STAFFORD SPRINGS, Conn. – Stafford Speedway has named long time car owner and retired competitor Eric Sanderson as the Grand Marshal of the 47th annual NAPA Fall Final.

The NAPA Fall Final is set for Sept. 28-29 and Sanderson will close out the Stafford Speedway season with the command to fire engines for the 150 lap event for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

Sanderson’s racing roots date back to the days of the All-American Sportsman division at Stafford in the early 1970’s.  Sanderson got started as a car owner for Warren Bren’s No. 66 car before taking the wheel himself in the No. 89 car for the 1972 and 1973 seasons.  Sanderson then moved up to Stafford’s modified division behind the wheel of the #43 owned by Ken DePeau in 1974 before stepping down as a driver and becoming a crew member with Everett Manning.

“I got started at Stafford as a car owner for Warren Bren in the All-American Sportsman 6-cylinder division before I drove for a couple of years,” said Sanderson.  “I drove a modified for one season in 1974 and I remember the first time I got behind the wheel of the modified I thought, ‘wow, this car is pretty fast’, and then Bugsy Stevens blew by me like I was standing still.  Everett Manning was my crew chief for the modified and after I stopped driving I started helping him.  We built a Sportsman car for him that became a modified and Everett went on to drive in the SK Modified division.  I had a lot of fun working together with Everett.  It’s is a huge honor for me to be the Grand Marshal of the Fall Final and it caught me by surprise when Mark Arute asked me.  It’s the first time I’ve ever been asked to give the command and I’m really looking forward to it.”

In 1995 Sanderson debuted the No. 16 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour car with Chris Kopec behind the wheel. The No. 16 has since been a staple of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour for over 24 years.  Sanderson is a two-time championship winning car owner, taking the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship with Mike Stefanik in 2006 and Ryan Preece in 2013.

“I was helping Chris Kopec out at Riverside with tires and that’s how we came up with the name Flamingo Motorsports,” said Sanderson.  “Chris asked me what I wanted to put on the side of the car and I told him let’s make it Flamingo Motorsports out of Orlando, Fla.  We had a lot of fun with that, people actually thought we raced flamingos in Orlando.  We ran part time on the Tour in 1995 and we’ve been full-time on the Tour since 1996,” said Sanderson.  “We’ve had Chris, Rob Summers, Mike Stefanik, Ryan Preece, and now Timmy Solomito driving the car.  My best memory in racing was winning our first race with Chris at Holland Speedway in 1999 and then winning our first championship with Mike in 2006.  We also won the last Modified Tour race that was held at Martinsville in 2009 with Mike driving the car and I still have that grandfather clock in my office.  People have often asked me when I’m going to move up to another division but I love the modifieds and that’s where I want to race.”

In addition to serving as the Grand Marshal of the NAPA Fall Final, Sanderson will be looking to take home his fourth career NAPA Fall Final trophy as a car owner.  Sanderson won the Fall Final in 2007 and 2008 with Stefanik as well as the 2014 Fall Final with Ryan Preece.

“Having Timmy [Solomito] win the race would be the icing on the cake and make the day for me,” said Sanderson.  “We’ve won the Fall Final 3 times before with Mike and Ryan and we’d love to make it four wins with Timmy.”

Sanderson is the owner of Sanderson-MacLeod and Flamingo Motorsports, both located in Palmer, Mass.  Sanderson-MacLeod designs, manufactures, and supplies twisted wire brushes while Flamingo Motorsports is your one-stop shop for Motorcycles, ATVs, Side x Sides, Snowmobiles, Dirt Bikes and Jet Skis.

“My father started Sanderson-MacLeod in 1957 and I bought the business after he passed away in 1985,” said Sanderson.  “We make all kinds of brushes.  Mascara applicators are number one for us but we also do a lot of brushes for medical device cleaners and internal medicine and we also make gun brushes.  We started Flamingo Motorsports as Flamingo Racing just to go racing with Chris Kopec and we sold speed parts.  We decided we wanted to start to do something for winter so we began to sell snowmobiles and now we’re a full-line dealer selling Kawasaki, Can-Am, Ski-Doo, and Sea-Doo.”

BARRE, Vt. – The 57th Vermont Milk Bowl presented by Northfield Savings Bank is rapidly drawing closer on the racing calendar.

Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl’s season finale on Sept. 28-29 will be the biggest stock car racing weekend of the year in Vermont, with drivers coming from far and wide to try and land the guaranteed $10,000 top prize and a date with the famed Milk Bowl beauty queen.

This year’s entry list already spans from Quebec to Iowa with even more names expected to be added by race day. However, a large local contingent will also be on hand, and the Thunder Road regulars are feeling optimistic about their chances against both the American-Canadian Tour and national invaders.

“The Milk Bowl is certainly one of the toughest challenges we get to face,” said competitor Kyle Pembroke. “Luckily, we’ve had a lot of chances to work on the car and get it ready here at Thunder Road – more so than some of the guests. I definitely feel that being a local is a pretty strong advantage for this race. We’ve done our fair share of 50-lappers, so it’s just about turning a fast lap (in time trials) and then seeing where the cards fall.”

In recent years, the Vermont Milk Bowl has definitively favored the locals. Seven of the last eight overall winners hail from the state of Vermont. Six of those drivers raced weekly at Thunder Road in the season they won the Milk Bowl. The combination of more laps on the track and more time with short-distance racing has clearly given them the edge for the event’s inventive format of three 50-lap segments.

“Just having the experience of racing (at Thunder Road) all year long is a big deal,” said Vermont native Tyler Cahoon. “Anybody that can put a lot of laps in at one track is bound to be good at that particular track when the outsiders come in. That being said, there are a lot of good outsiders, too, and they can figure out what their car needs on any given day and any type of track conditions. But I think experience plays the upper hand when it comes to Thunder Road…the 50-lap sprints definitely make for some tough, hard racing, but that’s what the Milk Bowl is all about.”

The top Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Model racers who made Thunder Road their home this past summer have already entered the 57th Vermont Milk Bowl. This includes the top four in the track point standings heading into this Sunday’s Barre Granite Ass’n Championship Day: two-time defending Milk Bowl winner Jason Corliss, former Vermont Governor’s Cup winner Trampas Demers, reigning King of the Road Scott Dragon and Midseason Championship winner Pembroke.

Other locals who will roll into the pits next Saturday include former Memorial Day Classic winner Cahoon, Thunder Road track record holder Marcel J. Gravel, multi-time winner Jim Morris, and ACT Late Model Tour regular Christopher Pelkey. All of them are aiming to add their name to a winner’s roll that includes Robbie Crouch, Harold Hanaford, Butch Lindley, Jean-Paul Cabana, Randy LaJoie, and other legends of Northeast and national stock car racing.

“This event is definitely number one on my list,” Pembroke said. “I’ve been watching it since I can remember – my cousin (Dave Pembroke), Phil Scott, Patrick Laperle, and some of these big names that have been going after it for years. Just to be even interviewed for this race is special. This is something I’ve thought a lot about and have really been pulling for ever since I got into this sport.”

“To win the Milk Bowl and have my name up amongst the greats would be awesome,” Cahoon added. “But I think you never truly know what it means until you actually win one – especially your first one, for those who have been successful enough to win multiple Milk Bowls. We’ll see what happens. I’m sure I’ll be able to explain it great if I win.”

The locals will have to contend with a who’s-who of late model racing. Former Milk Bowl winners Patrick Laperle, Joey Polewarczyk Jr., John Donahue, and Brent Dragon have entered the field, as have ACT Late Model Tour stars Scott Payea, Jimmy Hebert, and Stephen Donahue. Super Late Model star Bubba Pollard is making his first trip to Thunder Road from Senoia, Ga., while former ARCA Racing Series Champion Mason Mitchell of West Des Moines, Iowa, will make his second Milk Bowl attempt. Brooks Clark, Alexendre Tardif, Joel Hodgdon, and many others from around the region have also submitted their entries.

Vermont Milk Bowl Weekend begins on Sept. 28 at 3 p.m. with Booth Bros./H.P. Hood Qualifying Day. The afternoon features time trials and 50-lap qualifying races for the Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models to help set the Milk Bowl starting field along with the Pro All Stars Series Super Late Models. The 57th Vermont Milk Bowl presented by Northfield Savings Bank is set for Sunday, September 29 with the Last Chance B Feature at 12:15 p.m. and opening ceremonies at 1 p.m.

The weekend also includes Mini Milk Bowls for the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers, Allen Lumber Street Stocks, Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors, and 7-Eleven Dwarf Cars.

VIRGINIA WATER, England – Earlier this week, Rory McIlroy admitted it was a struggle to get off the sofa following his FedExCup winning performance three weeks ago at the Tour Championship. That there would be a metaphorical hangover shouldn’t be a surprise.

After struggling on Day 1 at the BMW PGA Championship with a 76, the Northern Irishman spent much of Friday scrambling to make the cut in the European Tour’s flagship event. 

McIlroy moved just inside the cut line with a birdie at No. 16 and scrambled for pars at Nos. 17 and 18, both par 5s, to secure his spot this weekend at Wentworth.

“I haven't really done much for the last couple weeks, and then my alignment got off a little bit and the more my alignment gets off, then the more the club drops underneath the plane for me, and then the bigger the misses are each way,” said McIlroy, who shot a second-round 69 and was tied for 57th.

