A few years ago, Patrick Ferriday and Dave Wilson took it upon themselves to rank the 100 greatest Test hundreds. It was a meticulous and exhaustive exercise, one that provoked much debate. More importantly, whatever your view on matters ordinal, it was a collection of fine writing on some unarguably great batting. Now they have laboured lovingly over a follow-up, Supreme Bowling: 100 Great Test Performances, and the discussions can begin again.As with Masterly Batting, the original book, this is an immensely thorough and (as least as far as possible) scientific attempt to list crickets best Test-match bowling. Ferriday sets out the methodology in the opening section, taking into account seven key factors, such as wickets/runs (converted into relative value), opposition, conditions, and match and series impact. Of these, match impact is considered the most important - reflective of the adage that it is bowlers who win games - which is a notable tweak from the Masterly Batting formula, where the conditions and opposing attack took on greater significance.The cut-off point is a five-for, of which there had been almost 2800 in Tests up to the start of 2016 (the books other cut-off point, meaning Stuart Broads 6 for 17 in Johannesburg misses out). Quite a bit of sifting required, then. If magnitude is all you are after, that list already exists; in Supreme Bowling, Jim Laker is brought down to size - though the calm destroyer still takes his place in the pantheon.Once again, the Ferriday-Wilson ranking system is largely dispassionate. Lots of numbers are punched in - including, for instance, a precisely calibrated measure of each wickets worth using historical ICC batting ratings - and out burp the results. There is a category for intangibles, which takes into account first-hand reportage, but the attempt is to be as objective as possible. The authors, of course, know they wont be able to please everybody, noting in their introduction the reaction to Masterly Batting: almost every innings in the 100 was considered either too high, too low or a foolish inclusion and many outside the 100 were denounced as absurd omissions.From which quarters will the brickbats come this time? Shane Warnes boosters will doubtless contest the suggestion that only one of his 37 five-wicket hauls merits inclusion - especially when Phil Tufnell gets in twice. Malcolm Marshall, Wasim Akram, Abdul Qadir and Dennis Lillee, meanwhile, are among the illustrious names who fail to make the grade. (Akram and James Anderson are the only bowlers with 400-plus Test wickets not to feature.)However, its worth noting that the Wisden 100, which was compiled in 2001, came to similar conclusions: Marshall, Wasim and Lillee were again absent, while Warnes only entry was for his 8 for 71 against England in 1994-95 (in Supreme Bowling it is his 6 for 34 versus South Africa three years later). Perhaps sweeping up Poms by the bagful isnt necessarily the stuff of greatness.Both lists find agreement on the apex bowling performance in Tests too. Hugh Tayfield, the South Africa offspinner, is perhaps not as feted many of the names that come after him but he is one of only four players to have three or more entries in the Supreme 100 (Kapil Dev, Muttiah Muralitharan and Mitchell Johnson are the others). Of the big beasts, only Curtly Ambrose manages two appearances in the top ten. But all this is really parlour talk before sitting down to enjoy the banquet. The great strength of the book - as was the case with its predecessor - is the quality of the writing, in particular the Pinnacle section, which covers performances 25 to 1 and takes up two-thirds of the 300-odd pages. Ferriday and Wilson can call upon an all-star attack themselves: Rob Smyth channels Ezekiel 25:17 (and Pulp Fictions Jules Winnfield) to describe Ambrose as he struck down upon England with great vengeance and furious anger at Port-of-Spain in 1994; Dileep Premachandran relates Harbhajan Singhs turbanating of Australia in Chennai days after the Miracle of Eden - a far preferable destiny to driving long-haul trucks in Canada; and Russell Jackson summons some appropriately muscular prose for Johnson: The He-Man fitness freak with the Hells Angels moustache said bollocks to self-preservation and up yours to workload management.A particular favourite of mine was Rob Bagchis beautifully evocative piece on Sarfraz Nawaz - Pakistans swing-bowling dandy - which manages to reference Keyser Soze, Omar Sharif and Marlies Gohr while retelling the story of his match-stealing 9 for 86 at the MCG in 1979. Then there is Richard Hadlee and his talking ball at the Gabba, not to mention the Dylan-infused folk tribute to Bob Willis in 1981… I could go on.If the concept is a touch High Fidelity, the resulting collection is high quality. There should be no need for argument about that.Supreme Bowling Compiled and edited by Patrick Ferriday and Dave Wilson Von Krumm Publishing, 2016 321 pages, ￡15 (Kindle edition ￡4.91) Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . Despite the cost, effort and an improved steroid test, its possible that very few -- if any -- positives will be detected, Dr. Richard Budgett told The Associated Press in an interview. "We just dont know what the results from Torino will be," Budgett said. Cheap Adidas Sharks Jerseys . -- Bryant McKinnie came out of his stance and lowered his shoulder into a practice squad player, causing a crisp thud to reverberate in the Miami Dolphins practice bubble. http://www.cheapsharksjerseys.com/ . PETERSBURG, Fla. Wholesale Sharks Jerseys . "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. Cheap Sharks Jerseys China . -- There were so many positives from the Orlando Magics first victory of the season that it was hard for coach Jacque Vaughn to stop praising his players.DETROIT -- Brandon Barnes stood in centre field and felt the wind blowing out a bit -- an ominous sign when Miguel Cabrera is at the plate with the bases loaded and two out in the ninth inning. Sure enough, Cabrera lifted a deep flyball to right-centre, forcing Barnes to race over with the game on the line. "I just knew if he hit it out there, Id have to get a good bead on it," Barnes said. "Just try to get under it and not stop until the catch was made." Barnes caught Cabreras drive against the wall for the final out, and the Houston Astros avoided a season sweep against the Detroit Tigers with a 7-5 victory Wednesday. Carlos Corporan hit a tiebreaking double in the top of the ninth for the Astros, who lost their first six meetings with the Tigers by a combined 50-12. Houston barely held on in this one after scoring two runs in the ninth to take the lead. Jose Veras pitched the ninth for his fifth save in seven chances, but he walked two, and when he hit Torii Hunter with an 0-2 pitch, the bases were loaded with two out and Cabrera coming up. The Triple Crown winner came a few feet from a grand slam, but Barnes -- who entered as a pinch-runner in the top of the inning and stayed in to play centre -- had enough room to run it down and make the catch while jumping back a bit into the out-of-town scoreboard. The previous night, Detroits Andy Dirks hit a double to almost that same spot. Houston right-hander Lucas Harrell expressed frustration that the ball wasnt caught, and manager Bo Porter met with Harrell before Wednesdays game to discuss the teams philosophy on defensive shifts. Barnes said he was playing a bit deep for Cabrera, but wasnt too far to either side. "I was pretty straight up," Barnes said. "I mean, he can hit the ball anywhere." Corporan and J.D. Martinez homered for Houston, and Avisail Garcia went deep for the Tigers. Detroits Al Alburquerque (0-1) walked Martinez starting the ninth, and manager Jim Leyland pulled him. "Its depressing," Leyland said. "If I had seen any signs that he was going to throw the ball over the plate, I would have left him in. I didnt really want (Phil) Coke against a switch-hitter." Coke, a left-hander, came on and allowed Corporans double to the ggap in left-centre.dddddddddddd Matt Dominguez added a sacrifice fly. Alburquerque has struck out 26 in 14 1-3 innings this year, but hes also walked 13 and thrown six wild pitches. "Maybe not getting enough work -- I dont know the answer," Leyland said. "Hes struggling with his control." Hector Ambriz (1-2) got the win as Houston stopped a six-game losing streak. "Sometimes we pitch good but we dont hit. Sometimes we hit but we dont pitch good. Sometimes we put it together like today," Corporan said. "Weve been scoring some runs. It takes things like this to turn around some things." The Astros are without standout second baseman Jose Altuve, on the bereavement list following the death of his grandmother. The 21-year-old Garcia, playing centre field because of Austin Jacksons hamstring injury, hit his first major league homer in the second, a three-run shot to left-centre that gave the Tigers a 4-1 lead. Detroit starter Max Scherzer couldnt hold it. He allowed a double to Jake Elmore to start the fourth, then balked him to third. Carlos Pena hit a run-scoring single, and after a walk to Chris Carter, Martinez hit his third homer of the year, a no-doubter to left-centre that landed near Willie Hortons retired No. 23 on the brick facade well behind the visiting bullpen at Comerica Park. The three-run shot put the Astros ahead 5-4. Scherzer allowed five runs and five hits in seven innings. He struck out seven and walked three. Houston starter Dallas Keuchel allowed five runs -- four earned -- and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings. Detroit tied it at 5 with an unearned run in the sixth. With two out, shortstop Marwin Gonzalez misplayed Victor Martinezs grounder for an error. Jhonny Peralta followed with a single, and Matt Tuiasosopo tied it with a single. Corporan opened the scoring with a second-inning solo homer. The Tigers tied it in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Brayan Pena, and Garcia followed with his home run. NOTES: Keuchel and Detroit reliever Drew Smyly were roommates while playing college baseball at Arkansas. ... The Astros have Thursday off. Detroit sends ace Justin Verlander (4-3) to the mound at Texas in a terrific pitching matchup against Yu Darvish (6-1) of the Rangers. ' ' '
