Crowds for the start of the international season are down some 35,000 on Cricket Australia's projections, the chief executive Kevin Roberts has revealed, though the governing body remains committed to pushing fixtures further out at either end of the traditional summer and school holidays window to get the public better used to watching the game before December.

Twenty20 turnouts of 16,268 for Adelaide Oval, 11,986 for the Gabba, 28,568 for the MCG, 19,176 for the SCG and 8,848 at Manuka Oval in Canberra have been decidedly underwhelming but a part of CA's longer term ambition to re-claim a wider portion of the warmer months for their own after some years of creep by football codes, especially the AFL, in terms of scheduling and media-cycle dominance. A similar move has been made next year with the scheduling of an ODI series against New Zealand in March.

Roberts said that while the attendance figures were comfortably below what CA had projected, sales for the Boxing Day Test - New Zealand's first since 1987 - are looking healthier than expected, meaning the chances are that by the end of summer totals will be near to where management had expected them.

"We're disappointed with where those crowds are at," Roberts told SEN Radio. "It's not surprising that the grounds weren't full, given our experience of this time of year, and we need to use next year's men's side of the T20 World Cup, in October-November, as a reminder that October-November is cricket season, and make sure we've got the best possible model going forward to fill the right grounds at that time of year.

"It's a better quality experience for fans at the match and a better quality experience for people watching the matches at home or on their phones when grounds are full. That's certainly something we're committed to and looking to use next year's men's T20 event as a springboard towards that. We're not completely surprised by it, [but] we are a little disappointed.

"We're about 35,000 people below where we wanted to be in aggregate across all those matches combined, but the good news is that our projections for the Boxing Day Test against New Zealand we think will see us make up that gap. Like with any season there's swings and roundabouts, and at this point in time we reckon the ledger will be pretty much square versus our expectations by the time we get to December 30th, the end of the Boxing Day Test."

This season, 2019-20, is the second year of a new broadcast deal that places all T20I and ODI matches behind the Foxtel paywall, meaning that advertising and promotion of those broadcasts are also seen by significantly smaller audiences relative to the large free-to-air footprint offered by Seven, which broadcasts Test matches, the WBBL and the BBL.

Roberts said that CA would look into how early-season matches could be more effectively promoted in future seasons, though the T20 World Cup next year will bring a momentum of its own, as demonstrated when 93,013 people crammed into the MCG for the 2015 ODI World Cup final in late March.

"I think enough effort went into it absolutely. We need to continue challenging ourselves as to the extent to which that's the right effort," Roberts said. "Certainly don't question the commitment or the effort anyone put into it, but we do need to get increasingly creative as we go forward in terms of how we can attract more fans to matches.

"There's certainly nothing that resembles a crisis in any of this, we're not overly concerned about it, but it's absolutely something that as an organisation that wants to continue learning and growing, then there are insights we can learn from as we seek to improve in future seasons, no doubt."

Big Picture

Rain in Sydney not only robbed Australia of the chance to complete a T20 series victory over Pakistan in the space of two matches, it also meant that the hosts will not be able to overtake Babar Azam's team as the world's No. 1 ranked T20I team with a win in the final match in Perth - the tourists will cling on by a single point even in defeat.

But there remains plenty to play for, not least the series itself, and also the continuing road towards a now imminent Test series between the two teams, beginning in Brisbane in a couple of weeks' time. Pakistan still appear very much in acclimatising mode, having run into an Australian side committing serious mental and physical energy to T20 international matches for the first time since the 2016 global event - next year's on home soil being the first of two in as many years.

While Australia will have to rebalance their bowling attack somewhat, in the absence of Pat Cummins as he freshens up ahead of the Tests, there has been a strong sense of cohesion about the hosts' approach, either attacking from the top through Aaron Finch and David Warner or letting Steven Smith direct traffic for the middle order in the event of an early wicket or two. With the ball and in the field, the Australians have not quite been as stingy as the Perth Scorchers at their best, but they are tracking that way both in terms of tight bowling combinations and predatory work to cut off runs and seek run-outs.

