The old-school Test match draw is not quite an endangered species, but is certainly seen less often than in its mid-to-late-20th-century prime, those not-especially-glorious days when 17 out of 26 Ashes Tests were drawn in five series from 1962-63 to 1970-71, when 33 of the first 44 Tests between India and Pakistan ended in stalemate, when Ravi Shastri played 80 Tests and drew 49 of them, partly because 100% of those matches involved Ravi Shastri.The first India-England Test was a good-quality draw - bowlers were competitive despite the high-scoring, individual stories and collective subplots emerged that may shape the series, and a positive result hoved temporarily into view on the final day. As Disc One of a five-DVD box set, it was an intriguing slow-burner, rather than a rampaging all-action gore-fest.England could have accelerated sooner than they did, given the depth and potency of the batting they left unused, but constructed a fine team performance to which almost everyone made a strong contribution. Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad took only a wicket apiece, but were constantly probing and controlled. Ben Duckett was the only batsman to fail, but, in his short innings, helped convey the sense that England were not going to be supine against the Indian spin. India began with possibly the worst display of fielding ever seen in the first six overs of a Test.All in all, as bat-dominated draws go, it was excellent, especially from an English point of view. And there were stats. There are always stats. But there were some seriously succulent stats to start the series.Among them:● Five different England players made scores of 80 or more in the match - only the 14th time that five players on the same team have made 80-plus scores in a Test, and the first achieved by a visiting team in Asia. (Full lists here and here).● Three different England spinners took three wickets in the match for the second time in three Tests - Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and Gareth Batty did so in Chittagong, and the first two plus Zafar Ansari in Rajkot. Unsurprisingly, three different spinners taking three wickets in a Test for England has been a rare occurrence, given that three different spinners playing in the same Test for England has been a rare occurrence, and, at times, one England spinner taking three wickets would have been considered the height of exoticism. There have now been five such three-tweakers-taking-three instances since the Second World War - Brian Close, legspinner Robin Hobbs and Ray Illingworth took four, five and six wickets respectively in a victory against India at Edgbaston in 1967; John Mortimore, Fred Titmus and Don Wilson took three expensive wickets each in a drawn Test in Delhi in 1963-64; and Jim Laker (four), Tony Lock and Johnny Wardle (three each) took ten between then in victory over West Indies in Guyana in 1953-54.● Rashid became the first English legspinner to take seven wickets in an overseas Test since Doug Wright took nine at the SCG in 1946-47. (Wardle, the left-arm spin wizard who mixed fingerspin and wristspin, took seven or more three times in the 1950s.)● Joe Roots century was the seventh time in 11 series since his recall after a one-match dropping in 2014 that he has scored 80 or more in the first innings of the series. He has also had a couple of 40s, and followed his only two first-knock-of-the-series failures (24 v South Africa, 0 v Sri Lanka) with scores of 73 and 80 in his second innings. Roots scores in the first innings of his five most recent Second Tests Of Series are, in reverse order: 56, 254, 80, 50, and 88. Ten of Roots 11 Test hundreds have been in the first innings; as have 11 of the 13 tons Virat Kohli has scored in five-day cricket, 14 of Steve Smiths 15, and 10 out of Kane Williamsons 14.● Indias bowlers had a collective match average of 59.5, their worst in a home Test since February 2010, when South Africa scored 558 for 6 in an innings victory.● This was the 35th time that six or more hundreds have been scored in a Test. Cooks 130 was the highest of those six - only once previously had six tons been made without anyone passing 130, when Frank Woolleys 123 was the highest of six hundreds at the SCG in the 1924-25 Ashes. Rajkot was only the fifth Test in which six scores of 115 or more have been made.● Woakes became the fifth pace bowler to bowl 30 or more wicketless overs in a Test innings in India, whilst conceding under two runs per over. The last man to do so was Pakistans Fazal Mahmood in January 1961.● In their four and half Tests in India since being bowled out for 191 in the first innings of the series in Ahmedabad in 2012-13, England have now scored 2920 runs for 60 wickets, an average of 48 runs per wicket, and have lost a wicket every 100 balls.● Alastair Cooks 30th Test hundred was the 12th that he has scored in the third innings of Tests, tying him with Kumar Sangakkara for most third-innings Test tons. Cook has scored seven hundreds in the opening innings of Tests, nine in the second innings, and two in the fourth. It was the third time in four First Tests Of A Series In India that Cook has scored a third-innings century. He also did so on his debut in Nagpur in 2005-06, and in Ahmedabad four years ago, an innings that, although it failed to avert defeat, was a critical factor in shifting the series Englands way.Cooks statistics are, as with most players who have played a vast amount of cricket, full of quirks and curiosities. Since the start of the English summer of 2010, when England have batted in the opening innings of a Test, Cook has averaged 32.5 in 37 first innings, with three centuries; and he has averaged 32.3 in 33 fourth innings, with a highest score of 79. In the second innings of Tests in that time, he averages 62.2, and in the third, 63.9.His middle-innings average since May 2010 (62.9 in 77 innings) is second only to Adam Voges (68.1, from only 14 innings). Counting only players with a minimum of 20 innings in the top seven in the batting order, Cook is top out of 68.His first-and-fourth innings average in this period - 32.4 - is the 51st best of the 61 players who have batted at least 20 times in those innings in the top seven. Undeniable, a curiosity of considerable quirk.Before May 2010, Cook had averaged 50.4 in the opening innings of Tests, and 46.6 in the fourth innings; and 40.5 in the middle two innings. An even more curious curiosity, in the curious context of the first curiosity.● England appear to have rectified their problem of starting away series badly. They are now unbeaten in five first Tests away from home (draws against West Indies and Pakistan, and wins over South Africa and Bangladesh, preceded this Test). They had lost four and drawn one of their previous five away series openers, and since 2005, had won one, drawn four and lost ten of their last 15 away first Tests.****A straw at which Australia might like to clutch following their merciless dismemberment by South Africas Steyn-and-Morkel-less seam attack is that the last Australian team to lose by an innings against an opposition score of under 350 consisted of: Justin Langer, David Boon, Steve Waugh, Mark Waugh, Damien Martyn, Allan Border, Ian Healy, Merv Hughes, Shane Warne, Jo Angel and Craig McDermott. Angel, admittedly, did not the cricket world ablaze in his four-Test career. The other ten range from the very good to the unquestionable all-time greats of Australian cricket. Seven ended with more than 100 Test caps, and all ten scored at least 4000 runs or took 200 wickets. At the time, many of them were still some years from their peaks, but even so, that is a good side to be pancaked twice in under 60 overs, even in Curtly Ambrose and Ian Bishop were the main destroyers. This is not to say that Joe Burns is the new David Boon, or that even if Joe Mennie goes the same way as Jo Angel, then necessarily Callum Ferguson will prove to be the new Shane Warne. (A long shot.) However, as South Africa themselves have shown, two or three players emerging, or re-finding lost form, can rapidly transform an apparently fracturing team.One of the prime agents in South Africas fast-acting recovery from a dismal 2015-16 has been Quinton de Kock. After only three innings, he has become only the sixth visiting wicketkeeper to make three or more half-centuries in a series in Australia, and the only one of those six to end the series on the winning side. (English glovemen Alec Stewart (2002-03) and Alan Knott (1974-75), and West Indians Deryck Murray (1975-76) and Gerry Alexander (1960-61) were each part of a losing team; Englands Jim Parks played in the drawn 1965-66 Ashes.)De Kock is also only the sixth visiting player to reach fifty three times in a series in Australia batting at 7 or lower (after Murray, Knott and Alexander; plus Fred Titmus (England, also in 1965-66) and West Indies Gerry Gomez (1950-51)).It has been a bumper year for No. 7s. De Kock, Moeen and Jonny Bairstow have all scored more than 400 runs at averages above 50 in the position - prior to this year, only Ian Healy in 1996, Chris Cairns in 2000, Adam Gilchrist in 2001 and 2002, and Sarfraz Ahmed, in 2014 had done so. Sevens are averaging 39.75 so far this year - their highest collective average in any of the 74 years in which at least ten Tests have been played. Seven is the second highest-averaging position in the Test batting order this year so far, behind Six (average 40.70). Truly, nothing is as it should be in this strangest of years for this most baffling of planets. Middle America, Middle England, and Middle Orders have risen up. Stitched Cheap Jerseys . Thats not a comment on the suspension that banished the Portland Winterhawks general manager and coach from his Western Hockey League teams bench for most of the 2012-13 season. Cheap Stitched NFL Jerseys . The deal is pending a physical, assistant general manager Bobby Evans said. Traded from Seattle to Baltimore on Aug. 30, Morse also can play first base and right field to give manager Bruce Bochy some flexibility in writing his lineup. http://www.jerseyswholesale.net/ . -- Running backs Darren McFadden and Rashad Jennings were back at practice for the Oakland Raiders on Wednesday despite being hampered by hamstring injuries. Wholesale Jerseys China . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week. Jerseys NFL Wholesale . I cant pinpoint a date, but I do remember a player from my youth. Brian Downing was with the Chicago White Sox at a time when I listened to every game I possibly could on the radio. That particular season the late great Harry Caray was calling the White Sox games.With no trophies and Tottenham set to finish above Arsenal for the first time in 21 years, pressure is building on Arsene Wenger like never before. Is his time up? Adam Bate looks at the reasons for his success and why there’s little reason to expect a repeat… One of the key moments for Biff Tannen in the Back to the Future series was when he got hold of the Grays Sports Almanac that revealed the winners of every forthcoming sporting event for years to come. Tannen was transformed into a visionary, armed with the information that his contemporaries craved. Success became a formality.Perhaps thats how it felt for Arsene Wenger when he arrived in England in the autumn of 1996. Hed been a top-class coach in his native France, of course, but in the Premier League his encyclopedic knowledge of superior markets and ideas dwarfed that of his new peers. As an intellectual Gulliver in Lilliput, it didnt take too long for his impact to be felt. By his own admission, Wenger was left bemused by the fact that he could assemble an entire squad for the price quoted to sign Graeme Le Saux from Blackburn. And so, he did just that. Nicolas Anelka had already been acquired for less than £1m. Patrick Vieira joined from AC Milan for just £3.5m. And that was just the transfer market. Wenger says his past successes mean Arsenal fans expect trophies each year On the training ground, the focus on muscle toning was new to old pros. Sharper sessions timed to the second. The introduction of periodisation. Conditioning work. Nutrition ideas from Japan. Dieticians such as Yann Rougier. Regular attention from osteopath Philippe Boixel. None of it seems outlandish now but these changes were significant at the time.When we had the first pre-season under Wenger, it was completely different from anything I experienced in my whole career, Nigel Winterburn told The Independent. There were footballs all over the pitch! What? Footballs! It was unheard of, a football session on the first day back off pre-season training. I had never heard of it.Its difficult to appreciate the context. The previous example of a foreign manager at such as high-profile club had been when Dr Josef Venglos was appointed by Aston Villa in 1990. He arrived just weeks after taking Czechoslovakia to a World Cup quarter-final but was still Dr Who to the press pack. Villas players didnt enjoy the post-match warm downs. The house that Arsene built: But is he the same manager today? Venglos was a pioneer but having taken over from the successful Graham Taylor, only wins wouldve earned him patience and he couldnt get them. Wengers combination of better ideas and better players brought improved results and so the story was very different. Experienced players such as Winterburn, Tony Adams and Martin Keown bought into it.He harnessed this existing defence and fused it with a much-improved attacking unit. The likes of Marc Overmars and Emmanuel Petit helped Arsenal to a league and cup double in 1998. A remarkable achievement in itself, but what puts Wenger on a level few have reached is that he built another team too. Only Vieira and Dennis Bergkamp were still first-choice picks in the Invincibles of 2004.That Arsenal side, the team of Thierry Henry and Robert Pires, remainss the only one to go through an entire Premier League season without suffering a defeat.dddddddddddd That they did so by playing some of the most exciting football this country has ever seen only adds to the achievement. But 12 years on and the wait for the next Premier League title goes on. Arsenal won the Premier League title without losing a game in 2003/04 What went wrong? Undeniably, there have been external factors. It got harder as opponents rose up like never before. With Chelsea emerging as a genuine force, Arsenal were no longer competing with only Manchester United. Liverpool had their moments too and more recently there has been Manchester City and Tottenham to contend with as well.It got harder as the club managed the transition to the new stadium. Supporters were tolerant in that respect, noting the managers complaints about the financial doping of others. But that sympathy has long since dissipated, giving way to a more troubling thought: that the real issue for Wenger is that so many of his advantages have now been neutralised.He had enjoyed what is known in marketing as first-mover advantage - the benefits that stem from being the initial occupant in a market, gaining control of resources others cannot. But now others have caught up. Its Wengers strength no more. He is a victim of his own success given that his ideas and principles are now so ubiquitous they do not set him apart. Ive been tremendously loyal to the manager. Id like to stay that way if I could, but Im just finding that the solutions are getting harder for him to solve. Charlie Nicholas Former Arsenal forward Charlie Nicholas feels it is a problem. Ive been tremendously loyal to the manager, Nicholas told Sky Sports. Id like to stay that way if I could, but Im just finding that the solutions are getting harder for him to solve. Its not easy to find the right players but this is where we have always loved Arsene.Hes always found magical players or turned them into magical players. Hes always had that talent. Now that talent seems to be becoming harder. You cant get Nicolas Anelka now for half a million or Thierry Henry for £8m. But other clubs seem to find them. And if other clubs can find them...Perhaps its prudence that persuaded him against moving for Anthony Martial. Certainly, globalisation has opened things up to allow Newcastle, Leicester and West Ham to swoop upon the French market in recent years. Wenger knew about them all. He just didnt know whether to sign them. His recent risk-free acquisitions have arrived for north of £30m. A section of Arsenals supporters have lost faith in their long-serving manager Where once ignorance of others might have protected Wenger against criticism, allowing it to appear as if World Cup winners such as Henry had been plucked from obscurity, the game has now changed sufficiently to allow Arsenal fans to implore him to sign Gonzalo Higuain - and then feel justified when seeing the Argentine score over 30 goals in a Serie A season.Arsenal have these funds and with the stadium having long since ceased to be a viable excuse, Wenger can no longer point to the financial advantages of club rivals. Particularly when Leicester are champions and, perhaps more damagingly, Tottenham are above them in the table, too. It seems St Totteringhams Day wont be coming this year, but perhaps another day has arrived.In Back to the Future, the results in Tannens Almanac only went up to 2000. Hed secured his legacy by then but the magic touch was gone. Wenger managed to extend his success into the new millennium but the fear is that he too no longer has the answers. The fear is that Arsene Wenger is a man out of time. Also See: Welbeck out for nine months Who is Granit Xhaka? Cheap Adidas Hockey Jerseys Wholesale College Jerseys Cheap Nike Basketball Jerseys Cheap Football Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Baseball Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Jerseys From China Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Nike NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Soccer Jerseys China Cheap NCAA Jerseys China Stitched NFL Jerseys Cheap Custom Jerseys China Cheap Basketball Jerseys Authentic NFL Jerseys China Cheap College Jerseys Wholesale Football Jerseys ' ' '