Lancashire138 for 2 (Hameed 56) trail Somerset553 for 6 declared (Trego 154*, Abell 135, Davies 86, Trescothick 60, Bailey 5-111) by 415 runsScorecard Soap operas have story arcs; and so, too, do days at the cricket. However, unlike contrived dramas dreamt up on flip-charts, they emerge more mysteriously over six hours of toil and skill. Which is not to say that they defy précis; for example, who can beat this disgruntled Lancashire supporters online summary of the first day of this game? Woeful. Then got some wickets. Then crap again. Thank you, Sir Neville Cardus.The arc of the second day was fairly simple, too, yet it was replete with contrasting entertainments. For 38 overs Somersets eighth-wicket pair, Peter Trego and Ryan Davies first denied Steven Crofts bowlers an early breakthrough and then dismantled the home attack, extending their stand to 236 before the excellent Davies chopped on to Tom Bailey having made a career-best 86.That dismissal, which occurred 25 minutes into the afternoon session, gave Bailey his fifth wicket. However, he was only member of Crofts attack to enjoy success on a day when some bowling analyses should not have been read out while there were so many children in the ground.Indeed, rather a lot of Lancashires cricket in the morning session was ragged and often not even that good. Faced with two batsmen who were quick to seize on any error in line or length, some bowlers wilted and field placings were a trifle strange. This reached a climax when Jordan Clark bowled to Davies with a long leg, a deep backward square leg and a deep forward square leg. It looked rather like a far-flung version of leg theory: Bodyline for fielders with body odour. Eventually, long leg was brought in and Davies whacked a six over his head.The fact that Trego and Davies were batting very well indeed on a true wicket did nothing to soothe the discontent among some home supporters but at least they were to be presented with an outlet for their ire. Displaying bravery that would not shame a Gurkha, Lancashire officials had decided to hold a Members Forum at Old Trafford after the second day of this game.Rumour has it that flak jackets and tin hats were issued to those attending and that Kate Adie was on hand to report developments, it being axiomatic that no scene of strife is complete without her stern presence. The regulars around the bar in Tauntons Ring OBells may have been in splendid fettle on Thursday lunchtime evening but Old Traffords famous pit of hate was bubbling ominously.Nor was Englands director of cricket particularly pleased by Trego and Daviess excellent partnership. Andrew Strauss had arrived at Emirates Old Trafford on Thursday morning presumably with the intention of seeing Haseeb Hameed bat after Somersets tail had been whisked away as adroitly as a magicians cape. Instead of which, he saw Weston super Mare and Thanets finest establish a new eighth-wicket record for their county. Very good watching, of course, but not exactly part of his overarching plan for the national game. Strauss left before lunch. Sod this for a game of soldiers may have summed up his feelings as he ambled away.Yet Somersets cricket in the first half of this day was quite admirable and helped explain why they are challenging, albeit distantly, for the title. Much as Steve Waughs notion of mental disintegration might still attract courteous contempt when applied to abuse of the opposition, the idea of destroying your opponents will to resist by keeping your foot on his neck for far longer than he might expect is altogether more acceptable.But when you are faced with a follow-on target of 404, it is probably comforting to have Hameed in your side. There have been plenty of indications over the past week that Lancashires 19-year-old opener may skip the Lions stage of development and tour with the full England side this winter. His batting against Somerset did nothing to make those ideas look silly.Opening with the 20-year-old Rob Jones, who was playing only his second first-class match, Hameed scored most of the runs in their 87-run opening stand and his first three boundaries - a cover drive, a clip through midwicket and, unusually, a square cut - suggested once again that he is finding it easier to keep the score ticking over. There was the tranquillity, too: at its best Hameeds batting would calm a dervish in mid-whirl.Every shot was played and, as often as not, played again to a now imaginary ball. Hameeds batting occasionally gives the impression that every stroke in the game possesses a quintessence of perfection which can be sought but never achieved. Nevertheless, merely to search is sufficient. He can turn batting into a version of the Japanese tea ceremony.Then again, most of the time he is just a young bloke scoring runs and he had made 56 of them, passing the half-century mark for the eleventh time in 23 innings when he was out, an event so unexpected in these parts that it may soon prompt wild-eyed panic in Rusholme and a run on the market. Hameed already has his bevvy of supporters at Old Trafford, the Hassettes perhaps, and they were cast into gloom when he nibbled at a good ball from Tim Groenewald, who was the pick of Somersets attack.Groenewald then followed up this dismissal by running out Jones for a well-made 34 when his sharp return beat the batsmans impetuous scamper down the wicket and he would have removed Alviro Petersen for two had Chris Rogers caught a low chance at mid-off. Instead of which the day ended with Petersen reaching a thousand Championship runs for the season and Lancashires coaches grateful for his survival.All that remained was the Members Forum. Now for the tricky bit… as Basil Fawlty once said.Fake Tigers Jerseys . The 29-year-old Baines has established himself as one of the top attacking full backs in the country and was the subject of two bids from United during the last off-season. Everton manager Roberto Martinez says that keeping Baines at the club is a "massive boost and exciting for the future" because he brings "maturity and football knowledge in a very specialized position on the pitch" and an "infectious and positive influence to the rest of the squad. Detroit Tigers Shirts .H. -- Matt Kenseth made it 2 for 2 in the Chase, holding off teammate Kyle Busch to win Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. https://www.cheaptigers.com/ . Speaking Thursday on TSN 1050 Thursday, the Leafs GM also touched on the questions surrounding the teams leadership and the struggles of his big-name free-agent signing. “Its not from lack of effort from the coaching staff. Stitched Tigers Jerseys . Wall made the comment in a speech to a Regina business crowd that included Lesnar. The U.S. wrestler and retired mixed martial artist says he was visiting his brothers farm in Saskatchewan and decided he wanted to hear what the premier had to say. Tigers Jerseys China . Goals from Jerome Boateng, Franck Ribery and Thomas Mueller extended Bayerns unbeaten run to a record 37 matches. "This record is incredible," Bayern coach Pep Guardiola said.The bowl schedule is complete, all the way from the Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl on Dec. 17 to the College Football Playoff National Championship on Jan. 9.Already, were circling some of the matchups that jump out at us, games that feature compelling storylines and the potential to be fourth-quarter thrillers.But what if there were no bowl tie-ins and we could put together any postseason matchups we wanted this season?Weve taken the liberty of doing just that and have come up with our 10 dream bowl matchups. The only qualifier was that teams had to be bowl-eligible this season. And since Ill be covering all 10, the sites will all be in tropical locations, including the last four on the Hawaiian Islands.So here goes:Alabama vs. Michigan: If were genuinely sticking to the best four teams mantra, then Alabama and Michigan both belong in that group -- and what a donnybrook we would have on our hands. In any era, Alabama vs. Michigan is one of those games that just stokes emotions. Theyre two of the Goliaths in college football and have met only four times, with Alabama rolling 41-14 in the most recent meeting in 2012. Of course, what really makes this such a tasty matchup is the Jim Harbaugh-Nick Saban factor. Harbaugh took Saban to task during the offseason after Saban railed on satellite camps. Harbaugh even suggested that Saban was being hypocritical. Saban had no interest in engaging in a war of words and said, I dont really care what he thinks or tweets. Neither is going to suit up, but it sure would be entertaining to see them on opposite sidelines.Louisville vs. Washington State: Would we even need a clock in this game? The first team to 100 points wins. The Cardinals average 45.3 points per game and the Cougars 40.3 points per game. The quarterback matchup would also be a dandy. Louisvilles Lamar Jackson, the Heisman Trophy front-runner, is averaging 410.7 yards of total offense per game and has accounted for 51 touchdowns. Washington States Luke Falk is fourth nationally with 4,204 passing yards and tied for fifth with 37 touchdown passes. Just be sure to carve out about five hours to watch it, because the two teams average a combined 42.6 pass attempts per game. The other subplot is Mike Leach vs. Bobby Petrino, two of the best and most creative offensive minds in football going at it.Ohio State vs. Penn State: Lets settle the whole debate and let em play again. A novel idea, huh? Two teams lining up and playing each other to see whos best? That allegedly happened on Oct. 22 in Happy Valley with Penn State winning. The Nittany Lions also won the Big Ten championship, but the College Football Playoff selection committee deemed that Ohio State, with one fewer loss, had a more impressive resume and was thus the better team. The Buckeyes are legit and probably should be in the playoff even though they didnt win their own division. But the way the Nittany Lions played down the stretch with their nine straight wins and the way they charged back in the second half against Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game cant be denied. So lets make this rematch happen, and well be sure to leave a front-row seat for Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany.Georgia vs. Miami: The Mark Richt Bowl is a natural. The Hurricanes were 8-4 in his first season back at his alma mater and recovered from a four-game