DALLAS -- The LA Clippers have yet to lose a game in which both of their perennial All-Star offseason acquisitions have played, but Paul George considers his pairing with Kawhi Leonard a "work in progress" on the offensive end.

The Clippers improved to 4-0 when they have Leonard and George in the lineup, beating the Dallas Mavericks 114-99 on Tuesday with the type of smothering defensive performance expected of a team that added two wings with All-Defensive pedigrees.

The victory marked the first time that Leonard and George each scored at least 20 points in a game as teammates. George, who was sidelined until Nov. 14 due to his recovery from offseason surgeries on both shoulders, scored 26 on 8-of-21 shooting. Leonard, who missed George's first three games due to knee soreness, scored a game-high 28 points on 11-of-21 shooting from the floor.

"Offensively, we're still figuring it out," George said. "We're still a work in progress, but I think defensively is where each game we're getting better and better. Not even from just me and him, but from the team overall. We're doing stuff instinctively now where we're not even thinking.

"It's just happening. It's a natural habit that we're creating. That's what's most scary because everybody is kind of thinking the same thing when we're on the defensive end, and we're just scrambling."

Mavs point guard Luka Doncic, the 20-year-old superstar who was coming off his first Western Conference player of the week award, endured the painful experience of being the focal point of a Clippers defensive game plan.

Doncic finished 22 points, eight rebounds and six assists, well below his season averages in each category. He was 4-of-14 from the floor and missed all eight of his 3-point attempts, scoring the majority of his points from the free throw line, where he was 14-of-16. Doncic committed seven of the Mavs' 20 turnovers.

"We came out with a defensive mindset on the road," Leonard said. "Wanted to do the best job we could on Luka. He's been killing it lately, playing at a very, very high level. We just wanted to make it difficult for him tonight, get some deflections, and I think we were able to do that."

Doncic left the American Airlines Center without talking to the media. He had multiple discussions with the officials throughout the game, expressing his displeasure with calls that weren't made on a night when he had his second-highest total of free throws attempted this season.

"It was frustrating because he got hit and knocked on the floor a couple of times early," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "Teams are physical with him. They want to make him feel contact. They want him to hit the floor as often as possible. It wears down great players, but he stayed in the game. He didn't let frustrations with the officials get to him."

Patrick Beverley, Rodney McGruder, Maurice Harkless, Leonard and George all took turns as the primary defender against Doncic. Even when Doncic was able to drive, he had to deal with the Clippers' swarming help defense, particularly the long limbs and strong hands of Leonard and George.

"You have two wing players that are probably the most physical wing players -- and the most athletic wing players -- in the game," Carlisle said. "They are big, they are strong, and they are highly skilled."

George and Leonard are in the process of figuring out how their versatile offensive games can best mesh. Their combined point total has increased in each of their four games together, ticking up from 42 to 43 to 44 before jumping to 54 against the Mavericks.

George scorched the Mavs for 17 of his 26 points in the first quarter, when he was 5-of-9 from the floor and 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Leonard scored only two points on 1-of-6 shooting in the first quarter but was a dominant offensive force the rest of the game, bullying Dallas defenders to score all but two of his buckets in the paint.

In 94 minutes this season, lineups featuring George and Leonard have scored 105.4 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com stats. That's a pedestrian number, but the defensive rating (98.5) is elite.

"That's who we are as a team," said George, who had six steals in the win. "We pride ourselves on defense. Offensively, we've got guys that can score the ball, but we want to make it tough on a nightly basis on whoever we're playing.

"We knew coming into this, we knew what the Clippers had already, and we knew what we could bring. That's what we're doing right now. We're becoming one of the best defensive teams in the league."

MONTREAL -- The Boston Bruins continue to dominate the Montreal Canadiens ... and continue to revel in it.

David Pastrnak recorded his second hat trick of the season, and the Eastern Conference-leading Bruins routed the Canadiens 8-1 on Tuesday. Boston is 8-2-1 in its past 11 games against Montreal.

Jake DeBrusk, Brad Marchand, Anders Bjork, Charlie Coyle and Danton Heinen also scored for the Bruins (16-3-5), who have won four straight and made quick work of their rivals, racing to a 3-1 lead after the first period that grew to 6-1 by the end of the second.

