MALPAS, England -- Michael Owen laughs a lot. It's one of the first things you notice when you are in the company of the former Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester United forward. The common perception of Owen is that he is, and always has been, an extreme version of the modern-day sportsman who has been managed and polished to within an inch of his life, but the reality is very different.

We are chatting in the Owners Lounge at Manor House Stables, a thoroughbred horse racing training complex deep in the Cheshire countryside, which was nothing more than a cattle barn when Owen bought the land in 2007 as a post-football investment. While the camera is being set up in the stables to film Owen's first interview since the publication of extracts of his autobiography, "Reboot," we discuss the fallout from the book, including headlines about his broken relationship with Alan Shearer, controversy surrounding his comments about former club Newcastle United and criticism of David Beckham. (And, of course, two of his former clubs square off this weekend when Liverpool host Newcastle at Anfield.)

There has been widespread surprise at Owen's candour and readiness to be blunt; it's a side of his character he's kept well-hidden since bursting onto the scene as a teenage sensation with Liverpool in 1997. But he laughs again when reminded of the time he scored his first goal for Manchester United. It came at Wigan in August 2009, and after the match, Owen walked past reporters asking for a post-match quote before turning on his heels to tell them to "F--- off, because you're always caning me..."

"Yeah, that wouldn't have been a first," he said, laughing. "I was probably right as well!"

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Owen is surprised that people have been surprised about his true personality, but he hasn't lost any sleep over it.

"I've taken my tin hat off to chat about this!" Owen tells ESPN FC, following the initial reaction to the revelations in his book. "I've written a book that's open and honest, talking about my career. It's been interesting, quite a therapeutic process in the beginning, but now that it's in the mainstream, it's causing quite a lot of opinion.

"But look, to get to the top of any profession, you need unbelievable drive, confidence and the ability to filter out anything that is going to have negative impact on your mind."

Behind the laughter and the smile, it is fairly obvious that Owen is a tough, hard character to the point of appearing cold to outsiders. Perhaps it's a result of being a child prodigy, the son of a former professional footballer (Terry Owen played over 300 games, including a spell at Everton) who spent his young life being groomed for the stardom which came at such an early stage of his career.

By the time he was 18, Owen had become a first-team regular at Liverpool and emerged from the 1998 World Cup as the most talked-about teenager on the planet after scoring his stunning individual goal during the second round defeat against Argentina. He was the Kylian Mbappe of his day, his scorching pace combined with an ability to score goal after goal after goal, but there was always an element of the "brand" being the most precious commodity, with Owen's persona carefully managed to the extent that he never quite connected with supporters at any of his clubs.

Opinions back then were simply not on the agenda.

"A lot of the time when you are playing, you are slightly gagged," Owen says. "You can't be talking about Liverpool if you play for Man United."

He scored 158 goals in 297 games for Liverpool, but even at Anfield the affection for Owen is lukewarm, at best, largely because he signed for bitter rivals United after leaving Newcastle in 2009.

"When I left Newcastle, the two real options were Everton -- David Moyes wanted to sign me -- and Manchester United," said Owen. "You could say that I was doomed to be criticised by Liverpool fans at that time, no matter what I did, because their two biggest rivals were the two biggest moves for me. But that's fine. I'm certainly not sitting here apologising for anything.

"If I had the time again, in that situation, I would do the same again. In no other walk of life would you be criticised for having ambition: people would applaud it. But because I chose to sign for a club at the top, to play in the Champions League, you get castigated for the colour of your shirt. I'm never going to change that 'you wore red, he wore blue, so I hate you,' mentality."

There it is again: that cold, hard honesty. Owen just does not do sentiment or play the game of telling supporters what they want to hear.

In his book, Owen admits that by the time he left Liverpool for Real in 2004, he was earning more from commercial deals than from club wages at Anfield, an admission that underlines not only his global status at the time but also that sense of Owen the brand being bigger than Owen the footballer. As Sir Alex Ferguson says in the foreword to the book, "Another factor in Michael's career was the way he led his life; no arrogance, no partying, a good family life, respect for his parents, his manager and team-mates: all in all, a completely rounded young man."

The problem for Owen, though, is that all of the above conspired to create the image of a footballer who was hard to love. "Over the years, I've inevitably run into a fair amount of criticism about various aspects of my career," he said. "In my case, people complained that I wasn't loyal enough to this or that club, was 'always injured,' boring."

But does it bother him? Does he care?

"A throwaway line from Alex Inglethorpe, the Academy Director at Liverpool, summed up everything for me," Owen writes in his book. "He told me that I had the best s--- filter of anyone he'd ever met. To many, all I've ever been is a voice -- a not very interesting one at that, some would say -- or a face on a television screen.

"This 's--- filter' is at the core of it all and I hope everyone enjoys getting a brief glimpse into my head."

April 12, 1999. It was certainly the end of the beginning for Michael Owen, but the subsequent years also proved it to be the beginning of the end and, in many ways, the root cause of those accusations that he was injury-prone.

Liverpool played Leeds United at Elland Road. Steve McManaman split the Leeds defence with a pinpoint pass to Owen, who collected the ball and raced towards goal until he pulled up sharply and collapsed to the ground on the edge of the penalty area. The Leeds crowd cheered, mocking Owen as he rolled around on the turf, clutching his right hamstring, which was torn from the tendon. The YouTube footage is difficult to watch considering the implications of the injury.

Owen was still only 19 at the time. He would go on to win the Ballon d'Or two years later and move to Real in 2004, but he tells ESPN FC that the injury at Leeds changed everything to the point that he could have quit in his mid-20s.

"Yeah, 100 percent," he said. "Back in the day, when I did the injury, they didn't do surgery on muscle [injuries]. If they did, it was extremely rare, so it was an injury that was going to catch up with me later in life, mainly in terms of speed, and this is one of the most frustrating things about what people have accused me of when I have said that, in the last few years of my career, I didn't enjoy it as much as in my early years.

"I think that's a perfectly fine and honest thing to say. I was right at the top of my game and I have countless recollections to prove how high my standing was during the first half of my career, but just think of the mental toll it takes when you've done that but then have to accept that players who are, with all due respect, half as talented as you, almost taking the ball off you.

"At 26, I couldn't even run past them anymore. I was having to tell myself to link the play because I couldn't sprint into channels anymore. It was alien to me; of course I didn't enjoy it as much as I did when I was at my best."

Losing his trademark pace was like a master craftsman being unable to use his tools, and Owen could sense his decline. In his book, he admits that the root of his rift with Shearer stemmed from the then-Newcastle manager believing that Owen was refusing to risk his fitness to help save the club from relegation.

Knee, hamstring and foot injuries marred Owen's career at Newcastle, restricting him to just 71 Premier League games in four seasons at St James' Park. He had a similarly injury-affected three seasons at Manchester United, making just 31 league appearances (he started only six league games for the club), but having been one of the biggest stars in world football as a teenager, he claims it was "torture" to have to endure such a painful decline.

"I enjoyed the game throughout," he said. "I'd have stopped playing at 25 if I hated it that much. I love the game now, I loved it at 33, but the mental torture of not being able to do what you could once do -- the brain is still telling you to do it -- you think, come and get it to feet because you can't expose yourself to sprinting.

"The older I got, the slower and slower I got, but how do you get used to being 'just a player'? My brain, my heart, my everything is about being the best, and when I couldn't be, it was just torture in my mind to feel like that. I can't understand how people don't understand that.

"I was almost dying a slow death when I was playing. The last year at Stoke, I hardly played, and it made my mind up. I vividly remember playing away at Crystal Palace. I hadn't played for six months, I was on the bench, hardly getting on, and I played [at Palace] and I just thought, 'I can't do this anymore.' I'm just not as fast or as strong as anyone anymore. Yes, I could still finish as well as anyone in the six-yard box, but I just vividly remember that I wasn't capable anymore."

For a player who achieved so much, Owen has a surprisingly long list of regrets. He smiles about them and does not project the image of a man weighed down by questions of what might have been, but they are there nonetheless.

Owen left Liverpool a year before Rafael Benitez's team won the Champions League in 2005, spent just one year in Spain with Real Madrid, signed for Manchester United a month after the departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez and was part of the "Golden Generation" of Beckham, Ferdinand, Scholes, Terry et al., which failed to win a major tournament with England.

But such is Owen's character, and his pursuit of absolute excellence, that it appears he relishes setting his personal bar so impossibly high.

"I'm wired in a certain way," he said. "I'll regret anything if I can. If I win the league, I regret not winning it twice. If I win the Ballon d'Or, I want to win it two or three times. That's the way you have to think if you are at the top of your profession. But if I had one regret, with all the players we had, nobody will ever convince me that we didn't have an amazing team with England. It was so frustrating that we never won anything.

"Yet my trophy collection is my pride and joy, my memories. Sometimes you have a little five minutes looking at them, remembering how you did it, because the evidence is there. You just go into a room and see it all shining."

One of those trophies is the Ballon d'Or, which Owen won after helping Liverpool to a Treble of FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup in 2001. No Englishman has won it since, and although he believes the Premier League now possesses the players to produce a winner again, Owen does not expect an English player to emulate him anytime soon.

"I can't see it being in the next few years," he said. "We have some great players, but you'd think Messi and Ronaldo will be around for a bit yet. There's obviously Virgil van Dijk and other top-class players in the Premier League, but yes, it's going to be a while before an Englishman does it."

Michael Owen opened his Twitter account in November 2010, and it is fair to say he has endured a bumpy ride on social media ever since. For a player who generates more negative opinion than positive, it can be a daily grind of abuse and hatred for Owen, especially since going public on his rift with Shearer. He bites back more than most but also believes there is a difference between what happens in daily life and being at a computer screen.

"I think everybody gets [abuse] in my line of work," he said. "I've been used to that since social media started. It was my decision to go on it and interact with fans, and by and large, you do get amazing interaction on it and a lot of support through social media.

"In the street, no-one says anything, so you've got to take social media with a pinch of salt. I was having lunch in Manchester city centre with my wife and kids last week, and this is when I'm in all the headlines, and not one person has a go at you. Not one person says anything. I've never encountered anyone saying anything [face to face] like they do social media.

"But if you're not thick-skinned, there's no point going on it."

And with a shrug and a smile, Owen sums himself up. His skin is thicker than most.

When he started out, Jasprit Bumrah was the mix-it-up short-format paceman with good speed, excellent yorkers, and clever variations of pace. But 62 wickets - at an average of 19.24 in 12 Tests - later, he is as potent a force in Test cricket. Virat Kohli's "complete bowler" also showed off a new weapon in the Caribbean recently, the outswinger, which we might not have seen much of before, but Bumrah says he always had but didn't use too much.

"I have always had the outswingers, I have not used it much," Bumrah said at an event in Mumbai on Friday. "But playing in England gave me a lot of confidence with the Dukes ball swinging for a long period of time. I got more and more confident as I played more and more Test cricket."

ALSO READ: Jasprit Bumrah's game sense is his most striking feature - Andy Roberts

White-ball cricket, even the longer version of 50-overs-a-side, is a different beast in many ways for the fast bowler - not much movement in the air or off the pitch, conditions largely manufactured for big-hitting, and much else. "In white ball cricket, the ball doesn't swing for a long period so you have to assess what kind of delivery works every time," he said. "I was working on it {the outswinger] for a long period. I used it in England as well when we were playing against county teams. You can't use everything in one match. You just try to assess the conditions on the given day and see what could work."

Listening to Bumrah, one gets the impression that he values his Test career a great deal, maybe even more than what he has done in one-dayers and T20s. And that's reflected when he picks his favourite cricketing moment.

"Playing in my first [Test] series, when I got the fifth wicket, that was the moment - 'now I've got a Test fifer, nobody can take it away from me"

"Getting my first Test fifer, which I got in Johannesburg. Playing in my first [Test] series, when I got the fifth wicket, that was the moment - 'now I've got a Test fifer, nobody can take it away from me'.

"As a domestic player, I have played a lot of Ranji Trophy cricket, so you always wanted to make a mark in Test cricket. I always had the belief that if I have done well in first-class cricket, I can replicate that in Tests as well. I have played only 12 matches, but finally after I made my debut after playing for two years of international cricket in South Africa, it was a good experience, a dream come true. I was really happy, just being there and playing in a white jersey was a great feeling. And then slowly, slowly starting to contribute towards the team's success gave me a lot of satisfaction.

"I just didn't want to be a cricketer who played one-day and T20," he said. "So the journey has been good. It's just started, hopefully a long way to go. I'm learning from the experience that I've gained by playing in South Africa, England, Australia and the West Indies. India will be a different challenge, which I'm looking forward to."

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One of the things Bumrah stresses on, again and again, is self-belief.

"For me, even if things don't go well, the only opinion that matters, in my opinion, is your [own] opinion. It doesn't matter what others think of you. That's the philosophy I follow," he said. "Whatever people think, whatever everybody's opinion is, that is not important. If they give you love, that's good. If they don't, that's good. Ultimately it's what's inside your head, you're there, you should have that belief. If you have the belief, everything will fall in place."

Interestingly, all his Test appearances so far have been overseas, away from the subcontinent: four in Australia, three each in South Africa and England, and two in the Caribbean. Not just that, he has picked up five-fors in each of those countries, becoming the quickest (in terms of number of Tests) to record five-wicket hauls in four different countries. Now, he will play a Test in India for the first time - the games are scheduled to be played in Visakhapatnam, Pune and Ranchi.

Bumrah isn't worried about his effectiveness, or lack of it, in Indian conditions. "I have played all my life in Ranji Trophy cricket in India. These are not alien conditions for me," he said, adding that the key was in preparing well. "For me, a lot of preparation goes in before any match or tournament. I assess the conditions, we will discuss with the team management and the senior players, who have played a lot of cricket over here, as to what works, what doesn't work, so will take everything into consideration and see how it goes.

"All these things I listen to, and filter them, and figure out what I can do and cannot. I try to asses all this and make my plans."

It's that mindset, that self-belief, that also helps Bumrah "stay calm" when things don't go his way on the field. "If you get angry and show unnecessary emotion, it doesn't really help. It's a waste of energy. During that time, I like to stay calm, I try to smile, then I tell myself, 'see, you are playing international cricket, you are playing at the highest level, which you always wanted to do as a child, so why are you getting frustrated'," he said.

"So few people in the world get such an opportunity. At that moment I feel grateful, I feel happy that I am playing at this level, small frustrations here and there will happen, but just be happy with the opportunity."

Britain’s 800m men enjoy gold rush on day nine of of the European Masters Championships

Britain had another good day at the European Masters Championships in Italy, winning 10 gold medals with six coming at 800m, three at 5000m and one at the pole vault.

The men had yet another great patch in the 800m, winning three races in a row with Paul Fletcher’s M60 win probably the highlight as he won his third gold on the track after the 1500m and 10,000m, never having previously won a major title.

First to strike though was Clare Elms in the 5000m at Eraklea, as she won her fifth gold medal and was the only British winner in the morning.

In very hot conditions and with an 800m to run later in the day, she tried to ease around behind Sweden’s 10,000m runner-up Karin Schon until the penultimate lap. Her gentle acceleration saw her win by 17 seconds from the Swede though the time of 19:00.30 was much faster than she was expecting to have to run.

Elke Hausler took bronze in 21:27.01.

Other British medals were won by W70 Carolyn Gale (25:06.22) and W75 Betty Stracey (33:21.80) who won respective silver and bronze.

Ireland’s Annette Kealy won the W50 title in 18:15.20.

W35 Mieke Gorrisen of Belgium ran the fastest women’s time overall in 16:53.92.

Attention then turned back to the main stadium at Jesolo for the 800m where, for the only time at the championships, the women were allowed track races with the men.

The first to strike gold was W70 world record-holder and defending champion Angela Copson who unusually, being such a multi medallist, was having her first run of the championships.

World record-holder and defending champion Angela Copson makes a belated first appearance in European Masters and sprints to victory in the W70 800m in 3:03.22. 1500m champion Ros Tabor is third in 3:06.11 and XC champion Penny Forse is fourth. @emacvenice2019 pic.twitter.com/WDlMIrFU52

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) September 13, 2019

Ingerlise Villum led through 400m in a slow 94.1 followed by 1500m champion Ros Tabor.

The Dane, who won the W45 title 21 years ago, still led into the straight but both Tabor and Copson kicked up to her shoulder.

Though claiming she had focussed on training for longer races, Copson had the best finish and won comfortably in 3:03.22 with Tabor winning her fifth medal of the championships in third with 3:06.11 behind Villum who finished ahead of her for the first time in 10 years.

Britain had three of the top four with cross-country champion Penny Forse a close fourth.

Britain did even better in the W55 race which unusually saw a battle between the 400m champion (Virginia Mitchell) and the 10,000m champion (Elms).

Short of races after injury, Mitchell ran a smart tactical race, controlling it throughout and led through 400m in 72.7 with Elms following.

The latter made repeated attempts to overtake but having focussed on longer events this summer lacked the speed to get past the world and European champion who held her off each time and ran wide. In the last 100m, Mitchell kicked to victory in 2:26.29 with Elms second in 2:28.10 taking her sixth medal and 1500m bronze medallist Christine Anthony gained her third in 2:35.03 as Britain gained their first clean sweep of the championships.

Louise Jeffries won W60 bronze in 2:47.85 and in the W35 event Fiona de Mauny matched her 400m silver with a fast 2:12.78 clocking but was outpaced in the last 200m by impressive Pole Aneta Lemiesz, who won in 2:09.89.

1500m champion Zoe Doyle finished fourth just 0.08 of a second from a medal in a PB 2:14.35 in a race dominated by the Irish pair of Denise Toner (2:12.60) and Annette Quaid (2:13.16).

Also impressing was German W80 Louise Ritter, the oldest in her race, who won the combined W75/W80 race in 3:50:05.

The men followed the women and first to strike gold was M75 Winston Laing. Though feeling he had not trained enough and carrying a leg injury, he controlled the race and won in 2:50.07 to take gold by 0.30 of a second from Norway’s Tormod Boenes.

The M60 race was a cracker. Alfredo Bonetti blasted the first lap in 64 seconds with only defending champion Keith McGhie following closely. The 1500m and 10,000m champion Fletcher was some way back but began clawing back some distance as he hit the straight as he led a chasing pack. The Italian’s leg wobbled just before the line and McGhie passed but he was also struggling and fell across the line just as Fletcher, who made up five metres in the last 20, dipped and the latter got the verdict in 2:15.22 to McGhie’s 2:15.32.

The latter had lots of cuts to show for his fall.

In a dramatic finish 10,000m and 1500m champion Paul Fletcher just catches fellow Brit Keith McGhie and Italian Alfredo Bonetti having been a long way back into the straight. The times 2:15.22 and 2:15.32.@emacvenice2019 pic.twitter.com/QAf1vsMqKm

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) September 13, 2019

Next up, M55 Andrew Ridley made it a second successive two-lap title and he powered away on the second lap to win comfortably in 2:08.67 from France’s Xavier Lefay.

M50 Dominic Bokor-Ingram then made it three on the trot as he ran a perfect tactical race and was always in a good position and he won in 2:05.01 as he held off 1500m champion Mark Symes who got boxed in the 12-man field and had to come from behind and was second in 2:05.18.

The M35 race was a repeat of the 1500m with Tom Disveld of Netherlands kicking away to win in 1:55.67 with Mike Cummings battling to another silver in 3:57.25.

Joe Gough dominated the M65 800m in winning by four seconds in 2:20.73.

The men’s 5000m races were also in the afternoon in Eraclea and there was an exceptional run from M60 Alastair Walker and the Scot won in 17:08.50 to take gold by a massive 23 seconds from Sweden’s Tore Axelsson.

The clash with the 800m meant Fletcher had to choose between the two events though it did mean Britain won every event from 100m up to 10,000m in this age group, thanks mostly to John Wright and Fletcher.

Also striking gold with a huge margin was M75 Victor Shirley who won his event in 21:45.62 which gave him gold by 47 seconds from Giovanni Melis of Italy. He had previously won here at 1500m.

10,000m champion Andrew Leach finishes second in 16:35.22 and former World champion Ben Reynolds third in 16:57.31 as gold went to Sweden’s Hakan Eriksson in 16:26.14.

Steeplechase gold medallist Alex Swiecicki (20:10.68) just missed out in the M70 race to Israeli Gregori Fuks, who ran 20:07.92.

The pick of the winners was probably Italian M50 Said Boudalia who ran 14:59.70 to go close to the world record though M85 Bruno Baggia won in an European record 24:50.08.

Britain also won gold in the field.

German-based world record-holder Irie Hill was a class apart in the W50 women’s pole vault and won with a 3.35m leap at a time when she was the very last person competing in the stadium, a hour after the track races had finished.

Sarka Harkin won a W40 silver with a 3.10m leap.

The day after winning the 200m gold, M80 Anthony Treacher won a long jump bronze with a 3.76m lap as Germany’s Willi Klaus took the title with a 3.94m jump.

Guy Dirkin won silver in the M65 Throws pentathlon with 3886 points.

Guiseppe Ottaviani won the M100 long jump with a 0.65m leap.

Medal table

1 GER 84 80 77 total 241
2 ITA 82 74 70 226
3 GBR 76 54 62 192
4 FIN 33 21 13 67
5 ESP 32 41 40 113
6 FRA 26 39 31 96

Two weeks after coming out of retirement, middle-order batsman Ambati Rayudu has been appointed Hyderabad's captain for the upcoming 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy, which begins later this month.

After being ignored for the World Cup, the 33-year old had announced his retirement from "all forms and levels" of cricket. He was named among the stand-bys for the tournament, but despite injuries to opener Shikhar Dhawan and the designated No. 4 Vijay Shankar, Rayudu was ignored again. Instead, the selectors and the management picked Pant and Mayank Agarwal as their replacements.

Earlier, in November 2018, Rayudu had retired from first-class cricket in a bid to focus on his limited-overs career, following a successful return to the India ODI set-up after injury troubles.

Soon after, ahead of the home series against West Indies, India captain Virat Kohli said Rayudu was the right person for the No. 4 position "because he's experienced and he has won many games for his state and in IPL cricket. He has a great one-day record already for India, so I think the batting order is sorted as far as we're concerned."

ALSO READ: Coming out of retirement 'not a U-turn' - Ambati Rayudu

Rayudu responded with 217 runs in four innings against West Indies, including a match-winning hundred in Mumbai. Rayudu also impressed in the ODI series in New Zealand, finishing as the top run-getter, with 190 runs in five innings. However, in the subsequent ODI series at home against Australia in the lead-up to the World Cup, Rayudu struggled for form and laboured to 13,18,2 in the first three games before being left out.

Vijay, who caught the eye with bat and ball in that series, was eventually picked ahead of Rayudu for the World Cup. Rayudu's immediate response was a cheeky tweet, referring to his "3D glasses", which seemed to be a jibe at the selectors for ignoring him. He later told Telangana Today that being ignored for the World Cup was "shocking".

"I had worked very hard to be ready for the World Cup. I quit red-ball cricket for the World Cup. I was extremely fit and doing the role, which the team asked me to do at No. 4 and suddenly when you are not in the team, it was shocking," he said. "There was no communication from the team members also."

Then, weeks ahead of the start of India's domestic season, Rayudu pulled a U-turn on his retirement and stated that his top priority is now to "get runs for Hyderabad" in the Indian domestic circuit. Noel David, Hyderabad's selector, welcomed him back, saying that Rayudu had "at least five years of cricket" left in him.

Rayudu said that he aimed to groom young players and ease pressure on them on his return.

"It is time there is a good ambience and there should be no pressure on the players," he said. "The best team should be selected. I feel that the players are playing under pressure. The infighting in the association is not good for cricket. Sadly, I feel the Hyderabad colours are for sale and it is important the players should perform to earn a place in the team."

Rayudu replaces Akshath Reddy as captain, with B Sandeep named as his deputy. The other Rayudu - Rohit - and fast bowler Mohammed Siraj also feature in the squad.

Hyderabad squad: Ambati Rayudu (capt), B Sandeep (vice-capt), P Akshath Reddy, Tanmay Agarwal, Thakur Tilak Verma, Rohit Rayudu, CV Milind, Mehdi Hasan, Saket Sai Ram, Mohammed Siraj, Mickl Jaiswal, J Mallikarjun (wk), Karthikeya Kak, T Ravi Teja and Ajay Dev Goud

Clubs will compete for places at the ERRA National Autumn Relays

The Welsh Road Relay Championships head to Pembrey Country Park near Llanelli on Sunday.

The 52nd edition will be likely to benefit from better weather conditions than runners experienced 12 months ago when Swansea Harriers dominated the event at the picturesque Coastal Park.

Clubs will compete for places at the ERRA National Autumn Relays with automatic entry no longer guaranteed for Welsh clubs. This is likely to make the senior races more competitive as clubs look to guarantee their spots for the national showcase in Sutton Park three weeks later.

Swansea Harriers were comfortable men’s winners last time when Josh Griffiths and Jon Hopkins shared the fastest leg honours over the 5480m route around the park.

Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Cardiff 10km champion Jake Smith and third-placer Ciaran Lewis will lead a strong Cardiff team which also features Morgan James and James Vincent.

Swansea captain Marc Hobbs is an ever-present at club events in Wales and will spearhead his clubs campaign in the senior men’s race. Track specialist Jon Tobin will be in action and should be among the candidates for the fastest leg. Former UK Inter-Counties cross country champion Dewi Griffiths is among his team entries but it’s not known whether the 2:09 marathoner will be in action at Pembrey.

In any event, both clubs are likely to progress to the ERRA National Relays on October 6, which both have won in recent years.

Aberdare Valley AAC were the third team in 2018 and also appear strong on paper along with Pontypridd Roadents.

The Harriers were also comfortable winners in the women’s race last time but are likely to face strong opposition from a Cardiff team that has been unstoppable recently, with achievements including a team title at the British 10km Championships in London.

The Cardiff team here are equally as strong, led by 2019 UK Inter-Counties cross country champion Jenny Nesbitt and Welsh 5km champion Clara Evans. The pair were second and third at the Cardiff 10km two weeks ago ahead of some top English challengers.

Swansea’s women appear to be weaker than usually expected and than they were 12 months ago when they took victory ahead of Lliswerry Runners and Bridgend AC.

Cardiff athletes Ben Reynolds, younger brother Jacob and Lloyd Sheppard will form a very strong partnership in the under-17 men’s race. Reynolds was part of their winning trio last year for this age-group.

Menai Track & Field and local club Carmarthen Harriers took all the titles across the under-13 and under-15 age-groups last time. Newport Harriers, Cardiff Archers and both Swansea Harriers and Cardiff AC are also likely to feature near the front throughout the day.

Serme meets Sobhy in Nantes women’s final
By MATT COLES – Squash Mad Correspondent

Welshman Joel Makin fought back from two games down to reach the final of the Open de France – Nantes 2019 presented by Tailor Capital after beating home favourite Gregoire Marche in front of a partisan crowd at the Chateau des ducs de Bretagne.

The Frenchman, who had already knocked out the No.1 seed Simon Rosner earlier this week, quickly got into a rhythm, and was able to put the ball in the right places. He took the first 11-8, before then controlling the second even more, winning it 11-6 to double his lead and put himself on the verge of victory.

However, the ‘Golden Tiger’ came roaring back into life, as he was able to get in front of Marche on court and put the pressure on the Frenchman. As the match time ticked over the hour mark, Makin took the third game to bring himself back into the match.

The Welshman then dominated the fourth game, bar a few mistakes, to send the match into a decider. In the end, the Welshman had too much for the home favourite, despite the backing of a hugely vocal crowd.

Makin won the fifth 11-7 to seal victory after 95 minutes of brutal squash on the glass court, sending the handful of Welsh and Birmingham fans into raptures. He moves on to the final on Saturday evening.

“I am relieved to get through that one to be honest. I was passive and I got it wrong early on. I sat back too much, even though I knew what I wanted to do. I didn’t quite get it right and credit to him, he was moving unbelievably well,” Makin admitted.

“He was taking the ball in and taking his chances. Once it got to 2-0, I knew I needed to take him in and just work him. I had to try and stretch him out and he started to slow down. It was tough after that and it worked in the end.

“The atmosphere has been brilliant all week so I have enjoyed coming down and watching. Seeing your opponent for the next stage gives you a bit of a feel of how they are playing. We have all seen each other loads before but you get a feel for what they are doing this week.”

Makin will play New Zealand’s Paul Coll in the final after the World No.6 got the better of Egypt’s Zahed Salem in the last match of the night. The Kiwi rounded off the semi-finals action with a convincing victory over the Egyptian in straight games.

The Kiwi came out strongly in the first game, but the No.4 seed was able to match him shot-for-shot in the opening exchanges. Coll managed to just eke out a lead in the final stags of the first to take the early lead in the match.

The second was easier for the New Zealander, who restricted the World No.14 to just five points as he doubled his lead in the match. Coll would go on to secure his place in the final of the event after winning the third game to seal victory inside 40 minutes.

“I am very relieved to get off court in three. It was mentally very tough and I had to keep myself very focussed. It was easy to drift off and think about my bed. I didn’t think about squash, I just concentrated mentally on staying sharp and just playing what was there,” Coll said.

“I took a longer nap than usual, just slept as long as I could during the day. I just started my day a few hours later than normal. It was very tough, it was still tough to warm-up and get started in the match. During the day was fine, I just postponed everything a few hours.

“I watched the whole thing [Makin v Marche] from my bed. It was a very physical match, and he did well to come from 2-0 down against a French crowd. It was a pretty impressive performance from him, but I have played him the day after a 100-minute match and we then played another 100-minute match again so I am sure he will back up again tomorrow.

“A win would be perfect. I made the final of my first event last year and just missed out so if I could go one better this time round it would be amazing. I will just try to leave everything out there. I just need to recover, sleep as long as I can in the morning. It is another late match so I will just prepare for it like I did today.”

France’s Camille Serme is through to the final of the Open de France – Nantes 2019 presented by Tailor Capital after she beat Egypt’s Hania El Hammamy in a convincing three-game performance at the Chateau des ducs de Bretagne.

The pair were meeting for the fourth time on the PSA World Tour, with Serme aiming to keep up her 100% record over the Egyptian, dating back to 2016. She started off with that mindset, restricting the 19-year-old to just four points in the first game.

Serme continued that form into the early part of the second, taking an 8-2 lead. However, the Egyptian looked to fight back, reeling off four straight points. The World No.3 managed to compose herself though, and was able to double her lead in the match with an eventual 11-7 victory in the second game. A similar pattern happened in the third, with Serme going on to take a big lead.

This time, though, El Hammamy managed to come back from 6-1 to level the game at 7-7. However, a couple of strong shots from the Frenchwoman moved her back in front, allowing to comfortably take the victory in 35 minutes, to the rapturous applause of the partisan crowd.

“Obviously, I am very happy to win in three. When it was 2-0, I was actually thinking how nice it would have been to be over. Obviously, I was ready from the start. Even if it was best-of-three, I wanted to keep the momentum going with a really good start and I think I showed that in the first game,” Serme said.

“The third game, I was feeling really hot on court. It is warmer today on court and I think I felt a little bit of fatigue and she came back to 7-7. Luckily, I managed to play two good shots at the right time so I am really happy.

“It is amazing. Every time I think of it, or I hear them [the crowd], I get goosebumps. It is like in the third game, I used the extra push. From the very first match, it was like this and I thought to myself that I wanted to play as much as I could on that court. I just want to finish on a win tonight.

“I think I will be watching [Sobhy v Perry], maybe while I am having dinner to make sure I recover properly. I have been to a couple of finals, but it has been a while since I won a tournament. No pressure on myself but I would really love to win this one!”

Serme will play United States No.1 Amanda Sobhy in the final of the Open de France – Nantes, after the American overcame England No.1 Sarah-Jane Perry in a four-game battle at the Chateau.

In a ferocious opening game, Sobhy had to save several game balls before squeezing home 15-13.

The second was much more straightforward for the New York-born Sobhy, who ran out to a 9-2 lead. Although Perry got a few points back, the World No.8 was able to close the game out to double her lead in the match.

Sobhy then went out to a 4-1 lead in the third, only for Perry to fight back. The Englishwoman kept herself in the match by winning 10 of the next 11 points to win the game 11-5, to move back to just one behind.

However, the American regained control in the fourth game, as he moved out into a commanding lead early on, a lead that she would not relinquish, as she booked her place in the final of the tournament, where she will face World No.3 Camille Serme.

“I knew that I was in for a battle with SJ. The last few times we have played it has been close and so I watched her match yesterday, and it was more about going out there and doing what I can do best, enjoying myself and playing freely,” Sobhy said.

“I think it just helped with the whole atmosphere and the fact that I was playing so late, I just said to myself to go out there and to just enjoy it. To squeeze that first game was so crucial, because we are both momentum players, so if we can get up on the other person that it really helps our confidence.

“I am very happy about that, and I knew after being 2-0 up, she was going to come back strong. I was really happy to rigour in the fourth and find my form and length again.

“I am really looking forward to the final. Going into the tournament, I saw the draw and I thought I had a really good opportunity. I have never been into the finals of a 70k before so I just wanted to test where I am at, especially after the long summer. Camille and I played a few weeks ago in Bellevue and she beat me in five. Hopefully I can reverse that tomorrow.”

2019 Open de France – Nantes, Chateau de Ducs des Bretagne, Nantes, France.

Men’s Semi-Finals:
[3] Joel Makin (WAL) bt [6] Gregoire Marche (FRA) 3-2: 8-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-7 (95m)
[2] Paul Coll (NZL) bt [4] Zahed Salem (EGY) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 11-8 (39m)

Final:
[3] Joel Makin (WAL) v [2] Paul Coll (NZL)

Women’s Semi-Finals:
[1] Camille Serme (FRA) bt [5] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-8 (35m)
[3] Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt [2] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 3-1: 15-13, 11-5, 5-11, 11-6 (46m)

Women’s Final:
[1] Camille Serme (FRA) v [3] Amanda Sobhy (USA)

Report by MATT COLES (PSA). Edited by ALAN THATCHER.

Pictures courtesy of PSA

Dan Carter or Jonny Wilkinson? Jonah Lomu or Shane Williams? John Eales or Martin Johnson? Gavin Hastings or Jason Robinson?

There are no easy choices in our all-time World Cup XV selector. But there are no shortage of stellar options either.

Put together your XV representing the greatest of the great to do it on the biggest stage.

We will reveal BBC Sport readers' best XV on Tuesday, 1 October - teams must be selected by 17:00 BST on Monday, 30 September to count.

Australia head coach Michael Cheika says he received threats amid the fallout from Israel Folau's controversial social media post.

The 30-year-old devout Christian had his contract terminated by Rugby Australia in April for writing "hell awaits" gay people.

Full-back Folau, who won 73 caps, is now suing the governing body, arguing his contract was unlawfully ended.

"People were saying all sorts of stuff," Cheika said.

"Just threats I was getting; people on the street, some to my face, a couple at some games. It was just crazy stuff."

Folau - who is seeking £5.6m (AU $10m) in compensation, an apology and a return to the national side - escaped punishment for similar anti-gay comments last year.

Cheika, whose side start their Rugby World Cup campaign against Fiji next Saturday in Japan, said the governing body had to act in the team's best interests.

"I'm not disappointed in the individual [Folau] because if that's what he believes, and that's where his passion is, I will never tell someone to hide it," he added in the Sydney Morning Herald.

"I might not agree with everyone, but I'd never want someone to not say what they feel. I'm no person to judge.

"The other disappointing part is that we lost one of our best players; a guy who I helped come back. I wouldn't say I'm responsible for what's happened. It's just life. But I had to do what was needed for the team."

Cheika denied claims the Wallabies camp was split following Folau's sacking but revealed team meetings were held in order to move forward.

"Of course, we had to address it," he said. "We spoke about it in small groups, then one on one, and then in the team environment together, so everyone was clear on what was going on.

"Then we got on with business, which is representing Australia in footy. That's what we're here to do."

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Justin Upton was ruled out for the rest of the season with patellar tendinitis, the team announced after Friday night's 11-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Upton, who had an MRI earlier this week after complaining of right knee discomfort and missed his second straight game Friday, will receive a platelet-rich plasma injection and will need six weeks of recovery. He is expected to be ready for spring training in 2020.

It was an injury-plagued season for Upton, who went on the injured list in late March because of turf toe on his left foot and missed the Angels' first 71 games. Limited to 63 games, he finished with just 12 homers and 40 RBIs, his lowest totals since his 43-game rookie season in 2007.

The Angels have lost five straight while playing without Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani.

Trout missed his fifth straight game Friday with an irritated nerve in his right foot. He was in the Angels' early lineup but was scratched about two hours before game time to give him another day of rest. The Angels aren't expected to shut down Trout, who leads the American League with 45 homers.

Ohtani had surgery Friday on his left kneecap and will need eight to 12 weeks of recovery.

The Angels were mathematically eliminated from postseason contention with Tuesday's 8-0 loss to the Cleveland Indians.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.