Growing up in Massachusetts in the late 1980s and early '90s, there weren't as many opportunities for girls hockey, so Katie Guay played with the boys until ninth grade. She always tucked her hair under her helmet. "I did it so when I was going into the boards, I wasn't as easy of a target," says Guay, now 36.

After graduating from Brown University in 2005, Guay began a post-hockey career in officiating. Now when she's on the ice -- in stripes -- she keeps her ponytail visible, poking out from behind her helmet. That includes this past week when Guay was one of four women to call NHL prospect tournaments; it was first NHL-affiliated event that women have ever officiated.

"People do notice," says Guay, who was in Anaheim where the Avalanche, Kings, Sharks, Ducks, Golden Knights and Coyotes all sent their top prospects. "The hope is our skill won't differentiate us from the guys out there. At the end of the day, you want to go unnoticed, and hopefully the ponytail doesn't change people's perception of our performance."

Guay points to her own personal paradox: officials, inherently, like to be anonymous. If people don't notice them, that means they're doing their job well. But Guay is also proud of who she is and what she has achieved. She hopes her presence on the ice could inspire the next generation of women to try officiating when their playing careers are over.

"It's just been an issue of exposure," says Kelley Cooke, who refereed for the prospect tournament hosted by the Predators in Nashville. "Women didn't really think of officiating as an option. I didn't [when I was playing]. If you don't see women out there, you wouldn't really think about it."

The NHL is committed to maintaining a talented pool of potential officials, and that has meant expanding recruiting efforts.

"We need great people in hockey, great athletes from hockey, to get into officiating," says Stephen Walkom, the NHL's director of officiating. "If they happen to be women, that's great. We just need the right people."

The NBA and NFL both have female officials in their rotations. The MLB is close, with umpire Jen Pawol becoming the first female to work a spring training game in 2018. The NHL isn't quite there yet, but could be soon.

"Maybe we just haven't attracted the women athletes with great skating skill sets to try it, that's the reason," Walkom says. "It's just a matter of getting the great women athletes out there and trying it and loving to do it. I don't think you can put a timeline on it. But when the right person comes along, and they develop into a top prospect and work in the minor leagues and conquer each league along the way, then we'll have a woman officiating in the NHL. That will happen, it's just a matter of time."

Walkom, a former NHL official himself, has led two big recruiting efforts for officials in his time with the league. The first came after the 2004-05 lockout. "We were getting lots of complaints, at all levels, about what's going on and what we can do to improve the pool of officials," Walkom says. He began reaching out to a lot of Division 1 and CIS schools, asking coaches if any of their graduating players would have interest in trying the profession.

Coming out of the next lockout, in 2013, the NHL implemented a series of rules that made the game much faster. Walkom knew he would have to groom a new generation of officials that could keep up. The biggest criteria for a modern official are hockey IQ, strong skating and athleticism. (Consider, most NHL official work about three games a week; current referee Dan O'Rourke told me in 2018 that he burns about 1,000 calories in a game.) Naturally, former players are excellent candidates.

"I really believe that some of the best officials in the world, male or female, are sitting on benches right now across North America and Europe playing hockey," Walkom says. "One day, should they want to give back to the game in a way that appeals to them, officiating could be a place for them in the game."

Walkom is constantly recruiting and looking for the right talent; he even put in a pitch to Kendall Coyne Schofield after she amazed in her fastest skating demo at the 2019 NHL All-Star Weekend.

The NHL created the Exposure Combine for Officiating in 2014, which is held annually in Buffalo. Walkom's staff runs the event and they invite officials of all levels (including ones trying it for the first time) to run through a series of on- and off-ice drills -- similar testing the NHL puts its officials through.

In its first year, there was one female participant. The next few years, there were two. This past year, 11 women attended. Walkom's staff identified four standouts -- along with Gauy and Cooke are Kirsten Walsh and Kendall Hanley, both linesmen -- and assigned them to NHL prospect tournaments so they could get reps at a high level. All four played college hockey.

"It's been a great experience," Cooke says. "Here this weekend guys are out there to prove themselves and earn a spot [on the NHL roster], so the compete level is through the roof."

Walkom says that everyone who goes through the Exposure Combine enters the NHL's prospective pool database. "They'll be people we'll be keeping an eye on, and watching their development," Walkom says.

Cooke says over the past five years there has been a "drastic change" in the amount of women interested in officiating. "When I played in college [at Princeton from 2009-13] there really weren't many women doing my games," she says.

Last year, Cooke and Guay teamed up as part of the first all-female crew to work at the NCAA Women's Frozen Four. "Exposure is growing," Guay says. "The path is being created as we speak."

This coincides with an overall growth in women's hockey. Girls hockey is one of the fastest-growing sports in America. According to USA Hockey, there were a record 82,808 registered female hockey players in 2018-19, with increases across all age levels including a remarkable jump of nearly 8% in year-over-year registration at the 9- to 10-year-old range. Walkom, who has two daughters that play hockey, says the talent level has grown significantly

All four of the women got into officiating because they said after graduating college there weren't many professional opportunities, and they wanted to stay involved in the game.

Hanley graduated from SUNY Oswego in 2009 and got an internship at the Dallas zoo. She happened to be at a rink playing in a pickup game when she met another woman who was an official. "At that time I was wondering, 'What am I going to do with my life?'" Hanley says. "I had just finished playing at a high level and I didn't know what to do with myself. I'm so used to being in a team environment, a competitive environment and training every day, and I just listened to her when she told me what this was all about. I fell in love with it. It's kind of like playing. It's challenging and you want to get better at it every day."

Welsh graduated from Robert Morris University this past spring. She planned to stay in Pittsburgh and began looking for jobs in the oil industry. She landed upon officiating because of Walkom's recruiting. Walkom lives in Pittsburgh and called RMU assistant coach Logan Bittle asking if there were any talented ex-players who might be interested. "If I took a job in oil, it's not a bad route, but I would be starting from scratch," Welsh says. "In hockey, I have 20 years of experience, skating and hockey knowledge."

Welsh is the only of the four women who had no prior experience officiating. At the Exposure Combine, she had to be taught the basic things such as how to drop the puck and where she should be positioned. She thinks she will try pursuing a career in officiating.

"I don't want to be chosen because I'm female, I want to be chosen because I can officiate," she says. "In officiating, you don't need the size and strength to compete with the men. You need to learn how to conduct yourself professionally, and know all the rules, and once you can handle that, I don't know why there wouldn't be an NHL female official really soon. Why not, you know? There's a lot of amazing candidates."

Hanley, too, feels like the NHL is close.

"Being at these events, you can tell the NHL and other leagues are opening up and allowing opportunities for the best officials -- whether they are men or women," Hanley says. "Obviously the NHL will look for the best officials. If that happens to be a woman, I have no doubt they'll make that decision when they find that female and give her that opportunity. And I will absolutely be on a flight, or do anything I can to get to the arena, be part of that experience, and cheer her on."

As the 2019-20 NHL season nears, let's look at the prospect systems for all 31 teams. We rank every pool and identify each franchise's top 10 prospects, a potential breakout candidate for this season and those who might make an NHL-level impact in the next year.

I've broken down prospects for each club into three categories, noted in parentheses in the team prospect rankings:

• A prospects have a high likelihood of becoming NHL high-impact players (i.e. a top-six forward, top-four defenseman or long-term starting goaltender)

• B prospects have a higher likelihood of becoming NHL regulars and contributors.

• C prospects showcase the upside to make the NHL, but either need more development time or are more likely to fill out depth roles.

Systems are most often graded on the backs of their top three or four prospects, but I also place a good deal of value on the depth of systems. While there is often fluidity in these organizational rankings, with players graduating quickly and changing the face of the system sometimes dramatically on a year-to-year basis, this is how the NHL prospect pools stack up as we gear up for the 2019-20 season.

Note: To maintain prospect eligibility, a player must still have rookie status when they enter the NHL. Players who appeared in 26 or more NHL regular-season games last season are not eligible, nor are players with at least 50 career NHL contests. Players are only considered for prospect status if they are 25 or younger.