Pakistan offered some signs of hope at Manuka Oval, not least the aggression of Iftikhar Ahmed as some long-awaited help for Babar, but also a little more cutting edge to their bowling line-up. The additional bounce on offer at Perth Stadium, where Australia's ODI team was well beaten by South Africa at the start of last summer, has the potential to bring the visitors still further into the game, should they get their lengths right.

Form guide

Australia WWWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan LLLLL

In the spotlight

Never conceding more than 27 runs in a spell while also scooping six wickets, Ashton Agar has been a considerable success story for Australia over this bracket of T20 matches. He has, with help from Adam Zampa, ensured that the hosts have a three-dimensional nature to their bowling attack that has not always been evident in the game's shortest format. Pakistan, like the world's other nations, will need to find a better way to combat his changes of pace and variations in spin before next year's global event on similar surfaces.

Scores of 59 not out and 50 have underlined the rare nature of Babar Azam's talents, but in each case his innings have not amounted to all they might have been for a lack of adequate help. With Iftikhar having announced himself in Canberra, albeit on a less bouncy wicket that can be expected in Perth, there is reason for Babar to hope that others may soon come to the party.

Team news

The decision to rest Cummins for the final match of the series suggests a possible return to the side for Sean Abbott, though Billy Stanlake is also waiting in the wings.

Australia (probable): 1 David Warner, 2 Aaron Finch (capt), 3 Steven Smith, 4 Ben McDermott, 5 Ashton Turner, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 Ashton Agar, 8 Sean Abbott, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Kane Richardson

A promotion may be possible for Iftikhar following his Canberra fireworks and the need for Babar to have more support towards the top of the order.

Pakistan (probable): 1 Babar Azam (capt), 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Haris Sohail, 4 Iftikhar Ahmed, 5 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 6 Asif Ali, 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Wahab Riaz 9 Shadab Khan, 10 Mohammad Amir, 11 Mohammad Irfan/Mohammad Musa

Pitch and conditions

The Perth Stadium pitch can be expected to be fast and bouncy, with a hot day forecast for Perth - temperatures are expected to be around 33C about the time of the first ball at 4.30pm local time.

Stats and trivia

• David Warner needs 67 runs to become the leading all-time T20I scorer in matches between Australia and Pakistan, surpassing Umar Akmal (335 runs) and Kamran Akmal (366)

• Australia and Pakistan have never played a T20I against each other in Perth before

Quotes

"In the past we've used these opportunities to rest some of those guys but we need to get better at it. It's something that's a priority for Australian cricket so therefore you want to play your best players as often as you can. We're really lucky, we've got great depth in the squad. We've got a ripping bunch of blokes in this squad and that's really pleasing."
Justin Langer doesn't want to see any drop in intensity for the final game of the T20 series

LOS ANGELES -- Eight games into the season, Doc Rivers is done with the newly implemented coach's challenge rule.

A frustrated Rivers vented about the rule after he lost a challenge in the fourth quarter of the LA Clippers' 129-124 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks at Staples Center on Wednesday night.

The call in contention was an offensive foul drawn by Milwaukee point guard Eric Bledsoe on Clippers guard Lou Williams with 7:18 remaining in the game and the Bucks up 108-101. Williams was driving past Bledsoe when the Bucks point guard snapped his head back following possible contact with Williams' arm.

Rivers thought Bledsoe got away with a fast one on the officiating crew.

"That was awful," Rivers said afterward. "It was. They should've overturned it. That's why I hate the rule. Nobody wants to be wrong. Let me just say that. You have to overturn that. Unless Bledsoe fouled Lou with his face, there was no foul on that play."

After official Courtney Kirkland called the foul on Williams, Rivers signaled for the play to be reviewed. The play was replayed over and over from different angles on the big screen, and the Staples Center crowd booed about there being any contact between Bledsoe's face and Williams' arm.

Williams and Rivers pleaded their case with official Zach Zarba. Coaches can use one challenge per game, regardless of whether it is successful, and a team must have a timeout and call one after the challenged play.

There must be clear and conclusive visual evidence to overturn a call. Through Wednesday night, there have been 70 challenges across the league this season, with 25 overturned (36%). Of those challenges, there have been 13 offensive fouls challenged, with just three overturned (23%).

