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What is it about New Zealand and the dawn of new England eras? Perhaps it's that blend of high quality and low jeopardy - the sense that you're in for a proper test of your mettle, but without all the off-field noise and distraction that might accompany, say, an Ashes or an India series. It's a match-up that matters, as has already been demonstrated in last month's riveting T20 tussle, but not so much that you'll be condemned for all eternity if you make a few mistakes along the way.

Where better, then, for Joe Root and Chris Silverwood to bed into their new captain-coach partnership? The pocket-size coastal venue of Mount Maunganui, with its curious pimple of a hill on the one side and an industrial estate on the other, would not pretend to rival the Gabbatoir or the 'G for shock-and-awesomeness, but if, in two years' time, the core of the England players on parade this week can rock up in Australia with battle plans primed, then once again they are likely to look back with gratitude on this friendly rivalry that has been bubbling up over the past few seasons.

After all - and as might have been mentioned a few times since the World Cup final - it was England's encounters with New Zealand in 2015 that triggered their last great personality transplant, as the coy young things who had been baked to oblivion in the Cake Tin that February were encouraged a few months later to throw a few shapes and see what they might be capable of if they shed their inhibitions. A fair bit, as it transpired ...

The challenge on this trip, however, may be to rediscover the joys of decorum, for England have made more than a few mistakes where New Zealand are concerned in recent Test encounters. They haven't won a Test match in the country in six attempts since 2008 - and even then they had to come back from 0-1 down to win the series 2-1. And in their last-but-one encounter at Auckland in 2018, England were lucky to make it to 58 all out, after Trent Boult and Tim Southee had reduced them to a record-threatening 27 for 9 on the first morning of the series.

Throw in the battering-ram attributes of the effervescent Neil Wagner, alongside Colin de Grandhomme's wobbly wiles and Mitchell Santner's angular spin, with Lockie Ferguson's already-familiar rapidity lurking on the fringes, and it's clear that New Zealand, once again, come armed with an attack that most sides in the world would be grateful to call their own.

And that's before we factor in the jewel in the Kiwi crown, the returning Kane Williamson, the imperturbable barometer of their batting fortunes - a man who has racked up two centuries in his last four Tests against England (as well as two ducks, remarkably), and whom Jofra Archer this week warned may be every bit as hard for England to dislodge as Steve Smith proved to be during the summer's Ashes. And if that does turn out to be the case, then England's blank in the NZ wins column isn't going to be filled in any hurry. Ten wins and one defeat in New Zealand's past 15 home Test matches suggest a win isn't really on the cards anyway.

And talking of lessons learnt in Kiwi encounters of the past, it was on the aforementioned 2008 tour that the oft-maligned Peter Moores made perhaps the single greatest judgement call of his ill-fated tenure as England coach, and chose to jettison the misfiring Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard, the fading heroes of the 2005 Ashes, in favour of the rising stars, James Anderson and Stuart Broad - and they've not done too badly in the intervening years.

It's a moot point as to whether New Zealand's low-key environment assisted England's tyros on that occasion - certainly Broad has rarely seemed fazed by his surroundings, even if Anderson's previous overseas unleashings, in such unforgiving venues as Johannesburg (2004) and Brisbane (2006), seemed to suggest that he benefited from a chance to forget the circumstances and focus solely on his skills.

But now, more than a decade later, New Zealand is bound to hold a special place in the memories of at least two more of England's young bucks, as Dom Sibley braces for his maiden England cap and Ollie Pope, his Surrey academy sidekick, prepares for a recall that will feel every bit like a debut, after the fraught beginnings he experienced against India last year, not to mention the shoulder dislocation that left him sidelined for much of last summer.

Whatever transpires, it promises to be challenging and educational, but above all, good-natured. The personnel may have changed a touch on both sides since July, but the core players on both sides will forever share a special bond after those extraordinary scenes at Lord's four months ago. Nothing but a bit of blind luck has managed to separate the sides across the 50-over and 20-over formats so far. What price on Test cricket's third tied Test in the coming weeks?

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)

New Zealand WLWWW
England WLWDL

In the spotlight

There's no getting away from it. Big numbers are expected of Dom Sibley, and for the first time in a long time, "balls faced" will be an acceptable benchmark as England pivot away from the "positive cricket" mantra preached by Trevor Bayliss, in favour of some old-school grit and grind at the top of the order. Sibley's technique is not among the purest in the game, but then neither is that of his opening partner Rory Burns - let alone Sir Alastair Cook's, the man whose boots England still need to fill. And like Cook, some of Sibley's best shots are those that he chooses not to play. If he's leaving the ball well, everything else falls into place. His stats for Warwickshire in 2019 were immense - 1428 runs at 68.00 with five hundreds. That'll do nicely.

There's time enough for Joe Root to reverse his mid-career dip, but where there was once a Big Four among contemporary Test batsmen, there's now clear daylight between the best and the rest. And with his Player-of-the-Tournament-winning exploits at the World Cup, New Zealand's captain, Kane Williamson, has cemented his right to be spoken of in the same breath as Virat Kohli and Steve Smith. He was playing Test cricket throughout that improbably bowler-friendly tournament, calibrating every innings to the most minute degree, and gauging exactly how many runs his team needed to be competitive. And even though his home summer has been disrupted by a knee injury that led to his omission for the T20Is, he will surely not have mislaid that calculating mindset. There'll be no more valuable wicket than his.

Team news

New Zealand have resisted handing Lockie Ferguson a Test debut - and he has been released for domestic cricket - sticking to the tried and trusted trio of Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner supplemented by Mitchell Santner's left-arm spin and Colin de Grandhomme's medium-paced wobble.

New Zealand: 1 Tom Latham, 2 Jeet Raval, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Henry Nicholls, 6 Colin de Grandhomme, 7 BJ Watling (wk), 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Neil Wagner, 11 Trent Boult.

England showed their hand last week with their selection for their first-class warm-up against New Zealand A in Whangarei and Joe Root confirmed the XI. Dom Sibley will debut alongside his fellow Surrey and Whitgift starlet, Sibley, with Ollie Pope embedded at No.6, 18 months after his first coming against India. The key selection is Sam Curran's left-arm seam (and No. 8 thumping) ahead of his fellow allrounder Chris Woakes, whose record with the Kookaburra didn't give the selectors much reason to consider him. Jofra Archer, such a ubiquitous presence for England already, is set to play his first overseas international.

England: 1 Rory Burns, 2 Dom Sibley, 3 Joe Denly, 4 Joe Root (capt), 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Ollie Pope, 7 Jos Buttler (wk), 8 Sam Curran, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Jack Leach, 11 Stuart Broad.

Pitch and conditions

The pitch looked a bit green with more than 24 hours of preparation still to go, but that may just have been a precaution to keep it from drying out in strong winds. Both sides say they expect it to deteriorate a little and offer a bit for spin. Both also reckon it may be tough to get the ball to swing, conventionally or otherwise.

Stats and trivia

• This will be Bay Oval's maiden Test match, and only the 10th first-class fixture to have been played on the ground since its debut in April 2015.

• There have been just 10 ODIs at the venue too, including England's solitary appearance on their last tour in 2018. England won by six wickets with Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler sealing a low-key run-chase.

• Since the start of 2018, Tom Latham (65.75), Henry Nicholls (64.35) and Kane Williamson (63.26) all average over 60. Between them they have made 11 centuries and 10 fifties in 11 Test appearances.

• For all that he has been a fixture on the global T20 circuit for the last few years, with gigs in venues as far-flung as Hove, Khulna, Hobart and Jaipur, Jofra Archer played his first overseas first-class match at Whangarei only last week.

Quotes

"I'm pretty sure we can't have a super over in a Test so we should be all right."
Trent Boult doesn't have any lingering scars from this year's prior encounters with England, honest..

"It's a good chance to see where we're at and for us as a bowling group to be quite creative and do things slightly differently to how we've done it before. And to grow as a side, come up with different ideas of how we're going to get wickets when it does go flat."
Joe Root, England's captain, is ready for a tough test of his team's character.

The season-ending injury to Alabama starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa shocked and saddened many college football fans across the country Saturday, but it didn't impact the No. 5 Tide's standing with the College Football Playoff selection committee -- at least not yet.

The third CFP ranking stayed mainly status quo, with No. 1 LSU, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Clemson and No. 4 Georgia holding onto the top spots, while Alabama remained the first team on the outside looking in. The two most noticeable changes were No. 8 Penn State's jump ahead of No. 10 Minnesota, in spite of the Gophers' win over the Nittany Lions, and No. 18 Memphis now leading the Group of 5 race ahead of No. 19 Cincinnati. Minnesota dropped because of its road loss at No. 17 Iowa, which moved up three spots from last week.

It's also notable that USC has earned the No. 23 spot, marking the first time that a Pac-12 team other than No. 6 Oregon or No. 7 Utah has been ranked by the committee. USC is somewhat of an X factor in the Pac-12 playoff race because it's a major reason why Oregon has been ranked ahead of Utah -- the Ducks beat USC, while Utah lost to the Trojans. USC can also still win the Pac-12 South, as it holds the tiebreaker over Utah.

Here's what the bracket would look like if the playoff were today:

No. 1 LSU would face No. 4 Georgia in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl. The selection committee makes sure the No. 1 seed is not at a geographic disadvantage, and it would likely consider Atlanta to be a more favorable location for the Bulldogs.

That's why No. 2 Ohio State would face No. 3 Clemson in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

Because the Big Ten champion is in a semifinal, the league's next highest-ranked team, No. 8 Penn State, would go to the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual, where it would face No. 6 Oregon because the Rose Bowl is also guaranteed the Pac-12 champion if it's not in a semifinal.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl, which is guaranteed an SEC team against a Big 12 team, would take No. 5 Alabama against No. 9 Oklahoma, as they are both the highest-ranked teams available from each conference. The Capital One Orange Bowl is guaranteed the ACC champion, but since No. 3 Clemson is in a semifinal, it would take the next highest-ranked ACC team.

In this week's rankings, there aren't any other ACC teams, so the Orange Bowl would likely choose from three seven-win teams in Virginia, Pitt or Virginia Tech. For this week, the projection is No. 10 Minnesota against Virginia Tech, as the Orange Bowl can choose the ACC's opponent from the Big Ten, SEC or Notre Dame.

The Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic would feature No. 7 Utah against No. 18 Memphis, which would be guaranteed a spot as the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion.

(All games can be seen on ESPN and the ESPN App)

Saturday, Dec. 28
Noon ET: Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic: No. 7 Utah vs. No. 18 Memphis (AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas)

4 or 8 p.m. ET: College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl: No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 3 Clemson (Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta)

4 or 8 p.m. ET: College Football Playoff Semifinal at the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl: No. 1 LSU vs. No. 4 Georgia (State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona)

Monday, Dec. 30
8 p.m. ET: Capital One Orange Bowl: No. 10 Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech (Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida)

Wednesday, Jan. 1
5 p.m. ET: Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual: No. 6 Oregon vs. No. 8 Penn State (Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California)

8:45 p.m. ET: Allstate Sugar Bowl: No. 5 Alabama vs. No. 9 Oklahoma (Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans)

AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Former Washington Wizards guard Glen Rice Jr. pleaded not guilty to a single charge of injuring with intent when he appeared in an Auckland court on Wednesday.

The son of three-time NBA All-Star Glen Rice was released on bail and is to appear in court again in February.

Rice was arrested last week after an incident outside an Auckland bar. His lawyer lodged the not guilty plea to a charge of injuring with intent to injure and elected a trial by a judge, rejecting a jury trial.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Rice's arrest came only days after he joined the Auckland-based New Zealand Breakers in Australia's National Basketball League.

The ANBL has since ordered Rice's suspension, and the club has complied.

Breakers owner Matt Walsh attended court with Rice and spoke to reporters outside the courtroom. Rice stood next to Walsh dressed in a charcoal suit, blue shirt and pale gray tie, and refused to comment.

"We are going to let it play out in the New Zealand law system," Walsh said. "While that happens we are going to continue to support Glen and, like anyone else going through this process, just keep an open mind and see how it plays out."

Rice joined the Breakers as an injury replacement for fellow American Brian "Scotty" Hopson.

Rice attended Georgia Tech but was dismissed by coach Brian Gregory in 2012 after multiple suspensions, the last involving a shooting outside an Atlanta nightclub.

He was taken by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 35th pick in the 2013 draft but later traded to Washington. He was waived by the Wizards in January 2015.

NEW YORK – GEAR Racing has joined forces with the Grasser Racing Team to field a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD class next season.

The No. 19 car will be shared by two-time GT Daytona champion Christina Nielsen and Katherine Legge. GEAR is supplying the drivers, sponsors and additional team support.

Legge and Nielsen recently joined GEAR Racing following a strong season in the No. 57 Acura NSX GT3 for Heinricher Racing w/ Meyer Shank Racing.

“GEAR stands for Girl Empowerment Around Racing, and it is our mission to inspire all girls to be strong, smart, and bold in racing and in life,” says Kara Kenney, Global Brand Director of GEAR. “We’re thrilled to have Katherine and Christina on the team, and we couldn’t have found a better racing partner than Grasser.”

Nielsen won the IMSA GT Daytona championship in 2016 and ’17, while GRT finished first at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2019 and is coming off back-to-back Rolex 24 At Daytona wins for Lamborghini in GT Daytona. Legge was the 2018 GT Daytona runner-up and has four IMSA victories in her career. Legge has also competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Formula E, the NTT IndyCar Series and two Indianapolis 500s.

“Recently, the opportunity to drive the No. 19 Lamborghini was brought to my attention. Around the same time, Christina and I met Kara. Her company contacted GRT and quickly signed a deal that paired us as co-drivers,” said Legge. “It was amazing to see how fast this program came together and will be great to drive with Christina again. This is about more than just racing. This is about the next generation and making a difference. IMSA has been home to me for many years now and I cannot wait to get this season underway.”

Although 2020 will be the first full IMSA season for GRT, they’re definitely not new to sportscar racing. In 2015, GRT was selected as the Lamborghini factory team to develop the Huracan GT3 and achieved outstanding results in the first season.

Starting with a victory at Monza, GRT won the 2017 Blancpain GT Series title. Including victories at Daytona and Sebring in 2019, GRT has accumulated more than 60 podiums and more than 30 overall race wins.

“I’m extremely fortunate to be competing for a third IMSA WearherTech Championship title in GTD with such strong partners,” said Nielsen. “It’s my favorite championship series. I’m excited to be back with Katherine; and Grasser is one of the most competitive teams in the entire paddock.”

Recently, General Motors unveiled its new 2020 mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette. As the first ever mid-engine Corvette for this iconic nameplate, there has been tremendous buzz for not only the production model, but also for the racing version. That’s why we wanted to talk to Doug Fehan, the Program Manager for Corvette Racing, as he and his team prepare the new car for the upcoming racing season.

Catch this week’s full episode on SPEEDSPORT.com or download the podcast on SoundCloud, iTunes, Stitcher, iHeart Radio or Spotify.

Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron missed his second straight game on Tuesday night, against the New Jersey Devils, with a lower-body injury.

Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said Bergeron would be a game-time decision at Tuesday's morning skate, but he was not on the ice when the Bruins took their pregame warm-up in Newark.

Bergeron, who also missed Saturday's 3-2 shootout loss to the Washington Capitals, has eight goals and 19 points in 19 games, while averaging 18.8 minutes.

With Bergeron out of the lineup, David Krejci moved into the No. 1 center position, flanked by Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak at the wing positions.

The Bruins entered the game in New Jersey in first place in the Atlantic Division, with 29 points.

NAPLES, Fla. – Rolex world No. 1 Jin Young Ko isn’t sure how her injured left ankle will hold up this week as she looks to finish off a historic season.

“Still a little worried,” she said Tuesday during her news conference at the CME Group Tour Championship.

A $1.5 million first-place check is up for grabs in the LPGA’s season finale. It’s the richest winner’s check in the history of women’s golf.

Ko felt pain in her ankle finishing off the first round of the Taiwan Swinging Skirts event three weeks ago, in her last start before coming to Naples. She withdrew in the middle of the third round because of the pain.

“I’m hopefully getting better,” Ko said.

Ko may need some extra strength to push the wheelbarrow full of hardware she’s lined up to win this week.

She won’t have to wait until the final putt drops Sunday at the CME Group Tour Championship to begin hauling in all the awards and honors.

