
I Dig Sports
Kaymer remains ‘member in good standing’ despite missing 15-start requirement
Published in
Golf
Wednesday, 14 August 2019 09:53

MEDINAH, Ill. – Former world No. 1 Martin Kaymer will be allowed to retain conditional PGA Tour membership for the 2019-20 season despite falling short of the Tour’s requirement that a player make at least 15 starts in a season.
Kaymer has won two majors and The Players, but his five-year exemption for winning the 2014 U.S. Open expired when he missed the cut at the Wyndham Championship earlier this month. The German teed it up only 14 times on Tour this season and finished No. 150 on the points list, a position that would normally merit conditional membership that goes to Nos. 126-150 on the final standings. But because he came up one start short, his case went to the Tour’s competitions committee and ultimately the office of commissioner Jay Monahan.
At issue was The Open at Royal Portrush, where Kaymer was first alternate to begin tournament week but never got into the field. According to a Tour official, Kaymer was planning to play the Barbasol Championship in Kentucky that week but instead flew to Northern Ireland in hopes of a tee time that never materialized.
Had he played the Barbasol, Kaymer would have met the 15-event threshold and avoided any membership snafu. The Tour ultimately sided with Kaymer, noting the unique logistical issues surrounding travel to and from The Open, and now considers him a “member in good standing” for next season despite missing the 15-start mark.
Kaymer’s conditional status would rank just below the graduates from the upcoming Korn Ferry Finals and usually nets players in the range of 15-18 starts in a season.
This is the second time that Kaymer, 34, has run afoul of the Tour’s 15-start obligation. He made only 12 starts during the 2015-16 season and was forced to sit out the following season as a non-member, but his five-year exemption from Pinehurst allowed him to automatically return to fully-exempt status in 2017. He had no such luxury this time and was potentially facing an uphill climb to regain status for 2020-21.
Kaymer is not in the field this week at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, the first of three Finals events. But according to the Tour he is eligible for Finals and could theoretically add his name to upcoming stops in Boise and Evansville, Ind., where he could vie for one of 25 PGA Tour cards being offered to top earners across the three-event series.
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Poulter hoping return to Medinah can spark first trip to East Lake
Published in
Golf
Wednesday, 14 August 2019 10:20

MEDINAH, Ill. – Ian Poulter has never been to the Tour Championship, but he’s hoping that a return to the site of one of his career highlights will be just what he needs to punch his first ticket to East Lake.
It was seven years ago at Medinah Country Club that Poulter put the 2012 European Ryder Cup team on his back, sparking a Saturday night surge that led to an improbable comeback the following day. The Englishman was reminded of his steely gaze and fiery antics immediately upon returning for this week’s BMW Championship.
“It was quite nice yesterday when I pulled up and sat down to register and looked behind the desk that I was signing and obviously there’s that shrine of memorabilia there from all the events that have been at Medinah in the past,” Poulter said. “Just walking in the locker room, remembering the sing-song, the chants, the hug with Ollie, where my locker was. The memories start flooding back on what was an incredible week.”
Poulter’s relationship with the Tour’s postseason is more bittersweet than his memories of those 2012 matches. Ten years ago he left nearby Cog Hill in essentially a tie for 30th, failing to advance to the 30-man season finale by a fraction of a point. He hasn’t gotten any closer since, narrowly retaining his Tour status in recent years before breaking through for a victory at last year’s Houston Open.
Poulter enters this week 43rd on the points list, thanks in part to six top-10 finishes - including a T-10 result last week at The Northern Trust. He’ll need another top-10 finish to have a chance to advance to Atlanta according to Tour projections, but he remains optimistic that there’s still a bit of Medinah magic coming his way.
“I know I haven’t made it, and I know I’d like to get there because apparently the course is one that should suit my game,” Poulter said. “So I’m (No.) 43, I’m in the same position I probably was at Cog Hill where I need to do some work to make it there, and this is hopefully a good venue for me to obviously make my first appearance at East Lake if I play well enough.”
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Mickelson roasts Donald on Twitter over slow-play solution
Published in
Golf
Wednesday, 14 August 2019 11:20

As the debate over how to fix slow play rages on in golf circles and the PGA Tour’s Player Advisory Council, some of the biggest names in the sport are taking to Twitter to voice their opinion.