Rivers is 0-for-2 in coach's challenges this season, after he also unsuccessfully challenged a call with 33 seconds remaining in a 130-122 loss at the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 26. Five Clippers opponents have challenged calls, with only one successful overturn for the Utah Jazz during the fourth quarter on Nov. 3.

"There was a flop," Rivers argued Wednesday night. "I think it [would've] been more of a chance that Bledsoe got a letter from the league about flopping than Bledsoe got fouled.

"That was awful. I don't like the rule anyway. I said it up front. And now I like it even less."

In his public statements about the evolution of the free-agent market, Tony Clark, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, has taken pains not to use the word collusion. For more than two years now, the MLBPA has asked agents to take notes on the free-agent conversations they have with teams so it can search for patterns, smoking guns, anything that might hint at coordination among the 30 teams. Nothing actionable has been found.

It made the tone of a release issued Wednesday by the union that much more startling. Clark all but accused teams of colluding based on the words of Atlanta Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos, who in a conference call Tuesday with reporters had alluded to conversations with other teams about free agency and how it would affect trade discussions.

Clark's words were unsparing. Amid announcing that the union would investigate teams potentially running afoul of the collective bargaining agreement, Clark said Anthopoulos "call[ed] into question the integrity of the entire free-agent system. The clear description of club coordination is egregious."

The notion of teams discussing free agents, if only in passing, does ring true. "Are we supposed to talk about only trades?" one general manager asked Wednesday. "And do they want us to talk trades with no other context?" The union's answer, at least according to its statement, is: yes. Because anything beyond that, the argument goes, would violate Article XX(E)(1) of the collective bargaining agreement, which ends: "Players shall not act in concert with other Players and Clubs shall not act in concert with other Clubs."

It was a bold attack by the union, one that drew huzzahs from some players who believe the league is colluding and eye-rolls from others who saw it as little more than grandstanding. Whatever the motivation, it was a shot across the bow from Clark on the third day of free agency. With another offseason expected to mirror the past two winters -- slow, dreary, disappointing for players -- Clark has made his style clear. He is going to fight.

This particular skirmish could take months, maybe more, to play out. The union's next step as part of its investigation will be to request information from the league. The questions it will ask to determine coordination among teams and how MLB will respond to the request are key. If the league doesn't cooperate, the union could file a grievance to gather information. If the league does cooperate and the union finds actions it believes constitute a violation of the collective bargaining agreement, the MLBPA could file a grievance alleging collusion.

Further, it could look to Article XX(E)(5), which states that if an arbitration panel finds five or more teams violated XX(E)(1) about acting in concert with other teams, the MLBPA can reopen the collective bargaining agreement after giving MLB 60 days' notice.

All of that, of course, depends upon the union finding something it hasn't found in years of searching. Collusion is not impossible to prove, as the MLBPA showed three times in the 1980s. The most recent collusion case concerned a so-called "information bank," which the league created to share offers teams were making to players. It was the epitome of clear and egregious, and the league paid players $280 million in damages.

This case, at least at the start, is far more opaque. It's fairest to look at what Anthopoulos said in the context of his entire quote, which he gave to reporters on a conference call after the Braves re-signed Tyler Flowers and Nick Markakis, and which The Athletic printed in full.

"We always take up until the last day because things occur -- trade scenarios, signings," Anthopoulos said. "And look, we're still obviously at the beginning of the offseason. We've got to make decisions on these players at this time because the language in their contracts dictated that we had to make those decisions today. But we know the landscape can change quite a bit between now and spring training. We examined the free-agent market. We've definitely done a pretty good analysis now that the World Series is over. We could at least have general conversations with agents, just in terms of expressing interest.

"Every day you get more information. And we've had time to connect with 27 of the clubs -- obviously the Astros and [Nationals] being in the World Series, they were tied up -- but we had a chance to get a sense of what the other clubs are going to look to do in free agency, who might be available in trades. So, the three weeks have been productive for us, just getting more information. All that shaped some of the decisions that we made. But we know there's going to be a lot more information to come, and things are certainly going to develop over the next few months, and there will be a chain reaction with certain signings -- someone signs in a certain place, maybe another player that's not available today becomes available at that time. So, it's going to be pretty fluid, and I think we're in a good position to start the offseason."

