A captain sits in a basement, a solitary figure, under siege. Confronted by glaring lights and uncomfortable questions, he speaks of embarrassment, of humiliation. He pleads for players who will stand with him and fight. A leader of a broken team that stems from a broken system and will now be scattered across the country to play in a domestic competition that is, quite literally, broken in two. Some of them will not return.A captain stands on the boundary edge at the MCG, a solitary figure, under siege. He doesnt speak at all. Instead, he quietly watches as his new charges stand shoulder to shoulder, behind their most senior member, who does all the talking. Their faces are angry, the words are defiant and the message is clear: were here to fight for our captain.The contrast between the two scenes is clear.The rest is chaos.****A dead rubber has suddenly taken on enormous significance for both sides: one in a frantic race to piece together the fragments after two shattering defeats and to avoid a historic whitewash, the other in a battle to prove the integrity of the man who has led them to this famous series victory.Observers and fans are lining up on either side to condemn the other. The Australians are sore losers, they say; they blamed the pitches in Sri Lanka and now they are blaming breath mints. The South Africans are cheats, they say, led by a convicted cheat, and now we know why their bowlers can swing the ball so well.Lost is the fact the Australian camp didnt make a complaint and at least one senior figure in Australian cricket supports everything Amla said at Saturdays extraordinary press conference.South Africa must contest the charge after such a strong display but clearly feel so aggrieved that such a stance is warranted. The last time Melbourne saw anything like this, it was a rugby league team - the Melbourne Storm - walking shoulder to shoulder across a field in a show of solidarity amidst a salary cap scandal. Storm were stripped of their premierships; South Africa will hope their brothers-in-arms moment has a happier result.Mints, chewing gum, Brylcreem, sunscreen, lip balm, sweat, saliva, dirt, zippers, energy drinks, bottle tops, biltong, teeth and even Red Frogs (a chewy candy) - surely, the most surreal - are being offered as alchemical ingredients that, when combined with leather, produce swinging gold. Or not.Everyone is suddenly an expert on the science behind a reversing ball when, in reality, bowlers who can find reverse often cant explain the physics that cause it or predict when it will happen.In a game fighting for relevance and survival, threatened by flat pitches and dominated by big bats, the art of reverse can undoubtedly bring bowlers back into the contest. Players jump up to claim everyone does it and only the unlucky are spotted; that will be a difficult defence to mount if the ICC determines South Africas captain used saliva - only in cricket could spittle be so highly scrutinised - mixed with an artificial substance to shine the ball. Perhaps its the laws that deserve the scrutiny.Meanwhile, the Sheffield Shield is suddenly the most keenly followed domestic competition since the Big Bash rolled into town. The contenders and the condemned are graded day by day, session by session. Rod Marsh may have absconded but the entire nation has replaced him. Armchair, laptop and Twitter selectors name their XI and conduct heated selection meetings in the comments section.Blood young players, some experts cry. Pick the best players, regardless of age, insist others. Remember Mike Hussey? Yeah, well, what about the mid-80s? That turned out okay.Officials point to the recent success of Australia A and maintain the future is bright while past players claim the present was ruined by altering the Futures League. The man who introduced those changes, since abandoned, is now an Australian interim selector. Budding Mike Husseys abandon hope.A red ball is being used to audition for a pink-ball Test. A few weeks ago, a pink ball was used to prepare for a red-ball Test. The irony? That Australia were confident enough that the series would still be alive in Adelaide to think pink-ball practice was relevant before the opening match in Perth. They also assumed their Test batsmen would have earned a rest this week, so wouldnt be playing in the Shield anyway.****Amid the cacophony, two captains must prepare their sides for a Test that has no bearing on the series and, yet, suddenly has so much meaning. On one side, an unknown squad, pulled together by an embarrassed leader needs somehow to conjure victory in a losing cause and restore some pride.On the other, a leader who may be under a cloud - who may not even play - but is secure in the knowledge all of his players will fight for him, both on and off the field.And for that, alone, Steven Smith must envy Faf du Plessis. Dan Marino Jersey . The Montreal Canadiens announced on Friday that the veteran forward will return to the teams line-up on Saturday night when the Habs visit the Nashville Predators. Kenny Stills Womens Jersey . 10 VCU 85-67 on Thursday night at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The Seminoles (4-0) have scored at least 80 points in each of their games. http://www.authenticdolphinspro.com/Bob-griese-dolphins-jersey/ . The third-ranked Ivanovic, who won the event in 2008 and 10, served five aces and broke Wickmayer, also a former winner in 2009, five times. "The result looked easier than it really was," Ivanovic said. Larry Csonka Dolphins Jersey . If ever they start actually putting pictures beside words in the dictionary, the Blue Jays left-handers mug will appear beside “Consistency. Kenny Stills Youth Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla.LONDON -- Wrestlings governing body has "reacted well" and made the necessary changes to give the sport a chance of saving its place in the Olympics, IOC President Jacques Rogge said. In an interview with The Associated Press, Rogge said FILA has tackled the issues that led the IOC executive board in February to remove wrestling from the list of core sports for the 2020 Games. "I think they had the good answer and the good reaction," he said. "They obviously were taken a bit by a surprise by the fact they could leave the core group." Rogge praised the measures approved by FILA at its congress in Moscow last weekend, including rule changes to make matches more compelling and the inclusion of women and athletes in decision-making positions. Wrestling is now competing with seven other sports for a single spot on the 2020 program. The IOC board meets in St. Petersburg, Russia, next week and will recommend one sport or a shortlist of sports for a vote by the full IOC in September. "The federation definitely understood the reasons why they were ousted, and they reacted what they normally should have done," Rogge said. "They did a good job on that, so well see what the judgment is of the executive board on all of the eight sports but definitely I would say that wrestling has reacted well. "That does not guarantee a spot in the shortlist or the single presentation. It was at least the minimum they could do and they did it. They have addressed the shortcomings. That was a good reaction." Wrestling, which dates back to the ancient Olympics, remains on the sports lineup for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. The new sports seeking inclusion in 2020 are squash, wakeboarding, karate, wushu, roller sports and a combined baseball-softball bid. They will all make presentations to the IOC board next Wednesday in St. Petersburg. "Then well have a debate whether the executive board will present one single sport to the session or whether the executive board would prefer to present a shortlist to the IOC session," Rogge said. The board members will vote by secrett ballot on which sport or sports to submit to the IOC assembly in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Sept.dddddddddddd 8. There has been widespread speculation in Olympic circles that the board will recommend a list of three or four sports, including wrestling. "My position is very clear," Rogge said. "Everything will happen on merit and respecting the rights of the federations." FILA on Thursday announced the names of the five panelists who will make the presentation to the IOC: FILA President Nenad Lalovic; Jim Scherr, a former wrestler and ex-CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee; Canadian freestyle wrestler Carol Huynh, gold medallist at the 2008 Beijing Games and bronze winner at the 2012 London Olympics; Lise Legrand, vice-president of the French wrestling federation and 2004 bronze medallist ; and Daniel Igali, a Nigerian-born Canadian gold medallist in Sydney in 2000. "These five panelists are representative of the passion, dedication and diversity of wrestlings athletes and fans around the world," Lalovic said. The IOC decision in February to drop wrestling led to the resignation of FILA president Raphael Martinetti. Lalovic, who took over in an interim capacity, was elected fulltime president at last Saturdays congress in Moscow. Lalovic "understood there were shortcomings both in governance but also in presentation and appeal of the sport in terms of clarity of the rules of competition and a whole range of issues that they had to change," Rogge said. Under changes approved in Moscow, matches will consist of two 3-minute sessions instead of three 2-minute periods, and scoring will be cumulative instead of the previous two-out-of-three system. FILA also changed its constitution to include a female vice-president. "They will have an athletes commission they did not have," Rogge said. "They will have women on board the executive board which they did not have. They will change the length of bouts to make it more clear for the public on the counting of the points. There are also a lot of technical rules that are going to be associated." ' ' '