Its not hard to see how James Vinces batting could seduce you.If you were to walk past a net session in which he was batting, you could not help but be impressed. The sweetness of the timing and the range of his shots would set him apart from most. At times, he makes batting look beautiful.You would never say that about Alastair Cook or Gary Ballance. If you were to walk past them in the nets, you could be forgiven for concluding that they are far more limited players. With their reluctance to drive, their determination not to be drawn into high-risk strokes and their emphasis on crease occupation and accumulation, you might conclude they were not in Vinces class.But not everything we like the look of is good for us. While Vince puts away the poor ball with pleasing style, he is now eight innings into his Test career and has yet to register a half-century. And while Cook and Ballance may not be the prettiest batsmen, they have developed a method that works for them and understand that batting is just as much about patience as it is about hand-eye coordination. There are no extra runs for artistic impression in Test cricket. Vinces continued selection is a victory for style over substance.His dismissal here exposed a familiar fault. Unsure whether to play or leave a delivery just outside off stump, he ended up doing a bit of both and a lot of neither. It was a decent ball, for sure, but it was the sort of ball that Test players will receive often. If he is to sustain a career at this level, it is the sort of delivery he needs to be able to handle.Vince could have been out several times before that. Early in his innings he flicked one from Rahat Ali through midwicket. The crowd applauded and the ball whistled to the boundary, but it was an unnecessarily high-risk stroke. Instead of playing the ball on the ground, Vince had flicked it up and over the midwicket fielder. Next delivery, Rahat angled one across him and Vince flashed at it. He made no contact, but it was a familiar error.And thats the problem. For, six Tests into his career, he does not appear to be learning quickly enough to justify extending his stay in the side. He has not learned that batting, at Test level at least, is as much about denial as flair, as much about the balls you dont play as those you do, as much about discipline as it is about dashing. Six Tests into his career, he has done nothing to refute the suggestion that he is an unusually elegant destroyer of mediocre bowling, but that he lacks the defensive technique to cope with more demanding attacks. That difference between his batting average in each division of the County Championship - about 50 in the second division and about 30 in the first - remains telling.There is another telling statistic that speaks volumes for Vinces approach. While he has scored 69 percent of his Test runs in boundaries (admittedly in a small sample size), Englands two best batsmen, Alastair Cook and Joe Root, have both scored 47 percent of their Test runs from fours and sixes.This suggests that, while Root and Cook are prepared to wait for the poor ball to punish, Vince goes looking for it. It suggests, too, that while Root has the all-round game required to score freely without taking undue risk, Vince is over-reliant upon the big shot to keep the scoreboard moving. It suggests he is lacking in temperament or technique. That those flashing drives are as much a weakness as they are a strength.Ballance provided an example for Vince to follow on the first day at Edgbaston. While there is sometimes little that is pretty about his batting - to be fair, he played some lovely strokes here - he knows his game, he understands his limitations and he has the patience to wait for the poor ball before launching into an aggressive stroke. It is, in short, substance over style.He has not changed his technique much. Despite a mountain of criticism towards the end of his first run in the side, he stuck with his method - he admits he attempted to change but felt less comfortable at the crease and scored fewer runs - and resolved to execute it better. It would be premature to suggest that this, his highest Test score since April 2015, cements his place in the side, but it was a significant step in that direction.Whether his contribution helped England to a competitive total is debatable. While Ballance suggested England thought 300 was around par, pitches at Edgbaston tend to be at their best for batsmen on day two and three. When England reflect on their dismissals, they may conclude that several of their batsmen were the architects of their own downfall - none more so than Root, who pushed at one that left him, and Jonny Bairstow, who wafted away from his body - and that Pakistan have been given an opportunity to take advantage. Air Jordan 1 Best Price . The defence is doing its part, too. Drew Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first half and the guys on the other side made sure that was enough, sending the Saints to a 17-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. Nike Air Jordan 1 Wholesale .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres have placed centre Cody Hodgson on injured reserve and recalled two players from their AHL affiliate in Rochester. http://www.cheapukairjordan1.com/ . The 18-year-old American had five birdies in her bogey-free round for a 17-under total of 196. Lee held the overnight lead but mixed three birdies with two bogeys for a 70. Air Jordan 1 For Sale Cheap . To the surprise of many, it isnt the Wolverines but their in-state rivals the Michigan State Spartans. Air Jordan 1 Uk .ca. Hey Kerry, big fan of yours, just finished reading your book. I think that we all saw the Canucks/Flames line brawl just after puck drop. It was obvious that something was about to happen, even to the referees because the fourth lines were on to start. NEW YORK -- With a pair of National League West also-rans visiting Citi Field, this was supposed to be a week in which the New York Mets made up ground in the National League wild card race. But now the San Diego Padres can finish what the Arizona Diamondbacks started and force the Mets into wait-til-next-year mode once again.The reeling Mets attempt to remain on the periphery of the playoff race beginning Friday when the Padres visit Citi Field for the opener of a three-game series.The Diamondbacks, who are in last place in the NL West, completed a three-game sweep of the Mets on Thursday with a 9-0 rout. The Padres, who are in fourth place in the NL West, fell to the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0 in the rubber game of a three-game series in Pittsburgh.The Mets were outscored 17-5 and gave up 13 stolen bases -- the most in franchise history during a three-game series -- in being swept by Arizona. New York fell to 57-57 and three games behind the idle Miami Marlins in the race for the NLs second wild card.The Mets, who are .500 for the first time since April 20, are 10-19 in their last 29 games, a stretch in which they have not won back-to-back games.Sometimes in this game, you just get beat, Mets utilityman Kelly Johnson said. Sometimes youre just not lucky. You need a little bit of both -- getting the job done, a little bit of luck, a little bit of everything sometimes. And right now were just kind of sliding and not getting much of (anything).Johnson and his teammates got an earfull Thursday afternoon from manager Terry Collins, who followed up a fiery press conference in which he appeared to question his players effort by closing the locker room for a meeting that lasted nearly 20 minutes.ddddddddddddI know one thing: Theres got to be a passion to come and play, theres got to be a sense of this is what I do for a living -- the people that pay to see me play are going to see my best effort, Collins said. Youre going to get beat, and youre going to get beat bad sometimes. But you need to pick yourself up and move on. Thats what baseball players do.The speedy Padres, who rank third in the major leagues with 99 stolen bases, present a challenge for the Mets, whose catchers have thrown out only 30 of 132 opposing baserunners.The Padres (49-65) have stolen four bases in a game three times in their last 10 contests. On Wednesday, outfielder Travis Jankowski stole home for the second time this month.We run the bases with a ton of aggression, Padres manager Andy Green said We steal a lot of bases -- not always home -- but we take whats there for us.Mets right-hander Logan Verrett (3-7, 4.66 ERA) is scheduled to oppose Padres right-hander Paul Clemens (1-2, 4.61) on Friday. Verrett gave up two runs (one earned) in two innings of relief in his lone career appearance against San Diego on May 5. Clemens faces New York for the first time. ' ' '