Jos Buttler has extended his central contract with the England and Wales Cricket Board by a year.

White-ball captain Buttler, 34, is already one year into his existing two-year deal.

He joins Test skipper Ben Stokes in signing until the autumn of 2026 after the all-rounder agreed a new deal at the beginning of October.

“The strength and depth of talent across England men’s red and white-ball cricket is clear in the quality of players who are centrally contracted,” said Rob Key, director of England men’s cricket.

“Both our captains have signed two-year central contracts that showcase the commitment of all the players to prioritise playing for their country.”

Buttler is currently recovering from a calf injury that has ruled him out since June, with Liam Livingstone standing in for the tour of West Indies.

Twenty nine players are on central contracts. Pace bowler Gus Atkinson has also extended by a year until 2026, while spinner Jack Leach and white-ball seamer Reece Topley have agreed new one-year deals.

Five players have signed their first central contracts – wicketkeeper Jamie Smith, white-ball batter Phil Salt, spinner Shoaib Bashir, all-rounder Will Jacks and fast bowler Olly Stone have all signed one-year deals.

Batter Jonny Bairstow, who last represented England in June, still has a year left on the contract that he signed in 2023.

James Anderson, Moeen Ali and Dawid Malan have all retired, while Ben Foakes and Ollie Robinson have lost their deals.

All-rounder Jacob Bethell and seamers Josh Hull and John Turner have signed development contracts.

Belal Muhammad’s first title defense will have to wait.

The UFC welterweight champion announced Thursday that he is out of his UFC 310 main event matchup with challenger Shavkat Rakhmonov due to a bone infection in his foot. Al Zullino first reported Muhammad’s withdrawal on Twitter.

Muhammad shared the news in a social media post.

“Caught a bone infection in my foot,” Muhammad wrote. “Had to put a PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) line in my arm for IV antibiotics the next six weeks with no physical activity.

“Allah’s plan is the best plan. I’m sorry to everyone that were coming to see me. I’ll be back soon. Inshallah.”

As of now, the UFC is seeking out a replacement for Rakhmonov, but a person with knowledge of the situation told MMA Fighting it’s unknown whether or not the undefeated fighter will compete on the Dec. 7 fight card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas or if the matchup will be moved to a later date and location.

Muhammad captured the title with a unanimous decision victory over Leon Edwards at UFC 304 in July. “Remember the Name” is unbeaten in his past 11 bouts, and hasn’t tasted defeat in nearly six years.

Rakhmonov earned his first UFC championship opportunity with a second-round submission of Stephen Thompson at UFC 296 this past December. “Nomad” has finished all 18 of the opponents he’s faced as a pro.

La Liga champions Real Madrid’s match against Valencia, which was scheduled for Saturday, has been postponed after the devastating flash floods in Spain.

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has postponed all matches in the Valencia region, where at least 95 people have died and dozens more are missing after torrential rain.

Villarreal’s La Liga meeting with Rayo Vallecano has also been called off, along with three games in the Segunda division – Castellon v RC Ferrol, CD Eldense against SD Huesca and Malaga’s visit to Levante.

in Liga F, the women’s top flight, Valencia’s match against Deportivo La Coruna and Real Madrid v Levante are among the postponed fixtures.

The RFEF had received requests from La Liga, Liga F and the clubs themselves to postpone all professional matches in the area after the flash floods.

Several Copa del Rey matches, including Valencia’s trip to Parla Escuela, had already been rescheduled.

The RFEF said a minute’s silence will be observed during the weekend’s games to show Spanish football’s “solidarity for those affected, especially the relatives of those who have died in the natural disaster”.

Liam Lawson insists his attitude to racing in Formula 1 will not change and he does not believe the Red Bull hierarchy will call for him to alter his approach despite his incident with Sergio Perez at the Mexico Grand Prix.

Lawson, in his second race since his promotion to the RB team, apologised to Perez for showing him the middle finger during their intense battle in Mexico City.

The New Zealander came to blows with his rival on lap 19 at Turn 4 where, after being pushed wide as the Red Bull attempted an overtake, he kept his foot in and the pair then collided at the following right-hander.

While the Mexican managed to stay ahead for the rest of the lap, he eventually lost out as the RB breezed past him on the main straight.

In his frustration at the situation, Lawson showed Perez the finger as he overtook – a moment that was captured on television.

He may have apologised for the gesture, but Lawson is not about to change his aggressive nature when battling on the track.

“My attitude towards racing and how I approach races in Formula 1 won’t change, that’s how I’ll always be,” he said.

“But at the same time there’s things in there, if I make mistakes I’ll always learn from them, and clearly in Mexico I made a mistake, and I’ll learn from it. 

“Briefly we spoke after the race, but at the same time we left the track very early, immediately afterwards anyway. I think it was an on-track fight and I apologise obviously for what I did after the incident.

Liam Lawson, RB F1 Team VCARB 01, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

“But in terms of the fight we had on track, it was, I guess, deemed as a racing incident and something that was an in-the-moment battle.