Jump to a team:
ANA | ARI | BOS | BUF | CGY | CAR | CHI
COL | CBJ | DAL | DET | EDM | FLA
LA | MIN | MTL | NSH | NJ | NYI
NYR | OTT | PHI | PIT | SJ | STL
TB | TOR | VAN | VGS | WSH | WPG

1. New York Rangers

Rehabbed, refurbished, re-tooled ... whatever you want to call it. The Rangers spent a lot on acquiring draft picks and prospects, and this season should provide an even greater glimpse into the fruits of those labors. It starts, obviously, with Kaapo Kakko, but top Russians Vitali Kravtsov and Igor Shesterkin have made the jump to North America, as has promising defenseman Yegor Rykov.

Meanwhile, one of the top collegiate defensemen in the country last season, Adam Fox, joined the team via trade, and 2018 first-rounder K'Andre Miller could very well be one of the best defenders in the NCAA this year. The one area the Rangers still need some organizational help at is center, but this is definitely the top prospect system in the NHL.

Breakout candidate for 2019-20: Nils Lundkvist, D, Lulea (SHL)
Potential NHL impact in 2019-20: Kaapo Kakko, Vitali Kravtsov, Adam Fox, Yegor Rykov

2. Los Angeles Kings

You are looking at one of the best and deepest prospect pools in the entire NHL. It's hard to pick out 10 prospects worth highlighting for most of these teams, but I have a list of eight more players who got edged out for spots here. The Kings seem to have just about every position covered by a handful of prospects with NHL upside.

The top end of this system has elite-level skaters in Alex Turcotte and Rasmus Kupari who can bring speed to the lineup in a few years. Arthur Kaliyev is an elite goal scorer, and Tobias Bjornfot is a potential top-four defenseman. Rob Blake, Mike Futa and the scouting staff have done a very nice job of overhauling a system that was drained amid the Stanley Cup-chasing (and winning) years.

Breakout candidate for 2019-20: Samuel Fagemo, LW, Frolunda (SHL)
Potential NHL impact in 2019-20: Carl Grundstrom, Kale Clague

3. Colorado Avalanche

BEDMINSTER, N.J. – The man charged with breaking into singer Taylor Swift’s Rhode Island mansion is accused of causing more than $20,000 damage to President Donald Trump’s New Jersey golf course.

The Somerset County prosecutor says an employee at Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster observed a spinning vehicle “doing donuts” on the 11th hole on Sept. 3. A vehicle was spotted again on Sept. 8 making circular patterns on the 13th hole.

A partial license plate number led police Tuesday to charge 26-year-old Richard McEwan of Milford with criminal mischief.

McEwan was not wearing shoes when he was arrested in Swift’s beachfront mansion last month.

Police said he told them he was taught to take his shoes off when entering someone’s home to be polite.

A phone number listed for him has been disconnected.

Trump National Bedminster hosted the 2017 U.S. Women's Open and is scheduled to host the 2022 PGA Championship.

Alisson's rehabilitation from a calf injury has entered the next phase with the Liverpool goalkeeper doing outside drills during the international break.

The Brazil international has been sidelined since the Premier League opener against Norwich City, but stepped up his recovery at Melwood over the past week.

The 26-year-old has done extra strength work in the gym, but more promisingly, has been able to work on Melwood's pitches to sharpen his footwork, catching and passing.

Liverpool refuse to put a timescale on Alisson's return as they do not want to rush him back, but goalkeeping coach John Achterberg is happy with his progress.

"Ali has been working with Dave [Rydings] in the gym a lot to improve the strength and try to keep the fitness levels up," he told the club's official website.

"In the last few days he has been out on the pitch to do some catching and footwork, as well as small passing drills.

"He has made steady progress, but it is difficult to say how long it will take or how it will progress.

"It needs time and we cannot look too far ahead, so we take each day as it comes, see how he feels, and then make progress from that."

Alisson's deputy Adrian has also been at Melwood during the international break to undertake extra sessions.

The 32-year-old was recruited on a free transfer by Liverpool to replace Simon Mignolet this summer, but was rushed into action just four days after signing without having the time to settle in and get to grips with the club's physical and tactical demands.

"It is really difficult for anyone to replace Ali, especially when you've not had a chance to settle and pick everything up," Achterberg said.

"He had to be straight in after maybe four or five sessions. Then we had two more sessions, played the Super Cup final and then he got the injury, so there was not a lot of time to do extra training.

"Coming to Liverpool, there are high expectations but he has dealt with them really well. He has stayed calm and relaxed and shown a positive, confident manner, which helps the team a lot.

"We thought it would be beneficial to do some more sessions to keep it going, really.

"We did some decent workouts with him. Distribution, crosses, speed and reactions, power -- we worked a little bit on everything just to help him and keep him fit and ready.

"He also had a few days off, but not the full week. We kept it ticking over to make sure he is ready to go again."

Liverpool return to action on Saturday as they look to make it five wins from five in the Premier League with the visit of Newcastle United.

Patrice Evra has returned to Manchester United in a youth coaching capacity while he undertakes his UEFA coaching badges.

The former France international spent eight years at Old Trafford from 2006 to 2014, where he won the Premier League on three occasions as well as the Champions League and is now back to share his experience and knowledge with the young players from United's academy.

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Evra, 38, is helping under-18 coach Neil Ryan on the training pitch with a very talented squad which include two French players -- new signing Hannibal Mejbri and forward Noam Emeran.

He had his first day at the club's training ground in Carrington on Tuesday.

Evra courted controversy towards the end of his career. He saw his contract with Marseille terminated after he kicked one of his own fans before a Europa League match away at Guimaraes in November 2017.

He then spent six months at West Ham before announcing his retirement. Since then, he has been a prominent figure on social media.

However, his ambition was always to come back to United, a place he calls home, and be involved with the academy while doing his coaching badges. He is looking to become a first team manager in the near future.

Evra courted further controversy in March when he celebrated United's dramatic victory over Paris Saint-Germain, and was later recorded using anti-gay language in relation to the Ligue 1 side.

India head coach Ravi Shastri wants to turn his team's consistency into the kind of celebrated golden legacy of the great West Indies and Australia sides of the past.

Shastri has just overseen a clean sweep in the Caribbean, where a ruthless India blanked West Indies in all three formats. "This kind of consistency I have not seen any time," Shastri, who was recently given an extension in the job until the 2021 T20 World Cup, told Gulf News. "This team has an opportunity to do great things. We have a legacy like the West Indies did in the eighties and Australia did at the turn of the century. This team, too, has an opportunity to leave that kind of legacy, and they are already doing it."

India's overseas performances have improved significantly in recent years and under Shastri they have won series in West Indies, Sri Lanka and Australia, the latter a historic 2-1 triumph earlier this year. India have been No. 1 in the ICC's Test rankings since October 2016, and were favourites at the recent ODI World Cup, alongside hosts England. Their campaign, however, was ended by a semi-final loss to New Zealand, following a top-order collapse. That was a second successive semi-final exit for India, currently the world's second-ranked ODI side.

In T20Is, India are fourth in the ICC rankings. They won seven straight T20I series, including the four-team Nidahas Trophy, between November 2017 to November 2018, a streak that included away wins in South Africa (2-1), Ireland (2-0) and England (2-1), but they lost series in New Zealand and at home against Australia. "Look at how we have performed in T20, one-dayers and Tests and even in the big ICC tournaments, it is unbelievable," Shastri said. "People used to say earlier that we only perform at home and we don't do anything abroad. Now they are saying the opposite as wherever they are going they are performing."

Shastri also rubbished recent reports of differences between Kohli and Rohit, Shastri said India India would not have performed the way they have if there was a rift between the two, neither would the pair have scored as freely as they have in recent series.

"Listen, I have been around the dressing room for the last five years. I have seen how the boys have played and how they have complemented the team and know their work ethics. I feel it is absolute nonsense (reports of a rift). I have been there with them and I know the way they play. If that was the case why would Rohit get five hundreds in the World Cup? Why would Virat do what he is doing? How would they have partnerships together?

