It is both an invidious and a beguiling task. The urge to rank things runs deep - in cricket, in sport, in life (though it is perhaps something males delight in more). Inevitably, the impulse to disagree is just as hardwired, a patellar reflex of the socialised human brain. You think that is the best...? In compiling Masterly Batting: 100 Great Test Centuries, Patrick Ferriday and Dave Wilson, assisted by an able band of co-conspirators, have struck up a pub debate liable to exercise pedants, inflame nationalists and, perhaps worst of all, provoke the Twitterati to fresh displays of mandrill pomposity. There could be broken glass.This is no back-of-a-beer-mat musing, however. The authors have come tooled up. The research has been rigorous, their soundings far and wide (former Wisden editor John Woodcock is one of the first to be credited in the acknowledgements). In setting out the projects aims, Ferriday is awake to the difficulty, both rousing and daunting. Ranking the 100 greatest Test hundreds - for that is what they have done, or attempted, despite the enigmatic subtitle - is not a matter of irrefutable fact, but rather falls into the category where no such certainty can bring the debate to a crushing and indelible conclusion. And it is precisely these latter cases that are the most stimulating; opinion is reinforced by fact, fact is questioned, opinion reinforced or, where open minds prevail, altered.The danger of having an open mind, of course, is that your brain falls out. But Masterly Batting should find the thoughtful audience it deserves. The methodology is explained in the introduction, with ten categories - size, conditions, bowling attack, percentage, chances, speed, series impact, match impact, intangibles, compatibility - weighed against each other. The precise formula is not revealed but we can assume it is quite exacting, as there are several tied positions. The prospect of sifting through over 2000 possible candidates would leave many to conclude that pure maths was the only way to go, but Ferriday and Wilson have brought humanity to the numbers by stirring in contemporaneous reportage and the wisdom of numerous cricket judges. The order is, in many ways, subordinate to the higher purpose, which is to collate great cricket writing on great cricket feats. Measuring centuries against each other was settled upon as a valid and achievable goal but the effect is to paint vivid pictures of a different kind of century - more than 100 years of Test batting. This is particularly true with regard to the top 25 innings, which are given extended treatment and take up more than half of the book.Never mind the run-making, the keystrokes are just as impressive. There are some fabulous pieces in the book by a variety of writers, including David Frith, Stephen Chalke, Telford Vice and Rob Smyth. Chalke provides a superb portrait of Herbert Sutcliffe, Daniel Harris on Gordon Greenidge fizzes and crackles with an apposite energy, while Vices essay on Jacques Kallis - He has fashioned one of the great careers with the passion he might have brought to mowing the lawn - is full of good lines. Ferriday himself worships thrice at the altar of Brian Lara, while the comic-book vitality of Kevin Pietersens 186 in Mumbai is another example of the multitudes contained within.The result is richly satisfying, a kaleidoscope of dogged rearguards, effervescent counter-attacking and dreadnought destruction. Absence is what makes the heart grow harder. Each reader will come to Masterly Batting in search of particular favourites, some of whom are bound to be disappointed. No Atherton in Johannesburg, no Dravid in Adelaide? It is the relative dearth of Asian representatives that will cause most debate: seven Indian entries, five Pakistani and three Sri Lankan, plus Mohammad Ashraful. Virender Sehwags 293 in Mumbai is the highest ranked, at No. 15, while Ashraful comes well ahead of Sachin Tendulkar, whose single worthy effort - 155 not out against Australia in Chennai - is deemed great enough to creep in at No. 100. This may seem doubly controversial in the prevailing climate of Sachinalia, although it is interesting to note that a similar exercise in 2001, the Wisden 100, found no room for Tendulkar at all.Perhaps a greater oversight is the lack of Asian voices - Rahul Bhattacharya is quoted in the opening pages, but that is as close as an Indian writer gets to the book. The subcontinent stretches far across crickets globe, however, and this might have been better reflected. On the matter of which innings did and didnt make the cut, Ferriday is happy to engage and he would doubtless provide a sound argument for the inclusion of both Kallis hundreds in Cape Town in 2011 when Tendulkars in the same match misses out.But they are still serving at the bar and argument will continue long into the night. In a publishing landscape that is dominated by turgid autobiographies and glossy compilations, Masterly Batting stands out like a Laxman cover drive. And where does Kolkata 2001 rank next to Bradman on a sticky MCG pitch or Mark Butchers Headingley heroics? Time for me to get my coat.Masterly Batting: 100 Great Test Centuries Compiled and edited by Patrick Ferriday and Dave Wilson Von Krumm Publishing 290 pages; ￡15 http://www.broncosrookiestore.com/Broncos-Aqib-Talib-Jersey/ . 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.broncosrookiestore.com/Broncos-Karl-Mecklenburg-Jersey/ . Tevez, who has had conflicts with coaches in the past, has not been called up since Sabella was named coach in 2011. Argentina boasts Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Aguero, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Angel Di Maria. http://www.broncosrookiestore.com/Broncos-Donald-Stephenson-Jersey/ . Marincin has played in two NHL games so far this season with two penalty minutes. The 21-year-old has three goals, four assists and a plus-5 rating in 24 games with the American Hockey Leagues Oklahoma City Barons this season. http://www.broncosrookiestore.com/Broncos-Todd-Davis-Jersey/ . Blackwood, 28, has played the last three seasons in the San Diego Padres system, including the past two summers with Class AA San Antonio of the Texas League. http://www.broncosrookiestore.com/Broncos-Demarcus-Walker-Jersey/ .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again.WASHINGTON -- The calendar says its August and, thanks to Justin Uptons tiebreaking homer Monday night, the Atlanta Braves are 13 1/2 games ahead of the Washington Nationals in the NL East. "I thought," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said, "that the division was going to be a lot closer." Upton led off the eighth inning with his 20th homer, and Atlanta extended its winning streak to a season-high 11 games by beating fading Washington 3-2. "You want to step on their necks, especially when weve got this big of a lead," said Freddie Freeman, who drove in Atlantas first two runs with a pair of singles off Stephen Strasburg in the third and fifth. "We can expand it a little bit more against them. I think we set the tone tonight." Reliever David Carpenter (3-0) earned the win by retiring all five batters he faced after Mike Minor went six-plus innings, giving up eight hits and three walks, yet allowing only two runs. With Braves closer Craig Kimbrel getting a night off after pitching in the previous three games, Jordan Walden earned his first save of the season, but not without some difficulty. Walden gave up a leadoff single to Anthony Rendon, who went to second on Denard Spans sacrifice bunt -- although Nationals manager Davey Johnson wanted Span to try to bunt for a hit there. Rendon took third with one out on Waldens wild pitch, giving Washington a terrific opportunity to tie the score. But clutch hitting was the Nationals biggest problem on this night -- and all season, really -- and Scott Hairston popped out to the catcher in foul territory, before pinch-hitter Chad Tracy flied out to left. All part of Washingtons 1-for-10 performance with runners in scoring position. "Came up with nada," Johnson said. The Nationals again failed to provide much run support for Strasburg, who struck out nine in seven innings, allowing two runs and five hits. The last five times hes allowed two earned runs or fewer, Washington lost. In every inning from the second through seventh, the Nationals put the leadoff batter on base, but had little to show for it. The Braves, meanwhile, did aa lot with a little.dddddddddddd In the third, they followed two infield hits with Freemans blooper on a 3-0 pitch. "Lucky golf swing," Freeman called it. In the fifth, Upton got a two-out single and came home on Freemans single after stealing second, a recurring issue for Strasburg. "He has the same pattern every time," Johnson lamented. "Hes very quick to the plate, but he is locked in his ways." Upton, who went 3 for 4, delivered his 20th homer on a 3-2 changeup from Tyler Clippard (6-2), who replaced Strasburg to begin the eighth. "Not a good pitch," Clippard said. Shaking his head, along with a plastic water bottle in his right hand, Clippard summed up where things stand for the Nationals at the moment, saying: "Weve got to turn this thing around. If its going to happen, its got to happen soon. ... Two months left, and were 13 games back. So weve got to get moving." Washington led the majors with 98 wins in 2012. But Atlantas 12 1/2-game cushion entering Monday was the largest margin through Aug. 4 in any division since 2005, when the Chicago White Sox led the AL Central by 14 games, according to STATS. NOTES: Nationals RF Jayson Werth originally was listed as hitting cleanup but was scratched from the starting lineup during batting practice because of a lingering groin injury. He pinch hit for Strasburg with a man on second in the seventh and struck out. ... Werth was selected as NL Player of the Month for July, after hitting .367 with seven homers and 22 RBIs. He led the league in RBIs and on-base percentage (.450). ... In Game 2 of the series Tuesday, LHP Gio Gonzalez (7-4, 3.57) pitches for Washington, while RHP Julio Teheran (8-5, 3.02) starts for Atlanta. ... Gonzalez was cleared Monday by Major League Baseball after its investigation of players linked in media reports to a clinic accused of distributing performance-enhancing drugs. Gonzalez, third in NL Cy Young Award voting last year, said Monday he has "no lingering sense of animosity" over being connected to the case. ... Atlanta 2B Dan Uggla made a nice diving grab of Ian Desmonds liner in the third. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '