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• chen wen

  

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  December 21, 2018 1:37 PM EET

  导出博客文章I was the son of a publican and a master builder. Wholesale MLB World Series Jerseys . He ran the Empire Hotel in North Hobart. His name was Max, too. Big Max.I was good at football and cricket at school. My dad said, son, be an architect, and I came to Melbourne passionate about becoming an architect.Norm Smith personally came and signed me up to the Melbourne Football Club. The fact that I then played cricket for Melbourne Cricket Club - the footy club didnt like it that much.I thought I could bat. My last two knocks for the North Hobart Cricket Club were 117 and 119, batting at three, at about the age of 17. The footy club brought me across and Melbourne Cricket Club had about six Sheffield Shield batsmen, guys like Paul Sheahan and Graeme Watson, so I batted 10 in my first district match. I barely got a hit at the Albert Ground. We were four or five down for about 380 every Saturday afternoon. But they didnt have a bowler. I had this weird action where I was able to winkle a few guys out.I bowled right-arm over left earhole, legs crossed at the point of delivery.My first baggy green came to the MCG in a parcel, prior to the Pakistan match in 72-73. This parcel had a blazer, a tie, two jumpers and a cap in it. When I came back to the dressing room, all my gear had been moved. Dougie Walters was playing cards and smoking a cigarette, and I said, Dougie, wheres my gear? He said, How many Test matches have you played for Australia? I said this one would be my first. He said, Well, Ive been using that locker now for a couple of series, its mine. I said, But still, wheres my gear? He said, Well, you can start by having a look in the dunny.In 1973, I was the only bloke in the team in the West Indies with a camera. That was a legacy from studying architecture. I love photography. When I went to India last time, I took 3900 shots over three cameras in 14 days.It was a privilege to bowl up the hill, into the breeze, with an old ball on a flat wicket, after Lillee and Thommo. The batsmen had a sense of relief that its been 160kph, now its down to 140kph. There were no helmets, and at 160kph Thommo had no idea where they were going, so what chance did a batsman have?It wasnt a conscious decision to give up footy. It evolved that way. My three-prong attack was to study architecture at RMIT, play footy and cricket. My final-year architecture thesis was due when I got back from a tour of the West Indies. I wanted to qualify, so I shelved footy at the ripe old age of 22 and never got back.We used to have to get special leave without pay in order to go away on cricket tours. Everyone got paid for Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day, but because I was playing two Test matches and I applied for leave, I got docked for all those days. My colleagues were down on the fence, getting paid to sit there and watch me! We were only getting $400 to play in the match. I smile now when I look at those numbers.I practised as an architect for 10 years. I qualified in 1973 with a fellowship diploma of architecture. World Series Cricket gave me the freedom to go out and pursue architecture.It would have been nice to play Sheffield Shield for Tasmania. But Tasmania didnt have a Shield team at the time. Its all very well now. The last few years, I jokingly say my little brother Ricky was captain of Australia. But back then when I did it, there was a psychological brick wall, almost, in the middle of Bass Strait. Almost like, how dare you think you can go to the mainland and do well? Now there are some fabulous success stories out of Tasmania.The big inswinger was my staple. They perhaps dont swing it as much these days because they play so much of the condensed version, and you can go for a wide very easily if the ball swings more than a little bit. They take the risk out, go across the seam and are more likely to change up and down in pace.In England the cat-gut is about half a gauge heavier than it is here in Australia, so in the first two weeks over there youd lose a lot of skin off the fingers. Youd have to dip them in friars balsam to try and heal it. It was not a good look, this tacky brown liquid. I remember shaking hands with the Queen at Lords and she had the white silk gloves on, and I almost dragged the glove off her hand when I let go.Are we just, by sheer emphasis, killing off Test cricket? Maybe Test cricket needs to be shaped from a financial template. Why not bring it in to four days? You could have the same number of overs and then have a daytime session and a night-time session, like the tennis.I didnt learn to bowl an outswinger until I was about 27. There were no coaching manuals around. I only bowled the outswinger for show. It wasnt to take wickets - just to show that I could. It was a bit like the knuckle ball. The first time I bowled the knuckle ball, which I learnt from a baseball player, I got hit for six. What I didnt realise was that youve got to be able to bowl a 140kph bouncer with the same grip.Alan Connolly was a great mentor. He introduced me to reverse-swing before the 1973 series. They talk about Imran Khan and others, but Alan Connolly, almost by default, became aware of reverse-swing with Ray Jordon behind the stumps one day in a Shield match. He said to load up one side with perspiration and saliva, and once the ball was porous, like a rag doll, it becomes heavier. I had great success in the West Indies on the back of that information. I took 26 wickets there, which stood for nearly 30 years as a record, until McGrath broke it.Of the best batsmen I bowled to, Viv Richards stood out. He hit the ball so hard, and images of him dancing down the wicket, hitting Jeff Thomson through the covers on a half-volley - youre not allowed to be able to do that stuff! Greg Chappell hit him in the head once and we all knew where the next one was going, it didnt matter where Greg bowled it. And it did, it went about 30 rows back over deep midwicket. He was incredible.I loved the Centenary Test match. It was like a soap opera over five days. We were bowled out for 138, [Rick] McCoskers jaw got broken, and then we bowled them out for 95 the next day. I got four, and I was certain I was going to get five. I got Tony Greigs wicket, middle and leg stump, through the gate.Against a good player, you might only get one or two chances in an innings. Once youve shown him what youre going to do, its all over, you have to come up with something else.All of the talent base was walking out the back door, symbolically speaking, to sign up with Kerry Packer. We were just asking for a rise in pay. The attitude from the incumbent board then was: there are 50 or 60 other guys who would give their right arm to play for Australia. Its just that they werent as good as Lillee and Marsh and Chappell. The amount of emotion that charged that time was quite tumultuous.We were the best team in the world for a period, under Ian Chappell. Thommo and Lillee and Marsh and Walters and the two Chappells, Ian Redpath, Stackpole, Mallett - gee whiz. For a Tasmanian to sit in the dressing room and look around at that - wow.When I played against Lawrence Rowe for the first time, it was Jamaica v Australia, and this bloke had made 200 and 100 in his first Test. He had some trouble with his eyes later on, but at that stage he was the best player Id ever seen. He made a hundred against us in that match. He batted off stump and was just a very elegant player.I think Australias fast-bowling stocks are still pretty low, for what they could be. I dont know what the reason is there, whether there was a sense of vulnerability from the selection table down. Perhaps the bowlers didnt feel secure and they were always going to be playing for their next game instead of trying to do strategically the best thing for the team, and they were trying to bowl wicket balls all the time. There were so many great moments in the Centenary match. [Rod] Marshy scored a hundred and I was in the middle when he scored it. Kerry OKeeffe opened in the second innings, Hookesys five fours, we met the Queen, and then to match the history of Charlie Bannermans team a century earlier, winning by 45 runs. And then there was Walters trying to make McCosker laugh with a mouthful of piano wire while he was drinking champagne through a straw out of a beer glass. That was a great match.Theres a lot of insight being tabled at the moment about the game in this country, because of performances, and rightly so. But if it is all revealed by players and ex-players and administrators then I think we miss an opportunity. I would like to see more minds that arent cricketers. Theres a tendency to think, hes a legend, and hes a legend, so they ought to know. But thats not necessarily the case in life.If a ten-year-old kid today grows up and in eight years time believes, wham, bam, thank you very much, youve got to score off every ball, and youve got to hit across the line - not everyone is going to be Adam Gilchrist.The MCG has been the axle of my life now for 40-plus years. I started life as an apprentice painter, as a student of architecture, and painted the 40,000 seats there and worked in the old scoreboard, which is now the Jack Fingleton scoreboard at Manuka Oval. I ran the total on that, painted the seats, then was a commentator on cricket and football on TV and radio.I go to the MCG so much even these days, to speak at conferences or launches. Its great to be able to look out the window and unlock a filing cabinet of memories. Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic . The Islanders dealt Thomas Vanek to the Montreal Canadiens after less than a year on Long Island. Meanwhile, the Oilers dealt long-time sniper Ales hemsky to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday for a fifth-round pick in 2014 and a third-rounder in 2015. Cheap Houston Astros Jerseys .com) - Richie Incognito has reportedly been admitted to a psychiatric care unit in Arizona. http://www.cheapworldseriesjerseys.com/cheap-new-york-yankees-jerseys/ .7 million, one-year contract, a raise of $2.2 million. Wieters had asked for $8.75 million and the Orioles had offered $6. INDIANAPOLIS -- Just how tedious was the 23rd annual Brickyard 400?The most intriguing story coming out of Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday for people who follow racing was the public confirmation that Tony George was quietly named chairman of the board of the speedway, in addition to its parent company, Hulman & Co., some four months ago.?Sure, there was Indys 160-lap NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race -- actually, make that 170, thanks to a series of overtime crashes -- which to the surprise of no one was dominated by Kyle Busch and the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas.?Busch swept the Indianapolis weekend for the second year in a row, winning the Xfinity Series Lilly Diabetes 250 on Saturday as a warm-up to his triumph in the main show. ?His mastery of IMS was even more convincing this year, as he won from pole position in both races and led 149 laps on Sunday.With the race itself an unwatchable dud, hopes that Jeff Gordons temporary comeback or local hero Tony Stewarts final Brickyard start would provide compelling storylines fell flat.?Gordons return to replace the injured Dale Earnhardt Jr. fizzled out, with the No. 88 car never showing strongly all afternoon and taking a quiet 13th place. And Stewarts recent return to his old form was blunted Sunday by a pit lane speeding violation that relegated the hometown hero to 11th at the flag.That made Georges ascension to the chairmans seat of his familys companies the biggest story of the day, marking a comeback that rivals any weve ever seen on the executive side of the sport. ?The news broke in unorthodox fashion. George was voted into the chairman roles during Hulman & Co.s annual meeting in March, but there was no public confirmation of the change until he was introduced as the IMS chairman over the Speedways public address system when he stepped out to give the command to start engines for Sundays race.Talk about a private company that really keeps things private. ?Now 56, George was named president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1989 when he was just 29 years old, kicking off a turbulent 20-year run.?During his tenure, George brought NASCAR to Indianapolis with the first Brickyard 400 in 1994, and he also built a road course in the IMS infield that hosted the Formula One United States Grand Prix from 2000-07.?But George is more famous (or infamous) for creating the Indy Racing League and using the Indianapolis 500 as a bargaining chip in the quest to take control of Indy car racing from CART. The 13-year civil war between the two Indy car series from 1996-2008 caused huge damage to the sport, which it still continues to recoover from. Cheap Washington Nationals Jerseys. ?After Indy car racing was unified as the IndyCar Series under Hulman &. Co leadership, George resigned as the leagues CEO in 2009, and he relinquished his board roles in 2011. He was reinstated to the IMS and Hulman & Co. boards in 2013; with his 82-year-old mother Mari Hulman-George in failing health, his recent ascension to the chairman role doesnt come as a surprise. Just family business.?Still, the fact that Hulman & Co. chose not to publicize the move indicates they understand the perception of putting George back in charge still carries some public relations baggage with longtime Indy car fans -- even though as the board chairman, he will have little or no influence on the companys day-to-day operations.Critics should not lose sight of the fact that while TG takes most of the blame for what has happened to Indy car racing over the past 20-plus years, many of the things that he did were positive for the speedway. ?The Brickyard 400 was a huge success for the first half of its 23-year existence, and it still remains a moneymaker for IMS. The F1 race and a subsequent Moto GP event on the road course delivered a new audience to the famous old oval.?George was also the driving force behind the creation of one of the most important safety innovations in the history of oval racing -- the SAFER Barrier, with IMS commissioning and financing its development.?With the Brickyard 400 a total snoozefest, perhaps it was a stroke of genius for IMS to release news of Georges promotion on a day when the track was otherwise generating negative headlines due to the poor quality of racing.?If it isnt clearly obvious by now, NASCAR stock cars are simply not compatible with the Brickyard oval. The unique single-groove track, with long straights and four low-banked 90-degree corners, just sets up for boring, single-file running.?Add in a 110-degree heat index like we had on Sunday, and its no wonder the Brickyard struggles to attract 50,000 fans these days when it was a 250,000-plus sellout in the early years.?Its still a profitable event for IMS, but with all those empty seats, its also a bit of an embarrassment to the grand old track.?As the chairman of the board, its not Tony Georges responsibility to fix the Brickyard 400 -- that job falls to Hulman Motorsports CEO Mark Miles and IMS president Doug Boles, among others.?But you can bet your bottom dollar that hes going to be paying close attention to whatever solutions they come up with.? cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '