June 18

Hashmatullah Shahidi will never forget Old Trafford and Old Trafford can never forget Hashmatullah.

Hit flush on the side of his helmet by a Mark Wood short ball when on 24, Afghanistan's top-scorer ignored his broken helmet and the doctor's advice to walk off the field. He stood his ground he says, for his team and his family.

When the ICC doctor and the team physio attended to him, Hashmatullah said he knew what he had to do. "They told me 'let's go' and I said 'no. I can't leave my team at the moment because my team needed me' and so I carry on."

Hashmatullah said one of the reasons he had got up quickly after being stuck such a fierce blow - the impact made a sound that left the first slip Joe Root visibly distressed - was that he knew his mother and his family back home would be watching.

"My mom is always thinking of me and I lost my father last year and I didn't want her to hurt. I carry on and I get up early because of my mom."

His elder brother was also in the capacity Manchester crowd and saw Hashmatullah survive five balls at top pace from Wood, fending one that fell short of short leg.

"You can see [Jofra] Archer and Mark Wood, they were too quick for me," he laughed, "Mark Wood was consistently bowling too quick for me and I said 'okay, I'm not going out'. He took a short leg, he keep [bowling] bouncers to me and I said 'okay, I will never give up'."

Off the sixth ball from Wood after having his helmet shattered, Hashmatullah smacked him over long on for a six. "I will not give up and I try and hit a six." The crowd roared.

Afghan management play down restaurant altercation

The Afghanistan team manager has played down an incident that saw the police called to a restaurant in Manchester late on Monday night.

Naweed Sajem insists nobody in the squad was spoken to by police, despite reports of an altercation involving a player at around 11pm, the night before Afghanistan's match against England at Old Trafford.

Greater Manchester Police confirmed that "shortly after 11.15pm, police were called to reports of an altercation at a premises on Liverpool Road in Manchester." They said "no one was injured and no arrests have been made" but confirmed that "enquiries are ongoing".

Gulbadin Naib, the Afghanistan captain, denied any knowledge of the incident and threatened to walk out of a press conference if questioned about it further.

One eye-witness claims there was a minor disagreement between Mohammad Nabi and a member of the public, who had suggested the players may be eating too much the night before a game. Another claims players were irritated by a particularly persistent supporter looking to video them as they ate. Neither allege any physical altercation.

Older World Cup Central entries are here and here

Boston Celtics center Al Horford will decline to exercise his $30.1 million option for the 2019-20 season and seek to leave the franchise as an unrestricted free agent this summer, league sources told ESPN.

Talks on a new deal with the Celtics have perished, with too great of a gulf between what the team is willing to offer and what Horford wants on a long-term deal, league sources said.

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge and Horford's agent, Jason Glushon, aren't expected to restart talks again, league sources said. Horford is entering free agency with the full expectation that his three-year Celtics career has ended, sources said.

Horford, a five-time All-Star, was a key member of the Celtics' core and a favorite of management, coaches and teammates.

Horford averaged 13.6 and 6.7 rebounds for the Celtics this past season, his third with Boston since leaving Atlanta for a four-year, $113 million free-agent deal with Boston. He has been to the Eastern Conference playoffs 11 times in his 12-year pro career. He won two national championships at the University of Florida.

NEW YORK -- While Giancarlo Stanton is ready for what he hopes will be a dramatically healthier remainder of the season, the New York Yankees outfielder acknowledged Tuesday that his recent two-month-plus injured list stint was "very frustrating."

A trio of injuries, one more serious than originally disclosed, made for a challenging return.

Shelved since April 1, Stanton came off the Yankees' IL on Tuesday after three separate injuries derailed him. Twice during his rehab he had false starts, thinking he was nearly over one injury when another would appear.

"I was so close. Had a buildup and had to stop three times," Stanton said.

Stanton, who was scheduled to bat fifth and play right field in Tuesday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays, spoke to reporters at Yankee Stadium before the game.

As he returned to the Bronx, Stanton was all smiles, saying he was "excited" to finally be back in pinstripes.

"It's been a long time. It feels longer than it has been, for me," Stanton said. "The boys have been fun to watch while I've been gone, so it's going to be good to file in and battle."

The Yankees have gone from being in fourth place in the American League East the day before Stanton was hurt to holding a 1½-game lead on the division entering Tuesday's game against the second-place Rays.

Initially, Stanton was placed on the IL with a left biceps strain. He had appeared in only three games, batting .250 (2-for-8) with one run scored, and no homers and no RBI. Stanton said Tuesday that the injury was a little more serious than a simple strain.

"I tore my bicep muscle," he said.

Nearly three weeks later, the Yankees were preparing for his return. As they went on a West Coast road trip, he tagged along.

And then the first setback occurred.

"The bicep connects to your shoulder in two places, and when I was getting back swinging and getting moving around again, my shoulder started acting up," Stanton said. "So we had to shut it down, get a cortisone shot, let that ease for a little bit."

When the Yankees traveled to San Francisco following a four-game series at the Los Angeles Angels, Stanton stayed back in his native Southern California. He received the cortisone shot there and had to completely stop baseball activity.

Then, nearly a month later, in an extended spring training session at the Yankees' complex in Tampa, Florida, he was hit by a pitch in his left knee. Again, he got shut down. That time, it was a left calf strain.

"I probably should have took some more time than I did, and that set me back because my knee wasn't stable and my calf strained there," Stanton said.

Three weeks after that, Stanton was back in the batter's box, going through a minor league rehab assignment with the High-A Tampa Tarpons and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. Through six games with both teams, he hit five home runs, and had a .286 average with 10 strikeouts.

"It's just having the quickness and getting the barrel there," Stanton said. "Obviously, the homers are the ultimate goal, but even if I just squared up a couple balls, that's what you're looking for."

Stanton's addition makes the deepening Yankees lineup that much better, manager Aaron Boone said.

"We've got a lot of dynamic players and hitters, and certainly Giancarlo is one of those," Boone said. "Hopefully the length that we have in that lineup makes it difficult on the opposing team, on the opposing pitcher."

Along with Stanton's return, the Yankees last weekend traded for 400-homer hitter Edwin Encarnacion. The 36-year-old will move into the designated hitter role Stanton had previously occupied, forcing Stanton to more regularly play in the outfield. In terms of taking on a more defensive responsibility, Stanton said he was fine with that.

Outfielder Aaron Judge also is expected back sometime this week as he wraps a rehab assignment at Triple-A due to a left oblique strain.

"People are saying [it'll be] like 'Murderers' Row,'" Yankees first baseman Luke Voit said. "It'll be an intimidating lineup, especially because you get one guy out, you're going to have to face the next guy.

"It will finally be nice to see some big dudes coming back in this locker room."

Voit isn't the only one looking forward to seeing the Yankees' lineup at full strength once Judge arrives.

"We were already dangerous, and now it's another icing to the cake," Stanton added. "Once we're at all full force, it's going to be a lot of fun, and I'm just glad to be back."

WASHINGTON -- Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer suffered a broken nose when he took a ball off his face during batting practice on Tuesday.

Scherzer was injured while attempting a bunt. The team said a CT scan was negative.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner was scheduled to start one of the two games of Washington's day-night doubleheader against Philadelphia on Wednesday. The Nationals said Scherzer's status -- as well as the team's pitching plan for the doubleheader -- was still to be determined.

Scherzer is 5-5 with a 2.81 ERA.

The Chicago White Sox will extend protective netting to both foul poles this summer, the team announced Tuesday, committing to additional safety measures a week after a woman at Guaranteed Rate Field was struck in the head by a foul ball and hospitalized.

White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf spearheaded the plan, sources told ESPN, and high-ranking officials from other teams expect it to have a cascading effect, with teams around the league pledging to extend netting.

One source with knowledge of installing netting believes other teams could retrofit their stadiums before the end of the 2019 season.

Players have been outspoken about increasing safety measures after multiple foul-ball injuries in recent weeks.

After a foul ball by Cubs center fielder Albert Almora Jr. injured a young girl in Houston, Chicago star Kris Bryant told ESPN every team should extend netting to the foul poles. "I think any safety measure we can take to make sure that the fans are safe, we should do it," he said.

Almora saluted the White Sox's move Tuesday.

"Obviously that's a positive step in this sport,'' he said. "I don't think anybody should go home with bumps or bruises or even worse. So whatever they got to do to take care of that, I'm glad they're taking procedures.''

While the impetus for the White Sox wasn't necessarily the June 10 incident in which an Eloy Jimenez screaming line drive went into the stands and hit a woman, it accelerated their plans to extend the netting at Guaranteed Rate Field. The woman was released from Mercy Hospital and Medical Center last week.

Major League Baseball has left the decision of increased netting up to teams.

Before the 2018 season, every team committed to extending netting to the end of both dugouts after a spate of highly publicized foul-ball injuries. Commissioner Rob Manfred said recently he expected the extended-netting conversation to "begin and continue into the offseason."

Protective netting was not expected to be a priority discussion topic at the owners meetings that begin Wednesday, according to sources. The White Sox's decision, however, could change that.

CHICAGO -- New Chicago Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel took his first step toward returning to the majors Tuesday afternoon, throwing a 1-2-3 seventh inning for Triple-A Iowa. Kimbrel threw eight pitches total -- four fastballs and four curves.

"I heard that he did really well," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said from Wrigley Field. "It's just about health. If the guy is healthy and he's ready to rock n' roll, you put him in the ninth inning."

Kimbrel induced a fly out and groundout before striking out his last batter, reportedly reaching 95 or 96 mph on the radar gun.

The Cubs still won't put a timeline on him coming up. The team will know more as he recovers from each outing.

Kimbrel will pitch again on Thursday or Friday, according to general manager Jed Hoyer.

"He's felt good, but we're not going to rush to judgment on any one outing," Hoyer said.

Kimbrel signed a 3-year, $43 million deal earlier this month and will take over closing duties as soon as he's ready. An eight-pitch outing on Tuesday was a good sign, but perhaps it went too quickly.

"It's one of the challenges when these guys go down on these rehab assignments, actually getting enough work in," Hoyer said with a smile. "Good first outing in a real game."

This is the moment Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Benoit Paire started playing foot-tennis during their first-round match at the Halle Open.

Paire lost his racquet while serving in the third game of the second set, so instead kicked the ball over to his opponent.

Tsonga went on to win the match 6-4 7-5.

Roger Federer will meet Jo-Wilfried Tsonga next after beginning his grass-court season with a 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 win over Australia's John Millman in Halle.

Federer, 37, lost to Millman at last year's US Open and was given a thorough work-out by the world number 57.

Neither offered up any break points in the first set and, after Federer had swept the tie-break, the Swiss secured the only break of the second set.

Tsonga beat Federer in an epic five-set comeback at Wimbledon in 2011.

The French world number 77, who overcame compatriot Benoit Paire 6-4 7-5 in his own first-round match, also beat Federer in the pair's two most recent matches.

In total, Federer leads their head-to-head record by 11 wins to six.

"It is always important to win your first game on grass, because otherwise the grass season can be very short," said Federer, a 20-time Grand Slam champion, after his win.

German Alex Zverev, who hurt his knee in his win over Robin Haase on Monday, has withdrawn from the tournament's doubles draw.

The second seed however remains in the singles and will take on American Steve Johnson on Thursday.

Defending champion Borna Coric coasted to a comfortable 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 win over Spain's Jaume Munar and will play Portugal's Joao Sousa next.

Returning to his roots, Bubba Wallace is racing the entire Bojangles’ Summer Shootout this year at Charlotte Motor Speedway in his Legend Car. Why commit to all 10 rounds of racing, and what drew him to come back?

Video Courtesy of Legends Nation.

CONCORD, N.C. – Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway will mark the end of an era in the sport, with legendary driver/announcer Darrell Waltrip hanging up his microphone after 19 years in the TV booth.

In honor of Waltrip’s last call, Roush Fenway Racing and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will pay homage to the former driver and Hall of Famer with a special chrome numbered paint scheme on the No. 17 Ford Mustang.

“Darrell Waltrip has meant a great deal to our sport as both a competitor and a member of the broadcast media,” said Jack Roush, a fellow member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. “The thing that stands out to me about Darrell is that after I just announced I was starting the team with Mark Martin, I was invited into a driver’s meeting that season. Darrell Waltrip was one of the first to welcome me into the fold and say ‘come on in Jack, we are going to have a lot of fun with you’ and we sure have over the years.”

Waltrip piloted the No. 17 car in NASCAR’s premiere series from 1987 to 1998, sporting some of the most iconic paint schemes in the sports history.

Current No. 17 driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has long been a fan of Waltrip and this will mark the third time he has paid tribute to Waltrip on the No. 17, the first two coming at the Darlington throwback events.

“With as much as he’s done in the sport on and off the track, Darrell will definitely be missed,” Stenhouse said. “I have enjoyed all the sit-downs and seeing his passion that he has for the sport. I’ve gotten to pay homage to him with two Darlington throwback schemes so it will be extra special to drive his iconic paint scheme for his last appearance in the booth.”

In 2016 Stenhouse sported an orange and white Ford, with blue numbers that gave nod to Waltrip’s first winning car from 1975. The second came in 2017 with a car carrying the paint scheme from Waltrip’s 1997 NASCAR Cup season; one of Stenhouse’s favorite paint schemes along with the all-chrome variety Waltrip also ran that same season.

The Ford will also feature Roush Performance on the hood and Stenhouse’s primary sponsor Fastenal on the quarter panel and decklid.