Dein erstes Forum » Street said. Ive been impressed with

When the Kia Super League launches on Saturday with a clash between the Yorkshire Diamonds and Loughborough Lightning, Headingley will showcase a raft of intriguing - and exciting - contests. Yorkshire and Englands fiery Katherine Brunt will resume her long-standing contest with the brilliant Ellyse Perry, aided by the insight of Perrys New South Wales captain and Australian vice-captain Alex Blackwell. Following on from an outstanding summer with the bat for her country, Lauren Winfield will go head-to-head with England team-mate Georgia Elwiss and face one of New Zealands best all-rounders in Sophie Devine.There is much to anticipate in this watershed competition. Never has there been such a concentration of elite female players in a domestic tournament - the KSL has six teams compared to Australias eight in the Womens BBL. Each side contains three internationals, three England contracted players and two England Academy signings. The even spread of talent should make for tight contests and a competitive league that displays the best skills the womens game has to offer.On Sunday at the Ageas Bowl, former England captain and legend of the womens game, Charlotte Edwards, will call on her Southern Vipers cohorts - New Zealand captain and Wisdens Womens Cricketer of the Year, Suzie Bates, and one of the most explosive T20 batsmen in the womens game, fellow New Zealander Sara McGlashan - to tackle a Surrey Stars line up boasting Nat Sciver, hot off blasting the fastest ever 50 in a womens ODI - and Marizanne Kapp, the outstanding South African allrounder.And yet, six months after the inaugural WBBL in Australia surpassed all expectations to become a massive success, drawing unprecedented crowds, television audiences and mainstream media coverage, there is a sense this competition will be low key in comparison. No matches will be televised and only a limited number - seven in total - will be broadcast on BBC radio. In a month during which Englands men continue their Test series against Pakistan and the Olympics takes centre stage in Rio there is a danger the competition could fly so far under the sporting radar it may struggle to register with the mainstream sports media.It is, perhaps, unfair to expect the KSL to deliver the same success as the WBBL. The Australian competition piggy-backed on the mens competition, with the marketing, merchandise and fan-base already put in place by five years of the BBL, which has itself been a roaring success in the Australian sporting landscape. England, with its internal prevaricating over the make-up of a mens domestic T20 tournament which has limited television coverage, has had to start from scratch with new teams and no established fan base to leverage.In many ways the ECB is now trying to overcome many years of neglect by those formerly in charge of womens domestic cricket. There has been no strong pyramid structure, as there has been in Australia. Instead, the focus has been on developing international players through the high-performance academy based at Loughborough. This top-heavy approach is at least partly responsible for the environment that required such a significant shake up in the national side this year; the lack of players forcing their way into the England side through outstanding performances in the county game meant there was stagnation at the top.Consider the difference in the advent of professional contracts: when Cricket Australia started paying modest full-time wages to the Southern Stars in 2013, they also set aside money for players contracted to each of the six state associations. The domestic 50-over and T20 competitions were already well established and supported, with the T20 final regularly broadcast before the mens final as a double header. By the time the WBBL was launched, it wasnt a success just because it could leverage the success of the BBL; the standard of play was lifted by the fact the domestic players were coming into their third season of being semi-professional.When the ECB announced central contracts - a huge and welcome step for the advancement of female cricketers - in the summer of 2014, there was no investment at the next level; it remained an unwieldy and bloated amateur competition, in which players had limited training opportunities and often had to pay for extra net sessions, training kits and transport to matches. After Edwards returned from playing domestic cricket in Australia, during the 2014-15 season, she spoke openly about how the level of professionalism in the state competition had been a revelation and was miles ahead of the county competition. Even now, the difference in payments for domestic players is notable. Unlike CA, the ECB doesnt publish the amount it pays players, but ESPNcricinfo understands that while the retainers for internationals are comparable to the WBBL - where all players received between AUD $3000 and $10,000 for that competition in year one, in addition to the $7000 they received for the domestic ODI competition - the non-contracted players in the KSL will be paid a match fee of around ￡150 plus basic expenses.The biggest difference lies in broadcasting. Cricket Australia had enough confidence in the players and their product to pay free-to-air broadcaster, Ten, around AUD $500,000 to offset the production costs of televising six group matches and the final as double-headers. Initially, the matches were shown on Tens second digital channel but they drew such big audiences that Ten executives moved some matches to their main channel, which proved an unprecedented success, and decided to additionally broadcast both semi-finals, at their own cost. It was a classic case of putting prominent real estate in a shop-window and letting the audience decide whether or not to buy. They bought beyond all expectations.There is some doubt whether the same level of confidence exists in England. Organisers have been racing against the clock to pull the elements of the tournament together in a short time frame; subsequently the announcement of the teams and the schedule was late enough to make it difficult to guarantee the presence of international stars when initial conversations over broadcasters began. There is certainly not the budget allocated to offer Sky the same kind of deal CA offered Ten to ensure coverage or live stream matches. The final wont be televised as it falls on the reserve day after the T20 Blast Finals Day, with Sky reportedly unable to commit outside broadcast facilities to cover both, if the need should arise.Instead, Sky will produce a behind-the-scenes feature programme and have at least some single camera highlights from certain matches. Despite this being a new competition, the ECBs rights deal with Sky prevents