Bla Bla » Rookie LB Jatavis Brown set career high with 15 tac

Gloucestershire were playing Hampshire in the 1977 Benson and Hedges Cup semi-final. I went round the wicket, and suddenly it started swinging. I bowled [Gordon] Greenidge first ball of the over, and the Gloucestershire fans got right behind me. Next ball, David Turner got a single, then I had Barry Richards lbw - he didnt think it was out. Trevor Jesty was lbw the next ball, and then on the hat-trick ball, I bowled John Rice with a yorker.Jacques Kallis was a tremendous allrounder, but Garry Sobers was the best. Sobers had three strings to his bow - he could bowl spin as well. I realised that it was useful to be able to bowl a bit of spin. Sobers was a match-winner. He won games with the bat and ball and he was a magnificent fielder. The thing about Kallis, like Sachin Tendulkar, was his longevity. He did so well for so long.I bowled a lot of spin during the second year of WSC. My knee was playing up.I still think the rebel tours to South Africa were a good thing. The South African administrators, back then, did the right thing organising those tours. South Africans were uneducated as far as Test cricket was concerned. We hadnt seen Test cricket for over ten years.Vernon Philander had a fantastic start to his Test career, but no one can keep up that level of performance forever. He hasnt suddenly started bowling badly. His attributes are consistency, line and length, and he moves it around. Thats usually enough to get you wickets at the top level.The South African team in the mid-70s would have given a good account of itself against the mid-70s West Indies team.After the Harbhajan Singh-Andrew Symonds alleged racist-abuse incident, the ICC decided that a Level 2 abuse case should be heard by a higher authority than a match referee.I think its sad that one of the greatest players, ever, for England, Kevin Pietersen, no longer plays for them, due to non-cricketing reasons.I got more wickets through swinging the ball than bowling quick. Particularly from round the wicket. I had an unorthodox action. When I bowled round the wicket it was similar to a left-armer bowling over the wicket and swinging it in. Batters were vulnerable to lbws.Graeme Smith is a real gutsy guy, who led from the front, the sort youd want in the trenches with you. Most in South Africa will tell you the same thing. As a batsman Smith had fantastic hand-eye coordination. He was never the prettiest to watch but he was effective. I couldnt understand why more bowlers didnt try and tuck him up on his legs with a packed leg-side field, though. He was strong off his legs, but give him space outside off and hed whip you through the leg side all day. In at his legs and hed not have been able to free his arms up as easily.If AB de Villiers is going to be South Africas Test captain, Id give the gloves to Quinton de Kock. AB enjoys fielding as much as keeping wicket. Batting, keeping and captaining will be difficult over five days.Worldwide in the 1970s, there were lots of international bowling allrounders. Now, who are they?After Pakistan refused to play at The Oval in 2006, the ICC changed the rules. Now, the match referee has to agree before the umpires can call a match off.When I got my best ever bowling figures, 9 for 71, I bowled mainly spin.There had been talk of South Africa being readmitted to international cricket, but we thought it was too short notice for the 1992 World Cup. Then the announcement came. We would go to India for some one-day internationals, and then to the World Cup. It was all set up in about ten days. I was asked to be the coach.The quicker you bowl and the more you swing it, the better off you are. But if you havent got control, then neither are of much use.In the first year of World Series Cricket, we werent allowed to practise on the main grounds in Australia. Kerry Packer had to hire other practice facilities. We had to make it work because it was such a huge thing Kerry Packer had done.Its disappointing that South Africa are so low in the Test rankings. But you go through phases where you dont play Test matches, and then you play a lot, so its not as bad as it looks. Once South Africa have finished their home series and then the Tests in Australia, itll give a truer reflection.The early- to mid-70s South African side would have been better than the 1970 side. You still had all the players from the original side and also Denys Hobson, a magnificent legspinner, coming through. Also, Vince van der Bijl and Clive Rice.The quicker I ran in the more pace I generated. I bowled with a whirlwind arm action, didnt use my body so much and get sideways on like most fast bowlers. I needed a long run.I tried to get Pakistan to play at The Oval in 2006. They refused to come back out after tea. I talked to the Pakistan manager, Zaheer Abbas, and Bob Woolmer, Pakistans coach, both good friends of mine. But the umpires decided that by not coming out, Pakistan had forfeited the game. That was the lowest point of my career. I couldnt believe that a Test match could be abandoned.I played against a lot of the West Indies players in county cricket and during World Series Cricket with the World XI. You had to somehow try and get on top of them. Which was, of course, very difficult. But if you could build up some pressure then theyd be like any other side. The WSC Rest of the World side managed that in one of the Super Tests and beat West Indies by an innings.Theres no major problem with the South African team. Spin bowling has always been a bit of a worry, but thats no different to what it has been. Theyve got a good seam attack and good batters. Theyll be okay.If youve got a wicketkeeper who can bat and an allrounder who can bowl, thats a double whammy.As a captain I tried to involve everybody, get people to think that they were part of the team.I was never one to worry about averages. If I did well and we didnt win the game, it didnt mean a hell of a lot to me.The Currie Cup was tough competition. In the 1970s and 80s we didnt play international cricket, so everyone really went for it that little bit more.When batting you only needed to get one good ball or make one mistake. You only have one chance. Bowling, you could send down a couple of half-volleys and then knock someone over next ball.When a few top players retire together theres always a slump before the new players come in and make their mark. It happened when Jacques Kallis, Graeme Smith and Mark Boucher retired. It will again, most probably, when Dale Steyn, Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers go.England have had a few English-born players who liked a word and had an opinion or two. Beefy [Ian Botham] and [Ray] Illingworth for a start.I tried to lead from the front, set the example.I always admired Mike Brearley as a captain, and I later found out that he had me down as one of his favourite captains, which was nice. Brearley was so thoughtful as a captain, meticulous in what he did. He could bring out strengths in people. Look at Ian Botham during the 1981 Ashes. That was in part down to Mike Brearleys captaincy.During World Series Cricket there was great camaraderie amongst all the players. On the field it was hard. Off the field it was fun.There wasnt much difference in standard between Currie Cup cricket and county cricket in the 1970s. Currie Cup was probably a bit more intense because there were fewer games. But county sides had great overseas players - Viv Richards, Garry Sobers, Clive Lloyd, Andy Roberts. Every county had one or two top international players, which we didnt have in South Africa.I always felt more pressure batting than bowling. As a bowler you could never really get out of form. Sometimes youd swing it more and other times you wouldnt and take wickets. But as a bowler you were in charge of your own destiny more so than when you batted. If you bowled one outside leg and hit the top of off stump youd get anyone in the world out. Viv Richards was always hard to bowl at. He could slaughter you if you got it wrong. Guys like Barry Richards, Graeme Pollock, Sobers were the guys who really stood out. Bowling at these guys, you had to make sure you didnt give them too much width, overpitch it, or bowl too short. Youd just try and contain the guy, get on top of him rather than him get on top of you.During World Series Cricket, Garth le Roux bowled as quickly as anyone in the world.I didnt particularly enjoy bowling off a short run in John Player League games. You couldnt get the same speed, but it was the same for everybody. It didnt make much difference to me, to be honest.The last rebel tour, Mike Gattings tour, was probably the best of the lot. Thats because it was the worst of the lot and the tour had to be abandoned. Everything came to a head and soon after that, South African cricket administrators got together. That tour resulted in us getting unity a lot quicker.I enjoyed commentating more than coaching and refereeing. I liked reading the game, seeing what was taking place and airing what I thought. Im sorry that I never had the opportunity to get back into it.At the end of that nail-biting South Africa-Australia semi-final at the 1999 World Cup, Bill Lawry was shouting, I was shouting. We were both standing up in the commentary box. We couldnt sit down as it was so exciting. I should have said something dramatic at the end, when Allan Donald was run out and Australia won, but I couldnt, I was speechless. The late Tony Greig said to me that it was one of the best pieces of commentary hed heard.Schools cricket in South Africa is exceptionally strong and pretty well organised. In Australia and England most junior cricket is run through clubs.Ive got no idea why South Africa has produced so many allrounders. Why didnt Australia have any? When I was a kid you just wanted to bat, bowl fast, spin, field, keep wicket. You wanted to do everything. No one ever told me to just concentrate on one thing. I have no idea why South Africa dont have so many allrounders now, either. Akiem Hicks Youth Jersey . After Martin Skrtel put the Reds in front from close range at Stamford Bridge after only four minutes, Hazard hit back in the 17th with a superb strike. Etoo gave Jose Mourinhos team a decisive lead from Oscars back pass in the 34th. Brian Urlacher Youth Jersey . -- On the field, it was business as usual for Jameis Winston and No. https://www.bearssportsgoods.com/Womens-Gale-Sayers-Inverted-Jersey/ . The defence is doing its part, too. Drew Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first half and the guys on the other side made sure that was enough, sending the Saints to a 17-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. Roquan Smith Bears Jersey . Westbrook has missed 27 games since having a procedure on Dec. 27 to deal with swelling in his injured right knee — the third operation on the knee in nine months. Custom Chicago Bears Jerseys . The players spoke Jan. 13 during a Major League Baseball Players Association conference call after Rodriguez sued the union and Major League Baseball to overturn an arbitrators decision suspending him for the 2014 season and post-season. SAN DIEGO (2-4) at ATLANTA (4-2)Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EDT, FoxOPENING LINE -- Falcons by 6RECORD VS. SPREAD -- San Diego 4-2, Atlanta 5-1SERIES RECORD -- Falcons lead 8-1LAST MEETING -- Falcons beat Chargers 27-3, Sept. 23, 2012.LAST WEEK -- Chargers beat Denver 21-13; Falcons lost to Seahawks 26-24AP PRO32 RANKING -- Chargers No. 22, Falcons No. 5CHARGERS OFFENSE -- OVERALL (15), RUSH (22), PASS (12).CHARGERS DEFENSE -- OVERALL (18), RUSH (5), PASS (24).FALCONS OFFENSE -- OVERALL (1), RUSH (9), PASS (2).FALCONS DEFENSE -- OVERALL (24), RUSH (11), PASS (26t).STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES -- Chargers rookie TE Hunter Henry trying to extend streak of three straight games with TD catch. Henry had career-high six catches for 83 yards with TD last week. ... Antonio Gates 106 TD catches rank second in NFL history for tight ends, behind former Falcons standout Tony Gonzalez (111). Gates has five TD receptions in last five games against NFC teams. ... Rookie LB Jatavis Brown set career high with 15 tackles against Denver last week. Brown has sacks in three of last four gamess.dddddddddddd ... Rookie DE Joey Bosa has two sacks in first two games. ... QB Philip Rivers passed Hall of Famer Dan Fouts for most passing yards (43,094) in Chargers history. ... Falcons have NFL-best 30 passes of at least 20 yards. ... QB Matt Ryan has 21 consecutive games with at least 200 yards passing in Georgia Dome and averaging 369.3 yards in last four home games. ... DE Dwight Freeney has sacks in three of last four games. ... Rookie S Keanu Neal has forced fumble in two straight games. ... Fantasy Tip: Falcons held Seattle rushers to 2.7 yards per carry last week and havent allowed 100-yard rusher in 11 consecutive games. But Chargers RB Melvin Gordons flair for scoring makes him safe play. Gordon is tied for second in the NFL with seven TDs, including six rushing. Gordon ran for 94 yards last week against Broncos, including career-long 48-yard run.---Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '