SPORTS BRIEFS

Pakistan have replaced head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and pace-bowling chief Umar Gul, and sent seven players home, in a dramatic response to successive Test thrashings by England. The tourists suffered an innings and 103-run loss in the series opener at Headingley before going down by 194 runs at Lord’s on Sunday as England took an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match campaign. The team has been labeled one of Pakistan’s worst and the Pakistan Cricket Board took the drastic action ahead of the third Test at Edgbaston starting on Wednesday next week.

Tadej Pogacar on Monday had an operation on his fractured collarbone as he begins his recovery from the heavy fall that ended his Vuelta a Espana ambitions on Saturday. “Tadej underwent successful surgery on his left clavicle after receiving the all-clear to proceed with the operation,” the UAE Team said after the surgery was delayed due to Pogacar sustaining a concussion from the fall. “The procedure went well and he will remain in hospital for postoperative monitoring for a few days.”

The five-time Tour de France winner would then “travel home to pursue his recovery and rehabilitation under the supervision of the team’s medical staff,” the statement added.

Several New York Yankees are taking exception to comments made by Boston Red Sox radio announcer Will Flemming during a weekend series between the rivals. Jazz Chisholm Jr was among the players who called out Flemming on Monday after the WEEI announcer called the second baseman a “bush league player” for stealing two bases with the Yankees leading 7-1 in the eighth inning of Sunday’s series finale. Chisholm and several teammates also called out Flemming for suggesting that Red Sox pitcher Jovani Moran retaliate by beaning Yankees catcher Austin Wells.

“They’re called unwritten rules because you’re not really breaking any rules,” Chisholm told reporters before Monday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels. “You’ve seen teams — actually them — do the same thing where they’re pouring on runs. We didn’t have nothing to say or nothing to do about it. That’s just showing how unprofessional he is.” Flemming apologized on social media.

Brazilian police escorted a boy and his family out of a Corinthians-Santos match after he was harassed for receiving a jersey from Neymar, with Corinthians on Monday condemning the incident. Spectators in the Sao Paulo arena hurled insults and made gestures at the young fan after Neymar, who plays for Santos, gifted his jersey to the boy. The abuse continued even as the family left the pitch via the tunnel leading to players’ locker rooms, videos published by media outlets showed.

“On and off the field, there are boundaries that cannot be crossed. Aggression against a child is one of them,” Corinthians said. The boy is eight years old, according to local media reports. Neymar, whose team won Sunday’s match 1-0, voiced regret over the incident. “There’s nothing wrong with a kid liking a player from a different team. You can’t treat a child like that,” the former FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star told reporters.

After Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner split last year’s Grand Slams, the two superstars were expected to continue their see-saw rivalry this year.
That has not happened. Instead, injuries have foreclosed the possibility of a clash between the two champions in three of the four Grand Slams, with the Spaniard missing the French Open and Wimbledon due to a wrist injury and the Italian absent from New York because of a knee injury.
Alcaraz and Sinner are far from alone among top players missing big tournaments this year due to injury, a trend that has been a source of growing

TIGHT TIES: Throwing the opening pitch for the Nats game is the latest in a series of efforts by the Taiwanese-American astronaut to celebrate Taiwan and the US Taiwan-born astronaut Kjell Lindgren threw the ceremonial first pitch at the Washington Nationals’ Taiwan Heritage Day at Nationals Park on Saturday before the game against the Miami Marlins. Speaking before the Nationals’ second Taiwanese Heritage Day, Lindgren said throwing the first pitch was “right up there in terms of anxiety-provoking” with some of his past accomplishments, including two rocket launches, two atmospheric reentries and two spacewalks.

“But I’m really excited to be a part of this celebration of Taiwan heritage,” he said, adding that it was “an opportunity to really celebrate the relationship, the partnership, the history between the United States and

England forward Ollie Watkins has left Aston Villa to join Al Hilal, his new Saudi club announced on Sunday. The deal is worth a reported ￡50 million (US$67.7 million) and follows Villa’s signing of Senegal eseforward Nicolas Jackson from Chelsea. Al Hilal said the 30-year-old Watkins had signed a three-year deal and would be in line to play in their league match against Al Ahli today. He joins a squad including former Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema and Crysencio Summerville, who signed from West Ham United earlier in the transfer window.

Watkins has scored seven goals in 24 appearances for England. Villa coach Unai Emery

A record number of Japanese players are in the English Premier League this season, with clubs attracted by their proven quality, value for money and the “very little risk” involved in signing them. Ten players from Japan were registered with top-tier English teams when the campaign started last weekend and more are potentially on the way before the transfer window closes. Zion Suzuki was the highest-profile arrival with his switch to Aston Villa, with former Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu returning to London with Crystal Palace, midfielder Hidemasa Morita joining Hull City and Daizen Maeda swapping Celtic for Ipswich Town.

They