“I’ll learn from, maybe, mistakes that I made. But at the same time, I’ll take advice from everybody I can and my target is not to go out and make enemies with anybody, that’s not the goal obviously, but at the same time I’m not here to make friends, I’m here to win.” 

Speaking after the incident in Mexico, Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko said it was an “unnecessary collision” and that he saw “Lawson as being more to blame”.

Lawson could still find himself at the senior Red Bull team next year should they opt to drop an underperforming Perez.

He is certainly in contention should the shuffle occur, with current RB team-mate Yuki Tsunoda heading for his first drive of a Red Bull at the Abu Dhabi test while team principal Christian Horner has also hinted the team could be tempted to make a move for Franco Colapinto – who has impressed for Williams but currently does not have a race seat in 2025.

Asked if he had spoken to Marko and Horner since the scrap with Perez, Lawson replied: “I don’t think they want me to race differently.

“But obviously the target is not to make contact with another Red Bull car, and as I said at the time it wasn’t my intention in the moment, and looking back maybe I could have avoided it and clearly that would have been the right thing to do at the time.”

India may have lost their first home Test series since 2013, but the team management seems to have asked for a ‘rank turner’ at Wankhede for the third Test against New Zealand, which begins on November 1.

India lost the first Test in Bengaluru by eight wickets, and went on to lose the second match in Pune by 113 runs. Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner was adjudged the player of the match for his match haul of 13 wickets. India lost 19 of their 20 wickets to spinners in the Pune Test.

Despite the recent setbacks against spinners in home series, a report in The Indian Express quoted a source as saying that the Mumbai Cricket Association has been asked to prepare a pitch that will help spinners from day one.

The Wankhede pitch has traditionally been helpful for the spinners. In five Tests there, Ravichandran Ashwin has 38 wickets at 18.42 to his name. It is the highest tally by any bowler on this ground. Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja scalped six wickets in the only Test he played there.

ALSO READ: WTC point table explained: Can India qualify for World Test Championship final after New Zealand series defeat?

However, contrary to the reports, India’s assistant coach Abhishek Nayar said that the team does not asks for “tailor-made pitches” in Tests.

Dismissing reports that pitches that aid spin are being prepared as per the team management’s request, Nayar said, “I wish we could curate pitches, but we don’t. The curators do. Whatever we are provided with, we go on and play (whether) that is be a pitch that seamed or a pitch that turned. We don’t try and get conditions according to what we want.”

India’s batting has come under scrutiny, after three collapses in the series so far. The most humiliating was the 46 all-out—India’s lowest Test innings total at home—in Bengaluru. In the Pune Test, India were shot out for 156, while they went from 81/1 to 245 all-out later. 

EDMONTON, Alberta, Canada – It’s tough to tell whether or not Derrick Lewis was being serious, but he’s apparently unhappy with Daniel Cormier.

Lewis (28-12 MMA, 19-10 UFC) takes on Jhonata Diniz (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) on Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 246 (ESPN+) main card at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Lewis, who failed in his bid for undisputed UFC heavyweight gold when he was submitted by Cormier in 2018, was asked whom he’d like to fight before he wraps up his career. “The Black Beast’s” response was a rather surprising one, picking the currently retired Cormier.

“Probably DC because that one is still not sitting right with me,” Lewis told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 246 media day. “I don’t know, man. Do people really like DC like that? Come on, man, that guy, I told DC in his face, that guy is a piece of sh*t. He’s a piece of sh*t scumbag, F*ck DC. He knows why, and everyone knows why, too: He disrespected Popeyes chicken. But other than that, he’s a piece of sh*t.”

Derrick Lewis wants a rematch with Daniel Cormier.

“I told DC to his face, man. That guy’s a piece of sh*t.” pic.twitter.com/O1NNQTNWlH

— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) October 30, 2024

Lewis is known for his sense of humor, and throwing in Popeyes might have given it away, but something tells Cormier that there might be an element of truth behind Lewis’ words. Cormier has been rather critical of Lewis in the past, claiming that his time at the top is done.

“I haven’t seen him for a while, but I was pretty hard on him about retiring because he had lost a couple of fights,” Cormier told Ariel Helwani. “And I was telling the truth, and he seemed mad at me, but I haven’t seen him. I’m going to see him this weekend, and I’m going to kind of ask him, like, ‘Yo, are you mad at me?’ There’s a little underlying maybe – it sounds like it might be a little underlying.

“He might be a little p*ssed at me maybe because of the way I talked about him. I don’t know what fight it was where he didn’t look great, but then he knocked the last guy out and I was like, ‘Well, I’m glad he’s back.’ So, I don’t know. My opinions go with their performances, and I think maybe that’s what it is, but in terms of anything else, Derrick and I don’t have many things we do together outside of just the Popeyes thing and then the fight. We can’t be mad at each other. We already fought. It’s settled.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 246.