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Brendon McCullum, the former New Zealand captain, is to undergo surgery on a back injury that will rule him out of Middlesexs NatWest T20 Blast quarter-final against Northamptonshire on Tuesday.McCullum featured in six games for Middlesex during the Blast group stage, before leaving to participate in the Caribbean Premier League. He continued to battle a long-standing back problem while playing for Trinbago Knight Riders and, after they were eliminated at the semi-final stage, he has opted to have an operation.Angus Fraser, Middlesexs director of cricket, was understanding of McCullums injury situation, which he had been managing with injections and painkillers. As well helping Middlesex qualify from the T20 group stage for the first time since 2008, contributing 132 runs from five innings at a strike rate of 148.31, McCullum led the clubs averages in the Royal London Cup, in which they narrowly missed out on the last eight.His absence will be a blow to their chances of beating Northants, the 2013 champions, at Wantage Road, with Eoin Morgan also suffering from a chipped finger bone. Morgan is unavailable for the Blast quarter-final but Middlesex hope he could be fit to play on Finals Day, on August 20, should they make it through.Middlesexs other T20 signing, New Zealand fast bowler Mitchell McClenaghan, suffered a pelvic stress fracture playing for the club in June, while Adam Voges - captain of the side in Championship cricket - is in Sri Lanka as part of Australias Test tour.I have been in regular contact with Brendon whilst he was at the Caribbean Premier League and was aware that he was struggling with his back, Fraser said.The short nature of a T20 means there is always the temptation to play someone when they have an injury but Brendon felt he could not do himself justice and did not want to risk letting the team down in such an important game. He has been having regular injections and dosing up on painkillers for some time just to get by, which is not particularly good for you.As a club we have not had a lot of luck with injuries in the past couple of weeks. Seven 1st XI players have been forced to miss cricket or play in discomfort for one reason or another. But we will travel to Northampton on Tuesday with an excited and extremely capable squad. These are the sort of games we wanted to be involved in when we discussed our goals at the start of the season and we will give it everything we have got. Dick Snyder Jersey . Cote was eligible to become a free agent Feb. 15. Cote helped running back Jon Cornish run for a league-high 1,813 rushing yards en route to being named the leagues most outstanding player. Pete Cross Jersey . Reassurance came from Paul Tesori, his caddie and close friend whose newborn son is in intensive care in a Florida hospital. "Paul sent me a text this morning, just told me he loved me and wanted to go out and fight as hard as I would any other day," Simpson said Sunday after doing just that. https://www.cheapthunder.com/ . Durant finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds, Jackson matched his career high with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting and Lamb scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, lifting the Thunder to a 94-88 win over San Antonio and snapping the Spurs 11-game winning streak. Devon Hall Jersey .com) - The red-hot Los Angeles Kings will try to extend their winning streak to a season-high seven games when they visit the Edmonton Oilers for Sundays clash at Rexall Place. Oklahoma City Thunder Shirts . "I was fortunate to play many years at this level with a great organization and unbelievable teammates," said Hejduk in a statement.Following their unexpected Champions League exit at the hands of Atletico Madrid, we examine Barcelona’s slump. Is an over-reliance on that famous forward line to blame? Adam Bate reports from the Vicente Calderon... Sergio Busquets lingered to clap the away fans in the top tier. Andres Iniesta and Jordi Alba joined him. But most of their team-mates shuffled down the tunnel. Barcelona, the defending European champions, had been vanquished by Atletico Madrid.It will have been a huge blow. For while Barcelona remain favourites to complete a domestic double, such are the expectations placed on this group of players that the season is likely to be laced with disappointment whatever happens now. Atletico eliminate Barcelona Antoine Griezmann scored twice to knock the reigning champions out of Europe. Thats the nature of it when Lionel Messi is in your side. When you have Neymar, a man whod joined him on the Ballon dOr shortlist in January. Luis Suarez didnt receive that honour but hes more than made up for it with his scoring feats this season.And yet, for all the brilliance of that formidable forward line, its Luis Enriques reliance on it thats played a part in his sides downfall. Maybe that was in the Barca coachs mind when he insisted on taking 100 per cent of the responsibility for the defeat afterwards. Luis Enrique took full responsibility for Barcelonas Champions League defeat Its funny how defeat can shift the tone. While once the goalscoring heroics of that celebrated front three were a source of wonder, the statistics now feel like a note of caution. A warning that was left unheeded.Messi, Suarez and Neymar have scored 44 of Barcelonas 53 Champions League goals since the start of last season. Thats 83 per cent. Individually spectacular but when the dip came it came collectively and Barca have suffered as a result. After a 20-game sequence in which they won 19 - the other was the drawn second leg of a Copa del Rey tie in which they were already 7-0 up - theyve now won only once in their last five. Even that was against a 10-man Atletico, a game they were losing prior to the red card. What the papers said How the Spanish press reacted to Barcas defeat Neymar looks like a man who has played too much football - no wonder he is set to skip the Copa America - and Messis goal drought has now passed the seven-hour mark. The Argentine is coming deeper and deeper in search of the ball and it has left Suarez isolated. Lionel Messi stands dejected after Atleticos second goal of the night Its now tempting to conclude that overplaying them all was folly. Barca have endured 27 games in 106 days. Thats a match every fourth day since a winter break that was barely worthy of the name given the clubs trip to Japan to contest the Club World Cup.Luis Enrique was unwilling to use that as an excuse but hell have noted too the recent international break that took all three of his forwards to South America to play a further five matches of football between them. The team hasnt looked the same since their return. Barcelona have played 12 more games than any other La Liga rival, with a front three that have not rotated, and all of a sudden they have hit a bit of a wall. Guillem Balague Barcelona have played 12 more games than any other La Liga rival, with a front three that have not rotated, and all of a sudden they have hit a bit of a wall, said Sky Sports Spanish correspondennt Guillem Balague ahead of the game.ddddddddddddThe front three find themselves now having played far too many minutes when that extra gear is needed. Neymar, you can see it in his face, is struggling to find the extra gear. Lionel Messi has found in the past few weeks that physically, perhaps, he is not at his sharpest. Why are Barca struggling? A look at their recent defeat to Real Sociedad That certainly appeared to be the case on Wednesday night as Messi was content to probe and pass away without ever looking likely to provide the moment of incision himself.He has been averaging more than six dribbles per game in the Champions League over the past two seasons, but managed only three against Atletico and none of them in positions where he could hurt his opponent. Europes toughest team? Atletico Madrid were too strong for Barcelona. Maybe theyre too strong for everyone… Maybe Messi was hoping to ride this spring-time lull without too much damage being done. But when the going got tough, and thats precisely what it is against Atletico, the so