anyone else from broadcasting the games, but their digital arm also plans to make some highlights available and will have a single HD camera at every game. In any case, no games can currently be broadcast on television or radio from Loughborough, because of the lack of infrastructure.The ECB has also, perhaps, missed the opportunity to aggressively promote the game in its inaugural season through double-headers. While the KSL starts during the final stages of the T20 Blast, it could have been launched with double-headers in the final group matches of the mens competition and continued with more shared fixtures in the qualifiers. Instead, Lancashire Thunder will play a warm-up match against Loughborough at Old Trafford before Lancashire Lightning host the Birmingham Bears - although, as the womens match starts five and a half hours before the mens it is a stretch to refer to it as a true double-bill.In the same way that Queen and Bob Dylan built their fan base by supporting Mott the Hoople and Joan Baez on tour, being a support act is a proven and respectable vehicle to finding a new audience. Double-headers were a major factor in stimulating interest in the WBBL, drawing crowds of up to 12,000. Birmingham, perhaps stung into action after they failed to win their bid for a KSL team, hosted a heavily promoted double-header recently at which, reportedly, almost 3000 fans stayed on at Edgbaston to watch the womens match.What the competition does have on its side, on top of some of the worlds best female talent, is an English fan base thats traditionally far more willing to embrace the womens game than Australian cricket fans. Womens internationals have drawn encouraging and enthusiastic crowds in recent years and around 1500 tickets have already been sold for the Western Forces first match at Taunton. If all the games draw four-figure crowds, then the KSL will be deemed a huge success.Theres more on the way, too, as the complete overhaul of womens domestic cricket in England continues. Next year a new 50-over domestic competition in May and June will lead in to the Womens World Cup with the KSL to follow and there are plans to stage double-headers and broadcast matches on Sky. It is an exciting time for the womens game and, despite the obstacles, this tournament represents a massive step forward in its professionalism and promotion.Ultimately, as in the WBBL and the World T20 in India, it is the players who will drive the tournaments success. The shop window may be smaller, they may not have the waterfront real estate, but the opportunity is there for their talent to shine through. Colorado Avalanche Shirts . "Theyve both been real good," said Babcock. "Havent changed our minds." A decision has seemingly been made - Sundays Group B-deciding tilt against Finland ahead - but it could not have been an easy one. Price opened the tournament with a sturdy 19-save performance against the Norwegians, yielding just one goal. Custom Colorado Avalanche Jerseys . Numbers Game examines the deal that sees Michael Del Zotto and Kevin Klein switch places. The Predators Get: D Michael Del Zotto. https://www.cheapavalanche.com/ .ca! Hi Kerry, Heres an interesting one. 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ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Sean Manaea had been rolling since healing his strained left forearm while on the disabled list.The young left-hander stumbled Tuesday night, allowing five runs over 5 2/3 innings, and the Oakland Athletics lost to the Los Angeles Angles 5-4.Manaea (3-6) had posted a 2.65 ERA in six games since coming off the DL. He was solid again Tuesday until the fifth, when shortstop Andrelton Simmons singled before Jett Bandy drilled a two-run homer to tie it 2-2.A walk and an error by shortstop Marcus Semien preceded a three-run homer by Jefry Marte in the sixth that went deep into the Angels bullpen. Three batters later, Manaeas day was done.Early in the game he looked really good, like weve seen him when hes at his best, As manager Bob Melvin said. Other than a couple of pitches, I thought he was pretty consistent.Khris Davis and Coco Crisp hit solo homers to give Oakland a 2-0 lead before the Angels scored five straight. Davis has 27 homers this season and eight since the All-Star break.Davis was hitting just .214 with eight home runs after the seasons first 35 games, but has hit .275 with 19 home runs since.It seems like hes more and more confident up there as the season goes on, Melvin said. Anytime you switch leagues, theres a little bit of an adjustment period. He struggled a bit early, but since then hes been as good as any power-hitter in the league.With Huston Street placed on the disabled list earlier in the day with a sore right knee, the Angels called on Cam Bedrosian in the ninth, and the 24-year-old struck out the side in order.Ive been looking forward to this for a while now, Bedrosian said. Its awesome to get the first one out of the way.Matt Shoemaker (6-11) went seven innings for the Angels. He wasnt dominant (six hits, three walks, four strikeouts), but only allowed the twwo solo home runs.dddddddddddd In his last seven starts at home, hes posted a 1.03 ERA.Its home, he said. Fans are on your side. You pitch here more so youre more comfortable here for the most part. You dont know how to explain those things.The As were able to pull within a run in the eighth when Yonder Alonso hit a two-run home run off JC Ramirez, but in the ninth the Angels turned to Bedrosian. He struck out Max Muncy, Crisp and Jed Lowrie to earn the save.Bedrosian has been on an impressive roll. He has struck out eight consecutive batters overall and has not allowed a run in his last 25 appearances.Cams been awesome, Street said. Ive been impressed with him all year long. He has a great head on his shoulders and his stuff is obviously there. He has the right mindset and makeup. It was really cool to see him get his first one tonight.The Angels have now won nine of their last 11 games at home. They are 11-6 since the All-Star break.The win pushed the Angels one game ahead of the As in the AL West cellar.TRAINERS ROOMAthletics: Melvin said catcher Josh Phegley, on the disabled list since July 2 with a strained right knee, is participating in all baseball drills but still not comfortable going in and out of a crouch. Its the second time this season hes been on the DL with strained right knee.UP NEXTAthletics: RHP Kendall Graveman (7-7) had a career-high winning streak snapped at six games in his last outing against Cleveland. He is 6-1 with a 3.34 ERA over his last 11 starts.Angels: RHP Jered Weaver (8-8) began to salvage an erratic season in July (2-1, 3.57 ERA). He will face the As for the third time this year and is 14-11 with a 2.73 ERA against the As for his career. ' ' '