likes of Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz and Yasir Shah, as they battle for Test form. Pakistans attack had delivered two Test victories in England this year, and Hesson believes they are a particularly dynam

Mercedes have revealed they were on the verge of instructing Lewis Hamilton to take an emergency pit-stop from the lead of the Mexican GP. Hamilton had badly flat-spotted his tyres, causing critical vibrations in his W07 car, at the start of the race when he out-braked himself into the first corner.I had a glazed right front so it locked up and I had no choice but to go across the grass, said Hamilton. After this the vibration was so big I was like there is no way I am going to make, Ill have to pit. That would have been my race over. According to Mercedes, the data from Hamiltons car was so alarming that they would have pitted him but for such an instruction having grievous - and potentially fatal - implications for Hamiltons fragile title dream.The vibration metrics were scary from the beginning, disclosed Toto Wolff. Simon [Cole, Mercedes track engineer] and I had a private conversation on the radio whether we should pit him for safety reasons.In any other race we would have pitted him and lost the race. We kept him out there in order to not throw away the championship for him. Both Mercedes run wide on the first lap of the Mexican Grand Prix, whilst Pascal Wehrleins race ends prematurely following a clash with Marcus Ericsson. Hamilton himself had reported the vibrations over team radio when the Safety Car was deployed on the second lap of the race but was then, to Mercedes relief and apparent surprise, able to build up a substantial lead over Nico Rosberg when the race resumed.Every single lap, every single straight, we monitored the vibrations. Our team did a fantastic job of keeping that under control and then we pitted him a bit earlier because the vibration metrics were going sky high and a suspension failure could have easily happened. It was not a comfortable positions we found ourselves in, weighing up the championship versus a failure of the suspension, explained Wolff. While Red Bulls Daniel Ricciardo argued Hamilton should have been punished by the stewards for cutting the first-corner chicane, the Mercedes driver, still haunted by his victory-denying breakdown in Malaysia last month, admitted he was simply concerned about finishing the race.Honestly I didnt even think about the stewards, Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. I was more concerned with the flat spot that was just rattling my brain for 17 laps. I couldnt see the braking zone for Turn One. It was such a big vibration I was worried the suspension would break.But an unimpressed Ricciardo criticised the leniency of the stewards, complaining: I also didnt understand the start, how you can be leading, lock the brakes, go off and come out in front. I think he deserved the penalty; I think anyone who does that deserves a penalty. Dont miss The F1 Reports review of the Mexican GP at 8.30pm on Wednesday on Sky Sports F1. British GP2, and Renault development, driver Oliver Rowland join Natalie Pinkham and Marc Priestley. Also See: The Formula 1 Gossip Column Watch Sky F1 on NOW TV Carolina Hurricanes Store . Tests earlier this week revealed a Grade 2 left hamstring strain for Sabathia, who was hurt in last Fridays start against San Francisco. Its an injury that will require about eight weeks to heal. He finished a disappointing campaign just 14-13 with a career-worst 4. Stitched Hurricanes Jerseys . According to a report from the Winnipeg Free Press, the Bombers will name Acting GM Kyle Walters to the post full time. https://www.cheaphurricanes.com/ . Varlamov made 33 saves and Ryan OReilly had a goal and scored in the shootout as the Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Thursday night. Hurricanes Jerseys China . Jordan Lynch, the all-purpose Heisman Trophy finalist from Northern Illinois, failed to make it into that exclusive club. Custom Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Australias Test-match losing streak may be making headlines, but their neighbours across the Tasman have not fared much better this year. Of nine Tests played in 2016, New Zealand has lost six, winning only the two matches against Zimbabwe. Their four most-recent results have all been losses.Unlike for Australia, however, the losing streak has come overseas, against formidable opposition: the first loss came against South Africa, and the next three in India, where many teams have suffered in the last three years.Now back at home, with a grassy pitch before them and a long summer ahead, coach Mike Hesson has said his team will not dwell on the overseas failures. They will instead aim to fall back on memories of their unbeaten stretch at home between 2013 and 2015.I think weve won seven out of our 11 Tests at home in the last three years, with a couple of draws and a couple of losses, Hesson said. You do that because conditions are familiar to you, and you adapt quicker than other sides.Weve been stressing the fact that we need to prepare for conditions that were more familiar with. Weve got some experience to draw on over the last three or four years. Its a matter of going through that rather than reliving India. Conditions over there were significantly different to what were going to face over here.New Zealands batsmen had had a particularly torrid tour of India, where no one managed a century across three Tests. Their main destroyers on that tour had been spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who shared 41 scalps between them. Hesson said his batsmen had rebounded mentally since that series, which ended a month ago.The conditions are here very different, so the skillset required is different. We acknowledge that we didnt adapt as well aas we needed to in India.dddddddddddd Hence, we underachieved, especially with the bat. Here, Im very confident the guys know the conditions. There was a period of having to deal with dented confidence, but that was some time ago. At the time we needed to dwell on some of the areas we hadnt performed well in, and weve done that. Then we need to move on - thats the nature of international cricket. When you perform and you win easily, you dont dwell on that either. You move on.The top order will have to contend with the likes of Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz and Yasir Shah, as they battle for Test form. Pakistans attack had delivered two Test victories in England this year, and Hesson believes they are a particularly dynamic outfit.Well be challenged by this Pakistan attack, theres no doubt about that, he said. Theyve got an attack that suits all conditions around the world. They swing the new ball, they reverse it, and theyve got a very good spinner. Theyve also got experience in their batting line up. Theyre tough in every condition, so theyre bowling attack is going to pose some challenges for us.The Hagley Oval surface has generally been seam-friendly over the first two days of the Test. Although it had a significant covering of grass two days from the Test, Hesson expected the pitch to settle quickly.The pitch has good pace and bounce, which stays throughout. And I think it turns into a pretty flat surface. Its one of those surfaces where you are going to need to have resources to bowl a lot of overs, rather than think youre going to bowl them out in a session and a half. I dont think its going to be like that. ' ' '