Players welcome record $108m US Open prize fund and will not stage protests

The Essex batsman, filling in for Jacob Bethell, wasted no time in laying down a claim to a longer run in the England side When Jordan Cox was 19, playing in his fifth first-class match and unbeaten overnight on 167 for Kent against Sussex, he decided to set himself a new task. Cox told Sam Billings, his captain and an England international, that he would go past Billings’ first-class best of 171. The top scores of other teammates were in sight, too. “I was just ticking people off,” Cox said a few weeks later. “Having a higher score than Sam Billings and Joe Denly at 19, that’s what got me going.” Denly, an England No 3, had a best of 227. Cox finished on 238 not out. Six years on, that confidence and bit of swagger made its way to Leeds, with Cox resuming on 23 after England’s near-perfect Wednesday. There were no visible nerves, no rollerskates on the feet. A few gentle taps of the ground, a small shift on to the back foot and then plenty of time before he presented the middle. He looked on holiday while batting in only his second Test, and that too with the responsibility of building a first-innings lead at first drop. Joe Root, 167 Tests in, was at the other end and Cox did not look out of place alongside his captain. The pair have done a bit of this now. Just last week they were decked out in red, trying to launch it together in the Hundred. Strong Welsh Fire, strong England?..

Meetings around event seen as chance to lobby for votes Fifa president may meet his most credible challenger Gianni Infantino wants to split the European and North American coalition that is seeking to oust him by attending a junior tournament in the Dominican Republic this weekend in another gamble to cling on to power from the Fifa president. The Guardian has learned that Infantino has made plans to attend the U14 Boys Challenge competition organised by the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), 21 of whose associations are voting members of Fifa, despite being urged to stay away from the event by senior figures within Concacaf – the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football – which is working with Uefa to remove him...

New managers galore suggest many of the usual suspects will struggle to dethrone the champions, but their own hunger could be the key Mikel Arteta wants to get his messaging absolutely right. According to him, Arsenal are not about to defend their Premier League title. They are set to attack another one. Remember Win the dog, who the manager brought in to the club’s training ground a few years back? She must now be called “Won”. But it is when Arteta quibbles over another bout of semantics that he highlights why he is entering the new season with such energy and optimism...