导出博客文章A captain sits in a basement, a solitary figure, under siege. Confronted by
glaring lights and uncomfortable questions, he speaks of embarrassment, of
humiliation. He pleads for players who will stand with him and fight. A leader
of a broken team that stems from a broken system and will now be scattered
across the country to play in a domestic competition that is, quite literally,
broken in two. Some of them will not return.A captain stands on the boundary
edge at the MCG, a solitary figure, under siege. He doesnt speak at all.
Instead, he quietly watches as his new charges stand shoulder to shoulder,
behind their most senior member, who does all the talking. Their faces are
angry, the words are defiant and the message is clear: were here to fight for
our captain.The contrast between the two scenes is clear.The rest is chaos.****A
dead rubber has suddenly taken on enormous significance for both sides: one in a
frantic race to piece together the fragments after two shattering defeats and to
avoid a historic whitewash, the other in a battle to prove the integrity of the
man who has led them to this famous series victory.Observers and fans are lining
up on either side to condemn the other. The Australians are sore losers, they
say; they blamed the pitches in Sri Lanka and now they are blaming breath mints.
The South Africans are cheats, they say, led by a convicted cheat, and now we
know why their bowlers can swing the ball so well.Lost is the fact the
Australian camp didnt make a complaint and at least one senior figure in
Australian cricket supports everything Amla said at Saturdays extraordinary
press conference.South Africa must contest the charge after such a strong
display but clearly feel so aggrieved that such a stance is warranted. The last
time Melbourne saw anything like this, it was a rugby league team - the
Melbourne Storm - walking shoulder to shoulder across a field in a show of
solidarity amidst a salary cap scandal. Storm were stripped of their
premierships; South Africa will hope their brothers-in-arms moment has a happier
result.Mints, chewing gum, Brylcreem, sunscreen, lip balm, sweat, saliva, dirt,
zippers, energy drinks, bottle tops, biltong, teeth and even Red Frogs (a chewy
candy) - surely, the most surreal - are being offered as alchemical ingredients
that, when combined with leather, produce swinging gold. Or not.Everyone is
suddenly an expert on the science behind a reversing ball when, in reality,
bowlers who can find reverse often cant explain the physics that cause it or
predict when it will happen.In a game fighting for relevance and survival,
threatened by flat pitches and dominated by big bats, the art of reverse can
undoubtedly bring bowlers back into the contest. Players jump up to claim
everyone does it and only the unlucky are spotted; that will be a difficult
defence to mount if the ICC determines South Africas captain used saliva - only
in cricket could spittle be so highly scrutinised - mixed with an artificial
substance to shine the ball. Perhaps its the laws that deserve the
scrutiny.Meanwhile, the Sheffield Shield is suddenly the most keenly followed
domestic competition since the Big Bash rolled into town. The contenders and the
condemned are graded day by day, session by session. Rod Marsh may have
absconded but the entire nation has replaced him. Armchair, laptop and Twitter
selectors name their XI and conduct heated selection meetings in the comments
section.Blood young players, some experts cry. Pick the best players, regardless
of age, insist others. Remember Mike Hussey? Yeah, well, what about the mid-80s?
That turned out okay.Officials point to the recent success of Australia A and
maintain the future is bright while past players claim the present was ruined by
altering the Futures League. The man who introduced those changes, since
abandoned, is now an Australian interim selector. Budding Mike Husseys abandon
hope.A red ball is being used to audition for a pink-ball Test. A few weeks ago,
a pink ball was used to prepare for a red-ball Test. The irony? That Australia
were confident enough that the series would still be alive in Adelaide to think
pink-ball practice was relevant before the opening match in Perth. They also
assumed their Test batsmen would have earned a rest this week, so wouldnt be
playing in the Shield anyway.****Amid the cacophony, two captains must prepare
their sides for a Test that has no bearing on the series and, yet, suddenly has
so much meaning. On one side, an unknown squad, pulled together by an
embarrassed leader needs somehow to conjure victory in a losing cause and
restore some pride.On the other, a leader who may be under a cloud - who may not
even play - but is secure in the knowledge all of his players will fight for
him, both on and off the field.And for that, alone, Steven Smith must envy Faf
du Plessis.
Wholesale
Basketball Shoes China . LOUIS -- Attorneys for the St.
Lebron
James Shoes Cheap . This should be celebrated because it will not always
be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these
days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to
take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the
middle of their season.
http://www.cheapbasketballshoeswholesale.com/
.ca NFL Power Rankings, overtaking the Denver Broncos and remaining ahead of NFC
competition San Francisco, Carolina and New Orleans.
Chris
Paul Shoes For Sale . Irving scored 23 points, Tristan Thompson had 20
points and 10 rebounds and the Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 117-109 on
Friday night.
Lebron
James Shoes Discount . LOUIS -- Roman Polak was celebrating even before
Alexander Steen scored the winning goal in Saturdays 4-2 win over the Carolina
Hurricanes. BATON ROUGE, La. -- LSU starting defensive end Davon Godchaux?has
been suspended indefinitely after being arrested following an incident with his
girlfriend at his apartment, a school spokesman said Monday.The East Baton Rouge
Parish Sheriffs Office said Godchaux was released on $3,000 bond after being
arrested on charges of false imprisonment and domestic abuse/child endangerment.
The arrest report said his girlfriend was cited on a charge of domestic
abuse/child endangerment.The arrest report said the woman accused GGodchaux of
grabbing her hair and later her shoulder when she tried to leave his
apartment.ddddddddddddodchaux told the investigator repeatedly that he never
tried to keep the woman from leaving. He said that he asked her several times to
leave, but she refused.At LSUs practice on Monday, Frank Herron replaced
Godchaux as first-team defensive end.ESPNs David Ching contributed to this
report ' ' '
Find in Directory
Find in Events
Find in Marketplace