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Northamptonshire 89 for 2 (Cobb 39*, Duckett 24*) beat Birmingham 86 for 8 (Javid 34, Gleeson 3-12) by eight wicketsScorecard Such is Northants dominance in T20 cricket this year that it might take until the winter for them to face a real challenge.Certainly they encountered little resistance at Edgbaston. Although the teams went into the match equal on points at the top of the North Division, Birmingham were 25 for 5 after 37 deliveries and there is no way back from that. Its a little premature to suggest Northants have one foot in the quarter-finals, but they are very handily placed.But, by the time winter comes, the discussion over the future shape of the domestic T20 tournament will be coming to fruition. As things stand right now - and these things change like manifesto promises - the most likely result of those discussions is a two-division competition involving all 18 first-class counties and a system of promotion and relegation. It could start as early as next year, though 2020 and the advent of a new TV deal remains a more likely timeframe. The broadcasters would focus on the top division.Which all sounds pretty simple, doesnt it?Except such is the desire to ensure the product - yes, its a horrible word, but we have to be realistic - looks right, that the argument over how to populate the top division could become complex.While you might think that simply picking the quarter-finalists of the previous season was the most meritocratic solution, there are those who think the division should be decided by ground size. That way, they argue, the product will appear more glamorous on TV and the potential for extra revenue from ticket sales increases. It is, in essence, a way of introducing city cricket through the back door.But if the new-look competition does start next year Northants, in particular, cannot be denied. So consistently impressive has their T20 form been over the last few years - they won the competition in 2013 and reached the final in 2015 - that any formation that does not include them (and the other small counties who are out-performing their city neighbours with big grounds and even bigger senses of entitlement) will lack integrity. Merit must remain the only method for qualification.A similar discussion occurred ahead of the first year of the Premier League. Cambridge United were, at the time, the club with the small stadium that threatened to win promotion. As it was, they fell away and most of their best players were cherry-picked by bigger clubs. Northants supporters will be familiar with the sensation.Northants do have an issue with ticket sales, though. While Surrey, who could find themselves in the lower division, have sold 122,247 NatWest Blast tickets this season, Northants have sold just 16,477. Not for the first time, the cricket side of the club is being let down by the business side.Ticket sales have fallen off drastically around the country in the last couple of weeks. From a high point, a month ago, where they were up 26 percent on 2015 levels (which was, in itself a record year), the relentlessly wet weather (and, perhaps, the rival attraction of the football) has reduced this figure to 8 percent. The plan to start the competition several weeks later in 2017 may help, but the last few weeks might prove a reminder that, if this competition is held in a window, it is a hostage to fortune. It could be ruined by a spell of wet weather the like of which we have just experienced.What Northants provide - in T20 cricket, at least - is a glorious reminder of the ability of sport to transcend financial muscle. So here, despite fielding a makeshift opening attack of part-time pros (Richard Gleeson combines his playing role with a community coaching role at the Lancashire Cricket Board, while Moin Ashraf has been signed on a short-term contract to cover for injuries to Rory Kleinveldt and Stone), they thrashed a side with a budget the like of which they can only dream.Birmingham, remember, have such a strong squad that they feel able to leave out players of the class of Varun Chopra (who scored an unbeaten 97 in his only T20 innings this season) and Jonathan Trott (who remains the highest T20 run-scorer in the clubs history, despite hardly having played for several years). Indeed, if you added up the salaries of those left out - and you could include Boyd Rankin, Tim Ambrose, Ian Westwood, Keith Barker and Chris Wright - it might not fall far short of the entire Northants salary bill.The better side won here. While Northants produced some moments of great skill - Richard Levi seemed to defy gravity as he leapt high into the air to take as sharp a slip catch as you could wish to see to dismiss Laurie Evans - Birmingham had what might politely be called a shocker: Jeetan Patels drop at cover to reprieve Josh Cobb on 1 was museum-quality awful.Perhaps they were a little unfortunate. Batting first on a pitch that had been under cover for much of the time since it was used for last weeks ODI, Gleeson gained just enough movement to trouble the batsmen. Luke Ronchi edged a beauty that left him, Ian Bell missed one that may have nipped in and Sam Hain, frustrated at his lack of progress, top-edged a desperate heave. Had the match not been reduced to 16 overs a side due to rain, Birmingham may well have struggled to see out their overs.Northants, recognising the tricky conditions, did not try to win with overs to spare. Instead Ben Duckett - a home-grown player who could well go on to represent his country - and Cobb, the third-highest scorer in the competition this season, played intelligent, mature innings. There were 21 balls to spare when Cobb clipped the boundary through mid-wicket that clinched the win. Crickets version of the Leicester City story continues.Wil Myers Jersey . Pettersen, winner of last years Evian Championships, had nine birdies and three bogeys, holding off a series of challengers led by Marion Ricordeau of France. The second-ranked Norwegian made her season debut after missing the LPGA Tours opening event last month in the Bahamas because of a shoulder injury. Franchy Cordero Padres Jersey . He says so-called TRT is only one problem and he wants to go even further than the ban. "Its about time," St-Pierre told reporters at a promotional event in Montreal on Friday. "I think its a good thing. http://www.padressale.com/padres-eric-hosmer-jersey/ . If ever they start actually putting pictures beside words in the dictionary, the Blue Jays left-handers mug will appear beside “Consistency. Manuel Margot Padres Jersey . He was followed closely by David Clarkson, donning red, seconds later. Clarksons actions one night earlier, leaping off the bench in defence of Kessel during a pre-season game against the Buffalo Sabres, will cost him the first 10 games of the regular season. Tony Gwynn Padres Jersey . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services.The reaction said it all. James Vince stood frozen in horror after steering one to slip. He knew he needed a score here. He knew his career could depend upon it.Instead, after three hours of resistance, he had been drawn into a familiar error. Seduced into feeling at one angled across him against the new ball, he had edged to second slip for the second time in the match and the third time in the series. Like a former smoker who cant resist, the habit he had tried to cut out had done for him once more. The slow trudge off the pitch, head shaking in dismay and disappointment, spoke volumes.But if this was a familiar end, it was not an entirely familiar innings. It felt like a step forward. It wasnt just the score - 42 equalled his best Test effort so far - but the maturity he demonstrated in steering England away from trouble after the loss of Alastair Cook and Alex Hales. He had left more deliveries, he played a little straighter and he picked his aggressive strokes more selectively. Not too many batsmen are dropped after contributing 81 runs in a game. Not under this regime, anyway.There had been some nervous moments along the way, though. On 22, Vince was beaten as he attempted to drive one from Sohail Khan that left him just a touch and, on 23, he pushed at one from the same bowler and was fortunate to see the ball bounce just in front of Mohammad Hafeez at slip. On a quicker wicket - and that is just about every wicket - it would have been a chance.This wicket is unusually slow. While it is not easy to score quickly - it is, in truth, a pretty disappointing wicket which does nothing to sustain the viability of Test cricket - it is the sort of wicket on which dislodging batsmen is tough.That is when bowlers even attempt to dismiss them. But, while Vince was at the crease, Pakistan instead concentrated on damage limitation and attempted to frustrate the England batsmen into making errors as they sought to accelerate the run-rate. Vince faced just one delivery from seamers in his entire innings that would have hit the stumps. Thats one delivery out of 65. So, its hardly surprising he managed to survive for longer; they were hardly blowing to dismiss him. And Vince, for all the runs he has scored, is the only man in Englands top seven not to have made a half-century in the match.All of which leaves Englands selectors with a tricky decision. They have invested heavily in Vince and they may well feel they could see signs of progress here. He clearly has time to play the ball and a wide range of strokes. The raw talent is pretty obvious.But at the same time, Trevor Bayliss has said several times that batsmen will be judged not by how they make their runs but by how many runs they make. Vince has now been given six Tests and nine innings. How would other leading contenders - the likes of James Hildreth, Scottt Borthwick or Ben Duckett - fare if given such a run? Is it unrealistic to expect them to have supplied at least a half-century? A generation of former players - the likes of Paul Parker, Alan Jones, Alan Wells and Paul Terry among them - could only dream of such opportunities.ddddddddddddComparisons with more modern players are no more enlightening. While Sam Robson and Adam Lyth were given 11 and 13 Test innings respectively before they were dropped, both men registered centuries in their second Tests. Such early success naturally extended their run.We are getting to the stage, too, where Vinces issue may become mental as much as technical. The analysts working with the England teams over recent years have conducted research into the importance of players performing well early in their international career. Their conclusions, unsurprisingly, suggested that it becomes disproportionately more difficult to succeed if the early memories and associations of the England environment are not positive.Vince appears admirably calm at the crease and can only benefit for the backing he has received from the management. But it is only human nature that, with every setback, his self-confidence ebbs a little more. He is up against a fine attack in this series, for sure, but he will rarely play on more batsman-friendly wickets. It is probably provocative to point out that Vinces average over his first six Tests - 23.44 - is more than 10 lower than Kevin Pietersen in his final six - 33.83 - but it might also be illustrative of the suspicion that selection is not always entirely on merit.Vince has the great advantage over the likes of Wells, Terry and, yes, Pietersen, that he is playing in a relatively successful side. For that reason, his struggles can be overlooked and the investment period can be lengthened. He hasnt, by any means, looked completely out of his depth and the continuity of selection policy remains, even taken to an extreme, far better than the alternative extreme.But by persisting with him at this stage, the selectors are also denying themselves the opportunity to look at other players. They are denying themselves the chance to see how Adil Rashid could perform as a second spinner or to see how a left-arm spinning all-rounder could manage ahead of the seven Tests England play in Asia before Christmas. They are denying themselves the chance to see how a specialist wicketkeeper could be assimilated within the team or giving another batsman a chance to gain some experience ahead of the winter tours.But in order to experiment, the selectors first have to start coming to some conclusions. Their failure to do so with Vince is starting to look, not so much consistent, but soft. ' ' '