losing streak during the middle of the season. The Bulldogs were 7-5 in Kirby Smarts first season as head coach and lost to rivals Florida, Georgia Tech and Tennessee. Georgia fired Richt for a lot less than that. He averaged 10 wins over the course of his 15-year tenure at Georgia (but went 10 years without a championship) and was sent packing at the close of the 2015 season -- yes, a season that ended with 10 wins. The heats not on Smart -- yet. He needs some time to get his recruits on board. But imagine the drama if these two teams were to meet up this postseason. Colorado vs. Tennessee: The Buffaloes were champions of the Pac-12 South. The Vols were champions of Life. So, somethings got to give, right? Seriously, the two coaches are perhaps forever intertwined. Butch Jones turned down an offer from Colorado following the 2012 season to take the Tennessee job, which cleared the way for the Buffs to hire Mike MacIntyre. Earlier in the week, then-Denver Broncos quarterbackk Peyton Manning, as a favor to John Elway, had sent Jones a text selling him on the Buffs, but Jones would be hired a few days later by Mannings alma mater, Tennessee.dddddddddddd Jones, whose Vols ended the regular season with a loss to Vanderbilt, will enter the 2017 season squarely on the hot seat. MacIntyre, named last week as the Walter Camp Coach of the Year, is coming off the Buffs first 10-win season since 2001. Fate can be a funny thing sometimes.Pittsburgh vs. West Virginia: The Russell Athletic Bowl had a chance to make this happen and whiffed. A Backyard Brawl reunion would have been great. Its another one of those intense rivalries, two schools separated by 75 miles, that was lost to conference alignment when West Virginia joined the Big 12 in 2012 and Pitt joined the ACC a year later. The two teams faced each other 104 times between 1895 and 2011 and have a four-year renewal of the series set for 2022-25. But why wait that long? There have been some memorable games in this rivalry, one of the most notable being Pitt ruining West Virginias chances of playing for a national championship in 2007. The Panthers were huge underdogs that day and shocked the No. 2 Mountaineers 13-9 in the regular-season finale.Oklahoma vs. USC: Sometimes you go to a football game and a tennis match breaks out. Actually, it happens pretty frequently in the Big 12. How cool would it be to see the explosive offenses at Oklahoma and USC trading blows? The two defensive coordinators might not be giddy about it, but any game that features Baker Mayfield, Dede Westbrook, Samaje Perine, Sam Darnold, Adoree Jackson, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Ronald Jones II is going to be one of those back-and-forth affairs that makes the postseason even more festive. Whats more, theyre two of the hottest teams in college football right now. Oklahoma has won nine in row and USC eight in a row. Be sure and loosen up the old neck for this one.Florida State vs. LSU: Weve heard so much about Jimbo Fisher and LSU the past two years that we thought wed pair the two once and for all. No, LSU isnt looking for a head coach again. The Tigers have their man, Ed Orgeron, and are glad to have him. But Fisher was a coach LSU coveted a year ago when it looked like Les Miles might get fired and again this year after the Tigers did fire Miles and were trying to decide which direction they were going. Fisher, who was an assistant at LSU under Nick Saban, is happy at Florida State, and Orgeron has his dream job at LSU. Even though all of the coaching chatter is over, FSU-LSU sounds like an inviting matchup on the field. Plus, whos not up for a duel of LSUs Hold That Tiger and FSUs War Chant all game from the bands?San Diego State vs. Vanderbilt: Not all of the best players in college football play at Alabama, Ohio State, USC or any of the blue bloods. So weve set up a matchup that features one of the best offensive players in the country and one of the best defensive players in the country, two guys who probably didnt get the love they deserved. San Diego State running back Donnel Pumphrey is averaging 155.2 rushing yards per game, which ranks second nationally. He needs 108 yards in the bowl game to break Ron Daynes NCAA career rushing record of 6,397 yards. Vanderbilt linebacker Zach Cunningham would be one of the reasons Pumphrey didnt break that record. Cunningham leads the SEC with 119 total tackles and is third with 16.5 tackles for loss. He has made one big play after another for the Commodores. Texas A&M vs. TCU: Its always fun to see a quarterback get a shot at his old team, so well call this the Kenny Trill Hill Bowl. Hill started his career at Texas A&M, and what a start it was. He threw for 511 yards in his first start against South Carolina in 2014. But it was downhill after that in College Station, and Hill was replaced by freshman Kyle Allen by midseason and wound up transferring. Hill won the job in the preseason this year at TCU and passed for 3,062 yards with 15 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions. He would go up against another transfer quarterback, Trevor Knight, who threw 16 touchdowns and ran for 10 more this season for the Aggies after starting his career at Oklahoma. ' ' '
