Gavin Lux's season is over before it even began.

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced on Tuesday the infielder will miss the entire 2023 season due to a torn ACL in his right knee.

Lux sustained the injury on Monday in a spring training game when running between second and third base.

Needing to adjust his stride to avoid being hit by a throw, Lux's leg buckled awkwardly when he stepped down on his right foot. He tumbled to the ground and needed to be carted off the field.

Roberts said Lux also suffered damage to his LCL and will have surgery next week.

It is a devastating scenario for Lux, who was expected to be the Dodgers' everyday shortstop this season after Trea Turner left in free agency over the offseason to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies.

A first-round pick by the Dodgers in 2016, the 25-year-old Lux played in a career-high 129 games last season for Los Angeles, batting .276 with six home runs, 20 doubles and a National League-high seven triples.

In 273 career games over the parts of four MLB seasons, Turner is batting .253 with 18 home runs, 38 doubles and 105 RBIs.

Veteran Miguel Rojas will likely take over at shortstop for the Dodgers while the versatile Chris Taylor can also fill in.

The Green Bay Packers appear to be ready to acknowledge Aaron Rodgers may not be their quarterback for the 2023 season.

The Packers worked hard to keep Rodgers, then the back-to-back MVP, when he appeared to be entertaining the idea of a trade last year.

What followed was a record-breaking contract but an underwhelming season as Green Bay missed the playoffs with an 8-9 record.

Rodgers, 39, has again delivered cryptic messaging on his future this year, leaving for a four-day "darkness retreat" to consider his options.

Regardless, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst would not commit to the team working to bring Rodgers back when he spoke to reporters on Tuesday.

Gutekunst's comments appeared to stand in contrast to the eagerness of previous years, as he said: "He's a great player, but until we have those conversations, I think all options are on the table right now.

"We really need to have those conversations. We want what's best for the Green Bay Packers, what's best for Aaron. So, we'll get to that once those conversations happen."

Despite last year's contract extension, Gutekunst has not been surprised by the way the issue of Rodgers' future has arisen again.

"I don't know if things shifted," he said. "I think with a player who's played as long as Aaron has and as we've gone the last few years, we realised for him it's been a year-to-year type of proposition.

"I think we've kind of known that moving forward, that last year when we did the contract it was going to be year to year. That's kind of where we're at. I don't think it really adjusted or changed too much.

"We've always kind of known it was going to be year to year with him.

"I will say our season last year certainly adjusted some things and our thinking a little bit. Obviously, it was a disappointing season. Not where we wanted to be.

"Whenever that happens, you're going to look at a number of things that you're going to change."

Gutekunst added it "would be helpful for our football team" if a decision was reached by Rodgers ahead of free agency in mid-March.

Shaun Wane has signed a new contract with England to remain as head coach until the end of the 2025 Rugby League World Cup.

There was disappointment for England at last year's World Cup on home soil as they lost to Samoa in golden-point extra time to exit the tournament in the semi-finals.

Australia went on to defeat Samoa in the final, with the competition – officially the 2021 edition – having been held one year later than planned due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

But following a thorough review, which included the Rugby Football League (RFL) consulting with senior players, former Wigan Warriors boss Wane will retain his job, with France set to host the next World Cup in 2025.

"The RFL Board received and considered at length a detailed review of the performance of each of the England teams at RLWC2021," RFL chair Simon Johnson said.

"No stone was left unturned in the review, which included submissions from coaches, players and staff alike.

"The report generated a good, robust and lengthy discussion at our February board meeting. We are confident that we have the right people in place."

Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the Indian Wells Open as he continues his recovery from a hip injury.

Nadal sustained the injury during his straight-sets defeat to Mackenzie McDonald at the Australian Open in January, struggling to move around the court during the closing stages of the contest in Melbourne.

A day after that match, the Spaniard wrote on Twitter: "I have carried out medical tests after the defeat yesterday. The MRI shows a grade two lesion in the iliopsoas of the left leg. Now it's sports rest and anti-inflammatory physiotherapy. Normal recovery time six to eight weeks."

It seems that Indian Wells, the first ATP Masters 1000 event of the season, has come too soon for the 36-year-old, and it remains to be seen if he will be able to compete at the Miami Open later in March.

The tournament's director, Tommy Haas, said on Tuesday: "We wish Rafa continued healing, and hope to see him back at the BNP Paribas Open next year."

Nadal reached the final of last year's tournament at Indian Wells, where he lost to American Taylor Fritz. 

He has won three titles at Indian Wells, but the last came back in 2013.

Charlotte Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball will miss the rest of the NBA campaign through injury, with the news coming just a week after it was confirmed his brother will also remain sidelined until next season.

Ball fractured his right ankle during Monday's 117-106 win over the Detroit Pistons.

Chicago Bulls star Lonzo Ball has not played at all in 2022-23 due to a knee injury that has required multiple surgeries, and the Bulls said last week that due to continued "discomfort during high-level basketball-related activities", the player would not be risked before the end of the season.

LaMelo – a 2022 NBA All-Star – has had issues with his left ankle throughout the season, meaning he was only able to play 36 games, and The Athletic's Shams Charania tweeted on Tuesday that he will "miss the remainder of the season", according to sources.

The 21-year-old has averaged 23.3 points per game this season, with 8.4 assists and 6.4 rebounds.

The Hornets are well short of playoff contention, with a record of 20-43, though are on a five-game win streak after Monday's win against the only team with a worse record than them in the Eastern Conference, the Pistons.

Bangladesh are determined to further prove their top-tier ODI credentials as they welcome world champions England for a three-match series.

England remain the benchmark in limited-overs cricket for many, and they should provide a stern test to a Bangladesh team in hot form.

Bangladesh have won six of their last seven men's bilateral ODI series, including a 2-1 win over India at home in December. The only series loss the Tigers have suffered in that time was against Zimbabwe in August.

Captain Tamim Iqbal is back after missing the series with India, likely replacing Anamul Haque, as Bangladesh go into the series with something approaching their strongest team.

Head coach Chandika Hathurusingha believes that could be a key difference, with England missing the likes of Ben Duckett and Harry Brook due to their participation in the Test series in New Zealand.

"We are playing full strength," Hathurusingha told reporters. "I don't think they have come with their full strength. Some of them are playing Test cricket. I back our skills and strength.

"Saying that, they have incredible strength in the last 10 years or so. England have one of the best pace attacks in the world. They have five fast bowlers and three spinners on this tour.

"The challenge will be to play their fast bowlers in this series. They have developed great depth in English cricket. They are the envy of every Test-playing nation."

That attack could indeed be what gives England the best chance of winning, with fit-again Jofra Archer joined by Saqib Mahmood, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes and Sam Curran.

Rehan Ahmed will be another one to watch for the tourists, with the 18-year-old potentially able to take advantage of some spin-friendly surfaces, though the first match in Mirpur on Wednesday could come too soon for him after he missed two days of training due to illness.

England skipper Jos Buttler will use the three games as preparation for the team's World Cup defence in India later this year.

"We only have these matches and then don't play again until September just before the World Cup," Buttler said at a press conference. "All our preparation is geared towards that World Cup and these are the conditions that will probably be the closest that we can get to playing in India.

"This is exactly the kind of challenge we need. With the World Cup not too far away we can test ourselves against conditions that we as a side find the hardest.

"It's going to be a great measure of where we are as a team."

Shakib closing in on 300

Shakib Al Hasan is six wickets shy of 300 in ODI cricket, bidding to become the first player from Bangladesh to reach that landmark.

With 6,835 runs already, Shakib can also become just the third all-rounder after Sanath Jayasuriya (13,430 runs and 323 wickets) and Shahid Afridi (8,064 runs and 395 wickets) to register 5,000+ runs and 300+ wickets in the format.

Moeen approaches a century

Moeen Ali is just four scalps away from becoming the 14th England cricketer to get to 100 wickets in ODI cricket. In doing so, he (2,154 runs) would become the fourth England player to record 2,000+ runs and 100 wickets in ODIs (after Ian Botham, Andrew Flintoff and Paul Collingwood).

One factor in Moeen's favour is that he was a part of the Comilla Victorians team that won the Bangladesh Premier League final in mid-February, so he is familiar with playing in the country.

Aiden Markram enjoyed a tremendous return to Test cricket on the first day of the opener against West Indies with a century that ensured South Africa's subsequent minor collapse was not too drastic.

The Proteas began a new era at Centurion Park with Temba Bavuma as captain and Shukri Conrad as head coach, and it initially looked to be starting in style as Markram and former skipper Dean Elgar combined impressively.

But after that pair helped the hosts to 221-2, South Africa endured a difficult third session, eventually reaching 314-8 at stumps.

Elgar paid the price for the crushing defeat by Australia but benefited from early luck on Tuesday when his outside edge was dropped by Roston Chase.

He eventually fell to Alzarri Joseph (3-60), caught by Jermaine Blackwood – who did well to readjust himself – after ramping it too short.

Markram then took over.

He survived a scare on 99, the ball only hitting his shoulder before being caught and slapped the next delivery for four to bring up his century.

Yet Markram was also sent packing by Joseph, a devastating yorker at the base of off stump indicative of the Windies' gradual improvement.

Markram departed with South Africa on 236-4 – Tony de Zorzi's (28) inconspicuous run out began something of a collapse a little earlier, before Bavuma went for a duck thanks to another excellent Joseph delivery snaring him lbw.

Keegan Petersen (14), Heinrich Klaasen (20), Senuran Muthusamy (3) and Kagiso Rabada (8) all went back to the pavilion without making much of an impact.

Marco Jansen (17 not out) and Gerald Coetzee (11 not out) at least ensured South Africa passed 300.

Markram back from the wilderness

Markram was left out of the series with Australia in December and January amid what interim coach Malibongwe Maketa at the time called a "dip" in form.

It is fair to say he responded emphatically here, with 115 off 174 to give South Africa a real foothold. Ultimately, most of the rest of the team did not do his efforts justice, but either way this was a big moment for Markram, who looked quite emotional when confirming his sixth Test ton.

Joseph the Windies' inspiration

It took a while for the tourists to get to grips with South Africa, but there is little doubt Joseph played a vital role in turning the tide somewhat.

He claimed the scalps of both Elgar and Markram, as well as captain Bavuma, who barely knew what hit him when Joseph's ferocious delivery slapped straight into his shin.

Zlatko Dalic accused FIFA of showing "a lack of respect" for Croatia's World Cup heroes and revealed he refused to vote in the world body's The Best awards.

Croatia playmaker Luka Modric was a nominee in the men's player category, but Dalic did not make the five-man list for coach of the year.

In a fiery blast to Gianni Infantino's FIFA, Dalic argued Mateo Kovacic, Josko Gvardiol and Dominic Livakovic deserved recognition, suggesting all would have been in the frame for nominations if they belonged to a more fashionable footballing nation.

Dalic's team beat Brazil in the Qatar 2022 quarter-finals before falling to Argentina in the semi-finals. They then rebounded to beat Morocco in the third-place play-off, following their runner-up finish at the 2018 World Cup.

Scornful of Croatian players being left off voting lists, Dalic said: "If English, Brazilian, Spanish, German or Italian players and coaches had the kind of results that we do, they'd be on the shortlist for every possible football award.

"I want more respect for us, for our national team, for our players, and for myself, because with two medals, we more than deserve it. FIFA should promote the fact that a tiny country such as Croatia can play against the biggest nations in the world because that's the most beautiful message for the whole football world."

