English counties are holding firm over releasing their players for the inaugural Euro T20 Slam amid concerns over a potential clash of dates with their own fixtures, in the latest in a series of conflicts between county cricket and franchise leagues regarding player availability.

Several players holding county contracts were picked up in Friday's draft for the Euro Slam, which will take place between August 30 and September 22, but will likely be unavailable for the majority of the new competition if their counties reach the knockout stages of the Vitality Blast.

The Blast's quarter-finals run from September 4 to September 7, with Finals Day on September 21. Further, there are two rounds of Championship cricket - starting on September 10 and September 16 - that clash with Euro Slam fixtures.

Nottinghamshire, for example, saw three important members of their Blast side picked up in Friday's draft, in Samit Patel - who is contracted for all formats - and T20 specialists Harry Gurney and Dan Christian. "In all three cases, Notts cricket will take precedence," confirmed the club.

Sussex, meanwhile, will be without Rashid Khan for the final four group games of the Blast after he signed as an 'icon' player for Rotterdam Rhinos, while Tymal Mills and Luke Wright were also picked up in the draft.

A club statement said that Mills and Wright would only be available for the start of the Euro Slam if Sussex failed to reach the knockout stages of the Blast.

Both counties were among a handful of clubs that issued similar statements ahead of the draft for the Caribbean Premier League, which runs from September 4 until October 12.

The only two English players picked for the CPL were Alex Hales and Laurie Evans, and neither will be permitted to miss games for their county to play.

While counties have generally accepted the reality of losing players to franchise T20 leagues in recent years, there have been intermittent flashpoints of tension.

Yorkshire were left spitting after both Liam Plunkett and David Willey were selected as late replacements in the 2018 IPL, which left them facing an "impossible situation" according to director of cricket Martyn Moxon.

Moxon chaired a meeting between county bosses last year which resolved to lobby the ECB for a greater share of compensation payments for the loss of players.

In 2015, Hales missed a handful of Notts' Blast fixtures to fill in as a late replacement for Mumbai Indians, thanks in part to a clause in his contract that permitted him to miss games if he was picked. Previously, Hales had been instructed by the club to enter the 2014 auction with a $400,000 base price, to ensure they would be well-compensated if he missed games.

A handful of other counties had contracted players selected in the Euro Slam draft. For example, Essex saw Ravi Bopara, Varun Chopra, and Shane Snater picked up; Freddie Klaassen and Hardus Viljoen, the Kent pair, were both chosen; and Somerset's Roelof van der Merwe and Peter Trego were selected. None of the three clubs have commented.

Babar Azam, who is with Somerset for the Vitality Blast was also selected, but as a marquee player his involvement was known at the time of his arrival. He is expected to miss the Blast's Finals Day, but might yet be made available for a potential quarter-final.

The availability of other overseas players, including Imran Tahir, Dwaine Pretorius, and Martin Guptill, has yet to be confirmed by their respective clubs.

The Blast has regularly had to contend with fixture clashes in previous years, regularly losing out on international stars to the CPL, and this year has seen various high-profile players including Andre Russell, Faf du Plessis, and Shakib al Hasan choose to play in the Global T20 in Canada rather than staying in England after the World Cup.

Free-agent guard Kyle Korver has agreed to a one-year, $2.6 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, his agent Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports told ESPN.

Korver labored on a decision between the Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers, but his history and relationship with coach Mike Budenholzer played a significant role in his ultimate choice, league sources said.

The 38-year-old Korver played three-plus seasons under Budenholzer in Atlanta and was an All-Star there in 2015.

According to ESPN's Bobby Marks, the Bucks will incur a $1.6 million cap hit on Korver's deal. The Phoenix Suns, who waived Korver earlier this month, will receive a $559,000 set-off on the $3.4 million that they owe him.

The most pursued player left on the market, Korver has been one of the most accurate 3-point shooters of his generation, shooting 43 percent in his 16-year NBA career and leading the league in 3-point accuracy four times. He has played in 135 career playoff games.

He joins a Bucks roster that returns the core of an Eastern Conference finalist that had the NBA's best regular-season record at 60-22. Despite the loss of Malcolm Brodgon to the Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee was able to sign guards Wesley Matthews and Korver in free agency.

Korver started his career with the 76ers in 2003 as a second-round pick and also had stops in Utah, Chicago, Atlanta and Cleveland. Korver was traded twice in the offseason -- to Memphis and Phoenix -- before he was waived.

British middle-distance runner Laura Muir delights her home crowd with a strong 1500m win on the first day of the Müller Anniversary Games

Laura Muir showed her Doha preparations remain on course when she won the women’s 1500m in 3:58.25, courtesy of a superb 57.54 last lap.

The early pace was a little on the slow side with Hannah Segrave running the first two laps in 65.21 and 2:11.03. The third lap was slightly quicker as Muir led past 1200m in 3:15.03 with Konstanze Klosterhalfen the only athlete able to stay close as Muir opened up.

In the last 200m, Muir began to edge clear before she pulled well away as the German wilted in the closing stages.

The Scot completed her last 300m in a vicious 43.14 and it was Winny Chebet who chased her home in a distant 3:59.93.

Muir’s last 800m was around 2:02 and she said: “It may have looked easy, but it wasn’t! I didn’t realise I ran a 57-second last lap and I’m so, so happy about that. The girls are really strong and I know that my advantage is in that kick, so I just sat in there and tried to take it easy. It was all about winning today and I did that.”

She added: “London is a really fast track and it’s always a great atmosphere. The conditions are usually pretty good. It was a little bit windy today, but the whole vibe of the place is really special and it makes athletes raise their game. It’s great to have so much competition. My goal now is to win a medal in Doha.”

In third, Gabriela Debues-Stafford set a Canadian record 4:00.26. In sixth, Britain’s Sarah McDonald set a PB 4:00.46 while Jemma Reekie – Muir’s training partner and the European under-23 double gold medallist – broke new ground with a 4:02.09 in seventh.

The very first track race of the day saw 2015 world champion Danielle Williams improve her 100m hurdles PB from 12.48 to 12.41 to just miss Janeek Brown’s 12.40 world lead and Jamaican record.

The heats did not go well for UK athletes. Cindy Ofili was sixth in heat one in 13.24 while Alicia Barrett was disqualified and in heat two and Yasmin Miller was last in 13.91.

In the final, Williams was even quicker as she smashed Brown’s national record with 12.32 to win by over two metres from Nia Ali’s 12.57. That moved her to seventh all-time.

Williams (pictured below) said: “I am thrilled with that. My aim was always to run fast. It has been coming all season and it was just about when. This track is a fast track and the fact that we get two opportunities because of the heats you can fix what you did wrong ready for the final.”

The 400m saw more success for Jamaica as Shericka Jackson finished strongly to win in 50.59 from team-mate Stephenie McPherson (50.74), but both had to work incredibly hard to catch Laviai Nielsen, who started fast and only lost the lead in the last 30 metres. The Briton’s reward was a big PB 50.83 as she moves to 12th all-time in the UK.

She said: “I’m absolutely over the moon. It’s a time I knew I could do, but it was just a matter of getting the competitions in and being competitive. This is my favourite place to run. Every time I’m here, the crowd just gives me goosebumps and I get a lift I just can’t describe. I just want to race here all the time.”

The 200m also went Jamaica’s way as Olympic champion Elaine Thompson won in 22.13 from Marie Josee Ta-Lou’s 22.36.

A clear third was Beth Dobbin, who improved her Scottish record to 22.50.

Dobbin said: “I’m over the moon with that. This time last year I missed the Anniversary Games because I had a shift at work, so to now be a full-time athlete, racing against Olympic champions, it’s just a dream come true. I was racing against my idols so I am absolutely buzzing. I didn’t expect to be in PB shape until the trials because every year we focus on peaking for trials so to run a PB here today it means a lot.”

At the back of the field, Bianca Williams just got the better of Katrina Johnson-Thompson with both running 23.19. Many thought the latter would go much faster as she normally runs the event at the end of the first day of the heptathlon and has run 22.79.

Jamaica also won the final event of the day, the 4x100m thanks to a superb anchor leg from Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. She came from a long way back to pip Britain’s Daryl Neita.

Jamaica won in 42.29 with Britain second in a season’s best 43.30, which should go a long way to securing Doha qualification.

In the javelin, former European champion Tatsiana Khaladovich won a tight contest with a third round 66.10m with Kelsey Barber a close second with a final 65.85m.

The Russian Anzhelika Sidorova won an exciting pole vault on countback with 4.75m.

Reigning world champion Katerina Stefanidi matched that but paid for a first-time failure at her opening height of 4.55m as the leading duo both failed at 4.82m.

Holly Bradshaw was third with a vault of 4.65m and was unlucky with her final vault of 4.75m.

In the T33-34 100m, there was a clear win for Kare Adenegan in 17.91.

Norwegian Karsten Warholm runs European 400m hurdles record during an eventful first day at the Müller Anniversary Games

Karsten Warholm promised to entertain the crowd on the first day of the Müller Anniversary Games in London and the Norwegian kept his word with a European 400m hurdles record of 47.12.

Returning to the scene of his world title winning exploits in 2017, the 23-year-old blasted around the London Stadium to go No.7 on the all-time world rankings as he improved his continental mark of 47.33.

Only world record-holder Kevin Young, with 46.78 from 1992, plus Abderrahman Samba, Ed Moses, Rai Benjamin, Bryan Bronson and Samuel Matete have run quicker, although Warholm believes he can go faster later this summer.

With Samba and Benjamin in such good form this year, the men’s 400m hurdles final in Doha will be one of the races of the championships – and Young’s 27-year-old world record is in danger.

“I always try to surprise but at the same time it’s not a given,” said Warholm, who beat Yasmani Copello (48.93) into second. “It takes hard work, dedication and a lot for me to get out those extraordinary times. I feel really good, but at the same time it’s a long time until the championships. I’ll try to do my own thing. Do what I think is the best.”

Another Norwegian to shine at this London leg of the Diamond League series was Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Still only 18, he clocked a European under-20 and Norwegian senior record of 13:02.03 just behind Hagos Gebrhiwet (13:01.86) (pictured below) who had won the Ethiopian world 10,000m trial in 26:48.95 in Hengelo just three days earlier.

Andy Butchart also excelled in the 12-and-a-half laps race as he improved his Scottish record to 13:06.21. “I’ll take that,” he said.

Behind, Ben Connor (13:19.47) and Alex Yee (13:29.18) clocked PBs as well with Connor’s time being a qualifying mark for Doha.

Zharnel Hughes also delighted the British crowd as he clocked 9.95 to finish runner-up behind Akani Simbine of South Africa’s 9.93 in the 100m. Yohan Blake, Yuki Koike and Andre De Grasse broke the 10-second barrier, too, while Adam Gemili made a fine return from injury to run 10.04 in sixth.

More dramatic, however, was James Ellington’s comeback after serious injuries sustained in a motorbike accident in January 2017. Many felt he would never run competitively again but the 33-year-old defied expectations with a 10.93 clocking on Saturday and says his true goal is to make the Olympic team next year.

“I am lapping every moment of it up,” Ellington said. “But I’m going to go back to the drawing board and try to sort these injuries out.

“I have had a back problem three days ago and I could not walk but there was no way I was going to miss this race. Yesterday I started to feel a bit better but in the warm up I started to feel pain and I walked out limping but I was not missing this.”

The men’s 800m also saw several brilliant British performances behind winner Ferguson Rotich – the Kenyan winning in 1:43.14 (pictured below). These were led by Jamie Webb, who smashed his 1:45.73 to clock 1:44.52 for 10^th on the UK all-time rankings. “I don’t care who I’ve passed on the all-time lists,” he said. “All that matters is that I beat my club record (at Liverpool Harriers) held by Curtis Robb!”

Kyle Langford also clocked a PB of 1:44.97 – a remarkable performance given the fact he missed two weeks’ training recently after injuring his knee stretching before a meeting in Marseille at the start of July.

There was disappointment for Nijel Amos, though. The Botswanan ran 1:41.89 in Monaco this month but did not finish here after pulling up in the back straight. “I’ll be back!” he shouted in upbeat fashion as he was wheeled off the track by medics.

A high quality long jump saw a win for world champion Luvo Manyonga – the South African jumping 8.37m to defeat Jamaican Tajay Gayle, who set a PB 8.32m. In the triple jump, meanwhile, Pedro Pablo Pichardo – now representing Portugal – won with 17.53m from Christian Taylor’s 17.19m.

Toward the end of the first of two days at the London Stadium, Jonnie Peacock delighted the crowd with a 10.70 victory in the T44-64 100m.

Wales assistant strength and conditioning coach Huw Bennett says being fitter than other teams is the key to their success.

Head coach Warren Gatland has taken his squad to the Swiss Alps for a training camp as the Six Nations champions build for the Rugby World Cup.

GREENWOOD, Neb. – Mason Zeigler and Tim McCreadie earned the front row for I-80 Speedway’s Imperial Tile ninth annual Silver Dollar Nationals on Friday evening.

The starting lineup was set via a unique format of heat races, which were run in two rounds.

In the first round, heat one was won by four-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion Earl Pearson Jr., who led all the way to pick up the win. Cody Laney finished in the second spot with Corey Zeitner and sixth-place starter Kyle Bronson trailing at the checkers.

In heat two, McCreadie used a restart after a caution flag to take the lead from Allen Hopp as he came from the fourth starting spot to take the victory in the 12-lap race. Hopp came home in second followed by sixth-place starting Tyler Bruening and Jimmy Owens, who came from seventh.

In heat three, it was all Team Zero, as teammates Chris Madden and Scott Bloomquist finished one-two in the 12-lap race. Madden won in his first appearance at I-80 Speedway. Mike Marlar came from the eighth starting spot to secure the third-place finish just ahead of fourth-place finisher Devin Moran who started ninth.

In heat four, current Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series point leader Jonathan Davenport went uncontested for the victory. Zeigler was the big mover of the heat after coming from seventh to finish in second behind Davenport. Brandon Sheppard snared the third spot with Nick Deal in his Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series debut rounding out the top four.

The final heat in round one saw a terrific race between Nebraska native Bill Leighton Jr., Tyler Erb, and Bobby Pierce. Leighton led Erb and Pierce to the line. Leighton went back-and-forth several times in the race for the lead and scored his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series heat win in front of the home crowd. Josh Leonard finished fourth.

The first heat in round two went to three-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National champion Jimmy Owens, who came from the fourth starting position. Bobby Pierce came from seventh to finish in second, with Sheppard and Dennis Erb Jr. finishing third and fourth.

The second heat in round two was taken by Hall-of-Famer Billy Moyer over Hudson O’Neal. O’Neal stayed close to Moyer for most of the race, finishing one-car length behind at the checkers. Tyler Bruening came from fifth to take third with Nick Deal finishing fourth.

The third heat saw Devin Moran fade to fifth at one point early in the race but recover to capture the victory over Josh Richards, Chad Simpson and Bloomquist.

The fourth heat went to Zeigler. The 2018 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Rookie of the Year grabbed the win after starting in fourth. Billy Moyer Jr. led for most of the race before yielding to Zeigler. Moyer Jr. was second with Michael Norris and seventh-place starter McCreadie rounding out the top four.

The final heat of the night went to Ricky Weiss as the defending Sunoco Race Fuels North/South 100 winner cruised to the win by leading every lap. Shanon Buckingham and Tyler Erb had a terrific battle for the runner-up spot with Buckingham taking the spot. Erb was third with Corey Zeitner finishing in fourth.

PARAGOULD, Ark. — Picking up his sixth career victory with the Stealth Recovery ASCS Mid-South Region on Friday night, Derek Hagar topped action at Crowley’s Ridge Speedway.

Getting the pole for the 25-lap feature, Hagar led start to finish for the night’s $2,000 score.

Brad Bowden was second with Dale Howard third, however, a nose-wing infraction resulted in the No. 47 being disqualified, giving third to Marshall Skinner who came up from the sixth starting spot.

Tearing a hole in the wind from 18th, Joe B. Miller screamed from 18th to fourth with Ernie Ainsworth filling the top five.

The finish:

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 9JR-Derek Hagar, [1]; 2. 39-Brad Bowden, [2]; 3. 26-Marshall Skinner, [6]; 4. 51B-Joe B. Miller, [18]; 5. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth, [3]; 6. 8Z-Zach Pringle, [5]; 7. 2-Joseph Miller, [7]; 8. 21B-Brandon Hinkle, [13]; 9. 99-Blake Jenkins, [10]; 10. 21K-Kevin Hinkle, [8]; 11. 44-Ronny Howard, [12]; 12. 92-Cody Hays, [14]; 13. 32X-Robert Richardson, [16]; 14. 95-Asa Swindell, [17]; 15. 18T-Tyler Vaughn, [15]; 16. 1X-Tim Crawley, [9]; 17. 7D-Dylan Dejournett, [11]; (DQ) 47-Dale Howard, [4]

BILLINGS, Mont. — For the seventh time this season, Sam Hafertepe Jr. rolled the Heidbreder Foundation/Hills Racing Team No. 15h sprint car into Sawblade.com Victory Lane with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network, topping Friday’s Battle at Big Sky Speedway presented by Track Enterprises.

“I knew we had a good car. Just got in the right spot and drove by all those guys to get the lead,” Hafertepe said.

Rolling off seventh for the 25-lap affair, the first start was short-lived as polesitter Travis Reber spun in the second turn, collecting Bryan Brown and Cody Masse in the process. None of the three drivers were able to continue.

Moving Hafertepe to sixth on the restart, the No. 15h was up to third by lap two as Harli White took command over Blake Hahn. Moving to third the following lap, the leaders began inching towards traffic with Hafertepe trailing by nearly a second before finally getting the run on White.

Searching around the three-eighths-mile oval, Hafertepe pulled side by side with White on the ninth laps, with White able to hold the point. Working lap 10, however, the lead swapped hands as Hafertepe shot to the top of the leaderboard.

Hafertepe pulled away as White raced with Scott Bogucki. Swapping the positions numerous times over the next couple laps, Bogucki secured the spot on lap 18 with Blake Hahn following two laps later.

Having worked to a half straightaway advantage, Hafertepe’s lead was chopped to mere car lengths as the No. 15h was held at bay by slower traffic battling for position.

Rolling to the right of Mindy McCune several times, Hafertepe kept the 15^th-place driver as a pick until the final two laps. With Bogucki and Hahn nearly on Hafertepe’s back bumper, neither was able to make any moves before the checkered flag dropped.

“When we got to traffic, I knew we were better, but I didn’t want to press it,” Hafertepe explained. “I just played the block on the outside with guys on the bottom. On a deal like that, no one is going to get beside you. We just had to play our cards right and be at the right place at the right time to get it done,”

Bogucki, Hahn, White and Roger Crockett, who started 17^th, completed the top five.

The finish:

Feature (25 laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr., [7]; 2. 28-Scott Bogucki, [8]; 3. 52-Blake Hahn, [2]; 4. 17W-Harli White, [3]; 5. 11-Roger Crockett, [17]; 6. 95-Matt Covington, [6]; 7. 2X-Tucker Doughty, [5]; 8. 14-Jordon Mallett, [12]; 9. 77X-Alex Hill, [4]; 10. 37-Trever Kirkland, [13]; 11. J2-John Carney II, [16]; 12. 2JR-Kelly Miller, [18]; 13. 21P-Robbie Price, [15]; 14. 9K-Kory Wermling, [9]; 15. 11M-Mindy McCune, [10]; 16. 0J-Jeremy McCune, [19]; 17. 0-Ned Powers, [21]; 18. 33-Robert DeHaan, [11]; 19. 3-Jordan Milne, [14]; 20. (DNF) 77-Damon McCune, [23]; 21. (DNF) 88-Travis Reber, [1]; 22. (DNF) 38B-Bryan Brown, [20]; 23. (DNF) 35M-Cody Masse, [22]

PLYMOUTH, Ind. — Tyler Courtney bounced back from a 23^rd-place finish on Thursday to collect his second USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship victory in three nights Friday at Plymouth Speedway.

It was the fourth victory of the season for Courtney and his Clauson/Marshall/Newman Racing team.

The team’s high success rate, now with Courtney and CMNR scoring 15 wins in 55 USAC Sprint Car races together since the beginning of their championship campaign in 2018, a winning rate of over 27 Percent  clip, hasn’t provided them much of an opportunity to be in a “bounce back” situation, all to their credit.

“That’s what makes our team so good,” Courtney explained. “We don’t dwell on the night before.  We just go back the next night and try to do our job. That’s win races. We haven’t won as much as we did at this point last year, but we’re not going to give up. We have one heck of a team right now. (Crew chief Tyler Ransbottom) is really working his tail off to make this thing perfect and make my job easy. I’m just getting back in the swing of running a sprint car again. I think I’ve been more of a midget guy here lately. If we’re going to get into the swing, this is the week to do it.”

Courtney started the 30-lap feature sixth after garnering quick time earlier in the evening during Fatheadz Eyewear Qualifying. Up front, however, front row occupiers Chris Windom and Chase Stockon raced side by side for the duration of the first lap with Stockon taking the advantage by a half car length at the stripe.

Windom immediately slid Stockon into turn one on the second lap to grab the position where he would stake claim for the first third of the race while Brady Bacon rolled the bottom in second behind the high-riding Windom.

Bacon continued to eat up ground, bottom-feeding to within a car length of Windom at the start/finish line at the conclusion of lap 12. Bacon tickled the infield tires and used a run off turn two to pull ahead of Windom just in time to greet lapped traffic in the third turn.

A red flag just one lap later brought the race to a halt when 18th running Brandon Mattox hopped in turn one, landed on the left side wheels and barrel-rolled.  Mattox was uninjured.

On the restart, Bacon spurted away on the bottom while Windom and Courtney engaged in a side-by-side battle for the runner up spot. Courtney worked the top to race around Windom for second as the crossed flags were displayed for the halfway mark.

Courtney was charging, eating up the gap and appeared to have a run on Bacon around the outside for the lead at the exit of turn two on lap 18. Bacon drifted wide on exit, stifling Courtney’s momentum, stealing his line momentarily, and forcing him to check up.

“I knew he was good on the bottom,” Courtney recalled. “I could run down there, but I wasn’t as good as him, so I needed to go do something else. That’s the advantage of running second or third midway through the race. I got by Chris around the top, so I knew there was something there. I showed (Bacon) a little bit, but he did what he needed to do to maintain.”

Courtney gathered himself and went back to work on Bacon. Moments later, 17th running series rookie Zane Hendricks tagged the front straightaway wall with his right-rear tire, then proceeded to go into turn one with a full head of steam, tagging the turn one wall and flipping wildly along the topside of the three-eighths-mile dirt oval.

During the red flag period, second-running Courtney and team made a couple of shock adjustments, but agreed they had a pretty good race car and shouldn’t have to do too much.

On the lap 19 restart, Courtney wasted no time putting himself back into contention, switching the game plan up when Bacon slid from the bottom of turn three to the top of turn four.  Courtney anticipated the move and had his NOS Energy Drink – Competition Suspension, Inc./Spike/Rider Chevy locked and loaded to diamond off the top of three toward the bottom of turn four to win the race to the line by a car length

“When we got that red there, I got a good restart,” Courtney remembered. “He slid a little high in four, I got underneath him and cleared him at the line right before the yellow. That played in our favor. If I could just stick the bottom in one and two, I could get out and run my own race. These races are tough to win, especially when everybody’s as close as they are right now.”

Moments later, Thomas Meseraull, who was running 13th, spun around in turn four, forcing out the yellow flag.

Courtney secured the lead with 12 to go, and there wasn’t much that was going to alter that as a gaggle of cars led by Justin Grant, Windom, Bacon, Leary, Jason McDougal and a whole host of others battled for second as Courtney disappeared into the nighttime horizon, expanding his lead to more than a second in the dwindling laps.

Leary, who finished a heartbroken second the night prior at Gas City, was a rocket during the final laps, utilizing the topside to drive around the outside of Grant for the second spot at the finish line.

But, crossing that same line three-quarters of a second earlier was Courtney, who knocked out the 21st USAC National Sprint Car win of his career, equaling 1967 champ Greg Weld for 28th all time.

Behind Courtney, Leary and Grant at the checkered were fourth-place finisher Bacon and Jason McDougal who rounded out the top five.

To see full results, turn to the next page.