On the subject of Lionel Messi, let me take you back to Sunday, Oct. 6, at Camp Nou.

Six-time Ballon d'Or winner he might now be, but at that stage, his season had already been scarred by injury, disappointment and defeat. Plus, it had been revealed that, shockingly, he could walk away from Barcelona -- for free -- in June. It was already the eighth week of term, and Messi had started only one La Liga match, played a total of 90 minutes domestically and been defeated at Granada.

That October night, Barcelona were 3-0 up by the 78th minute, but their No. 10 hadn't scored or created any of the goals.

Messi jogged up and launched a curling free kick into the top left corner of Tomas Vaclik's goal, over the head of Daniel Carrico, who'd retreated to the goal line. It was a single, gleaming moment of Messi magic peaking through the unrelenting gloom that had dogged him since July, when Argentina lost the semifinal of the Copa America to Brazil, and the little genius was, quite ludicrously, sent off during the third-place game against Chile.

However, take note.

From Oct. 6 until now, we've witnessed the kind of behaviour that not only guaranteed Messi the Ballon d'Or again (voting closed in early November) but also underlined his status as one of the most special men ever to pull on football boots. From that day until this, Barcelona have scored 21 times and surged to the top of both La Liga and their Champions League group, and Messi has either created or converted 17 of those goals.

Now let me take you back a couple of weeks before that sublime free kick: Messi breaks down just before half-time against Villarreal. TV camera microphones catch him saying to the club's physio: "I can't break down again. I can't break down."

He's on the side of the pitch, desperately hoping that the inner-thigh massage he has been given can clear the muscle pain and he can resume. To his left (injured and dropped, respectively) Ivan Rakitic and Samuel Umtiti loom over him in the front row of the Camp Nou stand, but they're watching the match. Right behind him is his personal aide-de-camp, Pepe Costa, who has been inseparable from Messi for many years. His face is like thunder; he knows the agony his friend and client is suffering.

But I think people misinterpreted Messi's sentiments that night. To many it sounded like, and was interpreted as, a personal lament.

Given how he has hoisted a confused, confusing and inconsistent Barcelona onto his shoulders since his return against Sevilla, it can retrospectively be understood as him stating, out loud in anguish to the night sky, that he feared that if he were seriously injured, having been out for weeks with a calf problem, by the time he returned, his team's season would be in tatters.

Jump to the Wanda Metropolitano on Sunday and the magnificent way Messi, who knew by then that he was the Ballon d'Or winner, chose to celebrate his coronation by spearing Atletico Madrid through their soul.

Don't for a second think that his mind had drifted 24 hours forward to the ceremony in Paris, but nevertheless, Messi played extremely strangely. When he trudged around the Metropolitano pitch, he looked more disaffected than mentally dissecting Atletico.

Remember that phrase Pep Guardiola used about Messi conducting mental X-rays of surrounding gaps and opportunities while he strolled around the playing surface? This wasn't that. He miscontrolled, he chose his route with the ball mistakenly more often than not, and he gave possession away such that he was forced to race back three quarters of the pitch to try to correct his error. Like it or not, this was an off night for Mr. Ballon d'Or.

By now you know that he eventually remedied that -- and spectacularly so. But what the world's first six-time Ballon d'Or winner did, and how he produced the executioner's touch in Madrid late on Sunday, was extremely illuminating.

Recently, I interviewed Antoine Griezmann. Not only is he not buckling under the responsibility of unlearning one skill set and relearning another, but he is also completely sure that he's on target, given how tough he anticipated the process would be. Although by his own admission he is shy, not likely to try to inveigle his way into the Messi-Luis Suarez circle of trust, Griezmann is also quite clear that he has the mean determination and work rate to earn the respect and acceptance of the two senior men of war up front for Barcelona.

To help complete this puzzle and to further our understanding of Messi and his fiefdom, just take those themes from Griezmann and build them into your appreciation of Barcelona's past two games.

On Wednesday, Barcelona thumped Borussia Dortmund with their three principal strikers, Argentinian-Uruguayan-Frenchman, all scoring in the same match for just the second time. Afterward, Suarez called Griezmann's performance "sensational." He then added that once Barcelona went 2-0 up and thought they had the match under control, "Messi and I sought out Antoine with the ball, as we've done with others before him, in the knowledge that it was 'costing' him to convert chances into goals. Helping him and him getting that first Champions League goal for Barca was important for his confidence."