McIlroy said he spent about two hours on the range after his round Thursday and added an extended warm up to his routine on Day 2 in an attempt to turn his game around.

“I worked a good bit on that yesterday and felt like I made some good strides, but it's obviously different trying to do it on the range than trying to do it on the golf course,” said McIlroy, who won this event in 2014. “A little bit of work to be done over the weekend, but I'm just glad that I'm here for it.”

Nelly Korda built a big lead lead Friday at the Lacoste Ladies French Open in a bid to win her first LET title.

The American went low in the second round, posting a 7-under-par 64 at Golf du Medoc near Bourdeaux. She is at 10 under overall, six shots ahead of Spain’s Azahara Munoz (72), England’s Charlotte Thompson (70) and France’s Joanna Klatten (70).

France’s Celine Boutier (69) is among four players who are seven shots back.

Korda, 21, was undefeated in her matches at the Solheim Cup in Scotland last week, going 3-0-1 in the American loss to Europe. She’s a two-time LPGA winner and the highest ranked player in the world in the Ladies French Open at No. 10 in the Rolex rankings. 

“There’s still a lot of golf to be played, but I played really well today,” Korda said. “I started off hot on the front nine . . . I ended with a nice eagle.”

The Portland Timbers will try to get their house -- and home form -- in order before the playoffs slip away, while Josef Martinez aims to score for a 16th straight game and lead Atlanta to three more points in the chase for first in the East. Another big clash in the East featuring geographic rivals fighting for playoff positioning and that all-important home-field advantage highlights the weekend in Major League Soccer.

Here are the big storylines heading into the MLS weekend.

Portland on the brink of missing the playoffs

Giovanni Savarese's Timbers had a tough start to the season, thanks in large part to the long road trip forced upon them by the renovations at Providence Park. All those road games and the poor results they fostered were supposed to be balanced out by a back-loaded home schedule. With 11 of their final 12 games at home to finish the season, the assumption was that the defending Western Conference champions would grab the points they needed to make the postseason.

After a 2-0 loss to the Red Bulls on Wednesday night, however, Portland has taken only 12 of a possible 24 points during this run. It's starting to get a little desperate now, with the Timbers sitting in eighth place with four games left on the schedule. Sunday's visit of an ascendant Minnesota United team -- 3:55 p.m. ET, ESPN -- is the next chance to right the ship.

Goals have completely dried up, with even Diego Valeri struggling to make his chances count.

The Loons won't be pushovers, either, especially not with their improved defense led by Ike Opara. Minnesota is in a fight for second place in the Western Conference and the chance at home-field advantage all the way to a conference final. It will take the Timbers' best effort to down a confident and ambitious United. The recent return to Adrian Heath's good graces by Darwin Quintero makes the trip out to Portland extra intriguing for those keeping an eye on Minnesota.

Can Josef Martinez make it 16 games with a goal?

Atlanta's Venezuelan scoring machine gets his next chance to extend his incredible record of consecutive games with a goal on Sunday when the Five Stripes welcome the San Jose Earthquakes to Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday. Josef Martinez made it 15 straight matches with at least a goal when he hit for both tallies in Atlanta's 2-0 win over FC Cincinnati on Wednesday night.

More importantly, the win kept Atlanta within touching distance of Philadelphia and NYCFC for the top seeds in the Eastern Conference. With the new MLS playoff format in place, securing a top seed and maintaining home-field advantage for as long as possible is top of the mind for Frank de Boer and his side.

Defending the championship gets a lot easier with a run of home games, and Martinez taking his streak to 16 would surely go a long way toward three more crucial points for the defending champions. Atlanta needs to grab back some mojo at home after last week's 3-1 defeat at the hands of the also-ran Columbus Crew. San Jose, meanwhile, has lost two straight, both on the road, and is in danger of slipping out of the playoff places in the Western Conference.

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Matias Almeyda remains confident, but recent results only highlight the difference between the Quakes on the road and the Quakes in the comfortable environs of Avaya Stadium.

Red Bulls vs. Philly: The other East Coast rivalry

The Philadelphia Union aren't anyone's first choice as rivals. DC United still has more animosity for the Red Bulls, ditto for the New England Revolution. NYCFC hasn't been around long enough to start anything with the Union, and the Red Bulls? Well they, have the blue team across the river to worry about.

But the Union's push to the top of the Eastern Conference makes them a target, and Sunday's tilt against the Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena on Sunday is a massive game for both teams. The Union have been on a credential-building run of late, with a win vs. Atlanta and a draw with LAFC. Taking that run on the road and getting three points against the Red Bulls would only increase belief that this Union team will be a force to be reckoned with when the playoffs start next month.

New York broke a three-game losing streak with a road win in Portland on Wednesday and needs that momentum to carry over into Sunday's game. Chris Armas cooled his warming seat just a bit with the victory, but his team is far from out of the woods when it comes to claiming a playoff spot.

