News & Neuigkeiten » It was the hustle by catcher Devin Mesoraco

Twenty-two maidens on the trot. One scoring shot in 176 balls. And no, the match didnt take place during the fearful 1950s or the soporific 1960s but in Pallekele less than a fortnight ago.Then there was Roston Chase at Sabina Park the following week, capping five wickets in an innings in his second Test with a match-saving century against India that coaxed beams aplenty from King Vivi himself. And then there was that thrilling climax at Edgbaston.As for what links these geographically and contextually disparate feats, need we say any more? Put it this way: had the Saatchi brothers been commissioned to produce an advert promoting the merits of the five-act play, they couldnt have done any better.Lets rewind 50 years, to Garry Sobers summer of summers. Record crowds thronged to Lords and Trent Bridge; come the end of Englands four-day dead-rubber stroll at The Oval, aggregate turnstile clicks had swollen to more than 400,000. This, though, was profoundly untypical of the times. The year before and the year after, interest in the dozen Tests against New Zealand, South Africa, India and Pakistan was such that the only attendances deemed fit for public consumption in Wisden were for the two Lords Tests of 1965.In keeping with its status as guardian and defender of the games principles, the yellow brick road led the prosecution. Englands Ashes tour of 1962-63 and the Indian venture of 1963-64 were summed up, respectively, as grim and drab. In 1965, editor Norman Preston fulminated against 1964s commonplace [and] flat home Ashes series, one that placed far too much emphasis on the determination not to lose. True, noted Preston, the buoyant West Indians of 1963 did not, for the most part, score any faster, but they certainly conveyed the impression of enjoying themselves. The solution was radical: Why not try shorter Tests?Nor did the call for brighter cricket let up. In the 1967 Wisden, the Editors Notes were headlined English cricket at the crossroads. The paucity of turnstile action was blamed on pretty much everything: poor pitches, low standards, lack of personalities, an absence of vigour and variety. Hell, even an enterprising if ludicrous proposal for a one-day County Championship (the first limited-overs tournament had sputtered into life in 1963) was seriously discussed.The most significant omen, nevertheless, could be found in the bottom line: despite the Great Garfield, despite Wes and Charlie and Lance and Rohan and Basil and Conrad and Seymour, despite those historic crowds, profits for that 1966 tour were barely half what they had been for the previous West Indies visit.Fast-forward half a century and what do we find? A world where tours are more accurately described as long weekends and profits are about as newsworthy as an AB de Villiers play-and-miss; a world where bums on seats are often in inverse proportion to the drama and quality of the cricket - and about as relevant as broadcasting fees were in 1966.And so to the latest wheeze - a Test championship, formally proposed by ICC chief executive Dave Richardson and supported by Anil Kumble and his star-studded ICC Cricket Committee. If it wasnt quite the centurys most promising fillip for the planets most anachronistic and scorned exposition of excellence, that was only because the news broke during a remarkable week that also saw MCC announce that, however belatedly, it was considering regulating the depth of bats and the thickness of their edges.Those determined to find fault with the attendant plans for promotion and relegation have been predicting an end to West Indies tours of England, but if what Sobers successors do best in the remaining four-fifths of the century is hit sixes to extraordinary parts, uproot multiple stumps and catch the uncatchable, does it really matter what format they excel in? Caribbean youngsters emboldened by non-cricketing achievers such as Usain Bolt and Trinidads footballers are now more likely than ever to be inspired by joy, self-expression, immediacy and dynamism than patience, stoicism and cussedness - as Junes ODI defeats of South Africa and Australia reaffirmed. As he lounged on his cloud, the late Tony Cozier, whose final years were dominated by despair, would surely have beamed with approval.Since crickets not-so swinging sixties, of course, spectator sport has been radically transformed by technology and money, going from being a cheap, reliable schedule-filler to the very foundation stone of the planets media empires. Its reach has increased an unimaginable number of folds, bringing the very best of the competitive arts to poor villages, far-flung towns and war-ravaged nations, while reducing the actual eyewitnesses to walk-on roles. Indeed, the very notion of spectating has been redefined. And once those clever virtual-reality people get their act together, food and booze proceeds will doubtless go the way of the tour profit.All in all, then, things could be a great deal worse for the Test match, whose 140th birthday next March makes the old boy the longest-running popular show in the annals of intercontinental ball games, not to mention the most historically multiracial (hard as it is to countenance these days, the British Empire did have the odd redeeming feature), yet simultaneously the most profoundly un-21st century. That it survives at all is a minor miracle.Let us return, then, to the latest proposed remedies. Understandably Bangladesh have raised objections to a two-division Test circuit, likewise Sri Lanka, even though the quality of the new generation of batsmen and spinners led by Kusal Mendis and Lakshan Sandakan suggests that fears of relegation will prove short-lived. Joining the naysayers is the BCCI, on the basis, as new president Anurag Thakur explained, politicians hat firmly in place, that the smaller countries will lose out and the BCCI wants to take care of them. Just as it wants, presumably, to take care of business by changing tack and inviting Bangladesh for regular tours. There are worse ways, one supposes, to ensure the minnows continue to vote with India. As for the baggy greens, David Peever, the Cricket Australia chairman, has thrown his not inconsiderable weight behind two of the cornerstone proposals for revitalisation, the two-tiered structure and day-night contests, yet not, significantly, the notion of four-day Tests. This column is inclined to nod its support with considerable zest.Switching to 100 overs per day and 400 per match is by no means a preposterous idea. Even for those of us to whom dilatory rates are only irksome when the fielding team is striving to halt a fourth-innings chase, the subtraction of 50 overs need not necessarily be detrimental. Besides, however natural it is to feel irate at being short-changed - and the 120 balls delivered by England in two hours at Edgbaston certainly pushed even us tolerant apologists to breaking point - perhaps too much is made of them in the age of the DRS.By the same token, however, the elements tease, taunt and torment cricket like no other sport, and unless we actually crave a revival in the number of stalemates, to voluntarily shed a day - particularly when so many Tests are now played during the northern hemispheres wettest months - sounds a lot like a suicide note.Which brings us back to those mesmerising passages in Pallekele and Kingston: in neither case - thanks to rain - would the concluding events have occurred had either contest been confined to four days. Come to think of it, all of the most gripping encounters in the annals of Test cricket - Sydney 1894, Brisbane 1960, Headingley 1981, Madras 1986, and Kolkata 2001, each of which resulted in a tie or else victory after following on - have required at least five days. By way of ramming the point home, all bar the Leeds affair required the equivalent of more than 400 six-ball overs.For further evidence, consider this: of the 60 Tests that have begun since the start of 2015 (up to but not including this weeks Zimbabwe-New Zealand affair), 32 have gone into the fifth day. Of the remaining 28, five have involved the three lightweights, West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.Here in Limeyland, needless to add, climatic considerations are always uppermost. There is, nonetheless, a faint hint of irony that, while there had never been any need for timeless affairs, this was the last nation to formally extend Tests from four days to five - a reflection of the havoc wrought on uncovered pitches by unseasonal weather. The first season of five-dayers, furthermore, was in 1948 - somewhat surprising given that the previous summers series against South Africa had produced three decisive results in four days or fewer. That a couple of cracking matches saw time run out doubtless motivated the change.In the event, three of 1948s five Ashes Tests spanned five days, and although there was a patronising reversion to three for New Zealands visit the following year - Walter Hadlees tourists duly repaid such arrogance by drawing all four Tests - five became the norm when West Indies calypsoed into town in 1950 and took the four-set rubber 3-1.Small wonder, all in all, that a poll published in the latest issue of the Cricketer found 87% of readers voting against the 20% reduction. The stats may not lie about the rise in scoring rates or the prevalence of early finishes, but why take the risk?Despite shortening attention spans and alternative attractions, as Mike Brearley reasoned in the Times, classical music thrives and grows, books are still printed. And the Test match still captivates. Bring on the day-nighters, a formal championship and even two divisions by all means, but do us all a favour and leave the five-act play intact. Cheap Custom Cardinals Jersey . Aside from the trilogy main event title fight, there are a number of intriguing matchups in the heavyweight, welterweight and lightweight divisions. Enos Slaughter . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. http://www.custommlbcardinalsjersey.com/custom-stan-musial-jersey-large-561q.html . PETERSBURG, Fla. Yairo Munoz . Hargreaves began his career in 2008 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and has played with the Edmonton Eskimos and last season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Bob Gibson . But Bourque, who has missed three games with a lower-body injury, wont be in the lineup when the Habs travel to Buffalo to take on the Sabres on Wednesday. LOS ANGELES -- Skip Schumakers first career home run at Dodger Stadium couldnt have come at a more opportune time, especially now that hes playing for the home team. Schumaker hit a tiebreaking two-run shot off longtime NL West rival Bronson Arroyo while filling in for the ailing Carl Crawford, Hyun-Jin Ryu gave up two hits over seven innings and retired his last 13 batters, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-1 Saturday night. "I grew up in L.A. going to Dodger games, so Ive always thought about hitting a home run in Dodger Stadium -- and actually doing it is pretty incredible," Schumaker said. "Its kind of a surreal feeling. I get lucky every now and then. Every 200 at-bats or so, I run into one." Ryu (9-3) had nine strikeouts, all in a span of 13 batters. The first came against Joey Votto, who took a called third strike after Chris Heisey hit his first triple of the season with two out in the third. Cincinnatis run came on a homer by Jay Bruce in the second. The Dodgers increased their NL West lead to 1 1/2 games over Arizona. Ryu faced South Korean countryman Shin-Soo Choo for the first time in the major leagues. The Reds centre fielder walked, grounded out to first base and struck out. "Im sure Choo was on his mind," catcher A.J. Ellis said. "I mean, its a big deal. Choo is one of his best friends and one of his baseball idols. So with him facing him in America in an atmosphere like this, and also playing in front of a huge TV audience back in Korea, its pretty neat to know youre a part of that. It was really cool to see those guys match up. You could hear the crowd on every pitch and every swing." Kenley Jansen got the last three outs for his 14th save. Crawford, who singled his first three times up in the Dodgers 2-1 victory Friday night and then made a brief visit to an emergency room on Saturday to get checked on for a high temperature and fever, was held out of the lineup. Manager Don Mattingly replaced him with Schumaker, who came in with more plate appearances (53) and hits (18) against Reds starter Bronson Arroyo than anyone else on Los Angeles roster. "Its a good feeling when you have a situation like today where Carl wasnt able to play and Skip can step in and be a more than capable guy," Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez said. "Hes a great veteran who battles every at-bat. Thats what this team is built upon -- experience on the bench, experience on the field. And hopefully well take that all the way through." Schumaker came through in the fifth, driving Arroyos 1-0 pitch to centre field for his second home run of the season and a 3-1 Dodgers lead after a leadoff single by Mark Ellis. "If you look at the numbers, it says I have some hits off him. But a lot of those were bloop hits, lucky hits, and not too many were squared up," said Schumaker, who also doubled in the seventh inning and scored the Dodgers fourth run on aa two-out single by Gonzalez.dddddddddddd It was the 300th home run given up Arroyo (9-8), including a career-high and major league-worst 46 in 2011. The 14-year veteran right-hander was charged with three runs and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings, after going 4-0 with a 2.30 ERA in his previous six starts against Los Angeles. He was coming off a complete-game 11-0 victory at San Francisco on Monday. The Dodgers got a run in the first on a two-out double by Hanley Ramirez after Yasiel Puig walked, advanced on a flyout and stole third without a throw. But the Reds tied it in the second when Bruce drove Ryus 2-0 pitch into the right field pavilion for his 22nd home run. Since the start of the 2010 season, Bruce leads all left-handed batters with 42 homer against lefty pitchers -- including eight this season. "I think its helped him being around Joey Votto, and seeing how Joey hits lefties," manager Dusty Baker said. "Most guys, I think, have trouble with lefties because they dont see them (enough). I mean, its hard enough to find a right-handed batting practice pitcher that can throw strikes -- and its almost impossible to find a lefty to do it. But weve got two of them -- Mark Berry and Ronnie Ortegon. And we always travel with one, so I think that helps a lot. "Thats something that Barry Bonds always did in San Francisco," added Baker, who watched Bonds homer 125 times against lefties during the 10 seasons he managed baseballs career home run leader. "We always had a left-hander throwing to Barry in batting practice. So I took a page out of Barrys book, and Id like to give Barry credit for that." Bruce, the Reds right fielder, also threw out Puig at first base in the fifth after the overaggressive rookie made a wide turn on his single toward the line. The play immediately followed Schumakers homer. It was the hustle by catcher Devin Mesoraco that made it possible, because he ran up the line and took the throw. In Thursday nights series opener, Puig made a similar wide turn around first on a single to centre and ended up at third base after Choo threw the ball past first baseman Votto and the ball ended up in the stands for a two-base error. NOTES: Ryu is 5-1 with a 1.83 ERA in 10 home starts. The Dodgers have won each of his last six outings, including three no-decisions. ... Arroyo has given up a franchise-record 238 home runs since joining the Reds in a March 2006 trade from Boston for Wily Mo Pena. ... Reds RHP Jonathan Broxton, on the disabled list since June 15 with an elbow strain, threw 20 pitches during early batting practice. Baker was noncommittal when asked about the best-case scenario for the former Dodger closers return. ... Los Angeles pitching coach Rick Honeycutt rejoined the club after missing four games because of the death of his mother-in-law. ... Vottos consecutive game on-base streak ended at 38 after he went 0 for 3. That left Ramirez with the longest active streak in the majors at 35. ' ' '