There's nothing outright negative about the statement, but it's a clear signal that helping Griezmann integrate, feel confident, score goals and turn a duopoly into a trident as they did with Neymar is far down the list of priorities. It was a touch patronising, but there you have it.

So back to Sunday.

By the time Thomas Lemar has made his lame attempt at a cross-field diagonal ball to release Vitolo and Sergi Roberto has cut it out by heading it down to Frenkie de Jong, Messi is about to receive the ball with five minutes left. Oddly, the Dutchman either notices his team leader and in-house genius and deliberately ignores him at first or De Jong is fixated on the idea of a long diagonal ball to his left in order to release the French World Cup winner and thus doesn't see the infinitely easier pass to Messi, who's about 25 metres away, as opposed to 50.

Messi waves his arms in the air, signifying both a desire to get the ball now and a disbelieving frustration (make that astonishment) that he hasn't been given it instantly. You've likely seen what happens next.

While Sergi Roberto's dummy run into the box takes one defender away and tricks Thomas Partey into a 180 he didn't need to make, Messi cuts left, across the front of the penalty area, and has the ball at his laser-controlled left boot. Atleti are in deep, deep trouble.

What looms in front of him -- and I honestly mean it couldn't have been more obvious if there were a yellow brick road to follow or a celestial, fluorescent sign with the words "Give. The. Ball. To. Griezmann." -- is a super simple chance to slide a pass into the Frenchman's path. He is open beyond belief. After he was harangued, whistled and abused all night, it would have been storybook of storybooks had the loathed Griezmann scored Barcelona's winning goal past Jan Oblak.

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But Messi isn't even interested.

The one-two pass he plays with Suarez is executed superbly, but it's the more difficult option, and instead of a little shunt of the ball into Griezmann's scoring zone, the Argentinian and Uruguayan have taken the opportunity into a more crowded, potentially more threatening area. Of course Messi scores -- with barely a backlift of his left boot, with such a powerful parabola that Oblak is still leaping at full stretch when the Puma-branded sphere stretches the netting behind him.

It was a moment to justify all those who'd already voted for Messi for the Ballon d'Or ahead of Virgil van Dijk, who said he thought the award belonged to Barcelona's Argentinian (despite his team's defeating Messi's team 4-0 at Anfield last spring -- how amazing a point of view is that?) It was a moment to make the ultra-competitive Diego Simeone stop, shrug, applaud in honest admiration and shrug again, as if to say: "Can't argue with genius." It was a moment to understand Griezmann's predicament.

Messi and Suarez, so long as they are athletically able to, take care of business. They view it as their responsibility; they are willing to donate a goal to Griezmann when the serious heavy lifting is already done. It's like parents who do the driving but are willing to ride along with their learner's-permit-toting kid on Sundays. Griezmann's task is to mix patience with aggression and do special enough things that Messi & Suarez Inc. are shocked into offering a junior partnership rather than a salaried post.

We are in December. In terms of points, determination, physical well-being and lifting the only trophies so far available to him, Messi, and by definition Barcelona, couldn't have achieved a great deal more. Whether this momentum is sufficient to beat Real Madrid at Camp Nou in a fortnight, whether it's sufficient to power Barcelona past the European pretenders who play heavy-metal football in March and April, whether this precarious role for Messi running, dribbling and scoring with a good number of teammates on his back is sufficient to win trophies, we will have to wait and see.

You'd suspect not.

Just to return to the point, Messi knew it that day in September when he lay injured, distraught and fearful on the turf at Camp Nou against Villarreal. Without him for a long spell, Barcelona would not collapse but would, slowly, be exposed as mere mortals. As it is, he's having to do so much heavy lifting, to creak under such responsibility, that the individual trophies inevitably come his way.

But La Liga and the Champions League? They look far more out of reach than Barcelona's various points totals suggest.

The Cricket South Africa board has come under severe criticism from its widely respected former president, Norman Arendse, and major sponsors Standard Bank, who in separate statements over the past 24 hours have called on the administrators to "clean up their act" and "account for the current crisis in South African cricket".

Arendse, who also served as the organisation's lead independent director until just over a year ago, wrote an open letter to the "cricket-loving fraternity", in which he accused the CSA board of failing in its responsibilities and asked it to "act before it's too late" to put CSA on a more secure and sustainable footing.

He has also called on the CSA Board to hold CEO Thabang Moroe and "those who have been complicit" accountable.

