Dein erstes Forum » seven hits and four runs in seven in

My cousin Ben was a good cricketer. A right-arm quick, he played for the combined services, often counting county 2nd XIs and Minor Counties as opponents. On reading my book, he told me this story about playing at Arundel some years before (apologies if I get it wrong).On arriving at the ground, he finds a new keeper in the pavilion, rummaging in an old bag. Said keeper triumphantly extracts a pair of gloves and prises the palms apart before turning to Ben, introducing himself as Paul and saying, This should be interesting, I havent played for three years.Cut to Bens opening spell. Two balls into his first over, the keeper runs up to him saying Ben, Ben... mind if I stand up, mate? Ben nods, a little bemused as he considered himself pretty pacy. Running in for ball No. 3, Ben sees an arm waving frantically towards square leg. Wide down leg? Sure, I can do that, thinks Ben. Wide the ball flies, at pace. Out pops a glove, snatches the ball from thin air, and whips off the bails. The keeper turns to the umpire, How was that?, and then to the bat, Ill give you a clue: on your bike, mate. All in all, he stumped three bats standing up to a bowler flinging it down at speeds well over 70mph.Weve all had games with somebody like that, those players who are simply a different class to the rest of the field, but their impact on a game is perhaps greatest when the step up is merely one or two levels. Im more interested here in those players who have not only reached something like their full potential, but who occupy a snow-capped, cloud-obscured pinnacle of performance compared to the grassy lowlands of, say, Sunday cricket.Ive been lucky enough to have played with several individuals whose natural level is far, far beyond mine, including the current England Womens captain Heather Knight (well, I had a net with her), and pros who play franchise T20 in their homelands and 2nd XI county cricket in England. As a moderate Sunday player, the difference in our respective levels is quite extreme, and for me to try to step up to their level would be mildly insane. Any innings of mine would be Hobbesian - nasty, brutish and short - and professional spin bowling is too quick for me to stand up to as a keeper. As for seam, I recently kept to a bowler who, at full steam, has been clocked at 85mph. Off four paces I could only just stay with him. And it hurt. It might be counter-intuitive, but when active pros step down to my level, and, most pertinently, down to my level of facilities, their class can count against them. It might seem odd that I should score 10 when a county 2nd XI player managed a mere seven runs more in the same innings, but there is a simple explanation, and its not merely that he wasnt fully concentrating.Heres the rub: the professional reacts; the amateur responds.One of the most enduring of defining characteristics thought to separate the human from the animal was put forward by the ancient Greeks, namely that humans respond while animals react. A response is considered; a reaction instinctive, automatic. Weve all heard of the fractions of a second it takes for a 90mph ball to reach the batsman, and how this is not long enough to allow much in the way of rational thought. This is where training comes in. We train in order to make the fundamental techniques automatic.When I trod the boards as a musician, I honed my technique through hours of hard work so that I could, when in the zone, pretty much make sound happen. There was no thinking about fingerings, chords, notes, rhythm patterns. I simply heard sound, and out it came. Its the same in cricket. When youre in the zone, everything clicks, and you simply will the ball to the boundary. Theres no thought, simply perfectly timed reactions. These reactions are honed by hours of work in the nets and in the middle. All practice is designed to reduce the need for thought. And thats where everything goes wrong.Put a pro on a Sunday wicket, all low, slow, variable bounce, and the instinctive becomes suicidal, even accounting for the headroom built into their game. The ball pitches short, the batsman goes on to the back foot to pull, the ball stays two inches above the ground. A half-volley invites the drive, but the ball plugs, the bat swings, mid-off says thank you kindly. The very thing that makes the pro so good is their downfall.And as for bowling, the pros stock ball is almost always too short, too wide, and too quick. Hardly any Sunday player can get near them. The pro is, therefore, forced to think, the very thing they train to avoid. Me? Im constantly adjusting, thinking, changing my mind, quite often during my shot. At my level, its feasible, and on the wickets I frequent, one might say its even imperative.Its only at the very highest level that you find the very best, the ones capable of adding improvisation to instinct, to move, like those rare truly great musicians, beyond technique and well-rehearsed patterns into the realms of pure expression. These players will change any game.Oh yes, the keeper. Sorry, I got distracted. At the end of the game, Ben took a peek at the scorebook and clocked who he was: Paul Farbrace.Kenny Golladay Jersey . With their top three point guards and Kobe Bryant all sidelined by injury, the Lakers signed Marshall out of the D-League on Friday before their home game against Minnesota. Marvin Jones Jr Lions Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. http://www.shopdetroitlionsnfl.com/lions-kenny-golladay-black-jersey/ . Peter Holland and Brad Staubitz were sent to Toronto on Saturday as the Maple Leafs traded defenceman Jesse Blacker and draft picks to the Anaheim Ducks. Calvin Johnson Lions Jersey . Patrice Bergeron and Daniel Paille scored 20 seconds apart a few minutes after Stamkos was taken off the ice on a stretcher with a broken right leg, and the Bruins beat the Lightning 3-0 on Monday afternoon. Marvin Jones Jr Womens Jersey .