has the Kings sitting atop the ladder with five wins from their

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 sonI 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. Arizona Diamondbacks Shirts . Galatasaray said in a statement on its website Monday that Mancini signed a three-year contract and will be paid 3.5 million euros for the upcoming season, with his salary upped to 4. Cheap Diamondbacks Jerseys .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. https://www.cheapdiamondbacksjerseys.us/ . Just not the game. 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Sydney coach Andrew Gaze has dismissed criticism that the Kings are trying to buy their way to an NBL title.Since the season started, Sydney have added former NBA players Josh Powell and Steve Blake to an already-strong roster which also includes two-time league MVP Kevin Lisch and fellow Australian star Brad Newley.Everyone is playing by the same rules, everyone is out there trying to recruit the best players they possibly can, said first-year coach Gaze, who has the Kings sitting atop the ladder with five wins from their first six matches.One thing I have learnt in my short time here is that the speculation and the lack of knowledge of what people are getting paid and the rumours that go around is quite comical.We would certainly be one of the teams that are at the top end of spending.But I dont think were doing any more thann a couple of others.ddddddddddddThe NBL have lifted the salary cap this year from a hard cap of $1 million to a soft cap of $1.1 million.Teams may exceed the soft cap provided that they pay a salary equalisation subsidy.Its not against the rules to pay players whatever you want, Gaze said.But I dont think were in that extreme category where we might be facing some prospects of, depending on the end numbers, being involved in having to pay some taxes.But I dare say that a few other clubs either are, or they are not telling the truth.The Kings have played four of their first six matches at home.Three of their next four are on the road in an eight-day spell, starting with a trip to Cairns on Saturday. 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