These statements followed similar concerns over the state of the game voiced by the South African National Editors' Forum (SANEF) and the South African Cricketers' Association (SACA). They came after five journalists - including this correspondent - had their accreditation revoked by CSA on Sunday; they were given no reasons for their sanction but CSA CEO Thabang Moroe later said in radio interviews that the board was unhappy with their reporting and had requested meetings to discuss this but the quintet refused. All five have since been informed that their match access has been reactivated.

This was the final straw for many in a protracted series of problems for CSA, which are now being pinned on the board. ESPNcricinfo has been informed that some board members are considering resignation as soon as this week.

"The CSA Board has simply abdicated its fiduciary responsibilities by failing to act with the due care, skill and diligence required of it by the Companies Act, and the CSA Constitution," Arendse wrote. "To the extent that the CSA Members' Council are aware of the above mentioned shortcomings and failures of governance, they too must share responsibility, and be held accountable.

"I, therefore, call on the Board and the Members' Council to meet urgently to consider the matters raised in this letter, and to hold the CEO (and those who have been complicit) to account," Arendse wrote.

Among the issues Arendse raised were CSA's proposed domestic restructure, which would eliminate the six-team franchise system and put in a 12-team provincial competition instead, and CSA's failure to appoint a lead independent director. Arendse's chief concern was the financial situation at CSA, with the organisation projecting losses of R654 million (USD44 million approx) in the next four-year cycle. "The future sustainability of cricket is also at grave risk given the public CSA pronouncement of a projected shortfall of hundreds of millions of Rands. It appears that the culling of franchise cricket as we know it is a direct response to CSA's financial woes," Arendse said.

Thabang Moroe, CSA CEO, said in response to Arendse's statement: "Cricket South Africa has noted the open letter from Adv Arendse and we respect his views. The most important issue right now is for CSA to demonstrate a level of stability and start moving towards its former days of glory. This for us is not only important for the brand, but more so the fans of cricket and the future of the sport of cricket in this country."

Also on Monday, Standard Bank demanded a meeting with CSA to discuss what it called "governance and conduct media reports which have brought the game into disrepute". ESPNcricinfo understands that Standard Bank demanded CSA "clean up their act" ahead of their sponsorship renewal negotiations.

SANEF and SACA also both condemned CSA's actions in revoking media accreditation with SACA linking the issue to its own struggle to communicate with the governing body. "This is not ... dissimilar to what SACA has had to endure over the last nine months, during which we have been barred from CSA sub-committees, denied access to critical information necessary for us to represent the players and had our agreements breached with impunity," Tony Irish, the SACA CEO, said. "It is clear to us that things are getting worse, not better."

SACA is still embroiled in a legal battle with CSA over the domestic restructure, which SACA says could see around 70 cricketers lose their jobs. It too called on CSA's board to act. "On behalf of the 310 professional cricketers which we represent we are now left to publically implore the Directors of CSA to exercise their fiduciary duties by acting to deal with these issues and to protect the game from further damage. The players not only care deeply about the game but also understand that their careers depend on its health and sustainability. From a players' point of view we therefore want to see solutions to the current problems, and for the game to be returned to a healthy position as a matter of priority."

SANEF asked CSA to "respect the independence of the media" and to "refrain from trying to influence coverage through intimidation tactics". The body said it would monitor the situation and take further steps if necessary.

Naseem Shah, the 16-year-old Pakistan fast bowler who made heads turn during the recent senior-team tour of Australia, is expected to return to the national Under-19 ranks and link up with the rest of the squad as they prepare for the Under-19 World Cup early next year in South Africa.

"He is my main weapon and I need him there at the World Cup," Ijaz Ahmed, the head coach of the Pakistan Under-19 team, told ESPNcricinfo. "He now has a taste of international cricket and now, at the home [Test] series against Sri Lanka, we are mainly banking on spinners. Pakistan have [Mohammad] Abbas and Shaheen [Afridi] to lead the fast-bowling attack according to the conditions.

"I feel he [Shah] for now should only be used in conditions like in New Zealand, England, etc, when needed. For now, we have a very important event coming up in South Africa and he is very handy for me and I will ask Misbah [ul-Haq, the chief coach and selector] to release him."

Shah was named in the original World Cup squad, and ESPNcricinfo understands that he will be released to prepare and take part in the tournament.

Shah, who has just seven first-class matches under his belt, made an impact during Pakistan's two-Test series in Australia. He had been all the talk even before he landed in Australia, with footage of his exploits in a short domestic career going viral. He didn't bowl in the first innings of the Pakistanis' tour game against Australia A following the death of his mother, but impressed during an eight-over burst in the second innings, bowling with pace and picking up the wicket of Marcus Harris.

He made his Test debut in the first game, in Brisbane, and sent back David Warner with a brute of a short ball that the batsman, then on 154, could only edge through to the wicketkeeper. Shah had found Warner's edge earlier too, but was denied the wicket as he had overstepped. He was dropped for the second Test, in Adelaide.

New Zealand are "quietly optimistic" that Trent Boult and Colin de Grandhomme will be fit to play in Australia.

Boult and de Grandhomme missed the second Test against England after sustaining injuries during the victory in Mount Maunganui. And while New Zealand coach, Gary Stead, admits it is too early to know for sure if the pair will be available for the Perth Test on December 12, he described progress so far as "encouraging".

Both players will be obliged to step up their rehabilitation in the coming days. While they have had gentle bowls over the last couple of days, they will be pressed a little harder on Wednesday and then expected to deliver "a decent spell" on Friday. Only after that will a decision be taken on whether they fly to Perth on Saturday.

If either of them struggle to get through those sessions, Stead suggested a replacement would be called into the squad.

"Both Colin and Trent are progressing well, which is encouraging for us," Stead said. "Colin could have kept bowling through the last Test so he's probably just a little more advanced. But Trent actually rocked up really well today.

"Both have rolled their arm over at a very low level in the last two days. But both are going to have to prove their fitness a couple of days out from the first Test and bowl a decent spell of 10-12 overs at least over two or three spells.

"I don't know if I'm really confident, but I'm quietly optimistic they're tracking where we want them to be. But it's a long way to go if we know they're not going to play, so it's likely we'd look at replacements."

In an ideal world, New Zealand would probably have time to reflect on an excellent series victory over England - their fifth home series win in succession and their second over England in little more than 18 months - before heading into another Test campaign. But such are the schedules in modern international cricket that they will instead be obliged to go into a day-night Test in Perth without any sort of warm-up game. Instead, three training sessions - two of which are under lights - will have to suffice.

"It's just another thing to adapt to," captain Kane Williamson said phlegmatically. "Such is the international schedule. We fly out in a couple of days, have a bit of training and we're straight into another match. So it is quite a quick turnaround.

"The conditions - the surfaces - are quite different. They will bounce a bit more. This was a brilliant series win for us, but we're going to have to adapt quickly. We know it's tough - a lot of the guys have been there before - and we know they're very strong, clinical in their own [backyard]. We'll look forward to the challenge."

Williamson also confirmed that opener Jeet Raval, who endured a miserable series, would be retained for the Australia series. Raval made just 24 runs in the series falling to a couple of loose shots in his first two innings and failing to review a leg-before decision which replays show he hit in his third. His most recent seven Test innings have produced five single-figure scores - including two ducks - and a best of just 33.

But his long-term record is decent - he scored his maiden Test century only six Tests ago - and New Zealand have not lost faith in him at this stage.

"These things happen," Williamson said of Raval's grim series. "He has had a number of successful times at the top of the order with Tom Latham and he has been up against a really strong bowling attack here against England. He's been playing well and he's been very successful. He'll be turning his focus to Australia now."

A 213-run partnership between Williamson and Ross Taylor shepherded New Zealand to safety on the final day in Hamilton. Despite resuming with their side still in deficit, the pair both completed centuries - Williamson's 21st at Test level; Taylor's 19th - to ensure the draw. During the course of his innings, Taylor also became the second New Zealand batsman to make 7,000 Test runs (Stephen Fleming is the other) and passed 1,000 Test runs at Seddon Park. This was his sixth Test century at the ground in 12 Tests.

While Williamson admitted he had been fortunate to survive a remarkable dropped chance to Joe Denly - it really was as simple as they come at this level - such is his confidence at present, he hinted that he was a bit disappointed that the rain curtailed this Test denying New Zealand the chance to chase victory.

"It was a great effort form the guys after being slightly up against it after the first innings," he said. "A lot of hard work went into saving the match in the end when rain didn't allow us time to win it. But overall it was a really good effort. Ross' record here is incredible.

