Party Bilder » ts nice having a little bit of history, I

Its easy to dismiss complaints about slow over rates as the grumblings of a few non-representative malcontents. Its probably also true that many spectators are not bothered - at least not beyond brief shoulder-shrugging. Corruption, dead pitches, and (mis-) governance are certainly more pressing issues. Yet that isnt to say its not a problem that shouldnt be fixed.The way Tests are marketed works against spectators realising their loss. One is encouraged to buy a ticket for a day, not for the minimum number of overs scheduled for the day. The overs lost are almost imperceptible, unless one is keeping an eye on the progress. Even when overs are lost, the percentage of cricket reduced seems trivial. Three overs out of 90, the number that England failed to bowl on the first day at Lords against Pakistan, is a mere 3.33%. Much ado about nothing?A moments consideration will, however, reveal the unacceptability of such short-changing. Would, for example, all in attendance at a football match be content if the players downed tools after 87 minutes? Would cinema-goers put up with the last four minutes of a two-hour film being chopped off? Would the audience applaud were an orchestra to pack up without playing the last few bars of the symphony?Officially, 90 overs is a minimum, albeit more of a theoretical, aspirational minimum than a literal minimum. That it is well within the realms of possibility is highlighted by the fact that not only do recreational cricketers regularly fit 90 overs into an afternoon but also that it isnt completely unheard of for international teams to meet the target.Six hours of 15 overs each should therefore not be viewed as too taxing, even without making use of the extra half-hour, which is supposedly a reserve, only to be used if needed. Unfortunately, it now appears that the extra time is viewed as an entitlement rather than an option to be used only in extremis. To run past the official close time may be regarded as a misfortune; to fail to complete the overs in the extra time should be regarded as carelessness.Worse, it smacks of discourtesy. In much the same way that certain tins of chocolates appear to have quietly scaled down over the years, over rates are another example of almost invisible under-provision: the amount paid for the product stays the same, but less of the product is handed over.To put some figures on this, take the example of Englands 87 for 90 at Lords. A top-price ticket cost ￡90, meaning one over held a value of ￡1. Therefore a ticket holder would have failed to see anything for three of the pounds that he or she handed over. Three pounds may not seem like a great deal, but its not nothing. Not everyone at Lords is a London high-flyer awash with cash.Now bear in mind 29,000 were at Lords that day. Not all would have paid ￡90 - some tickets were down at ￡60, while some will have enjoyed hospitality in private boxes - so for purposes of argument, assume that the average ticket cost was ￡75, meaning the average loss would have equated to ￡2.50.Naturally, no refund was offered; none is given if even a mere 25 overs have been bowled, 27.78% of the supposed minimum, yet again highlighting the flexible nature of the word minimum. Twenty-nine thousand multiplied by ￡2.50 yields a collective loss of ￡72,500.So much for the financial element. However, more is at stake. On the last ball of the 87th over, Pakistan had lost their sixth wicket. Three further overs, including one from the on-song Chris Woakes, would have been engrossing watching. Of course, its not entirely correct to imagine the hypothetical overs as being added on to the end of the day; still, the more overs bowled during the day, the more chance of action for the spectators.It would be impractical to force players to complete the overs regardless of conditions - playing in darkness would unfairly penalise the batting side - but if players are not going to be required to complete the scheduled overs even when conditions are suitable, then an effective way of policing it needs to be found, one that stands a chance of benefiting paying viewers.The current system of policing over rates via the threats of forfeiting match fees, or in extreme cases, banning captains, leaves much to be desired. Suspending captains, while obviously more likely to concentrate the minds of the players, is liable to be gamed. During the World T20 in 2012, when Mahela Jayawardene was in danger of incurring a suspension, Kumar Sangakkara was named as the official captain against England. Yet it quickly became apparent that Jayawardene was still in command on the field.Furthermore, suspending the captain perversely punishes the spectators at the next game, depriving them of seeing one of the teams best players, a point that has been made before. As far as match-fee fines go, while the threat of losing 20% of a ￡12,000 fee might be a significant restraint for mortals, its hard to see how it would be anything but water off an England captains back (water down the back being a common experience in that climate), and does nothing to compensate the ticket holders. In-game penalties, with immediate application, are the way forward. It is curious that in England the form of the game that least suffers from running slightly overtime - T20 - is the one where teams incur the heaviest immediate penalty: six runs if the 20th over has not commenced after 75 minutes. This is despite the fact that, arguably, neither the batting side nor the spectators miss out. All the necessary overs will still be bowled. If only 114 balls are delivered before the 75-minute cut-off, rather than the required 115, the net effect is only to increase the average time taken for each delivery from 39.13 seconds to 39.47. Its hard to justify a claim that the intensity would appreciably suffer without such a constraint, although, in fairness, the introduction of the countdown clock adds an extra element of tension to a crowd-pleasing format.Test match cricket needs such an in-game penalty much more than T20 does. A five-run penalty would be an obvious first step, but since five runs rarely makes much of a difference in a Test match, that appears too minor. Another possible approach would be to inflict a ten-over delay for the new ball - or, should the umpires determine that that would unduly benefit the fielding side, grant the batsmen ten overs with a ball of their choice: the old ball, a new ball, or an un-shined ball of comparable wear.A more radical solution would be that should the over rate in one session drop below the threshold, one fielder is suspended for the following session, forcing the team to make do with ten men. Such a penalty would wonderfully focus the minds of the fielding team, especially if the suspended fielder turned out to be their strike bowler. While spectators would be momentarily deprived of seeing that player perform, they would be treated to the extra intrigue of the batting side attempting to capitalise on their temporary significant advantage - an 11.11% reduction in fielders, excluding the keeper and bowler - as they saw fit, quite possibly through higher scoring for that session.Something similar could be arranged if the side at fault is batting in the next session. A player could be prevented from batting during that session, thus forcing a rejig of the batting order. If nine wickets were lost and one player was currently suspended, the team would be all out.Whichever approach is considered preferable, it is time to make over rates an in-game rather than post-game issue, for the sake of the spectators. As a noted England skipper, of sorts, was once said to say after a humbling defeat: I wasted time, and now doth time waste me. Were a few more captains to experience such sentiments, over rates and their associated debates might be relegated to the past. Fake Vans Slip-on . -- Mike Smith never saw his first NHL goal go in. Fake Vans Toy Story . Note: The Calgary Flames announced Tuesday that Sean Monahan would not be made available to Canadas World Junior team. http://www.fakevans.com/ .C. -- Charlotte Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said after all of these years in the NBA hes still amazed at some of the things LeBron James does. Cheap Fake Vans . Its the second straight game Bell has scored in extra time for Kelowna, which beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 6-5 on Friday, and he now has four game-winning goals on the season. Fake Vans Free Shiping . After Martin Skrtel put the Reds in front from close range at Stamford Bridge after only four minutes, Hazard hit back in the 17th with a superb strike. Etoo gave Jose Mourinhos team a decisive lead from Oscars back pass in the 34th. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Ben Ryan took his gold-medal favorite Fiji mens squad along to watch the womens rugby sevens quarterfinals, hoping their presence would inspire another Fijian team to win a race for the Pacific island nations first Olympic medal.It wasnt to be, with the Fijian women losing to Britain on Sunday night and leaving it to coach Ryan and his sevens world series champions to make history in Rio de Janeiro.Fiji has competed at the Olympics since 1956 but never won a medal, although theyve never had a chance to compete in the national sport at the Summer Games. Rugby, in the abbreviated sevens format, is returning to the Olympics for the first time in 92 years.Fijians all over the world think thats all Ryans men need to break the medal drought in a competition that kicks off Tuesday.But a New Zealand squad containing Sonny Bill Williams -- a two-time World Cup winner in the 15-a-side game and the highest-profile star competing in rugbys return to the Olympics after 92 years -- won as many titles (3) as Fiji on the 10-stop world sevens circuit.The depth of the 12-team mens competition is considerably greater than the womens tournament, which ended Monday with No. 1-ranked Australia and No. 2-ranked New Zealand in the final.As well as the New Zealand men, 12-time world series champion in sevens, other genuine medal contenders include No. 2-ranked South Africa, No. 4 Australia, No. 5 Argentina, the No. 6-ranked United States and No. 7 Kenya, which had a breakthrough season in 2016.South Africa has been runner-up in the last four world series and contains some of the season-leading individual players, including prolific try-scorer Seabelo Senatla.It is an exciting time for the rugby sevens team here in Rio, South Africa coach Neil Powell said. There is a good spirit among the players and we are confident we can deliver the goods.Ryan, who took over as Fijis sevens coach in 2013, knows his team is expected to win and is trying just to ensure theyre peakking at the perfect time.ddddddddddddThe Fijians won the opening round of the world series the last two seasons, and have won four of the last five three-day tournaments, Ryan said, suggesting he knew how to time his run.The South Africans are in Pool B with Australia, France and Spain. New Zealand, Britain, Kenya and Japan are in Pool C and the Fijians were drawn into Pool A with the United States, Argentina and Brazil.The Americans are the defending gold medalists, having won in 1924, but the format for the Olympics and the rugby world order has changed significantly since then.Its nice having a little bit of history, I dont know if its something we can directly pull upon, said U.S. captain Madison Hughes, the leading point-scorer in the last world sevens series. It was so long ago, but its a cool bit of history and were definitely looking to go out there and defend that gold medal.The U.S. team won its first title on the world sevens circuit in 2015 and keeps growing in strength, with the speed of Perry Baker and Carlin Isles out wide to supplement the muscle of NFL player Nate Ebner, who was granted permission by the New England Patriots to play at the Olympics.We have such different talent on our team, and we have brought them together, and I think its about having those different balances of athletic background, Hughes said. You have got guys who are specialized in one area, guys that are specialized in another, and then weve got a couple of rugby heads in the middle, trying to pull it all together.Hughes said the nature of the fast and furious sevens game ensured any team could win the gold medal.You saw it in the World Series this year, there were so many different winners, he said. It is incredibly competitive, incredibly balanced, and I think if you were saying you know who is going to win the gold medal, youd be lying. ' ' '