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Russell Domingo, South Africas coach, has blamed heavy workloads and jaded players for his teams failure to reach the final of the tri-nation series in the West Indies, but insisted the below-par performance would not push him to resign. Instead, Domingo called on Cricket South Africa to look into managing players workloads outside the international schedule to ensure they are hungry enough to perform for their country.This loss comes on the back of our top players playing too much cricket, Domingo said on his arrival in South Africa. Its a big concern for me. Its one of the points I need to highlight with my superiors when I get time to sit down and chat to them.Think about our seriously long tour to India, long tour against England, then straight into the World T20. Then players stayed behind, played the IPL and flew straight to Caribbean. Some players arrived two days before our first game in Guyana and now some are staying another four weeks in the Caribbean, some are playing county cricket, then home for two weeks, then a series against New Zealand, then go and play a mini IPL, then straight into a tour against Australia. Those are challenges that the coaching staff and the players are sitting with at the moment. When you are playing that amount of cricket for that period of time, its difficult to maintain the standards consistently.Of South Africas 15-man squad for the tri-series, nine (including Dean Elgar, who came in as an injury replacement) are Test regulars, eleven were part of the World T20 squad, ten played at the IPL, six are staying on for the CPL, two are headed for county stints and the rest will play for the A side. That means none of the players who are part of the current national set-up have had any time off since October last year and Domingo believes the fatigue is starting to show.The desire and the hunger levels when you are playing day in and day out will wane at some stage. Theres no doubt about that. You cant give 100% to ten different teams for ten months. Somethings got to give, he said.The something, according to team manager Mohammed Moosajee, could be the no-objection certificates (NOC) CSA issues to players, which allows them to spend what should be time off playing in foreign leagues. CSA management will need to look at the process going forward, how they release NOCs, taking into account the long international season, Moosajee said.But the declining Rand has made it difficult to deny NOCs because CSA cannot match the amounts players earn overseas and this has left Domingo and his management team with a problem. The big challenge for me is making sure that international cricket is still the main priority for our players. There are lot of tournaments, a lot of money to be made, a lot of opportunities for players to get out there and market themselves so I need to be making sure we focus really hard on our No.1 priority and that is representing our country, he said. Sometimes, if you have done it for a long time, you can take it for granted maybe. There is a lot happening outside international cricket. Making sure guys are fresh and hungry to perform for their country is of utmost importance for me.Despite admitting he has not been able to do that in the last six months, and that the sharpness and effectiveness of the side is lacking, Domingo remained confident he and his management team are the right people to try and turn things around.Ive got to sit down with my management team and the board members and the CEO and the guys who make those decisions and plan the way forward. Ive got 10 months left on my contract and the last six months havent gone according to plan. I am not a guy who wants to give up or quit so I need to discuss what their thoughts are, Domingo said. Ive got a few days at home now to just mull over things and see where things are going. I feel that the management team weve got in place have ticked a lot of boxes and provided the players with as much support as we can. Were still very motivated to do well. We feel we can take the team forward. That decision doesnt always lie with us but thats the way it is.Domingo will take heart from the knowledge that he has one of the most important people in the set-up in his corner. AB de Villiers threw his weight behind the coach after the teams loss in their final round-robin match when he said the players should take responsibility for their own shortcomings. Domingo, however, does not feel the players have let him down.I wouldnt say the players have let me down. Im not a coach who is going to sit here and blame the players for lack of performances. Coaches have to front up and take the brunt of it when performances are not there, he said. I dont feel let down by players, I feel let down by performances. The results havent been as good as what weve wanted. I feel the players gave it as much as they possible could.The coach put South Africas early exit from the tournament on two moments in particular but stressed this does not mean they dont have what it takes to perform under pressure. The one was where we needed 96 runs off 15 overs against Australia we were three down and we lost. The batters let us down. Then, in the last game, we had West Indies 21 for 4 after 5 overs and our next 12 overs were very average. We bowled really poorly and allowed West Indies to get some momentum and establish a partnership. Those two phases probably cost us getting into the final and possibly winning the tournament, Domingo said. But I definitely think the team has got big-match temperament. This team has managed to win some must-win games in ODI and T20 cricket over the last two or three years.He cited examples like their Mumbai win to take the series against India and their three victories in succession against England at home earlier this year, but acknowledged that those count for nothing because South Africas cabinet is missing a major trophy.Until we win a world event, people will always question us, Domingo said. Theres another opportunity next year. Theres a Champions Trophy. Theres a lot of work that needs to be done in our one-day side to get us to be contenders for that but, with the players within our ranks, if we can manage them properly and make sure when the time comes they are all fully fit, all swimming in the same direction, well be one of the teams to beat there.Domingos contract expires before that tournament but if South Africa are to replace him, it is likely they will do so fairly soon to allow the new coach time in charge. With that in mind, has he come home feeling the heat? A little.Theres always pressure. We know that playing for your country is the ultimate. Its representing the people back home and we want to represent them well. We know how passionate our supporters are and how much time and money and effort gets put into our cricket. Management and players are under pressure to perform at all times. Custom Hockey Jerseys Store .Y. -- Paul Byron and Matt Stajan scored as the Calgary Flames started a five-game road trip with a 2-1 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon. Custom Anaheim Ducks Jerseys . 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. http://www.customjerseyshockey.com/ . -- Ty Montgomery had 290 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, and fifth-ranked Stanford held on to beat No. Cheap Custom Hockey Jerseys Free Shipping . The CFLs leading rusher kept adding to his gaudy numbers this season and scored the winning touchdown with just over two minutes to play. The New Westminster, B.C., native plowed three yards into the end zone for the last score of a heated, see-saw battle between the two teams with the best records in the CFL. Wholesale Custom Hockey Jerseys . Belfort (24-10) needed just 77 seconds to down Henderson in the headlining bout of Saturdays "UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson" event at Goiania Arena in Goiania, Brazil. The fight served as a rematch of the pairs 2006 meeting, which Henderson won by decision. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Journeyman goalie Chad Johnson, in his first season with Calgary, is beginning to show he can be a source of stability for the up-and-down Flames.Johnson made 34 saves for his second shutout in five starts, leading Calgary over the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-0 on Wednesday night.We just wanted to come in here and stick to our system, said Johnson, who also blanked the Minnesota Wild on Nov. 15. Get some pucks deep and wait for our opportunities and we did that and capitalized on the chances that we had.Johnson is 4-1 in his past five starts.Troy Brouwer and Micheal Ferland scored for Calgary, which has sought consistency between the pipes during the early part of the season. The Flames, whose maligned special teams came up big in this one, have traded wins and losses for five games.Johnny made some big saves for us and that breeds confidence throughout the lineup, Calgarys Matt Stajan said.Columbus dropped to 10-3-3 in its last 16 and has lost two straight at home since rolling off seven wins in a row, a franchise record.We were on the outside all night long, Columbus coach John Tortorella said. Chad saw every shot. I thought our first period was good but from then it went downhill.Calgary, ranked 29th in penalty killing entering the game, was perfect during a long Columbus power play in the second period, and then its league-worst power play added a goal in the third.Calgary led 1-0 despite being significantly outshot before Ferland snapped one past Sergei Bobrovsky from the slot at 6:25 of the third. Leading to the score, Dennis Wideman kept the puck in the zone on a play that Markus Hannikainen tried to skate out of danger.Johnson did the rest, calmly turning aside shot after shot.There were times when we were on our heels but I think we still stuck together and battled as a group, he said.After a scoreless first period, the action picked up in the second.dddddddddddd Matthew Tkachuks double minor for high-sticking 14 seconds in put the Blue Jackets on the man advantage, but the leagues top power play only mustered one shot. The Flames allowed three power-play scores Monday in a loss at Buffalo.Sloppy, it hurt us momentum wise, Tortorella said. Four minutes we really had nothing accomplished. I think they end up with a couple of scoring chances.Calgary took the lead shortly after aided by a bad sequence for Seth Jones. He was flat footed in his own zone when his pass was easily intercepted by Brouwer at the blue line. Kris Versteeg got the puck and marched around Jones, threading a pass back to Brouwer for the doorstep tap-in to make it 1-0 at 6:35.I just tried to make a play and get it over to Brouwer going to the net, Versteeg said.Five minutes later, Cam Atkinson zoomed in on a breakaway, but Johnson gloved his shot.We were able to turn a corner after he (Johnson) stopped that breakaway in the second and we know it wasnt pretty before that, Stajan said. But then we started to get pucks deep and shots on net. We played a solid third period. Its a good road win.Game notes Brouwers goal was his first in 10 games. ... Jones played his second game since missing six with a foot injury. ... Columbus LW Matt Calvert, who last Friday scored an overtime goal to down the Rangers after getting 36 stitches in his forehead during the game, was scratched with an upper-body ailment. ... Versteeg returned after missing nine games with a bad groin. ...Calgary C Sam Bennett skated in his 100th career game.UP NEXTBlue Jackets: Visit Tampa Bay on Friday.Flames: Play the third of a season-long six-game road trip Friday in Boston. ' ' '