"The catch? It was fairly simply. No doubt Joe Denly is disappointed. The bowler, Jofra Archer, certainly was. I was very fortunate. You don't get many opportunities like that."

Follow all the news updates in the lead-up to the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy here

December 3

Suryakumar Yadav is the new Mumbai captain

Mumbai, Ranji Trophy champions on 41 occasions, will begin the 2019-20 season with a new captain. The Mumbai Cricket Association announced in-form top-order batsman Suryakumar Yadav as the leader of the 15-man squad. He takes over from fast bowler Dhawal Kulkarni, who led the side last season in the red-ball competition when regular captain Shreyas Iyer was away on national duty.

Aditya Tare, the wicketkeeper-batsman, was named vice-captain for their first match against Baroda, with star players Ajinkya Rahane, Prithvi Shaw and Shardul Thakur also in the mix.

Sarfaraz Khan, the big-hitting middle-order batsman who moved to Mumbai last year from Uttar Pradesh, also found a spot in the squad after recovering from an injury he picked up at the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He did not feature in the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy season after switching because of the mandatory one-year cooling-off period.

Vijay Shankar to lead Tamil Nadu, M Vijay returns

Tamil Nadu allrounder Vijay Shankar has been handed the team's captaincy for the first time in the Ranji Trophy, following their squad announcement for the first two matches, against Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh.

R Ashwin and M Vijay will also turn out for Tamil Nadu, with the latter having recovered from an ankle injury that saw him sidelined from the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Baba Aparajith will be Shankar's deputy.

It is understood that Vijay Shankar pipped Ashwin to the captaincy role since the Test spinner may not be available when India tour New Zealand in January 2020 for a Test series.

New Zealand have been awarded the Christopher Martin-Jenkins Spirit of Cricket award for their "sporting conduct" in the aftermath of the World Cup final at Lord's.

Kane Williamson's side were beaten to the trophy after a tied super over in the final by virtue of having scored fewer boundaries, and were praised by the judging panel for their "sportsmanship, humility and selflessness in defeat" following Jos Buttler's run-out of Martin Guptill.

The award, created in 2013 by the MCC and the BBC in memory of the broadcasting great, is presented annually to the player or team that has "best epitomised the principles of playing hard but fair".

Kumar Sangakkara, the MCC president, said New Zealand were "worthy winners" of the award.

"In the heat of battle they displayed a level of sportsmanship that was fitting for such a fantastic final, and indeed tournament.

"It is a testament to their squad that even after a match that will live long in the memory for the cricket that was played, we are still talking about the Spirit of Cricket. Their actions deserve this recognition."

Williamson was presented with the award during the drawn Test in Hamilton this week.

SEATTLE -- Seahawks cornerback Tre Flowers and receiver David Moore went from puking to producing Monday night.

Those two were among the hardest hit by a flu bug that started making its way through the Seahawks' locker room midway through last week. They combined to lose at least 22 pounds by their counts then made two of the biggest plays of the Seahawks' 37-30 win over the Minnesota Vikings -- an interception from Flowers and a 60-yard touchdown reception from Moore.

Six Seahawks were listed on their final injury report of the week with an illness. Several of them were sent home. Flowers stuck around and practiced with an anti-viral facemask covering his mouth and at one point on Wednesday vomited in a garbage can in between plays.

"That's the first time I've ever seen somebody do that, practice with a mask," linebacker K.J. Wright said. "But he battled. He was sick but he came back and got his IVs and made it happen."

Moore didn't practice Friday or Saturday. The Seahawks had Thursday off for Thanksgiving

"It was on Thanksgiving Day. I was just like, screw this," said Moore, who lost at least 10 pounds. "I couldn't eat. That's one of my favorite holidays too because of ... the food. I just felt bad. I couldn't eat my mom's foot. I felt sorry for her."

Flowers lost about 12 pounds and was sniffling in between responses while talking to reporters postgame. He didn't eat much on Thanksgiving, either.

"Thanksgiving was only one plate for me," Flowers said. "It was bad. My mom's here now though. She's cooking, so I'm going to get it all back. I'm going to try to tonight."

Moore's touchdown came in the closing seconds of the third quarter when he got wide open behind cornerback Xavier Rhodes on an apparent coverage bust. That pushed Seattle's lead to 27-17. Moore's other catch went for 5 yards.

Tyler Lockett, who was among the sick Seahawks, was held without a catch on three targets.

