The Kanpur track is dry, has cracks, and it will assist the home side, as it should. But, if you listen to head groundsman Shiv Kumar, only as much as it should. There are early indications that the ball wont turn as early or as alarmingly as it did in Nagpur and Mohali last season, when India won both Tests inside three days.There might be some concern at the sight of the cracks three days from the start of a Test, but Shiv said the soil has deceptively good binding qualities, and that erring on the side of caution could result in a repeat of the 2004-05 Test when Andrew Hall scored 163 in a boring draw. That was the debut Test for Shiv, an electrician by formal training who decided to try his hand as a groundsman because of unemployment. He says he has learnt a lot from that 2004-05 draw.The other extreme in Kanpur, though, appeared in 2008 when India, trailing 0-1 in the series, beat South Africa in three days on a vicious turner, which was later rated poor by the ICC. Shiv said that happened because of the April heat, and a repeat was not likely to happen this year. If the Test on crack was played in the heat of April, the one on valium was played in November when the weather cools down considerably. This one, in September, might be bang in the middle in terms of heat; September used to be pleasant before global warming turned the north Indian summer into a seemingly never-ending phenomenon.Shiv has three reasons to be confident this pitch wont start turning alarmingly on day one. Firstly, the cracks might be visible, but they are not loose; in fact the surface is quite hard. A knuckle knock on the pitch creates a solid sound. Secondly, Shiva said the binding qualities of the Kanpur soil make it a difficult surface to break. Thirdly, the pitch is still getting watered, unlike Nagpur last year where the cracks had become loose by the time the toss happened. The pitch was kept under covers to shield it from the scorching sun during the day, and it was watered at 5pm. More rolling and watering is expected on the two days before the match.There are patches of grass on the pitch, but they are too dry and too far apart to provide any real encouragement for traditional fast bowling. However, if it rains - it rained on Sunday and some mild showers are expected during the Test - the heavy atmosphere and the high water table at Green Park could make traditional swing and seam a factor. Otherwise Shiv expects only about an hours help for the quicks on the first morning.A typical Green Park track, Shiv said, on the basis of first-class matches in the Ranji Trophy, is good for batting for the first two days, and then it starts to take turn. That is more a classic Test track in India: good for batting in the first half of the match and moving along at a rapid pace in the second. The turn is expected to be on the slower side.The dry track is ripe for reverse swing, which could seal Neil Wagners selection alongside Trent Boult for New Zealand, and might tempt India to play two quicks, three spinners, and thus, just the five batsmen. Dwight Clark Super Bowl Jersey . To the surprise of many, it isnt the Wolverines but their in-state rivals the Michigan State Spartans. Terrell Owens Super Bowl Jersey . LOUIS -- St. http://www.thesf49ersshoponline.com/Youth-Mike-Person-49ers-Jersey/ . -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team. Fred Warner Super Bowl Jersey . -- Washington Redskins tight end Fred Davis was charged Thursday with driving while intoxicated, a day after he was suspended for an NFL substance-abuse policy violation. Richie James Super Bowl Jersey . A forerunning sled crashed into the worker Thursday at the Sanki Sliding Center. The unidentified worker broke both legs and was airlifted to a nearby hospital.OAKLAND, Calif. - As Travis Hafners drive carried toward the high wall in left-centre what had been a six-run lead for Oakland no longer seemed so safe anymore. The Athletics were able to catch their breath once Seth Smith jumped to make the catch to seal a 6-4 win over CC Sabathia and the New York Yankees on Tuesday night. "With the career hes had anytime he connects with the barrel its obviously going to be a scary moment," catcher Derek Norris said. "Hes got tremendous power and hes a monster, hes huge. Anytime a guy like that you hear a barrel you know it could be scary. Fortunately for us Seth made a great play and that good old marine layer made the ball go down a little bit." Norris homered and drove in four runs, Coco Crisp hit a leadoff homer and Bartolo Colon (8-2) pitched six scoreless innings to lead the As to their eighth win in 11 games. Oakland (39-27) has its best record after 66 games since 1992. It didnt come easy after the Yankees scored twice in the eighth and twice in the ninth to bring up Hafner as the tying run with a man on first. His drive off Grant Balfour through the thick night air in Oakland died at the fence. "To me it was never going out," said Balfour, who recorded his 16th save in as many chances. "It was just a matter of does it go off the wall a little too high and then its a double. That was the only thing I was worried about. I was never worried about it going out." Sabathia (6-5) allowed six runs and eight hits in six innings in his homecoming start in front of many fans that came from his hometown of nearby Vallejo to watch him pitch. "He made mistakes, and you cant make mistakes at this level," manager Joe Girardi said. "If you do, sometimes youre going to get away with them but most of the time youre not." The As did get some bad news when star outfielder Yoenis Cespedes had to leave the game after the second inning with tightness in his left hamstring. He is day to day. Cespedes appeared to hurt himself running out a groundout in the first inning. Crisp also played through a sore right heel. Colon pitched out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the first inning and then didnt allow another runner to reach second base. He allowed three hits and a season-high four walks to improve to 5-0 with a 0.75 ERA over his past five starts. "Hes been unbelievable really for us," Balfour said. "Hes a veteran gguy and hes leading the way for us.dddddddddddd Hes showing the younger guys, Hey Im out here and Im still doing it. Just watching the way he goes about his business hes a true professional. Hes been doing it a long time and is very successful at doing it. Were lucky to have him." Norris was coming off an 0-for-13 road trip and was hitless in 14 straight at-bats before delivering the most productive game of his career. He blooped a two-out RBI double down the right-field line in the second that scored Josh Reddick from first when Lyle Overbay misplayed the ball in his fourth career game in right field. Norris then added the big blow in the fourth inning when he drove a first pitch from Sabathia over the wall in left-centre for a three-run homer that made it 5-0 and gave Norris a career-high four RBIs. The As added a run in the sixth when Josh Donaldson doubled and scored on a wild pitch. The poor outing left Sabathia with a 5.30 ERA in 14 career starts in Oakland. Thats his highest ERA in any active American League park. "The changeup was up and flat, the two-seamer I was yanking down the middle," Sabathia said. "It was just a combination of everything not being sharp." New York scored twice in the eighth off Jerry Blevins and could have had more except right fielder Josh Reddick made a nice running catch to track down a liner toward the line by Travis Hafner. Mark Teixeira added a two-run single in the ninth before Smiths catch ended it. The Yankees threatened in the first inning when they took advantage of two rare walks by Colon to load the bases with one out. But Colon escaped the threat with no damage when he got Kevin Youkilis to foul out to first base and Lyle Overbay to foul out to left field. "We got to make him pay," Overbay said. "We let him off the hook and that kind of gave him some momentum and we couldnt get it back." New York then found itself trailing two pitches into the bottom half when Crisp his third leadoff homer of the season and 11th in his career to make it 1-0. NOTES: The national anthem was played by the marching band from Solano Middle School, the school Sabathia attended for junior high. ... Girardi said he hopes SS Derek Jeter will be cleared Thursday by doctors to begin full rehab of his injured ankle. ... Dan Straily (3-2, 4.67 ERA) pitches for Oakland in the second game of the series against Phil Hughes (3-4, 4.80). ' ' '