to medical school. According to the complaint, sh

It was the middle of the day. The sun was high in sky and the cricket ground was silent. The bowler stood a few paces behind the umpire, to his left. He was about to jog up to the wicket and lob the ball towards the batsman - a right-hander.It was a conventional 3-6 field for the offspinner. Mid-off and cover close together, and a first slip. The captain was more willing to concede runs square of the cover fielder than he was between cover and mid-off. That way, the batsman would have to drive more acutely against the spin. On the leg side, mid-on, midwicket and square leg formed a ring of three in front of the wicket. The fielder on the boundary behind square on the leg side was the lone boundary-rider. A forward short-leg and a leg gully completed the field.During the course of the day, the offspinners approach varies. Batsmen try to disturb the bowlers length using a variety of tactics. Some step out of the crease and drive, just to create doubt in the bowlers mind. Others play off the back foot repeatedly, an old-fashioned ploy that causes the bowlers length to be dragged fuller. When this happens, the batsman can drive with certainty.If the batsman gains the upper hand, perhaps the leg gully moves across the field to a deep point. The balance of the field changes to 4-5 and the line of attack moves further outside off stump, spinning in towards the stumps.If this doesnt work, the bowler moves to a round-the-wicket line - pitching on middle stump and straightening. The field changes back to 3-6. This is a difficult line to bowl. Even marginal mistakes can mean that the ball drifts past leg stump, eliminating the need for the batsman to protect his stumps. This is one of the reasons why offspinners bowling round the wicket to right-hand batsmen are often considered negative bowlers.And so it goes. The game of ploy and counter-ploy.Test cricket is marked on a ball-by-ball basis by the noticeable absence of violence. On most deliveries, the batsman is in a perfect position to play the ball and plays it without much fuss. It looks to the casual eye as if nothing much is happening.Imagine the following over from, say, Moeen Ali, to, say, Virat Kohli. The batsman has just walked in, his partner is batting with more than a hundred to his name. Over the last 20 years, we have seen countless such overs, especially late in the day or towards the end of a session of play, usually in the middle of a Test in India.Moeen begins over the wicket with a conventional 3-6 field. His first delivery is moderately flighted, on an excellent length outside off stump. Kohli takes a long stride down the wicket towards the off side, and aims a lofted drive over wide mid-on. He doesnt meet it perfectly, he is beaten in the flight. The ball lobs into the outfield on the leg side and a single ensues.The other batsman, a century to his name, takes strike and quietly takes a single to the deep point that was set for him. The field changes back to 3-6 for Kohli. This time, Moeen bowls the ball flatter, slightly straighter. Kohli plays well back and just for a moment, Moeen thinks he has beaten the bat; but Kohli had the ball covered.The ball isnt turning square. Moeens best chance is to try and beat Kohli in the flight, either off front or back foot. By changing his line of attack, Moeen has forced Kohli to defend his stumps. Kohli response is classic: he plays a couple of balls on merit. Both are on middle stump. Kohli defends the first one off the back foot, the second off the front foot into the leg side.Each time, he is careful not to move too far across his stumps, or to commit to playing forward too early. Off the last ball, he has his reward. Sensing that Kohli might try to attack again (given how Kohli began the over), Moeen fires the last one in across the stumps. It is flat, on a good length, and ends marginally outside off stump. Kohli is waiting. The resulting late cut produces two runs.The over yields four runs. At other times it might have produced none. The batsmen did not try anything expansive. The bowler did not get prodigious turn. But look a little closer and the over was delicately balanced, keenly contested. Moeen tried to pry open a moment when Kohli might be caught off-balance or might make a mistake judging the length. Kohli resisted successfully.Each style of bowler has his own lines of attack, his own well- used options for fields. Occasionally there might be a bowler who will demonstrate an innovation, but for the most part there are no surprises. This is the central feature of the elite cricketing contest. Both bowler and batsman are so good that very little comes as a surprise to either.Sometimes this produces a stalemate in which each side chooses to wait the other out. As many great Test players have explained over the years, sometimes it is better to let the bowler have the upper hand and play out a good spell. Or, as Nasser Hussains English tourists in 2001-02 did, to use exclusively defensive tactics to try to frustrate a great batsmans game. Hussain defended his approach, arguing that it was his job to win; it was not his job to make up the numbers so that the home crowd could enjoy a great show from their favourite player. At the time, such tactics prompted some unease. David Hopps wrote in the Wisden Almanack:...Hussain went too far in his attempts to smother Indias star batsman, Sachin Tendulkar. First, he instructed his bowlers to aim wide of off stump, to a seven-two or even eight-one field; then, when Tendulkar still made runs, Hussain told Giles (left-arm over) and Andrew Flintoff (right-arm round) to aim outside leg. The tactics had a touch of Douglas Jardine about them, as another England captain, Mike Brearley, remarked - saying that he felt a deep uneasiness. To oppose these ploys was to goad Hussain into employing them all the more. Hussains tactics prompted a sophisticated debate about the ethics of his approach. The question was not about the legality or success of the approach. The quedtion was, Is it right? The tactics made for gripping Test cricket. Even frustrated Indian fans had to admire Englands discipline in the field under Hussain. Tendulkar himself later expressed admiration for the skill of Ashley Giles, who enforced the spin portion of Hussains master plan. Any sport in which the ethics of a tactical choice can be debated is a truly great human invention.There are similar questions about a batsmans approach in a Test match. I remember a Test in St Lucia in 2006. India batted first and Virender Sehwag set off at breakneck speed. He reached 98 in 74 balls, and then, last ball before lunch, backed away to leg and tried to launch Corey Collymore over mid-off. He achieved a miscue and was nearly run out.It could be legitimately considered an irresponsibly cavalier way to end what was only the first session of a Test match. The conventional wisdom holds, with good reason, that when the going is good, a team should always imagine itself to be a couple of wickets worse off than it actually is. Theres no telling when the game can turn. But the alternative argument is that with certain special players it is right and proper to let them have their way because they can do things most other players cant.I grew up watching Tendulkar. Im old enough to remember his brutal stroke-making genius of the late-1990s. In his later years, I often found myself wishing that just once, he would stop being such a careful student of the game and let fly in a Test match. Thirty minutes of cavalier hitting. Thats what I wanted from Tendulkar. And yet, had Tendulkar played that way, he would no longer have been Tendulkar. Such frustrations form a wonderful part of being a cricket fan.Given that so much occurs on the field during a Test match, it is increasingly hard for me to understand people who say that they find Test cricket boring. Yes, at first glance it does look as if there is an agreement between bowler and batsman. At other times, it looks as though one side is simply too good for their opponent. Yes, it is true that violent, sudden explosions of devil-may-care play are rare. But beneath the low simmer of the Test match is a rich, complex, beguiling broth that is like a great work of literature - at once quotidian and unsettling.Over the last few years, the way I watch Test matches has changed. I watch a couple of hours, or even just one spell. I care less about the result these days. I get irritated when the broadcast does not regularly show how the field is set. I start watching, and soon I find myself asking what a particular player could be trying to achieve. Occasionally Ill exchange messages with a few select friends if they are also watching the game. Occasionally, as was the case when Kane Williamson was batting against a challenging Indian attack in the first innings in Kanpur in the recent series, it results in 20 wonderful overs. Ashwin v Williamson was a different sort of story of an offspinner and a batsman than Moeen v Kohli. But the wonderful thing about Test cricket is that there is just as much to see in a Moeen v Kohli battle as there was in that marquee hour in Kanpur. Custom Panthers Jersey China . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. Brian Burns Jersey Large . P.A. Parenteau scored early in the third period to help the Avs edge Toronto 2-1 on Tuesday night. Cory Sarich also scored for Colorado (3-0-0), which is off to its best ever start. http://www.custompanthersjersey.com/ . A lawyer for MLB, Matthew Menchel, confirmed Wednesday the league dropped its case against Biogenesis of America, its owner Anthony Bosch and several other individuals. The lawsuit had accused Biogenesis and Bosch of conspiring with players to violate their contracts by providing them with banned performance-enhancing substances. Panthers Jerseys China . MORITZ, Switzerland -- Fog prevented downhill racers from getting their Olympic dress rehearsal. Custom Panthers Jerseys . The injury bothered Bledsoe in the Suns victory over the Clippers on Monday and he sat out the teams home loss to Memphis on Thursday night. A law firm hired by Baylor University to investigate the schools handling of sexual assault and violence cases involving athletes determined that 17 women since 2011 reported incidents of sexual and domestic violence involving 19 football players, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday afternoon. Four of the cases involved alleged gang rapes.In May, Philadelphia-based law firm Pepper Hamilton released a scathing report about Baylors handling of sexual assault allegations. That report led to the demotion and then resignation of former university president and chancellor Kenneth Starr; the firing of football coach Art Briles; the suspension and then resignation of athletic director Ian McCaw; and the firings of multiple athletic department employees.The Journal on Friday quoted Baylor regents who detailed some of the Pepper Hamilton findings for the first time. According to the regents, in at least one case, Briles knew about an alleged incident and didnt alert police, the schools judicial-affairs staff or the Title IX office in charge of coordinating the schools response to sexual violence.J. Cary Gray, a Dallas lawyer and member of the Baylor board of regents, told The Journal, There was a cultural issue there that was putting winning football games above everything else, including our values. ... We did not have a caring community when it came to these women who reported that they were assaulted. And that is not OK.The regents spoke to The Journal amid a backdrop of some influential Baylor donors and alumni wondering whether Briles might have been made the scapegoat for a larger sexual assault problem at the university. Such talk has taken hold in some Baylor corners because of the secrecy around the Pepper Hamilton report, which has never been made public.The Journal story detailed the events that led up to Briles firing: On May 24, two days before the firing, Briles addressed regents in a conference room. The regents said Briles broke down and wept when he was asked what he would have done differently. Many board members began to cry as well.He couldnt speak he was so upset, and all of us were, Gray told The Journal. Art said, I delegated down, and I know I shouldnt have. And I had a system where I was the last to know, and I should have been the first to know.Ernest Cannon, Briles attorney, told The Journal that Briles quoted Scripture and expressed his regrets over Baylors painful situation, but the former coach didnt admit to wrongdoing.The regents told The Journal their decision to fire Briles went beyond the schools requirements to police sexual assault on campuses. As he heard information, what did he do with it? From a moral standpoint, what is the right thing to do? Ron Murff, a Dallas businessman who is chairman of the board of regents, told The Journal.Baylors former Title IX coordinator, Patty Crawford, resigned this month and has sharply criticized university officials for what she says were efforts to prevent her from trying to handle a sexual assault problem that went beyond the football program.The Journal report said Baylor told the newspaper, Football players were involved in 10.4 percent of Title IX-reported incidents in the four-year period ending in 2014-15. Male athletes comprise 4 percent of the undergraduate male population at Baylor.Three Baylor football players have been indicted for sexual assault and crimes against women in the past four years. Former defensive end Shawn Oakman was indicted by a McLennan County grand jury on charges of second-degree felony sexual assault last month. Defensive ends Tevin Elliott and Sam Ukwuachu were convicted of sexual assault in 2014 and 2015, respectively.Outside the Lines obtained confidential letters and emails this week that indicate Baylors athletics department was aware of at least one incident of alleged sexual misconduct involving Elliott, but the department continued to allow him to play during the 2011 season.According to an email obtained by Outside the Lines, Baylors judicial affairs office gave Elliott a written notice of misconduct on Nov. 18, 2011, just seven weeks after a female community college student reported to Waco police that Elliott had trapped her in her room, held her against her will and touched her inappropriately, at one point poking a broom toward her vagina, during an alleged incident at her apartment on Sept. 28, 2011. Waco police cited Elliott with a misdemeanor for the incident.In the notice of misconduct letter sent to Elliott, Baylor judicial affairs coordinator David Murdock told him that you will have the opportunity to hear the evidence that has been brought to my attention, and you will have the opportunity to either admit or deny the charge of misconduct. If you admit the charge, I will set the sanction(s). If you deny the charge, a hearing will be required. Senior associate athletics director Paul Bradshaw was also copied on the email.Elliott played in BBaylors 45-38 upset of No.dddddddddddd 5 Oklahoma on Nov. 19, 2011, and in a 66-42 win over Texas Tech the next week, before missing the final two games that season for what the team called a knee injury.A document obtained by ESPN indicates that Baylor judicial affairs sanctioned Elliott on March 29, 2012, with disciplinary probation and a written warning for the November 2011 incident. The document also noted that judicial affairs became aware just days later, on April 3, 2012, of a female Baylor student having reported that Elliott had sexually assaulted her on March 27, 2012. Weeks later, Elliott was then accused of raping another Baylor female student at an off-campus party on April 15, 2012.The document also indicates that judicial affairs learned on May 2, 2012, that Elliott had actually been accused more than a year earlier -- March 19, 2011 -- of sexually assaulting a TCU student in a Waco night club. The incident had been reported to Waco police.Elliott was suspended from the team for an undisclosed violation of team rules on April 27, 2012, three days before he was arrested by police in Waco?for raping the woman at the off-campus party earlier that month. In January 2014, Elliott was sentenced to the maximum 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine on the two counts of sexual assault in 2012, according to a report from WacoTrib.com.Briles told ESPN in September that he takes responsibility for the football programs poor handling of sexual assault allegations involving players and that his heart certainly aches. However, he distanced himself from decisions made after some players had been accused of criminal activity.There were some bad things that happened under my watch, Briles said. And for that, Im sorry. ... I was wrong. Im sorry. Im going to learn. Im going to get better.He said he understood why the sexual assault victims would be upset with him.Id tell them Im extremely sorry. It just appalls me that somebody could victimize another human being. And theres no place in society for it. And Ive never condoned it and never will and never put up with it, he said. These players are part of our program and representatives of our program. And when they do wrong, then it reflects on me and the university. So I do feel responsibility.Also on Friday, two women were added to a federal Title IX lawsuit filed against Baylor on June 15, bringing the number of total plaintiffs in the case to 10. The women, who were identified as Jane Doe 9 and Jane Doe 10, allege the university failed to respond properly to their allegations of sexual assault.According to the amended complaint, Jane Doe 9 enrolled at Baylor in January 2014 and was awarded multiple academic scholarships. The woman says she was sexually assaulted by a Baylor student in November 2014. She reported the incident to the office of judicial affairs, but, according to the lawsuit, Judicial Affairs was not interested or concerned with the assault, but did take interest in the fact that students were drinking at the time and place of the assault.The lawsuit said judicial affairs officials failed to refer the woman to the universitys Title IX office or counseling services, and failed to take a written report, and to the best of Jane Doe 9s recollection, failed to even write down her name. Jane Doe 9 left the Judicial Affairs Office with only a lecture on drinking.The lawsuit alleges the stress and trauma of the assault caused the woman to develop shingles that left her with permanent scarring and unable to perform academically. According to the complaint, she lost her academic scholarships and was placed on academic suspension. The lawsuit said the woman suffered a breakdown during the holiday break in 2014 and is crippled by panic attacks when she sees her assailant on campus.The woman reported the incident to the Title IX office and police have started a criminal investigation into the alleged assault, according to the complaint.Jane Doe 10 enrolled at Baylor in August 2013 as a biochemistry major and had aspirations of going to medical school. According to the complaint, she was sexually assaulted by a friend in February 2016 and reported the incident to another friend and Waco police later that day. Baylor police and the Title IX office also were informed of the assault.The lawsuit alleges that the Title IX office conducted an investigation into the alleged assault, but did so in a way that substantially prejudiced Jane Doe 10 and in a manner that suggests the investigation was in name only with the outcome predetermined.The Title IX office failed to support Jane Doe 10 through its process and failed to sufficient action to provide Jane Doe 10 with a fair, impartial and informed investigation, the lawsuit alleges.Information from ESPNs Mark Schlabach was used in this report. ' ' '