Funkerstation » m Leffen Hjelte, initially one of the f

As a batsman, there are few things more bittersweet than accidentally middling one from the bowling of an express quick. My ungainly swipe at our opening bowlers offering had now triggered this precise predicament. It must be like the feeling of purchasing a house: at once a triumphant achievement and frightening prospect. The bank, an indifferent friend beforehand, is now your foe.Making matters worse, my limp underarm return to the paceman had arrived on the half-volley, causing him to offer a disgusted, token right hand that had no intention of stopping the ball. It thus rolled into the path of the second net, nearly causing the incoming bowler a rolled ankle. This short but eventful transaction caused an immediate cacophony of sighs, grunts and swear words from at least five people, maybe ten. I had rattled the hornet nest of net bowlers. My middled cover drive, glorious as it was, had now compromised my safety. I was now truly in cricketing debt.Fear began to take hold externally and internally. I had angered a bowler who, previous to this exchange, had never registered my existence in his life. Why am I even in this net anyway? I thought to myself.Id heard Ian Chappell once declare the importance of immediately countering negative thoughts with positive thoughts. I tried my best. That was a great shot. I do belong at this level. Maybe theyll respect me now that Ive middled one. The positive thoughts were contrived, though; the negative thoughts were true. My shot was, as they say, arsey. I knew it. They knew it.My spiralling negativity was punctuated with a relieving development - the next group had been asked to pad up. I officially had six minutes to survive.Dont get hit. Dont get out.Thankfully it was the spinner who was up next. Sweet, gentle spinner. In reality he was probably the most skilful bowler in the club. But in this context he was a sight for sore eyes, because whatever he produced, it wasnt going to hurt me. All I wanted from this cricketing trade was for nothing to happen. To calm the emotional fever that had spiked from the ball before. Maybe a tight forward defence. Maybe Id chop a ball meaninglessly to backward point. Anything to stop the building drama. To my surprise, it was full, really full. Slipped-out-of-his-hands full. Instinct took over. I waited, zeroed in, and unleashed the full force of my ageing hands, hips, weight and blade through the ball. The shot was not a controlled, lofted drive. It was a slog. It sailed over the net and through the region that would-be batsmen call wide mid-on. Others call it cow corner.Perhaps it was the subconscious release of tension that had built previously, but I had wilfully and deliberately hit the ball so as to clear the net. To do it represented a controversial play in the unwritten protocols of net batting. When a spinner gets a ball very wrong, the classy move is to bat the ball back; almost in acknowledgment of the aberration of such a poor delivery. I, on the other hand, had instinctively whacked it. There was no need for a call of heads. It was gone. Whatever you wanted to say about our club, it was big on encouragement. Praise like Great shot, mate! and Good leave were never far from the mouths of our senior players. As my slog sailed towards the playing wicket, I heard nothing.Just as this was dawning on me, I realised another thing. Our spinner, dejectedly commencing his latest hike to fetch a slog in the way that only spinners can, would miss his next turn. I had bought myself more fast bowling.My eyes turned to the trio of quicks standing atop their mark. Off their long run, they huddled together like the cool kids at the back of the bus. The club captain had wandered over there too to join the revelry, arms crossed, staring into the net. I noticed paceman No. 2 walk to paceman No. 1. He whispered something to him and caused him to laugh. I swear I heard paceman No. 1 reply, You think so? Okay. My heart sank and quickened, because this could only mean one thing: bumper.I could feel my feet shifting ever so slightly away from my stumps as I hunched over my bat awaiting my pain. The ground fell silent bar the heavy steps of our fastest bowler flying in. I swear Id never noticed how high he pumped his knees upon approaching the wicket. His face was again strained - more evidence that the effort ball was coming. He was into his delivery stride and releasing the ball. I searched for the bouncer but couldnt find it. In fact I couldnt find the ball at all. For that brief moment I was riven with fear. Those slightly shifting feet gave way to the batsmans version of a standing foetal position. I awaited an awkward blow to the body or swish of the ball into net, but heard something far worse - the crash of leather into stump, followed by howls of laughter.I had fallen for the two-card trick. I had been done by the slowest of slower balls. I had hunted for the ball in his half and caused it to escape my eyeline. In my haste to avoid a physical blow, I had failed my second priority. I had not been hit but I was out. Whats worse is that I was now compelled to endure that most humiliating of net experiences: resetting the stumps that Id allowed to be destroyed - in full view of my club.The episode formed another scar in the ceaseless epic that is net batting at dusk. Maybe next time Ill just swing. Maybe next time Ill refuse the good net. Because, like democracy, the ritual of net batting is a flawed - sometimes broken - practice. But when it comes to training, it remains the best thing we have.Read part one: How to survive the good netWholesale Angels Jerseys .ca NBA Power Rankings, ahead of the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs. Angels Jerseys China . Pettersen, winner of last years Evian Championships, had nine birdies and three bogeys, holding off a series of challengers led by Marion Ricordeau of France. The second-ranked Norwegian made her season debut after missing the LPGA Tours opening event last month in the Bahamas because of a shoulder injury. https://www.cheapangels.com/ . Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, announced Wednesday that the team would assign Swedish forward Elias Lindholm to his nations team for the upcoming tournament. Angels Jerseys 2019 .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. Stitched Angels Jerseys . Duchene scored two goals and had an assist, helping the Colorado Avalanche beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 on Friday night to match the best 10-game start in team history.As the Olympics of fighting games, the Evolution Championship Series brings together the best talent from across the world. Skilled players from all continents converge on Las Vegas each summer to compete for a trophy in their respective titles, and its not always the home country that comes away with the most representatives on the podium.As the 2016 edition of Evo comes to an end, its now time to look at how the top countries did at the biggest fighting tournament of the year. United States, Japan, and South Korea were all notable contenders. Who came out on top as the worlds top fighter nation?How points are totaledFirst place (Gold) = 5 points Second place (Silver) = 3 points Third place (Bronze) = 1 point1. United States of America: 28 Points (4 Gold, 1 Silver, 5 Bronze)Okay, maybe sometimes it is the home country who ends up being the most decorated. Since there was only one anime game this year, Japans historical dominance was held in check as the United States took four golds out of the nine games. It was due to the likes of Juan Hungrybox Debiedma and Christopher NYChrisG Gonzalez finally breaking through after years of being perennial runners-up which gave the United States an edge this Evolution.Three of the American gold medal winners beat international players and not domestic players in their games finals, meaning US dominance wasnt exactly overwhelming overall. If say, NYChrisG had fallen in the finals or Adam Armada Lindgren had ousted Hungrybox, we could be looking at a drastically different table. Still, congratulations to the home nation for taking home the most points this time around.Well see how America holds up when it sets off to play in the recently announced Evolution Japan.2. Japan: 24 Points (2 Gold, 4 Silver, 2 Bronze)Japan won eight medals to Americas 10, but only took home two golds: Pokken Tournament and Guilty Gear Xrd. In Street Fighter V, where the Japanese dominated the majority of the top eight, they could only grab the silver and bronze spots on the podium. Thankfully, due to Japans dominance in 2D fighters like Guilty Gear, they were able to sweep that game and firmly establish themselves in second place overall. If a few things had gone differently, namely if SFVs winner Seon-Woo Infiltration Lee didnt exist, Japan could have finished first over America.Not too shabby for a country that is 5,000-plus miles away from Las Vegas.3. South Korea - 14 Points (2 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze)Like Japans dominance in Guilty Gear, South Korea holds uncontested sway over Tekken. As long as Tekken is still an official title at Evolution, the top Koreans will travel over and dominate in the game theyve made their own over the past decade. Besides the three Tekken winners, there was, of course, Infiltratiion.dddddddddddd Infiltration, the most famous Korean fighting game pro gamer, took home his fourth Evolution trophy in history by clinching the granddaddy of them all: the inaugural Street Fighter V title.If South Korea lobbied for more Tekken games at Evolution or simply cloned Infiltration, it could challenge the USA and Japan in fighting game supremacy.4. Canada - 5 Points (1 Gold, 0 Silver, 0 Bronze)Sometimes it only takes one player to put your nation on the fighting game map. Canada was shut out of all other games at Evolution -- only one other Canadian even made the top eight -- but Elliot Ally Carroza-Oyarce made up for it with his victory in Smash 4. In a game where the top echelon has been in flux the past few months, Canadas ace was able to secure a much needed victory for USAs neighbors north of the border.5. Chile - 4 Points (0 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze)A country you wouldnt instantly expect to be in the top five (top ten, even) of fighting game countries, Chile entered Evolution 2016 with a strong chance of grabbing double gold. It brought two defending champions to Las Vegas in the form of Smash 4s Gonzalo ZeRo Barrios and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3s Nicolás Kane BlueRiver González. Unfortunately for the South American nation, neither champion could repeat, as the former undisputed king of Smash 4 only achieved a bronze in his title and Kane BlueRiver lost to New Yorks NYChrisG in the UMvC3 final.T-6. Sweden - 3 Points (0 Gold, 1 Silver, 0 Bronze)Armada was so close to pushing Sweden into a tie with Canada by taking home the trophy. It wasnt meant to be, however, as the defending Super Smash Bros. Melee champion fell in the finals to American Hungrybox, and Sweden finished without gold this year. The biggest what-if for Sweden is wondering what could have happened if fellow Swedish Melee contender William Leffen Hjelte, initially one of the four favorites for the gold medal, had competed in the event; unfortunately, visa issues prevented him from attending Evo. Perhaps Sweden had two players on the podium in an alternate universe.T-6. Bahrain - 3 Points (0 Gold, 1 Silver, 0 Bronze)Not Germany. Not the United Kingdom. Not even Mexico, which is the closest country to Las Vegas. The seventh nation to grab a podium spot at Evolution 2016 was Bahrain with Sayed hashim Tekken Master Ahmed as their star player in Mortal Kombat X (not Tekken as one might have expected from the name). Although Tekken Master couldnt strike down Dominique SonicFox McLean, the exalted king in the competitive Mortal Kombat scene, he did grab an impressive second place finish to put Bahrain onto the standings. ' ' '