But as Luke Donald found out Wednesday, with Twitter comes Twitter trolls, including the one and only Phil Mickelson.
Earlier this week, Mickelson strongly defended the use of green reading books in relation to slow play, saying, "For anyone to say they slow up play is flat out idiotic."
Donald commented on Twitter, making the case that banning the books would speed up play. Unfortunately, he led off with, "Guess I'm an idiot then."
He should have known better. Sometimes Phil just can't help himself.
"We agree on one thing at least," he shot back.
There's valid arguments on both sides of this debate, however, there seems to be a clear winner in this round.
And in case you were wondering, Mickelson enjoyed his comment just about as much as all of his followers.
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Medalist Wu upset by last man in U.S. Amateur field
Published in
Golf
Wednesday, 14 August 2019 13:17

PINEHURST, N.C. – After prevailing in a 27-for-3 playoff Wednesday morning at the U.S. Amateur, Austin Squires’ path didn’t get any easier.
His first opponent was the stroke-play medalist.
“I was ecstatic to make it out of the playoff – very happy for that,” he said. “But I just wanted to stay as present as possible.”
After all, Squires knew he had a difficult assignment, squaring off against Brandon Wu, who in the past three months has helped Stanford win an NCAA title, tied for 35th at the U.S. Open and qualified for the Open Championship. “He’s so good,” Squires said, “and coming off an incredible summer.”
In his last summer as an amateur, the Cincinnati product hasn’t been nearly as successful – he missed his last two cuts entering the Amateur – but he found his swing during the practice rounds. When he awoke Wednesday morning, Squires still had no idea whether his 5-over 145 was enough for a playoff, but it turned into a three-hour, four-hole ordeal, his three pars and one birdie securing the 64th and final spot.
Squires had little time to regroup, but he never trailed against Wu, taking the lead for good with a birdie on the par-5 10th. Even after Wu’s dart into 17 cut the deficit to 1 up heading to the last, Squires never faltered. He calmly found the fairway and green, setting up a conceded birdie and 2-up victory.
“Huge confidence boost beating Brandon Wu,” he said.
With Wu’s early exit, the stroke-play medalist at the U.S. Amateur has not gone on to win the title since Ryan Moore in 2004.
Squires, meanwhile, will face Stefano Mazzoli of Italy in the Round of 32.
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Klopp hails big 'personality' Adrian after Cup win
Published in
Soccer
Wednesday, 14 August 2019 19:16

Jurgen Klopp saluted the "incredible performance" of Adrian despite a lack of preparation time as the goalkeeper's shootout heroics won Liverpool the UEFA Super Cup against Chelsea in Istanbul.
The Spaniard denied Tammy Abraham in the shootout with a trailing leg in the 5-4 victory on penalties at Vodafone Park, with the match level at 2-2 after extra time.
A few weeks ago, Adrian was training with semi-professional side UD Pilas in his country's sixth tier to keep in shape following his release by West Ham United.
He was on the verge of joining Real Valladolid before Liverpool made him an offer to deputise for Alisson as Simon Mignolet joined Club Brugge.
- Chelsea Ratings: Kante gets 8/10, Pulisic 7/10 in cup loss
- Liverpool Ratings: Mane decisive as Reds lift Super Cup
The European champions expected the 32-year-old to have an extended adjustment period following his signing on Aug. 5, but those plans were derailed on the opening day of the Premier League season when Alisson limped off with a calf injury in a win over Norwich.
Klopp saluted the player's big "personality" as a factor in why he has settled so quickly and performed so admirably for Liverpool despite his competitive inactivity.
"He played an incredible game, he had sensational saves," the manager said. "Both goalies had that, but maybe from Adrian it's a bit more surprising because it was without pretty much any preparation. I don't know when he played the last game for West Ham, to be honest, so it's a while ago. Being ready like he was ready tonight is incredible.
"He's not only on the pitch a great person, he showed me already that he's a proper personality in the dressing room as well. He was maybe louder than I was at half-time. I was not loud because I wanted to give some information, but he was really on his toes and that was good. It's important and it helps us. He deserves that.
"Of course in penalty shootouts it's always lucky, but his performance over the 120 minutes was incredible. Making the save for the penalty is the icing on the cake and is wonderful. I saw now one time that he could really grab his towel before he started celebrating. That's special as well, so he's obviously quick in mind and knows what he wants to do. He helped us a lot and he can be really proud of what he did tonight."
Adrian, who last started a game in January while at West Ham, was adjudged to have impeded Abraham in the box during extra time by referee Stephanie Frappart, with Jorginho converting the penalty to take the contest to a shootout.
Klopp did not agree with the decision, but applauded the officiating of the Frenchwoman and her assistants Manuela Nicolosi and Michelle O'Neill after Frappart became the first female ref to take charge of a major UEFA men's competition on Wednesday.
"I told the refereeing team after the game that if we would have played like they whistled, we would have won 6-0," Klopp said. "That was my absolute opinion.
"They reffed a brilliant game. I told her as well that I am not happy with the penalty decision because I'm still not sure that it was a penalty, but it's not important anymore. They were really good.
"Whatever you could have thought before the game, there was pressure on them like hell with an historic moment. Staying calm and do what you have to do, decide very important things in a very difficult and intense game -- I couldn't have more respect, to be honest. It was really a brilliant performance."
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Chelsea 'on another level' vs. Liverpool - Lampard
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Soccer
Wednesday, 14 August 2019 18:26

Chelsea suffered a penalty shootout defeat to Liverpool in Wednesday's UEFA Super Cup but manager Frank Lampard praised his team's performance in a game which ended 2-2 after extra time.
Lampard's team had suffered a 4-0 defeat at Manchester United on Sunday in Lampard's competitive debut on the bench after taking over from Maurizio Sarri in July, but the former England midfielder said his players had responded in the right way.
- Chelsea Ratings: Kante gets 8/10, Pulisic 7/10 in cup loss
- Liverpool Ratings: Mane decisive as Reds lift Super Cup
"After Sunday, tonight was another level, and we were unlucky not to win. We've got three games now till the international break and we'll try to win them all," said Lampard, whose team host Leicester City in the Premier League on Sunday. "Chelsea's season will be a good one if we play something like we played today.
"I've got nothing but pride in the team and the performance, and confidence in what that means. It was a tough game against a good Liverpool team that [played on Friday and] had extra time to recover after the weekend. But sometimes football comes down to little moments of luck."
Lampard was quick to praise the contributions of two of his younger players, who have returned to the club after loan spells in the second-tier Championship, given the transfer ban which stops Chelsea from bringing in new players.
"Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham added an extra dimension when they came on, and were unlucky not to score. Tammy needs to keep his head up because that's part and parcel of being a top player," he said after the striker missed the decisive final penalty.
But while much focus has been on Chelsea's youthful contingent, Lampard said there had been strong performances across the field.
"People keep talking about the young players at Chelsea. Let's talk about Jorginho and [N'Golo] Kante, and I could name a few others. We've got a quality bunch in there, a really good group, and we're working hard," he said.
"I'm trying to instil the way I want to play and there were so many good things tonight.
"Kante is an amazing player, amazing character. He's a machine on the football field. He hasn't trained much, had a swollen ankle two days ago, but he was desperate to play and you saw what he gave to the team today. He will be hugely important. I am delighted to work with him."
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The United State Soccer Federation and members of the women's national team reached an impasse Wednesday in their attempts to mediate the ongoing dispute over equal pay, with a spokesperson for the players saying they "eagerly look forward to a jury trial."
Spokesperson Molly Levinson released the statement on behalf of the U.S. players after mediation ended Wednesday evening.
"We entered this week's mediation with representatives of USSF full of hope," Levinson said in the statement. "Today we must conclude these meetings sorely disappointed in the Federation's determination to perpetuate fundamentally discriminatory workplace conditions and behavior.
"It is clear that USSF, including its Board of Directors and President Carlos Cordeiro, fully intend to continue to compensate women players less than men. They will not succeed. We want all of our fans, sponsors, peers around the world, and women everywhere to know we are undaunted and will eagerly look forward to a jury trial."
U.S. Soccer said in a statement: "We have said numerous times that our goal is to find a resolution, and during mediation we had hoped we would be able to address the issues in a respectful manner and reach an agreement. Unfortunately, instead of allowing mediation to proceed in a considerate manner, plaintiffs' counsel took an aggressive and ultimately unproductive approach that follows months of presenting misleading information to the public in an effort to perpetuate confusion.
"We always know there is more we can do. We value our players and have continually shown that, by providing them with compensation and support that exceeds any other women's team in the world. Despite inflammatory statements from their spokesperson, which are intended to paint our actions inaccurately and unfairly, we are undaunted in our efforts to continue discussions in good faith."
Although equal pay has been a point of contention between the federation and the players for years, with five prominent players filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2016, the current dispute began when 28 members of the national team player pool filed suit this past March alleging gender discrimination.
The two sides subsequently agreed to enter mediation after the Women's World Cup.
Cordeiro released a public letter on July 29 that attempted to make the case that U.S. Soccer had paid members of the women's national team more than their male counterparts over the span of nearly a decade. Representatives of the players argued that the numbers unfairly counted the salaries that women players receive for playing in the National Women's Soccer League.
Asked about Cordeiro's letter before the opening game of the current Victory Tour, Megan Rapinoe said it caught her by surprise because it was her understanding that the two sides wouldn't speak publicly about the matter while mediation was ongoing.
No new mediation is currently scheduled.
"The world looks to the U.S. to lead," Levinson said. "And the players would like to tell the world that the USSF pays women equally to men. The goal is equal pay."
When asked if Wednesday's statement precluded any attempts at further mediation, Levinson pointed to a letter to U.S. Soccer officials dated Aug. 12 and signed by all 28 players involved in the suit that seems to leave open the possibility of resolution out of court.
"For both parties, the risk of not resolving our disagreements over equal treatment that were not addressed either in bargaining or through the EEOC is too high," the letter from the players stated. "U.S. Soccer's reputation, sponsor relations, fan support and federal funding for the 2026 World Cup tournament are all at risk, and that risk continues should we not reach resolution. We have demonstrated that we can perform at high levels on the field even while pursuing equality off the field, but it is certainly not what we want to continue to go through with a new coach and the upcoming Olympic Games if a resolution is possible.
"While we are prepared to take our equal pay fight through a trial if necessary, we believe that both sides would benefit from an equal pay and equal working conditions settlement now."
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Major League Soccer will award an expansion franchise to St. Louis, a source close to the prospective ownership group has confirmed to ESPN. The deal is expected to be announced as soon as next Tuesday.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch was first to report that St. Louis will be MLS's 28th team.
The ownership group, MLS4TheLou, declined to directly comment on the reports, issuing the following statement: "Major League Soccer is responsible for the timing of any announcements around League expansion, but we remain confident St. Louis has made a strong case for a team."
MLS didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
- Stream games LIVE on ESPN+
- Inter Miami FC: How the franchise is shaping up
The move by MLS has been expected ever since April, when commissioner Don Garber said that St. Louis was among the cities with which it was in exclusive negotiations to acquire an expansion team. That momentum accelerated through the summer, culminating in a presentation at the MLS Board of Governors meeting two weeks ago.
It was at that meeting that the St. Louis ownership group, led by Carolyn Kindle Betz, president of Enterprise Holdings Foundation, and Jim Kavanaugh, CEO of World Wide Technology, presented a plan that included a downtown stadium that would be financed primarily with private funds, as well as a majority female ownership group.
"We are in very advanced discussions in St. Louis, and we really appreciated the details that they provided," Garber said at the time. "We look forward to continuing those discussions in the weeks and months ahead."
The stadium funding issue was a critical hurdle to overcome. A previous attempt to bring MLS to St. Louis in 2017 died when a referendum that would have provided $60 million in public money towards a venue was rejected by voters.
But MLS has long desired to have a team in St. Louis, given the sport's long history in the Gateway City. Five of the 11 players that defeated England at the 1950 World Cup were from St. Louis, and the city has produced 29 players and coaches who have been inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
Now that dream looks to have come to fruition, with the team likely to begin play in 2022.
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Super Cup the first of many hurdles in Liverpool's quest to eclipse last season
Published in
Soccer
Wednesday, 14 August 2019 17:13

ISTANBUL -- It was 17 minutes before 1 a.m. when goalkeeper Adrian saved Tammy Abraham's penalty to win the UEFA Super Cup for Liverpool. It was half an hour later by the time captain Jordan Henderson and his teammates had paraded the club's second European trophy in the space of three months around the pitch.
This was football's version of "A Hard Day's Night" for both Liverpool and runners-up Chelsea.
