been here in the spotlight of a nationally televised game between two storied programs.Swoopes has. It didnt go well.After starting most of 2014 when Texas went 6-7, Swoopes beat out Jerrod He

It was not supposed to be pretty. Not for Stephen Cook.His feet have been in a tangle all tour. The front one isnt moving freely enough and the back one is too often left behind. That has mostly resulted in him playing down the wrong line. On Saturday, they were more in sync, but only reluctantly so. What kept him at the crease was his defence, which is about as exciting to watch as someone building a 1000-piece puzzle. To the trained eye, there is something to be impressed with.Cook can make everything look like an effort, especially the leave. When he hops back and watches the ball carry through to the keeper, there is a nanosecond of anxiety as Cook waits to see if he made the right call. His awareness of his offstump appeared so shaky in his first three innings on tour that it was difficult to believe Cook had spent more a decade-and-a-half opening the batting in domestic cricket.The Cook who has bossed domestic cricket for the last seven seasons is not as much a stonewaller as the Cook who has been in Australia for the last four weeks. That Cook is more confident. This Cook is more circumspect, because he has to be.Unlike many of his team-mates who have matured on the international stage - Quinton de Kock, for example, only played 10 franchise first-class matches before he made his Test debut - the bulk of Cooks experience has been at a lower level. That means most of the bowling he has faced has not been of the quality on display in this series. Of course, the South African first-class competition has the likes of Marchant de Lange in its ranks, but like any domestic tournament, there are also has less exceptional bowlers on the circuit.Many players have spoken of the step up in intensity needed when they become internationals. its been no different for Cook. This is only his sixth Test and even if he failed, its likely he would have been given a slightly longer run. In tough circumstances, he showed he deserves one.Cook moved cautiously through an innings in which he lost partners at a quick enough rate to know that if he did not knuckle down, the Test could be gone. Slowly, he got into a rhythm of moving across his stumps to play Nathan Lyon into the leg side and getting forward to meet the fuller deliveries. He never looked entirely comfortable or in control.On 45, after facing 96 balls, he edged Jackson Bird to the vacant second slip area. It could all have ended right there. On 49, after facing 113 balls, a Lyon delivery spun back to hit his thigh pad and carry to short leg. On 51, after facing 135 deliveries, Josh Hazlewood half-appealed for a lbw after Cook missed a flick.But none of that unsettled him. Cook was content to let the dot balls mount. No doubt his father Jimmys words - You can get out to bad shot or a good ball, but you cant get out because you are tired - would have been on his mind. He did not let the frustration or the fatigue get to him. Not even under lights, when legend has it that the pink ball becomes more difficult to face. He hung on, only just, but at the end of the day, he was still hanging on.***It was not supposed to be ugly. Especially not from Hashim Amla. The man with the magic wrists, the most delicate flick and smoothest drive in world cricket is supposed to make batting look like field of flowers. For his last four away series, that field has been razed to the ground.Since August 2014, South Africa have toured Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, India and Australia for 10 Tests, and Amla has scored 233 runs at an average of 16.64. His top score is the 47 that he made in Hobart on this tour. In this period, Amla has been dismissed in single figures eight times and been caught behind (by the keeper or in the slips or gully) the same number of times.Amlas issue seems to be that he is misjudging the line too often, something Josh Hazlewood, who has dismissed him all five times in the series, has taken note of. That could have changed when Mitchell Starc drew the drive but Matt Renshaw expected Matthew Wade to take the catch and reacted too late to hold on at slip.That almost proved the catalyst for an Amla turnaround, as has so often been the case in the past. Amla attacked after that, with a drive, a cut and even a loft over mid-on for six, but Hazlewood ended all that when he got just the right amount of deviation to take the edge.Part of Amlas problem could be that he is being called on too early because of the inconsistency of South Africas opening pair. Eight times in the the 14 innings mentioned, Amla has walked in to bat with with the score less than 20. Some of those have been at No. 4, but since Faf du Plessis took over as stand-in captain, Amla has been bumped up a place. Having spent most of his career coming in after Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis, Amla had some buffer. Now, things have been different.Amla was the speaker at the MCG press conference, the person who called the ball tampering allegations against du Plessis a joke, and the one who reacted with feigned ignorance that sugary saliva could be used to shine the ball. Several players including du Plessis and the opposition captain Steven Smith have since confirmed that the sweet science is a common tactic. That has made Amla look as out of touch in his talk as he has in the middle.But to write Amla off would be premature, especially now that Cook has come good. If Cook can find some consistency, some of the pressure may be pulled away from Amla and South Africas top order can become beautiful again.DJ Moore Jersey . Spiller left Week 3s 27-20 loss to the New York Jets with a thigh injury, but fully practiced with the team all week and expects to be ready to go on Sunday. Cam Newton Youth Jersey . Jay Feely kicked a 41-yard field goal in overtime, and the Cardinals edged the Tennessee Titans 37-34 in overtime after blowing a 17-point lead late in the fourth quarter. http://www.thepanthersofficialstore.com/authentic-curtis-samuel-panthers-jersey/ . -- On the field, it was business as usual for Jameis Winston and No. Ryan Kalil Youth Jersey . Only three players drafted by NHL clubs were included on the Czech selection camp roster on Wednesday. Those players were Dallas Stars 2012 first-rounder Radek Faksa, Winnipeg Jets 2013 fourth-rounder Jan Kostalek and Phoenix Coyotes 2012 seventh-rounder Marek Langhamer. Will Grier Panthers Jersey .com) - The Chicago Blackhawks aim for their third three-game winning streak of the season when they host the struggling Edmonton Oilers in Sundays battle at the United Center.AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas coach Charlie Strong is keeping his big secret until game day.Strong on Monday declined to say will start at quarterback when the Longhorns face No. 10 Notre Dame on Sunday in their 2016 season opener, declaring only that he already knows who will it will be. His choices are freshman Shane Buechele or senior Tyrone Swoopes. The only thing he will promise right now is that both are going to play.Buechele was the standout during spring practice but Swoopes has starting experience over the past two seasons.Its a critical decision for the third-year coach who is 11-14 after two seasons and facing intense pressure to turn the program around and get Texas back to a bowl game.The decision has swirled around the program for months, yet Strong kept deflecting about a dozen quarterback questions in his weekly news conference. He laughed as they became more repetitive.He also sent some mixed signals. Strong said both Buechele and Swoopes will play, but one of them will be the clear starter.Kind of.When we name the QB he is our starter and he will be our starter, Strong said, unless he gets beat out.And then theres the experience factor. Strong loves to praise Buecheles work ethic as a young player, using the basketball teerm gym rat to describe his passion for the game.ddddddddddddhen he notes that as a freshman, Buechele hasnt been here in the spotlight of a nationally televised game between two storied programs.Swoopes has. It didnt go well.After starting most of 2014 when Texas went 6-7, Swoopes beat out Jerrod Heard to the earn the start in the 2015 season-opener at Notre Dame. Texas lost 38-3 and Swoopes lost his job and didnt get it back until Heard got injured late in the season as the Longhorns finished 5-7.Texas hired new offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert, giving all the quarterbacks a fresh start. Buechele made the most of it by enrolling early and participating in spring drills. He emerged -- at least publicly -- as the favorite to start this season with 299 yards passing a pair of touchdowns in one half of the spring scrimmage.But clearly Swoopes has done enough behind closed-door practices to make a case to be the senior starter.Strong said his team will know who the starter is this week even if the fans dont.We really have no idea, linebacker Malik Jefferson said. We go to practice every day and see both. ' ' '