In a contemptuous statement issued through the Croatian FA, Dalic said: "I am disappointed with FIFA's attitude towards the Croatian national team because I strongly maintain that, based on everything we've achieved as a national team, we deserve more respect from the head governing body of world football than we have received.

"We are the only national team that was among the top four teams at both the World Cup in Qatar and in the current UEFA Nations League cycle.

"We made the front pages worldwide by winning a match against the world's greatest team Brazil, and along with France, we are the only team to have won two medals at the two most recent World Cups.

"This year, we beat France in Paris and Denmark in Copenhagen, we took Brazil and Belgium out of the World Cup. In the 23 matches we've played since Euro 2020, we've only lost twice. And yet even after all of that, look at the list of the 14 candidates for The Best FIFA Men's player – aside from the great Luka Modric, where are other Croatian players?"

He asked: "Was there really no place for Mateo Kovacic on that list, even though he's won the FIFA Club World Cup and played a brilliant World Cup in Qatar? Where is Josko Gvardiol's name? After all, he was listed among the Top 11 for both the World Cup and for the Bundesliga by most sources. And did Dominik Livakovic not deserve to be one of the five finalists for the Best FIFA Men's Goalkeeper after everything he did in Qatar?"

Contenders for the coach award were Real Madrid's Carlo Ancelotti, France boss Didier Deschamps, Pep Guardiola of Manchester City, Morocco's Walid Regragui and Lionel Scaloni, whose Argentina won the World Cup. Scaloni took the honour.

Dalic said: "With all due respect for Morocco's head coach and their success at the World Cup, in the two matches we played against them, we tied once and Croatia won the bronze medal the second time."

The 56-year-old Dalic claimed this was not the first instance of feeling a lack of recognition.

He said: "I feel that we have not been extended the respect we deserve, and both the time slots of our matches at the World Cup and the quality of refereeing – especially at the semi-final match – made me feel that there was a lack of respect towards the Croatian team. I fully believe that our national team's performance on the pitch and conduct off of it has made us deserving of the very same respect that we show our opponents at every match."

The Philadelphia Eagles are making Brian Johnson, the quarterbacks coach behind Jalen Hurts' progress, their new offensive coordinator.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Johnson's imminent promotion on Tuesday.

The Eagles needed a new OC after Shane Steichen landed the Indianapolis Colts head coach job.

Johnson was coached by Averion Hurts at high school and has remained close with Jalen, Averion's son and the Eagles' quarterback.

Hurts, working with Johnson and Steichen, led the Eagles to the Super Bowl in the 2022 season.

He threw for 3,701 yards and 22 touchdowns in the regular season, adding another 13 scores on the ground. The Eagles were 14-1 with Hurts starting.

Marcus Mariota was released by the Atlanta Falcons on Tuesday as Arthur Smith cut the quarterback from his roster after just one season.

The move seemingly boosts the prospects of Desmond Ridder, a third-round pick who played four times in his rookie season, becoming the regular starting QB for Atlanta.

The Falcons may still elect to bring in a more experienced starting signal caller, but the Mariota dalliance is over.

Recruited to take the place of Matt Ryan, who joined the Indianapolis Colts, Mariota ranked 27th among NFL quarterbacks in completion percentage (61.3 per cent), registering 2,219 yards, 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions, also rushing for 438 yards.

The Hawaii-born 29-year-old had joined on a two-year contract last March and his release frees up salary cap space.

Falcons head coach Smith had previously worked with Mariota at the Tennessee Titans, where the quarterback had a four-and-a-half-season stint as a starter, eventually losing his place to Ryan Tannehill.

A subsequent spell with the Las Vegas Raiders saw Mariota serve as back-up to Derek Carr, before the Falcons swooped for him.

