Pirate Galaxy » is hometown Cavaliers, where he closed out

Day three in Galle: a Dilruwan Perera delivery stays quite low; Mitch Marsh, new to the crease, digs it out and offers a wry smile. Its a smile that masks bemusement. You can forgive him, because for the Australian No. 6, everything happening is truly foreign. Even so, the reaction reveals more about his teams attitude to these conditions than it does about Asian wickets.Has any Test match batting line-up looked as inept as Australias in Sri Lanka? Despite well-meaning programmes, interventions, manifestos, reports and investigations into the problem of Australia in the subcontinent, these measures, by definition of their performances, have not worked, and dont look like working. Australia are actually getting worse over there.If were discussing solutions (which, it seems, we are), then Australias cultural, grass-roots attitudes to spin bowling may be worth exploring. At all levels of serious amateur cricket in Australia - from school cricket through to first grade - spinners barely bowl. A crass generalisation, possibly, but broadly true.At grade level, spin bowling is an art to be tolerated rather than curated. The administrative boffins already understand that this approach hampers efforts to find the next great batch of representative spinners, but Pallekele and Galle have made clear an even bigger problem: this approach does a huge disservice to our batsmen too.As ever in Australia, when we have a cricketing problem to solve we skew to over-simplification. In this case, much of the hand-wringing over the latest capitulation has merely thrown up tired motherhood statements about batting to spinners. Just use your feet, rotate the strike, unsettle them by going over the top.Solutions like these betray an ignorance ultimately rooted in arrogance, and they insult Test cricketers. The batsmen will be aware that foot movement and run-scoring are ends to aspire to. The problem is that they fundamentally cannot read the cricket ball. Nobody holds or wields a bat in Australia better than these guys, yet in Sri Lanka their ineptitude is so staggeringly total that it demands introspection deeper than just rotate the strike, mate. Only the most one-eyed supporters would dare envisage a challenge to India next year, let alone a victory in Colombo.With such an obvious and systemic problem, we may as well throw in another one: we clearly have no idea. Efforts to stem the embarrassment are rightly underway. Increased Asian exposure for junior teams and the alteration of home wickets have either been implemented or are on the table. They are good ideas. It has also been suggested that Australia employ a horses-for-courses selection policy for their batsmen. Its an idea that grates against the very fibre of Australias conservative spirit, but an air of experimentation would at least demonstrate some humility that recognises we may have been wrong about this all along.But the above are short- to mid-term solutions that will surely only offer marginal gains at best. Australian cricket cannot select its way out of this problem. Nor can it seriously believe that a biennial Asian bridging-course for their best batsmen will sufficiently educate them for the hardest cricket they are likely to encounter - a Test match in an Indian, Sri Lankan or Pakistani dustbowl. Because thats what were going to get for the next ten years, at least.But how do you mobilise a whole nation in the fight against spin? Because throughout, from grade cricket through to national level, the truth is that we really dont rate spinners. This wholesale attitude courses like boosted blood through the veins of the Australian cricketing body, where the advice to simply use your feet, get to them on the full and hit them out of the attack is consistent from club to club.Its similar for those bowling or captaining spin, where the almost fundamentalist commitment to building pressure by dotting them up produces an unceasing queue of slow-to-medium-pace bowlers who can tie up an end and keep things tight.Grade captains nationwide will opt for the grizzled late-20s medium-pacer over the young, raw spinner in almost every match situation when the game is on the line. And why wouldnt they? Try telling a third grade captain to bowl his 17-year-old spinner when the opposition are 187 for 2 in 35-degree heat out west. Why dont I just give them the six points now? would be a common, and reasonable, response. Cunning grade captains dont make tactical decisions in the national interest; they make decisions to beat the opposition - whom they usually hate.A quota of spin bowling per innings has been suggested before, and it really does have merit. Of course, in the deeply dog-eat-dog world of grade cricket, spinners selected by necessity would be further ostracised, but it would be the same for both sides. Having spinners bowl a percentage of overs would not only increase the chances of Australia developing better spinners, it would ensure our batsmen are raised on a balanced diet of bowling from an early age. We could call it the Pallekele Rule.It may be that the changes needed to win in the subcontinent will hamper the efforts to win at home, and we should simply accept our weakness. Perhaps were Roger Federer and Asia is our clay; maybe you just cant win everywhere. Death, taxes and struggling in India.Whatever the case, if Australia do not take care to cultivate quality spin bowling, their batsmen will continue to fail against quality spin bowling. Or are they just bad decks? Well probably find out in ten years or so.Cheap Soccer Jerseys China . Already owning gold from competition in Vancouver in 2010, Loch posted a combined four-run time of 3:27.526. That included a track-record third run of 51. Cheap Nigeria Jerseys . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. http://www.cheapsoccerjerseysoutlet.com/?tag=cheap-russia-jerseys .5 million, one-year contract on Friday. Hawkins, who turns 41 in December, will compete with Rex Brothers for the closers role at spring training. Cheap Italy Jerseys . Three came down to the fourth quarter while quarterbacks continued to shine in all four games; so important to the overall quality of the game. Cheap Manchester City FC Jerseys . Thousands of Southern California fans enveloped the Trojans to celebrate an improbable win secured by an interim coach, an inconsistent kicker and a thin defence that wouldnt break.SAN FRANCISCO -- Nate Thurmond, the tenacious defensive center who played with Wilt Chamberlain and was an iconic figure in two cities, died Saturday after a short battle with leukemia. He was 74.The Golden State Warriors announced the death of one of the teams most respected players less than a month after they lost the NBA Finals to the Cleveland Cavaliers in seven games. Both franchises previously retired Thurmonds No. 42.Thurmond, an Akron, Ohio native, played 11 of his 14 seasons with the Warriors and retired after the 1976-77 season, one year after leading the Miracle Cavaliers to an improbable trip to the Eastern Conference finals.?Without a doubt, he is one of the most beloved figures to ever wear a Warriors uniform, Golden State owner Joe Lacob said.Current Cavalier and Akron native LeBron James?posted a tribute to Thurmond on his Twitter account, as did current Warriors star Stephen Curry.?The 6-foot-11 Thurmond is considered one of the most dominant centers in NBA history. He was voted one of the NBAs 50 Greatest Players in 1996 and was No. 92 on ESPNs All-Time #NBArank Top 100.?He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1985.Nate Thurmond was a giant of his era and one of the greatest players in the history of our game, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.Thurmonds play and numbers werent flashy, but he earned the respect of his peers and knowledgeable basketball fans for his consistency, defense and strength.Looking back, he was as ferocious as any player in the history of the game on the court, but one of the kindest and nicest souls in his everyday life, said former teammate and coach Al Attles.Thurmond recorded the first official quadruple-double in NBA history as a Chicago Bull when he had 22 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists and 12 blocked shots against the Atlanta Hawks in 1974. He is one of only four players to grab more than 40 rebounds in a game.Thurmond starred at Bowling Green, averaging 17.8 points and 17.0 rebounds in three seasons. He was selected third overall by the Warriors in the 1963 draft.Thurmond apprenticed under Hall of Fame center Wilt Chamberlain until the WWarriors traded Chamberlain to the Philadelphia 76ers in the middle of the 1964-65 season.dddddddddddd Thurmond went on to average 15 points and 15 rebounds a game during his career and still holds the Warriors franchise records for career rebounds and minutes.We have lost an incredible person and someone whom I admired as much as any player I ever went to battle against on any level, Hall of Famer Jerry West said. Nate Thurmond was, without a doubt, one of the fiercest competitors that I played against during my entire career. He played with unbelievable intensity and was simply a man among boys on most nights, especially on the defensive end.The Warriors traded Thurmond to the Bulls prior to the 1974-75 season. The Bulls traded him after 13 games the next season to his hometown Cavaliers, where he closed out his career in style.He played a key role in the Cavaliers playoff run his first year in Cleveland. The Cavaliers beat the Washington Bullets in dramatic fashion in seven games to get to the Eastern Conference finals. The Cavaliers lost to the Boston Celtics in six games in the finals, but Thurmonds leadership that season made him a local legend.Cavaliers teammate Campy Russell said Saturday that the Cavaliers franchise will always love and respect him as a true Cavalier legend.Though he played less than two seasons for the Cavaliers at the end of his career, his jersey number was the first retired by the team.After the seven-time All-Star selection retired, he worked for the Warriors as a community liaison and broadcast analyst until his illness sidelined him earlier this year.Nate brought the same passion to his longtime community-relations role with the Golden State Warriors, who benefited from his deep knowledge of the game and warmth and kindness to everyone he encountered for more than 30 years, Silvers statement said.Thurmond also opened a popular barbecue restaurant in San Francisco called Big Nates BBQ, which he sold in 2011.The Associated Press contributed to this report. ' ' '