Ensuring that contracts are "earned" and not seen as a "privilege" was the driving rationale behind the PCB's move to reduce its women cricketers' central contract pool, according to Urooj Mumtaz, chairperson of the all-woman selection committee.

The latest contracts, starting July 1, include only ten players, brought down from 17, but there has been an increase in remuneration for those in the new retainers. The new list has only Sana Mir and Nida Dar in the 'A' category, while Bismah Maroof and Javeria Khan have been demoted to category 'B'. The fourth level, 'D', has been removed altogether.

The 'A', 'B' and 'C' categories now come with higher pay: hiked by 20%, 18.5% and 18% respectively. In addition, the length of each contract - hitherto always six months - has been increased to a year. For the first time in 12 years, daily allowances have also increased - in training camps they have been doubled, making it Rs 2000 (approx. USD 13), as well as on foreign tours, going from USD 50 to USD 100. Travel upgrades for tours have also been introduced so that the team travels business class on longer-distance flights. And all women cricketers will now also earn a match fee for each game of domestic cricket.

"The ten central contracts awarded were based on four comprehensive criteria, but does not mean other players are ignored. They need to work hard for it" Urooj Mumtaz

"We are an emerging nation in women's cricket and have a pool of only 40 to 45 girls playing in the domestic structure," Mumtaz, also a former Pakistan captain, told ESPNcricinfo. "We aim to make a professional set-up where contracts are earned rather assuming it as a privilege."

Despite the multiple upsides, a couple of decisions have stood out, such as the demotion of limited-overs captain Maroof and senior batsman Javeria to 'B' and that of Nahida Khan, from 'A' to 'C'.

"It is a result of their performance over the last one year and this new structure doesn't make anyone earn a highest contract just on the basis of seniority," Mumtaz explained. "Bismah acknowledged and accepted the category awarded and that her performances have not been up to par.

"She remains an integral member of our team and she believes she has a lot more to offer with the bat. The contract given to her is in no way a reflection of her captaincy."

Maroof, the second-most-capped Pakistan women's player after Mir, returned to captaining the side in January after a sinus operation, and led Pakistan to a historic 2-1 ODI series win over West Indies at 'home' in Dubai in February and levelled the following away ODI assignment, against the higher-ranked South Africa, 1-1 in May. She has also been Pakistan's leading run-scorer in T20Is in the past 12 months, with two half-centuries in the series against South Africa.

Javeria, Pakistan's leading run-getter in ODIs since June 27 last year, trails Maroof by two spots on the run-getters' list in T20Is, and had topped Pakistan's run-charts at the World T20 in the Caribbean last November where she stood in as captain. At the time, in a bid to manage her post-surgery workload, Maroof featured in the side only as a player.

Contradictory noises have come from Pakistan about the process by which these contracts were finalised. ESPNcricinfo understands that a number of senior players were not involved in discussions around the revised structure. Most of them, as part of the pool of the 17 contracted players for the 2019 January-June cycle that was announced earlier this year, were made aware of the decision only after it had been made by the board and the selection committee on Tuesday.

That, however, would go against what Mumtaz said. "All 17 cricketers were called in person or over the phone. We had a one-to-one detailed meeting with them about the new contracts, which are purely performance-based. They were explained the criteria individually and they all not only understood but also accepted."

Mumtaz added that comparing the depth of the PCB's pool of centrally contracted players with that of its English (21 cricketers) or Australian counterparts (14) "who have developed systems and 200 players to choose from," would not be fair.

"But our vision and plan is to get there. The main focus, regarding the women's central contracts, is on quality and top performers. The ten central contracts awarded were based on four comprehensive criteria, but does not mean other players are ignored. They need to work hard for it.

"From now on there will be three domestic tournaments being slotted per year. More matches means more opportunities for girls to mark an impact at national level. This pool will keep on growing once we have more elite cricketers that check our criteria, giving a wider pool of players more opportunities to play cricket as well earn money.

"This is extremely important as we need to value our women players and inspire more girls to play the sport at a higher level."

The Tampa Bay Rays needed nine pitchers and 18 innings to get past the Minnesota Twins 5-2 on Thursday.

Now, they're set to call on one of the game's top prospects to help.

Brendan McKay, a two-way player who's been pitching and serving as a designated hitter in the minors, will be called up by the Rays to start Saturday's game against the Rangers, a source told ESPN's Jeff Passan on Thursday.

McKay was the fourth overall pick out of Louisville in the 2017 draft. He started his professional career playing first base in addition to pitching and hitting. However, the Rays took his first baseman's glove away this year in an effort to simplify his focus.

The 23-year-old left-hander has split time between Double-A and Triple-A this season. For Double-A Montgomery, he went 3-0 with a 1.30 ERA, striking out 62 in 41⅔ innings. He was promoted to Durham last month, and since then he has gone 3-0 with a 1.08 ERA, striking out 26 in 25 innings spanning five appearances (four starts).

His most recent appearance came June 22, when he allowed one run on three hits over five innings in a no decision against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

And at the plate, after scuffling at Double-A, McKay is slashing .265/.400/.551 with four home runs at Triple-A.

McKay was ranked No. 14 on ESPN Insider Keith Law's preseason list of top 100 prospects.

The All-Star starters were announced Thursday -- you can see all the vote winners here -- and the one big surprise in my book was Hunter Pence winning starting designated-hitter honors for the American League.

Pence is having a good season, of course, and ranks as one of best stories of the season with his comeback. Still, we're talking about a player who was (A) awful the past two seasons; (B) began the season as a platoon player; (C) is currently on the injured list and has played only 55 games. Plus, there's this guy named J.D. Martinez who has been one of the best hitters in baseball for half a decade.

(I'm guessing Pence was helped by the large contingent of Astros fans who voted in Alex Bregman, George Springer and Michael Brantley as starters. Also, Red Sox fans, apparently unhappy with their team's first half, stayed away from the ballot box, as no Red Sox made the starting nine. I don't want to suggest Boston fans are spoiled, but ...)

Anyway, congrats to Pence for his first All-Star start, as he's one of those players whom everyone loves and who makes the game fun to watch.

Now, a little thought exercise. With so many young stars in today's game -- five players 25 and younger were voted in as starters -- let's pick three All-Star teams to see who is the best: a 25-and-younger team, an in-their-prime team (26 to 30 years old) or a veteran team (31 and older). We'll pick 25-man rosters with 15 position players and 10 pitchers (including two relievers). We'll include Baseball-Reference WAR, although the rosters will be a mix of players having the best seasons and maybe a few others who feel they should be on there. But it's mostly the guys having the best 2019.

25 and younger

C -- Carson Kelly, Diamondbacks (1.1)
1B -- Pete Alonso, Mets (3.6)
2B -- Ketel Marte, Diamondbacks (3.7)
3B -- Alex Bregman, Astros (4.0)
SS -- Jorge Polanco, Twins (3.8)
LF -- Ronald Acuna Jr., Braves (2.8)
CF -- Joey Gallo, Rangers (3.1)
RF -- Cody Bellinger, Dodgers (6.6)
DH -- Rafael Devers, Red Sox (2.9)

Bench -- Paul DeJong, Cardinals (3.1); Byron Buxton, Twins (2.9); Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres (2.6); Gleyber Torres, Yankees (2.5); Francisco Lindor, Indians (2.4); Juan Soto, Nationals (1.5)

SP -- Lucas Giolito, White Sox (3.3)
SP -- German Marquez, Rockies (2.9)
SP -- Mike Soroka, Braves (2.7)
SP -- Jose Berrios, Twins (2.3)
SP -- Walker Buehler, Dodgers (1.5)

Other pitchers -- Zach Eflin, Phillies (2.5); Yonny Chirinos, Rays (2.1); Tyler Glasnow, Rays (1.8); Josh Hader, Brewers (1.4); Roberto Osuna, Astros (0.8)

Yeah, I realize there is no backup catcher here and four shortstops. This is a thought exercise!

TOTAL WAR: 67.4

In their prime

C -- Willson Contreras, Cubs (2.4)
1B -- Freddie Freeman, Braves (2.8)
2B -- DJ LeMahieu, Yankees (3.8)
3B -- Nolan Arenado, Rockies (3.2)
SS -- Javier Baez, Cubs (3.2)
LF -- Christian Yelich, Brewers (4.4)
CF -- Mike Trout, Angels (5.2)
RF -- Mookie Betts, Red Sox (2.9)
DH -- Anthony Rendon, Nationals (2.7)

Bench -- Matt Chapman, A's (4.1); Trevor Story, Rockies (3.2); Xander Bogaerts, Red Sox (2.8); George Springer, Astros (2.7); Gary Sanchez, Yankees (2.4); Manny Machado, Padres (2.4)

SP -- Matthew Boyd, Tigers (3.1)
SP -- Luis Castillo, Reds (3.0)
SP -- Stephen Strasburg, Nationals (2.7)
SP -- Trevor Bauer, Indians (1.8)
SP -- Gerrit Cole, Astros (1.7)

Other pitchers -- Marcus Stroman, Blue Jays (2.6); Masahiro Tanaka, Yankees (2.4); Chris Sale, Red Sox (1.6); Brad Hand, Indians (1.1); Felipe Vazquez, Pirates (1.2).

No Bryce Harper, plus some of last year's aces, such as Bauer and Sale, haven't been quite as dominant.

TOTAL WAR: 69.4

The veterans

C -- Robinson Chirinos, Astros (2.6)
1B -- Carlos Santana, Indians (2.8)
2B -- Eric Sogard, Blue Jays (1.6)
3B -- Josh Donaldson, Braves (2.3)
SS -- Brandon Crawford (-0.2)
LF -- Michael Brantley, Astros (2.5)
CF -- Lorenzo Cain (1.1)
RF -- Tommy Pham, Rays (2.9)
DH -- Edwin Encarnacion, Yankees (1.9)

Bench -- Charlie Blackmon, Rockies (1.5); J.D. Martinez, Red Sox (1.5); Alex Gordon, Royals (1.5); David Peralta, Diamondbacks (1.5); Justin Turner, Dodgers (1.4); Paul Goldschmidt, Diamondbacks (1.0)

SP -- Max Scherzer, Nationals (4.7)
SP -- Mike Minor, Rangers (5.6)
SP -- Justin Verlander, Astros (3.8)
SP -- Hyun-Jin Ryu, Dodgers (3.8)
SP -- Cole Hamels, Cubs (3.2)

Other pitchers -- Zack Greinke, Diamondbacks (3.0); Charlie Morton, Rays (3.0); Jacob deGrom, Mets (2.7); Kirby Yates, Padres (1.2); Aroldis Chapman, Yankees (1.0).

Note the glaring lack of middle-infield and center-field options. Very strong in starting pitching.

TOTAL WAR: 57.9

Bottom line

The in-their-prime All-Stars pull it out over the kids, although it's close. What really stands out is how far behind the veterans are, particularly among the position players. Check out the number of 2-WAR or better position players for each group:

25 and younger: 20
In their prime: 36
Vets: 5

You wonder why free-agent position players aren't drawing much interest? This is why. Tommy Pham leads veteran position players in WAR, and only five have been 2-WAR players so far. This is one of the biggest -- and most important -- changes in the game over the past decade. The game is getting younger and younger.

LOL Mets: Unbelievably, it happened again. The Mets scored three runs in the top of the ninth Thursday to take a 3-1 lead over the Phillies ... only to see Edwin Diaz serve up a game-tying home run to Maikel Franco and then a game-losing home run to Jean Segura, who somehow hit it out with the shortest home run swing you'll ever see:

Absolutely amazin'. #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/HTlToJ2qZt

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) June 27, 2019

You want to see WFAN's Mike Francesa watching Segura's home run? Of course you do. Start at the 1-minute, 20-second mark:

Most of you heard the clip of Mike Francesa exploding after Edwin Diaz blew the game for the #Mets today. Here are the highlights of him watching the entire bottom of the 9th unfold. And yes... it's glorious. ? pic.twitter.com/RnnPLQjHYE

