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• Surrey close on title as rivals Essex beaten by Liam Dawson-inspired Hampshire

  Surrey will go into the final week of the LV= Insurance County Championship title race in pole position after Essex fell to a three-wicket defeat against a Hampshire side inspired by Liam Dawson.

  Continuing an outstanding season, Dawson made 119, contributing to a fifth-wicket stand of 184 alongside James Vince as they took the game away from second-placed Essex at Chelmsford.

  Dawson had come to the crease with Hampshire, set 267 for victory, having been reduced to 32 for four but went on to make his third century of the season while Vince made 89.

  It means Essex will go into their final fixture 20 points behind reigning champions Surrey, who held on to draw against winless Northamptonshire at the Kia Oval.

  With relegation looking inevitable, Northamptonshire gambled against the leaders as they enforced the follow on with a first-innings lead of 172, but they could not make it pay.

  Surrey openers Dom Sibley and Rory Burns batted diligently in the hour before lunch against some testing new-ball bowling from the visting seamers and throughout the final two sessions in some of the best batting conditions of a rain-affected four days.

  By the time bad light brought about an early close, they had reached 142 without loss, with Burns on 71 and Sibley 67.

  Relegation-battling Kent salvaged a draw from their rain-hit match against Somerset after being made to follow on at Taunton.

  The visitors were bowled out for 235 in their first innings, 169 shy of Somerset’s total, after being reduced to 31 for four before Joe Denly pitched in with 73.

  Somerset put them back in with the hope of some quick wickets with a possible 41 overs remaining, but Kent made it to 44 for two before the players shook hands early.

  The draw was enough to put Kent one point above Middlesex, who dropped into the bottom two after an eight-wicket defeat to Warwickshire.

  Opener Sam Robson carried his bat for an unbeaten century but it was not enough for the hosts, who were bowled out for 251 in their second innings.

  Following afternoon rain, Warwickshire had only 10 overs in which to chase 58, but Rob Yates and Ed Barnard made it across the line with nine balls to spare.

  There was an early end to play at Old Trafford where rain forced a draw between Lancashire and Nottinghamshire.

  There were only 15 overs played on the final day, with Lancashire reaching 272 for seven in their first innings. But with Nottinghamshire yet to bat there was never any prospect of a result.

  In Division Two, Worcestershire moved within touching distance of following Durham into Division One after their match with the newly-crowned champions ended in a draw.

  With a result out of the question, Worcestershire were restricted to adding one bowling point as Durham captain Scott Borthwick made a chanceless century and Ollie Robinson contributed 84 to a first innings score of 371 for four at the close.

  Worcestershire go into the final week as strong favourites to go up after closest challengers Leicestershire saw their match against Yorkshire ruined by the weather.

  More rain on the final day robbed Leicestershire of the chance to chase the win they realistically needed to stay in the hunt.

  It also finished as a draw between Derbyshire and Sussex after rain brought about an early finish at the County Ground.

• 'The numbers don't lie' – Djokovic hailed as greatest of all time by Lopez

  Novak Djokovic is just one grand slam away from becoming the most decorated player in history and Feliciano Lopez believes "the numbers don't lie" when it comes to debating tennis' greatest.

  Serbia's Djokovic equalled Margaret Court's record of 24 grand slam triumphs after defeating Daniil Medvedev in straight sets at the US Open earlier in September.

  That made the world number one, aged 36 years and 111 days at the time, the oldest winner of the men's singles title at the US Open.

  It was also Djokovic's third major crown of 2023, winning a trio of grand slams in a calendar year for the fourth time in his career,

  Davis Cup tournament director Lopez, who had previously hailed Djokovic for featuring at the "unique" competition, suggested no one in history compares with the 36-year-old.

  Asked by Stats Perform if Djokovic was the GOAT – greatest of all time – Lopez said: "According to the numbers, yes. The numbers don't lie.

  "If you look at the stats, Novak is the best. So, I mean, what can I say?

  "I think the numbers are very clear, not only by the fact that he's won 24 slams, but also there are other numbers and other statistics that clearly show he's the best player who ever played the sport.

  "According to the numbers, I cannot say anything different."

  Djokovic triumphed at the Australian Open, French Open and US Open, only missing out on a clean sweep of the majors after losing the Wimbledon final to Carlos Alcaraz.

  As for Djokovic's chances for more major success going forward, Lopez believes the sky is still the limit.

  "It's very difficult to predict honestly, but as long as he's feeling physically strong I think it's clear that his will in the last three or four years is to keep winning grand slams," Lopez added.  

  "If he is able to sustain his physical condition for the next two years, I can fairly say that he can win, I don't know, two, three or four, but it's very difficult to say one number because this year, for example, he could have won all four.

  "He won in Australia, he won in Paris, he was very close to winning Wimbledon because of that second-set tie-break, and he just won the US Open.

  "You ask me how many grand slams you think he will win in the future when he just won three of them in the same year!

  "I don't know, maybe three or four more is fair to say, but it's very difficult to predict."

• Carvalhal 'saw football in a different way' after unsuccessful Premier League stint

  Carlos Carvalhal says he and his coaching staff "changed almost everything" about their approach to football after suffering relegation from the Premier League with Swansea City in 2018.

  Carvalhal made a name for himself in the English game by leading Sheffield Wednesday to the Championship play-off final in 2016, where they were beaten by Hull City.

  Wednesday were then beaten in the semi-finals after finishing fourth under Carvalhal in 2016-17. That remains their highest second-tier finish since 1990-91, when they were promoted in third.

  However, Carvalhal left the Owls for Swansea City in December 2017, only winning eight of 25 games in south Wales and overseeing their relegation from the Premier League the following May.

  Carvalhal has since enjoyed something of a renaissance with the likes of Rio Ave and Braga, before moving to Spain to keep Celta Vigo up with a final-day victory over Barcelona last season. 

  The Portuguese coach is proud of his achievements since leaving English football, claiming his stint at Swansea provoked a change in his approach to the game.

  "After England, we were at Sheffield Wednesday for two and half years and half a year at Swansea, then we stopped for one season," Carvalhal told Stats Perform at the Thinking Football Summit.

  "We decided to stop and reflect on the things that we did and the things that we wanted to do in the future. We changed almost everything. In this moment, we saw football in a different way. 

  "We are not basing it on the system [anymore], we are basing it on spaces and creating spaces. It's the way that we look at football, completely differently, like a chess player looking at the table.

  "The results were fantastic, I can tell you. 

  "We took a big risk to go to Rio Ave. Rio Ave is a medium club in Portugal. We were in the Premier League, and nobody from the Premier League goes to Rio Ave. But we decided to go there because it's a calm club, there were some good players, we could put our ideas on the pitch. 

  "The reality was that we achieved Europa League [qualification]. Braga the same, we continued improving, in Celta Vigo we improved and we have stopped now to refresh a little again.

  "I know €14 million was raised in Rio Ave with the players that we developed, which is very good for the club. Almost €100 million at Braga, and now in Celta Vigo with Gabri Veiga and Javi Galan probably about €50 million. So we are improving players.

  "It's something that of course we are very proud of and something that we want to do in the future in the next challenge."

  Carvalhal oversaw Rio Ave's best points return in their Primeira Liga history in 2019-20 (55 points), before leading Braga to their third – and most recent – Taca de Portugal one year later.

  The 57-year-old has been out of work since leaving Celta in June, but he is ready to get back into the game and believes taking regular breaks is crucial to stay fresh.

  "The gaps, I need to rest for my mental health, which I care about. Usually, you never see me have problems with other coaches, with referees and so on, because of these kinds of things.

  "I decided [to move] because we did very well [at Braga]. We did the best the club has done in its history. In two seasons, we won the cup and we reached three finals. 

  "We achieved the quarter-final of the Europa League, 17 players from the academy played in the first team. At Celta Vigo, we arrived at the club in a very difficult position. We finished in 13th. 

  "There's a lot of pressure. So I spoke with my staff, I said I need to stop for three or four months and after, we go back to the market. So at this moment, we are on the market again. 

  "We are not under pressure, it's not about money. We can't say that we don't ever go for the money because we never know what will happen tomorrow, but I would prefer to go because of passion and football. Let's see what happens."