Winter on the highveld is traditionally cold and dry, but recent days have seen widespread unseasonal rain across it and almost everywhere else in the country. C.J. Uzomah Jersey . There have been heavy falls of snow on the mountains, and photographs in the newspapers and websites have shown railway stations under metres of water, cars in parking lots floating casually downstream like so many bath-time ducks.In this type of weather, cricket is not exactly front of mind, although it will slide into the frame as the New Zealanders drift south from two Tests against Zimbabwe shortly to prepare for their twin Tests against South Africa next month.Its already a nicely poised series. New Zealand are an open-minded, streetwise lot, while the gifted South Africans seem to have taken their fractiousness to the next level. There has been bickering behind the scenes in the latest round of contract negotiations - the threat of free agency is the thing in South Africa at the moment - and we have a board that demonstrates little leadership or grace under pressure. Last seasons domestic match-fixing debacle shows no signs of finding closure, and from everywhere comes the fidgetiness of widespread discontent.This said, self-laceration has become so inimical to South African cricket that its quite possible to dismiss the angst as so much white noise. South Africa produce good, if slightly unadventurous, cricketers, and it will only need one decent series - and one competitive summer - to remind us all of the countrys cricketing riches.Southern Africa is a naturally fertile cricket crescent. How else does one explain the fecundity that sees a Dale Steyn spring from the copper-mining wastes of Phalaborwa, or Kagiso Rabada need only one spell of bowling (in the televised final of the Under-19 World Cup in 2014) to be fast-tracked to the terminus that is a South Africa cap?One player who has sailed blithely clear of all the sturm und drang for the last couple of seasons is Dean Elgar. Known variously as Deano or Porra, a not entirely onside reference to what some have erroneously seen as his Portuguese ancestry, Elgar seems happiest to play cricket, remain true to his chirpy self and tiptoe past the mines and booby traps. It is a mark, perhaps, of his emotional intelligence, although it might just be that hes largely unconcerned with anything else. Either way, the strategy has served him well. In the Titans dressing room he is known as one of the Three Hyenas, a select group of enforcers, fines dispensers and receptacles of cricketing wisdom who back up their captain and generally charge about in a pack. Roelof van der Merwe used to be a hyena until he hauled his coffin off to the Netherlands (he was replaced by Farhaan Behardien). The third member of the trio is Heino Kuhn.Last season Kuhn opened the innings for Titans with either Elgar (when he wasnt away on Test duty) or Grant Mokoena. He scored 1126 first-class runs in 20 innings at 62.55, not a bad return for a player who was on a pay-for-play contract because he wasnt deemed quite key enough in the initial contracting round.Those young men and their parents who bleat about quotas and lack of opportunities and head to England or New Zealand at the drop of a hat would do well to study Kuhns numbers. Like Elgar, he is no longer a young man, but he has remained loyal to the Titans system, hung around and polished his game. Like Elgar, there has been little toy-throwing, much endeavour and no lack of focus.The reason Titans won the domestic double last season is due to a variety of quantifiable factors, several of which relate to Kuhns contributions to good starts, which, in turn, put pressure on the opposition.Yet every happy dressing room also abounds with currents more difficult to pin down. One has to be Elgars general sense of mischief. He certainly brings a levity to things. When he was asked recently, for example, who he thought should replace Rob Walter as Titans coach, because Walter is heading to Otago, he didnt pause for thought. Albie [Morkel], he replied, because that way we can hunt and fish during pre-season. It wont be like Rob, who always had us out on obstacle courses and training runs.Whatever his secret, South African cricket needs more Elgars at the moment. In all the hand-wringing, we have lost sight of whats important, what remains pure and untrammelled in the game we all love. Elgar has kept perspective and so kept the faith.The first Test against New Zealand is at Kingsmead, where the South Africans have the kind of record thats best ignored. But then its on to Elgars home ground, Centurion, a fortress, and a place where hes very much at home. Sam Hubbard Jersey . Oaklands loss to Seattle clinched the ALs best record for the Red Sox with one day to spare in the regular season. "I think everybody was kind of watching," catcher David Ross said. "Demp (Ryan Dempster) came out before he went to the bullpen and was just yelling that they lost. John Miller Jersey .J. -- Marshawn Lynch said Thursday it will be good to get back to football after the Seattle quiet talking running back wrapped up his final mandatory media session of Super Bowl week. http://www.cheapbengalsjerseyselite.com/...undblade-jersey . "It was nerve-wracking, but we pulled through," said Collaros, who threw four touchdown passes to lead the Toronto Argonauts (8-4) to a 33-27 win over the Calgary Stampeders (9-3) in front of 28,781 fans at McMahon Stadium. SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- The series finale between the Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants on Wednesday pits one starting pitcher hoping to extend his recent success against one coveting more run support.Cincinnati right-hander Dan Straily (5-6, 4.01 ERA) will make his first career appearance at AT&T Park. He enters riding a string of three consecutive quality starts, and he hopes to help the visitors capture the three-game series.San Francisco ace Madison Bumgarner (10-5, 2.14 ERA) has similar impressive recent numbers (1.93 ERA over four starts), but is only 1-1 in that time because his teammates has scored only nine runs during that stretch.The Reds (39-61) sit in last place in the National League Central, while the Giants (59-41) are atop the NL West. However, San Francisco is still trying to escape a post-All-Star break slump. With a 9-7 victory on Tuesday, the Giants won for only the second time in 10 games, and they hope to carry momentum into Wednesdays finale.Were still in July here, San Francisco right fielder Mac Williamson said. Weve still got all of August, all of September and a couple days in October. A lot can go down between now and then. We just need to keep our heads down, keep grinding away and playing. We cant look too far ahead. You can get in trouble. ...We play our game, do what we can do. We can only control on what we can do on the field and in this clubhouse, so thats what were focused on.Giants pitcher Matt Cain, who homered and got the win Tuesday, added, We know the situation that was going on. We just need to keep building. Trayveon Williams Jersey. We had a couple good games (and some) tough losses since the break. Youre going to hit those patches, but just find a way to get out of them.Opponents are hitting only .213 against Straily this year. In his career against the Giants, he is 2-0 with a 2.92 ERA in two starts. Straily threw 6 1/3 innings of three-run ball in a 7-4 win over San Francisco on May 4 in Cincinnati.Straily allowed two runs on five hits and struck out eight over six innings during the Reds 6-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in his last start on Friday. Cincinnati won three of Strailys past four starts.Bumgarner is 3-1 with a 2.40 ERA in his last four starts against the Reds, though he hasnt faced them this year. He is 3-3 with a 4.33 ERA in seven outings against Cincinnati overall.The Giants have won 13 of the left-handers 21 starts this season. They came up short in his last outing, falling 3-2 to the Yankees in New York after Bumgarner allowed two runs in seven innings on Friday.As a staff, San Francisco would like to stop allowing the long ball. Cincinnati struck for four more home runs Tuesday. The Giants have allowed 23 home runs in the 10 games since the break, 18 surrendered by starters.Some guys and some teams are just hitting home runs, Cain said. Weve just got to do a better job pitching to the end of the bat and the hands a bit more. It just seems like some guys are capitalizing on the long ball. Wholeslae Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Cheap College Jerseys Cheap Football Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap Baseball Jerseys ' ' '