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James Sutherland, Cricket Australias chief executive, has claimed the national team had near identical preparation to South Africa despite the facts telling a rather different story.As the hosts came to terms with another disastrous batting display on day one of the Hobart Test, Sutherland said that Steven Smiths team could not blame their preparation for the poor results achieved so far this summer, following on from a 5-0 ODI defeat in South Africa and a 3-0 away pasting at the hands of Sri Lanka before that.Ive heard a little bit of commentary around preparation and I think its interesting. The first thing is that every summer is a little bit different, Sutherland said on ABC Radio. If we cast our minds forward to next year there will be more opportunities for Shield cricket, thats a different schedule again because the season will start later.But also that criticism around the preparation, I dont think the preparation is anything that Australian cricket can complain about because South Africa have had the same schedule in terms of preparation as we have. We have both played each other in one-day matches in October, came through here, had various forms of long-form or other preparatory matches.They played a game in Adelaide under lights as Shield cricket played under lights. So if you draw that comparison the team we are playing against hasnt had any different preparation. So yes, ideally you might have a different preparation but the fact of the matter is you cant.In contradiction of Sutherlands words, Australias players did not get the chance to play even a single match with a red ball in between the Sri Lanka and South Africa Test series. By contrast, many of South Africas players - those not taking part in the ODIs at home - were able to play first-class cricket during this period, and then had two warm-up matches in contrast to the one (pink ball) Shield game played before the Perth Test.Sutherland noted that there was a wider effort currently being undertaken at ICC level to reduce the amount of international cricket played while adding the context of league structures across each format. Such a move would in turn allow more room for domestic schedules to breathe.The reality is the future tours program requires us to play a certain amount of cricket at home and whatever we play at home weve got to reciprocate away, he said. So the complexity around that is greater because most countries share the same season as us. So we have to find ourselves playing matches like we did this year in October against South Africa. We couldnt play them earlier because thats not their season, their season is October. We are having them and then Pakistan later in our peak season.From that perspective the schedule is difficult and at ICC level its something were working very hard on to try and get more structure to refine the way in which international cricket is played and to be honest ultimately play less international cricket so that its more valuable and is not these random series that crop up all the time. That we have context through some sort of a league structure. The hope is there will be less international cricket which allows gaps in preparation but also ideally for international cricket to be more valuable and precious.Responding to criticism directed at the captain Steven Smith, Sutherland said that while all were impatient for immediate success, there was a strong belief within CA that Smith was the right man for the job - as evidenced by his steely innings while the rest fell around him on day one at Bellerive Oval.Were certainly very conscious of the fact that Steve has come into the role much younger...than any of his four or five predecessors, Sutherland said. I had a look the other day - you go back to Border, Taylor, Waugh, Ponting, Clarke...between 29 and 34 I think they came into the captaincy of the Australian team. Steve was 26. All of them came in being world-class batsmen. But I dont think if you look back in history, certainly in my time [as CEO], none of them have made an easy or smooth transition into the job.Its a big step up and its a real challenge and even more so if you dont have the players around you that are performing as well as they might or could or whatever. So that added challenge is there. But we have a very high regard for Steve Smith as a person, as a leader, and obviously as a cricketer and we think that with his support and as he builds the team around him and they perform hes got a very bright future as a leader for a long time. Nike Air Max 90 Cheap Wholesale . Newcastle dominated in the early stages but City weathered the storm and then raised its game in extra time. Negredo broke the deadlock from close range after a simple move in the 99th minute before Dzeko took the ball round goalkeeper Tim Krul to seal the victory in the 105th. Air Max 90 Cheap Online . -- Anaheim Ducks captain and leading scorer Ryan Getzlaf has been scratched from Sunday nights game against the Vancouver Canucks because of an upper-body injury. http://www.nikeairmax90outlet.com/ . Jeff Green scored 13 points and Kris Humphries 12 for the Celtics, who nearly blew an 18-point, second-half lead. Sullingers 20-20 was the first by a Celtics player since Kevin Garnetts first game in Boston in 2007. Garnett was dealt -- along with Paul Pierce -- to Brooklyn during the off-season. Nike Air Max 90 Cheap Sale . -- There were so many positives from the Orlando Magics first victory of the season that it was hard for coach Jacque Vaughn to stop praising his players. Cheap Air Max 90 Outlet . -- There were a lot of firsts for the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Former champions Spain and Italy eased to comfortable 4-0 wins over weak opponents in European qualifying for the 2018 World Cup on Saturday.A Spain side missing several players due to injury tacked on some late goals to trounce Macedonia while Italy eased up after a first-half barrage at Liechtenstein to remain tied atop Group G with 10 points each.Ireland seized control of Group D with a 1-0 win over Austria, while rivals Wales and Serbia drew 1-1 after a dramatic end in Cardiff.Croatia led Group I after Marcelo Brozovic scored twice in a 2-0 win over Iceland.Only the group winner automatically secures a spot for the World Cup in Russia. The second-place team must go through a playoff to make it to the 2018 tournament.Here is a look at each European qualifying group in play on Saturday:GROUP GMacedonia made a promising start to the match in Granada but went behind for good in the first half when Darko Velkovskis headed clearance landed in his own net.Victor Vitolo Machin scored Spains second goal to put the result beyond doubt, and Nacho Monreal and substitute Artiz Aduriz rounded off the win late.Spain was without the injured Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos and Jordi Alba.We were without several players, but its true that their absences create opportunities, Spain coach Julen Lopetegui said. We have players with talent, attitude and ambition and they showed that tonight.Italy was led by forward Andrea Belotti, who opened and completed the quartet of goals just before halftime at Liechtenstein. In between his strikes, Ciro Immobile and Antonio Candreva scored.Israel moved into third place with nine points after winning 3-0 at 10-man Albania in a match played under tight security. Media reports alleged a group of 15 persons arrested in Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia, planned an attack during the game.ddddddddddddAlbania has six points, and Macedonia and Liechtenstein zero.GROUP DJames McCleans 48th-minute goal in Vienna earned Ireland a third victory in four matches, and left fourth-place Austria facing an uphill task.Hours later, Gareth Bale put Wales ahead against Serbia with his 26th international goal and came close to sealing victory when he struck the base of the post with a shot in the 85th. The Serbians went up the other end of field and equalized 50 seconds later, with Aleksandar Mitrovic glancing a header in off the post.You get close one end and they go the other end and score. Very disappointing, said Bale, who was two goals off Ian Rushs national record.Ireland has 10 points, Serbia eight, Wales six, and Austria four.In the groups other game, a 1-1 draw left Georgia with two points and Moldova with one.Group IForced to play in an empty arena because of numerous cases of spectator unrest, Croatia took the lead early when Brozovic curled in a shot from outside the box.Brozovic got another in stoppage time as Croatia largely dealt well with the Iceland counterattack that caused so many problems for top teams at the European Championship.Croatia has 10 points, ahead of Ukraine with eight after it edged Finland 1-0 at home thanks to Artyom Kravetss first-half goal.Kosovos difficult start to its first major qualifying competition continued with defeat away to Turkey 2-0.Iceland was third with seven points, Turkey had five, while Finland and Kosovo have one each. ' ' '