Profile: Andrew Simons

No player in Australia generates the amount of excitement that Andrew Symonds does when he walks out to bat. In fact, he can't even walk down the street without attracting a crowd, at least in the cricket world.

He rocketed to cult hero status in the one-day form of the game, but 2007-08 was a watershed year as he built on the substantial progress made in late 2006-07 to virtually doubled his Test batting average from 20-40.

With Australian having a rare winter without Test cricket, it did not slow the momentum that Symonds had generated in the final two Tests of the 06-07 Ashes series.

He played his first Test on his home ground at the Gabba against Sri Lanka in November 2007 and caressed a stylish 53 not out off 61 balls in Australia's only innings. He chimed in with 1-10 and 1-21 with limited overs at the bowling crease.

He followed that up with an unbeaten 50 off 71 balls in the second Test in Hobart, but was not required to bowl after injuring himself running between the wickets.

Symonds was fine for the Boxing Day Test against arch rivals India and made a fluent 35, before exploding in Sydney. With Australia in trouble at 6-134, he pummeled 162 not out to help the side to 463.

He courted controversy, however, by admitting in the press conference after the second day of the match that he had edged a catch behind when on 30, the umpire turning down the appeal.

Symonds went on to take three valuable wickets on the final day to finish with 3-51 as Australia conjured victory in the shadows of stumps to take an unbeatable 2-1 series lead.

With the Australian players' antics questioned by many of their own supporters, Symonds was more subdued in Perth, but he still top scored in the first innings with 66.

Symonds finished the series tied in the aggregate on 418 runs with close mate Matthew Hayden, and chipped in with nine handy wickets.

He was not as destructive in the Commonwealth Bank one-day series, which was a relief to India after he slaughtered them on home soil in the seven-match series on the sub-continent in October 2007.

Symonds was dynamite, blasting 87, 89, 75 and 107no in consecutive innings to be the highest runscorer of the tournament.

However, he was again at the centre of controversy after some fiery early exchanges with Sreesanth. In the latter matches Indian crowds were accused of making insulting monkey gestures towards Symonds.

The controversy lingered all summer, with Symonds accusing Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh of calling him a monkey during the Sydney Test.

After Harbhajan was initially suspended by the match referee, he was allowed to play on appeal and was eventually virtually exonerated by a panel that sat after the final Test in Adelaide. The fallout, where the Australian team believed they received a serious lack of support from their own Board, saw a gulf open between the playing group and Cricket Australia management.

There was a gold-plated lining to the end of the 2007-08 season for Symonds, who was 'auctioned' to the Hyderabad-based Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League for a staggering $1.4million per season.

It came after a 2006-07 season where Symonds was able to make that final giant leap of faith and establish himself in the Test team.

It took several strokes of fortune for it all to even occur. Firstly, first choice Australian all-rounder and teammate Shane Watson broke down twice with hamstring problems in the lead-up and during the Ashes series, ultimately not being fit to play a game. Then middle order batsman Damien Martyn stunned the country by hurriedly retiring after the Second Test in Adelaide.

With some calling for NSW opener Phil Jaques to be included, and West Australian Adam Voges added to the national squad, Symonds narrowly earned the nod on the selectors' desire to continue to find a quality all-rounder.

Scores of 26 and two in the Perth Test were hardly worldbeaters, but Symonds did take 2-8 from four overs in an impressive short first innings spell. The selectors maintained the faith for the 2006-07 Boxing Day Test in Melbourne and were repaid in full.

With Australia languishing at 5-84 in their first innings, Symonds blasted 156 and compiled a gamebreaking 279-run partnership with Bulls teammate and friend Matthew Hayden. It was easily the biggest partnership at Test level by two Queenslanders.

Symonds batted with great composure throughout the innings, and his whoops of joy and leap into Hayden's arms after powering a towering six over the sightscreen to register his breakthrough century will long be remembered by all those who saw it.

While it was Shane Warne's' farewell 'home' Test, it was very much a welcome to the big time for Symonds.

He struck another composed 48 in the following Test in Sydney to show he has unlocked the door to playing the right game in the cauldron of the Test arena.

He continued to be a threat in the international one-day game and averaged 43.5 during the Australian summer ODI series against England and New Zealand, before tearing the bicep muscle from the bone on the eve of the finals in January 2007.

His loss certainly contributed to Australia's downfall in the finals against England, and he made a remarkable recovery to play in Australia's third game of the World Cup against South Africa in mid-March.

Symonds finished with 189 runs at 63 in the World Cup, with Australia going through their 11 matches unbeaten. He made 23 not out off 21 balls in the final against Sri Lanka as Australia made 4-281 in Bridgetown, and took 1-6 off two overs bowling in near dark.

As a teenager, Symonds was wildly gifted, but there were fears he would not enjoy fulfillment as there were too many shots and too many options. Carried by the buzz of boundaries, his demise would often come as he attempted to launch another ball into another suburb.

In the past five seasons he has usually chosen the right plan, and it has paid off spectacularly as his muscle has dominated the globe's best teams. Until 2003, Symonds had been in and out of the national one-day side in a similar manner as his State team-mates Michael Kasprowicz and Andy Bichel.

He had played 54 matches for two half-centuries, considered asking Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett for a shot at rugby league and, following a poor one-day tri-series, did not expect to win a place at the 2003 World Cup.

Again, an injury to Watson, who is still a friend and opponent for the national all-rounder's berth, and a hunch from Ricky Ponting allowed Symonds' passage to South Africa for a tournament that would change his life.

Arriving with Australia 4-86 in their first match against Pakistan, Symonds batted with Ponting, his supportive captain, to stabilise the innings and then battered at a rarely seen level as he toyed with Waqar, Wasim and Shoaib to blast his maiden one-day century. With 18 fours and two sixes, Symonds remained unbeaten on 143 from 125 balls, the highest score by an Australian at a World Cup at that point in time, and Australia reached 310 on the way to a comfortable victory.

He would play crucial roles throughout the tournament, including an unbeaten 91 in the semi-final against Sri Lanka, and was a central figure in the trophy-winning success. Since that final in Johannesburg, Symonds has been a first-choice limited-overs player and the only blemishes have come with a two-game suspension in England in 2005 and a nagging thigh injury in South Africa.

The 2005-06 summer was a huge one for Symonds as he thrashed three centuries his 156 v New Zealand boasted eight sixes; his 151 in the second VB Series Final came from 127 balls; and the unbeaten 103 added Bangladesh to his hit list.

Totaling 864 runs at 50.82 in 2005-06, he also gathered 21 wickets in 22 games. They are figures that show him as arguably the side's most important player, an assessment which comes without a calculation to gauge his fielding and catching.

In 2004-05, he was the Australian One-Day Player of the Year and would have repeated the win in 05-06 if he hadn't ruled himself ineligible for breaching team protocol in Cardiff during the England tour. He responded from the suspension with two Man-of-the-Match efforts in the next couple of contests, including career-best figures of 5-18 against Bangladesh.

Symonds announced himself to the international market during a stint at the English county Gloucestershire when he was 20. Playing against Glamorgan, he thrashed a world-record 16 sixes in his 254 at Abergavenny and added another four in the second innings to set another new mark for sixes in a match. The performance, coupled with the 108 he had taken off the Ashes tourists the previous summer for the Bulls at Toowoomba, began a push for Symonds, who was born in Birmingham, to play for England, but he wanted only to bat for Australia.

He won a one-day debut in Pakistan in 1998 and waited another six years for his first Test, which came as an all-rounder in Sri Lanka. Appearing in two matches without success, he was recalled in 05-06 as the national selectors looked at ways to mirror the brutal 2005 Ashes performances of Andrew Flintoff.

The best of his eight consecutive matches came at the MCG in December 2005 as he fought to prove he could star under the Baggy Green. Walking out with his spot under threat, he planted his first scoring shot for six and posted another four to earn a ground record for maximums on the way to 72 from 54 balls. Another bright half-century was raised in South Africa, where he also received a split lip from a mean Makhaya Ntini bouncer, but Symonds was cut from the Test outfit in Bangladesh.

International commitments restricted him to one Tour match, one Shield game and one Ford Ranger Cup match for the Bulls in 2007-08.

He scored a first ball duck and took 0-41 off eight overs against SA in the one-dayer at the Gabba in December, but made a solid contribution with 44 and 57 at the SCG in October 2007 against a Test strength NSW attack.

His figures for the Bulls in 2006-07 were not quite as impressive as 05-06, when he scored an equal Bulls career best 163 against South Australia and took four wickets, but he was just as effective.

Symonds' 3-18 and 2-96 against WA at the WACA were all key wickets that contributed heavily to the Bulls' first win of the summer, and his first innings 62 against Victoria on a difficult wicket helped rescue the Bulls from a seemingly impossible position.

He debuted for Queensland in the 1994-95 season, playing four Shield matches before heading to England and blasting almost 1500 runs in a County season.

After three seasons of inconsistency, his fourth Australian summer brought four centuries and 809 runs and the attention of the Australian selectors. It was his most bountiful summer for the Bulls, although he continued to score heavily in England during the Australian off-season..

Symonds has now scored 5528 runs from 94 first class matches for Queensland, with 14 centuries. He has also taken 113 wickets.

In 2004-05 he produced four half-centuries in six innings in the one-day domestic competition and averaged 84.7. His 31-ball half century against Tasmania is the second quickest for a Queenslander and his 33-delivery effort of 2001-02 comes in fourth. With 1830 runs in 78 matches, he is sixth on the Bulls table of one-day run-scorers.

Symonds also lives at a high-energy pace off the field and lists his favourite hobbies as hunting and fishing. His preferred reading is the magazine Bacon Busters. "The thrill of the chase got me hooked," he said in 2004. "I'd be living in the country, hunting and fishing all the time if it was not for cricket." Sometimes the two lifestyles cross over, like they did when he turned up for contract talks with the former Cricket Australia chief executive Malcolm Speed in a cowboy hat and bare feet.

On and off the field, Symonds is full of entertaining surprises.

He released an autobiography in association with Queensland Cricket media manager Stephen Gray in October 2006 and has turned into a bestseller, with three re-runs.

If he keeps going like he is, there will be plenty more cricket to write about in the sequel.

Profile: Stacey Porter

The right-handed slugger played college ball in the U.S. and made Olympic history in 2004.

Porter made her Olympic debut in Athens in 2004, hitting .250 (7-for-28) with two home runs and a team-leading six RBIs for the silver medal-winning Australian squad. She was also a member of the bronze medal-winning Australian team at the 2006 World Championship, hitting .364 (8-for-22) with team highs of eight runs and three home runs to go with five RBIs.

Porter, who played club field hockey while she was growing up, comes from an Aboriginal family. In 2004, she became the first indigenous Australian to play softball for the country at the Olympics.

Porter played three seasons at the University of Hawaii, where as a junior in 2003, she was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year and a First Team All-American. That year, she hit a WAC-leading .479, broke Hawaii single-season records in batting average (.479), doubles (18), home runs (17) and walks (38). She finished the season as the school's all-time leader in home runs, with 38.

Profile: Mark Sorenson

Mark was the captain of the New Zealand Men's Softball Team, the Black Sox, from 1989 until the beginning of 2001 and led his team to victory at the world championships in 1996 and 2000. He returned to the team in 2004 when they became the first team ever to win three consecutive Softball World Championships.
He was named Wellington Sportsman of the Year in 1989, 1997 and 2001 and three times NZ Softball player of the year. In 1997 he was named as Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
He has been selected 12 times to the “All World Team” by the International Softball Congress (this is a world record, no-one has ever played for this team for over 11 years) and selected six times consecutively to the “All American Team” at the USA Nationals and voted the tournament’s Most Valuable Player in 1990 and 1992.

The History of Baseball

While the exact origins of baseball are unknown, most historians agree that it is based on the English game of rounders. A game which began to become quite popular in this country in the early 19th century, and many sources report the growing popularity of a game called "townball", "base", or "baseball".
Throughout the early part of the 19th century, small towns formed teams, and baseball clubs were formed in larger cities. In 1845, Alexander Cartwright wanted to formalize a list of rules by which all teams could play. Much of that original code is still in place today. Although popular legend says that the game was invented by Abner Doubleday, baseball's true father was Cartwright.
Rules of the Game
The first recorded baseball contest took place a year later, in 1846. Cartwright and his Knickerbocker Base Ball Club of New York City lost to the New York Baseball Club in a game at the Elysian Fields, in Hoboken, New Jersey. These amateur games became more frequent and more popular. In 1857, a convention of amateur teams was called to discuss rules and other issues. Twenty five teams from the northeast sent delegates. The following year, they formed the National Association of Base Ball Players, the first organized baseball league. In its first year of operation, the league supported itself by occasionally charging fans for admission. The future looked very bright.
Baseball being played during the Civil War
The early 1860s, however were a time of great turmoil in the United States. In those years of the Civil War, the number of baseball clubs dropped dramatically. But interest in baseball was carried to other parts of the country by Union soldiers, and when the war ended there were more people playing baseball than ever before. The league’s annual convention in 1868 drew delegates from over 100 clubs. As the league grew, so did the expenses of playing. Charging admission to games started to become more common, and teams often had to seek out donations or sponsors to make trips. In order for teams to get the financial support they needed, winning became very important.
1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings
Although the league was supposed to be comprised of amateurs, many players were secretly paid. Some were given jobs by sponsors, and some were secretly paid a salary just for playing. In 1869, the Cincinnati Red Stockings decided to become a completely professional team. Brothers Harry and George Wright recruited the best players from around the country, and beat all comers. The Cincinnati team won sixty-five games and lost none. The idea of paid players quickly caught on. Some wanted baseball to remain an amateur endeavor, but there was no way they could compete with the professional teams. The amateur teams began to fade away as the best players became professionals. In 1871, the National Association became the first professional baseball league.

The History of Cricket

The game of cricket is the second most popular game in the world, second only to soccer. Cricket appears to have an eventful and colorful history, although the exact origins of the game are unknown. As far back as the 1300's, a mention of the game "creag" is found. However it is unclear whether this is the beginnings of modern-day cricket. The name "cricket" may have come from the word "cric". The word cric stood for the hooked staffs carried by Shepards. These may have been the first cricket bats. Cricket in its early days in England was considered a child's game, not to be played by serious adults.
In 1598 there was a written record of a game called "creckett" or "crickett". This may be the first recorded mention of the game that is played today. By 1611 cricket had become an adult game. Considered illegal and immoral, two men were arrested for playing the game rather than going to church. More and more arrests were made as the game grew in popularity.
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At the end of the English Civil War in 1648, the new government clamped down on recreational cricket that was played on Sundays. In these days cricket was played mostly by the working class and Sunday was their only opportunity to play. Interest in the sport
seemed to diminish. As the years progressed, cricket once again regained popularity as a betting game. In the year 1688 the Puritan government of England was gone and the Monarchy was in power again. Cricket was favored by the government and regained some respectability. There were still huge problems in the world of cricket however. Betting and rioting marred the game. Around the year 1784 a London magistrate deemed cricket to be "respectable" even though there were still problems with wagering.
Finally in the year 1788 the "Laws of Cricket" were born. The Laws were written by the Marylebone Cricket Club. Except for some minor revisions, these laws are still adhered to in present day cricket. One notable change was in 1864 when over arm bowling was first used legally. Cricket is the only sport today that has laws instead of rules. Gaining even more respectability in the late 1700s, cricket became the game of "gentlemen". The Laws of Cricket were used for play in England and the Eastern United States. These laws covered the length of the pitch, the distance from the pitching crease to the bowling crease, wicket size, and ball weight.
The cricket fields were leveled and manicured in the 1800's. Up until this time the fields were rough and bumpy. South Africa and Australia began to play cricket seriously during this time. In the year 1844 the first international game of cricket was played in the state of New York in the United States. This match was played between the United States and Canada. Later, in 1877, England traveled to Australia for the first international test match. The match was played in Melbourne Australia. The Australians won the match by 45 runs.
A few years later in 1882, Australia again beat England. It was a close match with Australia winning by 8 runs. This prompted an English writer to publish an obituary for English cricket. The obituary pronounced it "dead". It went on to say that the body would be cremated and that the ashes would be spread over Australia. The next summer England played another series against Australia. This was dubbed by the press as an English endeavor to "reclaim the ashes". A small trophy filled with ashes was made and given to the British Captain. To this day, all test matches between England and Australia are said to be played "for the ashes".
In the year 1900 cricket made its first and only appearance in the Olympics. The match was between France and Britain. Most of the French players came from the British Embassy in France, so mostly British players played the match. Britain won the match and the gold medal. Today there is a renewed interest in cricket becoming an Olympic game.
The ICC was formed in 1909. The Imperial Cricket Conference was formed to govern the laws of cricket. The ICC is known today as the International Cricket Conference. The founding countries of the ICC were England, South Africa, and Australia.
The years 1932 and 1933 saw the laws of cricket being tightened. English players were throwing short-pitched balls at the Australian batters in an attempt at intimidation. England won this series, but ill feelings still exist between Australian and English players because of this series.
In the 1960's some English teams began playing a shortened version of cricket that allowed a match to be completed in only one day. Up until this time the average cricket match could last up to five days. Some fans and players felt this shortened form of cricket to be an insult to the game, so it was not widely accepted by traditional cricket fans. The first one-day international match was played in Melbourne, Australia in 1971. This match prompted the ICC to organize the "Cricket World Cup" to be played every four years. These matches are strictly one-day matches.
In 1981 the ICC banned underarm bowling as a result of a match between New Zealand and Australia. Australian captain Greg Chappell ordered his brother Trevor to use the underarm bowling technique to stop New Zealand from winning a match. Greg's actions angered many in the cricketing community prompting the change.
Today cricket remains a well-loved sport. Some young men in Australia and England grow up hoping to one day "play for the ashes". It is a sport steeped in tradition and its fans are loyal. Although the history of cricket was rocky at times, it's a solid sport that will be around for years to come.

The History of Softball

History Of Softball

Softball was invented inside the Farragut Boat Club on a blustery, winter day in November, 1887, in Chicago, IL. A bunch of Yale and Harvard alumni anxiously awaited the results of the Harvard-Yale football game, and when the news came that Yale had defeated Harvard, 17-8, one Yale supporter, overcome with enthusiasm, picked up an old boxing glove and threw it at a nearby Harvard alumni, who promptly tried to hit it back with a stick. This gave George Hancock, a reporter for the Chicago Board of Trade, an idea. He suggested a game of indoor baseball. Naturally, Hancock's friends thought he was talking about playing a game outdoors, not indoors.
Hancock wasn't kidding, however. Using what was available, he tied together the laces of the boxing glove for a ball. Using a piece of chalk, Hancock marked off a home plate, bases and a pitcher's box inside the Farragut Boat Club gym, with the two groups divided into teams. The final score of the game was 41-40, but what was significant was that Hancock and his friends had invented a sport that would continue to grow in popularity to where today more than 40 million people enjoy playing it each summer, making softball the No. 1 team participant sport in the United States. Hancock's invention eventually caught on in Chicago with the Farragut team challenging other gyms to games. In the spring, Hancock took his game outdoors and played it on fields not large enough for baseball. It was called indoor-outdoor and Hancock emerged as the recognized authority in the 19th century.
Hancock appended 19 special rules to adapt the outdoor game to the indoor game, and the rules were officially adopted by the Mid Winter Indoor Baseball League of Chicago in 1889. Hancock's game gradually spread throughout the country and ultimately flourished in Minneapolis, thanks to the efforts and ingenuity of Lewis Rober, a Minneapolis Fire Department lieutenant, who wanted a game to keep his firemen fit during their idle time. Using a vacant lot adjacent to the firehouse, Rober laid out bases with a pitching distance of 35 feet. His ball was a small sized medicine ball with the bat two inches in diameter. The game became popular overnight and other fire companies began to play. In 1895, Rober transferred to another fire company and organized a team he called the Kittens. George Kehoe, captain of Truck Company No. 1, named Rober's version of softball "Kitten League Ball" in the summer of 1900. It was later shortened to "Kitten Ball."
Rober's game was known as Kitten Ball until 1925, when the Minneapolis Park Board changed it to Diamond Ball, one of a half dozen names used during this time for softball. The name softball didn't come about until 1926 when Walter Hakanson, a Denver YMCA official suggested it to the International Joint Rules Committee. Hakanson had come up with the name in 1926. Efforts to organize softball on a national basis didn't materialize until 1933, when Leo Fischer and Michael J. Pauley, a Chicago Sporting goods salesman, conceived the idea of organizing thousands of local softball teams in America into cohesive state organizations, and state organizations into a national organization.
To bring the teams together, Fischer and Pauley invited them to participate in a tournament in conjunction with the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago. With the backing of the Chicago American newspaper, Pauley and Fischer invited 55 teams to participate in the tournament. Teams were divided into three classes - fastballers, slow pitch and women. A 14-inch ball was used during the single-elimination event.
During the 1934 National Recreation Congress, membership on the Joint Rules Committee was expanded to add the Amateur Softball Association (ASA). Until the formation of the ASA, softball was in a state of confusion, especially in the rules area where the length of the bases and pitcher's box were constantly being changed.
The formation of the ASA gave softball the solidarity and foundation it needed to grow and develop throughout the U.S. under the network of associations proposed by Fischer and Pauley. Pauley and Fischer visited many of the states, inviting teams to participate in the tournament. Fischer and his sports promotion director, Harry Wilson, sold the Century of Progress Exposition on the idea of sponsoring the tournament and providing a field inside the Fair Grounds. The American's sports pages promoted the tournament daily and Chicago businessmen raised $500 to finance the event.
On the opening day of the 1933 tournament, the Chicago American said, "it is the largest and most comprehensive tournament ever held in the sport which has swept the country like wildfire." With admission free, 70,000 people saw the first round of play. Chicago teams won the three divisions of play with Softball Hall of Famer Harry (Coon) Rosen leading the J.L. Friedman Boosters to the men's title, one-hitting Briggs Beautyware of Detroit, MI, in the finals. It was the first loss of the season for Briggs after 41 consecutive wins.
It was evident that softball finally had a foundation from which to grow, and, in 1935, the Playground Association Softball Guide, wrote: "the years of persistent effort, constant promotion and unchanging faith of believers in softball proved to have not been in vain, for in 1934 softball came into its own.
The International Softball World Championships in 1965 developed women's softball by making it an international game, a step towards the Pan-American Games and the Olympics. Eleven years later, women softball players were given the closest equivalent to Major League Baseball with the 1976 formation of the International Women's Professional Softball League. Player contracts ranged from $1,000 to $3,000 per year, but the league disbanded in 1980 because of financial ruin.
The popularity of women's fastpitch softball has grown steadily since the professional league's end in 1980. In fact, once again, there is another professional fastpitch league called the NPF (National Pro Fastpitch League). The Amateur Softball Association reports that it "annually registers over 260,000 teams combining to form a membership of more than 4.5 million" (About the ASA). These numbers do not all apply to fastpitch, yet it is consistently growing along with slowpitch. All over America hundreds of leagues and thousands of players enthusiastically accepted this major team game and Softball became one of America's favorite sports.

Is Don Bradman the best batter ever?

Rightly or wrongly, batsmen are the glamour boys of cricket.
Although the input of bowlers is just as important as the guys higher up the order, the big names of the sport, with a few exceptions, are the ones who are proficient at wielding the willow.
Amongst this group are some of the legends of the game. Names like Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Brian Lara from the recent crop. Going back further we have Viv Richards, Graeme Pollock, Greg Chappell, Sunil Gavaskar, George Headley and Victor Trumper.
'Bradman’s bat was an ordinary lump of wood, not a highly sculpted and compressed weapon that is available today'
As good as this lot are, and there are a number of other names who deserve to be on this list, the very best that any one of them could hope to achieve is to be considered the second best batsman ever.
The reason that these stellar players are reduced to also-rans is, of course, the man known simply as The Don – Sir Donald Bradman. He is the yardstick against whom all others are measured – invariably unfavourably – and whose record will never be equalled.
For the statistically minded, no-one else comes close. Bradman’s average of 99.94 will never be bettered by anyone with any kind of serious Test career. His 6996 test runs in 52 Tests included 29 centuries with a record 12 double centuries and two triple centuries.

By Craig Hackney

Cricket Shots

The Batting CRICKET: BATTING

Batting is one of the most exciting parts of cricket for cricket fans. A good batsman is one who can protect his wicket but at the same time score runs. The bigger the shot selection together with fast reflexes & free-flowing shots, one can become an excellent batsman.
Shots in batting range from the square cut, hook, off-drive, pull to the sweep and the leg-glance.
The Cover Drive One of the most elegant shots in the game, but one you don't see that often in Test cricket because fast bowlers don't pitch full enough that often.'
'The important things are to get your foot across to the pitch of the ball and to stroke the shot, rather than hit it too hard.' Mark says, 'I would play this shot more to spinners, when when you can make a little room for yourself.

The On Drive A very tough shot because it is hard to open your foot to point straight down the pitch, bring the bat down nice and straight a nd still hit the ball hard enough to go down the ground.'
'I tend to hit this one wide of mid-on against pace bowlers, whereas David Boon hit his straight back past the bowlder. Boonie used this shot to great effect against fast bowlers whenever they over-pitched. I do hit spinners in the air over mid-on and quicks there on the ground in one-dayers.'


Off the Pads through the On-side My trademark shot I suppose. The key is to let the ball come to you and then turn your wrists at the last instant. I can play this to balls on off-stump when I'm seeing them well.'
'In one-day games I sometimes hit it harder and in the air, but in Tests I just turn the wrists and let the pace of the ball do the work. A shot that often goes for four because there are plenty of gaps in the field

Square Cut
A shot I really like. As long as you have enough width outside off-stump, you can hit the square cut quite hard, sometimes in the air as well as on the ground.'
'It is an important shot in Test cricket because pace bowlders usually bowl short of a length and you need the cut to score runs. Against spinners I sometimes play it off the stumps on a slow pitch.'

Backfoot Defence
A basic bread and butter shot against pace bowlers. The keys are decisive footwork, a straight bat and soft hands which allow you to adjust up or down depending on the bounce, and to pull your hands and bat inside the line if you decide late to let the ball go.'
'The key is to stay on line, not follow the ball if it leaves you late. One of those shots you must be able to play to keep your wicket intact.

Forward Defence
Mark says, 'Soft hands are important here too, especially against spinners where you might have close-in fielders waiting for a catch. It's important to keep your bat and pad close together and your head over the ball.'
'Again, a key shot in that it allows you to keep good balls out of your stumps.'

How to improve your baseball and softball swing.

How to Improve Your Baseball And Softball Swing

How many times have you (or someone you know) gotten up to bat aiming for the grand slam into the stands only to crank out a disappointing grounder to the first basemen? It's discouraging, I know. Don't let it defeat you. There are ways to become a better batter. Read on and put these tips and techniques into play.Sight: Remember all the times your dad and your coach were yelling, "keep your eye on the ball"? They were right! Perfecting your swing requires major hand-eye coordination.

Before you can learn to place a ball, hit one over the fence, or put a bunt in a certain spot, you must learn to make eye contact with it. Keeping your eye on the ball is the key to becoming a better hitter. As a softball player, I find it much easier to zone in on a pitch when I am not looking directly at the ball before the pitcher releases it.

Focus on something else before the pitch and then dart your eyes to the ball upon release. You can get a better read on the ball and a better feel for where it is headed. Once you can spot the ball perfectly, you can work on the other elements of batting that will help to make you the all star you are destined to be.Timing:

While your hand-eye coordination is a huge factor, timing is also a very important aspect of your hit. It can play into where you want to hit the ball, how hard you hit it and whether you foul it off or swing and miss. If a pitch is coming slower, you want to be out in front of it. If it comes faster, you want to be behind. You can learn this by watching a pitcher against other batters and practice your swing along with them.

The best way I can explain this is to allow one pitch to cross the plate without swinging. Count in your head the amount of time it takes the ball to get to you from the second it leaves the pitchers hand -- 1, 2...catcher's glove. Then practice your swing. How long does it take from start to finish on your swing? Are you slower or faster than the pitch?

Based upon this, you can determine if you need to back up, or move forward in the batters box. Forward means you swing faster than the ball being pitched. If you swing slower, move back in the box. This will allow you a little more time to get your swing around and make a connection with the ball. Timing is critical for ball placement and will determine how hard and far that ball will travel. Stance: Play around with your stance when you are practicing. Stance will be a big part of your power in a hit.

To start, make sure your knees are bent slightly. Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart and shift your weight onto your back leg. I usually tilt my front foot up onto my toes to ensure I don't put weight on it. Your front leg is going to be the leg your step forward with as your swing through the ball. Taking a step pushes the momentum of your swing allowing you to drive the ball harder and further. The size of the stride you take will be entirely up to you. Just make sure you figure out what works best for you and what you are most comfortable doing. Swing: Everyone is a little different when it comes to their swing and what works best for them.

There are a few general things you must know to give yourself a flawless swing. When you are practicing, stand at the plate in your normal batting stance and hold the bat up on your back shoulder as if you are getting ready to really swing. Do a slow motion swing and stop as soon as your arms are completely stretched out in front of you over the middle of the plate. Your hips should be slightly rotated forward. Look down at your arms in this position. They should form a perfect V, narrow end at your hands, wide end at your chest, and the bat should be straight out in front of you. Look at it, if the bat is still pointed towards the back, your swing is not correct.

The bat must be directly in front of you. You want a straight line coming from your back shoulder all the way to the tip of the bat. This will be the exact position you need to hit the ball in. Your point of contact with the ball should be when you are forming this "V". This is known and the "sweet spot" and will allow for a much more powerful swing. Be absolutely sure that your follow through with your swing. Don't just stop it upon contact. I was taught to swing through so the bat hits my opposite shoulder. If you are holding the bat up at your back shoulder, you want to swing through enough to have your hands completely make contact with your front shoulder. When teaching I call this "Mike and Ike" - make up whatever story you'd like...but your swing goes from Mike (back shoulder) to Ike (front shoulder). Always remember that "practice makes perfect".

You must practice your butt off if you expect to see results. Even the most perfect of batters goofs up now and then, expect it. Stay positive and stay focused. You can do anything you set your mind to.

Physic of the Baseball Swing.

PHYSICS OF BASEBALLThere are many aspests of baseball that can be explained using physics and Newton's Laws of Motion. We'll start out with the most obivous example, batting.PHYSICS OF THE BASEBALL SWING.Batting is mainly a mechanical science. It involves hitting as much as it does form.

Hitting with a bat is prominent in two sports today. These sports are baseball and cricket. The range you hit the ball is either cut short or aided by simple things. One is the speed of the bat when you make contact with the ball. Another is the twist of your hips during your swing and when the bat makes connection with the ball. And the third is the extention on your arms. This decides how powerfully, and where on the bat you would hit the ball. This also determines the path of the baseball and the distance it travels before falling.

Some of the basic angles are simple. Your bat swing should be around a fourty-five degree angle to create a powerful swing resulting in longer, stronger drives. Your hips should be at a ninety degree angle. Your arms and bat should be at a 180 degree line. and your bat should also travel through the swing at a 180 degree motion. Your front foot should twist in at 90 degrees from where it began.

These are some of the basic batting mechanics.Newtons Three Laws of MotionNewton's first law - Every object will remain in motion unless an external pressure is provided. This says that the ball could go on forever except that air causes friction with the ball. The fourty-five degree angle causes a steady rise with distance making it a supreme angle.Newton's second law - Newton's second law states that the relationship between an objects force, mass ,and exelleration are vectors. This merely states that they are each components of the equation for the most velocity. This is the reason why they are very careful on the production of the ball so the ball does not affect the game.Newton's third law - For every action there is an equal and opposite action. A good example is a balloon.

Most people believe that the air coming out of a released balloon is pushing it. It is acually the air pushing with the motion of the balloon that is pushing it. The same thing happens with a baseball. The bat pushes the ball and air coming with the bat helps to carry it.Hitting Mechanics

1. First you need to lift up your front foot up (left foot for right handers, right foot for left handers). Try to keep it under your waste and don't lower your body level while stepping. Just put it right back down or a little forward. While loading your step you will rock your arms back about three inches.
2. Next you will put your foot down in the place where you first had it. While doing this you will start moving your bat forward. While doing this make sure that you do not drop your shoulder causing you to having a huge upper cut resulting in a low batting average making you sit the bench. Your hands will move back to where they started.
3. Next start rotating your hips. Don't let your shoulders come around until your hips take them. Make sure you pop your wrist for extra bat speed.

Top 10 Home Run Hitters of All Time

In baseball the guys that can really rip the cover off the ball are the superstars of the sport. Now, before I dive into the list of the top 10 home run hitters of all time I will say that this list completely ignores allegations of steroid use, corked bats and so on.

Whether the following athletes had any extra "help" in attaining the amazing statistics they put up throughout their career is a matter for others to decide. Some may have cheated while others did everything naturally, but I will ignore such allegations in this top 10 list. I wish to keep the focus on one simple thing: the best home run hitters of all time. So, without further ado, here is my list:

10 - Ted WilliamsThis list isn't strictly about the numbers. Ted Williams does not rank in the top 10 of all time when it comes to the number of career home runs hit, but his 521 career dingers is still a respectable number. This legend of the game was not just a slugger. In 1941 he finished the season with an astounding .406 batting average. No other hitter has had a .400 season since.

9 - Sammy Sosa This charismatic slugger from the Dominican Republic is one of the truly great long ball hitters in the history of the game. He gained instant stardom during the 1998 season as he and Mark McGwire went head to head, smacking homer after homer as each sought to eclipse Roger Maris's single season home run record of 61.McGwire would win the duel, hitting 70, but Sosa finished with 66. Not too shabby. He would go on to hit 60+ home runs in 2 more seasons, and has a career total of 609 taters.

8 - Frank RobinsonAt the time of his retirement this great home run hitter ranked 4th all time in career home runs. Since then, he has slowly slipped down the list, but his 586 career homers still ranks him 7th on the all time list. He devastated opposing pitchers throughout his career, and is the only player in MLB history to win MVP award as both the National League's and the American League's most valuable player.

7 - Ken Griffey Jr.Junior didn't waste any time making a name for himself as a long ball hitter, and as tight as the competition is, this slugger merits a deserving spot on the list of the top 10 home run hitters of all time. Known for one the most effortless swings in the game Griffey's smooth style has left him just a single homer shy of the 600 mark for his career.

6 - Reggie JacksonMr. October is most famous for his game 6 performance in the 1977 World Series, hitting for Yankees against the Dodgers. That night he crushed 3 home runs to lift the Yanks to victory in one of the greatest single game performances in the history of that storied franchise. Jackson, always outspoken, created much controversy during his time as a player, but no one can deny his 563 career homers and his clutch post-season hitting make him one of the best home run hitters of all time.

5 - Alex RodriguezThough just now at the peak of his career, this exceptional athlete has already hit 518 career home runs, and providing he can stay healthy, should be the all time leader in that category by the time he retires. Considering he just signed a new 10 year contract with the Yankees (worth an astronomical $275 million) he might just threaten the 1,000 career homer mark when all is said and done.

4 - Willie MaysThe Say Hey Kid is one of the most recognizable figures in all of the professional sports, and with 24 career All-star game appearances it is no wonder why. He crushed 660 homers during his storied career, almost exclusively spent as a member of the Giants. Truly one of the legends of the game of baseball.

3 - Barry BondsNot the most charismatic of sports figures, and is one of the aforementioned athletes that unfortunately has allegations of steroid use dogging him. Still, no one can deny the pure talent of this slugger, and as the all time career home runs leader with 762 and the all time single season home run record holder with 73 he is as obvious a choice for one of the top 10 home run hitters of all time as you can get.

2 - Hank AaronUntil Bonds recently surpassed him, Henry "Hammerin' Hank" Aaron had long held the crown for the most career home runs with 755. Though he never put up the huge single season numbers that players like Bonds, McGwire and Sosa did, it was his consistency that was the hallmark of his 23 year career. He hit 40 or more home runs 8 times and topped 30 taters 15 times. With almost 2300 RBI and a career batting average of .305, this phenomenal all around player would sit at number 1 on many top 10 lists.

1 - Babe RuthHe may have played in a different era, arguably against weaker competition, but this "heavy" hitter's numbers are so phenomenal I had no choice but to put him at the number 1 position on my list of the top 10 home run hitters of all time. The Bambino was the first player to hit 60 home runs in a single season, and his 714 career homers put him 3rd on the all time list. This American icon, who was later overtaken as the home run king by Aaron and then Bonds, played far fewer games (approximately 500 fewer than Bonds, and 800 fewer than Aaron). Had he played as long as either of those gentlemen there is no question he would be the all time leader by a mile.

Top 10 Baseball Hitters of All Time

Top 10 Baseball Hitters of All Time

There are basically two types of batters in professional baseball. On one hand, you have the sluggers; the home-run hitters that thrill the crowd by tearing the cover off the ball. Then on the other hand, you have the hitters: the guys who constantly make contact and seem to get on base almost every time they get up to the plate. This article is about a list of the top 10 hitters based on the total number of hits they amassed in their careers. I decided to take things a step further and reorganized the list based in order of who was the best contact hitter, not who had the most hits. My reasoning for setting up the list this way was simple. In order to judge the best hitter, it needs to be based on quality not quantity. According to the record books, these are the top ten hitters listed by name, rank, and total career hits ---

1. Pete Rose 4,256 (Pictued)
2. Ty Cobb 4,189
3. Henry Aaron 3,771
4. Stan Musial 3,630
5. Tris Speaker 3,514
6. Carl Yastrzemski 3,419
7. Honus Wagner 3,415
8. Paul Molitor 3,319
9. Eddie Collins 3,315
10.Willie Mays 3,283

These are remarkable numbers when you initially look at the list. I used a system that I designed for the purposes of this article in order to rate these 10 hitters based on the quality factor. There were nine key statistics that I used in order to accomplish what I set out to do in this article --- games played, at bats, hits, batting average, average hits per season, average at bats per hit, average hits per game, number of seasons with 200 or more hits, and number of seasons with over 100 or more hits. Hits per season, at bats per hit, and hits per game required simple division in order to calculate the answer. Number of seasons with 200 or more hits and 100 or more hits required simple addition in order to calculate the answer. The other four stats were self-explanatory. Each of the player's statistics has been ranked 1 through 10 with 1 being the highest.

I simply added up each category rank and divided the total by nine (the number of categories) in order to calculate the true ranking index.

Pete Rose played for the Cincinnati Reds (1963-78), the Philadelphia Phillies (1979-83), the Montreal Expos (1984), and the Reds once again (1984-86) finishing his career where his career started. The numbers and their respective rankings for his 24 year career are as follows: 3,562 games played (1) --- 14,053 at bats (1) --- 4,256 hits (1) --- .303 career batting average (8) --- averaged 177 hits per season (1) --- averaged a hit for every 3.3 at bats (7) --- averaged 1.19 hits per game (6) --- had 10 seasons with 200 or more hits (1) --- had 21 seasons with 100 or more hits (2). Hitting index = 3.11

Ty Cobb played for the Detroit Tigers (1905-26) and the Philadelphia Athletics (1927-28). He held the record for most hits in a career for 57 years (1928-85) when Pete Rose broke the record. The numbers and rankings for his 24 year career are as follows: 3,035 games played (4) --- 11,434 at bats (4) ---4,189 hits (2) --- .366 career batting average (1) --- averaged 175 hits per season (2) --- averaged a hit for every 2.73 at bats (1) --- averaged 1.38 hits per game (2) --- had nine seasons with 200 or more hits (2) --- had 22 seasons with 100 or more hits (1). Hitting index = 2.11

Hank Aaron played for the Milwaukee Braves (1954-65), the Atlanta Braves (1966-74), and fittingly ended his career with the Milwaukee Brewers (1975-76). His numbers and their rank is as follows: 3,298 games played (3) --- 12,364 at bats (2) --- 3,771 hits (3) --- .305 career batting average (7) --- averaged 164 hits per season (3) --- averaged a hit for every 3.28 at bats (6) --- averaged 1.14 hits per game (8) had three seasons with 200 or more hits (5) --- had 22 seasons with 100 or more hits (1). Hitting index = 4.22

Stan Musial played his entire career with the St. Louis Cardinals (1941-63). In those 23 seasons, his stats and their ranks are as follows: 3,026 games played (5) --- 10,972 at bats (6) --- 3,630 hits (4) --- .331 career batting average (4) --- averaged 158 hits per season (6) --- averaged a hit for every 3.02 at bats (4) --- averaged 1.2 hits per game (5) --- had five seasons with 200 or more hits (3) --- had 19 seasons with 100 or more hits (3). Hitting index = 4.22

Tris Speaker played with the Boston Americans (1907), the Boston Red Sox 1908-15, the Cleveland Indians (1916-26), the Washington Senators (1927), and ended his 22 year career with the Philadelphia Athletics (1928). His numbers and their rankings are as follows: 2,789 games played (9) --- 10,195 at bats (9) --- 3,514 hits (5) --- .345 career batting average (2) --- averaged 160 hits per season (5) --- averaged a hit for every 2.90 at bats (2) --- averaged 1.54 hits per game (1) --- had four seasons with 200 or more hits (4) --- had 19 seasons with 100 or more hits (3). Hitting index = 4.44

Carl Yastrzemskispent his entire 23 year career with the Boston Red Sox (1961-83). His numbers and their rankings are as follows: 3,308 games played (2) --- 11,988 at bats (3) --- 3,419 hits (6) --- .285 career batting average (10) ---averaged 149 hits per season (8) --- averaged a hit for every 3.51 at bats (10) --- averaged 1.03 hits per game (10) --- never had a season with 200 or more hits (8) --- had 22 seasons with 100 or more hits (1). Hitting index = 6.44

Honus Wagner whose tobacco company's baseball card is the rage of collectors everywhere played with the Louisville Colonels (1897-99) and the Pittsburgh Pirates (1900-17). His numbers and their ranks for his 21 year career are as follows: 2,792 games played (8) --- 11,430 at bats (5) --- 3,415 hits (7) --- .327 career batting average --- averaged 163 hits per season --- averaged a hit for every 3.35 at bats (9) averaged 1.22 hits per game (4) --- had two seasons with 200 or more hits (6) --- had 19 seasons with 100 or more hits (3). Hitting index = 5.67

Paul Molitor played for the Milwaukee Brewers (1978-92), the Toronto (1993-95), and the Minnesota Twins (1996-97). His numbers and their rankings for his 21 year career are as follows: 2,683 games played (10) --- 10,835 at bats (8) --- 3,319 hits (8) --- .306 career batting average (6) --- averaged 158 hits per season (6) --- averaged a hit for every 3.26 at bats (5) --- averaged 1.24 hits per game (3) --- had 4 season with 200 or more hits (4) --- had 19 seasons with 100 or more hits (3). Hitting index = 5.89

Eddie Collins played for the Philadelphia Athletics (1906-14), the Chicago White Sox (1915-26), and returned to the Athletics (1927-30) for the remainder of his 25 year career. His numbers and their ranks are as follows: 2,826 games (7) --- 9,949 at bats (10) --- 3,315 hits (9) --- .333 career batting average (3) --- averaged 133 hits per season (10) --- averaged a hit for every 3.0 at bats (3) --- averaged 1.17 hits per game (7) --- had one season with 200 or more hits (7) --- had 18 seasons with 100 or more hits (4). Hitting index = 6.67

Willie Mays played for the New York Giants (1951-57) and relocated the San Francisco Giants (1958-73). His numbers and their rankings for his 23 year career are as follows: 2,992 games played (6) --- 10,881 at bats (7) --- 3,283 hits (10) --- .302 career batting average (9) --- averaged 143 hits per season (9) averaged a hit for every 3.31 at bats (8) --- averaged 1.11 hits per game (9) --- had one season with 200 or more hits (7) --- had 19 seasons with 100 or more hits (3). Hitting index = 7.56

The Baseball Almanac lists the top 100 hitters in baseball history based on total career hits (current through the 2007 season). Bear in mind that there are a total of 26 players on the list having 3,000 or more career hits with Roberto Clemente being #26 with exactly 3,000 hits. Most of your sports websites have the list if you ever want to see it in its entirety. I would love to rearrange that list in its entirety using my hitting index, but there's not enough time for now and I have to watch the length of articles that I submit for publishing. So taking just these players into consideration, here's the original list and the new, improved list for your perusal. The current order of the top 10 hitters based on number of career hits is as follows:

1. Pete Rose
2. Ty Cob
3. Hank Aaron
4. Stan Musial
5. Tris Speaker
6. Carl Yastrzemski
7. Honus Wagner
8. Paul Molitor
9. Eddie Collins
10. Willie Mays

The new order of rank for the top 10 hitters using the hitting index would be:

1. Ty Cobb
2. Pete Rose
3. Hank Aaron and Stan Musial
5. Tris Speaker
6. Honus Wagner
7. Paul Molitor
8. Carl Yastrzemski
9. Eddie Collins
10. Willie Mays

I have to agree with ranking Ty Cobb as number one on the list, and it has nothing to do with the fact that Pete Rose was indicted for gambling and banned from baseball. Personally I think it's more of a crime that he's been denied his rightful place in the Hall of Fame, when players like Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, and even the great Mickey Mantle were not the stellar personalities off the field that they were on it. But with any luck, Pete will get into the Hall. For me the three stats that convinced me that Cobb was the real number one were batting average, the hit per so many at bats average, and average hits per game. These are the stats that qualify the best contact hitter.

Sources: Baseball Almanac http://baseball-almanac.com/