Für unsere Gäste » I think we are fine-tunin

The reaction to defeat at Lords speaks volumes for the febrile atmosphere in English cricket at present.With a couple of newspapers calling for the selectors to be sacked, you would think defeat at Lords, or defeat against Pakistan, was an unprecedented disaster. But actually England lost at Lords in 2015 and 2014 and Pakistan beat them 2-0 barely six months ago.So quite why the defeat at Lords has caused such shock is puzzling. Pakistan are a fine side with, arguably, the best bowling attack in the world. They are rated above England in the rankings and Lords (and The Oval and Manchester) offer England little home advantage. Anyone surprised by Pakistan playing well - or Englands batting looking fragile - really hasnt been paying attention.The consternation over the absence of James Anderson is puzzling, too. The decision not to risk him at Lords - a not unreasonable decision bearing in mind he had yet to play a game after sustaining a shoulder injury - was not responsible for the defeat. Englands na?ve batting, as Alastair Cook termed it, was.Its certainly not a selection fiasco in the grand traditions of English cricket. Take the Major Nigel Bennett episode, for example. Major Bennett popped into The Oval in 1946 to renew his county membership after the war, but was mistaken for Major Leo Bennet - who had represented the British Empire XI during the war - and offered the captaincy. He took up the offer before anyone realised a mistake had been made and went on to lead Surrey to what was, at the time, the worst season in their history. He averaged 16 with the bat.Still, Andersons return to the squad - he bowled in the nets on Wednesday and looks fully fit - is welcome. So, too, is Ben Stokes, who admitted he required the bowling he gained in the Championship match he played against Lancashire instead of the first Test to regain match fitness. Both of them are highly likely to play though the selectors have given the captain and coach - a coach, it should be remember, who has barely seen a weeks county cricket in his life - every option with an unusually large 14-man squad.With Stokes and Woakes available as allrounders, England have plentiful options here. One of those is to field a second spinner (Saqlain Mushtaq worked with Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali in training on Wednesday) and either drop one of the batsmen (probably James Vince, but perhaps Gary Ballance) or play only three of Stokes, Woakes, Anderson and Stuart Broad.Bearing in mind Pakistans excellence against spin and Englands record of success fielding a two-man spin attack in home Tests - they have not won a game in England using a two-man spin attack since 1985 - and that looks both an unwise and unlikely scenario. England have only fielded a two-man spin attack at home six times in the last 20 years. The last time - at The Oval in 2013 - saw Simon Kerrigans unfortunate debut. The time before that was in 2009 when Monty Panesar helped James Anderson bat England to what had seemed an unlikely draw against Australia in Cardiff.It seems more likely that England will pick the four-man seam attack with one spinner. Whether that is Rashid or Moeen remains to be seen, though Rashid does look the favourite at this stage. Pakistan look likely to play only one spinner though, as Stokes remarked on Wednesday, Yasir may well be the best legspinner since Shane Warne.As well as a few Lancashire players, Glen Chapple and Steve Rhodes attended England training on Wednesday with a view to taking coaching tips back to their counties. Matt Parkinson, the Lancashire legspinner, will again bowl in the nets on Thursday (he was with the England squad at Lords) and Mason Crane, the Hampshire legspinner, will do the same at The Oval. The England camp also hope to continue to engage with former players and create situations where they can pass on their tips to the current team. Andy Caddick is expected to speak to the squad at Edgbaston and Darren Gough will do so later in the summer.Although the outfield at Old Trafford is not especially pretty - the result of staging lucrative Rihanna and Beyonce concerts here in recent weeks - the pitch is expected to be good. It should offer some pace, bounce and spin as the surface wears; in short, it should reward good cricket.Lancashire played two spinners in their last Championship match here. One of them - Parkinson - took a five-wicket haul in the first innings. The groundstaff are using the cannabis hot lamps we have seen previously at Edgbaston to promote grass growth on the outfield (either that or they have moved into a most unorthodox sideline) but, unless heavy rain hits, it should only be a cosmetic problem. Cheap Jerseys From China .C. -- Rodney Hood connected from all over the court while freshman Jabari Parker was busy swatting shots and scoring in transition. China Jerseys Wholesale . LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints looked like a team playing out the string. https://www.chinajerseyscheap.us/ . Andreas Johnson had a goal and two assists while Jacob de la Rose also scored for Sweden (2-0-0). Esa Lindell and Rasmus Ristolainen replied for Finland (1-1-0) Lindell opened the scoring for Finland just 41 seconds into the game, but the hosts quickly regained their composure and tied the score less than four minutes later on Wennbergs first of the game. China Jerseys Stitched .Y. -- Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had little trouble picking up his first shutout of the season against a Buffalo Sabres team thats having trouble scoring goals. China Jerseys Cheap . In the lead up - which seemed to begin the moment Mike Geiger blew the whistle in Houston last Thursday night - the Impact rumour mill went into overdrive. The speculation went into meltdown mode, of the golden nugget variety. Fernando Alonso has no doubt Honda will produce a competitive power unit next year, saying the big question is about how McLaren will adapt to Formula Ones new regulations.Honda struggled for reliability and performance on its return to the sport last year, but has corrected the main weaknesses of the 2015 power unit this year. The Japanese manufacturer is preparing for another step in 2017 and Alonso is confident the Honda engine will not be McLarens Achilles heel next season.After struggling a lot last year we found ourselves in a position that we are enjoying and competing with the midfield cars, he said. Next year we want to do the final step and fighting for much more than this. I think we have a great opportunity with the new rules, because everything will mix. If we are able to produce a quick car from race one we have a chance to do well.On the engine side I think we learn a lot this year, much more than last year because last year it was about making the power unit survive a weekend -- we had to make it last until the chequered flag. It was down on power, down on batteries, down on reliability, down on everything, so it was difficult to learn because it was just to make it run. This year I think we are fine-tuning the engine a lot more so I think the knowledge this year will pay off eeven more next year with the power unit.ddddddddddddIm quite confident on that so the big question mark is the new rules, the new aerodynamics and on that I am also confident because McLaren is a big team with a lot of resources, with a lot of possibilities so I think its looking good for next year and Im looking forward.New aerodynamic regulations are set to change the look and lap time of Formula One next year, with F1s rule makers hoping to make the cars five seconds per lap faster. All teams have increasingly prioritised 2017 development as the current season has progressed, but despite Alonsos optimism, McLaren racing director Eric Boullier says it is impossible to know how his teams 2017 car is progressing compared to its rivals.I cant update you much because I dont want any information in the media! Boullier said. And I have no reference. You hear many stories in the paddock that the regulations have been changed to introduce more downforce and performance, and I think every team has found much more performance than the current cars.But we have no reference yet, so we are on our own and we will see in February [testing] where we are compared with the others. ' ' '