium at 11 a.m. "Hey, dad," his Nationals teammates call out as he walks into the clubhouse. They ask about Sara (she's heading home) and how much sleep he has gotten (eight hours over three days) and whether he is ready to go (of course).

"All this time I thought I'd married Rodney, and it turns out I married Rivera." Sara Hudson

About 90 minutes later, he sits atop a dais in front of the media and tells the story of his last 50 or so hours, from the flight home to the decision to the birth. He says he is awed by the response and appreciative of the Nationals for being so supportive, and he adds that Sara is a "rock star." "I heard somebody say one time baseball's what I do, it's not who I am," Hudson says. "And kind of once you have kids, or once I had kids, it really resonated with me. So to be able to be a part of that was awesome." The room is duly charmed.

From there, it is back to the clubhouse. Typically, Hudson spends the first few innings of a game undergoing treatment on his knee to activate his leg muscles and reduce the stress on his MCL. He hangs back with Doolittle and Patrick Corbin, talking about the improbability of his life right now, and before they know it, the fifth inning comes and they make their way to the bullpen.

Max Scherzer throws seven brilliant innings. The Cardinals score a run off Doolittle on a defensive miscue in the eighth to cut the Nationals' lead to 3-1. In the ninth, Martinez calls on Corbin, a $140 million free agent signing last winter, to secure the first out. He gives way to Hudson, who figures his free agency will go better this offseason than last. He earned a save in the wild-card game, plus a save and the series-clinching win in the division series. Now he has a chance at an NLCS save.

First up is Paul Goldschmidt, his old Diamondbacks teammate. Hudson hangs a slider. Goldschmidt doesn't capitalize, popping out to left field. Hudson wants to jam the next hitter, Ozuna, with an inside fastball. Ozuna bites, breaks his bat and pops out feebly. Hudson comes through again, his 13th consecutive scoreless outing dating to the regular season.

Cameras swarm him in the clubhouse afterward. Reporters ask teammates about him. Doolittle provides the money quote: "If your reaction to someone having a baby is anything other than, 'Congratulations, I hope everybody's healthy,' you're an a--hole."

A few minutes later, as the clubhouse clears and the Nationals' bus readies to leave, Doolittle continues.

"I was thinking about this yesterday," he says. "I don't know if it's 2019 and we take modern medicine for granted, or if we just live in a really cynical or jaded society, but bringing a child into the world is a miracle. It's unbelievable. And if you have a chance to be there and share that experience with your wife and your family, you take it."

And as the bus drives toward the Nationals' hotel, Doolittle elaborates even more. This is personal to him. What Hudson had done resonated deeper than anyone realized.

"As important as our careers are to us as players, nothing is more important to us than our families," Doolittle says. "Our careers will end someday, but family is forever. We sacrifice so much and we miss so much during our careers. We miss graduations and weddings. Lots of players might miss their kids' first steps or first words. They're gone six to eight months out of the year and can't take their kids to school or help their wives with taking care of the kids. So when he said, 'Hey, I need a day to be with my family because my wife is about to give birth,' it was a no-brainer for me, and we focused all our energy on picking him up."

When Hudson walks into his room, he collapses on the bed, ready for a good night's sleep. First, though, he has one final responsibility: calling the girls on FaceTime and helping put them to bed. He'll do that whenever time permits, perhaps even after Game 3 on Monday, when the Nationals can put themselves within one win of the World Series. Even if he's not there with them, he tries to make sure they're there with him.

That goes for on the field, too. All he needs to do is look at his left hand. All season, sewn into his glove, on the thumb side, were three sets of initials: SMH, BRH and PEH. Before Game 2, Hudson realized something was missing. So he grabbed a black marker, and in the small patch of empty leather, he wrote three more letters: MLH.

World and Olympic 400m gold medallist among the greats celebrated by England Athletics

Olympic and two-time world 400m gold medallist Christine Ohuruogu was among the eight greats inducted into the England Athletics hall of fame at an awards ceremony in Birmingham on Saturday.

Sponsored by Track & Field Tours, the 12th edition of the annual event also incorporated the National Volunteer Awards.

Reflecting on her career, Ohuruogu said: “It has been such a long career, there is no one particular highlight, there have been so many.

“The relays were always a lot of fun – it was nice to have people around you and to get to the podium and celebrate with other people.

“I retired last year and prior to retiring I’d been doing a degree and I just graduated this summer. I’ve still been following athletics, and watching athletes, and staying in touch with athletes and I’ll try and help wherever I can.”

Also announced as joining the hall of fame were fellow former athletes Kelly Sotherton, the three-time Olympic medallist in the heptathlon and 4x400m, and Phillips Idowu, who was crowned world, world indoor, European indoor and Commonwealth triple jump champion during his career.

There was also recognition for coach Jenny Archer, athlete turned BBC commentator and coach Paul Dickenson, former British 400m record-holder Robbie Brightwell, Olympic steeplechase medallist Mark Rowland and the late great Willie Applegart, a sprint legend of the early 1900s who won 1912 Olympic gold in the 4x100m and bronze in the 200m.

Volunteer award winners included Liz Sissons (South East – Epsom & Ewell Harriers) as coach of the year and Kevin Diedrick (London – Woodford Green AC with Essex Ladies) as official of the year.

The club of the year honour went to Doncaster Athletic Club.

Ron Pickering Memorial Fund awards were announced, with Jean Pickering young athletes of 2019 named as Jemma Reekie from Kilbarchan AAC (U23), Josh Zeller from Michigan University and Bracknell AC (U20) and Amy Hunt from Charnwood AC (U18).

See the October 17 edition of AW magazine for further coverage.