| Di Venuto charge tests Somerset nerves Durham 286 & 171-2; Somerset 426For the first time Somerset are starting to feel nervous in the north-east. They have been lucky to have played so much cricket in this match. They have gleaned all the bonus points possible. But the combination of a docile pitch, which was first designed for the ODI between England and Pakistan last Friday, and some spirited Durham batting means that the victory, which would have finished Yorkshire's challenge and severely dented Nottinghamshire's, now seems elusive.At the end of another long day (the last one will be 12 overs shorter than usual so that Somerset can head south in preparation for Saturday's Lord's final) , Durham were 171-2. So the county champions – for another few hours – lead by 31.It all went according to plan in the first half of the day. Peter Trego continued where he left off on Tuesday, striking the ball with gusto while making 69, until he was bowled by Liam Plunkett by the only type of delivery that is giving batsmen problems on this surface: the scuttler.But James Hildreth was still around to ensure that Somerset acquired their maximum batting points with his seventh Championship century of the summer. Hildreth was both aggressive and discreet, which is a handy combination. He must be going somewhere with the Lions this winter. He scored freely square of the wicket with cuts, square drives and pulls. Nowadays Hildreth can score runs beyond Taunton.Jos Buttler, after three consecutive ducks in the Championship, flickered briefly until he was defeated by another ball that kept low from Ben Harmison and was lbw. Ben Phillips went the same way to his first ball whereupon, Harmison at the start of the next over bowled a very disappointing hat-trick delivery. It could easily have been called a wide.So Somerset had a lead of 140. Soon Michael Stoneman was lbw to another grubber – from Phillips. But thereafter batting did not seem too taxing for Michael Di Venuto and Gordon Muchall. Trescothick switched his seamers around; he tried Murali Kartik in the hope that a spinner might eventually take a wicket in this match. Against all of them Di Venuto was typically forthright. This pair had added 113 together when the junior party, Muchall, was finally beaten by another low-bouncing ball – from Trego. But there was no more success for Somerset as the shadows enveloped the ground.Now there is no guarantee that they have time to win this game. That is all they can strive to do, but they will be looking anxiously southwards today and at what might happen down in Manchester and Leeds. They fear contrivance at Headingley. They have to trust that Robert Key of Kent drives a harder bargain than Duncan Bannatyne of the Dragons' Den, who owns the health club that peers out at the square at Chester-le Street. And while it is too much to hope for another day of rain at Old Trafford they would be grateful if Mark Chilton and Peter Moores could ensure that Lancashire are at their most stubborn.DurhamSomersetCounty Championship Division OneCricketguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Offseason frenzy drives NBA box office Fueled by an offseason of high-profile player moves, the NBA will begin the 2010-11 season next month with more than $100 million in new full-season ticket revenue, a record amount for the league, and also having sold more new full-season tickets than all of last year. feeds.bizjournals.com |
U.S. players weather storms, but their rain gear doesn't We always knew the weather would be a story perhaps the story of the 2010 Ryder Cup. What we didn't know was that rain gear could be such a ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
Harry Pearson: Young has a lovely turn of phrase British footballers have rarely shown much aptitude for colourful or gnomic pronouncements – but Ashley Young may be in a league of his ownThe late, great boxing trainer Ray Arcel was fond of remarking: "Tough times make monkeys eat red peppers." Nobody quite knows what the man AJ Liebling described as being "severe and decisive, like the teacher in a Hebrew school" meant by this, but the expression undoubtedly had the acrid tang of authenticity.The United States boxing scene has a rich linguistic heritage, which is one of the things that attracted writers such as Damon Runyon and Ring Lardner to it. Arcel might observe of Joe Louis's opponents: "When they got in the ring they folded – like tulips," his erstwhile partner Whitey Bimstein might comment: "I like the country. It's a nice spot," or a manager might summarise changes in business practice with the words: "One time you had an argument with somebody you rolled a Molotov cocktail down his garden path, but these days it's lawyers, lawyers, lawyers." When you hung around guys like that, the dialogue took care of itself.British footballers have rarely shown much aptitude for colourful or gnomic pronouncements, which is why we must applaud the efforts of the Aston Villa and England striker Ashley Young, who this week informed the nation: "I think age is just a number – if you are young enough you are old enough."If the winger is to continue in this vein, then we are in for a treat. As Paul Gascoigne once said: "I don't make predictions and I never will," but in this case I'll make an exception and say that I have feeling in my bones that the winter will not long be over before Ashley has announced: "Form is class, but permanent is temporary," and: "We have nothing to fear but the stuff we are frightened of."Young is clearly a man with almost as many strings to his cap as he has feathers to his bow. In the recent past he has also been praised by expert pundits for "having a trick". These days having a trick is considered vital if you are a winger. Before England's game in Switzerland Mark Pougatch on Radio 5 Live asked David Pleat if perhaps Aaron Lennon needed to "go away and learn a trick".This conjured a pleasing image of Lennon turning up on the field at White Hart Lane one afternoon wearing a fez and bamboozling opponents by saying: "Glass, bottle. Bottle, glass. Ball, foot. Foot, ball," before doing his usual and falling over. Lennon isn't alone among English wingers in being considered deficient in the trick department. Before the 2006 World Cup Chris Waddle fretted that the then Middlesbrough winger Stewart Downing "doesn't really have a trick".Waddle, of course, did have a trick. He hunched his shoulders and ran towards an opponent leaning forward at the precipitous angle of somebody charging the wrong way down a moving walkway. So ungainly was his manner that defenders went: "Pah! No point in bothering tackling him. He'll trip over his own feet in two yards."No sooner had they thought this though than the boy from Pelaw surged past them and executed a crowd-pleasing step-over before pinging a pinpoint perfect 30-yard pass into the feet of a team-mate with the outside of his boot.The only downside of Waddle's trick was referees were as fooled by his perpetual air of incipient catastrophe as opponents, which made it more or less impossible for the midfielder to win a penalty (or "pelanty" as he would style it). Even when blatantly hacked down – as against the Republic of Ireland in the group stage of Italia 90 – the official would simply chuckle at the geordie's apparent bumbling and wave play on.In the past, wingers were expected to be tricky, but I don't recall a trick ever being demanded of them. Stanley Matthews had his "bodyswerve", of course, a mysterious action that was always talked of in awestruck tones but never truly explained – the football equivalent of transubstantiation. The great Brazilian Garrincha had one leg shorter than the other and is credited with inventing the step-over. This trick was later the cornerstone of the game of another Brazilian winger, DenÃlson – though the São Paulo star's greatest trick was somehow persuading Real Betis he was worth £21.5m.Ron Atkinson was always fond of wingers doing something he called "little lollipops". As we know from the recent Serge Gainsbourg biopic, lollipop is French slang for an act of fellatio. I'm certain that's not what Big Ron had in mind, though it is true that the great Dutch forward Johnny Rep once told Holland's first openly gay referee, Frans Derks, that if he gave any more offside decisions against Ajax "I won't give you a blowjob tonight". Derks apparently burst out laughing, though Rep later claimed not to be able to remember the incident.What sort of trick Lennon and Downing need to learn, whether the baroque if slightly naff Siegfried and Roy-style of sleight of foot favoured by Cristiano Ronaldo, something more homespun in the manner of Paul 'Not a lot' Daniels, or an edgy street magic act such as was once the preserve of David Blaine and which would fit nicely into a Nike advert, has not been made clear. Perhaps in time Young will explain.EnglandEuro 2012Aston VillaHarry Pearsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Missouri upsets No. 3 Oklahoma 36-27 By R.B. FALLSTROM 2010-10-24T05:59:02ZCOLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- Oklahoma's stay at the top of the BCS will be brief.... hosted.ap.org |