GazzinderFox

The climate changes and is changing, this is a fact. But with regards to all of this talk of scientific consensus on the reasons behind this change I have a question; If a respected climatologist from one of the UK's top universities published a model today that shows how humans contributed far less to climate change than the consensus has decreed... a) How quickly does his department lose vast swathes of its funding regardless of how credible his work? b) To what extent is he immediately written off as a climate change denier? Please don't answer these questions by suggesting that science doesn't work that way because scientists are all saints and are desperate for their hypotheses to be proved wrong.

Indeed. But they do have a fantastic record of nurturing the driving skills of young players as they travel from wherever they live in the UK to Nottingham. Mick Newell give a hilarious interview last year trying to defend Notts record of bringing through youngsters compared to Leicestershire, I must try and dig that one out again. The general message was, well they're rubbish so younger players are bound to get a chance. It was around that time they decided to dump him as coach...

It took you a whole minute to find that?!

Love finals day. I've been to 4. Long day though and there's carnage in the stands by 8pm!

I think it's the demographics that kill it too. Oz is perfect for it because it has a small number of relatively large cities. Cricket supporters in this country are evenly spread across probably 30+ cities/large towns which almost certainly means that games will be watched by smaller numbers of spectators. Yes there's people in Leicester not wanting to support a team in Nottingham but will Liverpudlians support a Manchester team and people from Sheffield support 'Leeds'?

I like... Pierre de Bruyn has warned his Leicestershire players that complacency will not be tolerated under his leadership. De Bruyn has ruffled a few feathers at Grace Road since his appointment as the county's new head coach following the departure of Andrew McDonald at the end of 2016 season. But he is unapologetic about challenging attitudes at a club he feels has been coasting for too long and said he is prepared to deal with some unhappy senior pros as a consequence of producing more opportunities for younger players. "The club has underperformed massively," de Bruyn said. "The fact is, we've been at the bottom of the Championship for a few years and, though we showed some signs of improvement in red-ball cricket, we've been very poor in white-ball cricket. We can't accept that. It's time to take a look at ourselves. We owe the supporters better. "If we are serious about taking the club forward, we are going to have to have some tough conversations. If any of the senior players are complacent, I don't mind challenging them and I don't mind putting myself under pressure. "If you have a squad of 25 players, more than half will not be playing and that means that some of them will be unhappy. But I want to focus on this club producing England players again and, in the likes of Zak Chappell and Ned Eckersley, we have guys with the talent to do that. We can't be accepting batsmen averaging in the mid-20s any more." That would appear to be a reference to Angus Robson. He was the club's highest Championship run-scorer in 2014 and second highest in 2015, but endured a tougher 2016, averaging 27.11 with a top score of 84. As a consequence, it seems he can no longer be assured of his place. "I don't blame him if he feels his position is under threat," de Bruyn said. "We have a big squad and competition is fierce. He has played more than 50 games and only made two centuries. He has had more than fair opportunity and there's no doubt he had a poor season. Averaging 27 in Division Two is not getting us promoted. I told him to go away and focus on making hundreds. I hope it drives him to work harder. I hope he comes back motivated and ruthless. "But it's not just him. Our top order - the likes of Paul Horton and Mark Pettini - failed to score the runs we needed in limited-overs cricket and we need to do better. "I am keen to create opportunities for younger players. Lewis Hill made a century at The Oval a couple of years ago [in his second first-class game], Harry Dearden is young and promising and we've signed Callum Parkinson, who is another who could go a long way in the game. "Senior players will be treated fairly and respectfully, but places are up for grabs and that's exciting." Leicestershire's first-class performances actually improved in 2016. After three successive seasons in which they had finished bottom in Division Two, they rose to seventh (and, but for a late season slide, it could have been better), though they continued to struggled in the shorter formats. They were bottom of the North Group on the NatWest T20 Blast and second from bottom of the North Group in the Royal London Cup.

Weren't they on about having a second 20/20 tournament for all of the counties and this city based thing would be in addition?

I found my way in here by accident and now I can't get out. Does anybody know the score? And also why had that guy with the pants on his head got knitting needles up both nostrils?

Housing market is a disgrace mate. I've got 4 young kids and we homeschool so I need something fairly decently proportioned and there is almost literally nothing out there. Keeping my fingers crossed I can buy a bomb of an elderly person who has just died and didn't update the house for 30 years. Even then I'll still be forking out 220k plus. And im lucky, I'd hate to be a 22 year old working class lad with a kid now. I'd have no chance of getting my own place.

I enjoy his insight into the people and institutions he came across, quite withering at times but always very lively. You can see why so many of the people of these places ended up emigrating to various countries around the world. http://www.george-orwell.org/ has all of his work on it free to read, very handy for just dipping into now and them.

Road to Wigan pier. Worth looking at, might want to skip the section on coal mining though.

C'mon surely there's a better reason than that! I want to be proved wrong!

I live in Wigston and I'm a deeply ingrained Leicesterian with a family history going back 500+ years here, but seriously, what reason is there for me to venture further north than the king power or at a push the LRI?

Thinking about taking my 4 under ten year old kids on a holiday somewhere in the far north of Scotland. Spotted a place near Dornoch. Has anybody visited anywhere up there? Anywhere you can recommend? What was the drive like?

Don't give up mate, keep fighting. You never know what encouragement tomorrow might bring. Praying for you.

'I just hope that you can forgive us... but everything must go'

Smirking my way through the latest Divine Comedy album...

Guy behind me, mobile phone to the ear in one hand talking to someone, cigarette in the other. Unless he was some kind of mutant I can't understand how he was actually driving the car.

Not listened to it for ages and they left their mark on me in a way no other band did, but once I listened to it I remembered why I left it so long! Not an album to listen to alone but then again not one to stick on when you've got company. All the same a classic of the concentration camp genre.

I agree, it's a no brainer really. If you know what you want to get you just wait till that weekend comes around and if it's something pretty mainstream you know that some retailer is going to knock at least 20% off it. No idea why the shops do it, I guess it's just because everybody else is now. You only have to got back 6 or 7 years and the shops would screw everybody over at this time of year until boxing day, because they knew they had you over a barrel. Now they're practically giving stuff away. Funny how quickly things change.

My bum hole is still aching from the weekend. I had a curry on Saturday night that was so hot it it literally made it bleed!

You got enough mash there?!

cwwwommmmmmon leeessssttttttahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Boom!!! It worked! Auto repair kicked in. Thanks for your help guys really appreciate it.

Does that mean lob it out the window?