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Graham Gooch once said, I dont coach batting, I coach run-scoring. In a sentence he defined the requirements of the games highest levels: those who arrived there already knew how to bat; what they needed to know was how to prosper on the mean streets, where the pressure was greatest and where any and every weakness would be found and exploited.It suggested, too, that technique is a servant rather than a master, a means to an end rather than the end itself. Ugly runs count the same as pretty ones; David Gowers and Shivnarine Chanderpauls look just the same in the scorebook, if not the history book. And as Alastair Cook, Goochs most famous pupil, has moved inexorably onto the list of the all-time top ten Test match run scorers, and Goochie himself got more than anyone else across all forms of cricket, hes probably on to something.Like all good buzzwords, technique has been thrumming through Test series between England and India, and Australia and South Africa. Theres nothing like a batting collapse to begin the self-evisceration. Speaking to the Guardian for a thoughtful examination of Australian concepts of batting written by Sam Perry, Ed Cowan said: One of [our] biggest issues is the attitude of attack at all costs, which I think is defunct in Test cricket. The message feeds through that weve got to pick attacking cricketers and that you need to be an attacking cricketer to be picked.In India, Haseeb Hameed is the new poster boy for doing it right, the baby Boycott, a kid with arms like sticks who hits through the covers with all of the easy power of a natural ball-player. Ben Duckett and Gary Ballance, having got it wrong, well, how must it feel to be them, to keep touring knowing that your tour is over and that stretching ahead is exile, and in that exile there are hard truths to be faced, hard labour to be undertaken.They will join a list of recent discards, from Alex Hales to Sam Robson, Nick Compton to Adam Lyth, James Vince to Ian Bell, who have various hopes of a recall somehow, someday. In that, they can look to Jonny Bairstow, who knows the feeling. When he was dropped from the side he averaged 27. He was out for 18 months and went through what he called some dark spots. In the summer of 2014 he missed six weeks of domestic cricket with a broken finger and afterwards his renaissance began.Bairstow addressed a point of technique. He felt that he was crouching too low in his stance, which led to a rigid right elbow and back and made him lunge at the ball, a fault compounded by a low backlift that often had him playing shots well in front of his body. He began standing up straighter and holding his hands higher, the bat hovering almost baseball-style as he waited. He still waggled the bat, but it came at the ball from a steeper angle and because of that it arrived later, which meant the interception point was under his eyes, where he was perfectly balanced. He laid waste to county attacks and was recalled for the 2015 Ashes. In 2016 he has made 1355 runs, more than any wicketkeeper in a calendar year, at an average of 64.52.Youve got two options, he says of being dropped. You either run and hide or you front up.It wouldnt have happened without a technical change, but then the technical change would not have happened without the desire to improve, to escape that darkness. He had what seems like the right attitude to technique, that it existed to serve him, to help him score runs. If he wasnt scoring runs, then he needed to find out why.Dean Jones, the former Australia batsman, has published a book called Dean Jones Cricket Tips (The Things They Dont Teach You At The Academy), about the kind of small improvements players need to make to evolve from being good professional sportsmen to international stars. He analysed a typical Sachin Tendulkar century, which took 180 deliveries, and found that Tendulkar left or defended around 70% of them - about 126 deliveries.It suggested that the ability to stay in remains a great batsmans primary quality. His array of scoring strokes, however wide and thrilling, are restricted to one ball in three. What all players looking to score runs must be able to do is defend forward and back and leave the ball well. To score runs, you begin by knowing how to not score them too.Its interesting that the most discussed technical flaws always apply to defensive technique. Englands most improved players, Bairstow and Ben Stokes, have improved most in that area. The problems of Duckett and Ballance lie there. For all of modern battings pyrotechnics, finding a way to stay in remains the key to it all, as Cook and Gooch continue to show.Adidas Superstar Schoenen Sale . 10 Texas Rangers jersey for one last time. Young formally announced his retirement Friday after returning to Rangers Ballpark, his baseball home for all but the last of his 13 major league seasons. Adidas Superstar Heren Goedkoop . -- Ohio States Urban Meyer has never had any issue acclimating to the biggest stages in college football. http://www.nmdtekoop.com/nmd-r1-sneakers.html . Aside from the trilogy main event title fight, there are a number of intriguing matchups in the heavyweight, welterweight and lightweight divisions. Adidas NMD R1 Goedkoop . Malkin got tangled up with Detroits Luke Glendening early in the third period and his left skate took the brunt of collision with the boards behind Pittsburghs net. Adidas Superstar Uitverkoop . -- Charline Labonte couldnt have asked for a better homecoming.LUBBOCK, Texas -- Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury isnt taking Louisiana Tech lightly, knowing that the Bulldogs lost their last two games against Power 5 teams by a combined seven points.The Red Raiders are coming off a dismal defensive performance in their 68-55 loss at Arizona State. They gave up eight TDs to Sun Devils running back Kalen Ballage, who tied the NCAA record for most scores in a game, and 652 yards of total offense.The game Saturday night gives Texas Techs defense a shot at redemption.Were disappointed in how we played defensively, but I believe in those guys, Kingsbury said. We got to improve it, no question.It was the third loss in its last 12 games when scoring at least 53 points.The Bulldogs (1-1) beat South Carolina State 53-24, a week after falling 21-20 at now-No. 24 Arkansas. Last year, they lost 39-33 in triple overtime at Kansas State.This Saturday night Louisiana Tech will need a high level of play to be competitive, Bulldogs coach Skip Holtz said.Hopefully, some of our younger players were able to cut their teeth at Arkansas on the road and that will help us a little bit where maybe we are not so big-eyed going into this stadium and playing this game, he said.The last time Texas Tech (1-1) lost two of its first three games was 1999.A few more things to look for when Texas Tech hosts Louisiana Tech:MAHOMES MAGICTexas Tech QB Patrick Mahomes could have trouble reaching the numbers hes gotten in back-to-back games. The Bulldogs are giving up just 295 total yards (31st in the nation). Mahomes, who leads the nation in total offense (562 yards per game), tallied 540 total yards in the win over Stephen F. Austin and 584 in the loss at Arizona State. They will change up looks pretty much week-to-week, and they play hard, Kingssbury said.dddddddddddd Theyre aggressive, theyre well coached and dont make many mistakes.DEFENSIVE DILEMMATexas Techs defense has struggled for years. The Red Raiders, who finished last season at 126th in the nation (547.7 yards per game), have moved up a little. They rank 117th now (511 ypg). In their win last week the Bulldogs amassed 727 total yards. I think statistically you look at the game and it was impressive, but I did not think it was very clean, Holtz said.BULLDOGS EDGE?The Bulldogs offense could have an edge on understanding Texas Techs defense. Former Texas Tech cornerbacks coach Kevin Curtis will be on the Louisiana Tech sideline in the same role. Curtis was fired from Texas Tech in November 2015 after working with defensive coordinator David Gibbs for a season and as the defense continued to struggle. He joined the Bulldogs staff in January.RECEIVING RICHESTexas Tech has five receivers with more than 100 yards in catches through two games. The leader, Cameron Batson, has two TDs and 172 yards on 12 catches. Its something that he worked on all off-season and he took his game to the next level and its showing on the field, Mahomes said.BULLDOGS QBsRyan Higgins returned last week after a one-game suspension for an off-season DWI and threw for four TDs and 409 yards. In his stead, freshman JMar Smith almost led the Bulldogs to a win over the Razorbacks in the season opener, when he completed 19 of 31 passes for 212 yards and a rushing touchdown. One thing that jumped out to me was for a young kid how poised he was in that atmosphere, Kingsbury said.---AP College Football site: http://collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '