I never really thought about the Mike Atherton comparisons. It never preyed on my mind. We just shared a very similar development pathway - Manchester Grammar, Cambridge, Lancashire and so on - and thats the way that I saw it.I had two elder brothers who played lots of cricket, and we were very fortunate that when we returned to the north-west my dad put a net in the back garden, so we were playing all the time. They were three or four years older, and didnt pull any punches, so that gets you up to speed pretty quickly.I felt all the way through my career that I had been given decent opportunities and could have made more of them. And when I was left out of the team, it was for exactly the right reasons: not only that I wasnt scoring runs but also it looked like I wasnt going to. And if Im very honest with myself, I probably felt like I wasnt going to score any runs because my confidence was low.I did enjoy the Lancashire captaincy, but all teams are easier to captain when theyre in their pomp and playing well.The sheer harshness of the cricket on that 1994-95 Ashes tour was a bit of an eye-opener. Finishing with a pair didnt help. I started smoking on that trip - a bit of trying to lose weight, a bit of just touring, and other guys around doing that sort of thing. Very different to what it is now.It was enjoyable to face guys like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Brett Lee. They were super quick, but theyd try and get you out more or less every ball, which created scoring opportunities without having to do anything too different. Very different to the likes of Glenn McGrath and Curtly Ambrose, whod put the ball back of a length, metronomically, and really dried you up. I really struggled with them.I was always got on well with Raymond Illingworth. Of all the supremos, coaches, managers, or whatever name you want to give them, he was the only one who gave me - not a guarantee but a vote of confidence.Cricketers always try to improve, and sometimes you tinker too much and forget what got you there in the first place. I was certainly guilty of trying to work around a few weaknesses.The one thing that always puzzled me at Lancashire, and the thing I tried to do as captain, was to get the team to play better in the longer form of the game. Had it not rained so much in consecutive years that we couldnt play a single home game for the first month of the season, Im absolutely convinced wed have won the Championship back in 98 and 99.Most of the players knew something had happened, but werent aware exactly what the cameras had picked up. There were a lot of whisperings. Im sure Athers probably was trying to get the ball to reverse, but I always say: What difference is there between sprinkling a little bit of dust on the ball and a spinner rubbing his hands in the dirt and then over the seam?The only time I felt slightly hard done by was after the 2002-03 Ashes, when I sustained a freak injury against Australia A. I got hit on the hip bone, pulling a ball, and couldnt move for three or four days. I said to Duncan [Fletcher] and Nass [Nasser Hussain], Im really not sure I can play. I cant run around. I didnt think they took kindly to that. I think they thought I was pulling the wool over their eyes.People tend to forget that the England team of the 1990s competed on a par with pretty much every team in the world apart from Australia.It all started to unravel at Lancashire with the intense difficulty of trying to manage the exit from the game of a number of very, very loyal and excellent people. The way that the club was structured and the way that expectation was really, really high meant that there was a really ruthless element within the cricket committee, which wanted to do away with a number of high-quality cricketers, just like that. I thought there were better ways of doing it. And the same with Bob Simpson, an excellent coach who I thought was very harshly treated. There was a clear conflict of interests with many on the committee, who were very happy to air their criticisms of their day job through Sky Sports or whoever it might be.I teach a lot of history now - I was at Oakham for over three years, and am at Oundle now - and was previously taught by some very interesting people at Cambridge, particularly Tony Badger, who took a course on the American civil rights movement. Im very interested in situations where people, through a lot of self-sacrifice, can provoke a huge amount of change in a system thats very hard to change, through words and deeds. So meeting Nelson Mandela in Soweto was a very special moment.I didnt feel that a committee structure lent itself to running a cricket team. Fine when youve got good people. When we got not so good people, it created all kinds of problems.Coming back in and making that hundred at Lords against India was a major milestone for me, not only proving that you could overcome some pretty serious adversity - being very, very close to understanding that I might never play cricket again with all the turmoil that was going on at Lancashire that winter [2001-02] - but also to get my name on the Lords honours board was hugely satisfying.In many ways, the 156 against Sri Lanka was my best Test innings, but in many ways it wasnt. I should have been out first ball. Muttiah Muralitharan bowled something that dipped, as he normally does - it takes a little while to get used to, even though Id played against him in the nets at Lancashire for years - but it was a no-ball.I made two triple-hundreds, both against Notts.I felt that in 2003, 04, 05, I was a much better batsman six or seven years earlier.The pitch at The Oval in 1994 was absolutely lightning quick. I didnt bat for very long, but I remember being hit in the throat by Craig Matthews. Now Matthews is just a trundler, but he got one right beneath the grille, and I didnt get hit very often, so that tells you how quick it was. Then Dev came in, all revved up, and Gary Kirsten got one right at the top of the bat handle, the ball lobbed up, and I was getting ready to catch it at short leg when all I can hear is Dev come thundering in, shouting, Mine, mine, mine. Devs not the best catcher of a cricket ball, so Im thinking, Should I catch it…? but in the end I just got out of the way.My maiden Test hundred was against Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Mushtaq Ahmed. I remember having to come off and be in the 90s overnight. It was a bit rainy the next day, and I had to wait a long time to get back out there and have a go at it. But it was an amazing feeling, especially to do it against an attack like that on a typical Oval pitch that went through and turned. In the second innings I didnt get a ball in my half from Waz.The great thing about the Lancashire one-day team was that everyone knew their roles very clearly, partly because it was filled with Lancastrians whod grown up together and played together for many, many years. There were never too many decisions that had to be taken by the captain.After my debut, against South Africa, Ray Illingworth said to me: Dont worry, its a very good attack, but youll be going to Australia in the winter. Give it your best shot, and try and learn as quickly as you can.I dont think the England selection policy of the 1990s did anyone any good, although I suppose it motivated those that were playing county cricket - only to think, You never know… It certainly kept the doors open for those who were aspirational; for those who were in situ, I cant imagine it ever created a sensible team environment.Lancashire were very sensitive to the sudden death of my mother. They gave me some time off, then I came back the day after the funeral to play in the Roses match. Both teams were very nice about things. But it did coincide with a lot of other stuff that was going on, and perhaps made me more sensitive to the need to look after people.When I made my debut, in 1994, I felt that I could have benefited from a little bit more first-class cricket. But thats what it is: you get selected, you get on with it and try your best.Shane Warne had this massive ability, like a lot of Australians, to take things deadly seriously and yet treat the game as a game, to take it back to when they were doing it for the love of it. He had this insatiable appetite to never have a dull cricket match. Quite often wed go into the final day of a county game 50 ahead, none down, game going nowhere, and hed say, Look, it doesnt matter if were all out. We need to go out and tee off, get 250 ahead by lunchtime, then were going to declare. We lost a couple but won a lot more.I was the type of player who would be very, very good or not so good, because, technically, I wasnt as strong as other players who were around. I had good hand-eye coordination, but from a technique point of view I was way behind some of the best players around. Mark Ramprakash and Graeme Hick were far better players than I ever was.Bumble [David Lloyd] was incredibly supportive of the players and was in many ways a breath of fresh air for the team.In my second Test, Athers had told the batsmen who were out there we needed a lead of 300 by lunch. I was on nought and hooked a bumper to long leg. It was the right thing to do - to get the team where it needed to get to as quickly as possible - but in hindsight, with the way selection went, Im not sure there were too many whod have done the same thing at that stage.I dont think the Australians saw me as a soft touch. I was always preparing myself for the battle against them. In 93 I remember having that massive battle - picking the battle with Merv [Hughes] and Tim Zoehrer. I got really fired up then, but I suppose I played some of my best cricket when I was fired up. The Aussies are not stupid, and quite often didnt say anything to me. Perhaps in hindsight I should have tried to whip it up a little bit. The most disillusioning thing happened a month after the 2002-03 Ashes trip. Hampshire had written to the ECB, thinking I would go onto the central contracts list, so they could do their financial planning properly, and I didnt hear anything. I must have rung Duncan Fletcher five or six times to ask for some feedback on why I was out in the wilderness - if it happens at that age, it is for good - and I never got a reply.I can see now why that South Africa tour [1995-96] went so badly wrong. Quite often wed have the team bus waiting while the families bus was loaded up with prams and all this sort of stuff. The convoy was three 50-seater buses.Of the captains I played under - and there were lots of good ones - Warne was by far and away the best. He had a bit of the rogue about him. He knew what made people tick. He knew when things were going wrong and how best to motivate somebody. As an all-round package, he was an incredible leader.When I went wrong at the highest level it was when I didnt take on the short ball. When I was growing up I was absolutely compulsive. I pulled and hooked really well. Then in my first two seasons at Lancashire I got out six or seven times caught on the boundary. And Id come back into quite a hard-nosed dressing room that would say: You just cant do that. Next time you do, you better walk the other way. So I put it in the locker, which meant I was negating an opportunity to score at the highest level. So if I could have my time again, Id back myself to do what I do well rather than bat how other people thought I should bat. Marc-Andre Ter Stegen Jersey .C. -- Todd Fiddler scored a hat trick, including the overtime goal, as the Prince George Cougars survived an 8-7 win against the Kamloops Blazers in Western Hockey League play Sunday. Xavi Hernandez Jersey . JOHNS, N. http://www.fcbarcelonapro.com/Kids-Gerard-Pique-Jersey/ . The team also announced Tuesday that the Braves will wear a commemorative patch on the right sleeve during the season. The patch, shaped like home plate, carries the number 715, Aarons autograph and a "40th Anniversary" banner. Sergio Busquets Jersey . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Jasper Cillessen Jersey . "We have always prided ourselves on the way we play defence. Having two big pieces back is going to be a key for us moving forward for years to come," said Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen. Going into their first Junior World Cup, it might have been fair to say the Austrian hockey team - ranked lowest amongst the participants -- were rank outsiders. Their results in Lucknow are not doing justice to the tag. After holding Argentina to a draw in their opening game, Austria produced yet another upset beating Korea 5-2 in their second Pool A match in Lucknow on Saturday. With four points from two games, the side coached by former India manager Cedric DSouza are currently top of their group and within touching distance of a quarterfinal spot (the top two teams make the last eight)Im ecstatic with the result. Im very proud of the team, says DSouza who also coaches the Delhi Waveriders franchise in the Hockey India League. DSouza said that the fact that the team went in to the tournament as the weakest on paper played to their advantage. We went into the tournament as the lowest ranked side (the Austrian senior team is currently 21st in the FIH rankings. Korea is 11th and Olympic champions Argentina are 2nd) We were the minnows. But that meant that there was no pressure on us, says DSouza.As a result Austria could focus on their strengths. In teams such as Germany, Australia and India, a number of players are in the senior squad as well. Our players dont have the benefit of playing at that high level. We needed to keep our defensive structure. And we have been able to maintain our discipline, he says.DSouza said he knew the Koreans would press hard against his side. Against Korea we knew they would be very attacking so our plan was to hit them on the counter. We played fast and passed often because if we kept the ball for too long, we would be in trouble, says DSouza.That strategy played out perfectly in Lucknow on Saturday. Field goals from Marcel Hilbert (8th minute) and Pit Rudofsky (21st minute) put Austria 2-0 up before Joohan Park (35st minute) pulled one back for Korea just before the break through a penalty stroke. Oliver Binder, who had scored the equalizer against Argentina on Friday, scored Austrias third in the 39th minute through a penalty corner, before Park scored his second through yet another penalty sttroke in the 56th to reduce the deficit.dddddddddddd Franz Lindengrun made it 4-2 in 60th minute through a penalty corner and Pit Rudofsky rounded off an impressive win in the 62nd minute, scoring his second through a field goal.While the win puts his side in a great position to qualify for the quarterfinals, DSouza says that isnt the teams target. Speaking to ESPN before the tournament, DSouza had said that the seeing the senior team through to the 2020 Olympics was his primary goal, and he viewed Junior WC as a way to groom the youngsters for Tokyo. There are four players who are under 18 in our side for this tournament. This is a great sign for us, he said.For DSouza Saturdays result would be a great milestone on a journey that started in January this year when he was picked as Austrias coach. He had coached Viennese club SV Arminen between 2010 and 2013, helping the side win its first title in 15 years. The president of the Austrian Hockey Federation, Walter Kapounek, had then told him that if there was ever a vacancy for the national teams coach, he would be the first to get a call. Four years later Kapounek drove from Vienna to Antwerp to make the offer in person to DSouza who was then doing commentary for the Hockey World League. At that point I had an offer for a five year contract from a club in Scotland. But I had told them to give me a month to think about it. And then suddenly on the 29th day, Walter drove down to Antwerp to ask me to prepare Austria for the 2020 Olympics. It was a no brainer to agree. What else can you call it but destiny, says DSouza.While his side has had two great results, they have an even bigger challenge coming up next. On Monday, they play Australia. The boys have had a spring in their step after the game against Argentina, but we have a really hard game against Australia. Regardless of the result we need to take lessons from the game. Ive told the boys that our journey is to the 2020 Olympics. Anything else - win or loss-before then is just a pitstop, he says. Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China Stitched Jerseys China Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Store Youth NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Discount NFL Jerseys Wholesale NFL Camo Jerseys Wholesale NFL White Jerseys Wholesale NFL Camo Jerseys White NFL Jerseys Cheap Camo China NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Jerseys NFL China ' ' '