The road that leads from despair to ecstasy tends to be long, winding steeply uphill and full of hidden traps. But every so often in sport and - more rarely - in life, a sudden, drastic shortcut will take you from one state to another in a matter of minutes.Thats how it was in 2005. Yes, I know its the second time Ive brought up 2005 in this series, but thats a reflection of the staggering emotional impact that summer had on English cricket followers. Its hard to explain to anyone whos not English, but Ill have a bash.By the end of the final days play of the final Test, at The Oval, England held the Ashes for the first time in 16 years and 42 days… and every time I see that figure I am once again amazed that it was so short. It felt like an eternity and a half, as if England were doomed to humiliation until the world ended.Thats why the series of 2005 meant such a disproportionate amount to long-term cricket followers in England. Thats why the moment when Steve Harmisons bumper struck Justin Langer in the first over of the series was such a big deal, as Ive already mentioned in this space.Towards the end of that series England were on top but didnt dare to believe it. They had Australia by the throat but couldnt bring themselves to squeeze. They took a fraught 2-1 lead into the last Test at The Oval. Anything but an Australian win would give them the Ashes. But could England dare to stand up to them at the last?Autumnal weather blew in, murky light came with it. A see-sawing match had the teams six runs apart after first innings with England to bat next. Surely nothing could go wrong now…But it did. Of course it did. England collapsed. When any other Test team in the world collapses, England get royalties. At lunch on the last day Australia were still only 133 runs behind with five wickets to get. Kevin Pietersen, controversially brought into the team for the first time at the beginning of the series, was at the crease and had already been dropped twice. It looked dreadful.Surely only the weather could save England. The crowd raised umbrellas to fend off the rain that refused to fall; the Australian cricketers took the field in sunglasses despite the murk. Very jovial, but in sporting terms this was a desperate situation.England needed to block for a draw. Paul Collingwood, their last recognised batsman, was at one end, playing in the series for the first time. And there was Pietersen, batting like a man with his trousers on fire. It was all about to go quite horribly wrong.Pietersens response would have been considered irresponsible in a beer match. Here, with everything depending on barn-door defence, he went nuts and hurled his bat at everything that came his way. Had he got out hed never have been forgiven.But he hit everything. Impossibly, against all precedent, all logic and all good sense, it came off. Brett Lee was bowling at around 95mph. Pietersen took after him as if he was a middle-aged trundler. Michael Vaughan, the England captain, had told him, Play your natural game. But he didnt. Instead he played his unnatural game. In The Iliad, the gods are always intervening in the Trojan War, breathing divine strength into one or other of their favourites so that for a while he fights like an immortal.Thats what it looked like at The Oval that day. It was as if Pietersen had transcended the limitations of the human frame and the human mind. Normal rules were suspended, normal life was put to one side. This was sport as it exists in the mind of a ten-year-old playing cricket with a garage door as his opponent.I have seen many great days of cricket, but all of them have come down to basic dynamics of human opposition - batsman against bowler and fielders against batsmen. There have been passages of play when I have watched players reach out for greatness, and sometimes they even touch it.But this wasnt like that at all. It was as if Pietersen had taken cricket out of humanitys hand and replaced it with something more audacious than we are capable of imagining. And all the while there was Collingwood scoring 10 in 72 minutes, for which he was rightly given an MBE.Pietersen was out for 158, playing for a draw by hitting 15 fours and seven sixes. The match was saved, the series was won. Despair had turned to ecstasy, the impossible had been made actual before our eyes and the Ashes were in English hands again at last.Cricket. Bloody hell… Shoes NZ Online .7 million, one-year contract, a raise of $2.2 million. Wieters had asked for $8.75 million and the Orioles had offered $6. Shoes NZ 2020 .J. Jefferson has been charged with assaulting his girlfriend. https://www.shoesnzonline.com/ .Gather a group of friends, or find a league to join online, draft your team, set your lineup and compete in a number of different formats. Wholesale Shoes NZ . 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. Shoes NZ From China . LOUIS -- Lance Lynn was one of the more enthusiastic participants as the St.Shahid Afridi has handed over the captaincy of Pakistan Super League (PSL) team Peshawar Zalmi to Darren Sammy, who has led West Indies to two World T20 titles. Younis Khan, who was unpicked by any team, was named as Peshawars batting mentor.The announcements were made during the second PSL draft in Dubai on October 19, with the tournament scheduled to be played in the UAE in February and March 2017. Some of the other highlights at the event were:Lahore Qalandars traded Chris Gayle for Sohail Tanvir with Karachi Kings, where Gayle will join his West Indies team-mate Kieron PollardIslamabad United traded Babar Azam to Karachi Kings and selected Dwayne Smith. Islamabad released Umar Siddiq and Asher ZaidiThe first pick of the draft was former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, who went to Lahore Qalandars. Lahore also traded Sohaib Maqsood to bring in Aamer Yamin, and released Mustafizur Rahman and Kevon Cooper.Brad Haddin will double-up in an assistant coaching role with Islamabad, where Dean Jones is the head coach.Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, who have returned to domestic cricket in Pakistan after their bans for spot-fixing, were not picked. Mohammad Amir, however, was retained by Karachi and rose from silver to diamond category.Islamabad and Quetta Gladiators are the only teams likely to be captained by Pakistan players - Misbah-ul-Haq and Sarfraz Ahmed respectively.Peshawar ZalmiNew players: Eoin Morgan (England), Haris Sohail, Alex Hales (England), Mohammad Shahzad (Afghanistan), Irfan Khan, Khushdil Shah, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh), Sohaib MaqsoodRetained players: Shahid Afridi, Wahab Riaz, Darren Sammy (West Indies), Mohammad Hafeez, Chris Jordan (England), Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh), Kamran Akmal, Junaid Khan, Imran Khan, Hasan Ali, Mohammad AsgharReleased from 2016: Aamer Yamin, Abdur Rehman, Jim Allenby, Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Musadiq Ahmed, Shahid Yousuf, Shaun Tait, Brad Hodge, Israrullah, Taj WaliLahore QalandarsNew players: Brendon McCullum (New Zealand), Sunil Narine (West Indies), Anton Devcich (New Zealand), Fakhar Zaman, Ghulam Mudassar, Usman Qadir, Saif Badar, Mohammad Irfan, Grant Elliott (New Zealand), Aamer Yamin, Shaun Tait (Australia), Bilawal Bhatti, Sohail TanvirRetained players: Umar Akmal, Dwayne Bravo (West Indies), Yasir Shah, Mohammad Rizwan, Cameron Delport (South Africa), Azhar Ali, Zafar GoharReleased from 2016: Adnan Rasool, Kevon Cooper, Chris Gayle, Hammad Azam, Mustafizur Rahman, Sohaib Maqsood, Zia-ul-Haq, Zohaib Khan, Abdul Razzaq, Ehsan Adil, Imran Butt, Mukhtar AhmedKarachi KingsNew players: Kieron Pollard (West Indies), Ryan McLaren (South Africa), Kashif Bhatti, Abrar Ahmed, Khurram Manzoor, Abdul Ameer, Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka), Rahat Ali, Amad Alam, Babar Azam, Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka), Chris Gayle (West Indies)Retained players: Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Amir, Ravi Bopara (England), Imad Wasim, Sohail Khan, Shahzaib Hassan, Saifullah Bangash, Usama MirReleased from 2016: Bilawal Bhatti, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mir Hamza, Mushfiqur Rahim, Nauman Anwar, Shakib Al Hasan, Lendl Simmons, Sohail Tanvir, James Vince, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Fawad AlamIslamabad UnitedNew players: Ben Duckett (England), Shadab Khan, Zohaib KhanRetained players: Shane Watson (Australia), Andre Russell (West Indies), Samuel Badree (West Indies), Dwayne Smith (West Indies), Brad Haddin (Australia), Sam Billings (England), Misbah-ul-Haq, Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Sami, Khalid Latif, Saeed Ajmal, Rumman Raees, Imran Khalid, Amad Butt, Hussain Talat, Asif AliReleased from 2016: Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Ashar Zaidi, Umar Siddiq, Umar AminQuetta Gladiators New players: Carlos Brathwaite (West Indies), Tymal Mills (England), Rovman Powell (West Indies), David Willey (England), Hasan Khan, Noor Wali, Mir Hamza, Umar AminRetained players: Kevin Pietersen (England), Sarfraz Ahmed, Ahmed Shehzad, Luke Wright (England), Anwar Ali, Umar Gul, Zulfiqar Babar, Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan), Mohammad Nawaz, Asad Shafiq, Saad Nasim, Bismillah KhanReleased from 2016: Grant Elliott, Nathan McCullum, Akbar-ur-Rehman, Bilal Asif, Elton Chigumbura, Jason Holder, Aizaz Cheema, Rameez Raja, Kumar Sangakkara ' ' '