It has been seven years since Gabriel Landeskog was named captain of the Colorado Avalanche. He was 19 years, 286 days old, which made him the league's youngest captain at the time. Since then, the Swedish-born left wing has done a lot of growing, and he has seen a lot of change: three head coaches, two general managers and more teammates than he can count.

When those changes happen, it's on the captain to smooth the transition and figure out the formula for the right chemistry. That was true when Landeskog first wore the "C," and it was true this summer, when the Avalanche added Nazem Kadri, Andre Burakovsky, Joonas Donskoi, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and others in a depth-building offseason.

"You want to make them feel comfortable as fast as possible. You send a couple of text messages. Let them know where the good restaurants are," he said. "The new guys are awesome. We really enjoy them."

What's not to enjoy? Colorado is off to a 7-0-1 start. The Avalanche have the league's top offense, at 4.38 goals per game. They've defeated Stanley Cup contenders such as the Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning. After making the playoffs in two straight seasons under head coach Jared Bednar and advancing to the second round last postseason, the Avalanche were viewed as a team on a championship path, to the point that they had the third-best odds to win the Cup this preseason, according to Caesars sportsbook.

So far, Colorado has met the hype. Can the Avs keep it up? We spoke with Landeskog about how they can, his incredible line with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, and other hockey topics. But first, we leave the ice for the greens:

ESPN: As one of the team's golf aficionados, please tell us the best and worst golfers on the Avalanche.

Gabriel Landeskog: I mean, even though he's taken a lot of lessons, I'd have to give it to Nate [MacKinnon]. If you had asked me five years ago, I wouldn't have said Nate. But he's a real good golfer. He's got a beautiful swing and some really good putts around the greens as well. He's been a lot of fun to play with and to see him become a constant mid-70s golfer.

ESPN: And the worst?

Landeskog: You could pick one of the Russian guys probably. [Nikita] Zadorov doesn't play a lot of golf, but he likes to get out and have fun with it. So I'd have to pick him.

ESPN: You mentioned MacKinnon taking lessons. I've seen you throw shade at him a bit for this. Does it break some kind of hockey player golfer code?

Landeskog: [laughs] Once you have a swing coach and you see your swing coach once a week ... you know, we play golf as a hobby. We don't play it as a "job." So I don't know: If I was to take lessons, I'd probably keep it on the down low and not let people know. But it's all good. To be honest, I'm just jealous of his swing.

ESPN: From 2011 to 2017, you appeared in seven playoff games. Given where the team is now, does that feel like a century ago?

Landeskog: Yeah. Now, after making the playoffs, getting a taste of it, I can't imagine not making them again. You don't realize what you've been missing out on until you've been there. We did get there in 2013-14, lost to Minnesota in Game 7 at home. And then you always expect you're going to be there and get a kick at the can every time, but you realize pretty fast that it's not like that, that it's pretty hard making it. It's not a guarantee. You gotta earn it. And that's what you're trying to do.

ESPN: How did you keep the faith during that time and through all of those changes with the organization: coaches, GMs, the whole thing?

Landeskog: That's just kind of in my nature. I try to see the positives in everything. But I also try to do my part, stay in my lane and help the team any way I can. Focus on my job, first and foremost, and hope that other people are going to take care of theirs. But for me, I'm a positive guy. That's how I'm going to live my life.

ESPN: Is it good or bad to have everyone hyping you to the moon at the start of the season?

Landeskog: To be honest with you, I don't think we put much effort into thinking about if it's good or bad. We've been told that we wouldn't make the playoffs in the past, and it didn't change our outlook or our goals for the season. Now just because people have us being a team up at the top, it doesn't make a difference for our expectations. We block out the noise from the outside. We focus on our thing, which is to get better throughout the season and win that last game of the year. But I guess it's good. It's fun.

ESPN: As you've gotten older, what part of your game do you think has improved the most?

Landeskog: I wasn't as strong on the puck coming into the league as I am now -- or as I'd like to be, as I still have a lot of work left. It was a lot of one-and-done scoring chances when I first entered the league. I wasn't able to control the puck in the offensive zone. I feel like I've gotten better at it and everything. When you start feeling like you're the player you want to be and stop developing, you're going to start declining. You have to constantly work on it.

ESPN: MacKinnon can't give you "strong on the puck" lessons?

Landeskog: [laughs] He's a step above a lot of guys. You can take a lot of inspiration from a guy like that, but once I start trying to stick handle like he does, I think I'm in trouble.

ESPN: Lines are a funny thing in the NHL. They get hot for a little bit, and then they fade, and then they aren't a line anymore. Are you shocked by how long and how well you, Nathan and Mikko have played together?

Landeskog: I think we were put together on Nov. 1, 2017. So we're coming up on two full years. We've played a lot of hockey together. Some guys you play with, you have that chemistry, right from the get-go. Other guys, you have to develop it. We had it right away, and once you start finding that success, you realize what you gotta do to produce offense in this league and be reliable defensively.

