landscape.Somerset and Gloucestershire, two West Country riva

The search for consistency continues.Thats the Readers Digest version of the Nashville Predators 3-5-3 start, which is causing plenty of concern about a team which some thought could win the Stanley Cup this preseason.Instead, they are sitting in the Central Division cellar and although there are 71 games left in the season, they cant afford to get too far in the hole.So there figures to be some urgency for Nashville when it hosts the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena for the second contest of its four-game homestand. Then again, the same urgency existed Saturday night, but it lost 3-2 in a shootout to Carolina.After converting only one of four first period breakaways, the Predators were blatantly outplayed in the second period, then coughed up a game-tying shorthanded goal in the third period to set the stage for their second straight shootout failure.There is no excuse for the effort in the second period, defenseman Matt Irwin said. We have to be better. We know it in here, and theres no one to point the finger, but ourselves.Nashville averages only 2.5 goals and allows 3.2, correctly reflecting the fact that it hasnt been able to consistently generate pressure or prevent opponents from doing the same. Its third from the bottom in Corsi at 46.23 per 100 shots.While a strong Corsi ranking doesnt guarantee success -- Toronto and Carolina rank in the top 10, for instance, and 10-1-1 Montreal is 24th -- it usually tells an accurate tale over 82 games. The tale it tells for the Predators is of inconsistency.Its not good enough, and thats the bottom line, Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. Nobody is going to sit here and say that its been good enough because it hasnt. We have to continue to work to get better. Its frustrating.Meanwhile, Ottawa (7-4-0) is off to a surprisingly quick start under first-year coach Guy Boucher. Although the Senators are coming off a 2-1 loss Saturday night to Buffalo, they have largely exceeded expectations with stingy defense, permitting only three goals in the last four games.Bouchers point of emphasis has been improving the teams defense from last season.It starts with a mindset, which we have, Boucher said. Were asking our players to be reliable defensively, which theyve bought into, which is very difficult to do in such little time. Ive been very impressed.Despite dealing with his wifes cancer battle, goaltender Craig Anderson has been outstanding, going 6-2-0 with a 2.21 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage. Anderson, who will play against the Predators, has ceded three goals in his last 124 shots.The one weakness of late for Ottawa has been burying its chances. It scored only four goals in three games last week, and the lack of offense finally caught up with it against Buffalo when goalie Robin Lehner outdueled Anderson.We were generating chances, left wing Mike Hoffman said. At the end of the day, thats what we want to do. Some days theyre going to go in and some days, theyre not.Cheap Air Jordan 2 China Wholesale . One game after a miserable showing in Oklahoma City, Gay tied a career high with 41 points and the Sacramento Kings cruised to a 114-97 victory at the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. Cheap Jordans From China .J. -- Pitcher Carl Pavano is retiring after 14 major league seasons. http://www.cheapjordanschinawholesale.com/ . 24 Baylor in a Big 12 clash between teams trending in opposite directions. Andrew Wiggins made 10-of-12 from the foul line and scored 17 for Kansas (14-4, 5-0 Big 12), which capped a stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents unscathed. Wholesale Jordans Online . LOUIS -- Cardinals cleanup hitter Allen Craig says hes recovered from a foot injury and ready to be put on St. Cheap Air Jordan 3 China Wholesale . Tests earlier this week revealed a Grade 2 left hamstring strain for Sabathia, who was hurt in last Fridays start against San Francisco. Its an injury that will require about eight weeks to heal. He finished a disappointing campaign just 14-13 with a career-worst 4.Richard Gould, Surreys chief executive, has led calls for the ECB to remember the interests of the sports traditional fans, as the battle for the future of county cricket intensified in the wake of Wednesdays historic meeting at Lords.Surrey were one of three clubs - Kent and Sussex being the other two - who went against the majority in what has been described as an informal vote to consider plans for a new eight-team city-based league to be established from 2018 onwards.However, despite an apparently emphatic 16-3 verdict in favour of the proposals tabled by the ECB hierarchy, several clubs have since made a point of insisting that nothing has yet been agreed, emphasising that their members will be consulted before any further decisions are taken.Gould, however, believes that the yes voters have backed themselves into a corner by accepting a situation in which there are no alternatives left on the table.There is still a huge amount of detail to be unveiled, he told ESPNcricinfo. However, in deciding on the future direction of the game, we wanted more than one option to be considered at the next stage. Other counties, however, disagreed and needed to see only one option.Its not what we wanted, but it is what we got, and it is now all about making a success of the new position.Gould added that many Surrey members had already made it clear to him that they would be uncomfortable if another team, under another name were to play their home matches at The Kia Oval under the new proposals. Yorkshires fans, he suggested, would feel similarly aggrieved if Headingley were to host a non-county side.However, Gould denied comments made by Essexs chairman, John Faragher, during an impromptu members forum in Chelmsford, that Surrey would be reluctant to lease out The Oval for the planned new competition.We have to be bound by what the ECB want, Gould said. Surrey has a very large supporter base, weve been fortunate to see huge crowds for our NatWest T20 Blast home fixtures, but we started that competition from a low base. We want our club to go from strength to strength, but we are not yet sure how that will be achieved through the new proposals.Faragher, who had been taking questions from the floor during the final day of Essexs home match against Glamorgan at the ECG, insisted that the city cricket plan was not a done deal.I havent given this game away, he told the room. We have to make change that is right andd suits everybody.dddddddddddd There is a lot more to be done.Some of the strongest views in the aftermath of the vote came from the chairman of one of the most traditionally vulnerable clubs. Writing in a series of posts on Twitter, Derbyshires chairman, Christopher Grant, echoed the sentiments expressed in the ECBs pitch during the Lords meeting, that the sport was failing to attract enough new fans.Cricket simply isnt reaching enough children, Grant said. Yesterdays landmark decision at Lords will go a long way to changing that. Out of 9.4 million cricket followers in this Country, only 990,000 come to games at present. Yesterday was about unlocking the 8.5 million!There was consensus around having two thriving T20 competitions, with new brands in the new T20 to unlock a new audience, he continued. Most counties struggle financially to avoid going under every single season. The proposals for a new T20 competition will change that.How does counties going bust, which they will do given their perilous financial state, benefit cricket and kids in their locality?Middlesex, whose future would be particularly precarious under the new proposals given that they lease their home ground, Lords, from MCC, were another club who let it be known that their members would be canvassed before any further decisions were taken.We made it very clear to the ECB that we could not consider voting for such a dramatic change to the domestic cricket landscape without first consulting our members, the club said in a press release.Sussex said that their strong preference was that all domestic tournaments should feature all 18 first-class counties, but added that they were open to considering change in the schedule.We recognise the current financial risks to counties, said the club, including over-dependence on international income, and the opportunities to develop interest in the game, including the changing media landscape.Somerset and Gloucestershire, two West Country rivals who might be expected to hold particularly strong views about the city-based aspects of the ECBs proposals, are set to host members forums on September 20 and 22 respectively. The need to secure a concession to allow a proportion of matches to be played at county crickets smaller grounds is likely to be high on the agenda. ' ' '