Often horrendous, occasionally hopeful. Mario Gotze Jersey ... overall, Englands performance in the 90s was haphazard, as a record of 43 defeats, 38 draws and only 26 wins over the decade will testify. England did have a number of excellent players at their disposal in that time but there was also a number of more unusual selections.Here we look back at four of the finest players of the decade and four of those whose time in the limelight was all too brief… THE FINESTMichael Atherton The tenacity required to captain a struggling England side for a record 52 Tests over five years in the mid-90s should not be underestimated. To do so while nursing a chronic back condition, and in a pre-central contracts era where everything was stacked against the national side succeeding, speaks volumes.Limited bowling options and inconsistent batting meant his side was often up against it and his was the wicket that opponents craved above all others. As a batsman, an average of 37 might be considered good rather than great but should be viewed in the context of Englands troubles and take into account the great pace bowlers around in the 90s - Ambrose, Walsh, Donald, Pollock, Wasim and Waqar. If ever there was a career-defining innings, his 185 not out in 643 minutes, to save the Johannesburg Test of 1995, was it.Alec Stewart The most versatile England cricketer of his generation, his best role in the team was a regular topic of debate for the selectors and never proper resolved - in the 90s, he played purely as a batsman in 51 Tests (averaging 46) and as a keeper in 42 matches (averaging 34).The highs were his twin hundreds as an opening batsman in the 1994 victory at Barbados against Ambrose and Walsh in their pomp to seal a first defeat for the West Indies at the ground in 59 years. He also took over the captaincy in 1998 and led England to a home series victory over a strong South African side - their first major series win in 12 years. Less happily was his involvement in five successive Ashes series defeats (with another two to follow in the 2000s).Angus Fraser Despite only playing in 43 out of a possible 107 Tests over the decade, many of Englands most notable victories in the 90s owed much to Frasers accurate and consistent fast-medium bowling. The Caribbean was a particularly happy hunting ground - his 5/28 at Sabina Park in the first Test of the 1990 tour contributed to a shock England win by 9 wickets.A career-threatening hip injury cost him three years out of the side and led to the perception that his earlier nip had gone. This assessment was unfair and, in the 1994 Barbados Test, Frasers first innings 8-75 was as important as the Stewart batting heroics in Englands improbable win. He was in and out of the side during the mid-90s but back to his best for the 1998 home series victory against South Africa in which he took 24 wickets. Darren Gough As with Fraser, Gough was often the victim of unfortunate injuries, only playing 34 Tests in the 90s. Australia may have dominated the era but the Yorkshireman won the respect of their public on his first Ashes tour in 1994-95 with an ebullient personality and 20 wickets in the first three Tests, including a man-of-the-match performance of 6-49 (to go with 51 with the bat) at Sydney before having to return home early.The SCG was again his stage four years later when he took the first Ashes hat-trick in 99 years, his searing yorkers deserving more than being on the losing side against Australia yet again. At least he had tasted team success the previous summer with victory at home against South Africa - his 17 wickets had been key. As England emerged from the difficulties of the 90s, Gough was a key component of Nasser Hussains developing side in the early 2000s. THE FORGOTTENRichard Blakey In among several contenders, the England tour of India in early 1993 must be a good candidate for the most disastrous tour of the decade. Every excuse was used to explain away English failure, from the smog in Kolkata, to dodgy prawns in Chennai. The initial squad selection had been controversial enough with the omission of David Gower, and Yorkshires keeper-batsman Richard Blakey being chosen ahead of Jack Russell.After England lost in Kolkata, Blakey replaced Alec Stewart with the gloves for the remaining 2 matches. However, a failure to pick Anil Kumbles flipper, and to hold a simple chance behind the stumps, meant his Test career was short and not particularly sweet - two matches, both of them defeats by an innings, and a batting average of 1.75. Having expected to win the series, England suffered a 3-0 series loss.Mark Lathwell The story of Mark Lathwells career is a microcosm of the muddled selectorial thinking of the 90s. With England 2-0 down in the 1993 home Ashes series, and after seven successive Test defeats, press clamour for youth to be given a chance had reached fever pitch.The 21-year-old Somerset batsmen was chosen to open, strangely replacing Graham Gooch, who slid down into the middle order. After just two Tests, and with a a top score of 33, Lathwell was dropped, never to appear again. England used 24 players over the summer, eventually losing 4-1. For his part, Mark Lathwell retired from the game in 2001 at the age of just 29.Martin McCague That 1993 Ashes summer also saw rabbits pulled out of hats in the England bowling ranks - having been born in Northern Ireland, Martin McCague was able to play for Kent as a non-overseas player and qualify for England despite having played much of his cricket while growing up in Australia. The Aussie press labelled him the first rat to join a sinking ship but, after a fiery debut at Trent Bridge, this briefly looked like sour grapes.Alas, his bowling in the next Test at Headingley was ineffective and he was dropped. A year later, McCague was contentiously selected for the 1994-95 Ashes tour ahead of Angus Fraser, England supremo Ray Illingworth arguing that his pace would unsettle the home batsmen. In the event, his bowling in the first Test at the Gabba was less than impressive and a stress fracture meant he never appeared again for England. Aftab