deline with the Wizards.He spent six-plus seasons guiding the Okla

The first Monday morning of the summer holidays, the sky lumpen - an unscheduled autumn duvet pulled hastily from the cupboard above. The roads are quiet with relief, the ruddy trudgers of sandwich-laden picnic-hampers down to a steady trickle along the Great Stone Road.In the separated pens of the Old Trafford nets in the hour before play, the Pakistan players practised. And practised. Azhar Ali, diligently forward, diligently back; the coaching staff, arms folded, nodding approvingly. In and out they alternated, like figures on a weather house, Mohammad Hafeez, Yasir Shah, lined up against the Lancashire academy bowlers sprightly-keen to show what they could do.Behind them, staring at helmets and backsides, trying to identify whose belonged to whom, stood the Monday morning spectators. Not a great number - 6,533 in all - but proper cricket fans these: who else would give up a days holiday in chilly late July to sit in bucket seats to watch the fourth day of a one-sided Test?The nets are funny things, as close as people get to the players, an obscure mini zoo where fans stare while players pretend theyre not there, fans lurk and players reach resolutely for their bats and hope to walk away to the safety of the dressing-room un-manhandled. A rite of passage nonetheless.From the nets, it was just a short journey round the ground to B Stand - just to the left of the media centre, and most pertinently next door to the Pakistan dressing-room. If you couldnt quite see Misbah-ul-Haq reaching out for an idle scratch, you could imagine it: every players jaunt up and down the steps that led to the pitch was wildly cheered.B stand then, a multicultural slice of the kind of English society that cricket often turns up by accident: a good-natured mixture of cold and unpickled British people hunched over packets of cheese and onion in a mixture of cagouls, neat beards, hijabs, a couple of skull caps and a pair of stars-and-stripes sunglasses.On a day slowly meandering along to its inevitable conclusion, the spectators entertained themselves with vuvuzelas and cracker blowers, chatter in Urdu and English, inflatable bananas and that sustaining culinary combination of a soggy 99 followed by a warming coffee.In the prime seats just metres away from the Pakistan dressing-room steps, sat three sisters, Kiran, 21, a pharmacy student, Amina, 18, about to embark on a dentistry course, and Sophia, 15, hair covered in bright hijabs and decorated with Pakistani flag pins.The three sisters had woken at seven oclock and piled into a big van the family had hired for the day. Eight people crammed in, bags full of picnic, over the way from Bolton, Rihanna and Calvin Harris blaring on the radio. They are cricket nuts, all of them, a Pakistan flag hangs outside their house and posters adorn the walls. Theyd brought along a roll of coloured paper with them, and intended to write some thoroughly inspirational posters.We watch Pakistan on TV, but this is the first time weve seen them live, Sophia said. We love their passion. We paid extra for these seats because we knew theyd be just next to the dressing room.She reaches for her sisters phone to show her selfies with the team just as England declare at 173 for 1: time for Pakistan to pull off a surprise win? Were just hoping it doesnt rain.Higher up in B stand were another group of family friends - two of them, Zohaib and Farukh, had driven down from Glasgow with their small sons. A five oclock wake-up and then a four hour drive with no stops. It wasnt great for the rest of them but I didnt want to be late, Zohaib said. Their friend Ali Usmani had come from Bolton too - via 16 years in Pakistan and 20 years in Holland. He and his wife had brought along their son.I tell him to support England, that you should support the country where you are brought up. He loves cricket, his favourites are Shane Warne and Shahid Afridi, but I tell him that education is the first priority.It was a first visit to Old Trafford for the sisters, for the Glaswegians, for Ali too. The first time you hesitate to come, he said, then the way is open. Good news for Lancashire, if there is good news in a Test crowd of six-and-a-half thousand - there is plenty of potential support out there if they can find a way to capitalise on it.As it was, Pakistan crept past their first innings, just. When Misbah played on for 35, the end was nigh, though a final flourish from a blazing Mohammad Amir gave his fans something to cheer about.And from there it was a trudge back to the car, bags empty, legs tired. For England fans, a triumphant afternoon. For Pakistan fans, an ultimately disappointing but potentially uplifting day at the cricket. For the Pakistan team, it is back to the coach and the drawing board - the next two Tests suddenly looming very large. Ultra Boost Schuhe Sale . Pert has formerly spent time as an assistant coach with Cardiff City, Coventry City, and Bahrain mens national team. "Martyn is a highly-respected coach with experience at the top levels in England," said Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson. Yeezy Schuhe Großhandel . Pert has formerly spent time as an assistant coach with Cardiff City, Coventry City, and Bahrain mens national team. "Martyn is a highly-respected coach with experience at the top levels in England," said Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson. http://www.yeezyschuhe.de/ . The Redskins announced Monday that the quarterback who led the team to the Super Bowl championship in the 1987 season will serve as a personnel executive. Yeezy Schuhe Kaufen Deutschland . Louis Blues absence from top spot in the TSN. Adidas Nmd r2 Kaufen . Tuesdays surgery at Atlantas Piedmont Hospital was performed by Dr. Xavier Duralde and Hawks team physician Dr. Michael Bernot. ATLANTA -- Dwight Howard was everything the Hawks were hoping for in his hometown debut.Tim Hardaway Jr. in a starring role?That was a major surprise.Hardaway scored 21 points and ignited a fourth-quarter outburst that carried new-look Atlanta to a 114-99 victory over the Washington Wizards in the season opener Thursday night.Howard, who returned to the city where he grew up in the Hawks biggest offseason move, did nothing to disappoint. He grabbed 19 rebounds -- more than anyone had for Atlanta all of last season -- and was a huge presence at the defensive end, disrupting shots and giving his teammates the freedom to be more aggressive on the perimeter.The worst thing you can do is lay an egg in the first game, said Howard, who also had 11 points and three blocks. I think all of us were a little nervous in the first half because we want to do so well. We really want put on for this city. ... Once we kind of settled in, kind of got our feet wet, we took it to another level.Paul Millsap, for one, didnt have to spend so much time banging on the boards. He took advantage at the offensive end, leading the Hawks with 28 points on 11-of-20 shooting.But Hardaway was the one who really came up big, which was totally unexpected given that he was largely confined to the bench and even spent time in the D-League during his first season with the Hawks.Its definitely a new page, a new start, Hardaway said. But (last season) will always be the intro to me in Atlanta. That will always be in the back of my head, how they pushed me, how they got me prepared to get to this point in my career.Hardaway scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, including back-to-back 3-pointers that helped Atlanta pull away, and wound up matching his best showing in a Hawks uniform. Thabo Sefolosha was another key contributor off the bench, scoring 11 of his 13 points in the third quarter.The Hawks, who led only 81-80 heading to the final period, outscored the Wizards 33-19 over the final 12 minutes.Markieff Morris led Washington with 22 points, but it was a tough night for the Wizards dynamic backcourt duo. John Wall finished with only 12 pointts on 3-of-15 shooting, while Bradley Beal was held to 13 in the debut for new Washington coach Scott Brooks.dddddddddddd.We got a lot of good looks. Some went down, some didnt, Beal said. But at the end of the day, we cant control our offense. We can control our defense and our effort. We just gave up the last quarter and a half.TIP INSWizards: Marcin Gortat had 11 rebounds but didnt have much help. Washington was outrebounded 52-40. ... Otto Porter was the only other Washington player in double figures with 10 points. ... The Wizards locked arms during the national anthem.Hawks: Howard posted the most rebounds for anyone in their Atlanta debut, breaking the mark of 18 that Shareef Abdur-Rahim set at Houston on Oct. 30, 2001. ... Dennis Schroder, taking over as the starting point guard after the trade of Jeff Teague, had 14 points but only two assists.BROOKS RETURNSAfter deciding not to pursue a coaching job last season, Brooks was back on an NBA sideline with the Wizards.He spent six-plus seasons guiding the Oklahoma City Thunder before he was fired in 2015 after the team failed to make the playoffs.TEMPERS FLAREAtlantas Kent Bazemore was called for a flagrant foul early in the third quarter when he got underneath Wall as the Washington star went in for a breakaway dunk, sending him tumbling to the court.Wall hopped up, looking to go after Bazemore, but several players stepped in before something more serious could develop.Bazemore said he didnt mean to make contact with Wall.I dont play the game that way, Bazemore said. It was just an unfortunate play. We hugged and made up after that.UP NEXTWizards: Play at Memphis on Sunday, facing a Grizzlies team that began the season with a 102-98 victory over Minnesota.Hawks: Travel to Philadelphia on Saturday to take on the 76ers, who went 10-72 last season and opened with a loss to Oklahoma City.---Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry . ' ' '