India and Tamil Nadu seamer L Balaji will retire from first-class and List A cricket, but has said he will be available for smaller T20 leagues. http:///...rple-639045-515.html .Balaji will meet TNCA president N Srinivasan later this evening to formally announce his retirement. The TNCA, it is learnt, is keen for Balaji to be bowling coach for the 2016-17 domestic season, a role he also fulfilled in the 2015-16 season. Balaji is expected to take a call after discussing the terms of his contract during his meeting with Srinivasan.I have taken a decision on not playing senior-level cricket any longer in any format. I have asked the TNCA to not pick me for the Tamil Nadu team this season, he told ESPNcricinfo. I am still looking to continue playing the smaller leagues, but lets see how it goes.Balaji, 34, made his first-class debut for Tamil Nadu in the 2001-02 season, against the Colombo District Cricket Association, and took 37 wickets in his maiden first-class season in India. The following season, he finished as the joint highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy in 2002-03, with 47 dismissals, and went on to make a Test debut in October 2003 against New Zealand in Ahmedabad.Overall, Balaji played 106 first-class matches, taking 330 wickets at an average of 26.10, with 16 five-fors and four ten-wicket hauls. In List A cricket, his record stands at 145 wickets in 100 matches at an average of 29.35. He also captained Tamil Nadu for three seasons - from 2011-12 to 2013-14, with the side reaching the Ranji Trophy final in 2011-12.Balaji picked the spell against Delhi in the Ranji Trophy semifinal in 2002-03 as one of his favourites in his first-class career. Balaji took 5 for 49 in the second innings, and seven in the match, to help Tamil Nadu beat Delhi by 132 runs. I think I have been part of some very interesting matches, he said. I picked up a five-for in the second innings against a team that featured three, four Test players like Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Aakash Chopra. My spell of 6 for 24 against Bengal in 2008-09 [Ranji Trophy quarter-final] was also very special.His last first-class appearance came in the 2014-15 Ranji Trophy final, in which Karnataka beat Tamil Nadu by an innings and 217 runs. Before the 2015-16 season, Balaji was named bowling coach and was also picked as a player, though he did not eventually play any first-class matches in the season. His appearances for Tamil Nadu in 2015-16 were limited to four one-day matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.Since then, Balaji has only played in the inaugural Tamil Nadu Premier League T20 tournament, where he has taken eight wickets so far for Albert TUTI Patriots.Balaji played eight Tests between 2003 and 2005, picking up 27 wickets at an average of 37.18. His best performances in Tests came against Pakistan in the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons. On the tour of Pakistan in 2004, Balaji took 12 wickets in the three-Test series, including a haul of 7 for 171 in the decisive Rawalpindi Test, which India won to claim the series 2-1.The following year, when Pakistan toured India, Balaji was among the wickets again, ending with 14 wickets in three matches. This included a match haul of nine in the first Test in Mohali, where he also claimed his only five-for in the format.Balaji also played 29 ODIs between November 2002 and August 2005, before suffering a career-threatening stress fracture for which he underwent back surgery. He eventually made a comeback to the Indian side after being picked for the ODIs in Sri Lanka in early 2009, but played only one match in the series.Despite his international career remaining ridden with injuries, Balaji said he was fortunate to having played alongside his childhood heroes. To play alongside bigger brothers like Zaheer [Khan], Ashish [Nehra], Harbhajan [Singh] and Yuvi [Yuvraj Singh]… they have always been looking after me, he said. Also playing with the six legends - Viru [Virender Sehwag ], Sourav [Ganguly], Anil [Kumble] bhai, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman - was a dream come true.I am very indebted to my seniors from my state; I have learnt a lot from every cricketer I have played and interacted with. The TNCA has been very supportive, especially when I had a surgery, and N Srinivasan, especially, backed me. Of course, I am indebted to my family, my wife, my sisters, and my friends, without whom I wouldnt have made this level from being a tennis-ball cricketer.I have made the physios job and the doctors job very tough for a few years, so I would like to thank them for helping me come out of a career-threatening injury. I kept them busy for sometime, and in the end made good friends in a different field. http:///...hite-698595-001.html .C. Lions has come to an end. Banks told TSN on Jan 2 that he had no interest in playing out the option year of his contract with the Lions in 2014, and he again made that clear in a conversation with Lions GM Wally Buono last week. http:///...en-men-gs-girls.html . -- Ohio States Urban Meyer has never had any issue acclimating to the biggest stages in college football. http:///...k-silver-705317.html .C. -- Al Jefferson joked that he feels he can score from anywhere on the court. DEL MAR, Calif. -- It was minutes after California Chrome had won the Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic on Saturday at Del Mar when his trainer, Art Sherman, walked into a media room for a news conference, looked up, caught the eye of someone standing nearby and said, under his breath, We kind of spooked em a little, didnt we?Use whatever adjective you want -- spooked, embarrassed, dominated. Any superlative will do, for California Chrome throttled -- hows that! -- top-class horses like Beholder and Dortmund in the Pacific Classic, romping over a track that was duller than usual and played to late runners almost all day.The lone exception was an exceptional horse, California Chrome, who shot to the front, set legitimate fractions, had plenty in reserve when Beholder and Dortmund tried to go after him, and cruised to the wire with jockey Victor Espinoza taking a long hold on the reins. The official margin was five lengths, and it was just that emphatic. The best horse in the world had produced another masterpiece on his brilliant 2016 campaign.Im more confident going forward for the future, Espinoza said. We beat the Queen -- Beholder -- and Dortmund.Beholder, who beat the boys in last years Pacific Classic, chased California Chrome throughout and settled for second, 2-1/4 lengths in front of Dortmund. Hoppertunity was fourth and was followed, in order, by Dalmore, Imperative, War Story, Hard Aces, and Win the Space in the field of nine.California Chrome ($4.20), the favorite, covered 1-1/4 miles on a fast track in 2:00.13. The fractions were all his, 23.20 seconds for the quarter-mile, 47.29 for a half, 1:11.22 for six furlongs, and 1:35.69 for a mile.The victory was the fifth straight this year for California Chrome, whose biggest victory the first half of the year was the Dubai World Cup, and whose year-end goal is the Breeders Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 5. He secured a fees-paid berth to the Classic by winning the Pacific Classic, a Win and Youre In race.California Chrome prefers to be outside horses, but he drew the rail. As a result, Espinoza sent him hard away from the gate, taking the track from his two main rivals.I wasnt worried about the post, Espinoza said. I was more concerned with how hed break out of the gate. I sent him out of there, hard as I can. Try to move out and go from there.Espinoza kept California Chrome a few lanes off the rail, daring anyone to drop inside him. No one took the bait. But as the race unfolded, Gary Stevens on Beholder and Rafael Bejarano on Dortmund had to decide when to move.Stevens said he thought he would end up chasing California Chrome.I was hoping theyd send Dortmund, but I suspected they might not because maybe theyre not sure he wants a mile and a quarter, Stevens said. I had too try and time my move, because if I hooked him too early I might not even be second. http:///...moon-822675-515.html. Stevens said that when he asked Beholder to go after California Chrome moving around the far turn, he quickly realized she would not repeat.I was hoping for the same kick she had last year. She kicked, and he opened up, Stevens said. When he opened up, I knew Id have to save something for the last eighth if I wanted to be second. Victor was playing with us. I dont think he let him run. Thats kind of scary.Said Sherman of Beholder: The mare ran a hell of a race, but she was hooking different horses than last year.Bejarano was hoping Stevens would be more aggressive, and thought Stevens settled for second. But he also confirmed that 1-1/4 miles might be stretching it for Dortmund.Its a little far for him. He might want a mile and an eighth, Bejarano said.Sherman had said during the week that he expected California Chrome to move forward off his last start, the San Diego here last month, much as he did in the Dubai World Cup following a prep in Dubai. He beat Dortmund by a half-length in the San Diego; he beat Dortmund by 7-1/4 lengths Saturday.One tipoff that California Chrome would fire, Sherman said, was his demeanor in the paddock.He had his game face on, Sherman said. He bows his neck. Hes ready.The victory was the 14th in 23 starts for California Chrome. His resume includes the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in 2014, as well as that years titles as champion 3-year-old male and Horse of the Year. He is the clear leader this season for Horse of the Year, a title he will seek to nail down in the Breeders Cup Classic.California Chrome was scheduled to return to his base at Los Alamitos on Sunday morning, according to Alan Sherman, Arts son and assistant.Now age 5, California Chrome, a son of Lucky Pulpit, is owned by a partnership - called California Chrome LLC -- that includes co-breeder, Perry Martin, as well as Taylor Made Farm, where he will go to stud.California Chrome earned $600,000 on Saturday, bringing his career earnings to $13,252,650, a record for a horse born in North America.This was the 26th Pacific Classic, and was the strongest ever. The field collectively boasted a Kentucky Derby winner, the first- and third-place finishers from the Dubai World Cup, two winners of the Santa Anita Derby, runners who have won five Eclipse Awards, two Breeders Cup races, a Horse of the Year title, and 19 Grade 1 races, plus the races only female winner.In the end, though, the race was a showcase for the current brilliance and dominance of California Chrome.I cant believe Im just lucky enough to have him, Sherman said. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '