Australian cricket's prime time broadcast footprint is to be vastly expanded as the WBBL launches its first standalone tournament from October 18 to December 8.

Twenty-three of the 59 games will be shown on free-to-air network Seven and the subscription broadcaster Fox Sports, with the vast majority programmed for Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays in effort to focus the competition around times when most viewers can watch outside the school holidays.

The eight prime time televised games will be Sydney Sixers v Sydney Thunder on October 18, Sydney Sixers v Brisbane Heat on October 19, Perth Scorchers v Melbourne Renegades on November 1, Perth Scorchers v Melbourne Stars on November 2, Sydney Thunder v Sydney Sixers on November 15, Sydney Thunder v Brisbane Heat on November 16, Hobart Hurricanes v Brisbane Heat on November 22, and Hobart Hurricanes v Adelaide Strikers on November 23.

Fifteen other fixtures will also be broadcast live in morning and afternoon time slots. Sydney Sixers and Brisbane Heat, with six matches each, get the most full broadcast coverage, followed by Sydney Thunder, Adelaide Strikers, Perth Scorchers and Melbourne Renegades (five), and Hobart Hurricanes and Melbourne Stars (four). Finals matches, the two semis on December 7 and the final on December 8, may also fill prime time slots depending on whether the host venue is equipped with floodlights.

In the fourth season of the competition, Cricket Australia is unashamedly using the WBBL as a vehicle to expand cricket's footprint on the season - never before have so many matches been aired in prime time so early in the season. Historically, it is not until the first international matches of the season in November that cricket has had a regular place at the broadcast table.

"It's something we've been building towards and last year's final series has proved that the WBBL is ready to stand on its own two feet," CA's executive general manager fan engagement Anthony Everard said. "The volume of televised content nearly doubled last season with the 23 broadcast matches averaging 213,000 on Seven and Fox Cricket.

"To build on this, fans will have a more consistent broadcast offering this season with seven consecutive festival weekends around the country broadcast live, with all remaining matches streamed on cricket.com.au. Festival weekends will also give families the best chance to come and experience the game all around the country."

The tournament is built around a series "festival weekends" at North Sydney Oval, Brisbane's Allan Border Field, the WACA Ground in Perth, Adelaide's Karen Rolton Oval, Bellerive Oval in Hobart and Junction Oval in Melbourne. The tournament semis and final will be hosted by the top ranked team after the 14 qualifying rounds in early December.

Broadcast audiences for the WBBL last season maintained a trend of growing interest in women's sport, intertwined with CA's long-term thinking about growing the game as a sport for all. This edition of the WBBL will also serve as a taster for the kind of cricket likely to be seen in February and March, when Australia hosts the women's T20 World Cup.

"This is monumental for the women's game," Everard said. "The players showed that last year with more totals of over 150 than the first previous three seasons of the rebel WBBL combined, all culminating into an incredible standalone finals festival weekend.

"Moving the entire tournament to its own standalone period is the first step towards achieving that ultimate goal of being the best women's league in the world, giving the world's best female cricketers from across the globe the platform to show fans what they are capable of."

WBBL festival weekends

Sydney | North Sydney Oval - October 18-20
Brisbane | AB Field - October 26-27
Perth | WACA - November 1-3
Adelaide | Karen Rolton Oval - November 9-10
Sydney | Drummoyne Oval - November 15-17
Hobart | Blundstone Arena - November 22-24
Melbourne | CitiPower Centre at Junction Oval - November 30 - December 1

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- What is supposed to be their final training camp as the Oakland Raiders before next year's planned move to Las Vegas will be documented like never before, as the team announced Tuesday that it will star in HBO's reality series "Hard Knocks" come August.

While both owner Mark Davis and coach Jon Gruden have let their displeasure at the notion of cameras peering into their privacy be known -- Davis jokingly told ESPN in March that he would rather fire Gruden than subject the team to the voyeuristic show -- both put up resigned faces.

"Everybody wants to be a Raider," Davis said in a team-issued news release. "Now they'll find out what it takes to become one."

"Everybody wants to be a Raider. Now they'll find out what it takes to become one."

We'll see you in August: https://t.co/dZ1LvS7gRv #RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/rTz6AnrCbl

— Oakland Raiders (@Raiders) June 11, 2019

Earlier Tuesday, at the start of a three-day mandatory minicamp attended by everyone on the roster, Gruden was highlighting his three first-round draft picks in defensive end Clelin Ferrell, running back Josh Jacobs and safety Johnathan Abram.

"Who knows? Maybe 'Hard Knocks' will come and cover that," Gruden said through a grimace. "That'd be awesome, wouldn't it?

"We are trying to worry about this team, this week. We've got a lot of adversity we're facing right now with this team. We got a lot of distractions. I think we are playing in three countries. We've got about two months without a home game. We are in a process of moving. And we are going to try like crazy to keep all of our best players as we head to Las Vegas."

The Raiders could provide the HBO show with a treasure trove of storylines: From polarizing receiver Antonio Brown, who was acquired from the Pittsburgh Steelers, to middle linebacker Vontaze Burfict, who was voted the dirtiest player in the game a few years ago while with the Cincinnati Bengals, to left guard Richie Incognito, whose list of run-ins with teammates and the authorities is as long as his list of on-field accolades, to quarterback Derek Carr, who is entering what many see as a make-or-break season, to undrafted rookie defensive tackle Ronald Ollie, who already had a star turn in 2016 on Netflix's "Last Chance U."

"It's a hard knock life for us," Brown tweeted.

Plus, as Gruden noted, the team is in a lame-duck transition year, as it is leaving Oakland for the second time, having called Los Angeles home from 1982 through 1995. Gruden is already a TV star from his nine years in ESPN's Monday Night Football booth, and general manager Mike Mayock spent 14 years as an analyst for NFL Network.

All the show is missing is Marshawn Lynch, who was not re-signed by Oakland.

The other candidates for "Hard Knocks" this year were the San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants, Detroit Lions and Washington.

Redskins coach Jay Gruden lobbied for the show to chronicle his older brother's team back in May.

"If they were smart, they would go to Oakland," Jay Gruden said. "What an entertainment value that would be: Antonio Brown, Jon Gruden, Paul Guenther, Vontaze Burfict, [Richie] Incognito. You'd be crazy not to go to Oakland. You can do us next year."

HBO's cameras will get a peek at two days of joint practices with the NFC champion Los Angeles Rams in Napa. The Raiders and Rams will scrimmage on Aug. 7 and Aug. 8 before opening the exhibition season against each other on Aug. 10 at the Oakland Coliseum, a source told ESPN.

The new "Hard Knocks" season premiers Aug. 6.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Thunder All-Star Paul George had a procedure to repair a small labrum tear in his left shoulder.

A Thunder spokesman made the announcement on Tuesday.

George had surgery to repair a partially torn tendon in his right shoulder about a month ago. It was announced at that time that he would have the additional procedure at a later date. Both shoulders hampered him in the final two months of the season. His timetable for recovery remains the same, and his status will be evaluated before the start of the upcoming season.

George is a finalist for the NBA's Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year awards. He ranked second in the league with 28 points per game and led the league with 2.21 steals per contest.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The NBA said the Toronto Raptors' Marc Gasol should have been given two free throws with 49 seconds left of Game 5 of the NBA Finals in Toronto, a game that the Raptors lost to the Golden State Warriors by one point on Monday.

Gasol was fouled by the Warriors' DeMarcus Cousins on a drive, the NBA said in its Last Two Minute Report that was issued Tuesday. Gasol missed the shot and tumbled to the floor, but no foul was called.

Golden State led 106-103 at the time. The Warriors wound up prevailing 106-105, staving off elimination and sending the series back to Oracle Arena for Game 6 on Thursday night.

The NBA said Cousins moved into Gasol, "initiating contact that affects his driving shot attempt."

CHICAGO -- The woman struck by a foul ball during Monday night's game at Guaranteed Rate Field was treated at a nearby hospital and released Tuesday morning, according to a Chicago White Sox spokesman.

The unidentified woman was sitting in the stands just past the White Sox dugout down the third base line and was struck by a hard liner in the fourth inning off the bat of Chicago's Eloy Jimenez. She was bleeding around the head area, and was covered with a towel. She walked up toward the concourse with assistance of stadium personnel.

She then was taken to Mercy Hospital and Medical Center.

"She came back here with her friend and picked up her car this morning," said Scott Reifert, the White Sox's senior vice president of communications.

"We've left a couple of messages for her -- we always reach out -- and we haven't heard back."

Reifert said he had no information about the nature of the treatment and it will be up to the woman whether or not her name is made public.

The incident was just the latest scary moment to raise the issue of fan safety. Last month, a liner off the bat of the Cubs' Albert Almora Jr. struck a young girl in the stands at Houston's Minute Maid Park.

Almora reacted emotionally and had to be consoled by teammates and stadium personnel after breaking down on the field. Jimenez reacted Monday night by putting his hands on his helmet after the fan was struck.

The protective netting at Guaranteed Rate Field extends to the end of the dugout, which is the level of protection mandated by major league baseball. There has been some talk that it should be extended farther down the line.

"I think as an industry, probably all of baseball is gonna continue to take a look at it," Reifert said. "We really do every year.

"Obviously, the security and safety of our fans is important. I think we made the steps we did around baseball to address that."

Reifert said the White Sox are willing to work with fans who are concerned about safety.

"There are a lot of seats behind netting, so for people coming with young kids or if it's an important concern of theirs, they should absolutely ask at the ticket windows and we will accommodate them as best we can with seats that they know are gonna be protected," he said.

Atlanta Braves third baseman Josh Donaldson was given a one-game suspension following a skirmish with Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Joe Musgrove and catcher Elias Diaz on Monday.

Donaldson appealed the ruling and was in the lineup Tuesday night against the Pirates, hitting a solo home run in the second inning.

With two outs in the first inning of the game in Atlanta, Musgrove grazed Donaldson's jersey with a pitch. As Donaldson headed to first base, he exchanged words with Musgrove and then took a few steps toward the mound before Diaz intervened. Donaldson shoved Diaz. That prompted players from both dugouts and bullpens to spill onto the field. No punches were thrown and the field was quickly cleared.

Donaldson and Musgrove were both ejected, and Pirates manager Clint Hurdle was ejected by plate umpire Brian Gorman for arguing the decision to toss Musgrove.

ATLANTA -- A.J. Minter is back with the Atlanta Braves after a five-week stay at Triple-A Gwinnett, getting a chance to reclaim the job he lost as closer.

Atlanta recalled Minter on Tuesday to add another arm to its uncertain bullpen and placed starter Kevin Gausman on the injured list with plantar fasciitis.

Manager Brian Snitker said Minter improved his changeup and fastball command and added versatility by pitching multiple innings a couple of times in the minors. Luke Jackson remains the closer despite five blown saves in 14 chances.

Snitker said he planned to use Minter in a late-inning role. Minter went 0-4 with a 9.82 ERA and three saves in four opportunities, a span of 15 games, before he was sent down.

"He needed to back off the throttle a little bit, I think, at the time we sent him out," Snitker said. "We knew it was going to be good for him."

In nine games with Gwinnett, Minter was 0-1 with a 2.53 ERA. Minter missed most of spring training with left shoulder inflammation and returned from the injured list on April 4.

"He's a young player who doesn't have a whole lot to fall back on," Snitker said. "I think spring training was important for him, and he missed it. He just never really got caught up -- the arm strength, the whole thing. He throws hard, but he is a feel guy with his mechanics and all that. I think it was good. Hopefully. We'll see."

The Braves opened the season planning to use Minter as a left-handed closing option and Arodys Vizcaino from the right side. Vizcaino's season ended in April because of right shoulder inflammation, and he was traded to Seattle the following month.

The Braves' bullpen has a 4.26 ERA with 118 walks allowed in 243 innings.

Gausman began spring training as the team's No. 2 starter, but he went 2-5 with a 6.21 ERA in 13 starts.

Snitker said he didn't know yet who will take Gausman's spot in the rotation.

Both managers were tossed from the Texas Rangers-Boston Red Sox game at Fenway Park Tuesday night.

Red Sox left fielder Andrew Benintendi was initially thrown out after grounding out in the fifth inning. After he was thrown out at first, Benintendi appeared to have directed a comment to home plate umpire Angel Hernandez. Benintendi was then ejected by first base umpire Vic Carapazza

Benintendi's manager, Alex Cora, came out to argue the ejection and was also tossed by Carapazza.

After he was ejected, Benintendi continued to deliver invective to the umpires from the dugout.

The ejections were the first two of the season for the Red Sox, who trailed the Rangers at the time.

A half-inning later, Rangers manager Chris Woodward stormed from the dugout after an overturned call at second base. Asdrubal Cabrera was initially called safe trying to stretch a single into a double, but second base umpire Jordan Baker changed his ruling.

Woodward went straight for Hernandez, who let him rant for a bit before issuing the ejection.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.