grabbed the three pucks wrapped in tape

Terry Alderman is the undisputed king of the Ashes swingers. In 17 Tests against England he took exactly 100 wickets, including a phenomenal 83 on his two tours of England in 1981 and in 1989. On the second occasion he was instrumental in Australia establishing a grip on the Ashes that they have yet to relinquish. He is returning to England this month to promote the NatWest Series and NatWest Challenge for Sky Sports, who are screening both tournaments exclusively live.You must be looking forward to getting back to England, the spiritual home of the swing bowler. Yeah, somehow English conditions seemed to be made for me. In 1980, the year before my Test debut, I went up to play for Watsonians in Edinburgh, where I found out that that make of cricket ball, on those sorts of wickets, did all sorts for me.You were a consistent success on both your England tours, in 1981 and 1989, but the memories must be hugely contrasting. Oh yeah, Ive still got the scars of 1981. Dennis [Lillee] and myself took 81 wickets between us in that series - he took 39, I took 42 - and yet we still lost the series 3-1. But we exacted our revenge alright, eight years later.That 1989 series, of course, was epitomised by your remarkable success against Graham Gooch. Well, Id played against him a few times and by 1989 wed developed this tactic of placing a man in short at midwicket. He used to drive me a lot, but we figured this might make him think about it twice, and thats exactly what happened. He played across the line and I got him lbw a couple of times, and then he popped a catch up to that very man at midwicket. After that he took a Test or two off to work on his game, but when he came back I still got him with a return catch. So yeah, I probably had the wood over him in that series, but he had some success against me at county level.Does it surprise you that genuine swing bowlers are such a rare breed these days? It is a dying art, thats for sure. There arent too many playing Sheffield Shield cricket and there are very few coming through either. Its a shame, because if you put a man like Chaminda Vaas on a good wicket and with a ball that swings, the batsmans technique has got to be pretty perfect to overcome one of his good tight spells. Personally, my trick was that I bowled stump-to-stump, so if they missed I had a chance of an lbw. But it is a dying art. The best of Australias recent crop was Damien Fleming, but he had a chronic shoulder problem and couldnt get the pace that he wanted out of it. Hes now gone into coaching.In 1989, Allan Border was driven by a singular urge to win back the Ashes. Yeah, AB was our Captain Grumpy, and he was well-nicknamed, because he had openly admitted he didnt want the job. But he grew into the role alright, and the two captains that followed him, Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh, definitely took on board elements of what AB had taught them. I imagine the same goes for Ponting, although Ive never played with him, so I wouldnt know.Was that tour the true start of Australias professional era? Not really, because we were still only halfway to the professionalism that this team has reached now. We still celebrated hard and fast, whereas the blokes dont do that this days because they cant afford to. We enjoyed ourselves much more on the 1989 tour than they will on the 2005 tour. That is a fact of life. Sixteen years ago, we toured with a scorer, a physio, a coach and a manager. These days there is an entourage of 13 or 14 people. Its a lot more professional, but if you talk to AB the thrill on the `89 tour was incredible. We had such a camaraderie going. We toured around on a bus the whole time, and we were on a winning run the whole way. We didnt lose a single Test, and but for two terrible washouts we might have won 6-0.Australia just might be caught out if they try to play like millionairesYour two tours were eight years apart. Incredibly, the same can be said of Australias attack, which looks like being identical to the 1997 line-up of McGrath, Warne, Gillespie and Kasprowicz. On the one hand its a tribute to their fitness, but on the other, you have to hand it to the selectors, because they have got Brett Lee on the sidelines and chomping at the bit. If the Test was being played tomorrow, he wouldnt be in the squad. Theyve left him like a caged lion and will let him loose in the one-dayers, where poor old Bangladesh and the English are going to cop it. He wants to play in the first Test, and the only way he can do that is by knocking a few heads and having a terrific series.So far this summer, its not been raw pace but swing - and Bangladeshs inability to play it - that has been the talking point. What have you made of