LPGA commissioner Mike Whan got it all started Tuesday, handing Ko the trophy for most top-10 finishes this season. Her four victories, two of them major championships, were among her 12 top-10s this year.

“Get used to holding trophies,” Whan told Ko. “It’s going to be a big night on Thursday.”

That’s the night of the Rolex LPGA Awards Dinner.

Ko has already won the Rolex Annika Major Award and clinched the Rolex Player of the Year Award. She’s poised to add the Vare Trophy for low scoring average and the LPGA money title. She’s looking to join Ariya Jutanugarn as the only players to sweep all those awards as the Rolex world No. 1.

“She’s a really solid player,” world No. 3 Nelly Korda said. “Amazing on the putting green. I’m always at awe with her short game.”

That appears to be the last piece Ko needed to become the best player in the women’s game.

Ko has trimmed nearly a stroke off her scoring average from last year. She won the Rolex Rookie of the Year Award last season with a 69.81 scoring average. She’s at 69.05 so far this year with a chance to join Annika Sorenstam as the only players to win the Vare Trophy for low scoring with an average better than 69 strokes for the season.

Ko is one of the best ball-strikers in the women’s game. She led the tour in hitting greens in regulation last year and leads it again this year. The big difference in her scoring average has come in her short game and putting.

After tying for 69^th at the CME Group Tour Championship last year, Ko stayed in Naples determined to improve her short game, a weakness in her all-around skills. She brought in Gareth Raflewski, a short-game and putting specialist, and they worked together in a boot-camp style regimen.

“We worked together every day for two weeks,” Raflewski said.

He also works with the Jutanugarn sisters and Lydia Ko.

“We changed her putter and her setup,” Raflewski said. “Her chipping was one dimensional. She couldn’t hit it high, couldn’t spin it or bump and run it. I taught her so many different shots.”

Raflewski said the changes required some stubborn determination to master.

“At the beginning, she said, `I’m not getting this at all,’” Raflewski said. “But now, she owns all those shots. She doesn’t just have all the shots. She knows when to hit them, what to do in every situation. She’s using all of her own instincts now.”

Players competing against Ko see it.

“I’ve played with her quite a bit, and she's just overall such a great player,” Lexi Thompson said. “Very consistent, and not many weaknesses. There really isn't. Just consistent off the tee. Very straight. And her short game is unbelievable.”

It’s why Ko will walk away with all those trophies this week.

And, if her ankle holds up, possibly a $1.5 million check, too.

NAPLES, Fla. - One of the rookies on the LPGA tour next year was asked which player she admired when she started getting serious about golf.

She mentioned Lexi Thompson.

''It kind of makes me feel old. I'm 24,'' Thompson said when told this, her smile a mixture of disbelief and pride. ''For somebody to say I was a role model, that's awesome.''

This wasn't her best year on the LPGA, with only one victory. That came one week after Thompson began the final round of the U.S. Women's Open one shot out of the lead, started with three bogeys in four holes and never caught up.

But that victory at the ShopRite Classic was memorable because Thompson hit pitching wedge from 192 yards on the par-5 closing hole to 20 feet and made eagle. Power is appealing.

And it was meaningful, because it extended her remarkable run of at least one victory in each of the last seven years, the longest active streak on the LPGA tour.

This also made her feel old.

''It's pretty crazy to think that I've been out for so long and I'm only 24 years old,'' Thompson said. ''It's been a great road, journey for me.''

The question is whether she feels 24 or someone closing in on a decade of golf at the elite level.

Thompson, with 11 LPGA victories, returns to CME Group Tour Championship as the defending champion, blowing away the field by four shots. Her brother was on the bag and she had family who drove over from the other side of Florida. Those were happy times.

But it has not been without plenty of bumps along the way.

She took an extended break from golf last year to try to become more emotionally whole. She took to social media earlier this year to announce that she was getting off social media, bothered by an endless stream of negativity from people hiding behind handles.

And there is the relentless temptation to meet expectations that inevitably follow a player who was powerful and polished before she could drive a car.

''This year, I learned the most about how I need to be emotionally,'' Thompson said. ''On and off the golf course, I'm trying to be happier, be myself, not putting up a front, just trying to enjoy life more. I think that's helped me out more on the course, especially recently.''

