Biete - Kristall » cricket - apart from a stand-in appeara

Taking to the field with a patchwork team following a raft of ASADA imposed bans, no-one would bet against Essendon as the 2016 AFL wooden spooners.The Bombers were a Black Cavier-esque $1.15 with some bookmakers to finish last after 12 of their senior players were rubbed out for the season back in January.Nobody had counted on there being a team as bad as Brisbane though.The Lions slumped to a club-record equalling 12th-straight loss against Greater Western Sydney at the Gabba on Sunday.That defeat leaves the Lions with just one win from 16 starts this year, the same record as supposed no-hopers Essendon.If the Bombers beat the Lions at Etihad Stadium on Sunday the pressure on coach Justin Leppitsch will reach a crescendo.A 13th straight defeat will put the Lions hierarchy under the cosh to put their ex-premiership star on the same scrapheap as club legend Michael Voss, who was axed by the Lions in 2013 when the club had eight wins on the board with three matches left in the season.If Leppitsch - who reacted angrily to reports of a player revolt last week - is feeling the pressure though, hes keeping up a good poker face.Essendon are in a similar spot to us, obviously, he said.We play their home deck, theyve been playing some pretty good footy, should be a pretty good game.We go to win every game so it doesnt really change, we dont sit around in the foetal position rocking back and forward, thinking, `wed better win this week.Thats not what we do. We go out there, set a task and try to achieve it.The Lions insist Sundays match wont decide Leppitschs fate, which will be scrutinised over his entire tenure.After just 12 wins from 60 matches as Lions head coach, the one saving grace for Leppitsch is the fact hes avoided a wooden spoon in either of his two seasons at the helm.Lose on Sunday and even that unwanted achievement looks inevitable.Discount Sports Jerseys . The International Olympic Committee released the official list of bid cities on Friday after the deadline for applications had passed. The candidates -- all previously announced in their own countries -- are: Almaty, Kazakhstan; Beijing; Krakow, Poland; Lviv, Ukraine; Oslo, Norway; and Stockholm. Clearance Sports Jerseys . How great will be revealed in the next couple of days at the board of governors meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif. https://www.discountsportsjerseyscheap.com/ . -- Most satisfying to Russ Smith about No. Wholesale Sports Jerseys . LOUIS -- Heading into the final stretch of the season, the issues for the Chicago Bears banged-up defence only seem to be getting worse. Sports Jerseys .com) - Manchester City midfielder David Silva is expected to miss the next four weeks because of a calf problem.Surrey 252 (Burns 50, Patel 4-58) and 390 (Sangakkara 88, S Curran 62, Wright 4-75) beat Warwickshire 247 (Barker 62, S Curran 5-44) and 169 by 227 runsScorecardIan Bells accession to the Warwickshire captaincy was not meant to turn out like this. Instead of an anticipated title challenge, he is now haunted by vague fears of relegation, unthinkable in April. Instead of an inspired return to the England side, he has made no immediate comeback to a deeply unimpressive England middle order and is so consumed by the job he has taken on late in his career that the runs are not coming easily.The Warwickshire captaincy was a childhood dream for Bell ever since he sprinted onto the outfield at Lords to celebrate the countys 1993 NatWest Trophy win under the individualistic captaincy of Dermot Reeve. For a proven England player to return to the county ranks with ambitions so sharp, and good years still ahead, was something for Warwickshire to relish, but the job is proving an onerous one.Bell challenged Warwickshire to bat out the final day against Surrey - to chase 396 for victory, from 2 for 1 overnight, felt out of the question - but the day he called the biggest of the season fell Surreys way by 227 runs with 20 overs to spare. Surrey have passed Warwickshire in the table and have the look of an improving side with much to commend them. If either of the bottom two stir it is now Warwickshire and Durham who have most to fear.At least Bell conceded his own wicket in most honourable fashion during a compelling duel with Gareth Batty, finally unpicked at short leg after making 32 in two-and-a-quarter stubborn hours, survival his only undertaking. He managed a couple of peaceful off-side drives, but the overriding image was of Bell under attack from an angry seagull as Batty squawked, flapped and smiled his way through his overs, finding substantial bounce and turn from a wearing final-day surface. This was surely the best 2 for 27 of the season, earned by 21 antagonistic overs. This has also been another excellent Edgbaston pitch.Surreys spin pair, Batty and Zafar Ansari, are both being monitored as potential England tourists in India and Bangladesh and they make a contrasting pair, not just because of offspin and slow left arm but in personality. Ansari has a stately stroll and flick back of floppy hair that smacks of old-time pedigree whereas Batty is waspish and combative, every grin - and he grins often when he is on top - the possible precursor to something more quarrelsome.Suggestions that a spinner fast heading towards his 39th birthday should add to his seven Tests, the last of them 11 years ago, naturally invite suspicion,, but contenders are conspicuous by their absence and, if England opt for a specialist finger spinner then on this evidence Batty is better than anybody.ddddddddddddThat he would relish the challenge could be taken for granted.For the first 40 minutes of the morning, Bells call to arms was answered, but the loss of three wickets in six overs then told of a laborious day ahead. The nightwatchman Chris Wright backed up too far and Batty threw him out from mid-on with a celebratory speech of triumph. Varun Chopra, Bells predecessor, whose move to Essex has already been confirmed, edged Mark Footitts sixth ball of the innings to wicketkeeper Steven Davies. To lose Jonathan Trott, alongside whom Bell stood firm so often for England, was the biggest jolt of all, Stuart Meaker producing a good one to have him caught at the wicket.Three more wickets fell in the afternoon session, not just Bell, but Laurie Evans, who was forced back by Ansari and had his off-stump knocked out by one that turned. Rikki Clarke fell in the final over before tea, bowled as he offered no shot to Sam Curran. The tail succumbed easily enough after tea, the victory suitably confirmed by Batty when he had Oliver Hannon-Dalby lbw for nought, six Surrey bowlers taking wickets in a strong team display. Bell was omitted by England after averaging barely 20 in his last 23 Test innings, nine of them single figures. The Warwickshire captaincy seemed a perfect challenge and he has thrown himself into it with gusto. He could have taken quite a narrow role, concentrating on making runs, changing fields and preserving energy to keep his England ambitions alive. Instead, his authority is strikingly wide for a captain. For a player who has not skippered since age-group cricket - apart from a stand-in appearance or two - it must be particularly burdensome.He is taking a central role in recruitment and was influential in the signing of Olly Stone from Northants, a bowler who - if he stays fit - can bring new verve to their attack. Warwickshires academy, too, must surely be something that troubles him because he came that way himself, but it has not produced a player of substance for Warwickshire since Chris Woakes a decade or so ago. To lose Woakes regularly now to England - a consummate professional who would naturally buy into his ideas - has been a deserved career progression for Woakes, but ill-timed for Bell as he seeks to implant his beliefs on a squad that is arguably too unwieldy and too set in its ways to respond in the way he wishes. ' ' '