Although Ridder lost out to Mariota for the start initially in the 2022 season, the 23-year-old usurped his senior colleague towards the end of the campaign. Mariota finished with a 5-8 record in a 7-10 season for the Falcons, with Ridder 2-2 over the closing four-game stretch.

Smith, quoted on the team's web page, praised Ridder but offered no assurances over who would be his starting QB, saying: "As always, all options are on the table."

The Buffalo Bills will be without defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier in 2023 as he plans to take a year out of coaching before returning in 2024.

Frazier has been the Bills' DC since 2017, in which time he has overseen one of the best defenses in the NFL.

Indeed, across six seasons, Buffalo have given up only 314.9 total yards per game to lead the league over that period.

A statement on Tuesday revealed Frazier was stepping away for a year, however, dealing the Bills a big blow.

Frazier would then return to coaching in 2024, although the statement did not clarify whether that would be with the Bills, who will now have to recruit a replacement for the 2023 season.

Jurgen Klopp has told his Liverpool stars to "squeeze everything" they can out of this season as they head into a rematch with the Wolves team who left them at their lowest ebb.

A 3-0 thumping at Molineux on February 4 followed a month that contained two defeats to Brighton and Hove Albion and a loss at Brentford, with Liverpool leaving the West Midlands in a state of disarray.

Results have picked up since from that low point, with Liverpool beating Everton and Newcastle United in the Premier League and drawing at Crystal Palace. They have kept three successive clean sheets for the first time in the domestic league, but the elephant in the room is the 5-2 stuffing Liverpool suffered at the hands of Real Madrid amid that improvement.

As it stands, Liverpool are up to seventh in the league, still in the hunt for a Champions League place with 45 points up for grabs before the season ends, and manager Klopp says this is "a super-important week".

With Wolves their visitors on Wednesday, and Manchester United coming to Anfield on Sunday, the chance is there for Liverpool to take big strides towards the top four.

Considering Liverpool came from mid-table to snatch fourth in the 2020-21 season, after winning eight of their last 10 games, Klopp knows it can be done.

"It helps because it was us and I don't have to tell them the story from another team," Klopp said on Tuesday. "History is not allowed to hinder you, but you cannot constantly rely on doing it again, so we have to make sure.

"I really see we have the right mindset, and we are ready to go, but now we have to do it as well because a game is different. You have an opponent who wants the points as well. We have to create, we have to attack, we have to defend, we have to protect. I know the boys can do that, so let's give it a try.

"We have to force it as well, but we have to play and enjoy what we are doing, that's really important. I really think we are ready. If there's a club that can do it, I really think it's us, because all the things we've achieved, we've achieved together.

"We have a future together. The immediate future, but there's a bigger picture as well. We will strike back in general, but now we have to make sure we really squeeze everything out of this season that we can squeeze out of this season.

"I don't know in this moment what it will be, but the obvious spots are not too far away from us, and we will see which one we can pick up, but there's no alternative to results, so we need results and for results we need performances."

Liverpool have won 18 of their last 20 home league games against Wolves, with the exceptions being 1-0 defeats in January 1984 and December 2010.

Klopp's Reds also beat Wolves after a replay in the FA Cup in January, so victory over the men in black and gold is not an alien concept, despite the recent woeful league result. Klopp labelled that 3-0 loss as "not a cool day" and urged Liverpool to take advantage of being at home this time.

Wolves will be looking to complete a league double over Liverpool for the first time since the 1950-51 season, and they need the points too, given they hover just above the relegation zone.

"It's a super-important week," Klopp said. "We can't ignore that and why would I? We have two home games.

"I would love to give the season a little push this week. I know we all understand, so we have to give a proper, proper, proper go against a team we played more often than any other team this season.

"We know a lot about each other. We know it will not be easy, so we have to make sure we are ready. I know Anfield will be, and we have to do our part."

Marcus Rashford's remarkable resurgence on the pitch is completely unrelated to the Manchester United departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, according to club great Andrew Cole.

Rashford scored United's second in Sunday's 2-0 EFL Cup final win over Newcastle United, as the Red Devils ended a trophy drought that stretched back almost six years.

That was his 25th goal of the season across all competitions, already three more than his previous best return for a full campaign, and United still have at least 17 matches to play in 2022-23.

Rashford has looked more confident and threatening all season, but his form has hit new heights since the World Cup – in that time, his 17 goals (all competitions) is five more than any other player from the top five leagues, and he is one of only two (Victor Osimhen, 11) to reach double figures for non-penalty (np) goals (16).

Those come from a np-xG (expected goals) of just 8.0, meaning he is scoring twice as many goals as the average player would expect given the quality of his chances.

Rashford's positive 8.0 np-xG differential since the World Cup considerably exceeds that of every other player from the top five leagues, with James Ward Prowse second on 4.3 (six np goals, 1.7 np-xG).

This is a far cry from Rashford's form last season when his goals frequency of 0.27 per 90 minutes was the worst of his United career – the 0.78 goals every 90 minutes this term is comfortably his best such return.

Given the biggest upturn in Rashford's form has come since the World Cup, some have speculated whether Ronaldo's exit – which was confirmed during Qatar 2022 – has had something to do with it.

But Cole, a treble winner with United in 1999, refuses to accept that, convinced there is a simpler explanation.

He told Stats Perform: "I'm an individual. I'm not going to get involved in the Ronaldo thing because he left. Ronaldo wasn't there 18 months ago when Marcus Rashford was struggling.

"So, because Ronaldo's left now, all of a sudden [there's a perception] it's because he's left. It doesn't make sense for me. When Ronaldo wasn't at the club, Marcus found himself in a bit of form that he couldn't get himself out of, so I'm not having that.

"The [Erik] Ten Hag effect, I think. No doubt, the manager will be believing in him, telling him how good he is. But ultimately, as individuals, he could have taken his eye off the ball a little bit with what he was doing off the field.

"It could have been a little bit of that as well, but to see him in this really fit form now, the way he's playing, I think it's testament to him. For me, personally, it doesn't really matter what anyone else does with you.

"Monday to Friday, once you cross the white line, it's you as an individual, and also Monday to Friday, someone's telling you how great you are.

"If you don't believe how great you are, once you cross the white line, it makes no difference what anyone else tells you because you've got to tell yourself that.

"I'm looking at him now, he seems to be telling himself, 'I'm at that level that I want to be at'. That's why he's playing so well."

But with spells of such form from one individual come questions of dependency, or over reliance.

Since the World Cup, no team across the top five leagues has scored more than United (43), while their average of 2.3 every game sees them rank sixth, which again is commendable given the top five have all played at least six games less than Ten Hag's side.

However, no other United player has scored more than seven goals (all competitions) this season. While Ten Hag has received due praise for inspiring a huge improvement around the club, it is difficult to imagine them being on their current trajectory without Rashford's form.

And Rashford's numbers since the World Cup represent something of an anomaly – relying on him to score double his xG for the rest of the season would be unfair and unlikely.

This concern is not lost on Cole, who during the 1998-99 treble-winning season was one of five United players to score at least 10 goals.

"Do we need that depth? Of course we do, if we look at all the top teams in Europe, they have that depth," he continued.

"And yeah, I would say if [Rashford] did pick up an injury, which naturally I don't want, you're going to turn around say, 'where are the goals going to come from?'

"Because they're not really being spread around the team. Marcus has got a majority of them. Yeah, you might get sporadic [contributions]: Antony might get one in four games or whatever; Casemiro scored [on Sunday]; [Jadon] Sancho is getting himself back and is getting a goal every now and then.

"But if you're going to be challenging for major honours, you've got to have goals coming from all areas, and at this moment time Manchester United are relying on Marcus because he's in that form.

"No doubt they'll look to address that problem [a lack of goals elsewhere] in the summer."