"In a side when you have 15 players there will always be times when there will be opinions that will be different. That is what is needed. I don't want everyone toeing the same line. You have got to have discussions and someone might then think of a fresh strategy, which has to be encouraged. So you have to give the guys the opportunity to express themselves and then decide what is best. Sometimes it might be the junior-most player in the team who may come up with a strategy which we hadn't even thought of and we need to bring that to the table. So these should not be seen as a conflict."

The next edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) will not be a franchise-run affair and, instead, be owned by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), following a clash between the board and seven of the eight existing team owners, Dhaka Dynamites being the only exception. The update came from Nazmul Hassan, the BCB president, who announced in Dhaka on Wednesday that if franchises were not willing to stick to the rules of the BPL, the board was happy to "take the load of running the BPL" on its own.

"We were supposed to rework the agreements with the franchises this year. We have met them in between, we have had lots of meetings, and they have made a number of demands. But these are in direct conflict with the BPL model we have been working with. It's not possible to accommodate the demands," he said. "Some of them don't want two editions of the BPL in one year [the last one was played in January-February this year, and the next is scheduled to start in December].

"They haven't said they won't play, but they don't want it, because of the pressure of putting it together twice. We have considered everything, and decided to host the next BPL on our own. We won't have franchises."

"That's a joke. It's the biggest joke in world cricket. Let them try. We have been spending crores to bring the best players from overseas. Let's see what the BCB do" Ishtiaque Sadeque, CEO of Rangpur Riders

ESPNcricinfo understands that the big issue was Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh's premier cricketer, opting to sign up with Rangpur Riders earlier this year from Dhaka Dynamites. As such, the franchises had the option of signing four players from outside the player draft, which made Shakib's switch, as well as that of other prominent players Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim, fine. But, it is believed, the Dhaka franchise was not happy about losing its star player, and wanted changes in the rules.

"Apart from Dhaka Dynamites, everyone wanted the same thing. Shakib left Dhaka, so they couldn't accept it, they lost their heads," Ishtiaque Sadeque, CEO of Rangpur Riders, told ESPNcricinfo. "We all wanted the old rules to stay, that's all. All of us wanted it, except Dhaka.

"Now the BCB wants to run the BPL like a Dhaka Premier League. That's a joke. It's the biggest joke in world cricket. Let them try. We have been spending crores to bring the best players from overseas. Let's see what the BCB do. Wait and watch."

Hassan, however, refused to accept that Shakib's transfer to Rangpur was in accordance with the rules, which have largely been fluid since the tournament began. "You can't get a player from another team if you suddenly want to. That's a basic principle. And Shakib knows this better than anyone else. He plays a lot outside Bangladesh. If he suddenly says he won't play for [Sunrisers] Hyderabad this year and play for Chennai [Super Kings] instead, is that possible? It's not. But in Bangladesh, all this happens. We will put a stop to that."

"I can't say right now if this will be the future. If it's needed, the BCB will remain in charge. We have a set of rules, and we will outline more rules going forward. If someone wants to join, they can. But no one can join the BPL and then refuse to accept the rules" Nazmul Hassan, BCB president

The battlelines have clearly been drawn, but Hassan was gung-ho about the BCB running the show, somewhat along the lines of the Australian Big Bash League, where Cricket Australia is the owner of the competition.

"BCB will own all the teams. You can compare it to the Big Bash, it will be the same format," Hassan said. "The same teams will be there, but the management will be the BCB's. We will pay all the salaries, we will arrange the hospitality, the travel, everything. I think everyone will be satisfied with this. The team owners who didn't want to play will also be happy. The ones who were worried about losing money will be even happier. They will save all the money.

"I can't say right now if this will be the future. If it's needed, the BCB will remain in charge. We have a set of rules, and we will outline more rules going forward. If someone wants to join, they can. But no one can join the BPL and then refuse to accept the rules."

Hassan also explained that it was crucial from the BCB's point of view to host the next edition of the BPL in December-January, because March 17, 2020 is the birth centenary of 'Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the nation, and BPL would flag off the celebrations.