Habib Whatever the struggles of the 90s, the one team that always seemed beatable was New Zealand, with England being on the winning side at home in 1990 and 1994, and away in 1996-97. There was no expectation that the Kiwis visit in 1999 would be any different. Aftab Habit had averaged over 50 for Leicestershire the previous summer and was drafted into the middle order to start the series.As it turned out, a strong seam attack of Chris Cairns, Dion Nash and Geoff Allott exposed limitations in the Habib technique and he was jettisoned with an average of 8.66 after just two matches. England went on to an embarrassing 2-1 series defeat and ended the summer bottom of the world Test rankings.Watch England In The 90s On Demand now, or at 10pm on Sky Sports 1 HD on Tuesday. Also See: Butch talks England in the 90s Watch England in the 90s Bumbles Blog Marco Reus Jersey . It will be their 15th head-to-head meeting and fourth in the post-season (Sunday at 2pm et/11am pt on CTV) and for his part, Brady isnt downplaying just how big the game is for him. "Im excited - Its everything you could ask for as an athlete," the New England Patriots quarterback told WEEI Radio in Boston on Monday. Thomas Muller Jersey ., will experience this week. A year in which the Canadian curling championship has been pushed forward a week to accommodate the Winter Olympics was deemed the perfect chance to stage the event in Montreal for the first time since 1979. http://www.germanyfcsoccershop.com/ . - On the night Dirk Nowitzki overtook Dominique Wilkins on the career scoring list, Brandan Wright was a human highlight film all by himself.CALGARY -- Its rare to see a penalty shot in the National Lacrosse League, let alone in a playoff game. So when the Calgary Roughnecks were awarded a penalty shot down by a goal with less than a minute remaining in Game 1 of the NLL West final against the Edmonton Rush, they took full advantage of the opportunity. Curtis Dickson tied the game for Calgary with 22 seconds left on the clock, and Jeff Shattlers goal 46 seconds into overtime gave the Roughnecks the thrilling 12-11 victory. "Thats probably only the second or third (penalty shot) that Ive seen since Ive been in the league," said Dickson, who added that although it was a "nerve-wracking" experience, he felt confident making the play. "Ive been in this situation before. We need a goal late to tie it up or get the win. I just did what I know how to do. I saw my spot, took a shot at the opening, and lucky enough it went in." Leading 11-10, Edmonton had the ball in the Calgary end, and the Roughnecks had an empty net after pulling their goalie earlier. But with the play along the boards by the benches, the Rush were assessed a rarely called illegal substitution penalty. "I guess we had too many and its the last two minutes so its a penalty shot, which is fine. I dont have a problem with that except for the fact they had about nine guys on the floor too," said Edmonton coach Derek Keenan. "If theyre going to call it on us, they should have called it on them too, or not call it. It was ridiculous." Shattler, who had two goals on the night, was equally amazed. "That call that they made was pretty gutsy," he said. "Too many men with 22 seconds left. I dont know many refs that would make that call." Shattler showed off his athleticism on the winning goal. After his original shot missed the net, the ball bounced high in the air off the end boards. Shattler, who saw it the whole way, raced after it, leaped high in the air and in one motion flung the ball into the top corner past Edmonton goaltender Aaron Bold. "When I looked at Boldie, he was still looking the other way so I thought if I get up there fast enough, Ive got a chance," said Shattler. "I shot it before I even looked at the net." He didnt have to look to know iit went in as a deafening roar erupted from the Scotiabank Saddledome crowd of 13,618. Shkodran Mustafi Jersey. "Tonight was an amazing experience, it was unreal," said Shattler. Greg Harnett, Shawn Evans, Karsen Leung, Daryl Veltman, Dane Dobbie and Scott Ranger also scored for Calgary. Edmontons offence was led by Mark Matthew, who scored three goals. Robert Church and Zack Greer each had a pair, while John Lintz, Curtis Knight, Riley Loewen and Nik Bilic added singles. The two teams will play Game 2 of the West final next Friday in Edmonton. Should the Rush win that game, a 10-minute mini game will immediately follow to decide who will advance, with sudden death overtime if still tied after that. "If we play as well as we did tonight with a couple little adjustments, well have a good opportunity next week for sure. We have to worry about that first one and then go from there with that quirky 10-minute deal," said Keenan. "When push comes to shove, you cant lose those one-goal games like that being up 5-1 and not putting the foot on the pedal," said Matthews. "We didnt do that and they came out with a lot of energy in the second half and beat us." After giving up the games first goal, Edmonton scored the next five and were cruising along nicely early in the second quarter when they were held to one goal on a five-minute power play. Calgary scored three straight right after that and the game was close the rest of the way. Edmonton led 7-5 at half-time and Calgary was up 9-8 after three quarters. "I thought we played well enough to win the game, to be honest," said Keenan. "I thought we played a real good game right from the start to finish. In all areas of our game I thought we were good and it came down to a couple of breaks that they got and they got the win. It was a tough one." Notes: Edmonton won three of the four meetings during the regular season ... Calgary was without veteran Geoff Snider (lower body), injured last weekend. Snider is also the Roughnecks main face-off specialist. Garrett McIntosh took most of the draws after only taking six face-offs all season ... Edmonton won the two previous playoff meetings between the provincial rivals, both wins (2010, 2012) were upsets in Calgary. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '