Asked how he felt about literary prizes, Kingsley Amis once said, Well, theyre all right if you win. Its easy to imagine the group of teams circling around the top of the ICC Test match rankings feeling the same. Like literary prizes, the criteria for victory seems arbitrary and hard to understand, and anyway the best - its subjective, isnt it?We dont need algorithms to tell us when a truly great team emerges. The West Indies of the late 1970s and early 80s and the Australian dynasties that succeeded them didnt need a mace and a cheque to validate their efforts. Their greatness bestowed itself upon the game, their defeats in some strange way more memorable than their victories; rare, valiant proof that they were (sometimes) human. Did anyone care about rankings as they watched India play Australia in 2001, or the Ashes of 2005? No, they did not. The battle itself was the thing, and it needed no further context.We live now in less certain times. Has there been a sadder sight than West Indies playing India in a four-Test series before almost no one, the great Viv Richards commentating on a mismatch in an empty stadium named after himself, while the last days of the CPL burned onwards towards a packed-out final tie contested by the real stars of Caribbean cricket? It appeared symbolically bad.Around the same time, Pakistan, a team that has not played a home international match since 2009, won a Test at Lords, but then subsided to defeat in the next two games, in Manchester and Birmingham. New Zealand went to Zimbabwe and illustrated the gap between a side in the middle of the rankings and the team at the bottom (Zimbabwe are so far adrift that eight of the other Test-playing nations are closer in points to the No. 1 spot than they are to tenth place). Australia, officially the best, went to Sri Lanka, who had just been roundly beaten in England, and were humiliated. New Zealand hopped on a plane to South Africa and found themselves trying to play a series out of season, as wet as West Indies and India ultimately became.The pivotal moments of these few weeks came at The Oval, when Pakistan, their glorious fervour calmly channelled by the ageless Misbah-ul-Haq, somehow raised themselves up once more and defeated England. Suddenly all of these random, unconnected, bilaterally contracted events had an overarching narrative that could knit them together, and that narrative was the Test match rankings.A few months ago, I wrote a blog about box-set cricket, the way that tournaments like the IPL, the Big Bash and the CPL fit with modern life, fulfilling the urge to binge on one thing for a brief period. Their self-containment seemed like an intrinsic and obvious part of their appeal, as did their comparative rarity - they may appear ubiquitous but each happens only once a year. They contrasted with the sprawling, soap-opera narrative of Test cricket, which didnt have any obvious entry point or definitive conclusion.Thats not necessarily a negative. As the great Gideon Haigh puts it in the documentary Death of a Gentleman, T20 cricket needs something to be shorter than. Test cricket has accompanied me through my life, changing with geological slowness but changing nonetheless, its storylines inexhaustible and self-renewing. And yet something that takes decades to impose its form needs impetus from outside forces, the shock of the new, whether it be Kerry Packer, the driving force of TV money, or the nonsense of the Big Three.By fluke, all of those Test series going on in the last month provided it. This wasnt quite box-set cricket but it was a happy coalescing that made for a compelling story with a wonderful outcome for Pakistan and the game as a whole. How invigorating and inspiring for Test cricket to have a team at No. 1 that has never been there before, and that has fought almost overwhelming odds to do so.But it has happened by chance. The rambling, unfocused ranking system cant claim credit, or to have solved the problem of giving narrative shape to the uncoordinated, top-heavy mess that is the Future Tours Programme.It is not a Test championship and it cant address the gap between the top teams and the bottom, which suggests a two-division system may work better. It doesnt provide more regular cricket, or a ladder up for, whisper it, more Test playing nations.Instead, it is proof that this endlessly unfolding story can have its way stations, points at which we stop and reset and allow someone to take in the view from the top. As Misbah put it this week, For us, the No. 1 ranking is not a destination but part of a journey.At the grand old age of 64, and with his 17th novel The Old Devils, Amis finally won something - the big one, in fact - the Booker Prize. His surprise and delight were genuine, and the greater for having waited so long. Amis drank in the moment and the view. Pakistan should enjoy doing the same. For once, their story has been properly and spectacularly framed. Nike Air Max 270 Flyknit Sale .Y. - Free agent outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, fresh off winning the World Series with Boston, reached agreement with the rival New York Yankees on a seven-year contract worth about $153 million, a person familiar with the negotiations said Tuesday night. Nike Air Max 270 Triple White Womens .ca look back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2013. Today, we look back at Boston Strong - a citys recovery from tragedy. http://www.max270cheap.com/air-max-270-react-sale.html . -- Jimmie Johnson held off a teammate, passed a pair of Hall of Famers, and dominated once more at Dover. Nike Air Max 270 Womens Clearance . Mickelson barely made the cut but had the best round of the day with nine birdies and an eagle coupled with two bogeys to sit two shots behind leader Craig Lee of Scotland. Lee shot a 69 for a 12-under 204 total. "I just love the fact I am in contention and have an opportunity in my first tournament of the year here in Abu Dhabi," Mickelson said. Air Max 270 Black And White Cheap . Duchene scored two goals and had an assist, helping the Colorado Avalanche beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 on Friday night to match the best 10-game start in team history. ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- LeSean McCoy scored twice and safety Aaron Williams returned a botched field-goal snap 53 yards for a touchdown in leading the Buffalo Bills to a 33-18 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.Quarterback Tyrod Taylor also scored on a 20-yard run at a time the Rex Ryan-coached Bills spent the past week taking the brunt of criticism after opening the season 0-2.The win also came on the heels of Ryan firing offensive coordinator Greg Roman and replacing him with running backs coach Anthony Lynn.McCoy scored on 24- and 5-yard runs, and finished with 110 yards rushing after combining for just 117 in his first two games. Taylor had 76 yards rushing, including a 49-yarder, the longest by a quarterback in team history.And suddenly, the Bills offense started resembling the one that led the NFL in yards rushing last season.This is what we do. This is what we are built for, guard Richie Incognito said. This is the way we were assembled in the offseason and its nice to see everything come to fruition.And Ryans defense started resembling the bully he envisioned when he was first hired in January 2015.A week after allowing 493 yards in a 37-31 loss to the New York Jets , the Bills limited Arizona to 348 yards, forced six punts and closed the game by intercepting Carson Palmer on each of Arizonas final four possessions.Stephon Gilmore had two interceptions.Arizona (1-2) unraveled a week after a 40-7 win over Tampa Bay, and had a five-game road winning streak snapped going back to last season.The Cardinals combined for just 2 yards net offense and no first downs on their first five possessions. Palmer finished 26 of 50 for 264 yards and was sacked five times.Im disappointed in the way we played. Im disappointed in myself, Palmer said.David Johnson scored on 4- and 22-yard runs for Arizona.The Bills took control in building a 30-7 lead on Williams fumble return with 2:25 left in the third quarter.With Chandler Catanzaro lining up to attempt a 32-yard field goal, Kameron Canadays snap sailed high and through the hands of holder Drew Butler. Catanzaro missed in an attempt to fall on the ball, and the ball squirted loose.Catanzaro also missed a last-minute field goal in the opener against New England because of a poor snap.Coach Bruce Arians placed the blame on the bad snap solely on Canaday.Grow the hell up, Arians said. It aint got nothing to do with anything but between his ears.Trailing 30-16 midway thrrough the fourth quarter, the Cardinals had a golden opportunity slip through their fingers.ddddddddddddSafety Tyrann Mathieu batted down quarterback Tyrod Taylors backward pitch intended for Robert Woods for a fumble. Mathieu failed twice attempting to scoop up the ball and instead kicked it out of bounds into the Cardinals sideline.The Bills defense then secured the victory on Arizonas next possession, when Gilmore intercepted Palmers pass up the left sideline intended for John Brown. The turnover led to Buffalo putting the game away with Dan Carpenter hitting a 45-yard field goal.DOUBLE DUTYCatanzaro was forced to take over the punting duties after Butler hurt his left ankle on the final play of the first quarter. Backed up in his own end zone, Catanzaros first punt traveled 47 yards.He then shanked his next punt early in the third quarter. It traveled just 19 yards and bounced out of bounds at the Cardinals 47.Arians called Butlers ankle as being severely sprained.Catanzaro did hit a 60-yard field goal , the longest in a Bills home game. The previous record was Bills kicker Steve Christie hitting a 59-yarder in 1993.FINALLY, FITZGERALDLarry Fitzgerald finally made a catch in Orchard Park.The Cardinals receiver extended the NFLs longest active reception streak to 182 consecutive games with a 3-yard catch on a crossing pattern midway through the first quarter. Fitzgeralds streak began during his rookie season and after he failed to make a catch in a 38-14 loss at the Bills on Oct. 31, 2004. It stands as the only game of his career hes not had a reception. He finished with seven catches for 60 yards.THEY SAID ITI dont care who plays quarterback. Steve Grogan can play quarterback. If Belichicks playing quarterback were coming after him, Ryan said looking ahead to playing the Bill Belichick-coached Patriots next week, and the uncertainty they have at quarterback.DEPLETED BILLSInjuries continued to hamper the Bills, who were down three starters in receiver Sammy Watkins, left tackle Cordy Glenn and cornerback Ronald Darby.Watkins has been bothered by a sore left foot he had surgically repaired in April. He then aggravated the injury when a teammate stepped on his foot during a walk-through last week.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '