Lunch Australia 5 for 353 (Labuschagne 181*, Smith 63, de Grandhomme 2-68) v New Zealand

Marnus Labuschagne passed 800 runs for the home Test summer as he continued to build Australia's first innings against a New Zealand side that was reduced to dressing up assistant coach Peter Fulton as a substitute fielder as illness stretched further across the squad.

Matthew Wade and Travis Head were tempted into errors in the morning session, but Labuschagne was content to take his time as only 71 runs were compiled by the hosts before lunch, with the promise for more to come afterwards - captain Tim Paine was unbeaten on 10.

New Zealand's stocks were thinned even further by the news that Jeet Raval was now struggling with flu-like symptoms, forcing Fulton into the whites to augment the touring team's options for fielding and running drinks out to the middle.

However, their diligence in the field and with the ball was laudable in not allowing the Australians to get away, even as Labuschagne found the occasional boundary. There was one DRS referral by the tourists against Paine, but the wristspinner Todd Astle's suspicion of some pad before bat was proven a long way from reality by replays.

Wade had suggested he might be the one to push the game forward on the first evening, but the day was not yet an over old when he knelt down to sweep William Somerville, misjudged the flight and was bowled, and angrily swatted his bat into the ground once he heard the sound of the off stump knocked back.

Head was a little more patient, corralled steadily by New Zealand from around the wicket, but he had made only 10 from 42 balls by the time he tried to cut a Matt Henry cross-seam delivery that was too close to his body and offered a thin edge behind to BJ Watling.

Labuschagne, though, was not deterred, cruising through to his third 150 plus score of the Test season, and looking good for plenty more. He had one nervous moment near lunch when he inside-edged Astle just past the off stump but otherwise radiated an air of security that has been rare for Australian cricket in recent years.

Top-10 prospect Jalen Suggs announced his commitment to Gonzaga on Friday night, becoming the highest-ranked recruit in program history.

"I think Mark Few is the best coach in the country," Suggs said during his announcement on ESPN2.

Suggs, who had been rumored over the past few months to potentially go overseas for one season instead of college, confirmed during his announcement that it's a "very serious" option and that there have been talks with multiple professional teams.

Suggs took his official visit to Gonzaga in early October, and the Bulldogs were considered the heavy favorite for most of the past year. He took multiple trips to in-state Minnesota, but the Golden Gophers were consistently playing catch-up in his recruitment. Florida, Florida State and Iowa State rounded out Suggs' top five.

Suggs, a 6-foot-4 point guard from Minnehaha Academy (Minnesota), is also a high-level quarterback prospect, rating as a four-star prospect at ESPN. However, Suggs is not expected to play football in college. On the hardwood, Suggs is the No. 6 prospect in the ESPN 100 for 2020, slotting in as the No. 2 point guard behind Cade Cunningham.

Playing for the Grassroots Sizzle program on the Under Armour Association circuit last spring and summer, Suggs was the No. 2 overall scorer, averaging 20.2 points. He also finished top 10 in rebounds and assists, averaging 6.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists.

Suggs has won three gold medals with USA Basketball, representing them at the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup, 2018 FIBA U17 World Cup and 2017 FIBA Americas U16 Championship. He started all seven games at the U19 World Cup, averaging 9.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.4 steals.

Suggs is the third ESPN 100 commitment for Few and the Bulldogs in the 2020 class, following shooting guard Dominick Harris (No. 60) and Julian Strawther (No. 69).

The Cleveland Cavaliers say forward Larry Nance Jr. will miss one to two weeks due to left knee soreness.

Nance missed Cleveland's win against Atlanta on Dec. 23 due to the knee but has played in the Cavs' four games since.

The team said he underwent further testing on Friday and now will undergo "a period of treatment and rehabilitation" over the next one to two weeks.

Nance is averaging 8.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in 31 games this season.

WASHINGTON -- Washington point guard Isaiah Thomas was ejected in the first quarter of the Wizards' game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night for making contact with an official.

Thomas was tied up along the sideline by Portland's Carmelo Anthony with 10:32 left in the quarter. As he broke away from Anthony, he made contact with referee Marat Kogut, who stumbled into the crowd.

Thomas was given a technical foul and ejected. The call was reviewed and upheld.

The Wizards went on to lose 122-103.

"He made physical contact with the referee,'' crew chief Mark Ayotte said in a pool report. "It was definitely just a push during the dead ball contact with the referee.''

Wizards coach Scott Brooks thought the contact was accidental.

"I mean I had a different view of it obviously," he said. "They were in a scrum and they were fighting for the ball, a jump ball. I had a view that it looked like he lost his balance but [Kogut] had a better view and then they looked at it. They looked at it so you would hope they made the right call.''

Thomas wasn't in the locker room after the game.

"I didn't really pay much attention to the contact and I was standing right there," Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard said. "I thought he just fell into him. And that was it. They reviewed it and they kind of stood their ground on it. So I guess what they thought happened, happened.''

According to Elias Sports Bureau research, the previous player before Thomas to be ejected within the first two minutes of an NBA game was Utah's Greg Ostertag on Dec. 8, 2002, against the Lakers in Los Angeles.

Thomas received a two-game suspension after walking into the stands to confront two fans following a timeout in Philadelphia on Dec. 21.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Things are rarely boring with the New York Mets.

The latest example: a wild boar and Yoenis Cespedes.

The New York Post reported Friday that the fractured ankle Cespedes suffered in the spring came from a bizarre incident the injury-plagued outfielder had with an animal at his ranch in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

News of the injury itself isn't new. Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen told reporters in May that Cespedes suffered multiple right ankle fractures in what he called a "violent" fall on the outfielder's ranch that was not baseball-related. Details of what happened hadn't come out until the Post's story Friday, however.

Citing multiple sources, the newspaper reported that Cespedes caught a wild boar in one of several traps he sets up at his ranch to keep the animals away from people. In this case, the boar was taken out of the trap and "either charged toward Cespedes or startled him," per the Post, causing him to step into a hole and fracture the ankle.

According to the report, Cespedes immediately told Mets officials what had happened. Officials from the Mets, the commissioner's office and the players' union, as well as representatives for Cespedes, eventually visited the ranch and confirmed the validity of his story.

Cespedes agreed to a four-year, $110 million contract with the Mets in December 2016, but he hasn't played for the team since July 20, 2018. Injuries have been the problem. He had surgery to remove bone calcification from his right heel on Aug. 2, 2018, and from his left heel on Oct. 26, 2018. Those surgeries were expected to keep Cespedes sidelined for at least half of this past season, and then the ankle fractures ruined any hope he had of returning.

The sides have been battling over his contract since. New York withheld part of Cespedes' salary, alleging that he was hurt during an activity prohibited by his contract's guarantee language. The players' association filed a grievance, and the sides settled on an amended contract on Dec. 13 before the case was argued.

Cespedes had been owed $29 million for 2019, but that was cut to $14,811,828, according to Mets payroll information made available to all clubs and obtained by The Associated Press. His base salary of $29.5 million in 2020 was cut to $6 million, per the AP. However, if Cespedes doesn't start this season on the injured list because of the injuries suffered in the boar incident, his base salary would increase to $11 million and could grow further through incentives.

Cespedes' agent declined comment to the Post on its story.

A two-time All-Star, the 34-year-old Cespedes has played in only 119 games in the first three seasons of his contract and just 38 since the end of the 2017 season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Free-agent second baseman Starlin Castro has reached a two-year, $12 million deal with the Washington Nationals, a source familiar with the deal confirmed to ESPN's Jeff Passan on Friday.

The deal is pending a physical, the source said. The Athletic was the first to report the agreement.

Castro had a .270 batting average with 22 home runs and 86 RBIs last season for the Miami Marlins, who declined his $16 million option and instead paid a $1 million buyout on Nov. 1.

The 10-year veteran spent the first six seasons of his career with the Chicago Cubs before playing two seasons each with the New York Yankees and the Marlins. Castro has a .280 career average with 133 home runs and 636 RBIs.

AVONDALE, Ariz. – After a little more than two years as ISM Raceway, the venue located in Avondale, Ariz., has reverted to its former Phoenix Raceway name.

The change is the result of a mutual agreement to restructure the relationship between Phoenix Raceway and ISM Connect according to a statement from track officials.

“Phoenix Raceway and ISM Connect have mutually agreed to restructure their relationship and will discontinue its naming rights partnership,” the statement read. “We look forward to transitioning back to Phoenix Raceway, a brand that has built a strong affinity across the racing community since our opening in 1964. The repositioning of Phoenix Raceway aligns with NASCAR’s integrated sponsorship strategy and supports ISM Connect’s efforts to shift their focus from brand awareness to delivering their next generation technology at NASCAR facilities. We thank ISM Connect for their partnership as we look forward to a historic season for our track, culminating with the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway.”

ISM Connect and Phoenix Raceway announced the naming rights agreement in September in 2017 and the agreement took affect at the start of 2018.

TULSA, Okla. — The upcoming Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals may mark somewhat of a fresh start for Indiana’s Parker Price-Miller.

Price-Miller, who will make his sixth-straight attempt at the world’s largest midget race Jan. 13-18 inside the River Spirit Expo Center, has never made the Saturday A-main in his five prior tries.

Most of that time, he’s driven for his family-owned team. This year, however, will be a departure from that narrative for the 21-year-old native of Kokomo, Ind.

Price-Miller will strap in for veteran driver-turned-owner Johnny Herrera during the Chili Bowl, piloting the No. 45x Esslinger-powered Spike with support from JB Henderson, Rafter WM and Bevins Co.

It’s an opportunity which came about during the Dec. 12-15 PRI Trade Show in Indianapolis. Price-Miller had already filed a Chili Bowl entry for his own car.

“I’ve actually known Johnny for a while and we’ve been pretty close the past five years or so,” Price-Miller told Sprint Car & Midget. “I was actually at the PRI show and had already sent my entry form in for my own car and Johnny comes up to me and goes, ‘Hey, what are you doing for Chili Bowl?’ And I told him I was planning to go run my car, but he said that usually he rents his cars out and wanted to put someone in his other car but couldn’t find anyone.

“So he asked me if I’d want to do it and it was a pretty easy decision for me because those are good cars,” Price-Miller added. “Joey Saldana built the cars, raced them for a few years and then sold them and Johnny bought them. They’re the nicest cars in the building I think, and I’m pretty excited to have a chance to go and do this deal.”

The good news for Price-Miller is that, much like his personal car, Herrera’s midgets utilize the Esslinger engine package that the young Hoosier is already familiar with.

Where the challenge comes in, according to the driver, is figuring out the Spike Chassis.

“Different cars do different things and I know there will be a bit of a learning curve where that’s concerned, but at the same time I don’t run midgets enough to be able to tell as much,” Price-Miller noted. “I’m just going to go out there and gas it. I do know I’ll be used to the throttle control of the Esslinger, just because they’re a little bit more sporadic than what most Toyotas or SR-11s are. So that’s a positive for me, I do know that.”

While one might think being in an “arrive-and-drive” situation might relieve some stress for a driver, Price-Miller disputed that notion. In his mind, the need to perform is even greater.

“I feel like this deal puts more pressure on me because when I was driving for myself or my dad, we’re there to win but it’s not like we’re having to please someone else, if that makes sense,” Price-Miller explained. “When you drive for someone else, that’s someone else’s money and someone else’s car, so you have to be on top of your game to make them happy. So I feel like that makes more pressure.

“Not having to work on your car and just showing up to drive does make it easier on yourself, but unless you do your job better because of that, it doesn’t do a lot of good,” he continued. “The racing aspect, like I said, I feel like it carries a little bit more pressure, but Johnny’s raced before, and he knows how it goes. You could have bad luck; you could have good luck, but sometimes stuff doesn’t go your way.

“I feel like if we get some luck on our side and I do my job right, we’ll have a good shot of making the big show on Saturday night.”

Considering Price-Miller is coming off a season in which he picked up only one major sprint car victory – a win in a local 410 sprint car feature at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway in early July – he’s hoping this year’s Chili Bowl will finally break his run of futility in the championship feature and be the spark that leads to greener pastures.

However, he recognizes that making the finale comes one night and one race at a time.

“You’ve got to have stepping-stones, right? Obviously, our first goal is to end up in a good spot for Saturday to make the show,” said Price-Miller. “If we do that, I would say then it becomes to run in the top 10 and potentially even further on up.

“Ultimately, though, this is about going to have fun, having a good weekend and hopefully making Johnny and his sponsors proud. I’m excited for it and ready to get out to Tulsa. We’ll see if we can’t get some good luck going there and finally shake off some of the misfortune we dealt with last season.”

SPEED SPORT’s Chili Bowl coverage is presented by MyRacePass, the official timing and scoring app of the 2020 Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals. Fans can download the MyRacePass app on their phones to follow all the action during the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals. For more information on MyRacePass, visit www.myracepass.com and use the hashtag #GetTheApp on Twitter!

Former Dallas Stars coach Jim Montgomery is entering rehabilitation for alcohol abuse, he said in a statement on Friday.

Montgomery, who was abruptly fired on Dec. 10 due to "unprofessional conduct," says his dismissal was a "wake-up call."

"It was also the appropriate call," Montgomery said. "I let the team's front office, staff and players down. More importantly, I let my wife and my family down. The team's decision to end my role forced me to look into the mirror and decide whether I wanted to continue living a damaging lifestyle or get help. I decided to get help. I turned to professionals in the field of alcohol abuse for their guidance and counseling. It has been an overwhelming and a very humbling experience knowing that I am not alone."

Stars general manager Jim Nill told the Dallas Morning News that the organization is "supportive of this decision by Jim."

"We hope that by pursuing this help, he and his family will be stronger for it," Nill said. He said he would have no further comment.

The Stars had been careful in how they characterized their reasoning for firing Montgomery, saying there was no criminal investigation and that no Stars employees were involved in Montgomery's fireable offense. The decision was not based on performance either, as the Stars were in a playoff position when Montgomery was dismissed.

Montgomery, 50, was in his second season with the Stars after five seasons as coach of the University of Denver. He had two years left on his contract at $1.6 million per season. Montgomery was fired for cause, meaning the team is not on the hook for the salary.

Montgomery was arrested for DUI in Florida in 2008, an incident the Stars were aware of when they hired him.

Dallas finished fourth in the Central Division last season but made a run in the playoffs, losing in seven games in the second round to the eventual champion St. Louis Blues.

Rick Bowness has been serving as the Stars' interim coach, and the team has gone 6-3-1 under his watch -- including a 4-2 win over the Nashville Predators in the Winter Classic at the Cotton Bowl. The Stars are now in third place in the Central Division.

CHICAGO -- Eddie Jackson became the highest-paid safety in the NFL on Friday by agreeing to a four-year, $58.4 million contract extension with the Chicago Bears, according to Jackson's agency, SportsTrust Advisors.

The deal, with an average annual value of $14.6 million, includes $33 million in total guarantees.

A two-time Pro Bowl selection and former All-Pro, Jackson became a full-time starter (46 starts) shortly after the Bears drafted him in the fourth round out of Alabama in 2017.

The 26-year-old enjoyed a breakout year in 2018, when he finished fourth in the NFL with six interceptions, but he was forced to miss Chicago's home playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles because of injury.

Jackson scored five defensive touchdowns during the 2017 and 2018 seasons, which is tied for the most all time by a player in his first two NFL seasons. He joined Deion Sanders as the only players since 1970 to have three defensive touchdowns of 65-plus yards in a two-season span.

Jackson recorded 60 tackles, two interceptions and one sack while starting all 16 games this season as the Bears ended the year 8-8 and out of the playoffs.

Jackson is the first member of Chicago's 2017 draft class to sign an extension. On Tuesday, Bears general manager Ryan Pace gave a vote of confidence to quarterback Mitchell Trubisky (chosen second overall in 2017) but stopped short of announcing whether the Bears would exercise Trubisky's fifth-year option or offer him an extension.