iLMAR-hit | home integration technologies

Now that the group stage of the inaugural Kia Super League is almost over, with finals day just around the corner, its a good time to look back and assess what we have learned from this exciting new competition. Here are my initial thoughts.1. Tell them about it and they will come Two weeks ago nobody - even, if they are honest, those running it at the ECB - quite knew what to expect from the Super League. It was notoriously difficult to get anyone to say exactly what success for this new competition would look like. Now? Well, lets just say Im pretty sure that Clare Connor, the ECBs director for womens cricket, is sleeping at night again.At the time of writing, there has been an average attendance of over 1000 at the group games so far, and the matches at the Ageas Bowl and The Oval have attracted over 2000 spectators apiece. As someone who is used to turning up to watch womens county games with next to no spectators bar the friends and family of the players, let me tell you, that is absolutely phenomenal.Heres the thing: if you market it right, create a buzz around the teams, and, most importantly, tell people it is happening, people will pay to attend domestic womens cricket in their thousands.2. Different franchise models work in different places The crowds we have seen at the KSL group matches are even more impressive when you consider that, unlike with the Womens Big Bash League, the KSL hosts were starting from scratch, unable to tap into an existing franchise fan base. There were quite a lot of voices prior to this competition questioning the decision by the ECB to take what was actually quite a risk in pushing ahead with a standalone womens competition.What we have seen over the past couple of weeks, though, has fully vindicated that decision. No, these havent been double-header games, but people have still shown up in droves. No, these sides arent attached to mens teams, but kids (and girls, especially) have still turned up wearing their teams colours and gone home with their heroes autographs. Not only is that an incredible achievement, it gives womens cricket something new and different, and the opportunity to forge its own way ahead. I for one am excited to see where that path might lead.Actually theres a good argument that playing copycat to the WBBL wasnt just impractical, given the foot-dragging that takes place every time franchise cricket is suggested within the English mens game, but that it wouldnt have worked anyway. Different contexts require a different approach. In fact, at a time when there are big question marks over the future of the mens T20 competition, this should tell the ECB something important about franchise cricket more generally.3. There is plenty of talent out there Those of us who actually watched womens county cricket prior to the start of the Super League were already well aware of this, but it has been incredible to see players who I am more used to seeing playing in front of 20 people at tiny club grounds launched onto the big stage, with the eyes of the media fully upon them, and flourishing.Whether it be Hampshires Katie George, more used to playing in Division Two county cricket, looking right at home in Vipers world-class bowling attack; or Sussexs Paige Scholfield, coming in to bat at No. 9 for Lightning and ending up top-scoring for her side with one of the highest strike rates in the competition; or Lancashires Emma Lamb, only 18, the most consistent opener in any team in the competition; or Berkshire left-armer Linsey Smith, called up to the competition due to injury but stacking up the most successful and the most economical spell in the entire competition so far - it has all been so wonderful to see. Its pretty clear that we dont really need to worry about whether the current county system is producing any talent.One aspect of the system that should still be a concern is the fact that only 19 players in the whole of English womens cricket are being paid to play cricket at any time other than the two-week KSL window. If we dont want to see incredibly talented young players like George, Lamb and Smith walking away from the game prematurely, some kind of progressive pay scale is needed - and fast. 4. Dont rely on your overseas players One of the unforeseen elements of this competition has been the fact that many of the big-name overseas superstars have failed to perform. Ellyse Perry, for example, started the competition with scores of 17 and 2, as well as conceding 39 runs off her four overs in Lightnings first home game of the tournament. Hayley Matthews, star of the Womens World T20 final earlier this year, has hit 7, 11, 0 and 0 in Thunders four group matches to date. Meanwhile Diamonds two overseas batsmen - Alex Blackwell and Beth Mooney - have almost totally failed with the bat, with scores of 3, 23 and 6, and 0, 9 and 17 respectively. It turns out that adjusting to English conditions when youre flown in just a few days before a two-week tournament in the middle of your off season is actually quite tricky.5. You dont need silly boundaries At international level the regulations for boundary sizes in womens cricket differ from those in the mens game - a minimum of 50 metres compared to the mens 60 metres. The KSL playing regulations, in case you havent read them, take this one step further and actually allow for 45-metre boundaries. This, of course, panders to the school of thought that womens T20 cricket is as dull as ditchwater unless there are sixes being hit every other ball.In fact, so far in the KSL, I dont think Ive seen a single boundary that is 45 metres. Most have been 50 or 55 metres. Weve also only had 37 sixes in the competition. And guess what? People still turned up to watch. And most of the cricket has still been utterly enthralling. Lets learn from that and ditch the 45-metre boundary rule for good.6. It should be on TV Rumour has it that fears about the potential quality of the competition led to a reluctance to allow Sky to broadcast any of the inaugural Super League. If true, that is absolutely crazy and, given the quality of the cricket on show, a huge opportunity missed. If the ECB really wants to build a fan base for these teams, TV coverage must surely be top of the priority list for next years competition. Believe in your product and so will other people. Jordan Zimmermann Jersey . Jeff Green scored 13 points and Kris Humphries 12 for the Celtics, who nearly blew an 18-point, second-half lead. Sullingers 20-20 was the first by a Celtics player since Kevin Garnetts first game in Boston in 2007. Garnett was dealt -- along with Paul Pierce -- to Brooklyn during the off-season. Cheap Baseball Tigers Jerseys . -- New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis is retiring after a 16-year career to become the goalie coach for the Los Angeles Galaxy. http://www.tigersjerseyscheap.com/ . Philadelphia is 2-0 against the Senators this season and scored five goals in each victory. The Flyers recorded a 5-0 win in Ottawa on Nov. 12 and then earned a 5-2 home decision on Nov. 19. The Flyers have claimed three straight and four of the last five encounters with the Sens overall and Philly has won two in a row and three of its past four tests in Canadas capital city. Miguel Cabrera Jersey . The showiest items on Calgarys lot were forwards Mike Cammalleri and Lee Stempniak. Both will be unrestricted free agents this summer. Wholesale MLB Tigers Jerseys . -- 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. For years, there were two major story lines every time the Detroit Lions visited the Green Bay Packers. One, could the Lions control Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers? And, two, would the Lions ever win a game at Lambeau Field?Both of those questions are off the board as these NFC North rivals get ready for their Week 3 matchup. Rodgers struggles from last season have continued into this season. One of his poor performances from last year came when Detroit snapped its 24-game losing streak in games played in Wisconsin by beating the Packers 18-16 in Week 10.Based on this years performances, the quarterbacking edge belongs to Detroit with Matthew Stafford. Through two weeks, Stafford has thrown for 600 yards, completed 67.1 percent of his passes and ranks ninth with a passer rating of 101.3. Compare that to Rodgers, who has thrown for 412 yards, completed 57.1 percent of his passes and ranks 22nd with a passer rating of 82.5.Rodgers knows he must play better as the Packers begin a rare four-game home stand.As a leader, you have to take the blame when its necessary and even sometimes when its not your fault, Rodgers said. I think its important to let those guys know that youre going to stick your body on the line but also youre going to stand up for them when you need to in the locker room, the meeting room and the media and take your responsibility for the way you played.I didnt play as well as I wanted to last week and I turned the ball over twice, and I cant do that if were going to win the game. So Ive got to play better and Ive got to play more efficiently on offense.Lions coach Jim Caldwell isnt buying the talk that Rodgers play has slipped.Greatness, Caldwell says, is what he sees when he watches the tape.Rodgers, however, hasnt been great. The NFLs career leader in passer rating hasnt even reached 100 in 14 consecutive games. With the game on the line at Minnesota last week, Rodgers fumbled with the Packers in field-goal range on their next-to-last possession and was intercepted on their final chance.Green Bay will attack a Detroit defense that has allowed 5.1 yards per carry and an opponent passer rating of 112.7. The linebacker corps has been gutted, with injuries to DeAndre Levy (quad) and Kyle Van Noy (calf) leaving only Tahir Whitehead among the starting trio from last week vs. Tennessee. The Lions have a star cornerback in Darius Slay, who Rodgers avoided in last years game in Green Bay, and an excellent safety in Glover Quin.ddddddddddddChange has been the constant for Detroits offense. Calvin Johnson, still one of the premier receivers in the NFL, retired in the offseason and the Lions filled the void by signing Marvin Jones and veteran Anquan Boldin. Combined with Golden Tate, who has back-to-back seasons of 90-plus catches, the Lions have a talented three-receiver package.Jones has 12 catches and ranks seventh in the NFL with 203 yards, Tate has nine catches for 54 yards and Boldin has seven catches for 83 yards and one touchdown. They represent three of the Lions five players with at least seven receptions.I think anytime you lose a talent like (Johnson), its tough, Stafford said. But our guys have done a really nice job and the ball is being spread around. Weve got a lot of guys with a bunch of catches already this year. Hopefully, well continue to do that and spread the ball around and make it tough on defenses.The changes go beyond the passing game. Detroit placed leading rusher Ameer Abdullah (foot) on injured reserve on Wednesday. Theo Riddick, who led all NFL running backs with 80 receptions last season while carrying only 43 times, and rookie Dwayne Washington will take over the ball-carrying chores. Theyll be running into the teeth of a Green Bay defense that ranks No. 1 in the NFL by a considerable margin in rushing yards allowed per game (39) and per carry (1.6).That unit, however, suffered a blow at Minnesota when defensive tackle Letroy Guion exited with a sprained MCL. The Packers already were short on veteran talent on their defensive line. Theyll head into Sunday with standout veteran Mike Daniels, first-round pick Kenny Clark, hybrid outside linebacker/defensive end Datone Jones, fourth-round pick Dean Lowry and first-year player Christian Ringo.Its always a big loss to lose one of your starters, especially somebody whos as effective as Letroy, Daniels said after the Packers held Minnesota to just 30 yards on 22 carries. But the young guys, theyre pulling their weight and theyre doing a heck of a job. We just have to continue to push them to get better. NFL Jerseys From China Jerseys From China Cheap Jerseys Store Cheap Jerseys China Cheap Authentic Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys Store ' ' '