DS Talk » . We fall a point short. We have to continue t

Steven Smiths captaincy starts here. If there was any doubt over control of the Australian team and its selection, the XI unveiled for the day-night Test in Adelaide sets those aside.Having pleaded for a group of players he can take into battle with him after the innings defeat in Hobart, Steve appears to have got his wish. He has a bat-all-day opener in the 20-year-old Matt Renshaw, an adaptable and capable middle-order player in Peter Handscomb, a potential match-winner at No. 6 in Nic Maddinson, and a proven fighter with the gloves or the bat in Matthew Wade.The decision to move on from Peter Nevill and back to Wade will have been a particularly tough one for Steve and the coach Darren Lehmann. Nev is a terrific team man and a wonderful character, so an asset to any dressing room. He certainly has not been dropped for reasons relating to character or anything like that. It is more a case of sacrificing a gloveman in the search for more runs from Wade and the lower order alongside him.Whatever you may think about how tidy or otherwise Wade can be behind the stumps, his enjoyment of a scrap down the batting order is obvious. The two Test hundreds he has made, in Dominica against West Indies and at the SCG against Sri Lanka, were fantastic rearguard innings in conditions other batsmen found difficult. On both occasions he was able to build partnerships with the tail to help set up a winning position. Australia have lacked that lately.Something that has changed about Wade since he was last in the Australian Test side is that he has taken up the captaincy of Victoria with plenty of success - the last two Sheffield Shields, in fact. By all accounts captaincy has not overly changed his aggressive demeanour on the field, but it has enhanced his appreciation for all the roles in the team. Hes had good results, too, from using spin bowlers like Fawad Ahmed and Jon Holland, so Im hopeful he will be able to work productively with Nathan Lyon this time around. There is actually potential for a really damaging partnership to be set up between Wade and Maddinson, who is among the most talented players of his generation. I was in Bristol in 2013, when, playing for Australia A, he tore up Gloucestershires attack to make 181 from 143 balls. Those are the sorts of innings that win matches, and Maddo is more capable of putting them together than most.In addition to his power, placement and ability to play pretty much every shot in the book, Maddo has also been impressive in the way he thinks about the game. I was a big fan of the decision to give him some captaincy experience with the Blues last summer, and he has demonstrated on a few occasions, either on the field or in conversation, that he can come up with the sort of tactical thought that marks him as being ahead of the game. Steve has known Maddo for years, and I wont be surprised to see them swapping ideas over the course of this Test.Another step up the batting order and Handscomb will walk in at No. 5. He is regarded as one of the best players of spin in the country, and uses his feet to good effect. Something else that has impressed me about him is how he approaches training, which I saw first-hand when doing some coaching work with Australia A earlier in the year.The fundamental thing I liked about Pete is that he wasnt afraid of getting uncomfortable in training. We did several batting drills where he wanted to be taken out of his comfort zone - one of which was me firing balls down at him from a shorter distance than normal to test his reflexes and technique under that pressure. Players who seek out difficult experiences in training, to stretch themselves, invariably perform well on the field because they have made the game easier for themselves by doing so.Apart from his batting, Pete is also an excellent slips fielder, a trait he shares with Renshaw. The injection of a couple of high-quality specialist catchers will make a difference to the Australian team, and may in fact contribute to the sort of presence and energy that Steve has called for. Runs, of course, are the biggest thing the team will be searching for after their recent run of outs, and Steve will walk onto the field in Adelaide knowing the changes to the team have offered up a fresh a chance of that happening. Frank Gore Youth Jersey . Its sharpness matched my mind. This was no night to go to sleep. Frank Gore 49ers Jersey . -- The goal posts lying flat on the field, Arizonas fans lingered on the field, congregating around the locker room entrance nearly 30 minutes after rushing out of the stands. http://www.49ersrookiestore.com/49ers-Jerry-Rice-Jersey/ . In the lead up - which seemed to begin the moment Mike Geiger blew the whistle in Houston last Thursday night - the Impact rumour mill went into overdrive. The speculation went into meltdown mode, of the golden nugget variety. Roger Craig Jersey . It was the kind of score that might make everyone else wonder which course he was playing. Except that Graeme McDowell saw the whole thing. Crouched behind the 10th green at Sheshan International, McDowell looked over at the powerful American and said, "Ive probably seen 18 of the best drives Ive seen all year in the last two days. Jalen Hurd Youth Jersey . Reassurance came from Paul Tesori, his caddie and close friend whose newborn son is in intensive care in a Florida hospital. "Paul sent me a text this morning, just told me he loved me and wanted to go out and fight as hard as I would any other day," Simpson said Sunday after doing just that. INDIANAPOLIS -- If not for Paul George, the Philadelphia 76ers might have left Indiana with their first win of the season.On Wednesday night, two familiar storylines played out in the games final minutes: the Pacers once again relied on their All-Star forward to pull out a close win at home; and the Sixers lost yet another close game.George, who finished with 28 points and eight rebounds, scored seven of the Pacers 13 points in overtime to defeat the Sixers 122-115.Theyre a young group. Theyre still going to come out and be competitive. Thats what we overlooked, George said.The Sixers were resilient all game, and multiple times during the final 3 minutes they looked as if they were going to put the game away. The 76ers led by as many as six points with less than 2 minutes remaining in the game before Jeff Teague hit a floater in the lane to give Indiana a one-point lead. With 6 seconds remaining in regulation, Gerald Henderson hit a 3-pointer to give Philadelphia a 2-point lead. But on the ensuing Pacers possession, George hit a baseline jumper with 3 seconds left to tie it at 109.On the Pacers first possession of overtime, George set the tone with a 3-pointer to give Indiana the lead. And it was George who threw down an emphatic dunk that gave Indiana a six-point lead, ultimately sealing the win for the Pacers.Coach drew up a play for the 3-pointer to open up overtime, George said. Those moments, I have experience.Those plays suck the life out of you, and I knew at that moment we needed to play (with urgency).Teague finished with a season-high 30 points and added nine assists. Teague and George combined to score Indianas final 15 points of the fourth quarter. Myles Turner finished with 15 points and nine rebounds for Indiana.The final score wont show how much Philadelphia controlled Wednesday nights game at times. The Pacers could not pull away from the Sixers throughout much of the game, and even squandered the small lead they held at one point, having to climb back from a double-digit deficit. Indiana led 37-34 halfway through tthe second quarter when the 76ers opened up a 13-0 run to take a 10-point lead.dddddddddddd Indiana answered with a 10-2 run to pull within single digits, but the 76ers went into halftime leading 60-54.Philadelphia even had an opportunity to win the game in the fourth quarter. With about 3 seconds left in regulation, Jahlil Okafor attempted a fade-away jumper from the baseline that bounced off the back of the rim as time expired.Robert Covington led the Sixers with 23 points. Henderson finished with 17 points and five rebounds while Dario Saric had 14 points and 12 rebounds.We had a lot of balance in our scoring, but we gave up a few too many points, Henderson said. A couple of times we messed up on game plan-type stuff and had some silly turnovers. We deserved to win the game, we just came up a little short, and we move on.Saric was searching for an answer.I dont know what to say, he said. We fall a point short. We have to continue to work hard in practice, everyone give 100 percent and a win will come one day. We hope it comes in the next game at home, in front of our fans, they deserve it.TIP-INSPhiladelphia: Joel Embiid did not travel with the team to Indiana, remaining in Philadelphia for rest.Indiana: The Pacers have won 10 of the last 11 regular-season meetings with the 76ers dating to 2013-14. ... Indiana has won six straight games over Philadelphia at home. The 76ers last win at Indiana came in April 2013.ROBERTS REVIVALCovington scored a combined total of 32 points through the first six games of the season before his 23-point outing on Wednesday night.HOME SWEET HOMEIndiana is 4-0 at home this season. And when theyre defending their home court, theyre doing so with impressive offensive outings. Before Wednesday nights win over Philadelphia, the Pacers were averaging 118.7 points at home.UP NEXT:76ers: Host Indiana on Friday to complete the home and home.Pacers: Travel to Philadelphia on Friday. ' ' '