The reaction to defeat at Lords speaks volumes for the febrile atmosphere in English cricket at present.With a couple of newspapers calling for the selectors to be sacked, you would think defeat at Lords, or defeat against Pakistan, was an unprecedented disaster. But actually England lost at Lords in 2015 and 2014 and Pakistan beat them 2-0 barely six months ago.So quite why the defeat at Lords has caused such shock is puzzling. Pakistan are a fine side with, arguably, the best bowling attack in the world. They are rated above England in the rankings and Lords (and The Oval and Manchester) offer England little home advantage. Anyone surprised by Pakistan playing well - or Englands batting looking fragile - really hasnt been paying attention.The consternation over the absence of James Anderson is puzzling, too. The decision not to risk him at Lords - a not unreasonable decision bearing in mind he had yet to play a game after sustaining a shoulder injury - was not responsible for the defeat. Englands na?ve batting, as Alastair Cook termed it, was.Its certainly not a selection fiasco in the grand traditions of English cricket. Take the Major Nigel Bennett episode, for example. Major Bennett popped into The Oval in 1946 to renew his county membership after the war, but was mistaken for Major Leo Bennet - who had represented the British Empire XI during the war - and offered the captaincy. He took up the offer before anyone realised a mistake had been made and went on to lead Surrey to what was, at the time, the worst season in their history. He averaged 16 with the bat.Still, Andersons return to the squad - he bowled in the nets on Wednesday and looks fully fit - is welcome. So, too, is Ben Stokes, who admitted he required the bowling he gained in the Championship match he played against Lancashire instead of the first Test to regain match fitness. Both of them are highly likely to play though the selectors have given the captain and coach - a coach, it should be remember, who has barely seen a weeks county cricket in his life - every option with an unusually large 14-man squad.With Stokes and Woakes available as allrounders, England have plentiful options here. One of those is to field a second spinner (Saqlain Mushtaq worked with Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali in training on Wednesday) and either drop one of the batsmen (probably James Vince, but perhaps Gary Ballance) or play only three of Stokes, Woakes, Anderson and Stuart Broad.Bearing in mind Pakistans excellence against spin and Englands record of success fielding a two-man spin attack in home Tests - they have not won a game in England using a two-man spin attack since 1985 - and that looks both an unwise and unlikely scenario. England have only fielded a two-man spin attack at home six times in the last 20 years. The last time - at The Oval in 2013 - saw Simon Kerrigans unfortunate debut. The time before that was in 2009 when Monty Panesar helped James Anderson bat England to what had seemed an unlikely draw against Australia in Cardiff.It seems more likely that England will pick the four-man seam attack with one spinner. Whether that is Rashid or Moeen remains to be seen, though Rashid does look the favourite at this stage. Pakistan look likely to play only one spinner though, as Stokes remarked on Wednesday, Yasir may well be the best legspinner since Shane Warne.As well as a few Lancashire players, Glen Chapple and Steve Rhodes attended England training on Wednesday with a view to taking coaching tips back to their counties. Matt Parkinson, the Lancashire legspinner, will again bowl in the nets on Thursday (he was with the England squad at Lords) and Mason Crane, the Hampshire legspinner, will do the same at The Oval. The England camp also hope to continue to engage with former players and create situations where they can pass on their tips to the current team. Andy Caddick is expected to speak to the squad at Edgbaston and Darren Gough will do so later in the summer.Although the outfield at Old Trafford is not especially pretty - the result of staging lucrative Rihanna and Beyonce concerts here in recent weeks - the pitch is expected to be good. It should offer some pace, bounce and spin as the surface wears; in short, it should reward good cricket.Lancashire played two spinners in their last Championship match here. One of them - Parkinson - took a five-wicket haul in the first innings. The groundstaff are using the cannabis hot lamps we have seen previously at Edgbaston to promote grass growth on the outfield (either that or they have moved into a most unorthodox sideline) but, unless heavy rain hits, it should only be a cosmetic problem. Authentic Custom Cardinals Jersey . SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. 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STARKVILLE, Miss. - LSUs First-Team All-SEC striker Jorian Baucom scored what proved to be game-winning goal from the penalty spot in the 60th minute of play, while goalkeeper Caroline Brockmeier saved all five shots on target she faced on the night to lead the Tigers to a 1-0 SEC road win at Mississippi State on Friday night.The Tigers (7-9, 2-6 SEC) got back in the win column while snapping a five-game losing streak in SEC play and extending their winning streak to 12-straight against the Bulldogs (6-9, 1-7) since the 2005 season.The Tigers have not enjoyed as much success in a series in their history than that with Mississippi State as they improved their to 19-2-1 in 22 matches played between the two programs in their history. They remained unbeaten in their last 15 meetings while improving to 14-0-1 against the Bulldogs since 2002. LSU has also never lost in Starkville with a 10-0-1 mark all-time in 11 matches played at the MSU Soccer Field.SEC road wins are very hard to come by, and were happy to come away with the three points tonight, said LSU head coach Brian Lee. Im very proud of our effort. I thought we stayed organized and worked so very hard defensively for 90 minutes, and then took advantage when we had opportunities on the other end. Were looking forward to going back home for our next three.The Bulldogs were on the front foot after taking the opening kickoff and nearly broke through with the opening goal just seven minutes into the match if not for a fine double save by Brockmeier. The Tiger goalkeeper palmed away MaKayla Waldners open look from 10 yards and then came quickly to her feet to deny the Mississippi States rookie striker the rebound from the top of the six-yard box.Brockmeier kept her focus in the final minute of the first half when Bulldog defender Ari Holmes forced a leaping save from the center circle to win a corner kick as the clock ticked under 30 seconds to the break.The Tigers went on the attack themselves in the early stages of the second half, and their effort was rewarded on the hour when Alex Thomas end-line cross was handled inside the six by a Mississippi State defender. Baucom made no mistake witth the ensuing spot kick as she netted her team-leading 10th goal of the season to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead in the 60th minute.ddddddddddddBaucom has been lethal from the penalty spot throughout her collegiate career as she remained a perfect 5-for-5 on the season and improved to 11-for-14 on spot kicks in her three seasons with the Tigers. She scored the 33rd career goal at the 59:43 mark to pull to within seven goals of Artie Browns school record of 40 goals for a career.Freshman Ellie Weber nearly iced the game in the final five minutes when she pinged a left-footed strike off the crossbar from Nicole Howards corner kick in the 86th minute. The Bulldogs were let off the hook when a rebound by Thomas was cleared off the line and Summer Clarke fired a second effort into the side netting to keep the score at 1-0 and set up a grandstand finish for the visitors.The Tigers were outstanding defensively throughout the match with juniors Debbie Hahn and Jordane Carvery partnering in the middle and freshmen Weber and Jade Clarke manning either outside back position.We talked a lot in practice this week about everyone staying on the same page, Hahn said. Jordy (Carvery) did a really good job directing everybody tonight, and I listened to every word she said. Ellie was out on the left making her first start out there, and she listened to Jordy and I the whole game. Jade was extremely solid. Our communication was the best I think its been all season.The communication was definitely the key, especially from Jordy and myself. I think thats why we were able to clean up some mistakes weve been making defensively and improve from recent games.The Tigers are now ready to wrap up the regular season with a three-game homestand beginning Thursday night as they play host to the 13th-ranked Auburn Tigers at the LSU Soccer Stadium with kickoff set to begin at 6 p.m. CT on the SEC Network. They also host Alabama on Oct. 23 at 1 p.m. and 11th-ranked Arkansas on Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. with both matches being streamed on the SEC Network+. ' ' '