We're three guys that each bring something different to the table, but we all work hard. They're two guys I really enjoy playing with.

ESPN: Have you guys become closer away from the rink during that time?

Landeskog: I'd say so. We're all close to the same age. A lot of common interests. When we were put together, it was Mikko's second year. That's a guy that's come out of his shell. He's an awesome guy to be around. Nate and I knew each other for years and played together quite a bit. Finding success on the ice helps those relationships off the ice.

ESPN: Off-ice question: What was the last show you binged on the road?

Landeskog: I'm into "Billions" right now. It's really good. Just started Season 3. I was late to the party on that one, but it's an awesome show, and that's what I'm crushing right now.

ESPN: Are you Team Bobby Axelrod, or are you Team Chuck Rhodes?

Landeskog: Team Axe, all the way. Maybe there's a point where I should be Team Chuck, but I'm not there yet. I'll keep you posted.

ESPN: We spoke to Mika Zibanejad recently on our podcast, and he talked about his support of the Swedish women's national team and their battle for equality. This was a campaign you supported in the summer. What does that mean to you?

Landeskog: It's common sense, right? For me, it's important that they get the same foundation to stand on to be successful. They're not asking for much. They're asking to be respected and to be taken care of. We're proud of our women's team, and we're proud of our hockey federation. It's an easy one to stand behind, for sure.

ESPN: This is part of a larger trend with you, in the sense that you've been active with local charities in the NHL. You're a star player. You've got some influence. How important is it for you to use that for charities and other efforts?

Landeskog: I've always seen it as a duty to give back when you're a public figure and you've got the platform that we have. It's a privilege to be in the position that we're in. I was able to bring an anti-bullying campaign [called "Friends Colorado"] from Sweden to Denver. I've been doing some work with local hockey teams and talking with players and coaches and parents about how to treat one another. That's important now, with social media and all the cyberbullying going on. You have to be educated.

My wife, Melissa, has worked with [local charity] A Precious Child and has helped them out with leveling the playing field for families in need. I dive into all kinds of different things. The Kroenke family set the standard for giving back to the community, and the players have a duty to do our part.

On Thursday night in Montreal, Minnesota Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek blocked a shot from Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber on the penalty kill. Ek hobbled a bit, but stayed on the ice. He then blocked another shot by Weber. Again, Ek was rattled. He stayed on the ice. And then Ek blocked his third consecutive shot by Weber -- all in one shift. Ek finally was able to limp off, getting a big embrace from teammate Matt Dumba on the bench.

Michael Russo of The Athletic reported that the 22-year-old Ek left the arena in a boot; he'll be out for a week or two.

Five nights earlier, in Colorado, Arizona Coyotes defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson blocked a shot from Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson. Hjalmarsson, one of the Yotes' best blueliners, broke his fibula and is expected to miss about three months; this is a major blow for a team that led the league in man games lost last season with a freakish number of injuries.

After the Hjalmarsson news, I saw this tweet from former NHL goaltender Corey Hirsch, which got me thinking.

So many broken bones are a result of the new sticks and shot blocking. Everyone shoots hard now. Years ago, there used to only be a few guys on each team with wooden or aluminum sticks that had bombs for shots, now it's everybody. It's actually getting really dangerous. https://t.co/vM9PXzH2bW

— Corey Hirsch (@CoreyHirsch) October 14, 2019

So this week, I decided to ask guys about it.

"Obviously sticks are a lot better," Blackhawks goaltender Robin Lehner said. "When I got into the league a while ago [in 2010], you always had that group of guys on the team that had good shots. Then you had a group of guys on the team that didn't have good shots. These days everyone shoots well. There's no more divide."

Lehner also mentioned the speed of the game as a contributing factor. "Ten years ago, you could always get into decent blocking position where you could be as protected as possible," Lehner said. "But now, it's hard to time it right. You only have like a half-second, and the shots that are coming are much harder."

Said Hjalmarsson's teammate, Nick Schmaltz: "It's scary to think how fast that puck is coming at you, whether there's going to be more injuries or whatnot. There's always a risk of injury in our game, and hopefully it's not increased that much. You see these young kids and everyone who comes up they all can shoot the puck so hard and you wonder if that's going to keep getting harder and harder."

Since StatsPass began tracking blocked shots in 2006-07, there has been an increase from 13.5 shots blocked per game to 14.3. Yes, it's just one more blocked shot per game, but over the course of the season, it's an extra 3,000-plus blocked shots (taking into account that the league has added an extra team in that span, too). And this isn't just a thing for, say, a John Tortorella-coached team. Across the league, every single NHL team blocked at least 1,000 shots in each of the past two seasons (2017-18 to 2018-19). It's a crucial part of the game.

"I mean in the sport, everything is getting better," Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom said. "Skates are getting lighter, sticks have way more technology and people are learning to shoot harder. I don't really have a good solution because it happens all the time, it's part of the game. People are wearing shot blockers because it's too painful to take a shot on the foot."

Klefbom has tried shot blockers, and said "sometimes it helps, but honestly it doesn't really matter because slapshots are so hard."

"I think people's priorities are to be very mobile and feel very light on the ice instead of having more pads," Klefbom said. "The shot blockers feel heavier and make it a little harder to turn. I think as players we would rather risk getting injured because we want to be as light as possible, and as mobile as we can on the ice. We know in this game, you're going to get hurt once in a while."

Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews wanted to add a little more nuance to the discussion. "I think there's less time than ever to wind up and take a full-on slapshot," Toews said. "I think you see D-men take wrist shots pretty much. Brent Burns gets 10 shots a game, but all he does is take wrist shots."

Toews also mentioned that while sticks are better, the league now has an abundance of smaller players. "They can really whip it because of the [newer] shafts," Toews said. "It takes less effort to get the puck off, but it doesn't necessarily mean the shots are harder."

Jump ahead:
Emptying the notebook | What we liked this week
Three stars of the week | Biggest games coming up

Emptying the notebook

Even without Hjalmarsson, the Coyotes seem to be finding their stride. One player Arizona was happy to welcome back this season was Nick Schmaltz, who has eight points in seven games. He's on a very productive line alongside Christian Dvorak -- the two reunited after being linemates as teenagers for the Chicago Mission, which is pretty cool. Schmaltz had surgery on his meniscus in January, and said he felt it took him a few games this October to get back into a groove. "It was tough to jump right back into game situations and get back to speed," Schmaltz said. "Just the timing and making those plays I'm used to making, little passes or reading the play and knowing where to be. But once I got my confidence back, I was making more plays and felt much more comfortable with the puck."

There wasn't one specific incident that led to Schmaltz's knee injury. It was a gradual thing that got "worse and worse" every game since he was traded from the Blackhawks to the Coyotes. Then, in the final game he played last season, Schmaltz found himself unable to push off his injured leg, and that's when he knew he needed to get it addressed. He figured it was better to get the surgery over with, so he could have a full summer of recovery. The Coyotes had so much faith in Schmaltz, they signed the 23-year-old to a seven-year, $40.95 million extension -- despite his playing only 17 games with the club. After the surgery, Schmaltz spent six weeks in Philadelphia rehabbing before returning to Arizona. "It was tough for the trainers. They had guys that were playing to deal with, so I knew it would be tough to get one-on-one time with them," Schmaltz said. "So it was best for me to get away, focus on the day-by-day of getting better. It was tough mentally to be away from the team, but looking back it helped me with my recovery."

As for the Yotes ... Schmaltz knows it's a big year for the team. "We came into this year as an organization and this is one of the better teams we've had in -- I don't know how long, but a long time," he said. "So there are a little higher expectations on us. We were so close last year, and you wonder what might have happened if we didn't have all those injuries. A lot of them were the same injuries, which is crazy. Four or five guys had knee injuries. So hopefully, knock on wood, we can stay healthy. We don't want to put too much pressure on ourselves, but we do know it's important to build off last year."

This tweet from Seattle director of hockey administration Alex Mandrycky got a lot of attention:

Do you want to help build the NHL Seattle team that will take the ice in 2021? We are looking for great candidates to join our Hockey Operations department. Read more about what we're looking for and apply. ⬇

— Alexandra Mandrycky (@AlexMandrycky) October 18, 2019

Seattle hired its first round of pro scouts -- five in total -- last month. GM Ron Francis and assistant GM Ricky Olczyk will also be part of the Seattle scouting staff this season, in order to keep costs down (they've been seen in press boxes across the league, already getting to work). After the scouting hires, Francis told me the organization would likely "hire a few people in analytics soon." Those are the jobs Mandrycky posted about. After that, the majority of the hockey ops hires for the NHL's newest team will happen next summer.

As far as scouting, Francis said Seattle will be covering major events this season, including the under-17 tournament in Medicine Hat, Alberta, and Swift Current, Saskatchewan; the under-20 Four Nations Cup in Helsinki; the IIHF World Junior Championships in the Czech Republic; the under-18 championships in Plymouth, Michigan; and the IIHF World Championships in Switzerland.

The Oilers have stormed off to a 7-1-0 start, and when they were in Chicago last week (following win No. 5) I asked defenseman Oscar Klefbom what feels different about the team this season. "It's still early, that's probably a more relevant question to ask me after two straight losses," the Swedish defenseman said. "We're winning, everyone is in a good mood, and all that. But I do have a really good feeling we have a really good mix of guys, a good group of guys. I have had a lot of different GMs, a lot of different coaches. And with these two -- Ken Holland and Dave Tippett -- it feels like we've got something really good going on."

I followed up and asked how important he thinks continuity will be for his group. "It's everything," Klefbom said. "If you're going to have success, you need some stability. That's probably why consistent teams in the playoffs -- Chicago, L.A., Pittsburgh, that always had the playoffs in years past -- they had that same core group, that same philosophy and they were so consistent every year, you knew they were going to make the playoffs every year. We want to bring that culture here and it's very, very important to have that chemistry and still be patient if it's not working out. Because it takes some time to just get it working."