Her best golf was in the summer, when she won and was runner-up three times during a rare five-week stretch. But when you've been that good for that long, it's easy to follow a narrative of negativity.

Should she be winning more?

Has it really been five years since she won her only major at Rancho Mirage and took a joyous leap into the pond?

Remember, she was 12 when she qualified for the U.S. Women's Open in 2007. She was 15 when she finished runner-up at the Evian Championship. She was 19 when she won her first major at the Kraft Nabisco.

There was always the urge to feel like she's playing for others.

''I've gotten to that point at some parts of my career, just a lot of expectations and feeling like I have to perform for others,'' she said. ''But now I know I'm putting in the hard work. I'm going out and trying to win. But it's not going to happen every time. I'm not a robot. I'm human. This is my life, and I've put in a lot of work, and that's what people need to realize.''

The challenge in golf is not one's age or experience, but rather how young everyone else is getting.

Thompson's best chance to reach No. 1 in the world was at the Tour Championship two years ago, when she stood over a 2-foot par putt on the 18th hole that would've won the tournament and made her player of the year and rise to the top of the world ranking. She missed, and Ariya Jutanugarn won the tournament.

Thompson, who has played only twice since going 0-2-2 in the Solheim Cup in September, is now at No. 9. She is no longer even the highest-ranked American. That distinction goes to 21-year-old Nelly Korda, who has won three times in the last 13 months.

Thompson spent her recent break working on changes to her swing, an evolving process that she figures will last as long as she plays for a living. She looks at this as a good year - a victory, three runner-up finishes, No. 6 on the money list, among the leaders in driving distance and greens in regulation.

Her lesson going forward is to be happy with what she has done and to not be as obsessed with what she hasn't.

''The more pressure you put on yourself and listen to the outside on expectations and what you should be achieving, it's just going to tear you down,'' she said. ''Then if you focus on that, you can't perform to your highest.''

She knows this from experience, even at 24.

Australian cricket is facing up to the reality of mental health struggles faced by its players and staff, issues that in the past were hidden away beneath euphemism and denial. At the start of a summer in which Glenn Maxwell, Nic Maddinson and Will Pucovski have all stepped away from the game for varying reasons that underline the complexity of the area, Australia's leading players and the coach Justin Langer spoke frankly and forthrightly on some of the struggles they face, the help that is available, the ways in which things can still improve, and some advice to younger players about how to manage their lives for better mental health outcomes in the game.

'I've got to get away from cricket, or else it captures my whole life'

Pat Cummins: I can only speak for myself but it's hugely important for me. With cricket, being on tour, it isn't just individual tours, it's basically our life. We spend 10-11 months of the year on the road, so when I'm touring I've got to get away from cricket, or else it captures my whole life. When I can get little breaks I do, and those four weeks were great for me to step away from cricket, not really watch cricket, just live a normal life, have a normal routine, because I don't think I could do it for 10-15 years just with 12 months of the year all focused on cricket. Other guys might be different, they may play a little bit more, a little bit less. But for me as important as being really focused at training and games is trying to switch off and change my focus to something else every now and then.

The last 12 months JL's been really good at trying to identify breaks where we can. I've heard him say a few times 'I wish I could give you guys a longer break but we'll have to delay that'. It's a general conversation. For me the priority's obviously international cricket and I want to maximise as much international cricket as I can. We try to look through the diary between JL, the support staff and myself and try and map out a plan. But the priority after the Ashes, the non-negotiable, was to have a few weeks off bowling and then the conversation's around 'okay, how does that look in terms of games I'm going to miss, how long can we extend that break, can we get it out to four weeks', so it's a general conversation between all of us.

Steven Smith: I think that's something that we're getting a lot better at. Communication with the coach, relevant people that are involved who we can have those honest conversations with about how we're tracking. It is a pretty hectic schedule nowadays. It's bloody tough to sustain it for long periods of time, particularly I think for the fast bowlers. It's extremely difficult what they put themselves through. It's great that those conversations are happening and we're trying to keep guys as mentally and physically fresh as they can be.

