#1

said. He hit that putt and Im like, `W

in Introduce Yourself As A Pony! Wed Feb 27, 2019 3:48 am
by corse178 • 1.660 Posts

It should be no surprise when Keaton Jennings says he feels very comfortable and very English as he prepares to make his Test debut on Thursday.And if the words at the moment rather underline the somewhat transient nature of modern nationality, it is not an issue with which Jennings can be expected to wrestle. He is 24. And he is reaping the rewards for a decision made when he was a teenager. He has a home in Chester-le-Street. He talks fondly of his local pub. He just wants to play cricket.It is a well-trodden path that Jennings has taken into the England team. Like Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott, Nick Compton and many, many more, he has utilised a British passport (Jennings mother was born in Sunderland), looked at the unstable nature of South African cricket and the depth of the professional game in England, and come to an understandable conclusion. None of them were poached or coerced; they made perfectly understandable choices that have become common in a mobile, multicultural world.I sat down with my Dad and I felt it would be my best opportunity to live my dream in the UK, he explains. And Im very glad as I sit here now to have made that hard decision. The opportunity, the professionalism - I cant put my exact finger on it - but there was a welcome feeling, and feeling loved, and being pushed as well.That is not to say there are not concerns. For a start, there is an obvious dilution of talent available to the South Africa selectors. By the time South Africa tour England in the summer of 2017, it is anticipated that a new raft of Kolpak registrations will have weakened them further.It also raises questions about the English development system. Why is it, for all the money pumped into grassroots cricket, England remain so disproportionately reliant upon players born and largely developed overseas? Jennings will be - after Trott, Compton and Sam Robson - Cooks fourth opening partner born in South Africa or Australia since the retirement of Andrew Strauss, who was also born in South Africa. The differing climates may be one factor, but it is hard to ignore the suspicion that cricket - absent from most schools and many TV screens - has simply reduced in relevance across much of England and Wales. Take private schools out of the equation, and the situation looks grim.The ECB, to be fair, recognise this. It is the motivation behind their Cricket Unleashed initiative and their plans for a new-look T20. Their vehicle of change may be questionable, but many of their intentions are good.Jennings cannot be expected to worry about such matters. As if standing in the shoes of Haseeb Hameed is not hard enough - Jennings must feel like an Elvis impersonator going on stage after Elvis - he now has to deal with a fine India attack.Had he stayed in South Africa, however, Jennings might well be a seasoned international cricketer already. He captained the U19 team (in 2011, he opened the batting with Quinton de Kock in an U19 ODI against England) and, of course, he was steeped in cricket in the family home.He talks of his father often (though he refers to him as coach) and with a softness that belies the hard-man reputation Ray Jennings may have cultivated. And while there were clearly times the younger Jennings was taught some pretty tough lessons, there is little doubt it was wrapped up in the benevolence of a loving father.When I was nine or 10 we went to the nets, Keaton remembers. But it was one of the days when I decided not to listen. He threw me the first ball, I got out. Second ball, I got out. He said you get out one more time were going home. He threw me another ball, I got out. He put his bag down and walked off. From that day forward, I called him Coach. I cant remember the last time I called him dad.Having grown up in a cricket family you talk a lot about cricket. It is very intense from a training and professionalism point of view, but it was also a very loving environment. My mum softens my Dad and has taken the edge off him at home. From the persona of someone who is a hard and concentred man, in the family house he is very loving and gentle.Weve got a very good relationship. Im probably closer to him than I am to anybody else in the world. Hes my father, a role model and a coach. Im blessed to have a person in my life that I trust with my life and that will help me guide my career.Most of the advice passed on from father to son in recent days - and Ray has copious experience as an IPL coach - has been practical in nature. Drink lots of water and make sure its closed bottles, was one of his bigger tips, Keaton says.But there has been a deeper theme to his advice. Despite the cricket drills and apparently intense concentration upon success in the game, Keaton was also taught to embrace other aspects of life and understand that there is much more to it than sport. So he is currently studying for a degree in financial accounting and puts his much-improved performance in 2016 (he scored seven first-class centuries in the season; he had scored five in total before that) down to having found happiness outside the game.My dad made me do one thing in my life and