News » g total (192).Quarterback Jerod Evans passed for only 1

Englands baptism in Rajkot ended in curious triumph, mid-over, and with the visitors if not ascendant then floating happily above expectations. Alastair Cook glowed, a 30th Test century in the books. We proved to everyone else we can play… he said. He called Ben Stokes golden and reckoned Haseeb Hameed was pushing me close to retirement.Was all of this good humour some form of survivor high? Or perhaps he was demob happy, having set in motion the idea that he will, in the not so distant future, pass on the captaincy and devote himself even more ascetically to batting.Someone somewhere will one day write a thesis on Cooks public pronouncements, comparing them to actual events on planet Earth. Until that day, all we can assume is that the captain was about as pleased as hes ever been with a drawn Test match.England, like most of the teams hovering around the top of the rankings, are a decent side. They have the potential to be better than that. Their work ethic is one thing about them that cannot be questioned, and perhaps its that sense of effort that felt most impugned by the many predictions after their defeat in the Dhaka Test that they may lose 5-0 in India.That particular catastrophe has been averted, but theres a wider pattern in evidence this year that runs contrary to the trend of teams having been stronger at home this decade than in any other over the last half-century or so. In 2016, England have won in South Africa, and been part of a drawn series at home to Pakistan. India won in the West Indies, Australia won in New Zealand, South Africa have swatted aside Australia in Australia. England have drawn in Bangladesh. The hostility of overseas conditions was once a given. Cricketers travelled less often: England, for example, may go to Australia, India, Pakistan, West Indies and so on in rotation. A fine Test player might tour each country twice in a career. It is a long way removed from the current high-volume, multi-format, multi-franchise life, in which a player can appear in India, Australia, England and West Indies in a single year as a matter of course. The opposition are less foreign too. Kevin Pietersen was the first England player to speak of the benefits of the early years in the IPL, the great exchange of information and knowledge that took place between new team-mates, and the way that franchise cricket broke down international boundaries. The nature of reputation changed. It was hard to hate a guy youd spent two months in harness with. There is a new familiarity to it all.Coaching has changed. England, after a spell with Mushtaq Ahmed, are being advised by Saqlain Mushtaq. Their most recent head coaches have included two Zimbabweans and an Australian. Knowledge flows across borders in a different way. Technology means any batsman or bowler can be dissected frame by frame, match by match. A lot of the mystery of touring has been taken away. Five-star hotel rooms are the same wherever you are.For England, the weather - specifically the heat - has been an enemy too. Yet we have never known more about how much the England captain sweats than we do now. Every possible disadvantage is minimised in advance.Conditions too have homogenised. Australia, once the home of the much-feared WACA, now has drop-ins at many grounds. West Indies have lost the sheen of Sabina Park in favour of new stadiums constructed with outside dollars. Asia still has its turners, but Englands captain has played often and well enough to have compiled nine Test centuries there. It is all more familiar.The disparities now are in finance and political clout. The best teams are often the richest, either as countries or as individual players. Test crickets inequalities are many, but they are no longer all about geography. A tour that goes wrong early seems to stretch into infinity, and teams will always boom and bust in cycles (just ask Steve Smith). A long Test tour is the toughest undertaking in cricket, but like so much else in 2016, it all feels far less certain than it once did. 03:16:38 GMT, November 17, 2016: The article originally said there have only been two comprehensive home series victories this year. That sentence has since been deleted Cheap Running Shoes Online Canada . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. Discount Running Shoes Canada . Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey last Sunday. The fine is the fourth this season for Goldson. He was fined $30,000 for a hit on the New York Jets Jeff Cumberland in Week 1. http://www.runningshoesoutletcanada.com/ . He just needed to be his best twisting, turning acrobatic self. "I didnt need to be anybody else, I just needed to be myself and be aggressive," said Burks, who scored a career-high 34 points to spark the Utah Jazz to a 118-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Clearance Running Shoes Canada . Barcelona also left injured defenders Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba out of its squad for the trip to Glasgow. That means that Marc Bartra will probably start again in the centre of the defence alongside Gerard Pique. Running Shoes Canada Online . Jason Zucker and Matt Cooke also scored for Minnesota, which has won five of six. Kuemper made five saves in the first, nine in the second, and nine in the third. The rookies best save came with 2:17 left in the third period when he denied former Wild forward Matt Cullen from just outside of the crease on the right side. The Virginia Tech-Georgia Tech clash, once the premier matchup in the ACCs Coastal Division with the two teams accounting for nine of the 11 division titles since the league split into two groups for the 2005 season, doesnt have quite the buzz about it this year.Only the No. 14 Hokies (7-2, 5-1 ACC) remain in title contention going into Saturdays game (3:30 p.m ET, ESPNU) at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Va. They are tied with North Carolina at the top of the division standings but are in control in the race for a berth in the championship game because they hold the tiebreaker over the Tar Heels.If they win their final two conference games (they finish the regular season against Virginia on Nov. 26), it wont matter how the Tar Heels fare in their two remaining contests (Duke and North Carolina State). Lose one of the two and the Hokies would need the Tar Heels also to lose once to gain the title game berth.Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets (5-4, 2-4) will be playing to obtain bowl eligibility, something that eluded them a year ago when they struggled to a 3-9 record.Nevertheless, first-year Hokies coach Justin Fuente sees a big challenge in taking on the Jackets and their ground-oriented, clock-killing, triple-option attack.It forces you to make the most of your time on offense, Fuente said. You dont see the (spread option) every day, and theyre very good at running it.Fuentes defense holds opponents to 327 yards per game to rank 17th in the country in total defense with only 126 of that coming on the ground.While coach Paul Johnsons offense is producing about 27 points and 257 yards per game rushing and is coming off a 334-yard rushing performance in a loss to North Carolina last week, the Jackets have struggled on defense.The Tar Heels torched the Jackets for 636 yards in winning 48-20 last weekend, that after Duke went for 559 the week before in a game the Jackets managed to win 38-35. The 636 yards were the second-most total yards allowed in school history, behind only the 667 given up to a Joe Monttana-led Notre Dame team in 1977.dddddddddddd.Its definitely embarrassing, Jackets safety Corey Griffin said. Im embarrassed, the teams embarrassed, coach Johnson is embarrassed ... the whole coaching staff.Tackling, or lack of it, was a major issue.Theres a ton of missed tackles and a ton of missed whatever, Johnson said. If you cant cover them, you cant cover them. Not getting much of a pass rush and not being able to cover is a deadly combination.Against that defense, the Hokies will be putting up a fast-paced offense that is averaging nearly 78 plays and 35 points. The Hokies have averaged 193 yards rushing and 251 passing.But they are coming off one of their least efficient games of the season. In their 24-21 road win over Duke last week, they recorded their third-lowest yardage total of the season (399) and second-lowest passing total (192).Quarterback Jerod Evans passed for only 192 yards against the Blue Devils, but led the Hokies in rushing with 83 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. Evans is Techs leading rusher for the season with 533 yards and four touchdowns. He also has 21 touchdown passes, three short of Tyrod Taylors school record of 24 set in 2010.Running back Travon McMillian bounced back with 72 rushing yards and a touchdown after being held to minus-3 rushing yards at Pittsburgh the week before. McMillian is second on the team in rushing with 527 yards and four touchdowns.For the Jackets, quarterback Justin Thomas is second on the team in rushing with 561 yards to freshman B-back Dedrick Mills 578. He has completed 63 of 115 passes for 1,208 yards and seven touchdowns and only one interception.The key for the Jackets is efficiency.Theres just no margin for error, Johnson said. Were not good enough offensively to have any margin for error. Its just the way it is.Virginia Tech won five of the last six meetings, including 23-21 last season in Atlanta. ' ' '