James Sutherland, Cricket Australias chief executive, has claimed the national team had near identical preparation to South Africa despite the facts telling a rather different story.As the hosts came to terms with another disastrous batting display on day one of the Hobart Test, Sutherland said that Steven Smiths team could not blame their preparation for the poor results achieved so far this summer, following on from a 5-0 ODI defeat in South Africa and a 3-0 away pasting at the hands of Sri Lanka before that.Ive heard a little bit of commentary around preparation and I think its interesting. The first thing is that every summer is a little bit different, Sutherland said on ABC Radio. If we cast our minds forward to next year there will be more opportunities for Shield cricket, thats a different schedule again because the season will start later.But also that criticism around the preparation, I dont think the preparation is anything that Australian cricket can complain about because South Africa have had the same schedule in terms of preparation as we have. We have both played each other in one-day matches in October, came through here, had various forms of long-form or other preparatory matches.They played a game in Adelaide under lights as Shield cricket played under lights. So if you draw that comparison the team we are playing against hasnt had any different preparation. So yes, ideally you might have a different preparation but the fact of the matter is you cant.In contradiction of Sutherlands words, Australias players did not get the chance to play even a single match with a red ball in between the Sri Lanka and South Africa Test series. By contrast, many of South Africas players - those not taking part in the ODIs at home - were able to play first-class cricket during this period, and then had two warm-up matches in contrast to the one (pink ball) Shield game played before the Perth Test.Sutherland noted that there was a wider effort currently being undertaken at ICC level to reduce the amount of international cricket played while adding the context of league structures across each format. Such a move would in turn allow more room for domestic schedules to breathe.The reality is the future tours program requires us to play a certain amount of cricket at home and whatever we play at home weve got to reciprocate away, he said. So the complexity around that is greater because most countries share the same season as us. So we have to find ourselves playing matches like we did this year in October against South Africa. We couldnt play them earlier because thats not their season, their season is October. We are having them and then Pakistan later in our peak season.From that perspective the schedule is difficult and at ICC level its something were working very hard on to try and get more structure to refine the way in which international cricket is played and to be honest ultimately play less international cricket so that its more valuable and is not these random series that crop up all the time. That we have context through some sort of a league structure. The hope is there will be less international cricket which allows gaps in preparation but also ideally for international cricket to be more valuable and precious.Responding to criticism directed at the captain Steven Smith, Sutherland said that while all were impatient for immediate success, there was a strong belief within CA that Smith was the right man for the job - as evidenced by his steely innings while the rest fell around him on day one at Bellerive Oval.Were certainly very conscious of the fact that Steve has come into the role much younger...than any of his four or five predecessors, Sutherland said. I had a look the other day - you go back to Border, Taylor, Waugh, Ponting, Clarke...between 29 and 34 I think they came into the captaincy of the Australian team. Steve was 26. All of them came in being world-class batsmen. But I dont think if you look back in history, certainly in my time [as CEO], none of them have made an easy or smooth transition into the job.Its a big step up and its a real challenge and even more so if you dont have the players around you that are performing as well as they might or could or whatever. So that added challenge is there. But we have a very high regard for Steve Smith as a person, as a leader, and obviously as a cricketer and we think that with his support and as he builds the team around him and they perform hes got a very bright future as a leader for a long time. Cheap Air Max 90 China . Barcelonas entertaining victory ensured the defending Spanish champions retained their share of the league lead with Atletico Madrid two rounds ahead of their meeting in the capital. Real Madrid needed a late goal by substitute Jese Rodriguez to earn a 3-2 victory at Valencia to stay in third place and three points behind its title rivals. Cheap Air Max 90 Sale . After a first half in which he thought "the lid was on the basket," the Toronto Raptors coach watched his squad mount a second half surge to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 98-91. http://www.clearanceairmax90.com/ . Just as Montreal was settling into the first full working week of a new year, the Impact announced the appointment of their new head coach. Nike Air Max 90 For Sale Cheap .J. Ellis hit two-run homers and the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres 4-0 Saturday night. Cheap Air Max 90 Free Shipping . -- Jacksonville wide receiver Cecil Shorts will likely be a game-time decision whether hell play Sunday in the Jaguars home game against the San Diego Chargers.AC Milan ended the cup dreams of Alessandira as they thrashed the third-tier side 5-0 to make the Coppa Italia final on Tuesday. The Rossoneri held a 1-0 advantage from the first leg thanks to a Mario Balotelli penalty, but the hosts outclassed their lowly opponents with a 6-0 aggregate victory to reach their first Coppa Italia final since 2003.Starting in his first game since August 2015, Jeremy Menez netted twice in the first half to end an 11-month goal drought, and got AC Milan off the ground in the 20th minute. He collected a pass in the middle of the area, and struck low past Alessandria goalkeeper Gianmarco Vannucchi to put the Rossoneri ahead. Mario Balotelli gave AC Milan a 1-0 advantage in the first leg, and also scored the fifth on Tuesday evening Alessio Romagnoli doubled the lead just four minutes later, Jurraj Kucka heading the ball into his path from a corner and the defender tapped home from close range.dddddddddddd Menez struck his second six minutes before the break, hitting home from Andrea Polis delivery and leaving Vannucchi in his wake.Alessandria managed to keep AC Milan at bay for much of the second half, and even thought they had nicked a goal back but Mattia De Sciglio produced a brilliant clearance to deny the third tier outfit a semi-final strike. Indeed, things got worse for Alessandria when Roberto Sabato deflected in a shot from Romagnolis back post header in a near carbon copy of the defenders first goal.Liverpool loanee Balotelli wrapped up the rout in the 89th minute with a fine strike, collecting Keisuke Hondas ball and surging towards goal to fire home through the legs of Vannucchi.AC Milan will find out their Coppa Italia final opponents tomorrow as Inter host Juventus - but Roberto Mancinis side trail the current champions 3-0 from the first leg.Watch Inter v Juventus live on Sky Sports 2 HD on Wednesday evening from 7.40pm. China NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Online Stitched Hockey Jerseys Wholesale Baseball Jerseys Football Jerseys Outlet College Jerseys For Sale Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys For Sale Wholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' '