The union took umbrage at the Braves having a "sense of what other clubs are going to look to do in free agency." By Wednesday night, Anthopoulos had walked back his words, saying he misspoke, didn't discuss free agents or the free-agent market, and that he apologized for the confusion.

It did not take Anthopoulos saying it out loud for the union, or anyone else in the industry, to know these sorts of conversations happen. They happened in 2015, before the current agreement. They happened in 2010. They happened in 2000. They have happened every year of the current quarter-century of labor peace. Before the offseason kicks into gear, one team calls another. They ask what they're looking for. They kick possibilities back and forth. They try to contextualize what is what. They say if they can't fill a position via trade, they might go out and get a free agent.

One executive argues that scenario constitutes information-gathering -- something paramount in baseball today, when a minuscule knowledge advantage can be worth tens of millions. It's not an information bank, he said. It's certainly not working together, he said. It's trying to understand the lay of the land to beat them. It's pragmatism.

Now, nothing says pragmatism and collusion can't be bedfellows -- and the burden is on the union to prove that what came off as relatively innocent from Anthopoulos is something more. But if the union is determined to be dogmatic about free agency -- and there is nothing more precious to it than free agency -- then this case will persist and cleave the relationship between the parties even more.

At this point, the communication between the sides is strained, the respect for one another not particularly acute in either direction, and the fear of a work stoppage upon the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement in 2021 palpable. That's still a long way off, but they've been saying that for two years now, and in those two years none of the issues between the parties have been resolved. If anything, they've worsened.

And so baseball is left with days like Wednesday, which are bound to become more frequent. As the ramifications of the basic agreement continue to reverberate, Clark has shown he's not going wear the consequences of it without a fight. Sooner rather than later, MLB is bound to fight back, and the labor war that has been brewing for years will feel closer than ever.

Forward Alexander Steen left the St. Louis Blues' 5-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday because of an apparent lower-body injury.

Steen had to be helped off the ice after an awkward collision with Alex Chiasson late in the second period.

The Blues said Steen will be reevaluated Thursday but had no other details on his status.

EDMONTON, Alberta -- The St. Louis Blues acquired forward Jacob De La Rose from the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night in exchange for forward Robby Fabbri.

The 24-year-old De La Rose had a goal and three assists in 16 games for the Red Wings this season. The Swede has 12 goals and 20 assists in 195 regular-season games with Montreal and Detroit.

The 23-year-old Fabbri had a goal in nine games for the Blues this season. He has 32 goals and 41 assists in 164 regular-season games, all with the Blues. He appeared in 10 playoff games last season to help St. Louis win the Stanley Cup.

St. Louis beat Edmonton 5-2 on Wednesday night for its sixth straight victory. Detroit lost 5-1 at the New York Rangers, the Red Wings' fourth straight loss. They are 1-11-1 in their past 13 games.

Sadio Mane says he will probably be watched more carefully by Sunday's referee because of Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola's "clever" comments about diving, but the Liverpool forward has no intention of changing the way he plays.

Guardiola said last weekend that Mane dived sometimes, after the forward was booked in the first half against Aston Villa for simulation, though the City boss has since walked back his comments.

Leaders Liverpool host champions City in a Premier League showdown on Sunday and Sane said the timing of Guardiola's accusation was no coincidence.

"I think it's a bit clever from him to get the attention of the referee, but I will just play my football like I'm always doing," Mane told British media.

The Senegal forward added that the comments mattered little to him.

"I don't pay attention to what he's saying because it's part of football," he added. "If the 'dive' will give me a penalty then I will do it. Why not? But what coach Jurgen [Klopp] said is correct. I do not dive."

All year, seemingly, the debate has carried on, the questions many but all related. How will not having the Australian captaincy affect Steven Smith? How much better did Smith perform in England because he was not captain? When should he be returned to the Australian captaincy, if ever? How would the pressures of captaincy affect the output we saw during the Ashes?

Intriguingly, the debate has arrived at a very neat point of Smith's Test career, in terms of splitting his terms as captain and not captain in two. As of the end of the Oval Test, the final match of a series in which Smith was the clear difference between Australia retaining the Ashes and failing to do so, he had played 34 matches as captain of the national team, and 34 as just another member of the XI.

