Houston won 3-0 to advance to face New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals

Houston won 3-0 to advance to face New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals

06.09.2018 16:12

Neil Dexters decision to leave a county that finished runners-up in Division One last season to join the one that had finished bottom of Division Two for three seasons in a row might have seemed somewhat perverse looking from the outside.At 31, he could not afford to make the wrong choice, but he says he felt confident from the outset and after half a season in his new surroundings nothing has happened to make him question his wisdom. His contribution already includes two centuries, the second against Gloucestershire this week.Leicestershires tight grip on the wooden spoon did not loosen despite the euphoria last June of ending their extraordinary 37-match winless streak in four-day cricket, but they have metamorphosed this season into potential promotion contenders - 15 points off the top with a game in hand and a bedraggled season still to take shape.It was a hard decision to leave Middlesex, Dexter admitted. Things were always good at Middlesex. I enjoyed my time there working with good people.But I wanted to bat higher up the order than I had been doing with Middlesex and when I sat down with Wasim Khan and Andrew McDonald to discuss coming here they were very clear in their plans and about what they wanted to achieve.It is a club with clear direction and I was confident that it was going to be a good move. And so far Ive enjoyed every minute of it here.Khan and McDonald sold their vision, too, to Essexs Mark Pettini and Lancashires Paul Horton as they moved to add quality, experience and a vital winning mentality to the squad. All three have had a positive impact on the dressing room environment.We are quite a tight knit bunch already, Dexter said. In terms of where we are heading and what we are trying to achieve over the next few years we are already on the right lines.If anything we have got to where we are as a team and a club a bit quicker than I thought.There are times when things are tough. The T20 has tested us a team but it shows how strong we are the way the team is bouncing back in the four-day stuff on the back of disappointment.In cricketing terms, then, it has been a good move. Where Middlesex felt they could make no guarantees of a regular first-team place - even though managing director of cricket Angus Fraser was willing to talk about a new contract - Leicestershire see him as just the right fit.For Dexter, moreover, there has been an unexpected bonus in moving out of the hustle and bustle of live in London. It has reminded how much he appreciates a less frenetic way of life.I wont lie, I struggled at times with living in London, he said. I think it is a hard place, so busy from the moment you walk out of your front door and until you get out of it again you dont realise how tough a place it is to live.Maybe it is the way Ive been brought up. And I started in Kent, too, where the atmosphere is a bit more relaxed.Ive got a young family now and having a bit more of a relaxed life and a bit more family time, time when you can get away and it actually feels like you are away from cricket - its really good.Whats more, he says, Grace Road feels like a proper home ground, something that Lords, for all its history and its status as the home of cricket, can never really be for a Middlesex player. Dont get me wrong, I loved my time at Middlesex and to play at Lords every other week is a privilege I will never forget, he said. But Lords never really felt like home. When you dont own your own ground, you cant ever really call it home.Here, when you leave the ground you can leave stuff in the dressing room but at Lords, although the Middlesex players have lockers, you had to appreciate that the dressing rooms had to be cleaned, maybe for a charity match or something involving other teams and you couldnt just leave your gear behind.Inevitably, too, because the area around Lords isnt the cheapest, the players live some distance away, so if you needed something at short notice you couldnt just nip back to the ground to get it.And you didnt know from one day to the next where you were going to be training. Lords and MCC have worked really hard over the last few years to try to get the players more time in the Lords nets so we didnt have to go elsewhere but it was always going to happen that you sometimes had to.You have to accept that, though, and there are many advantages. The people at Lords and the Middlesex members were great to me. I left on very good terms, I still follow them closely and I wish them well.They remember him with affection, too, as the captain of the side that won promotion as Division Two champions in 2011, which is something on his CV, along with more than 6000 runs and over 100 wickets in his first-class career, that commands respect at Grace Road, where he is only too willing to share the benefits of his experience.People ask me about coaching and Im not sure, he said. I feel I have more to contribute as a player first. But I like working one-to-one with the younger guys, just chatting to them. I love being able to pass on some experience and knowledge and it would be great if I can help them move on to the next level because they are the future of the club.Leicestershire remain third, with the top two, Essex and Kent, about to meet at Chelmsford. Does he think their recovery can be so pronounced that in a season in which only the winners of Division Two go up they have a serious chance of promotion?When I was at captain at Middlesex I was never one to make predictions, he said. You can look too far ahead sometimes. You can talk but youve got to back it up with actions.All we can do is play good cricket and there are a lot of games to come. I wouldnt like to say we cant get promotion but Im not going to say we will.What is good is that as well as the matches we have won, we have been competitive most of the time and in the rain-affected games we have won a lot of sessions.It is what happens now that counts, at the business end of the season. If you can go on a winning streak at the right time you can be away. Cheap NBA Jerseys . Houston won 3-0 to advance to face New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Last in the game, Di Vaio and Romero got into a shoving match with several Houston players. Romero appeared to elbow and kick Houston defender Kofi Sarkodie. Cheap Jerseys USA . Team physician Dr. Steve Traina performed the surgery Friday. Robinson was injured in a spill underneath the Nuggets basket during the first quarter of Wednesday nights loss to the Charlotte Bobcats. http://www.nflcheapauthenticchinajerseys.com/ . Supported by three-run homers from Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos, the young right-hander went seven strong innings in the Washington Nationals 8-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night. Wholesale NBA Jerseys China . LOUIS -- Heading into the final stretch of the season, the issues for the Chicago Bears banged-up defence only seem to be getting worse. Jerseys NFL Cheap . White came in fourth place in the event. He was the two-time defending gold medallist. The gold medal went to Swiss snowboarder Iouri Podladtchikov.Leandro Bacuna insists Aston Villa players are hurting as much as the fans after another humiliating afternoon at Villa Park. Bacuna was booed after coming on as a substitute in the 4-0 defeat by Chelsea - in part a reaction to recent comments he made about his own personal ambitions.The result leaves Villa on the brink of a first relegation in 29 years after a calamitous season and Bacuna says the players are hurting badly. He told the Birmingham Mail: Weve had a tough time. Now we need to go out there - every player in the dressing room - and fight for ourselves, for the club, and the fans and show that we love the club and want to fight for it. Villa caretaker boss Eric Black understands the frustration shown by the fans This is a massive club with great supporters so we need to show what weve got.dddddddddddd Its been a struggle this season and it doesnt make you happy.People might think as we players we dont care, but its the most horrible thing for any player to go through. We just want to play for our own personal pride and the clubs pride. 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