— Ƒunhouse (@BackAftaThis) June 28, 2019

That's five games in a row the Mets have lost after leading by at least two runs at some point. The bullpen has a 7.93 ERA (which would be the worst for a calendar month in franchise history) and eight blown saves in June. Diaz's ERA after giving up five runs Thursday is 4.94 as he fell to 1-5 with four blown saves. Robinson Cano is hitting .222/.270/.358. Manager Mickey Callaway might be lucky to survive the weekend, but general manager Brodie Van Wagenen's aggressive offseason has -- so far -- been a complete disaster.

The Mets' peak win probabilities for these four games in Philadelphia:

MON: 68.2 percent
TUES: 86.1 percent
WED: 95 percent
THRS: 92.6 percent

They went 0-4.

— Tim Britton (@TimBritton) June 27, 2019

The Braves head into Citi Field this weekend. They have a chance to bury the Mets.

Rays beat Twins in doubleheader: OK, it wasn't a doubleheader, but it was an 18-inning game that took 5 hours, 42 minutes. The Rays finally broke through with three runs off Twins reliever Ryne Harper after the teams had played scoreless baseball since the third inning. Hard to believe they played 15 innings of scoreless baseball with no home runs -- there were none in the whole game! Nice tag-up by Brandon Lowe for the go-ahead run:

Full team effort to get this one done today!#RaysUp pic.twitter.com/2hhg0M4ml0

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) June 28, 2019

The teams combined to use 19 pitchers, including Kyle Gibson, who is a starter for the Twins but pitched the 17th inning out of the bullpen. Five players went 0-for-7 or worse, the first time that has happened since 1901, according to Elias Sports Bureau research. Max Kepler and Avisail Garcia each went 0-for-8.

For those of you who like the idea of putting a runner on second base to begin an inning once the game goes to extra frames (or maybe starting in the 11th or 12th inning), consider this tidbit, courtesy of Elias: Entering Thursday, 2,283 of 3,987 runners at second base with none out came around to score that inning (57 percent). That rule change -- used in the World Baseball Classic -- would certainly lead to more runs and probably fewer 18-inning games.

I'll take the 18-inning game. (Unless it's April in Chicago and the wind is blowing in your face and they ran out of coffee and hot chocolate in the 13th inning.)

P.S. The Rays are reportedly going to call up two-way player Brendan McKay to make his major league debut Saturday. That was supposed to be Ryan Yarbrough's day, but he pitched the final three innings Thursday. McKay has dominated in the minors with a 1.35 ERA between Double-A and Triple-A, including 88 K's in 66⅔ innings with just 38 hits allowed. Really, he's more of a one-way player now since he has hit just .167 without a home run in 78 at-bats.

Stanton heads to IL: The Yankees said Giancarlo Stanton is more likely to return in August than July after suffering a strained ligament in his knee Wednesday. The Yankees can obviously play through the injury -- they've done it all season as Stanton has played just nine games -- and if they keep rolling there is no need to rush Stanton back.

My first thought here went back to Ken Griffey Jr. with the Reds. He had an excellent first season with Cincinnati in 2000, hitting .271 with 40 home runs in 145 games, worth 5.5 WAR. He'd had better seasons, but it was an All-Star-worthy campaign. Then the injuries started to pile up. He played 111 games in 2001 and then averaged just 69 over the next three seasons.

Stanton, like Griffey, had a good first season with the Yankees and remained healthy, playing in 158 games, but he's had better seasons. He's 29; Griffey was 31 when he started breaking down on a regular basis. One hopes Stanton will have better luck than Junior, but two major injuries in one season harks back to some of the concerns from Stanton's Marlins days that he was injury-prone (including knee surgery in 2012 and knee issues in 2016). And while the Yankees can win without him, they're also a better team with him in the lineup.

A Coors Field special: It's not every day you get 13 hits off Walker Buehler and still lose. That's because the Dodgers ripped six home runs and 17 hits in a wild 12-8 victory over the Rockies. Chris Taylor broke an 8-8 tie with a one-out single off Wade Davis in the ninth, then Kike Hernandez tacked on a three-run homer off Davis, whose ERA rose to 6.00. (It's not a good year to be a closer.)

The second-place Rockies fell to 13 games behind the Dodgers, which is distressing enough, but the Dodgers are now 7-0 against the Rockies in 2019 and have won 12 in a row against Colorado, going back to last September.

British Grand Prix of Race Walking provides international opportunities at Roundhay Park

Tom Bosworth and training partner Callum Wilkinson will be looking to secure their spots on the British team bound for the IAAF World Championships when they line up for the British Grand Prix of Race Walking which takes place in Leeds’ Roundhay Park on June 30, writes Ian Richards.

The race, which incorporates the British, English, Welsh, RWA and Irish 20km Championships, is also the trial event for Doha 2019 qualification.

In what promises to be a hotly contested men’s race, Bosworth will start as favourite, having won the event for the past three years, but Wilkinson is also likely to be battling for the top position after winning the Slovakian 10km championships earlier this month in 39:31, taking the British record from the Commonwealth silver medallist.

Cameron Corbishley will also be in the mix for a medal after his impressive start to the season. This included a standout debut 50km performance in Dudince, in which he clocked 3:53:20 – a British U23 record, the second-fastest ever and enough to secure selection for the World Championships. On this occasion, Corbishley will be looking to target the Doha 20km qualifying time of 82:30.

Bosworth, Wilkinson and Corbishley will also be looking to build on their recent success at the European Race Walking Cup in Alytus, Lithuania where they took team silver. The medal was the first won by a British team since 1967. In the same race, Bosworth finished fourth while both Wilkinson and Corbishley set 20km PBs of 81:34 and 85:40 respectively.

Former Leeds resident and Leeds Beckett graduate Brendan Boyce, who qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo after finishing fifth in a PB of 3:48:13 over 50km in Alytus, is favourite for the Irish title and is also in with a chance for taking an overall podium position. He set a 20km personal best of 84:31 in Podebrady in April. Cian McManamon will be his main rival for Irish honours, having finished 21st in the European Cup in 84:59 and will be targeting his personal best of 84:03.

Italian Teodorico Caporaso finished fourth in the 50km at the 2016 IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships in Rome in 3:48:29 and has a 20km personal best of 83:41, set in 2016. Other athletes to look out for include Lukáš Gdula (Czech Republic) and Aleksi Ojala (Finland), who have 20km PBs of 85:50, and 83:16 respectively.

In the women’s race, Welsh athlete Heather Lewis will start as favourite after her strong start to the season, in which she set a 20km PB of 95:04 at the European Athletics Race Walking Permit Meeting in Podebrady.

Lewis’ compatriot Bethan Davies is also likely to be her main contender. She is currently No.2 on the UK all-time list after clocking 91:53 in 2018 and is reigning British champion. Davies will be looking to improve on her season’s best performance of 99:02 in this race. Both will be targeting the Doha qualifying mark of 93:30. The Isle of Man athlete Erika Kelly is also likely to be battling for a podium position after setting a 10km PB of 47:17 in March. Kelly achieved her first GB vest last month in Alytus and will be looking to improve her PB of 99:36 set in Lugano last year.

International athletes entered include Portugal’s Edna Barros, who has a personal best of 95:03, and Ireland’s Kate Veal who set her personal best of 97:54 in 2018.

The event is free for spectators and the course is a 500 metres out and back loop on the Carriage Drive alongside Waterloo Lake. The action gets underway at 9.30am.

For more details visit the event website at nationalendurancecentre.co.uk/grand-prix  or follow @Leedswalk on Twitter for live updates and link to live streaming of the event on the UK Race Walk News Facebook page.

British number one Kyle Edmund beat his compatriot Dan Evans 1-6 6-3 6-4 to reach the semi-finals at Eastbourne.

British number three Evans, 29, showed the form that has brought him two grass-court titles this month as he dominated the first set.

But Edmund fought back to give himself a confidence boost as he seeks to regain his best form before Wimbledon.

Edmund, 24, will face Taylor Fritz on Friday after the American defeated Poland's Hubert Hurkacz 6-4 7-6 (7-5).

World number 65 Evans broke Edmund's serve in the opening game and followed it up in the fifth as he used his backhand slice to keep his compatriot's powerful shots at bay.

Edmund, who retired from the French Open last month with a knee injury, could not get into the match and conceded the first set when he blasted a forehand wide.

In the first set Edmund won 44% of points on his first serve but he turned it around with 100% in the second.

That extra power and precision had Evans struggling to return the ball with the same quality and gave Edmund the chance to assert himself.

Having levelled the match, Edmund kept up the intensity in the decider and, with Evans becoming frustrated with his inability to counter his opponent's power, the world number 31 sealed victory with his fourth match point.

In the other semi-final, American Sam Querrey beat fifth seed Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 and will play Italian Thomas Fabbiano, who defeated Queen's Club runner-up Gilles Simon 6-4 6-3.

PALMETTO, Fla. — The ninth annual Chris Griffis Memorial Road to Indy Open Test will take place at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oct. 19-20.

This year’s test will see an enhanced structure with additional value-added elements as part of the Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires traditional Summit program — an educational driver development component of the three ladder series.

The 2.439-mile, 14-turn Grand Prix road course will host the two-day outing named in memory of the former team manager of Schmidt Peterson Motorsports who passed away suddenly in September 2011. All three levels of the Road to Indy will be on deck — the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship, the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires — with each series enjoying four and a half hours of track time over the course of the two-day test.

“With the recent announcements of our new partnerships with the Castrol Toyota Racing Series and the Lucas Oil School of Racing, we are extremely excited about this year’s Chris Griffis Test and the opportunity to introduce new drivers to our outstanding teams and series,” said Dan Andersen, owner and CEO of Andersen Promotions. “The test is always a great value-for-money outing and we are taking things a step further this year to enrich the experience for drivers off the track with additional components as part of our Summit training program.

“We look forward to seeing the drivers we currently have in our series sample the next step in their progression up the professional motorsports ladder and to welcoming a new crop of talent.”
Almost three dozen drivers representing 15 nationalities took part in last season’s Chis Griffis Open Test. Among them were several drivers seeking to move up the ladder, including Rinus VeeKay, Oliver Askew and Robert Megennis, all of whom were sampling the virtues of Indy Lights after successful campaigns previously in USF2000 and Indy Pro 2000, and newcomers such as New Zealander Hunter McElrea, who had aspirations of joining the Road to Indy after emerging as a front-runner in the Australian Formula Ford Championship.

“For me, driving at the Chris Griffis test was extremely useful,” said McElrea, who went on to win last year’s Mazda Road to Indy USF2000 $200K Scholarship Shootout and last weekend scored his first USF2000 win. “In 2017, it was my first taste of wings and slicks and I finished P4 overall. Last year was my second time and I finished P1 overall after another year of experience in Australian Formula Ford. It is not only a great way to get laps in Road to Indy machinery at the Speedway, but also to measure yourself against your potential competitors.”

The Chris Griffis test has proven just as valuable for teams as they begin preparations for the following season. Last year BN Racing ran an Indy Lights Dallara-AER IL-15 for the first time after starting out in USF2000 and then adding an Indy Pro 2000 element in 2018. Legacy Autosport, Jay Howard Driver Development and Miller Vinatieri Motorsports all used the 2018 test as an initial outing after previously confirming plans to join the USF2000 fray in time for the 2019 season.

“The Chris Griffis test is good for any driver looking to come to the Road to Indy because it gives them an opportunity to sample the cars, the tracks and the teams, and see how professional we are,” said Bryn Nuttall, BN Racing team principal. “Being a little later in the year, the test will be better for the European drivers who have finished their season, and obviously it’s good for drivers who are already here to step up to next year’s machinery and get started on preparations for next season.

“The additional off-track activities are a really good idea because the more engaging it can be for everyone, the more value we can add for people who are interested in the Road to Indy, the better it will be for everybody.”