Winning is an intoxicating feeling for any competitor, and the sight of manager Jurgen Klopp and his players sprinting across the turf at Vodafone Park following Adrian's save highlighted just how much victory meant to Liverpool. They appeared as ecstatic in Istanbul as they did in Madrid after beating Tottenham to win the Champions League in June.
But it is only when the dust settles on this 5-4 penalty shootout win against Europa League winners Chelsea, following a 2-2 draw after 90 minutes and extra-time failed to separate the two English rivals, that Liverpool will discover the true cost of this success.
- Chelsea Ratings: Kante gets 8/10, Pulisic 7/10 in cup loss
- Liverpool Ratings: Mane decisive as Reds lift Super Cup
However their season pans out from this point on, the 120 minutes plus penalties in Turkey, when they started on a Wednesday and finished on Thursday, might just prove to be their season in microcosm. It is going to be a tough, long and demanding slog all the way to the finish line. If Liverpool are to build on their Champions League win and end a 30-year wait for the English title in May, they are facing an even greater test of their resolve and fitness than last season, when they came so close to wrestling the Premier League trophy from Manchester City's grasp.
For a start, they must somehow recover their physical and mental freshness in time for Saturday's 3 p.m. local trip to Southampton, after a four-hour return flight to England on Thursday afternoon. Chelsea, who restored pride and showed promise after Sunday's 4-0 defeat at Manchester United, do not play until Sunday, and they also have the benefit of being at home against Leicester rather than travelling again, as Liverpool must do.
The merits of playing the Super Cup in mid-August, just days after the start of the Premier League season, and then forcing the two teams to endure 30 minutes of extra-time before penalties is perhaps a debate for another day, when the wisdom, or otherwise, of playing for two hours is properly scrutinised. Klopp, certainly, was bemused by the decision to play extra-time rather than go straight to penalties at the end of 90 minutes.
"I don't think anyone in the stadium wanted to see twice 15 minutes," Klopp said. "It was really a killer, but that's how it is. Nobody wanted extra-time.
"We play on Saturday and we have to find a way to be ready. At 90 minutes, [Chelsea manager] Frank Lampard asked where and when we play next. I told him Southampton on Saturday, and he laughed and said, 'Congratulations.'"
Yet having won the Champions League last season, this was a taste of what Liverpool must get used to this time around.
They did not have it easy last season by any means, but Liverpool played just 52 competitive games in all competitions last term. They were knocked out of the Carabao Cup after just one game, losing to Chelsea in round three, while Wolves dumped them out of the FA Cup in the third round in January.
Already this season, Liverpool have played, and lost, the Community Shield against City, with this game against Chelsea another fixture they did not have to contend with last season. Winning the Champions League ensures that Liverpool will compete in the FIFA Club World Cup in December, which will involve two games, not to mention the eight-hour flight to Qatar and back.
City played 61 games on their way to a domestic treble last season, and Liverpool must realistically plan to play at least 60 this term, unless they suffer similarly tough draws in the entry rounds of the domestic cup competitions as they landed last year. It is difficult to envisage City giving them any encouragement by making things easier for Liverpool this season, so Klopp and his players might just have to get used to their energy being tested as much as it was in Istanbul, when the likes of Fabinho and Joe Gomez ended the game having treatment for cramp.
Klopp also must find a way to manage the fitness and contribution of key players such as Virgil van Dijk, Georginio Wijnaldum, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino, who were all involved in international tournaments for their national teams this summer. Twelve months ago, the Liverpool squad started the season after a much lighter World Cup workload than their rivals, but this year, the boot is on the other foot.
But if winning the Super Cup proved to be a greater drain on their resources than Klopp would have wished, Liverpool still emerged victorious, and that is the major positive that the manager will take from this game. His players have proved their ability and desire to go the extra mile once again, but it won't be the last time they are asked to do so this season.
"It was a big fight tonight," Klopp said. "I didn't know how good it will feel if we won it, but it was outstanding. It was brilliant."
It might only be August, but Liverpool already know they must prepare themselves for a marathon.
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Josh Hazlewood's economy leaves Mitchell Starc on the periphery for Lord's
Published in
Cricket
Wednesday, 14 August 2019 11:50

Those who witnessed Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc in tandem at Worcester got confirmation - if no actual match play evidence - that the former fast man is better suited to Australia's Ashes plan than the latter as the right armer was included in the team for the Lord's Test in place of the rested James Pattinson.
Starc's expensive first spell in the tour game, bowling four overs at a cost of 27 albeit with one wicket, provided a reminder of the regular boundary release balls he is always in danger of bowling in England, while Hazlewood's far more economical effort (4-2-2-2) in the same passage of play late on day one offered all the evidence the tour selectors required to choose him once it became clear that Pattinson still had some residual stiffness from his Edgbaston efforts.
"He's got an outstanding record. He's built up over the past few months," Langer said of Hazlewood. "He missed out on the World Cup because we felt he hadn't played much cricket. We know he's an outstanding bowler, we know that the style of play against England that his best he should execute those plans really well. He has bowled well the last couple of weeks and we hope he does a good job this Test match.
"Just the style of play we want to play here against England, he hits a great length, he's usually pretty miserly with his economy rate, that's what gave him the edge in this game. Don't get me wrong, it was a hard decision. If it comes off we know what we are doing, if it doesn't we don't, that's just the business we are in. It was a tough call."
Less demanding was the discussion with Pattinson that led to his resting, after prior history indicating that asking the 29-year-old to play two Tests in a row can often have highly damaging consequences.Tellingly, Langer indicated that Pattinson needed some assuaging of his own doubts about how he had been managed in the past.
"We collaborated on that one," Langer said. "And I think it's been important for him in his return to cricket, I think in the past he's felt a bit that he had to play and had to play and had to push and had to push and in those instances he usually broke at some point. It was really good collaboration between the two of us, that was our deal in Hampshire when we talked about what his progress would be at Notts and we have had really good communication with Notts as well so yeah he's fine.
"We talked about it. He was a little bit stiff after bowling on Monday morning. We knew he would only bowl one of the two back to back games, and whilst he's had eight or nine days, we knew he couldn't play back to back Test matches. We just felt that having pulled up a little stiff after bowling and we thought it would be common sense to keep getting himself hungry and prepared for the third Test."
ALSO READ: Langer lauds fast-bowling depth but warns against complacency
The Pattinson example may be part of a wider evolution of fast bowler management in Australia, coinciding as it does with the appointment of two new Cricket Australia team performance chiefs in Ben Oliver (national teams) and Drew Ginn (high performance). Their predecessor Pat Howard helped advance the conversation on how to manage fast bowlers in the face of plenty of criticism, and a deep Ashes squad of six pacemen capable of being rotated according to fitness and match conditions is part of his legacy.
"It's the first time in however long I've been coaching that we've actually had the luxury of having six high class fast bowlers fit up and running," Langer said. "We're lucky to have the situation to be able to do that but it doesn't happen very often. That's the truth, and maybe that's why a number of bowlers break down over time, because you've got to keep pushing and pushing and pushing, particularly in series, particularly with the schedules as they are now.
"We've got five Test matches in six weeks, plus a couple of county games in between, so if you have got guys fit you're not constantly pushing them, which ultimately leads to breaking them and with the unnatural action of a bowler, if you keep doing the same thing over and over, history will tell you that's what happens. So if we're lucky enough to have guys we can keep bringing in and out and firing, that's a real luxury to have."
As for the first day one of an Ashes Test to be abandoned without a ball bowled since the 1998 Boxing Day Test at the MCG, and the first at Lord's since 1997, Langer said the awkwardness of a possible toss of the coin at 3pm had raised some intriguing conversation.
"We had a joke there for a moment, if the captain tosses the coin and he wins the toss can he ask the opposition to make the choice," Langer said. "I think we decided you can't do that. A couple of the umpires weren't sure, but they checked for us, but you have to make a decisions. It is going to be a tough call. Today would have been tough, we knew there was a bit of rain around, some overhead conditions, the grass is wet and knowing the Dukes ball gets a bit soft when it gets a bit wet. Lucky Tim didn't have to make the decision. We'll see how it pulls up but it looks like a pretty good cricket wicket. Quite dry through underneath.
"At this stage we'll only lose two hours in the Test match so it won't affect too much. Depending on weather, which we can't control, we'll still, there's plenty of time. Two hours in the Test match isn't much in the overall, in the bigger picture of it. There'll be longer sessions we're going to have to deal with but our guys have said all along we have to keep adapting and be ready with whatever the conditions or the situation of the game throws up at us."
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