Kritik und Lob » are just the third team to average at least t

Now that the group stage of the inaugural Kia Super League is almost over, with finals day just around the corner, its a good time to look back and assess what we have learned from this exciting new competition. Here are my initial thoughts.1. Tell them about it and they will come Two weeks ago nobody - even, if they are honest, those running it at the ECB - quite knew what to expect from the Super League. It was notoriously difficult to get anyone to say exactly what success for this new competition would look like. Now? Well, lets just say Im pretty sure that Clare Connor, the ECBs director for womens cricket, is sleeping at night again.At the time of writing, there has been an average attendance of over 1000 at the group games so far, and the matches at the Ageas Bowl and The Oval have attracted over 2000 spectators apiece. As someone who is used to turning up to watch womens county games with next to no spectators bar the friends and family of the players, let me tell you, that is absolutely phenomenal.Heres the thing: if you market it right, create a buzz around the teams, and, most importantly, tell people it is happening, people will pay to attend domestic womens cricket in their thousands.2. Different franchise models work in different places The crowds we have seen at the KSL group matches are even more impressive when you consider that, unlike with the Womens Big Bash League, the KSL hosts were starting from scratch, unable to tap into an existing franchise fan base. There were quite a lot of voices prior to this competition questioning the decision by the ECB to take what was actually quite a risk in pushing ahead with a standalone womens competition.What we have seen over the past couple of weeks, though, has fully vindicated that decision. No, these havent been double-header games, but people have still shown up in droves. No, these sides arent attached to mens teams, but kids (and girls, especially) have still turned up wearing their teams colours and gone home with their heroes autographs. Not only is that an incredible achievement, it gives womens cricket something new and different, and the opportunity to forge its own way ahead. I for one am excited to see where that path might lead.Actually theres a good argument that playing copycat to the WBBL wasnt just impractical, given the foot-dragging that takes place every time franchise cricket is suggested within the English mens game, but that it wouldnt have worked anyway. Different contexts require a different approach. In fact, at a time when there are big question marks over the future of the mens T20 competition, this should tell the ECB something important about franchise cricket more generally.3. There is plenty of talent out there Those of us who actually watched womens county cricket prior to the start of the Super League were already well aware of this, but it has been incredible to see players who I am more used to seeing playing in front of 20 people at tiny club grounds launched onto the big stage, with the eyes of the media fully upon them, and flourishing.Whether it be Hampshires Katie George, more used to playing in Division Two county cricket, looking right at home in Vipers world-class bowling attack; or Sussexs Paige Scholfield, coming in to bat at No. 9 for Lightning and ending up top-scoring for her side with one of the highest strike rates in the competition; or Lancashires Emma Lamb, only 18, the most consistent opener in any team in the competition; or Berkshire left-armer Linsey Smith, called up to the competition due to injury but stacking up the most successful and the most economical spell in the entire competition so far - it has all been so wonderful to see. Its pretty clear that we dont really need to worry about whether the current county system is producing any talent.One aspect of the system that should still be a concern is the fact that only 19 players in the whole of English womens cricket are being paid to play cricket at any time other than the two-week KSL window. If we dont want to see incredibly talented young players like George, Lamb and Smith walking away from the game prematurely, some kind of progressive pay scale is needed - and fast. 4. Dont rely on your overseas players One of the unforeseen elements of this competition has been the fact that many of the big-name overseas superstars have failed to perform. Ellyse Perry, for example, started the competition with scores of 17 and 2, as well as conceding 39 runs off her four overs in Lightnings first home game of the tournament. Hayley Matthews, star of the Womens World T20 final earlier this year, has hit 7, 11, 0 and 0 in Thunders four group matches to date. Meanwhile Diamonds two overseas batsmen - Alex Blackwell and Beth Mooney - have almost totally failed with the bat, with scores of 3, 23 and 6, and 0, 9 and 17 respectively. It turns out that adjusting to English conditions when youre flown in just a few days before a two-week tournament in the middle of your off season is actually quite tricky.5. You dont need silly boundaries At international level the regulations for boundary sizes in womens cricket differ from those in the mens game - a minimum of 50 metres compared to the mens 60 metres. The KSL playing regulations, in case you havent read them, take this one step further and actually allow for 45-metre boundaries. This, of course, panders to the school of thought that womens T20 cricket is as dull as ditchwater unless there are sixes being hit every other ball.In fact, so far in the KSL, I dont think Ive seen a single boundary that is 45 metres. Most have been 50 or 55 metres. Weve also only had 37 sixes in the competition. And guess what? People still turned up to watch. And most of the cricket has still been utterly enthralling. Lets learn from that and ditch the 45-metre boundary rule for good.6. It should be on TV Rumour has it that fears about the potential quality of the competition led to a reluctance to allow Sky to broadcast any of the inaugural Super League. If true, that is absolutely crazy and, given the quality of the cricket on show, a huge opportunity missed. If the ECB really wants to build a fan base for these teams, TV coverage must surely be top of the priority list for next years competition. Believe in your product and so will other people. Connor McDavid Jersey . Barcelona also left injured defenders Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba out of its squad for the trip to Glasgow. That means that Marc Bartra will probably start again in the centre of the defence alongside Gerard Pique. 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PORTLAND, Ore. -- It seems like everything is going right for the Portland Thorns heading into the National Womens Soccer League playoffs.The Thorns finished out the regular season with a four-game winning streak and claimed the NWSL Shield for the team with the best record. They also clinched home-field advantage for the first time. They face the Western New York Flash in a semifinal game Sunday.Forward Christine Sinclair credited first-year coach Mark Parsons. The Thorns (12-3-5) always had talent, she said, but that didnt always translate into wins.The difference is this year were a team from the top down, Sinclair said. I thought when Mark came on board it changed a lot. He stressed being a team -- you know, hanging out outside of soccer practice -- and I think youre starting to see that on the field. Were willing to do anything for each other.Sinclair also recognized the players who were with the team all season while their teammates were in and out in preparation for the Olympics. Sinclair won the bronze medal in Rio with the Canadian national team. The Thorns roster also includes U.S. Olympians Tobin Heath, Lindsey Horan, Meghan Klingenberg, Allie Long and alternate Emily Sonnett. Additionally, Amandine Henry played for France in Brazil.In a pre-match conference call Thursday, Klingenberg unexpectedly took over to sing Happy Birthday, even though it was no ones birthday, and Sinclair dissolved into giggles. Parsons deadpanned: I have no way to explain.Former Thorns coach Paul Riley took over the Flash in February. He said hard work led his young team to the playoffs.We didnt set any goals. Our goal wasnt to make the playoffs, our goal wasnt to make the final. Our goal was to win the first game oof the season, Riley said.dddddddddddd Thats really the way weve approached every game. Weve set no goals for the group, we just wanted each player to get a little bit better each game and believe in the process -- and things will happen if we do everything right to the best of our abilities.The atmosphere at Providence Park could be hostile to the visitors. The Thorns boast the best home attendance in the league with an average of 16,945 fans per game this season.While Portland is the third team in league history to allow an average of less than one goal a game over the course of the season, the Flash (9-6-5) are just the third team to average at least two goals a game. The Flash are paced by league Golden Boot winner Lynn Williams with 11 goals and five assists.The Chicago Red Stars (9-5-6) play the Washington Spirit (12-5-3) in the other semifinal match on Friday night at the Maryland SoccerPlex. Neither team has ever played for the league championship.The two teams met just last weekend with the Red Stars earning the No. 3 seed in the playoffs with a 3-1 victory. It was the Spirits second straight lost and denied the team the NWSL Shield.The goal is to win a championship, Spirit coach Jim Gabarra said. If you dont make the playoffs youre obviously not going to win the championship. If you make the playoffs and win the Shield and you dont win a championship then you still havent achieved your ultimate goal.Chicago finished the season tied with the Seattle Reign with eight total shutouts. Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher had six clean sheets.FC Kansas City won the 2015 NWSL title. ' ' '