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To have one individual score over 150 in a one-day series sticks in the memory, but to have five, as the England Lions did against the A sides of Pakistan and Sri Lanka in July, is unprecedented. During their four games, the Lions displayed skill, invention and brutality in abundance, qualities that so often have been missing from Englands one-day batsmanship. Rarely, if ever, can any England side have so consistently dominated opposition bowling attacks.Ben Ducketts 220 not out was the best of the five and was the second-highest List A score ever made by an Englishman and the eighth-highest overall. Daniel Bell-Drummond, Sam Billings, Dawid Malan and Duckett again completed the quintet of brilliant innings. They were performances that perfectly showcased the recent development of Englands one-day cricket at all levels and proved the value of some extensive one-day skill work by the England Performance Programme (EPP) last winter.Criticisms of England after the 2015 World Cup were wide-ranging and varied but the lack of imaginative and explosive batsman was perhaps the most valid. Some blamed the development system, coordinated from the National Performance Centre in Loughborough, for not developing enough unique and expressive players in step with the modern one-day game. Instead, so the argument went, it churns out players who have had their individuality knocked out of them. After Duckett and cos inventive and powerful displays this summer, few could now claim that to be the case.There was some absolutely outstanding one-day batting in that series, says Andy Flower, head coach of the Lions. If we had put some of our better national cricketers in there, they couldnt have done much better than the young Lions guys. The one-day focus over the winter was valuable in giving these guys the opportunity to really focus on their white-ball skills.From the moment Englands director of cricket Andrew Strauss took the role in May last year, his determination to drag Englands one-day cricket in to the 21st century was clear. He decided in conjunction with Dave Parsons, the ECBs performance director, and Flower that the EPP would focus solely on white-ball cricket last winter. They held a training camp focusing on one-day skill work in the UAE before the Lions played a series of five 50-over and five T20 games against Pakistan A. It paid dividends during the English summer.We are really lucky through the ECB to have the resources to go and do these things, Flower says. To go away post-season to have the opportunity to work on developing really specific skills but also having the time and the energy to work on when to use those skills, understand how to use them and then to be able to test them out in practice conditions, in middle scenarios and in practice matches, those are great opportunities.From this winter onwards, the EPP has been rebranded as the International Pathway, with 50 players chosen for four squads, all with a view to increasing the exposure of Englands best players to the standards expected at international levelThe purpose of it is bridging the gap between the county game and the international game, Flower says. The county game is an excellent breeding ground for our international cricketers but we believe there is a gap that exists in a number of areas and our purpose is to bridge that.While Englands one-day stocks look healthy, those of the Test side look rather different. Englands struggles at Test level to find permanent candidates for their top order as well as a top-class spinner are two areas which the EPP has recently failed to help address. Several graduates of the programme such as James Vince, who captained the Lions last winter, and Adam Lyth have failed to do their talent justice at Test level, while the recall of Surreys Gareth Batty to the Test squad at the age of 38 underlines the concern that not enough young spinners are developing quickly enough for the highest level.Have one-day priorities impacted the recent development of Test class players? It did mean that we havent given them any red-ball exposure, Flower admits. In the Test side we know there are a couple of positions up for serious debate in the selections for the winter and in a way, we dont have the in-depth knowledge that we want because we havent exposed these young guys to any red-ball cricket over the last year to 18 months at Lions level. That severely affects our understanding and knowledge of our young red-ball cricketers.For that reason, a training camp will again be held in the Emirates this winter, with three one-day games against the UAE and a three-day game against Afghanistan thrown in, followed by a red-ball tour to Sri Lanka early next year. Where the focus was one-day cricket last winter, there will be a mix of red- and white-ball cricket this time around.We do take in to account Englands needs so, for instance, on the opening batting front, I would imagine this winter - and the selections havent been made yet - there would be a focus on taking at least three openers with us for the red-ball tour to Sri Lanka. [Alastair] Cooks opening partner hasnt been nailed down for quite some time so we want to provide the opportunity for some opening batsmen to develop but also demonstrate to the selectors that they can hack it at a higher level.There are long-term issues with Englands Test team, so the failure to produce productive players to address them is not simply a matter of recent one-day priorities. England have not produced a Test-class opening batsman since Cook, although Lancashires Haseeb Hameed may soon fill that gap, nor a high-quality spinner since Graeme Swanns retirement. The EPP should take its share of the blame for that, as should county cricket and the players given opportunities.It is right to criticise the failure to produce players to fill these gaps but conversely, in recent times, English cricket has also produced some of the finest cricketers to have ever played for the national side. It is hard to say to what extent the EPP, the counties or natural talent made Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler the players they are, but each played a role somewhere along the line. Its unreasonable to expect superstars to fall off the conveyor belt each year but the structure, prior to this years rebranding, has not produced enough decent Test players who do a consistently solid job. Its either boom or bust.Flower understands the criticism but says nobody should be written off yet: Andrew Strauss is very keen to emphasise that we are here to develop great players for England, not just a great number. We are keen to aim quite high with our development but, unless they are outstanding cricketers like a Root or a Ricky Ponting, a natural cycle seems to be that these young guys - a bit like what happened to [Australias] Damien Martyn - go in to the side, find out what the challenges of international cricket are and sometimes have to step out again to then grow and develop to become a stronger, more mature package that can then handle the rigour of international sport.That is what happened to Jonny Bairstow, a graduate of the EPP who played on the Lions tour to South Africa in 2015, and the same may happen in time to Vince or Lyth. Did the programme fail because Bairstow didnt excel at the first time of asking at Test level or did it do its job because it played a role in helping him find his way back? Player development is rarely linear or standardised so the answers will vary from player to player. That is why Flower is keen that the quality of the programme should be independently assessed.How to measure [success] is a challenge. Weve talked about measuring it against how successful they are initially when they move in, or how successful they are over a long period of time. To be quite frank with you, we havent found the answer yet. What we do want to do is to make sure that we are challenging ourselves to be as good as we can be, just like we ask the players to be. Part of that will be getting independent views of our system. Dave Parsons and I have discussed our plan to bring in a critical friend, someone with experience in these areas to assess what we do and to make observations and be really honest about what they see.Those observations will be important, as will the success of the tweaks made to this winters programme, but runs and wickets at international level are the only currencies that prove the success or otherwise of Englands development system. It has proved capable of developing young, highly skilled one-day players but can the International Pathway, as it will henceforth be known, consistently produce players who succeed at Test level too? It is a question which remains as yet unanswered and which makes this winters work as important as ever.Ron Hextall Flyers Jersey . Nine days before the opening ceremony, organizing committee chief Dmitry Chernyshenko said Wednesday that Sochi is "fully ready" and will deliver safe, friendly and well-run games that defy the grim reports that have overshadowed preparations. Ivan Provorov Jersey . Hargreaves began his career in 2008 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and has played with the Edmonton Eskimos and last season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. http://www.nhlflyersproauthentic.com/robert-hagg-hockey-jersey/ . Jordan Lynch, the all-purpose Heisman Trophy finalist from Northern Illinois, failed to make it into that exclusive club. Travis Sanheim Flyers Jersey . The FA rejected Wilsheres appeal that the length of his punishment was "clearly excessive" and said Thursday his suspension begins with immediate effect. He will miss league matches against Chelsea on Monday and West Ham on Dec. Bill Barber Jersey . Capitals head coach Adam Oates said Ovechkin was injured in the first period against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday and clarified it was not a head injury.LOS ANGELES -- Yasiel Puig is making his mark against left-handed pitching while helping the Dodgers in a major way.The Cuban outfielders three-run homer highlighted a five-run first inning in a 9-3 rout of the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night, extending the Dodgers NL West lead to six games with 10 remaining.Its nice to have that separation, third baseman Justin Turner said, but nothing is certain until that number is zero. The important thing is to stay hot and build some momentum as youre rolling into the playoffs.Puig is doing just that against lefties. He has four home runs and two walks against them since returning from the minor leagues earlier this month. Hes started all six games in September against lefties, who have given the Dodgers fits this season.Hes done some things mechanically, manager Dave Roberts said. When he elevates the ball with his strength good thing are going to happen. Hes getting to a lot of pitches he wasnt prior.The Dodgers beat left-hander Madison Bumgarner 2-1 in Mondays series opener and got to fellow lefty Matt Moore (11-12) early.It was good for us to break out, Roberts said.Puig is batting .333 (6 for 16) with eight RBI in seven games at home since being recalled on Sept. 2.Thats the guy we all know he can be, Turner said. Hes an exciting player on both sides of the ball. We knew he could be a game-changer for us.The Dodgers pounded out 12 hits in taking two of three from the rival Giants, who remained tied in the NL wild-card race after both the Mets and Cardinals lost earlier. The Dodgers conclude the regular season with three games at San Francisco next week.Kenta Maeda (16-9) allowed two runs -- one earned -- and three hits in five innings while improving to 4-0 against the Giants this season. The right-hander struck out six and walked one in making his 30th start of the season for just the second time in his career. Maeda is one win from tying Rick Sutcliffes record by a rookie set in 1979.Moore gave up six runs and seven hits in one inning, walked one and struck out none in a messy outing for the left-hander who had pitched exceptionally well at Dodger Stadium.It was a bad day to have a bad day, he said. There was a lot of small stuff going on.Moore was one out away from throwing his first career no-hitter on Aug. 25 in Los Angeles when Corey Seager broke it up with a single. He previously held the Dodgers to just one unearned run in 15 1/3 innings.He was making a lot of mistakes and we made them pay, outfielder Kike Hernandez said. Last time he was making every pitch.After two close games, including a 2-0 loss Tuesday, the Dodgers put the game away early.They took a 5-1 lead in the bottom of that inning on Puigs 11th homer and RBI singles by Adrian Gonzalez and Maeda.They made it 6-2 in the second on Turners sacrifice fly. Howie KKendrick doubled in two more runs with two outs in the third.dddddddddddd The Dodgers added another run on pinch-hitter Andrew Toles RBI double in the sixth.The Giants runs came on Angel Pagans RBI single in the first, Ehire Adrianzas homer in the second and Brandon Belts RBI single in the sixth.TRAINERS ROOMGiants: RHP Johnny Cueto had an MRI on Wednesday that confirmed a Grade 1 groin strain, which forced him out of his start in the sixth inning Tuesday. Hes questionable for his next start, although manager Bruce Bochy hasnt ruled him for the Giants next series. ... SS Brandon Crawford came out of Tuesdays victory with a dislocated left pinky on his glove hand in the second. Hell need a couple days to recover, Bochy said.Dodgers: LHP Scott Kazmir comes off the disabled list to start Friday against Colorado after missing nearly a month with neck inflammation. Hes expected to throw about 90 pitches, but will be monitored. He threw a 35-pitch bullpen session on Tuesday.REELIN IT INDodgers outfielders Kike Hernandez and Puig made dramatic catches in the fourth. A charging Hernandez caught Belts fly ball to center, landing on his front side fully stretched for the second out of the inning. Puig tracked Joe Paniks ball over his shoulder, made the catch and, with his momentum carrying him, climbed a step up on the right field scoreboard before jumping down to end the inning. His catch was way better than mine, Hernandez said. I never thought he was going to make the play and sure enough he did.TROUBLE BEHIND THE PLATEDodgers catcher Carlos Ruiz had a troublesome first that led to the Giants first run. Denard Span walked and took second on a passed ball by Ruiz before Pagan singled to right. Puigs throw to the plate bounced once and Ruiz missed the tag in a close play.VISITING VINBochy visited retiring Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully before the game, joining a long list of opposing managers and players whove done so this season. They chatted in Scullys fifth-floor booth, where Bochy said he could see where he does his magic.I was telling him all the memories that go through my head, the manager said. Ive been coming to the ballpark for 21 years; hes been here 67 years. Hes an incredible man who has done so much for the game.UP NEXTGiants: RHP Jeff Samardzija (11-10, 3.97 ERA) starts the series opener against the Padres. Hes 3-1 with a 4.31 ERA in five starts against them this season. Hes struggled in his last two outings, allowing nine runs (eight earned) in 11.0 innings.Dodgers: LHP Brett Anderson (0-2, 24.75) starts the series opener against the Rockies for the first time since Aug. 20 after being on the disabled list with a blister on his left index finger. ' ' '