"It was pretty bad," quarterback Russell Wilson said. "I don't know if we've ever had that many guys miss practice and go home. Not just miss practice, but have to go home for it. So it's that time of year, I guess. But I thought all the guys played great. ... You saw David Moore step in and just make a huge play for us, tremendous play. Tyler didn't get the ball tonight unfortunately, but we were trying to get it to him and they were just trying to stop him, but it opened up a lot of other guys."

Defensive tackle Poona Ford, linebacker Shaquem Griffin and backup guard Jordan Roos were the other three Seahawks listed with an illness. Ford started the game while Griffin played special teams and on defense as a situational edge rusher.

"I know a lot of teams had this flu thing, and it was legit," coach Pete Carroll said. "Our guys did it beautifully, because they really managed the attitude part of it and I'm really thrilled about that, because when you're feeling that cruddy and that bad, and you're throwing up and everything else you're doing, it's hard to have a good attitude. But these guys found a way and guys contributed to helping them and it was not a factor for us at all tonight. We played right through it."

Flowers' fourth-quarter interception of Kirk Cousins was his second pick in as many games and third this season to lead the team. He was a safety at Oklahoma State before converting to cornerback when Seattle drafted him in the fifth round last year.

"He's really doing well," Carroll said. "He's playing better. He's playing more complete a game, and his mentality is really strong and he's really believing in himself. It's such a difficult position to play out there, and particularly for a guy that doesn't have it in his history. He's really grown into his own. He's such a beautiful athlete and he's such a good competitor, and he's a tough guy. It's great to see him coming through and making it."

Highly-rated Western Australia allrounder Cameron Green believes he 'is a few good years' from being ready for international cricket despite calls from Ricky Ponting for him to be included in Australia's squad for the upcoming Test series against New Zealand.

Green, 20, made his second Sheffield Shield century in three matches in a thrilling win over South Australia. He also has two five-wicket hauls in just 11 first-class games and is averaging 37.71 with the bat and 21.53 with the ball, although he hasn't bowled in the last two Shield games as a precaution after experiencing some back soreness earlier in the season. He already had a long history of back trouble and, at 200cm tall, he is being carefully managed by the medical staff.

Ponting told cricket.com.au that Green could be included in an extended squad against New Zealand, as a "left-field decision" to give the youngster a taste of the international environment without actually playing. This came days after Western Australia team-mate Marcus Stoinis said Green "could be the best allrounder Australia has had" during the match against South Australia.

However, Green was very quick to play down both sets of comments and dampened the excitement around his immediate international prospects.

"I did read that, [they are] incredibly nice words from Ricky," Green said. "But I think it's still a bit premature, to be honest. Obviously he's got a pretty massive word in Australian cricket. But I think at the same time he said it would be a pretty left-field move, and I totally agree with that.

"I think it's still way too early to be taking those comments pretty heavily. I've only played a couple of games as a batsman in the WA squad. I haven't really got those runs on the board, to be honest. I may have got a couple of good scores out of the way, but I'm definitely a good few years off I'd say."

Green, who was due to have another MRI on Tuesday, is still not bowling again and may have to wait until the BBL after experiencing back pain in the match against Queensland. He had fears of yet another stress fracture but the scans were clear.

"I thought it was pretty serious," Green said. "I've had three or four back injuries in the past that actually didn't hurt while doing everything else apart from bowling. This one, my back was actually pretty sore in the field and at home so I actually thought it was going to be a lot worse but the scan actually came up absolutely clear. My back was fine. I'm not really sure what was causing the pain but I was just sore."

Green burst onto the scene in 2017 having been given a rookie contract by Western Australia while he was still at school in Perth. He took a five-wicket haul on Shield debut against Tasmania in Hobart and played twice more that summer, but further back trouble in 2017-18 meant he did not play any Shield cricket that season. He played four matches early last season but again was managed after the BBL break due to ongoing back issues.

However, despite not bowling at the moment Green still wants to be a genuine allrounder. "Coming through as a junior I've always seen myself as a genuine allrounder," he said. "At times for WA, I was definitely a bowling allrounder, batting nine or ten and not scoring too many runs. So I'm pretty happy I'm getting a couple of runs out the way but in the future, I'd like to be a genuine allrounder."

He has been gleaning as much advice as he can off Stoinis about the allrounder's role. The pair shared a 122-run stand on day one against South Australia to dig WA out of a hole, but Green has paid more attention to Stoinis' bowling. "He thinks about the game so much and every single time he gets a wicket I go up and ask did you change anything, just trying to take little hints of what he does," Green said.

Green's batting was a major strength as a junior. He was a top-order player all through his schoolboy and underage cricket and has three first-grade centuries batting high in the top six for his WACA Premier club Subiaco-Floreat. His fast-track to Shield level came through his raw ability with the ball rather than the bat, where from 200cm he can bowl at close to 140kph and swing the ball away from the right-handers with a semi side-in action.

But his run-glut this season comes as no surprise. He credits a minor technical adjustment, with a return to a more natural stance and set-up. Green is an extremely orthodox player and as a junior he batted with a traditional bat tap and late pick up, like his hero Ponting, but last season he veered away from that set up to stand still with his bat raised upon delivery which left him feeling a touch rigid.

"I think it's just getting that confidence," Green said. "I've always been able to hold the stick in a way, it was just having that confidence to do it at this level. As a junior growing up it was those steps from second grade to first grade, from first grade to Futures [League], and then Futures to Shield. It's not always your ability, it's probably more the confidence you've got that you can play at that level. Probably getting two scores out of the way probably gave me that confidence."

SEATTLE -- Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook suffered an injury to his right shoulder in the third quarter of Monday night's game against the Seahawks and did not return.

Cook was injured on the first play of the Vikings' second drive after halftime. Upon receiving a handoff at the 8:56 mark, Seattle defensive end Rasheem Green punched the ball free from Cook's arm, forcing a fumble. Cook was tripped up and fell to the ground, where he remained for several minutes and looked to be in apparent pain while being tended to by athletic trainers on the field.

Vikings receiver Stefon Diggs was also injured on the play but was able to return to the game on Minnesota's following drive. Cook went straight back to the locker room but later returned to the sideline.

Cook, the Vikings' leading rusher, had nine carries for 29 yards and a touchdown along with three receptions for 35 yards.

Minnesota was already dealing with the absence of wide receiver Adam Thielen, who was ruled out Sunday with a lingering hamstring injury. Left tackle Riley Reiff was ruled out late in the third quarter with a concussion.

The Vikings lost 37-30 and are now 8-4 on the season.

Georgetown basketball players Josh LeBlanc and Galen Alexander received restraining orders in November resulting from accusations of harassment and burglary, and freshman Myron Gardner was accused of "sexual harassment and assault," according to one of the filings.

According to court records obtained by ESPN, a Georgetown student filed Nov. 5 for a restraining order against LeBlanc and Alexander.

"In response to an alleged burglary that I believe Joshua LeBlanc committed against me on September 16, 2019, Joshua threatened bodily harm against myself and my roommate," the complaint read. "He continued to threaten me verbally and via text message in the following week."

The restraining order request was granted Nov. 20, after LeBlanc and Alexander did not appear at a Nov. 14 hearing. Both players came off the bench for Georgetown in an 81-66 loss to Penn State that night.

On Nov. 12, the student's roommate filed for a separate restraining order against Gardner, LeBlanc and Alexander. In the restraining order, she accused Gardner of sexually harassing and assaulting her on Sept. 15, and said her home was burglarized by Gardner, LeBlanc and Alexander on Sept. 16.

She also noted she filed complaints with both the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington and Georgetown University Police Department.

A hearing for her restraining order request was pushed back to Dec. 9.

Alexander has played in all seven games for Georgetown this season, while LeBlanc and Gardner have played in six.

Georgetown announced Monday that LeBlanc and starting point guard James Akinjo were leaving the program. Akinjo, last season's Big East Freshman of the Year, was not mentioned in either of the complaints.

"Georgetown University men's basketball players James Akinjo and Josh LeBlanc will not be playing for the men's basketball team effective immediately and will not be members of the team for the remainder of the season," the school's statement read.

The school did not give a reason for Akinjo and LeBlanc's departures and has not made any announcements regarding Gardner or Alexander.

It did release an updated statement on Monday night following the discovery of potential legal issues.

"Georgetown takes student conduct issues very seriously and ensures that they are investigated thoroughly. While we are not able to comment on specific cases, we have processes for investigating and adjudicating alleged violations for our student code that are fair to both parties. We encourage any student who has a concern to be in contact with the Georgetown University Police Department or the Office of Student Conduct."

ESPN's Mark Schlabach and Myron Medcalf contributed to this report.