Matthew Hoggard? Hoggard is your typical old English workhorse, another of those guys like Gus Fraser, Mike Hendrick and Geoff Arnold who will keep running in all day. But hes penetrative as well. Hell get some wickets but hell keep it tight as well and Australia arent used to that - they are used to one or two loose balls an over. If England have got him bowling a 10- or 12-over spell, with Flintoff and Harmison operating on a five or six-over change at other end, plus the fourth seamer, Jones or Anderson, its a pretty good attack. Thats discarding Giles. Hes not going to run through Australia. But the pacers could, and Australia will be under real pressure if they lose early wickets. Theres still a bit of doubt over the fitness of both Flintoff and Harmison though.And what about Harmison? Is he up to the challenge? I saw a bit of him in South Africa and I was impressed, I must say. He wasnt fit towards the end and he struggled, but in Australia three winters back he was homesick all the time and didnt want to play. I cant imagine a person like Troy Cooley can have managed to turn him around, I reckon its more likely to have been Rod Marsh whos done the work, got his mind back on the job and made him tougher.What do the Aussies make of Marsh and Co. being in the England camp for this series? I guess we beat our chests a bit and claim that England need our coaches to become competitive again. But theres been no harm done at all, and I imagine that with all those Australians on the county circuit as well, theyve toughened up a lot of county sides too.Michael Vaughan is taking a tough approach to this summer, much like Border in 89, in fact. Do you think its working? Vaughan is the key. Hes done it before against Australia, and his aim is to get back to the form he showed at Edgbaston in the Champions Trophy last summer. The way he took to Lee in that game was brilliant - no slogging at all, but he simply murdered him, and none of the bowlers knew where to bowl. Hes the captain, so if he can get to that frame of mind again, then England will be a threat.After such a long history of success, do you think Australia might just fear the end of the line? I certainly hope they arent complacent, because they just might be caught out if they try to play like millionaires. They havent had a lot of cricket under their belts leading up to this tour, and guys like Justin Langer who arent in the one-day squad will only get a couple of hits before the first Test. They cant afford to be complacent, but if things get tough, it might just sow a few seeds with the blokes who are contemplating retirement soon. Their bodies might not hold up and they might be caught short. But on the other hand, if Australia get away to a good start then England have got no chance. They have got to be competitive in that first Test at Lords or else its goodnight. Jimmy Garoppolo Super Bowl Jersey . -- Ryan Getzlaf grabbed the three pucks wrapped in tape and held them up to his chest in the Anaheim Ducks dressing room for a celebration nine seasons in the making. Jeff Wilson Super Bowl Jersey .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday. http://www.49ersofficialfanshop.com/dre-greenlaw-jersey.html . Roman Josi had a goal and an assist to lead the Predators to a 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Monday night. Marquise Goodwin Super Bowl Jersey . Two pressure cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the April 15 race in an area packed with fans cheering the passing runners. Three people were killed and more than 260 injured, including at least 16 who lost limbs. Solomon Thomas Super Bowl Jersey . They were putting most of their energy into a record-setting offensive display. GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Eric Eaves scored 17 points, Tashombe Riley had his second-career double-double and Greg Riley hit the winner with four seconds left as South Carolina State beat Furman 69-67 on Friday night to snap a three-game skid.Riley, a junior, had 14 points and a season-high 11 rebounds, James Richardson scored 10 points and Mortimer added nine with four assists.South Carolina State (3-7) matched its biggest lead when Mortimers jumper with 12:23 to play made it 55-44. Daniel Fowler scored nine-straight points to give the Paladins their firstt lead, 62-60, of the second half with 4:07 remaining.dddddddddddd Moments later, SCSUs Ed Stephens and Fowler traded 3s and Furman led by two, but Rileys offensive rebound of his own blocked layup attempt made it 67-all with 33 seconds left. After Fowler was called for an offensive foul, Mortimers floater won it.Fowler, who scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half, missed a potential winning 3 for the Paladins (6-5). ' ' '