Coming off of Wednesday's win, Kyle Duncan could be an X factor out wide for the home side. The Red Bulls Academy product made a massive impact with the game winner and a late interception against the Timbers to help secure the win.

Full MLS schedule

Saturday, Sept. 21

- Atlanta United FC vs. San Jose Earthquakes (3:30 p.m. ET)
- Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. Columbus Crew SC (5 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)
- FC Cincinnati vs. Chicago Fire (7:30 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)
- New England Revolution vs. Real Salt Lake (7:30 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)
- Houston Dynamo vs. Orlando City SC (8:30 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)
- Sporting Kansas City vs. Colorado Rapids (8:30 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)
- LA Galaxy vs. Montreal Impact (10:30 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)
- LAFC vs. Toronto FC (10:30 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)

Sunday, Sept. 22

- Portland Timbers vs. Minnesota United FC (3:55 p.m. ET, ESPN)
- FC Dallas vs. New York City FC (6 p.m. ET)
- New York Red Bulls vs. Philadelphia Union (6:30 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)
- D.C. United vs. Seattle Sounders FC (8 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)

As a metropolis, Milan is on the rise again. It has been for the past five years. The skyline is changing, the architecture at the cutting edge. From the World Expo in 2015 to the Winter Olympics in 2026, the city is hosting one major international event after another. Named top of a list of 52 places to go by the New York Times four years ago, Milan's momentum is unchecked and the past decade has been compared with the booming 1960s.

The city's football clubs are not on top of the world, but if Milan exudes confidence at the moment, it's because these bastions of civic pride are exhibiting the necessary ambition to restore themselves to their former glory. Run at a loss in a pre-Financial Fair Play era by local fans-turned-owners who could no longer compete in a transfer market inflated with money from state-funded clubs like Man City and PSG, Milan's clubs experienced a painful transition.

Inter and Milan have changed ownership twice this decade. They are now in the "right" hands, it seems, funded by multibillion-dollar companies from China (Suning, which bought Inter in June 2016) and the U.S. (Elliot Management Company, which bought Milan in 2018). After years of full immersion, the newcomers to football have figured out who they want to be, what they need to do and how to be competitive. Mistakes have been made along the way, but little by little, Inter and Milan are figuring things out.

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The rivals share a desire to build a new stadium adjacent to Saturday's venue, San Siro. In everything else though, Inter and Milan could not be any more different. Ten seasons on from the last of this city's 10 European Cups (only Madrid boasts more) something is stirring, making Saturday's 224th Derby della Madonnina -- stream live on ESPN+, 9/21, 2:45 p.m ET -- the must-watch game of the weekend in Europe.

Both sides spent big this year

Inter and Milan committed nearly €300 million to their teams over the summer. Six new faces at each club give them a vastly different look.

Inter broke their transfer record twice, first for Cagliari's all-action midfielder Nicolò Barella (€49m) and then for Romelu Lukaku (€65m), Belgium's all-time top scorer. From the outset of his appointment as manager on May 31, it was clear that Antonio Conte had a very precise idea of the players he wanted and the system he wished to play.

Diego Godin's arrival on a free from Atletico and Alexis Sanchez's loan from Manchester United -- a clear and obvious redemption project following 18 dismal months -- underlined Conte's desire for established names. He seeks high-profile footballers who are used to the big stage and the responsibility of delivering for elite clubs and nations. United, it's hoped, constitutes a blip in Sanchez's and Lukaku's careers.

Milan took a different tack, focusing largely on under-the-radar prospects with a high upside who can be developed into stars by coach Marco Giampaolo. The club's chief football officer, Zvonimir Boban, insists this is a worthwhile strategy, too: "Low profile does not mean a lack of ambition."

Midfield playmaker Ismael Bennacer stood out at Empoli last year and was named player of the tournament as Algeria won the African Cup of Nations in July. Fans are also curious to see what becomes of Milan's biggest signing, Rafael Leao, a precocious winger/striker who forms part of Portugal's new golden generation along with Joao Felix. It's notable that Milan's team is the youngest in Serie A.

Conte vs. Giampaolo: Serial winner vs. underdog

Leaving aside the €182.5m Inter spent on players this summer, they sacked Luciano Spalletti and his staff at an estimated cost of €26m and made Antonio Conte by far the highest-paid coach in Serie A. Paid €11m a year, almost double what Maurizio Sarri is earning at Juventus, he is Inter's star signing.

A serial winner, Conte wastes no time once he takes a job. The work begins immediately. He won the league with seventh-place Juventus, then 10th-place Chelsea in his first year at both clubs, besting Max Allegri and Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Milan in Serie A before outdoing Pep Guardiola's Man City and Jose Mourinho's Man United in the Premier League.

Inter dazzled on opening night this season against Lecce and are already alone at the top on maximum points. Recent performances have not hit the same heights but the team already feels like Conte's, something that can't yet be said of Juventus under Sarri and Milan under Giampaolo.

Milan's coach, by contrast, has won nothing in his career, but Giampaolo did seem long overdue for a big job given his career to date. His style of football captured the imagination at Empoli and Sampdoria. Sarri is Giampaolo's sponsor and he arrives with the blessing of Milan guru Arrigo Sacchi. Two wins from three looks good on paper but Milan's schedule has been easy. They've faced two of the three promoted sides and neither convinced nor created much. So far this season, Milan have played six halves of football and failed to record a shot on target in three of them, a far cry from the entertaining football expected. A big performance in the derby is needed to ignite Milan's season.

Inter's desperation to win the league for the first time in a decade is so strong that supporters are willing to overlook Conte's allegiance to rivals Juventus. He refused to bounce up and down when they chanted: "who doesn't jump is a Juventus fan" at an event last week. The Milan faithful will also give Giampaolo, a childhood Inter supporter, the benefit of the doubt if he takes the team back into the Champions League.

No Icardi, no problem

Milan are as glad to see Mauro Icardi leave Serie A as some elements of Inter's support. The Argentine gave them nightmares in recent editions of the Madonnina, scoring a hat trick two years ago and a stoppage-time winner last season. It's down to Lukaku to show he is up to replacing a player who, statistically, ranks as one of Inter's all-time greats. (Icardi is on loan with Paris Saint-Germain for the 2019-20 season.)

Conte resurrected Carlos Tevez's career at Juventus. He will try to repeat the trick with Sanchez at Inter, but the player Milan will worry most about is another new signing, Stefano Sensi. There hasn't been a midfielder to make this much of an instant impact at Inter since the Wesley Sneijder era began in 2009. Sensi, a diminutive and dynamic playmaker, has been Serie A's standout performer so far. He has scored in both Serie A games at San Siro this season and improbably headed in last weekend's winner against Udinese.

Milan goalkeeper Gigio Donnarumma will have to pay close attention every time he steps up for a free kick. The giant shot-stopper has also made an excellent start to the campaign, pulling off some great saves to deny Udinese's Kevin Lasagna and Brescia's Stefano Sabelli. Keeping him, and Suso, was arguably the best business Milan did in the summer.

Scrutiny continues to fall on Krzysztof Piatek. He was the revelation of last season -- the Pole scored 33 goals for club and country -- but question marks remain about his ability to back it up, particularly in a new system that does not appear suited to his game.

It is the business end of the season, and Essex are threatening to get busy. The next week or so holds out the promise of being a momentous one for the club. Modestly resourced but tightly run from their endearingly ramshackle Chelmsford HQ, the culmination of the summer brings opportunity on two fronts - a rare chance in the modern county game to enjoy simultaneous first-class and limited-overs success.

It is more than a decade since Sussex last managed to combine winning the Championship with taking home one-day silverware as well, beating Lancashire in the 2006 FP Trophy final. Currently top of Division One, Essex know they are in a scrap to hold off Somerset and claim a second title in three years; but before that denouement in Taunton, Vitality Blast Finals Day and the chance of a maiden T20 trophy.

Such an outcome looked more than a long shot back in August, when they had won just two of their first ten games. Essex were "dead and buried", says Ryan ten Doeschate, captain of the Championship side and a vastly experienced old lag in T20. Then came three wins and a tie from the last four and something in the universe aligned - not since the Blast had switched to a 14-game season, had a team sneaked through to Finals Day on such meagre rations.

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Success had not been signposted by Essex's recent T20 form, either. Last season brought just two victories and a seventh-place finish in the South Group, while the most recent of four previous Finals Day appearances came in 2013.

Ten Doeschate has been involved in them all, though none was particularly memorable from an Essex perspective. "Is it four?" he asks, furrowing his brow. On each occasion - against Leicestershire in 2006, Kent in 2008, Hampshire in 2010 and Northants six years ago - Essex were beaten in the first semi-final. The joke going around this time is that, with their game against Derbyshire scheduled for 2.30pm on Saturday, this is already the furthest they have been in the competition.

Ten Doeschate handed over the white-ball reins for this season to Simon Harmer, the former South Africa Test offspinner who has played such a vital role in Essex's Championship push. Harmer has overseen the return to Finals Day contention, with a largely similar squad to previous seasons - aggressive opener Cameron Delport the one significant addition.

It took a while to find the right balance for the team, with Varun Chopra eventually omitted and Tom Westley moving up to open alongside Delport. There have also been new roles for ten Doeschate and his old mucker, fellow Finals Day veteran Ravi Bopara, further down the order. But they seem to have found a formula at the right time.

"What's most exciting is we've turned things around with pretty much the same personnel," ten Doeschate tells ESPNcricinfo. "The last few years has been a bit of a struggle, Harmy coming in has shaken things up. The fact we haven't had two overseas for a lot of the games - the way the young guys have stepped into their roles.

"He's created a belief. He's gone with the approach, 'This is what we've got, we've got to make it work'. I think he's instilled a lot of confidence, particularly in the young guys. He wants the batters all to be positive, the change we've made a) in the batting order and b) personnel, I think that's made a big difference."

Essex will have to cope without their overseas players at Edgbaston on Saturday, with Adam Zampa and Mohammad Amir both unavailable (Amir missed almost half of the group stage with visa issues anyway). Netherlands seamer Shane Snater and young left-arm spinner Aron Nijjar have been added to the squad, and aside from ten Doeschate, Bopara and Adam Wheater, who went to Finals Day on more than one occasion with Hampshire, most of those on the bus up to Birmingham will be experiencing the occasion for the first time.

"The fact that most of the guys haven't been to it is probably a good thing, we'll go there tomorrow and it won't play on too many peoples' minds," ten Doeschate said. "The experience some of us do have, particularly myself and Rav, we've played a lot of games and hopefully we can spread that through the squad and prepare the guys for tomorrow. The fact it's been a season for turning things around, and we've done it against the odds. The position we were in with four games to go, we were dead and buried, virtually no way we could make it. That's a nice way to go into a final."

It was ten Doeschate and Bopara who were in the middle together as Essex sealed a quarter-final win over North Group winners Lancashire a fortnight ago. With 344 and 329 T20 appearances respectively, as well as experience in the IPL and beyond, they will hope to provide the big-match savvy as Essex seek that first semi-final success.

"There are very few games at Essex I've played without Ravi in the team. So it's always special to go out to bat with him. We are getting on, so we keep saying 'One more time, one more time'. But the form he's been in, and his approach to the game in the last six weeks - we don't like to single people out, but he's played a massive part in getting us to this stage of the competition."

As to whether Essex are overdue a limited-overs title, having last won the FP Trophy in 2008, ten Doeschate points out how difficult it is to combine success across the formats. Essex, of course, won the Championship in 2017, having been promoted the year before, and have set their store by red ball in recent years. Of the three other teams at Finals Day, Nottinghamshire have already been relegated in the Championship, while Worcestershire and Derbyshire are in the bottom four of the second tier.

"There's not many teams who do well in both formats," he said. "This year's a prime example. There's a lot of merit in saying it's hard to win both. But it's great that we have an opportunity to go there and win a cup that's long overdue."

With a rare double in prospect, can Essex be the exception that proves the rule? Ten Doeschate smiles and shakes his head. He will be 40 next year and hopes to still be playing for the club he joined in 2003 - whatever happens over the next week won't change his view.

"To dwell on results isn't healthy. I think the club can be immensely proud of what the team's done this year. The change in fortunes in white ball is something to be very proud of - and again the way we've competed in red ball. I'm not too focused on where we end up. It's five days - I'm not going to let five days define whether I think it's been a good season or not a good season. I think it's been a great season, and the chance to win two cups is fantastic. Of course we want to give it a crack."

Edgbaston on the third Friday afternoon in September.

A few moments ago Dan Christian was chatting about Nottinghamshire's second appearance in three years at the Vitality Blast T20 Finals Day. Christian has played for Australia, Barbados Tridents, Brisbane Heat, Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils, Hobart Hurricanes, Melbourne Renegades, Multan Sultans, Rising Pune Supergiant, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Trinbago Knight Riders.

In a few minutes' time Moeen Ali will be explaining what it might mean were Worcestershire to retain the trophy on Saturday. Moeen has played for Royal Challengers Bangalore and was in England's World Cup winning squad.

At the moment, though, Billy Godleman is talking about the same occasion. Godleman plays for Derbyshire.

Derbyshire have never been to Finals Day.

And yet you sense this is simply part of the motivation Godleman enjoys: a chance to tweak a few noses. His eyes are bright with enthusiasm as he talks about it all.

"I see it as an opportunity," he said. "We have no pressure or expectation on us. At the start of the competition no one expected us to get to the quarter-finals let alone a semi-final. So we are happy to go fly under the radar and turn up and play some good cricket on the day."

Godleman makes a good point. Derbyshire needed to win their last three matches in the North Group to qualify for the last eight. They did so. They travelled to Bristol for the quarter-final in which they were expected to lose to Gloucestershire. They won. And tomorrow they will take on Essex in the second semi-final at Edgbaston.

One gets the impression that Godleman cannot wait to get stuck in. But he is by no means the only member of Derbyshire's squad bristling at such a prospect. The Finals Day freshmen have been coached to excellent effect this year by Dominic Cork, another cricketer who relished taking the world's expectations and depositing them in the nearest incinerator.

"Corky played for the club for the majority of his career," said Godleman. "He knows what it is to be a Derbyshire player: the underdog who has the opportunity to ruffle a few feathers among the bigger counties. That is something we relish.

"He's brought lots of energy and for me as captain he has been incredibly insightful," he continued. "I've been very fortunate to know Corky for a number of years now and he's one of the finest cricket brains that you could wish to meet. For me to have access to his cricket nous on a one-to-one basis as coach-captain has been very beneficial. Corky is very much about us going out and playing our best cricket with freedom. His view is that cricketers play their best when they have that freedom and that's what we have tried to create in this campaign."

Plainly it has worked so far and it will be fascinating to see how Derbyshire's players react when presented with a full-house at Edgbaston and the pressures of the biggest occasion most of them have encountered.

"We like to think we have a method and we are just really excited to have the opportunity to play a semi-final and maybe a final as well," said Godleman. "There's a range of emotions and everyone's different. There is a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of excitement, a lot of nerves and a lot of apprehension but what I've sensed from the group is that the overriding emotion is the excitement of the opportunity to play in Finals Day."

And should Derbyshire younger players need even more experienced advice tomorrow afternoon, the squad also includes Ravi Rampaul, whom Godleman rates as one of the best bowlers in the tournament, and Darren Stevens, 43-year-old Kent loanee, who this week scored 237 and took seven wickets in that side's 433-run thrashing of Yorkshire.

"Stevo's on fire," said Godleman. "Every time he goes out there he gets either a five-fer or a double hundred. He's another really good cricket man. He hasn't played as much as we expected or he expected but that's not to disregard what he's brought off the field and the way he shares his experience with the guys. That's been a massive boost for us."

So we are all set up for another Finals Day. Everyone is wondering whether Worcestershire can win back-to-back trophies; or whether Nottinghamshire can rescue their season; or whether Essex can win the first of what may be two pots in a week. Of course Derbyshire can't do it. No chance.

"Please keep taking like that," Billy Godleman might reply.

Liam Plunkett has said that "disappointment is an understatement" after he was surprisingly overlooked in England's list of centrally contracted white-ball players for 2019-20.

Plunkett played a key role in England's maiden World Cup triumph this summer, including three wickets in their victory in the final against New Zealand at Lord's, and has claimed a total of 96 ODI wickets at 28.01 in the four years since the last World Cup in 2015, more than any other England white-ball seamer.

However, at the age of 34, Plunkett has been considered by the ECB management to be past his prime as they begin to gear their white-ball squads towards next year's T20 World Cup in Australia and ultimately the defence of their 50-over title in India in 2023, by which stage he will be 38.

Explaining the decision at Lord's on Friday, Ashley Giles, England's director of men's cricket, praised Plunkett's contribution as a "fantastic servant" to the white-ball team, but pointed out that his pace had dipped in recent seasons and that a team with an eye to the future had a duty to prioritise a new generation of bowlers - not least Tom Curran, who was a non-playing member of England's World Cup squad, and the Lancashire paceman, Saqib Mahmood, who is expected to be named in England's T20 squad next week, for their five-match tour of New Zealand.

"Plunkett has been … one of Eoin [Morgan]'s go-to men," Giles said. "But moving into a new cycle of four years, before the 50-over World Cup and two T20 World Cups, he probably didn't fit those future needs for the next 12-24 months, which is tough.

"He's one of the most physical men we have in our line-ups. He's incredibly fit and strong, but in terms of the numbers, I guess his paces have been down a little bit for some time.

"His best came in that role in the World Cup, and the World Cup final. He should be really proud of that achievement, and what they did as a team, but everything moves on for all of us."

Writing in his Independent column after the World Cup win, Plunkett conceded he had "definitely" played in his last 50-over World Cup, but had vowed to "stick around in the game for a little longer".

He took to Twitter on Friday afternoon to express his disappointment at the decision, although he later clarified: "I am really happy for all the boys who got contracted. I am not having a pop at anyone just disappointed I didn't get one."

Giles added: "We're not saying that the door's closed, but just in terms of the core of that team, which is where those contracts are offered, he probably just misses out. It's difficult to be the person who puts that pen through the name, but that's cricket."

Another player on whom the door is not closed is Alex Hales, despite being stripped of his white-ball contract in the wake of the positive tests for recreational drug use that led to his sacking from the World Cup squad.

Hales has a prominent opportunity to make his case for an England recall on T20 Finals Day at Edgbaston on Saturday, where Nottinghamshire take on the defending champions Worcestershire in the first semi-final.

Joe Clarke and Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who were stood down from England Lions duty following inappropriate off-field behaviour, were also given a clean slate as Giles cited the recent example of Ben Stokes to show that players who make career-threatening errors of judgement can earn themselves second chances.

"The door isn't closed on Alex, or certainly those other guys," he said. "They've served whatever time they had to serve. It will come down to performance, and there is always an element of culture and team cohesion."

In the short term at least, Hales might find his path back to the England squad blocked by the captain, Eoin Morgan, who was scathing in his assessment of Hales' character when explaining the reasoning behind his World Cup axing.

"Eoin talked about that element of trust, and has there been enough time to make up for that?" said Giles. "Maybe, maybe not … that'll come down to Eoin and the selectors, but the door is still open. He's a fantastic T20 player and, you know, a mistake shouldn't haunt you for life. As we've seen very good other example this year."

After a period of reflection in the wake of the World Cup win, Morgan recently confirmed that he was ready to carry on as England captain, a development that delighted Giles, especially given that the concurrent departure of the coach Trevor Bayliss would have left the white-ball squad rudderless in the interim.

"We met about a month after the World Cup final, and he wanted some time to consider his future, which is just the way Morgs operates," Giles said. "He's very sensible, very logical. And thankfully, he rang me a couple of weeks after that, and said, I'm absolutely fully committed to going forward. And I'm looking forward to it, refreshed.

"That first month was probably a bit of a haze for him anyway," he added. "But he's probably dried out a bit and come around, and I'm delighted. He is a fantastic leader of men in that dressing room. And with us losing Trev, it's important we maintain some consistency and that leadership going forward."

Morgan's role in moulding the England team post-2015 has been well documented. But Giles believes that, even if he is unable to take the side all the way to the 2023 World Cup (by which stage he will be 36), the groundwork already laid is such that Jos Buttler (or AN Other candidate) would be well placed to take over at shorter notice.

"To give Jos that responsibility now, I think, is a lot for him, given he's playing across all three formats. But is he a future leader? Quite possibly. And given where the white-ball team is, perhaps we can manage that transition better.

"But just because we're world champions, we can't just keep doing the same stuff. When the new coach comes in, his relationship with the captains is going to be important. And we will need different things in both environments, because the white-ball environment is probably more mature in how they play their cricket than the Test environment. But both are really exciting opportunities."

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Carolina Panthers on Friday officially ruled quarterback Cam Newton out and named Kyle Allen the starter for Sunday's game in Arizona against the Cardinals.

Newton aggravated a sprained left foot in his last outing, a Thursday night loss to Tampa Bay that dropped the Panthers to 0-2. He did not practice all week, working inside with the trainer and going to meetings while wearing a walking boot.

"He's actually coming along well," coach Ron Rivera said Friday on a conference call. "The unfortunate part was last week he was playing on a short week and the foot didn't have time to come back, as far as I understand it. It was pretty sore. It was just one of those things where we have to wait it out and see where it is [next week].

"The one thing we don't want to do is have another setback."

This will be Newton's seventh missed start since he made his NFL debut in 2011 at Arizona. There was no indication on whether Newton would be available for next week's game at Houston.

For Allen, a native of Scottsdale, Arizona, his second career start will be a homecoming. In last year's finale, the then-undrafted rookie out of the University of Houston led Carolina to a 33-14 victory over the New Orleans Saints while Newton was sidelined with a shoulder injury.

This also will be a reunion of sorts for Allen and Cardinals rookie quarterback Kyler Murray. Both were at Texas A&M in 2015 and both transferred to other colleges within a few months of each other, Allen to Houston and Murray to Oklahoma.

Murray went on to become the Heisman Trophy winner and first pick of the 2019 draft. Allen went undrafted after being replaced as Houston's starter in 2017 and forgoing his senior season for the draft.

"It's totally two different paths," Allen said. "It's cool to be back on the field with him. I have a lot of respect for him as a player."

Each quarterback is being counted on to help his team out of an 0-2 hole. While Murray comes in with better credentials and two starts this season, the Panthers are confident Allen can get the job done.

"The best thing I can tell you to do is look at our last game last year," Panthers offensive coordinator Norv Turner said of Allen. "That's the way I would expect him to play. He played at a high level."

Allen completed 16 of 27 pass attempts for 228 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions to help the Panthers end a seven-game losing streak after a 6-2 start.

Confidence isn't a problem for the 23-year-old. He talked earlier this week about how Roger Staubach, a friend of Allen's father, sent him an autographed picture and how he sent the Hall of Fame quarterback an autographed picture of himself.

When he was 10.

Allen said he's not nervous about the prospects of starting at Arizona's State Farm Stadium, where he never played a down but attended games growing up. "For me, it's weird, but I just look at it as work," Allen said.