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday.NEW YORK -- Mariano Rivera stood on the mound, looking down at his cleats. Somehow, hed let yet another lead slip away. Never before had baseballs all-time saves leader blown three straight chances. Silenced by a pair of Detroit home runs, the fans at Yankee Stadium soon perked up. Brett Gardner homered with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting the New York Yankees over the Tigers 5-4 Sunday for their first series win in more than a month. Rivera has a record 643 saves, but had never failed three in a row in 1,087 previous relief appearances. His troubles began in Chicago, where he gave back a lead to the White Sox. "At least its the first time, you know what I mean?" Rivera said. "I just try to go out there and do my job. The last three opportunities, I havent done it. So we have to continue battling and get better. Have to keep working and eventually it will happen." Rivera blew both save chances in this series. Gardner provided the winning hit in both games. "Mos bailed us out a few times," Gardner said. "It didnt matter if it was me or somebody else, we just needed to get a win today and Im glad we made it happen." Rivera (3-2) gave up another homer to a limping Miguel Cabrera, plus a drive to Victor Martinez in the top of the ninth. The solo shots made it 4-all and turned Alex Rodriguezs first homer of the season into a footnote. But Gardner connected off Jose Veras (0-5). The feisty centre fielder flipped his batting helmet to A-Rod just before reaching the plate, then jumped into a cluster of teammates at home. "To Martinez, that ball was just laying right flat up. And also with Miguel," Rivera said. "Youre facing professional hitters. If you dont put the ball where you need to, youre going to get hit." On Friday night, Rivera gave up a two-run shot to Cabrera, who fouled two balls off his leg before launching the tying drive. Gardner won it in the 10th with a single. Manager Joe Girardi is hardly going to start worrying now about the 43-year-old pitcher generally regarded as the best closer ever. "Its not like you forget how to pitch in a week," Girardi said. "Its impossible." Alfonso Soriano homered for his 2,000th hit in the fourth inning. He connected off Justin Verlander, as did Rodriguez. "All great pitchers have one thing in common: they attack you and throw strikes," Rodriguez on why hes had success against Verlander -- four homers in 28 at-bats. Rodriguez, who has missed most of the year while coming back from hip surgery, hit a leadoff homer in the second. His 648th career home run pushed him past Stan Musial for fifth on the RBIs list with 1,951. "It was a tremendous homer by A-Rod," Pena said. "Justin Verlander threw a great inside pittch and he used his hands and sometimes you just have to credit the hitter.dddddddddddd" Lustily booed Friday night in his season debut at Yankee Stadium, he quickly turned fans around Sunday with a soaring shot to left field that made it 1-all. Rodriguez drove in one more run with a single down the first base line in the third. "Felt good to get the first one out of the way," Rodriguez said. "Today was a step in the right direction." Late lineup-addition Brayan Pena homered in the eighth off Yankees setup man David Robertson, cutting Detroits deficit to 4-2. Pena played for Alex Avila, who was placed on the 7-day concussion list after the game. Avila was hit in the mask by a foul ball Thursday but played Saturday. He was in the initial lineup Sunday. On a glorious August afternoon in the Bronx, the Yankees avoided dropping to .500 for the first time since April 13, improving to 59-57. Taking two of three from the AL Central leaders gave New York its first series win July 5-7 after an 0-5-3 stretch. Gardner started a long-distance double play to end the eighth inning by leaping against the centre field wall to catch Torii Hunters fly and preserve the 4-2 lead. Prince Fielder had an RBI single in the first off Andy Pettitte, the eighth straight game the lefty allowed a run in the opening inning. Thats the longest such streak by a Yankees pitcher, according to STATS research back to 1920. Rodriguez made a stellar play in the eighth when he reached deep behind third base on Austin Jacksons grounder and threw to second to nail Jose Iglesias for the first out. Tigers manager Jim Leyland disputed the call, and TV replays appeared to back him up. Leyland was back on the field one batter later. Shaken after catching Hunters fly, Gardner flipped the ball to Soriano. The left fielder threw the ball to shortstop Eduardo Nunez, who tossed it to second baseman Robinson Cano. Cano easily tagged Austin Jackson, who stood confused on second base. "As I lowered my head as I rounded back to make sure I stepped on second base, I saw the ball on the ground so I thought it hadnt been caught," Jackson said. "Sometimes you have no way of telling whats going on behind you. It happens sometimes. He made a great catch." Half the team met Gardner at the dugout steps to congratulate the centre fielder. They all pounced on him after his homer. NOTES: Verlander gave up seven hits and four runs in seven innings. He struck out nine and walked one. ... Rodriguez was given an error in the third on Martinezs slow roller that he ran in for but couldnt scoop with his glove. ... Rodriguezs two hits were his first off a right-hander in 25 at-bats dating to last years playoffs. ... The Tigers recalled C Bryan Holaday from Triple-A Toledo after the game. ' ' '