I went up against Fanie de Villiers when he played for Torquay in the Devon league in 1992. Fanie was over here trying to get fit so he could press his claim for a place in the South African team. Hed missed out on the 1992 World Cup through injury. I was a 19-year-old opening batsman at Barton Cricket Club with aspirations of playing professional cricket.Luckily the wicket at Barton was very slow. The first ball Fanie bowled to me was a loosener. First ball of the innings, half-volley, and I punched it down the ground for four. The guy I opened the batting with said to me, For Christs sake, dont wind him up.Later in that innings Fanie tried a short ball. It didnt get up but was on me quick. I clipped it and it went for two past square leg. That was an invitation to him to try a bit more of that because I hadnt played it that well.But on the slow, low wicket, the short balls sat up quite nicely after that and I managed to pull a few away to the boundary.Fanie was an absolute gentleman. Unlike a lot of overseas pros I played against in league cricket, he said very little. If you hit him for four, he didnt stand there and stare or swear at you. Hed just go back to his mark and try something else to get you out.In my experience, with some other overseas bowlers, if you did get on top of them, theyd revert to using their reputations to make a big deal of things. Rather than worry about what you had done, and any affront it might have caused him, Fanie would just focus on what he might have done wrong the previous ball to give you an opportunity to score and look to put that right the next time. A very professional attitude. He was easily the best seam bowler I faced in the Devon league. What stood out was his accuracy. With most club bowlers, you know if you keep the good ones out, the bad ball is just around the corner. With Fanie, there were few of those.He also had that wholehearted competitiveness. Always came off the long run and always seemed to be bowling at 100%, whereas other overseas bowlers Ive come across would take it easy from time to time.But he never stepped over that line. He respected the opposition, which doesnt always happen when pros come into league cricket.Later in my career, when I played a bit of professional cricket, I came across quicker bowlers than Fanie. He was quick enough, but also had a range of skills, could move the ball, swing and seam it, which was different to what wed seen before.To play against someone like that was a good testing ground for me. To go up against that kind of bowler was fantastic - very exciting, stimulating, and exactly what I needed. Wholesale Soccer Jerseys China . 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Beginning on Thanksgiving, eight Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams from across the globe will compete at DreamHack Winter in J?nk?ping, Sweden for their share of a $100,000 prize pool.While many of these teams are not among the most well-known or successful teams in 2016, which is in theme with DreamHacks open tournaments throughout the course of the year, several of its invitees have had recent success, making the tournament more competitive and a spectacle to watch while eating turkey with loved ones.Groups and schedule for DreamHack ZOWIE Open at DreamHack Winter this week:https://t.co/k97a0nCSV5 pic.twitter.com/LQ84G4k1Ja- DreamHack Open (@DreamHackOpen) November 21, 2016Danish WonderDespite a sloppy finish at ESL Pro League finals last month, Team Dignitas cemented itself as one of the best Counter-Strike teams in the world. Their first place at Epicenter in Moscow in mid-October and recent first place in their ELeague group shows that the Danish squad is more than capable of taking home the title, likely as the tournament favorite, at DreamHack Winter.Eighteen-year-old star Emil Magiskb0Y Reif has been on fire in recent events, fragging heavily for the team and presenting a true threat against opponents. The remainder of the team, a mix of mostly young talent and Danish veteran René cajunb Borg, has also stepped up to provide a well-rounded system.With their recent titles and strong showings, this iteration of Team Dignitas looks to outperform the orgs former lineup, which moved on to Team SoloMid and later Astralis last year. And its already started. Overall, Dignitas has overcome its Danish brethren Astralis and Heroic, cementing itself atop the scene, which has produced a plethora of European Counter-Strike talent, second only to Sweden.North American HopeWith Cloud9s big win at the ESL Pro League finals in October and OpTic Gamings first place finish at Northern Arena Montreal on Nov. 13, DreamHack Winter could again mark a tournament win for North America. Many analysts believe that at a top level performance, North Americas teams -- whether it be Cloud9, OpTic or Team Liquid -- perform better than they ever have in the history of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.Their problem, howeveer, is consistency.dddddddddddd Prior to ESL Pro League finals, Cloud9 was unexpectedly eliminated from ELeague Season 2 in a group with mousesports and a freshly restructured FaZe Clan. And at Intel Extreme Masters Oakland last weekend, the team was eliminated from its group after losses to FaZe, Ninjas in Pyjamas and SK Gaming, the latter two being finalists in the event.OpTic has had its own struggles, despite an upward trend at offline events since the addition of Tarik tarik Celik. The win at Northern Arena, where it beat G2 Esports and Heroic in the finals, as well as second to Team Dignitas in their ELeague group, also show theyre capable of winning a small international like this.Something to ProveComing into the event, two teams have something to prove more than the others.Those teams are GODSENT and Gambit Gaming.For GODSENT -- the Swedish team thats just as confused, conflicted and incohesive as Fnatic -- the team needs to show a good performance at this eight-team event. In late October, they made yet another swap: Jonas Lekr0 for Olofsson Freddy KRiMZ Johansson. Whats changed is the team no longer holds a spot in the ELeague Major and will need to qualify in the heavily stacked qualifier in December. DreamHack Winter provides GODSENT the opportunity to warm up for that offline event as they face three teams: Dignitas, Cloud9 and OpTic Gaming, teams theyll likely face in the Major qualifier.Gambit Gaming also has something to prove at this event. The team made two roster moves in the beginning of October, adopting former Natus Vincere in-game leader, veteran Daniil Zeus Teslenko and Tengri rifler, younggun Abay HObbit Khasenov, the latter via a six month loan agreement. That team does not have to play the major qualifier and will instead be automatically seeded into the major groups because of their top eight finish at the last major, ESL One Cologne 2016. DreamHack Winter finally gives the new Gambit Gaming an opportunity to show teams what theyre capable of in a more competitive offline setting aside from that of the Esports World Convention in late October. ' ' '