Pirate Galaxy » bringing a cricketer out so that we

Could he hear the rumble, way out there in the middle of the pitch?Could he hear anything over his heartbeat batting on 99?And how was there so much noise? The crowd was decent, yes, but nowhere near capacity.Cheteshwar Pujara could certainly charm the cricket ball. But could his powers extend to other inanimate objects? Because it wasnt so much a case of if the walls at the Saurashtra Cricket Stadium could talk, they were already bloody screaming.Rajkot rose and fell with one man. India rose and rose with two.M Vijay is a bit under-rated. Commentators often associate him with his leave, and while that is a superb skill for an opening batsman, it is a bit unfair. When he drives the ball - along the ground and over the top - it leaves you breathless. Imagine a saucy wink from the woman youre courting. When he flicks the ball - into an arc as wide as backward square leg to mid-on - it looks so natural. Imagine breathing. Its silly that people are surprised when he plays a shot well.He is especially effective in partnership with Pujara. In Tests, they are the most prolific pair Indian cricket has seen in a decade. It was because of their efforts that Englands mammoth lead of 537 had been cut down in half. And that was nothing new.Vijay and Pujara have put on 2081 runs together in 32 innings. The additions they make to the scoreboard, though, is simply the most tangible assessment of their worth.Both men, typically, like to bat time. Dot balls rarely perturb them. The opposition screeching at their ear doesnt often matter. They get inside a bubble, which probably stops a sledge and then turns it into a melody before it reaches their brain. One of the features that makes the Vijay-Pujara partnership so important for India is that they blunt the new ball so that their team-mates down the order, for whom the mandate is to attack, can do so as freely as possible.Lets say India are on tour - just to make things harder for our protagonists - and have conceded a big total. Over 500. Then they lose an early wicket. Vijay and Pujara get together. Neither of them can afford to be dismissed cheaply because that would mean Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane - two players who are most effective when they have the chance to dominate - have to bat within themselves and with a voice in the back of their heads giving them bad company. If you get out, if you make one mistake, it wont be too long before the tail is exposed.So Pujara and Vijay take their time, absorb the pressure, dull the threat of the opposition bowlers and set the innings up. Sound familiar?Adelaide 2014. They came together at 30 for 1 with Australia having put up 517, batted out 22.3 overs so that Indias captain could come in and dictate terms. The same thing happened in the second innings. Vijay and Pujara dug in for 15.1 overs to take India from 16 for 1 to 57 for 2. Vijay went on to make 99 and, alongside Kohli, nearly pulled off a chase for the ages.But that was a flat pitch. Lords 2014. The pitch was indistinguishable from the outfield. India lost the toss. England put them in. James Anderson and Stuart Broad were a blur of arms and legs obscured by smoke as they fought to get hold of the ball. Vijay and Pujara did not make big runs but they did shield the middle order, playing out nearly 20 overs together. That meant Indias eventual centurion Rahane only had to come in after the first session, when conditions were perhaps a little better. Just a little.In Adelaide, when India learnt they could frighten Australia, when they beat England at the home of cricket for only the second time in 82 years, and before that, in South Africa, on Indias first overseas tour since the whitewashes in England and Australia (not to mention the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar), Vijay and Pujara scrawled their names on the wall as if in a scene out of Shawshank Redemption.Both of us have been playing Test cricket for India for a long time, Pujara said. And especially, me and him are the ones who are just playing this format particularly. We spend a lot of time, not just on the field but also talking about the game, talking about this format.Sometimes, it is difficult for a player who is just playing this particular format because when were not playing the other formats, you dont get quality practice or youre not in touch with the game. We have played some domestic matches in the free time after the New Zealand series and we were there at the NCA to train before this series started.So I think its the communication which keeps us going. We know each others strength, we know what the opposition is trying to do and we always try to communicate. I think thats the most important thing about this batting unit, not just communicating with Vijay, but communicating with other players as well.The bond they have was easy to see. They batted, and trained together, two days before the Test. They shared details of which way the ball was swinging and updated their partner if England were shifting plans, like when Stuart Broad began bowling cutters in a spell of 5-4-1-0. The embraces as they celebrated their respective hundreds. Heck, Vijay was so desperate to get across and relieve Pujara of the strike when Chris Woakes was bouncing him that there was nearly a run-out.India seemed like they might get through the day losing only one wicket. But Ben Stokes broke through and Pujara was walking back, saddened he couldnt get the double-hundred he had set out for, annoyed he had just steered the ball straight to Alastair Cook at a wide slip. But here too, he had his partners help. Vijay ran all the way over and put his arm around Pujara consolingly.Indias success in a long home season will definitely depend heavily on their bowlers ability to take 20 wickets each Test. But for this match, for the rest of the series against England, and even for the one against the Australians next year, Vijay and Pujara will be vital.Stitched Rockies Jerseys . For the Wild it was their first win of the season and they now have a record of 1-1-2 while the Jets fall to 2-2. Jets start a six game home stand Friday with another divisional game, home to the Dallas Stars. Fake Rockies Jerseys . Ferrer, trying to win his fourth title on Mexican soil, will next play South Africas Kevin Anderson, who eliminated American Sam Querrey,7-6 (2), 6-4. Also Wednesday, Gilles Simon (6) of France beat Donald Young of the United States 6-4, 6-3, Ukraines Alexandr Dolgopolov downed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 and Croatias Ivo Karlovic defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (4), 6-2. https://www.cheaprockiesjerseys.us/ . McPhee said that Ovechkins father Mikhail is in stable condition after having the surgery this week and is no longer in intensive care. "Weve told him to stay as long as necessary with your dad," he said. Ovechkin and his Russian national team were eliminated from the mens hockey tournament in Sochi on Wednesday with a 3-1 quarter-final loss to Finland. Colorado Rockies Shirts . JOHNS, N. Wholesale Rockies Jerseys .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.At this springs ICC Combines scattered across eight cities in the USA, close to 500 men in the junior and senior age groups took the field hoping to be noticed for a chance at inclusion in USAs Under-17 and senior mens squads. Such was the demand for competition that several hundred other male applications were rejected.Officials had been looking to encounter similarly enthusiastic participation from women, particularly since there had been few opportunities for them in the USA since 2011, the last time the USA Cricket Association held a national womens tournament. Instead, there were approximately 45 women nationwide who signed up. About half came to the New York trials, while 16 came to San Francisco, leaving single-digit participation - or none at all - for the other sites.Were still learning how many women play the game across the US, Tom Evans, the ICC Americas high performance consultant who coordinated the ICC Combines nationwide, said. Theyre a really passionate group, some of those girls, which is great, but its not a huge number at the moment from what we understand. There might be more out there that didnt come to the combines and hopefully we can work them into some sort of talent ID process down the track.Based on the numbers of that last USACA tournament in 2011, there were about 100 women playing across the country at that time. That has stagnated, or even gone backwards, despite initiatives such as the New York PSAL high school cricket competition, which welcomed girls to play as part of co-ed teams.At junior level wed love to see more girls take up the game and build up the depth of that talent pool, Evans said. But for the moment well work with the girls that weve got and theres some really talented and passionate girls in that group and I think with some good coaching and development work, that group could have some success.Five years ago, the USA Women team was having its share of success and appeared to be on the rise. After taking two years to find its footing upon the womens programme initiation in 2008, they defeated Canada in a best of three series in Canada during the 2010 summer to be the regions representative at the following years World Cup Qualifier in Bangladesh, something that would ideally lay the foundation to spur greater awareness and participation numbers.The following summer, a private donor wrote a six-figure check exclusively earmarked for USA Womens preparation for Bangladesh. The mens team had never received such generosity in all its years competing in ICC events and such financial backing, if done on a consistent basis, could open up all sorts of opportunities for women.However, that seed funding money had served mainly to sow discontent as petty squabbling between players and administrators broke out. The Bangladesh tour stipend offer to women players from the USACA was less than typically given to men players on tour. The USACA claimed that the lower stipend was tied to their destination, with the cost of expenses being lower in Bangladesh than a mens tour of Dubai. The womens stance was that it was discrimination.Separately, the women were also unhappy that coach Linden Fraser, who also led the dominant Tri-State Lynx club team from which most of the USA Womens squad competed for locally, had been replaced as USA Womens coach by Robin Singh shortly before the final 14 to tour Bangladesh was expected to be picked. A standoff ensued: give us our money - and our coach - or we wont go.The USACA called their bluff, despite a stern warning from the ICC to come to an amicable resolution with the players. The end result was that eight Tri-State Lynx players, all in their 20s, stayed home, and were replaced by women in their 30s, 40s, and even 50s. Outsidee of a shock one-run win over Zimbabwe, USA Women were trampled in their other five matches.dddddddddddd The repercussions continue to this day. After the 2013 Womens World T20 Qualifier, when Canada represented the Americas and finished tied for last in the eight-team event, the berth designated for the Americas region for the World T20 and World Cup qualifiers was withdrawn by the ICC. Despite announcements that it would stage womens tournaments, the USACA never produced one after 2011. Only a dedicated but small group of players in pockets around the country have kept the dim flame of womens cricket from being extinguished altogether, organising tournaments on holiday weekends in places like Atlanta, Georgia.A hastily organised pair of matches last November by USACA against a touring Pakistan womens team were the first signs of life at the national level since 2012. However, the T20s were lopsided with Pakistan Women chasing a target of 57 in five overs followed by a 142-run win on Duckworth-Lewis. Mahika Kandanala, who was part of that USA squad but did not make the starting XI, says the experience highlighted how much work needs to be done to get USA competitive.I learned that the international standard is very, very high, Kandanala said. The 14-year-old, who plays in a boys academy squad in suburban Dallas, travelled to the New York ICC Combine to compete with about 20 other women. In order to get to that level, you have to work a lot. You have to practice almost every day and you have to be willing to try new things and see what works best for you.Kandanala is waiting to take up the baton currently being carried by players like Erica Rendler, who was USAs second-highest scorer at the 2011 Womens World Cup Qualifier. At 31, it was only Rendlers second tournament for USA after the former NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) athlete had picked up the sport on a family trip to Australia two years earlier. Her future seemed bright, but last years games against Pakistan and this springs ICC Combine leading to the MCC tour next month are the first chances shes getting at serious competition after losing her prime years to administrative indifference.I was hoping to see a little more women participants out here, Rendler said of the New York Combine. She had flown out from California to participate in the New York Combine after being unable to attend the one in San Francisco due to work commitments. I think we had a group averaging about 20 and thats the key takeaway, encouraging others to get involved and everybody bringing a cricketer out so that we can increase the talent pool and continue to build up the national programme.Though she was one of the older players to show up at the combine at age 35, Rendler still comfortably had the best fitness of any of the women on the field and even beat former USA mens captain Steve Massiah in a timed 2K run. However, most of the other female players were charted well below the targeted guidelines, highlighting the need for elevated standards and a more competitive player pool to pick from.The conundrum about participation numbers, though, continues to be a chicken versus egg scenario. Does there need to be greater investment to spur interest in terms of playing numbers, or will funding and fixtures increase only after the player pool rises? One way or another, players like Kandanala hope the commitment is there for womens trials and competitive opportunities on a regular basis.It was a good experience, Kandanala said. If we do this every six months, itll see this is how much Ive done, this is how much I need to do. ' ' '