Vorstellung » published earlier this month, C

Allan Borders 1989 Ashes tour was my first major assignment as a journalist. On the first day of the fifth Test at Trent Bridge, as Mark Taylor and Geoff Marsh were batting out the whole day on the way to an opening stand of 329, a colleague and I, with our deadlines passed, decided to have a well-earned pint. As we chatted in the Members pavilion, I looked up at the row of old bats screwed onto the panelling above the bar. There, in the centre, was a dark brown one with a metal plaque under it which said it was Victor Trumpers bat from his legendary 1902 tour to England.On that tour Trumper made 11 first-class centuries, one of them in a session in the Old Trafford Test. Admittedly the rest were made against the counties but, as ever with Trumper, it was the style of those innings that became part of the legend. Trumper entertained the English crowds and, as he always did, he won their hearts. He scored quickly and with great flair, prompting Wisden Cricketers Almanack to describe him as the best batsman in the world.Id always been intrigued by the legend of the tall, dashing batsman who played with carefree grace. In the history books I read as a boy that he was described as Australias greatest batsman before Don Bradman. But it was legend of the man himself that made him special. Bradmans legend was based on unbelievably phenomenal statistics. He was the run machine par excellence. Trumper was the artist, the genius who cared more for his team-mates and his fans than for his place in the record books. Trumpers status could easily be missed by a look through the statistics, but to read a biography was, and still is, to be entranced by a man as charming off the field as he was on it.Trumper was generous to a fault, casual in his dress, kind to children, and greatly loved by opponents and team-mates. Truly, a romantic figure. Trumper ran a sports store in Sydney but was no great success as a businessman. He was not hard enough, giving free equipment or discounts to people short of funds. During his career, there was a stand at the Sydney Cricket Ground called the Penny Stand - because it cost a penny to get in. Legend has it that Trumper would always arrive early enough, and with pockets full of enough loose change, to walk over to the side of the ground opposite the dressing rooms to hand out pennies to poor boys hoping to get in. They came to expect Vic to give them a day at the famous ground to see their heroes in action.Steve Waughs love of his battered old baggy green cap was inspired by Trumpers attitude to his Australian skull cap. He cherished it and never wanted a new one. To him, the first was so precious that a replacement would not do. He was also celebrated for his casual approach to his playing clothes. Not for him the adage that if you cant be a cricketer you should at least look like one. After a days play Trumper would roll up his cream trousers and drop them in his kitbag. The next morning he would simply unfurl them, put them on and head out for the days play. He was obviously interested in substance rather than appearance, and I loved him for it. One of the reasons Trumpers Test average ended below 40 was that he never sought easy runs. If the weather was fine and the pitch flat he usually threw his wicket away to give his team-mates a chance to make runs. But when the pitch was wet and treacherous, Trumper, as the senior batsman, would take full responsibility. This was not merely a whim. It is said that at New South Wales practice sessions he would slip the groundsman a shilling or two to prepare one wet wicket at the far end of the table. After a net on a good pitch, he would go up to the end and practise on a sticky. I remember going to the same nets for a state squad practice session and looking up to the far end and wondering if that was the strip the great Trumper used for his wet-weather practice.Years earlier I was a teenager playing lower grades in Sydney club cricket. One day we played at Redfern Oval, a summer dustbowl of a ground ravaged by a winter of rugby league. Before play, as we inspected the unwelcoming pitch, a team-mate pointed out to me a window on the second storey of a building across the road, behind the sightscreen. He said it was the window Trumper broke with a straight drive about 60 years before. It was a big, big hit. The window had been left broken for years, in tribute to the great batsman. It had been repaired by the time I saw it. I think the building is sill there but the state government has major plans to develop the area and who knows what fate awaits it.I once saw some action footage of Trumper batting. Hes wearing a large white hat, looks tall and elegant - more the shape of Rahul Dravid than Sachin Tendulkar. Hes facing a fast bowler and late-cuts him with aplomb, a classy, clever shot and exactly what youd expect from a batsman said to have had three shots for every ball. The only other footage Ive seen of Trumper is that of his funeral at Waverley cemetery in the eastern suburb of Sydney in 1915. Like so many romantic heroes, Trumper died young, at 37, after a few years of sad, public decline. It was a heros funeral, the horse-drawn hearse followed by dignitaries and the parade watched by thousands of the fans who loved their Vic more than any other player.If the mature Bradman stands for the ruthless pursuit of success that typifies modern Australian cricket, Trumper stands for the spirit of an earlier age, for a more carefree approach that put style and entertainment above results.And yes, my colleague and I had a ritual pint under that bat every afternoon of that Test back in 1989. Air Force 1 Dame Norge . LeBron James and Chris Bosh didnt need any more. Williams scored 11 points in 10 minutes, Alan Anderson scored 17 points, and the Brooklyn Nets finished the exhibition season with a 108-87 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night. Air Force 1 Just Do It Norge . General manager Jarmo Kekalainen told Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch on Friday that he wants to see Gaboriks contributions go beyond the scoresheet before considering a long-term deal for the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent. http://www.airforce1norge.com/nike-sf-air-force-1.html . Ferrer, trying to win his fourth title on Mexican soil, will next play South Africas Kevin Anderson, who eliminated American Sam Querrey,7-6 (2), 6-4. Also Wednesday, Gilles Simon (6) of France beat Donald Young of the United States 6-4, 6-3, Ukraines Alexandr Dolgopolov downed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 and Croatias Ivo Karlovic defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (4), 6-2. Air Force 1 Norge . -- Yogi Ferrell orchestrates pretty much everything in Indianas offence. Nike Juvenate Norge .J. Jefferson has been charged with assaulting his girlfriend. Oklahoma State basketball player Tyrek Coger died after a 40-minute team workout on the football stadium stairs in hot weather, university officials said Friday.The Raleigh, North Carolina, native was 21 years old. No cause of death was cited.Oklahoma State basketball coach Brad Underwood broke down in tears at a Friday news conference as he remembered Coger. Underwood said he was in Las Vegas on a recruiting trip when he learned of Cogers death Thursday.This is the hardest couple of days Ive ever experienced in my coaching life. You say goodbye to players when they graduate and thats one thing, Underwood said, pausing to wipe away tears with a towel. Making that phone call to a mother is -- theres no words.niversity spokesman Gary Shutt said the team held a 40-minute workout at Boone Pickens Stadium on the stadium stairs. Shutt said Coger did not appear to be struggling, but sat down after and the team went to check on him and noticed there were issues. Shutt said 911 was called and paramedics arrived at 5:08 p.m.?Coger was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead at 6:23 p.m.The Stillwater News Press reports that the temperature was 99 degrees with a heat index of 105 degrees at 5 p.m. Thursday.?Coger moved to Stillwater earlier this month after transferring from Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington, North Carolina, where he averaged 12.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game last season.The 6-foot-9, 240-pound power forward initially signed with Ole Miss in November but was ruled ineligible due to an SEC rule that bars junior college transfers from competing unless they have played three consecutive semesters at the same school. Coger then chose Underwood and the Cowboys.Tyrek was excited to be at Oklahoma State and had such passion for the game and was looking forward to being an OSU Cowboy, Underwood said in the statement Thursday. Losing a member of the team is like losing a member of the family. But we know our loss pales in comparison to the pain his family is going through.Last month, Coger told the Tulsa World he was excited about joining Underwoods program and playing with standout point guard Jawun Evans this season.They look for me as a threat to come in with me and Jawun being a good pick-and-roll [combination], Coger told the newspaper.ddddddddddddOSU athletic director Mike Holder says the team will thoroughly examine its practices following Cogers death. The NCAAs Sports Medicine Handbook does not provide specific guidelines for when teams should avoid practicing in extreme temperatures.The handbook says heatstroke is the third-leading cause of sudden death in athletes, and that athletes should be gradually introduced to activity in warm temperatures over a minimum period of 10 to 14 days. Coger had been in Oklahoma since July 5, the school said.The NCAA handbook also provides a list of signs and symptoms of heat injury, notes that heatstroke is most likely to occur at the start of preseason practices and says that some athletes with certain health conditions or athletes who are not adequately in shape can be more susceptible to heatstroke. It was not clear whether that was the case with Coger.In an interview with the Stillwater News Press published earlier this month, Coger spoke of frequent headaches that plagued him during his high school days. He said he underwent surgery several years ago to drain fluid from around his brain.At the moment, Im thinking, Basketball is over, he told the newspaper, recalling his feelings at the time of the surgery. I gotta think beyond basketball now.Cogers death is the not the first tragedy suffered by the Oklahoma State athletic department.A 25-year-old woman was charged with four counts of second-degree murder after she plowed into a crowd of people during the schools homecoming parade in October. Four people died.In 2011, womens basketball coach Kurt Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna were killed, along with two others, when their plane crashed during a recruiting trip in Arkansas.In 2001, 10 people were killed -- two mens basketball players, six staffers and two pilots -- when their plane crashed during a snowstorm as they traveled to Stillwater following a road game in Colorado.Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. ' ' '