I would be remiss to write about the Oilers and not mention Connor McDavid. The center is blazing through the early stretch -- including some holy-cow-he's-doing-this-all-by-himself goals -- with 17 points in eight games. Nearly three weeks into the season, he had outscored more than a dozen NHL teams. Leon Draisaitl, once again, is impressive as well, with 16 points. Edmonton knows if the Oilers are going to sustain this success, they'll need contributions from more than just those two. "That's one thing we've talked about since day one as a team: It's not just two players," coach Dave Tippett said in Chicago. "Those two players, they have an impact on the game, they're top, top players, but everybody has to have an impact on the game." That's why the Oilers feel great about the early offensive surge from James Neal. But there needs to be more. McDavid, Draisaitl and Neal have combined for 20 goals. The rest of the team? 10.

Mika Zibanejad is enjoying a terrific start to the season on the Rangers' revamped top line, with four goals and six assists in his first five games. The Rangers' roster is a diverse one, and Zibanejad (a native Swede) is flanked by two native Russian speakers: Artemi Panarin and Pavel Buchnevich. Zibanejad was on the ESPN on Ice podcast this week and discussed how he communicates with his linemates.

"[Panarin's] English is better than people think," Zibanejad said. "I just have to speak a little slower. It's the same thing when I play with Pavel Buchnevich, who is actually on our line as well right now. That helps a lot. If there's something [Panarin] doesn't understand, I'll just tell Buchy that, and he'll translate it to Russian. A lot of the talks we have, I feel like we are on the same page. Sometimes the communication and the ways of communication -- some of the messages that come across get mixed up a little bit. In terms of that, it's easy to write on the board, it's easy to show on the iPad or video or whatever. And it's not that bad. It's obviously easier when you have another Russian on your side that can help out."

Three Stars of the Week

John Carlson, D, Washington Capitals

Carlson is making a nice Norris Trophy case early on this season. He currently leads the league in points (18) -- which includes seven points this past week -- while holding down the fort as the Caps' No. 1 defenseman.

Carter Hutton, G, Buffalo Sabres

Who would have thought the Sabres would be leading the Atlantic Division, and who would have thought that Carter Hutton would be leading the league in goals-against average (1.39) and save percentage (.953)? A 47-save shutout against the Kings this week was a highlight.

David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins

In three games this week, the Bruins winger had seven goals and two assists. That includes his four-goal outburst against the (surprisingly good) Anaheim Ducks.

What we liked this past week

By now, you must have seen this adorable video of Washington's Mite of the Nite (the courageous, but also a little shy tarantula and Ovech-a-kin enthusiast) Jackson Friedlander. Remember, this hockey column is not all about winning; it's also about having fun. So here it is again:

This might have been the greatest Mite of the Nite interview EVER. @AAAMidAtlantic pic.twitter.com/fKE8rmu7OU

— Washington ? Capitals (@Capitals) October 17, 2019

I'm a sucker for any player interaction with young fan. It was really cool of Devan Dubnyk -- on the road, no less -- to let this kid try on his helmet:

Good guy of the day: Devan Dubnyk, for letting this young Canadiens fan try on his mask. #Wild #NHL pic.twitter.com/AyIEmttGNq

— Sports Interaction (@SIASport) October 18, 2019

Canadiens defenseman Victor Mete scored his first NHL goal in a 4-0 win against the Wild. It was Mete's 127th game, the longest goal drought to start a career in Canadiens franchise history. The reaction from teammates was fantastic. As was Mete afterward. According to Sportsnet's Eric Engels, reporters asked Mete why he was cracking up on the bench when the goal was being announced.

Mete: "I think it was [Shea Weber] who said, 'Atta boy, Meat; medium-cheese, f---ing right,' because I shot it mid-net."

The video we have all been waiting for ... Cale Makar makes a kale smoothie (by the way, it's great how Makar leans into all of the Avalanche's social media asks, and seems to be having fun doing it)

A highly-anticipated game on #WednesdayNightHockey tonight means the most highly-anticipated video is here...

Cale's Corner: Making a Kale Smoothie#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/yfwzcUSSHX

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) October 16, 2019

After a disappointing end to last season, the Predators needed more offense, and boy are they getting it. Through Sunday, they're second in the league with 4.00 goals per game -- a big uptick from last season, when they finished near the bottom of the league, with 2.88.

It's early, but this is the leading candidate for goal of the year. It even left John Tortorella shaking his head.

Good lord Sonny Milano out here taking no prisoners pic.twitter.com/QQI9oJK3YE

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) October 17, 2019

What we didn't like this past week

I hate this for Senators fans. This rebuild must suck:

Five former Senators lead their respective teams in scoring: Silfverberg, Hoffman, Duchene, Zibanejad and Stone.

— Graeme Nichols (@6thSens) October 17, 2019

Washington defenseman Michal Kempny got his first game action on Friday night after seven months, after dealing with a hamstring injury. In his first game back, I didn't like this high hit from Rangers forward Brendan Lemieux. Caps defenseman Radko Gudas fought Lemieux as retaliation, and Kempny later scored in the game. Lemieux is a player who often toes the line, and I think he crossed it here.

Opposing players often comment that they don't exactly look forward to traveling to Winnipeg for road games -- unless they are from Manitoba -- but they do enjoy the loud atmosphere at the arena. It's a terrific place to play. This week, the Jets' 312-game home sellout streak came to an end. This column in the Winnipeg Sun blames skyrocketing ticket costs as a big factor.

We knew the Central Division was going to be a grinder this season, but it's been especially tough for two teams: the Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars. The Wild's struggles are somewhat expected, and wading through this season (the first under GM Bill Guerin) might not be the worst thing if they're able to get a high draft pick and spend the summer shuffling the roster.

The Stars, however, were expected to take steps forward after making the playoffs last season. Instead, Dallas is off to the worst start in franchise history. Goaltending has regressed a bit, and for a roster with plenty of star power in the forward group, goals have been hard to come by (they're the only team in the league averaging less than two per game). They look old and slow. After a 4-2 loss to the Penguins this week, goalie Anton Khudobin vented his frustrations. "What else can you say? We just got another L, [expletive] I don't know. We just have to keep going and do something." If this keeps up, expect seismic changes in Dallas.

Games of the week

Tuesday, Oct. 22: Toronto Maple Leafs at Boston Bruins (ESPN+)

It's a matchup of the first round of last season's playoffs ... and the season before that ... and yeah, these two teams have history. The Bruins are looking like the class of the East. The Maple Leafs are trying to power through two weeks without John Tavares, who has a broken finger.

Wednesday, Oct. 23: Pittsburgh Penguins at Tampa Bay Lightning

How on earth are the Penguins pulling this off -- looking like a decent team, despite a rash of injuries, including to Evgeni Malkin? It's not all Sidney Crosby, though he has been pretty fantastic. Pittsburgh gets a strong test with the Lightning, who are still struggling to look like their 2018-19 dominant selves.

Sunday, Oct. 27: San Jose Sharks at Ottawa Senators (ESPN+)

Hey, there's probably very few weeks we'll put the Senators as a game of the week. But it's Erik Karlsson visiting his former team, so this one is worth the watch.

Quote of the week

"I feel like Kylie Jenner right now."

-- Islanders center Mathew Barzal, in an interview on an MSG telecast, with a fat lip after taking a few high sticks to the face.

Tiger Woods began play at the MGM Resorts The Challenge: Japan Skins wearing a navy blue sweater vest over a light blue-and-white striped shirt. Jason Day, meanwhile, was just in his shirt sleeves.

By the sixth hole, Woods has taken off the vest in favor of a full-length sweater.

By the seventh hole, Day was wearing Tiger’s sweater vest.

And Day wore that sweater vest right into the winner's circle.

The end.

CHIBA, Japan – Jason Day didn’t know much about the history of the Skins Game, but he was aware of one curious milestone.

“Apparently Tiger hasn't won one yet, so I've got that on him, which is good,” Day said with a laugh following his victory in the MGM Resorts The Challenge: Japan Skins.

Day jumped out to an early lead with a birdie at the third hole that was worth three skins and $30,000 and added to his total with a scrambling par at the 17^th hole that was worth four skins and $80,000, to push his total to $110,000.

The Australian closed out the match with an up-and-down for birdie at the last hole, which was worth $100,000.

“My short game was nonexistent last week [at the CJ Cup], but it was nice to be able to hole some putts coming down the stretch, hit some good shots,” Day said. “The short game really showed up today and that's usually the strength of my game.”

Tiger Woods had a chance to match Day’s birdie at the last hole and force a playoff, but he missed from 10 feet. Woods, who has never won a skins event in seven attempts, finished tied for second with Rory McIlroy, with $60,000, and Hideki Matsuyama was fourth with $20,000.

“I did not play well at the beginning. I hit a lot of bad shots and did not putt well. Once I got into the flow of competing and feeling the round, it just got exciting,” said Woods, who is making his first start this week at the Zozo Championship since undergoing knee surgery in August.

Western Australia 9 for 519 dec (Marsh 214, Philippe 65, Inglis 58, Stoinis 56, Pattinson 4-117 and 0 for 9 beat Victoria 341 (Harper 72, Harris 69, Pucovski 64, Short 55) and 186 (Maxwell 57) by nine wickets

Jhye Richardson, Marcus Stoinis and David Moody combined to dismantle Victoria's second innings at the WACA and set up a clinical 10-wicket victory for Western Australia.

Only Glenn Maxwell passed fifty and when he became Stoinis' third wicket it virtually ended Victoria's hopes of departing the west with a draw. Their last five wickets fell for 38 to leave a target of just nine shortly after tea which Western Australia achieved for the loss of Sam Whiteman.

Victoria had resumed on 1 for 17 - 161 behind - following the loss of Marcus Harris the previous evening and suffered an early blow when Will Pucovski, who is expected to push hard for a Test call-up, edged behind off Moody.

Stoinis claimed his first of the innings when he had Peter Handscomb lbw although the Victoria captain looked far from impressed with the decision and Matthew Short also gave the impression of being hard done by when he was later pinned for a duck.

Between the two lbws for Stoinis, Richardson produced a good delivery to take the edge of Nic Maddinson and Victoria were five down before lunch.

Maxwell and Sam Harper offered some hope in a stand 70. The partnership included another tasty contest between Maxwell and Richardson which stems back to the Marsh Cup encounter on this ground last month.

In the first innings Richardson won the battle when he had Maxwell lbw for 1 but this time the duel went on longer with Maxwell sending a six over third man. He didn't fall to Richardson on this occasion although the quick still had a hand in Maxwell's dismissal when he settled under a swirling top-edged pull at long leg.

The lower order managed to extend the innings beyond tea but not by much. James Pattinson was given out caught down the leg side - another who looked disgruntled by the verdict - and Moody bagged his third when Harper was well caught at second slip by Shaun Marsh.

Marsh, whose career-best 214 helped build the matchwinning lead, then outdid himself with a very sharp take at slip when Peter Siddle edged Ashton Agar.

Bangladesh's cricketers have decided not to participate in any cricket activity for the foreseeable future until their demands for the improvement of cricket in the country are met. The immediate impact of their action will be on the National Cricket League, currently in progress, the training camp for next month's tour of India, and possibly the tour itself.

ALSO READ: BCB takes charge of next edition of BPL after fallout with team owners

The players released a list of 11 demands, including a reversal of the Bangladesh Cricket Board's decision last month to abandon the Bangladesh Premier League's franchise-based model. Those present at the press conference, at the National Cricket Academy in Dhaka, included Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah.

The BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury said they would react only once the demands are presented to them formally and they know the details.

ALSO READ: 'BPL not the place to make a player' - Shakib

The state of cricket in the country had led to simmering discontent among the players. The trigger seems to be the decision on the BPL, which reduced the average professional cricketer's earning to an all-time low. The players' woes were furthered after the BCB didn't raise the match fees in the first-class competition that began earlier this month. These, in addition to the salary cap applied to the Dhaka Premier League, although it used to be an open market for club-to-club transfer for players, for the last several years.

More to follow…

Not only is Sarfaraz Ahmed absent in the Pakistan Test and T20I squads bound for Australia, in a major shake-up, head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq has named a host of new faces in both the touring groups.

Muhammad Musa Khan, the 19-year-old seamer, was included in both the squads. Khushdil Shah, the 24-year-old middle-order batsman, and Abdul Qadir's son Usman Qadir, the 26-year-old legspinner, were the new faces in the T20I squad, to be captained by Babar Azam, while Azhar Ali's Test side included Kashif Bhatti, the domestic veteran who bowls left-arm spin and Nasim Shah, the young fast bowler.

ALSO READ - Usman Qadir: lost in Pakistan, found in Australia

In Pakistan's post-World Cup shake-up, Sarfaraz had been sacked as captain of the Test and T20I sides and a decision on the ODI captaincy was put on hold, as Pakistan's next 50-over assignment isn't until July next year. Also out of the Test side were Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali, who is nursing an injury, Shadab Khan, and Mohammad Amir, who had announced his retirement from the longest format earlier this year.

In T20Is, there was no place for Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal, who were selected in controversial circumstances for the series at home against Sri Lanka recently, while Ashraf and Mohammad Nawaz were also left out.

"A series to Australia has always been a challenge for Pakistan, and is very important, too," Misbah said. "Being a player, it was always our wish to go to Australia and perform well, and win games and series there. because Australia, England and South Africa are places where it is incredibly difficult to win, and when you do, the world sits up and takes notice. We want to play competitive, aggressive, fearless cricket there, because this is the only way to beat them at home.

"The team we have selected has been chosen with that in mind, and we have a number of surprise packages in our team that we feel confident will be able to challenge Australia. Be that T20Is or Test cricket, you will see young, exciting players. My message is clear, we want youngsters to get a chance. We believe in them and they are our future. If you go to Australia and want to compete, you have to have firepower in the fast bowling department. We aren't just going to compete, we are going to win, and we are confident these boys will perform."

There are a number of surprises in the squad, but the call-up of Usman Qadir perhaps tops them all. Just last year, Qadir had declared he "didn't want to play for Pakistan", and wanted to represent Australia instead when he became a citizen, disillusioned by the lack of opportunity in Pakistan. Less than a fortnight ago, Misbah rhetorically asked a packed press conference which legspinners he was ignoring in Pakistan cricket, indicating there was no one coming through to select besides Yasir Shah and Shadab Khan. When a journalist murmured Usman Qadir's name, there was a ripple of laughter, with even Misbah joining in, and saying he hadn't been playing domestic cricket in Pakistan. To see him named in a squad just ten days later represents a remarkable change of heart from the PCB, and indeed Qadir himself.

In other notable recalls, Mohammad Irfan was named in a Pakistan squad for the first time since September 2016, with the previous coach Mickey Arthur deeming him incompatible with the high-performance culture he believed was necessary to make Pakistan a modern-day competitive limited-overs force. The 37-year old will be the oldest player in a side that's otherwise notable for its youth, with Musa Khan named in both squads, while 16-year old Nasim Shah was a surprise pick, even by this squad's standards, for the Test series. He rose to prominence with a six-wicket haul on his Quaid-e-Azam trophy debut as a 15-year old last year, and has fast become something of a regular for Central Punjab.

One of the less surprising - but still notable for its significance - changes was the introduction of Mohammad Rizwan to Pakistan's T20I and Test squads, set gto become a regular after a long wait on the sidelines. He didn't play a single international game for over two years while Sarfaraz Ahmed was captain of all three formats, but with him dropped, the way for Rizwan to come back in has been cleared. He has, however, only ever played a single Test match, which came nearly three years ago in New Zealand.

Imran Khan, meanwhile, is also back in the side for the first time since Pakistan's last tour of Australia in January 2017. He may only have played 9 Tests for Pakistan, but 3 have come in two separate series against Australia, the opposition he now has an opportunity to take on again next month. Also in the squad is Kashif Bhatti, the fifth-highest wickettaker in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy this season with 10 at an average of 27.4, on wickets that have been overwhelmingly partial to batsmen.

The series has the feel of a fresh start for Pakistan cricket, with the final remaining survivor of the previous regime Sarfaraz absent, and the raft of new changes that give both squads a new-look feel. Azhar Ali and Babar Azam will captain the Test and T20I squads respectively, with the T20I series a chance for Pakistan to bounce back from the 3-0 home defeat to Sri Lanka and press their claim as favourites for next year's World T20I, to be held in Australia, further. The Test series will be the first assignment for Pakistan in the Test championship, and t could not have been a more challenging start; Pakistan have lost each of their last four series in Australia 3-0, representing 12 consecutive Test losses.

The action in Australia begins with the first T20I on November 3 in Sydney, followed by games in Canberra (November 5) and Perth (November 8 ), before the Test matches take place in Brisbane (November 21-25) and Adelaide (November 29 to December 3).

More to follow…

Scotland 146 for 6 (Coetzer 54, Vala 1-21) beat Papua New Guinea 142 for 9 (Vanua 33, Tahir 3-24) by four runs

Playing their third match in three days in the Dubai heat, Papua New Guinea looked on track to maintain a perfect record at the T20 World Cup Qualifier. But they ran out of gas after Mark Watt's double-strike in the 13th over turned the tide towards their opponents in a dramatic four-win win for Scotland on Monday.

Chasing a target of 147, PNG were 81 for 2 in 12 overs before Watt's intervention. After he had been driven for two sixes in the opening over of the chase by Assad Vala, Watt bounced back with a maiden in the sixth before an over that won the match for Scotland, at least according to PNG captain Vala and Scotland stand-in captain Richie Berrington - Kyle Coetzer didn't take the field after his first-innings fifty due to dehydration. Charles Amini drove the second ball to Calum MacLeod at long-off for 9 before Lega Siaka was bowled on an attempted drive next ball for 31.

Fellow left-arm spinner Hamza Tahir built off the Watt breakthroughs with two more wickets of his own in the 15th, bowling Riley Hekuru playing over the top of a pull before Sese Bau slogged a short ball to sub fielder Michael Leask at deep midwicket to make it 94 for 6.

PNG never stopped fighting though allrounder Norman Vanua rallied on. With 26 needed off two overs, Jason Kila pulled Safyaan Sharif for back-to-back fours before Vanua clubbed a full toss for six over long-on, his second of the innings, to take the target down to nine off the last over. But Josh Davey was immaculate at the death. Kila pulled the first ball to George Munsey at deep midwicket before Vanua couldn't get enough power behind a lofted drive taken by Tom Sole at long-on. The last-wicket pair of Nosaina Pokana and Damien Ravu could only manage four off the last four balls.

Coetzer had anchored Scotland's innings grinding his way to a 42-ball half-century in the stifling heat. Outside of Munsey's assault on Bau's offspin in the second over - twin reverse sweeps for four and six - Coetzer didn't get much support during the innings. Munsey fell in the fourth to a skied drive to mid-off before Vanua trapped MacLeod for a four-ball duck in the next over, putting pressure back on Scotland in the Powerplay.

Coetzer found his release shots slogging a pair of sixes over long-on to push Scotland forward. He finally fell in the 17th, slogging Amini's legspin flat to Pokana at long-off. Matthew Cross then provided a crucial late burst, striking a six and four fours across the final four overs, to get Scotland up to a total that proved to be just enough in the end.

Joe Root has insisted that the introduction of the Hundred will help England in their bid to retain the World Cup in 2023.

Some have suggested that the new competition will reduce England's competitiveness in ODI cricket as their leading white-ball players will no longer be available for the domestic 50-over tournament, which is scheduled at the same time as the Hundred.

But Root feels the benefits of exposing young English players to some of the best overseas players in the world will outweigh any such issues.

"By playing the Hundred, you're exposing our next generation of players to play against some of the best players in the world," Root told ESPNcricinfo. "Regardless of the format that will be more influential and have more of an impact.

"Look at the guys in the current white-ball team who have gone off to play in the IPL: they've come back better players for it. I feel the Hundred will have a similar impact on more English players. Not just the top end guys, but on the next group of players that are on the fringe of the international teams. And, on the back of it, they'll have more opportunity to play elsewhere, too.

"Of course it's important we look after our 50-over cricket and, long-term, don't let it slide off a cliff. But I don't think playing the Hundred will dilute our chances of winning the next World Cup."

Root also refutes the suggestion that the Hundred poses a threat to England's Test aspirations. While the window created for the competition means the Championship will be played disproportionately in the margins of the summer - a scenario which all too often leads to conditions providing copious assistance to the sort of seam bowlers who find little encouragement on the better surfaces generally encountered in Test cricket - England's Test captain feels the county groundsmen simply have to do a better job of creating high quality surfaces. County groundsmen, recovering from the longest season in history, could be forgiven for shaking their heads ruefully and wondering how they can be expected to produce good batting surfaces in the drizzle of early April.

"The key is making sure the wickets for Championship cricket are good," Root said. "Some of the wickets have not been good enough this season. We have to make sure we're producing wickets that allow guys to get in and make big scores.

"You want the next group of batters to know what's it's like to score big hundreds; to deal with scoreboard pressure; to bat for two days to stay in a game and earn a dull draw. And you also have to find a way to take wickets - to take 20 wickets - on flat ones.

"I'd like to see wickets improve. And that ultimately comes down to the counties. I know they're under huge pressure to win but, from a purely selfish point of view, I think it would be really good for English cricket if we saw better wickets next season."

CHIBA, Japan -- In keeping with the mood of the day, nothing was too serious Monday at The Challenge: Japan Skins, where Jason Day walked off with $210,000 and the victory, and nobody seemed too upset about it.

Back in the day, The Skins Game was an annual Thanksgiving weekend golf treat in an era of "Silly Season'' events that attracted some of the top names in the sport. Tiger Woods played in it six times -- and never won -- a point that Day was sure to hammer home afterward.

"He hasn't won one yet, so I've got that on him, which is good,'' Day said. "I found that out today when he told me. But this is nice, the back and forth was great, it was nice and clean and it was within the game and I think the guys had fun out there.''

That was sort of the idea of the four-player event that was built around Woods' appearance this week in the first-ever PGA Tour event to be played in Japan.

Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama and Day joined Woods at the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club for the event that sold out its ticket allotment of 3,000, with the final two holes played under makeshift lighting due to darkness. All will play in the Zozo Championship that starts here Thursday.

As part of a sponsorship deal Woods has with GolfTV, the event was streamed around the world, offering a $350,000 purse with the first six holes worth $10,000 apiece, the next six $15,000 apiece, then $20,000 for holes 13 through 17 with $100,000 on the line at the 18th.

That kind of money is chump change for these guys, who were paid undisclosed appearance fees for their participation. Perhaps that helped keep the mood light and the golf not too serious.

In the Skins Game format, a player must win the hole outright to collect the prize, and if there are ties the money carries over.

Day saved his best for last, winning the 17th hole when McIlroy missed a short birdie putt to tie him. Day then captured the 18th when Woods left short a 10-foot birdie putt, making Day the big winner. He won a total of eight skins.

Woods was next with six skins and $60,000, while McIlroy also won $60,000 for his five skins. Matsuyama won one skin and earned $20,000.

It was the first competitive appearance for Woods since he tied for 37th at the BMW Championship in August and then had knee surgery.

And for a time, he didn't look good. Woods needed a few holes to get sorted before finally getting on the board when he parred the par-5 3rd hole -- the other three players all hit their tee shots in the water.

"I did not play well at the beginning,'' Woods said. "I hit a lot of bad shots and did not putt well. Once I got into the flow of competing and feeling the round, it just got exciting. We were competitive, the banter was great, the back and forth.''

The event had a couple of unique features. Many golf courses in Japan have two greens per hole that are alternated by day or time of year. On the fourth hole Monday, the players were able to choose which one they wanted to play.

On the seventh hole, the group was joined by four rugby players in a scramble format. And at the 14th hole, a par-5, each of the four players was required to play with just a single club, which forced Day into hitting a greenside bunker shot with a 6-iron -- that he managed to get up and down for a par.

"It was just great to be part of something like this,'' McIlroy said. "It was a fun way to kick off the week.''