Asked in Perth on Wednesday evening whether or not the "pressure" of returning to captaincy would have a negative impact on his batting - his exploits in England aside, more recently he also has strong displays in the Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan - Smith recalled his own statistical split, with a fair degree of accuracy.

"I actually think I play better with pressure, that extra pressure when the team needs something more and things like that," Smith said in Perth. "My record probably is better when I'm captain than when I'm not. That sort of pressure doesn't really bother me. But I'm not thinking about captaincy or anything at this point in time. I'm really comfortable where I'm at and I'm enjoying what I'm doing."

As for a quick fact-check on Smith's recall, yes, he is quite right. In 34 Tests as a player, Smith has averaged 59.17 while scoring 3314 runs and compiling 11 centuries. Impressive as that may sound, it is dwarfed by his returns in 34 Tests as captain: 3659 runs at 70.36, with 15 centuries. The argument for leadership detracting from Smith's batting does, in this light, look somewhat hollow.

"My record probably is better when I'm captain than when I'm not. That sort of pressure doesn't really bother me" Steven Smith

But, as ever, there are more nuanced ways to look at things. There are numerous phases Smith's Test career can be grouped into, both as captain and as a player. The first, from mid-2010 until January 2011, saw the youthful, precocious Smith's first five Tests, a period in which he is universally regarded as having struggled to cope with Test cricket before he was quite ready for it. An unclear commission, as neither fully fledged batsman nor specialist spin bowler, did not help as he tallied 259 runs and zero hundreds at a tick over 28.

Phase two began in early 2013 on an Indian tour Australia lost 4-0. Here, Smith demonstrated that he had developed considerably as a batsman, but it took a little while for his talents to be seen in full, as he grappled with overseas conditions, experienced bowlers and his own self doubts about gaining a secure place in the national team. Over this period, running up until late 2014, his returns grew steadily, ultimately tallying 1490 runs in 18 matches at 51.37 with five centuries.

It was at this point that Cricket Australia, requiring a new leader after Michael Clarke was invalided out of the 2014-15 India home Test series with hamstring and back problems, chose to elevate Smith to captaincy rather than handing the role to a more experienced temporary captain such as Brad Haddin. Smith, surrounded by a strong group of senior players and operating in home conditions, bloomed into the first truly prolific series of his career: 555 runs in three Tests as captain after having made a century in the first as a batsman alone, with three further hundreds at an average of 92.50.

At summer's end, the switch was made back to Clarke in time for the latter stages of the 2015 World Cup, and he would go on to lead the Australians on a dual Test tour of the West Indies and England. Smith, returning to the ranks, churned out 791 runs in seven matches, tallying three centuries - including scores of 215 and 199 - and averaging 71.90, a handsome return if somewhat diminished by a critical run of low scores in the pivotal Birmingham and Nottingham Tests against England that saw the Ashes lost.

Clarke's retirement returned Smith to captaincy, this time as the full-fledged leader for the biggest single continuous chunk of matches in his career, lasting from late 2015 until March 2018 and the Newlands scandal. A far bigger sample size, in which Smith was able to compile 3104 runs over 46 completed innings with 12 centuries, meaning an average of 67.47.

It was not a period without troughs. Series against Sri Lanka and South Africa in 2016 were notable for reduced output, as were tours of Bangladesh in 2017 and finally South Africa in 2018. The longer Smith's captaincy went on, the harder it appeared for him to maintain the level he had established earlier on, and a notable feature of 2017-18 was how he clearly dialled down his scoring rate in order to mitigate risk and stay at the crease.

Nonetheless, those numbers created considerable doubt in the minds of many as to what exactly Smith would do when he returned to Test cricket in England this year as a batsman alone. The outcome, of course, was a glut of runs from a visibly refreshed and hungry player, in some of the most difficult batting conditions of his career, split up by a serious blow to the head from Jofra Archer at Lord's that cost him the Headingley Test due to concussion. His return effort, a double-century at Old Trafford as the urn was retained by a team led by Tim Paine, will live long in the memory. So too will 774 runs from four matches at 110.57.

One thing that brings a fairer split to the captain versus non-captain records for Smith is to eliminate his first five, formative Test matches, to count only those in which he was clearly playing as a batsman alone. That brings his non-captaincy average up to 65 from 47 innings, as opposed to 70.36 from 52 completed innings as captain - a far less yawning gap that can be closed further should the counter begin at the time of the 2013 Perth Test against England, the moment Smith himself has reckoned to be the day he first felt at home as a Test batsman.

But perhaps the most telling way to look at Smith as a captain and non-captain is to examine his trends. As a captain, Smith had the advantage of starting near to the peak of his batting powers in late 2014, meaning his average as a leader was 80.50 at the end of his first Test as captain, then 92.50 at the conclusion of his first series. Over time, with a few exceptions, that average has gradually dipped - as of the end of the fateful 2018 trip to South Africa, not sitting above 80 since the 2016 Sri Lanka tour. A fabulous start with a gradual trend downwards.

Out of the 22 Test series in which Smith has played, he has averaged better than 45 in 12 of them. Of the 10 others, six are clustered amid Smith's first seven series as a batsman, between 2010 and 2014. But the other four sit close together among his final six series as Test captain, from 2016 to 2018. The longer Smith's captaincy went on, the more frequent his struggles became.

As a batsman only, though, we may in fact be yet to see exactly how much Smith is capable of. By starting so modestly, he gave himself plenty of upside, and with each passing opportunity to "just bat" he has delivered more and more to whoever happens to be fortunate enough to captain Smith at the time. Paine has been the most recent beneficiary, as Smith's non-captaincy average surged up towards 60 even when including those first five Tests.

So, in conclusion, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that as a Test captain, Smith has a superior batting record that will be hard to improve upon. However as a Test batsman alone, there is ample reason to expect that he has the capacity to keep trending up for some time to come. A law of increasing, rather than diminishing, returns is what Australia's Test team will need most.

Former Karnataka Ranji players CM Gautam and Abrar Kazi have been arrested on charges of spot-fixing in the Karnataka Premier League (KPL) final earlier this year. Gautam, captain of Bellary Tuskers, and his team-mate Kazi allegedly accepted Rs 20 lakh (approximately $28,000) for "slow batting" in the tournament final against Hubli Tigers, which the Tuskers lost by eight runs.

Gautam and Kazi are also alleged to have been involved in fixing another match, against the Bengaluru Blasters.

Gautam is one of the biggest names in Karnataka cricket and was a central figure in the Karnataka team that won back-to-back domestic trebles in 2013-14 and 2014-15. He moved to Goa this season after nine years with his home team and was named their captain for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy which begins on Friday. The state association is yet to respond to the news.

"The CCB has made two important arrests in the KPL spot-fixing scandal," Sandeep Patil, the Joint Commissioner of Police, told ESPNcricinfo in a text message. "Bellary team captain CM Gautum and Abrar Kazi were arrested. They did spot-fixing in KPL 2019 finals between Hubli and Bellary. They were paid Rs 20 lakhs for slow batting. Also, they fixed another match against the Bangalore team. Further investigations are on and more arrests will be made."

Today's arrests come a day after Karnataka Police's Central Crime Branch (CCB) arrested another player, Nishant Shekhawat, for allegedly acting as an intermediary between bookies and players. As of Thursday, seven people - including four players - have been arrested in relation to fixing in the KPL. More arrests are expected, the CCB said.

Gautam is by far the highest profile name to emerge in the KPL fixing scandal, which broke in September with the arrest of Belagavi Panthers owner Ali Asfak Thara, and the consequent suspension of the franchise. Gautam was a long-term deputy of Vinay Kumar, and stood in for him in three matches 2013, captaining a team with the likes of Robin Uthappa, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, and Manish Pandey. Gautam also played for India A and has played for Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians, and Delhi Daredevils in the IPL.

Kazi, a bowling allrounder who also played under Gautam at some point, had a more stop-start career with Karnataka before moving onto Nagaland last year and making three 150+ scores as a middle-order batsman. He transferred to Mizoram at the start of this season. Kazi has played a solitary game for RCB.