'The biggest improvement since I started is the amount of support'

Smith We fill out daily how we're feeling, how we slept ... the sleep gets a big red every now and again. We fill out a wellness thing every day. The coach and psych and head of team performance look at our markers daily and it's upon us to be honest in the way we go about that as well. They can see how we're tracking and if there's a change in behaviour, if you're feeling ill or not sleeping well or feeling a bit off, they're aware of it. That can sort of start a conversation. Why's your sleep bad? What's going on? Why are you feeling a bit off today? It's good that they do that. It's good for guys' mental health and wellbeing.

Cummins Lloydy [Australian team psychologist Michael Lloyd] has just about been full-time on tour for the last few years. Lloydy's brilliant, I've known him since 17 or 18 years old and he's always on tour, if he isn't he might be away for a week or two, but there's definitely times where I pick up the phone and speak to him about different things. We've got great staff, through the ACA, the player development officers around the states, everyone's got good contacts with them.

That's probably the biggest improvement I've seen since I first started was the amount of support you have around. It's still up to the player sometimes to pick up the phone and pick up that conversation, but we're lucky how many resources we have and always trying to optimise that. We get asked about it a lot, how we want it to look like and how we can make improvements. I think if it's three or four negative things, it goes [from the wellness app] to a group of people and that might have the physios, coaches, mental health, psychologists, and whatever it is, that normally instigates a conversation with the player.

ALSO READ: 'Shows incredible courage to talk about mental health'

'The only opinions who matter are the ones close to me and the team'

Mitchell Starc: I got off social media. Getting older and going through all that the last 12 to 18 months I have been mindful about being pretty level. In terms of opinions, the only ones who matter are the ones close to me and the team. Going in and out of the team early in my career and going through that as a young cricketer [helped me]. The game has changed since I started. Social media stuff comes into it. We have two broadcasters now so there are more demands on the players. Guys are reading and taking note of more opinions now as well. I can only speak for myself but that is what helped me most over the past 18 months was not caring what people think and not reading it and taking that away from my lifestyle and it's been a lot clearer and a lot more positive.

'Having something else in my life it would have alleviated some of the pressure I put on myself'

Tim Paine: It can be difficult [to have perspective] and I think it comes as well with experience. I think it's something you do need to go through at times to come out of it with that knowledge and know-how. I look now at that period of time where I was out injured or I was really struggling now as a real positive in my life, not only in my career. I think it's made me a much better person. I think obviously going back to when I was 16 or 17 I wish I knew what I knew now and I would have been a lot better at school, because I think having something else in my life it would have alleviated some of the pressure I put on myself to perform. It would have allowed me to go out and play a little bit more fearlessly which I would have loved to be able to do but I've never allowed myself to do because I've always had all my eggs in one basket. It was a difficult time, but in the end it's turned out to be a real positive.

Cummins: It was really difficult [battling injuries at a young age]. Probably looking back I now realise how much more difficult it was than when I was going through it for the first time - I was a little bit naive. The most obvious example was that every single summer of my life I'd played cricket and suddenly I was a professional cricketer but I was spending my summers not playing cricket, and I just wanted to do what I love doing. I try to keep realising that while I wasn't playing, I was hanging out with my mates, I was going to the cricket ground and training, so there was a life as a cricketer I was still able to have and Cricket Australia were brilliant with New South Wales, the support staff especially who were my main contact in cricket. They were the ones who kept me motivated and instilled patience in me for those couple of years.

'Health is much more important than another game of cricket'

Justin Langer: I've learned a lot over however long I've been coaching. I'm dealing with young men all the time, so hopefully I've got a pretty good feel for how guys are going. But it's a complex issue - it's like concussion. There's a really clear protocol on concussion now and I'm really hopeful, in a really complex matter of mental health, that we can get to a point where there's really clear protocols and there's no stresses about it, there's no indignity in saying 'I'm not okay'.

And then we work out how guys can return to play, whether it's in the shorter term or in the longer term. I'm sure that's what we're all searching for, to make sure that we get that protocol right. I said it one of our players today, at the end of the day the health of our players and the wellbeing is much more important to me than another game of cricket. We saw it with Steve Smith - we would have loved Steve Smith to play the third Test of the Ashes, of course. But it was so clear that he wasn't right, it was an easy decision. We lost a tough game but it was a no-brainer, and I hope we can get to that point with mental health as well.