"We want to begin the celebrations with cricket. We will dedicate this edition of the BPL to Bangabandhu," Hassan said. "It will be called the Bangabandhu BPL, and if a sponsor comes along, that name will be added to the title.

"We are happy to have team sponsors. The names might change depending on what the sponsors want. We will try to maintain some logic - Dhaka, Khulna, Chattogram, these names will stay. And if the teams, because they have sponsors, want to buy foreign players directly, that's up to them. If someone wants to bring an expensive coach, they can. The sponsors must be kept happy too."

Zimbabweans 144 for 3 (Taylor 57*, Maruma 46*) beat Bangladesh Cricket Board XI 142 for 7 (Sabbir 30, Williams 3-18) by seven wickets

Zimbabwe's tour of Bangladesh - their first international assignment following the ICC suspension in July - got off to a promising start with the tourists registering a seven-wicket win in a T20 tour game against Bangladesh Cricket Board XI.

Brendan Taylor steered the 143-run chase with an unbeaten 57, and shared an unbroken 78-run fourth-wicket partnership with Timycen Maruma.

The Zimbabweans had got off to a good start: Taylor and captain Hamilton Masakadza added 42 for the first wicket in nearly five overs, with Masakadza hitting six fours in his 32-ball 31. Offspinner Afif Hossain, however, pulled things back for BCB XI, striking in three consecutive overs to remove Masakadza, Craig Ervine and Sean Williams to leave Zimbabwe at 66 for 3 in eight overs. Taylor and Maruma, however, controlled the chase thereafter, sealing victory in the 18th over. Taylor's 44-ball knock included two fours and three sixes, while Maruma struck five fours and a six in his 28-ball 46.

BCB XI's innings had faltered after their top four were dismissed, all after making promising starts. Sabbir Rahman (30) and Mushfiqur Rahim (26) were the top-scorers in the side but once they fell in the 15th over, the local side managed only 35 in the last five overs. Sabbir and Mushfiqur had added 53 for the third wicket, building on the side's quick start, but they fell within three balls to the left-arm spin of Williams, who also claimed the wicket of opener Mohammad Naim in his haul of 3 for 18.

Zimbabwe and Bangladesh will play the first match of the T20I tri-series on September 13 in Dhaka, followed by a game between Zimbabwe and Afghanistan the next day.

During his six years as a Test cricketer, there were few more reassuring sights for England than Jonathan Trott in the middle. It is now a decade since Trott scratched his mark for the first time, during an Ashes Test at The Oval, before going on to become the 18th man to score a century on debut for England. He was the final piece in the puzzle for a tank-busting top order that took Andrew Strauss' side to No. 1 in the rankings.

Things have changed greatly since then - not just in terms of the line-up, but England's priorities and the landscape of Test cricket in general. Trevor Bayliss' tenure, which will draw to a close after this week's final Test against Australia, also at The Oval, has been marked by attempts to play "positive and attractive cricket", as he put it on Tuesday, but which has resulted in more than a few collapses that have been ugly as sin.

Trott was never a batsman overly concerned with aesthetics, and his advice remains rooted in the old-fashioned virtues that brought him 3109 runs at No. 3 - more than any Englishman other than Wally Hammond. Patience, concentration and forcing the bowlers to come to you.

"It's a case of earning the right to score runs, and realising that in first-class cricket or Test cricket, it's not going to happen in 10-15 overs," Trott said. "Make sure that your ambition is to bat for the whole day - and how you're going to go about doing that, having an idea and a plan on what you're going to be doing to each bowler. Facing the new ball, facing the old ball, facing spin; just being prepared for everything that's thrown at you.

"You need to leave well. That's something I had to learn going into the job. You've got to set your stall out to be batting in two hours' time, when the ball's a bit flatter and the bowlers are more tired. It isn't really spoken about, [but] a good positive leave sends just as good a message as a big booming cover drive."

"The way Joe Denly played, and [Rory] Burns have played in the last Test match or so has been really good. As an opener you always like to get on and score big runs, set up games." Jonathan Trott

In this current Ashes series, it has been two Australia batsmen who have demonstrated the power of the leave: Steven Smith, who Trott describes as the man who "has separated the sides", and Marnus Labuschagne. But while England have stuck with a misfiring top order throughout the five Tests - the only change being swapping Joe Denly and Jason Roy at the opening spot and No. 4 - Trott believes there have been encouraging signs.

"I think they've got the best guys for the job," he said. "The way Joe Denly played, and [Rory] Burns have played in the last Test match or so has been really good. As an opener you always like to get on and score big runs, set up games. We saw the way Burns played at Edgbaston, that was really, really good. So hopefully those guys can finish the summer well and go into the winter and build on that."

There are also a few candidates waiting in the ranks, with Trott picking out three in particular. "Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley are very good, and Ollie Pope - so those three are the men to look out for. They'll be spoken about [for the tour of] New Zealand, but also whether they are going to rest a few players, it's a long winter again. I'm sure there'll be a few guys included in the squad, so an exciting time for them."

Now in the next phase of his career, Trott is currently working with Kent as their batting coach and has joined the England set-up on occasions during the summer. If he sounds like he can be a bit of a stickler - "There are some things I always insist on at training, things I think are pertinent to Test cricket" - it also seems as if he is able to just enjoy being in an England dressing room again, after the darker times that lead to his departure from the 2013-14 Ashes tour with anxiety issues.

Unlike 2009, England have already squandered their chance to reclaim the Ashes, but there is still the opportunity for someone - Denly, Roy? - to produce the sort of innings that will echo through the coming years. But, as Trott says, it is important not to look that far ahead. "You want to start batting to win the game now, and then take stock at the end of the summer. You don't want to look too far ahead and put needless pressure on yourself."

Trott was famous for his bubble, and it comes as no surprise that the significance of his debut might have passed him by.

"You don't really realise at the time. You sort of go with the flow. You want to spend time with your team-mates and enjoy the moment, but you also get whisked off to do media and then whisked off to another room to do more media, you can even see your team-mates, you have to go and do other obligations."

But then ten years down the line, you can reflect on your achievement? "Something like that."

Jonathan Trott was speaking on behalf of 'The Test Experts' Specsavers, Official Test Partner for England cricket ahead of the final Test of the Specsavers Ashes Series at The Oval. Specsavers are encouraging fans to take eye tests and hearing checks this summer.

Lahiru Thirimanne and Dasun Shanaka have named Sri Lanka's ODI and T20I captains respectively for the limited-overs tour of Pakistan.

The announcement comes two days after Dimuth Karunaratne and Lasith Malinga, the incumbents, informed the Sri Lanka Cricket of their unwillingness to tour Pakistan, along with eight others, citing security concerns.

Minod Banuka, the 24-year old batsman, is the only uncapped member in the 15-man ODI squad. Banuka along with uncapped Bhanuka Rajapaksa are the two uncapped names in the T20I squad. Banuka has been part of Sri Lanka's Emerging squad while Rajapaksha was on Sri Lanka A's tour of India in June.

Danushka Gunathilaka, who was dropped for the home ODIs against Bangladesh along with left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan have also been included in both squads.

Sri Lanka and Pakistan are scheduled to play three ODIs in Karachi on September 27, 29 and October 3 before they move to Lahore for the T20I leg that concludes on October 9.

By hosting the limited-overs series first, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) hoped to convince Sri Lanka Cricket that the nation was secure enough to host Test cricket, starting with the teams' World Test Championship matches, presently scheduled for December.

ODI squad: Lahiru Thirimanne (capt), Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Avishka Fernando, Oshada Fernando, Shehan Jayasuriya, Dasun Shanaka, Minod Bhanuka, Angelo Perera, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lakshan Sandakan, Nuwan Pradeep, Isuru Udana, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara

T20I squad: Dasun Shanaka (capt), Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Avishka Fernando, Oshada Fernando, Shehan Jayasuriya, Angelo Perera, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Minod Bhanuka, Lahiru Madushanka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lakshan Sandakan, Isuru Udana, Nuwan Pradeep, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara

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