that was to study, he explains. I take my hat off to him. Im really thankful he pushed me in that direction.And he has told me to enjoy the process and the culture of India. Cheap Vans Shoes China . -- Anaheim Ducks defenceman Luca Sbisa will be out at least six weeks with a torn tendon in his right hand. Wholesale Vans Shoes . -- There were so many positives from the Orlando Magics first victory of the season that it was hard for coach Jacque Vaughn to stop praising his players. http://www.cheapvansfromchina.com/ . -- Matt Ryan needed one of the best games of his career to lead the Falcons and their depleted offence out of their three-game losing streak last week. Cheap Vans Shoes Free Shipping . -- James Young couldnt wait to apply those tweaks to his jump shot, and the first one he made against UT Arlington told him it could be a good night. Vans Shoes Clearance . The 18th player to shoot 60 on the tour, Jamieson settled for par on the final hole when his 15-foot birdie chip grazed the edge of the hole and stayed out. After opening with rounds of 66 and 73 to make the cut by a stroke, he had 11 birdies in the bogey-free round. ENDICOTT, N.Y. -- Paul Goydos likes to say his golf game is two good rounds, then a mediocre one.Thats kind of all tournaments, not just here, he said before playing in the Dicks Sporting Goods Open.Last year, he did just that at En-Joie Golf Club, fading late while challenging for the lead and losing to Jeff Maggert by two shots.For one day at least, Goydos didnt follow that script. He shot a bogey-free 69 on Sunday to beat Wes Short Jr. (69) by two shots on a tricky day at En-Joie buffeted by gusting winds, finishing at 14-under 202 for his third career victory on the Champions Tour.My game is like a jack-in-the box, kind of keep spinning it and it pops up every once in a while, Goydos deadpanned afterward. There was no inkling that I was going to play well, other than the mythical law of averages. Things hadnt gone well, hadnt played well, my attitude was bad, so naturally I won.Qualifier Neal Lancaster (70) was alone in third at 11 under, while John Riegger (72) finished tied for fourth at 10 under with Joe Durant (68).Glen Day (69) and Kevin Sutherland (69) were another shot back in a tie for sixth.John Daly (73) was three shots behind to start and couldnt muster anything. He made bogey at the par-5 fifth hole and another at No. 9 to make the turn at 7 under, where he finished.First-round leader Scott Dunlap began the overcast day one shot off the lead and took himself out of contention with a disastrous second hole. Dunlap twice plunked shots into the greenside water hazard at the par 4, a 379-yard dogleg left, and carded a quintuple-bogey 9. He finished with a 75 to tie Daly.Goydos began play tied for the lead at 11 under with Riegger and was the steadiest of the leaders, carding eight pars and making birdie at the par-4 sixth hole while none of the others staged a threat in difficult conditions. A birdie at No. 10 dropped him to 13 under, three shots ahead of Riegger, Short and Lancaster.Riegger, who played the first two rounds without making bogey, had his streak end with a bogey on Sundays opening hole.dddddddddddd He had another at the par-3 fourth hole after having recovered with a pretty fairway chip for eagle at the par-5 No. 3, but another bogey at No. 10 dropped him to 10 under in a three-way tie for second.Rieggers strength over the first two rounds had been his play at the generous par-5s, having gone 7 under, and his streak of excellence on the holes continued on the back side. At the par-5 No. 12, he notched his second straight eagle at the hole to move within a shot of Goydos.Despite another bogey at No. 14, Riegger was still within striking distance at No. 16 and rallied once more. He drove the trees right at the short par 4 but rallied for birdie. Unfazed, Goydos, who played it safe on the hole by laying up short of the elevated green thats guarded by a handful of bunkers, matched Rieggers birdie to maintain his two-shot edge.I mean, John couldnt have hit a better putt, Goydos said. He hit that putt and Im like, `Wow! I was very happy with the way I kind of didnt rush it. I kind of stayed in my routine, kind of went through whatever I needed to do to hit a good putt.Both drove into the bunker on the right of the green at No. 17, their balls sitting side-by-side in the white sand, and only Goydos escaped. After Riegger hit out past the pin and two-putted for bogey, Goydos blasted to 4 feet and saved par.John hit a nice bunker shot. Him going first I think was an advantage for me, Goydos said.Riegger also made bogey at 18 to slip back further.Lancaster, in only his second tournament of the year, watched his chances fade when his tap-in putt for birdie at No. 16 lipped out while trailing by two shots.I guess just so close you kind of took it for granted, Lancaster said. I just think its nerves. I feel like I should have won the tournament.---Follow Kekis on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Greek1947 ' ' '

Scroll up






Visitors
0 Members and 131 Guests are online.

We welcome our newest member: Betty
Board Statistics
The forum has 4957 topics and 5323 posts.

0 members have been online today:


Xobor Einfach ein eigenes Xobor Forum erstellen