"This is probably the rink that we love to silence the most. We're not going to say the game's over by any means," Marchand told NESN at the end of the second. "Anything could happen. We've seen that already this year. But it's a lot more fun when this rink is quiet, you know, because they're very loud and obnoxious. So it does feel good to silence them."

Mission accomplished, though it was not without effort from the Montreal side. In fact, the Canadiens outshot Boston 37-24, but Bruins backup Jaroslav Halak made 36 saves and improved to 6-0-0 against Carey Price, his former teammate in Montreal.

Marchand, Coyle, David Krejci and Torey Krug had two assists apiece, and Sean Kuraly had three for the Bruins, who will take on the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday, as their road trip continues.

Captain Shea Weber scored the only goal for the Canadiens (11-8-5), who have lost five straight.

Price gave up five goals on 11 shots before being pulled in the second period. Keith Kinkaid stopped 10 of 13 shots in relief.

Boston extended its points streak to eight games (5-0-3) and moved ahead of Washington atop the conference standings.

Claude Julien made no changes to a Canadiens team that blew a four-goal lead and lost 6-5 to the New York Rangers on Saturday.

Price gave up six goals on 34 shots to the Rangers and struggled even more against the Bruins, who were without Patrice Bergeron (lower-body injury).

A nice give-and-go led to DeBrusk's opener on the power play at 8:03 of the first period. Weber tied the game at 12:41 on a rebound at the side of the net.

That's when Pastrnak got to work on his seventh career hat trick. The NHL's leading goal scorer, Pastrnak beat Price with a one-timer on the power play at 14:24 for Boston's second score on five shots.

Marchand made it 3-1 on a bad giveaway by Jeff Petry behind his own net with 37 seconds remaining in the first. It was the winger's 600th NHL point. Price conceded three goals on eight shots in the first.

Pastrnak's goal eight seconds into the second period sealed Montreal's fate, and Bjork gave Boston a 5-1 lead on a breakaway a minute later.

Julien took a timeout and pulled Price, marking the first time that had happened since Dec. 9, 2017.

Pastrnak completed his hat trick when he deflected Brandon Carlo's shot past Kinkaid at 9:06 of the second. Pastrnak has 23 goals in 24 games this season.

Coyle made it 7-1 on a one-timer at 8:26 of the third as fans left Bell Centre. Heinen added an eighth for Boston with 2:02 left.

MSK Prasad, in all likelihood India's outgoing chief selector, has hinted that "constitutional changes" within the board might have diminished the travelling selector's role in a few contentious selection calls in overseas Tests.

Prasad was specifically asked if he was involved in the dropping of Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara during the tours of South Africa and England respectively. He suggested all they could do was "show faith" in the decisions made by team management.

Usually, selectors pick the squad and the team management selects the final XI, but Prasad's comments suggest there used to be flexibility around it with the travelling selector's views taken into account.

"I don't want to talk too much about those two things but all I can say is that there were some constitutional changes that were made at that time with regards to selectors playing a role in picking the playing XI on tour," Prasad told Mumbai Mirror. "But we had to show faith in the decisions that the team management took at that point of time."

Rahane was benched for the Cape Town and Centurion Tests, both of which India lost. In the final Test, in Johannesburg, he made a crucial 48 in a low-scoring game - on a pitch subsequently rated "poor" by the ICC - as India won to keep the series scoreline to 2-1.

Pujara was left out for the first Test in England on a dry Edgbaston surface, which India lost by 31 runs. Brought back for the remainder of the series, he scored a second-innings half-century at Trent Bridge and another hundred in Southampton. India eventually lost the series 1-4.

Prasad also didn't think India's ability solve their No. 4 conundrum - which became the subject of national debates - was the reason for the World Cup semi-final loss. Ambati Rayudu, the man earmarked for the position with a year to go, was dropped just before the event in favour of Vijay Shankar for his "three-dimensional abilities". Injuries then to Shikhar Dhawan and Vijay Shankar paved way for Rishabh Pant's belated inclusion.

"Tell me, did we have a problem till the semifinal with No. 4?", he said. "We went into the World Cup with Shikhar Dhawan opening and KL Rahul at number four. They did the job until unfortunately Dhawan got injured and that is when we flew in Rishabh Pant. I don't think we lost because of the No. 4 issue."

Those two contentions aside, Prasad's selection committee has often been lauded for creating and maintaining a healthy bench strength and defining a concrete path to India selection through domestic, age-group and A-teams cricket. That is what Prasad wants his committee to be remembered for. "Myself, the India A management and the Indian management sit down and discuss the progress of a player," he explained of the process. "We look at the requirements of the senior team and groom a player based on that.

"Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal are a few examples. They knew which series they may be needed for, which is why they weren't overawed by the bigger stage. The ease with which Shaw got a ton on debut, ease with which Agarwal made 75 on debut or the ease with which (Hanuma) Vihari batted in England. Barring one or two, whichever youngster has got in has been backed. For example Shreyas Iyer. He didn't have the best of A tours, but we kept backing him and now you see the results.

"In the spin department, we have (R) Ashwin, (Ravindra) Jadeja and Kuldeep (Yadav). There's (Shahbaz) Nadeem waiting outside with lots of wickets, we have Axar and Gowtham too. Similarly if we want openers, apart from our regulars, we have Shaw. KL has started to do well again. Then there are Priyank Panchal and Abhimanyu Easwaran. So we have about seven openers now."

Terming criticism as an "occupational hazard", Prasad said his management background helped him tide through times when he was publicly criticised by a number of former players, Yuvraj Singh being the more vocal ones. Incidentally, Yuvraj was the occupant at No.4 during the start of Prasad's tenure but lost out after the tour of West Indies in 2017.

"I am a management student and at Andhra Cricket Association (where he was Director of Cricket), I dealt with much bigger issues than here," he said. "We built Andhra association from scratch where people were not movitated to work. When Anurag Thakur came to Andhra in 2015, he called it 'Adarsh Cricket Association'. BCCI is an evolved place, you have mature people. I don't think I had a tough time here because I had gone through a lot of stress working in Andhra.

"During this tenure, I used to take advice from legendary cricketers which helped. My relationship with MSD (MS Dhoni) and (Virat) Kohli is intact. People might write anything but when I speak to them, I know how much they respect me."

Emily Smith's three-month ban, with a further nine months suspended, by Cricket Australia will not be contested by the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA). However, the players' association will provide her with employment for the term of the ban, and also seek an urgent meeting with the CA Board to better understand how the Hobart Hurricanes wicketkeeper was suspended under its strict integrity regulations.

Smith was offered and accepted a paid internship with the ACA, working across its range of programmes for players past and present, thereby maintaining a link with the game while she is banned from taking part in the WBBL, the WNCL or club cricket.

"Emily has been offered and accepted an internship at the ACA to continue her professional development during this challenging time," the ACA stated in a letter to its members on Wednesday. "The internship will keep her involved in the game she loves and will incorporate the promotion of ACA programmes and services; past-player engagement and event management."

The other major outcome of the ACA's extraordinary board meeting on Tuesday evening, featuring its new president Shane Watson, chair Greg Dyer and chief executive Alistair Nicholson, was to request to meet with the CA Board for a wider discussion around Smith's sanction under its anti-corruption code, for posting to Instagram a video of the Hurricane's batting line-up an hour before the scheduled start of play of a WBBL game this season, one that was ultimately abandoned without a ball being bowled.

The CA Board is next due to meet on December 6. There will also be the opportunity for the ACA's chair Dyer to discuss the issue with the Australian Cricket Council (ACC), a joint body comprising the chairs of CA, the ACA and the eight state and territory cricket associations. This body was established as a result of the cultural review of CA that was commissioned and released in the wake of the Newlands ball-tampering scandal in 2018, and held its first meetings in August and October this year.

"Our priority is to continue to rebuild trust in and around the game and, since the Ethics Centre Review, we have seen tangible change at board and executive level and today's historical meeting is another example of our commitment to cultural change," CA chairman Earl Eddings said after the first ACC meeting in August. "The ACC will be a forum for consultation, deliberation and agreement. In this forum we have the flexibility to invite other relevant people who are experts in their field to consult or seek any information we consider necessary to fulfil our responsibilities."

Premature evaluation. It's a problem for all fantasy players sometimes. You can shrug it off like it's no big deal, saying you "just weren't feeling it," but it's better to address it, admit it happened and move forward.

For whatever reason, sometimes you just get too excited by a player's development and you see the great potential and latch onto it too soon. Most of the time, it's OK that you bailed too early, because, more often than not, you will still have some interest in the player and have shares -- even if it doesn't make perfect sense coming into a season.

The key to remember here is that you were right ... eventually. You were just a little premature in your evaluation.

Who are some of my personal "a little too early on the hype train" players?

Ivan Provorov, D, Philadelphia Flyers: I thought Provorov was a Calder candidate in 2016-17, and I've been waiting for and wanting him to overtake the Flyers' quarterback duties ever since. Shayne Gostisbehere was fine, but Provorov always had elite upside. Gostisbehere, once again, started the season as the chief blueliner on the power play, but the job has fully transitioned to Provorov -- and we are seeing the elite results. He's a top-12 defenseman for fantasy over the past 30 days, trails only nine other defensemen for power-play points this season and is on pace for 50 points. This, finally, looks his D1 season, and, at just 22 years old, it should be the first of many.

David Perron, W, St. Louis Blues: I still remember thinking Perron, T.J. Oshie and Patrik Berglund would be one of the great all-time Blues lines once they developed together. Obviously, that was a long time ago (like more than 10 years ago), and Perron has been a slow burn ever since then. Always on the periphery of fantasy value, struggling with injuries and traded into fantastic situations, yet never truly capitalizing. It wasn't until three seasons ago, at the age of 30, when he truly had a standout fantasy campaign in his 11th season. But boy, oh boy, has he been good since then. And, I would argue, a little overlooked throughout that period. Over that sustained two-plus season period since he started out with the inaugural Vegas Golden Knights franchise, he sits tied for 39th in the NHL in points per game. He's just ahead of names like Filip Forsberg, Vladimir Tarasenko, Alexander Radulov and, his current linemate, Ryan O'Reilly. Perron is on pace for his best season, and the road has been cleared for continued success with Tarasenko sidelined for the majority of the campaign.

Ryan Strome, C, New York Rangers: I actually don't have a lot of Strome shares despite being one of his biggest cheerleaders for quite some time. I continued to list him as a sleeper every season from 2012-13 (he didn't even play in the NHL that year) until 2016-17 with the New York Islanders, and then, just as I was ready to bail, he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers and I was in all over again in 2017-18. But after failing to hit during several chances to play with John Tavares and then Connor McDavid, I had enough. I didn't have interest in him playing on the New York Rangers. But here we are, 21 points in 21 games, and I was outbid on him in free agency in most of my leagues. I have to watch with bemused excitement as he finally makes good on his potential. Of course, most of his breakout this season has come with Mika Zibanejad on the sideline, so we'll have to wait and see how that plays out.

Andre Burakovsky, W, Colorado Avalanche: I probably spent three seasons too many drafting Burakovsky in the late rounds thinking he could click in the Washington Capitals' top six with either Alex Ovechkin or Evgeny Kuznetsov. I still blame it on his October 2014, when he scored eight points in nine games as a rookie. He scored 17 goals and 38 points the next season in 2015-16, but those remain his career highs, as he settled into a third-line role for the Capitals. Now, make no mistake, his current pace stems entirely from the injuries suffered by Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog that cleared the way for Burakovsky to play on the top line with Nathan MacKinnon. But, with so much success in their absence, you have to wonder if the Avs mix up their lines a little even after the other heavy hitters return. Either way, Burakovsky should blow past those career highs this season and there is a path to sustained scoring on this team.

Forwards on the move

Evgeni Malkin, C, Pittsburgh Penguins (up 19 spots to No. 42): Looks like 'ol Geno still has it in him for whenever Sidney Crosby is forced out of the lineup. Malkin has eight points in six games since Crosby was hurt. Perhaps more importantly for many leagues, he's also not trending toward the minus in his plus/minus; His minus-25 rating last season was a big drawback in leagues that count it. The big tell that things are different than last season, though? Shots on goal. Malkin fired 187 shots on goal last season, which is a shot per game lower than his output so far this season. We'll have to revisit him once Crosby is back, but that won't be for a while yet. A fringe benefit here is that Malkin looks like he'll sustain Jake Guentzel's fantasy output as well.

Mika Zibanejad, C, New York Rangers (steady at No. 63): This has been a frustrating injury to deal with this season, as Zibanejad has seemed a game or two away from returning since he was hurt on Oct. 27. So it's been a month of day-to-day status for the Rangers' center. It's been described as a neck injury and he's skating on his own again, but his status is still not clear. Zibanejad started the season with eight points in his first two games and 11 points in his first nine before being hurt. However, since his injury Ryan Strome has performed extremely well as the top-line center for Artemi Panarin. So, this could be a tricky return to action as it likely means Zibanejad or Strome takes a hit in potential value. Keep a close eye on how he's trending and what the Rangers do with their top lines and power play.

Defensemen on the move

Tyson Barrie, D, Toronto Maple Leafs (up 15 to No. 128): Things didn't look good for Barrie out of the gate this season, but that is all changing with the firing of Mike Babcock. The first thing new coach Sheldon Keefe did was install Barrie on the top power-play unit alongside Morgan Rielly on the blue line. While the Leafs didn't get a power play in Keefe's debut on Thursday, the script played out Saturday with Barrie on the top unit. Sure enough, he scored on the power play, his second goal in two games under Keefe. Of course, this doesn't end well for William Nylander, as the return of Mitch Marner likely bumps Nylander off the top unit.

Goaltenders on the move

Carter Hutton, G, Buffalo Sabres (down seven spots to No. 145): The bloom is off the rose for Hutton, who started the season among the top goaltenders for the bulk of October. But after losing six straight with 23 goals allowed, Linus Ullmark has started the past three games for the Sabres. If you haven't sold already, it's probably too late. In the meantime, snatch up Ullmark, as the Sabres do have the potential to be a decent team defensively and Ullmark has shown well this season. I don't think there's massive upside, but he could be a No. 2 goalie for fantasy with enough of a workload.

New to rankings

Anders Nilsson, Bryan Rust, Ryan Pulock, Joonas Donskoi, Anthony Duclair, Robby Fabbri, Yanni Gourde, Zdeno Chara, Morgan Frost, Barclay Goodrow, Patric Hornqvist, Anthony Cirelli, Joel Edmundson, Troy Terry, Tyler Bozak, Nick Suzuki.

Just missed

Hampus Lindholm, Christian Dvorak, Brandon Montour, Linus Ullmark, Jordan Eberle, Sami Vatanen, Cam Fowler, Devon Toews, Adam Fox, Ivan Barbashev, Radko Gudas, Andrew Mangiapane.

Dropped out

Jonathan Drouin, Viktor Arvidsson, Sammy Blais, Justin Schultz, Casey Mittelstadt, Justin Faulk, Wayne Simmonds, Paul Stastny, Ilya Kovalchuk, Alex Galchenyuk, Ondrej Palat, Shayne Gostisbehere, Corey Perry, Mats Zuccarello, Matt Niskanen, Juuse Saros.

NAPLES, Fla. - Not even commissioner Mike Whan is clear on the length of the contract extension the LPGA Tour gave him.

That's the least of his concerns. Whan says his contract has been structured in such a way that his departure - either leaving or getting fired - is not tied to whatever income is left on the deal.

What drives Whan as he enters the second decade is getting more companies to show support for women in their marketing dollars. In a strong letter to LPGA members announcing his extension last week, he raised the question that if a company's stated values are to provide equal opportunity for women, why wouldn't that be reflected in the marketing and sponsorship money it spends?

''How is it that nearly every company claims equal opportunity is a cornerstone of their business, but 95% of all corporate sports sponsorship dollars are spent on male sports?'' he wrote.

Whan was equally bullish on the weekend of the CME Globe Tour Championship, which offered $5 million in prize money with a record $1.5 million for the winner.

The new mantra: Live your values.

''I've had this conversation with a lot of CEOs. Some like it and some hate it,'' he said. ''Don't call it a value statement unless you're going to hold that mirror up to everything. You can't just decide it's a value statement and it really works for this employee meeting, but it doesn't work for this marketing meeting, it doesn't work for this sponsorship discussion.

''That doesn't mean everybody is going to agree with me,'' he said. ''In fact, I can tell you that 95% of the companies disagree with me, evidently. But I do think it's coming. ... There's investors that will only invest now in companies that have these kind of values reflected in everything they do. When money stops flowing to you because you're not walking the talk, the world is going to change.''

The LPGA tour will have a 33-tournament schedule this year with a record $75.1 million in prize money. The PGA Tour offered $81.75 in just its nine tournaments in the fall. For the season, the total purse is $374.7 million for 48 official events, not including the $15 million bonus for the Tour Championship.

The European Tour has 44 tournaments with total prize money of just over $200 million.

FANATIC ABOUT FAXON

Brad Faxon has golf fans he doesn't even know, including the best player in women's golf this year. Jin Young Ko was asked before the LPGA finale if she had a favorite player who was not South Korean, because Se Ri Pak was a role model for so many.

Ko didn't hesitate. She mentioned Faxon.

And yes, it's all about the putting.

''He's good, great putting,'' Ko said. ''And then I met him at the U.S. Open last year and I had a handshake with Brad Faxon before the round. Then I got one-putt on No. 1, 2, 3 holes. And then I told my caddie, 'I don't want to wash my hand.' I shoot really good.''

Ko, perhaps not surprisingly, is among the best on the LPGA tour with the short stick. She said she watched YouTube video of Faxon's putting from age 15 to about 19. That was before she had a coach. Ko now works with Gareth Raflewski, who has revamped her entire short game as Ko reached No. 1 in the world.

And maybe there's another reason she won't give Faxon a call about putting.

''I think he a little expensive,'' she said with a laugh.

BIRDIES FOR LOVE

Lanto Griffin had a dream start to his second season until he was running on fumes and missed more than just his only cut of the season at Sea Island.

The Houston Open champion, who finished in the top 20 in his first six tournaments, opened with a 74 and rallied with a 65. He missed the cut by one shot. That cost him the final two rounds in the ''RSM Birdies for Love'' competition, which awards $300,000 toward a charity of the player who has the most sub-par holes in the fall.

''I was disappointed,'' Griffin said before leaving Sea Island. ''But like I said, I'm tired and I battled as far as I could, so I've got nothing to hang my head about. Just cross my fingers and hope.''

No such luck. Scottie Scheffler shot 63 on Saturday to pull within one birdie, and then ran off four on the back nine to beat Griffin by one.

It wasn't a total loss for Griffin. Second place paid $150,000, which he plans to use to start a foundation and help out in the southwest Virginia area where he was raised.

The owner of English Premier League champions Manchester City is selling a $500 million stake to private equity firm Silver Lake, valuing the club's owner at $4.8 billion, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing people with knowledge of the deal.

Silver Lake is buying over 10% of Abu Dhabi-controlled City Football Group (CFG), the newspaper reported, adding that an official announcement was expected as early as Wednesday.

The deal was signed on Saturday by CFG Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and Silver Lake managing partner Egon Durban, according to the FT. The report added that Abu Dhabi aims to retain its majority ownership of CFG.

CFG holds stakes in seven football clubs worldwide, including New York City FC in MLS and Melbourne City in the Australian A-League.

The U.S. private equity firm aims to hold its stake for about 10 years but could also seek to cash out through an initial public offering or selling to another private investor, FT reported. Silver Lake had also approached other European and English clubs, including City's Premier League rivals Chelsea.

Man City drew in record revenue of £535.2 million in a fifth consecutive year of profitability in 2018-19, marking their 11th straight year of revenue growth under the ownership of the Abu Dhabi royal family. The club won an unprecedented domestic treble last season.

CFG and Silver Lake were not immediately available for comment outside regular business hours.

Trent Boult and Colin de Grandhomme have been ruled out of New Zealand's squad for the second Test with injury.

Northern Districts all-rounder Daryl Mitchell has been called into the squad as a replacement for de Grandhomme and will probably play while Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry, already part of the squad, are vying to replace Boult. At this stage, it appears Henry is the more likely to play.

Boult was unable to bowl more than a single over on the final day of the first Test after reporting pain in his side. He underwent an MRI scan on Tuesday with the results showing he had strained one of the muscles overlying his ribs on his right-hand side. Meanwhile, De Grandhomme has been diagnosed with a tear to his left lower abdominal muscle, sustained during England's second innings at Bay Oval.

While there is, naturally, disappointment in the New Zealand camp about the injuries, there is perhaps also a hint of relief about the results of Boult's scan. It cleared him of any bone stress and the team management is still hopeful he could recover to play at least some part in the Test series in Australia. New Zealand depart for Australia on December 7, with the first Test starting in Perth on December 12.

The absences could result in two Test debutants in Hamilton on Friday. Mitchell has played nine T20Is but never been part of a Test squad before, while Ferguson has been pushing for selection for some time. It appears at this stage, however, as if New Zealand might recall Henry who has played 10 Tests and would have been encouraged by a first view of the green-tinged surface at Seddon Park.

Todd Astle, the leg-spinner, has also been recalled to the squad having been released to play a couple of limited-overs domestic games for Canterbury in recent days. At this stage, however, it seems unlikely he will play in Hamilton.

Lamar Jackson is expected to break Michael Vick's single-season rushing record next month.

The passing of the torch between Jackson and Vick was handled, at least virtually, on Tuesday.

Jackson, the Baltimore Ravens' electric dual-threat star and NFL Most Valuable Player front-runner, will achieve a 96 speed rating when Madden updates its player ratings later this week. That's the fastest ever for a quarterback.

Vick, who held the previous record of 95, announced the "changing of the guard" on Twitter on Tuesday, and the "Madden NFL 20" Twitter account confirmed later.

"From one Madden legend to the next. @Lj_era8 takes the crown as the fastest QB in Madden history!" the account wrote.

In his post, Vick called it an "honor and privilege to be able to hand something off to the next generation." He then showed a Nike cleat with the words "Not bad for a RB" inscribed below a Ravens purple swoosh.

Critics questioned whether Jackson had the throwing accuracy to play quarterback in the NFL, but he has quieted those skeptics, famously saying after the Ravens' 59-10 Week 1 blowout of the Dolphins: "Not bad for a running back."

Vick agreed.

"Now they're eating their words," Vick said in his Twitter video. "Lamar's the modern-day, new-era quarterback. And well deserving of it.

"The changing of the guard is all good, man. All records are made to be broken. The next generation are supposed to be better than us. Got to give credit where credit is due. I say, it's your turn now."

Jackson has rushed for 876 yards, the fifth-most by an NFL quarterback in a season. He needs 164 yards to surpass Vick's 13-year-old league record.

His speed can be quantified beyond the video game. Since the start of last season, Jackson has recorded 122 rushes with a max speed of at least 15 mph. That's 31 more than any other player in that span, according to Next Gen Stats.

When Madden came out this year, Jackson's low rating didn't go unnoticed. He began with a 76 overall rating, which was tied for 24th among quarterbacks.

"I can't feel no way. I don't make Madden. It's them," Jackson said in July. "I feel like our team [ratings], they disappointed me. But it's all good. We're going to show them when the season comes."

Madden typically updates its player ratings on Thursdays, based on the previous weekend's games. Jackson's update will come after the NFL MVP front-runner set several records in a Monday night thrashing of the Rams in Los Angeles. Among them:

• First player with five touchdown passes in a Monday Night Football debut, according to the Elias Sports Bureau

• Youngest player (22 years old) with multiple five-touchdown-pass games in NFL history

• First player in NFL history with four touchdown passes and at least 50 yards rushing in consecutive games

• First player with at least 3,000 passing yards and 1,500 rushing yards in his first two seasons in NFL history

Vick was in attendance at the L.A. Coliseum to watch Jackson.

The topic of Madden was broached with Jackson last week. He was asked if he would promise fans that he wouldn't appear on the video game's cover, which some believe has jinxed many players.

"I can't promise that," Jackson said, laughing. "I don't believe in no curse. I play football. If it comes, it comes. Tom Brady was on the cover at one point. He still won Super Bowls."

Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak has been suspended two games for elbowing the Buffalo Sabres' Rasmus Dahlin during Monday night's game, the NHL Player Safety board announced Tuesday.

Dahlin, taken first overall in the 2018 draft by Buffalo, drove into the left circle before making a backhanded pass during a Sabres power play late in the second period Monday. As Dahlin curled back, Cernak caught him with an elbow that knocked him to the ice.

Dahlin was left bloodied and departed with a concussion. Cernak wasn't penalized during the game for the hit.

Tampa Bay won the game 5-2.

Cernak had a hearing Tuesday with the safety board, which later announced the suspension. The suspension will cost Cernak $7,500 in pay.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.