the event that they lose their ECB central contract, Robinso

CHICAGO -- Cubs manager Joe Maddon tabbed lefty Jon Lester his starter for Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Friday night, when the Cubs host the winner of Wednesdays wild-card contest between the?San Francisco Giants?and?New York Mets.He always embraces the moment. Good things tend to happen, Maddon said of Lester. He really does rise to the occasion. Everything locks in and he tends to execute at a really high level.Maddon announced his rotation for the series during a Tuesday workout, choosing Kyle Hendricks to pitch Game 2, while reigning NL CY Young winner Jake Arrieta will start Game 3 on the road. Righty John Lackey would pitch Game 4, if necessary.Nobody would have predicted Hendricks as a Game 2 playoff starter when the season began, but Maddon had high praise for the right-hander.He did take a really big step forward. He deserves it, said Theo Epstein, the Cubs president of baseball operations. He had an amazing campaign.Lester has a 1.74 home ERA while Hendricks led all qualified starters in that category with a 1.32 mark. Meanwhile, the road ERAs for Arrieta (3.59) and Lackey (4.37) were a little more pedestrian.Friday will mark Lesters sixth division series start; the first four of his career came in the American League. Hes 2-2 with a 2.06 ERA in his previous five division series starts, most recently losing to the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 1 last season. The Cubs won the next three games to advance to the NLCS, where they lost to the Mets.Maddon explained his overall thinking on putting the postseason rotation together.A lot of is based on recent productivity, he said. The fact that Jon has nailed it, Kyle has nailed it. But theyve also been very good at home where Jakes also been good on the road. And John Lackey doesnt care where he pitches.It kind of morphed into that over the last couple of weeks. Charles Tillman Jersey . 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In the lead up - which seemed to begin the moment Mike Geiger blew the whistle in Houston last Thursday night - the Impact rumour mill went into overdrive. The speculation went into meltdown mode, of the golden nugget variety. Sarah Taylor, who is currently taking an indefinite break from cricket, has been awarded one of the ECBs new two-year contracts as Englands women players earn enhanced deals.Taylor, 27, who has made 190 appearances for England across the three formats, stepped away from the game in May to deal with anxiety. There is currently no schedule for her return but Mark Robinson, the England coach, said that next years World Cup remained a possibility.Sarah is doing really well with her return-to-cricket plan after taking some time away from the game for health reasons, Robinson said. Her aim has always been to be back playing and available for selection for the World Cup next summer, and well continue to offer her the support she needs to achieve that goal.Taylor is one of 17 players to be handed the new full two-year deals, which also come with increased value following the initial introduction of central contracts in 2014, while Beth Langston has been awarded the first of the newly created rookie contractsAlex Hartley, the left-arm spinner who has taken 17 wickets in her first nine ODIs, has been awarded her first full contract but fellow left-armer Rebeccca Grundy has lost her deal while the retired pair of Charlotte Edwards and Lydia Greenway also drop off the list.ddddddddddddThe womens game is growing at a real pace, but still doesnt have the financial security that the mens county game offers a player from the England mens team in the event that they lose their ECB central contract, Robinson said. We have a big couple of years coming up with two global events and a Womens Ashes series in Australia, and its important that the players can look forward with some degree of certainty to focus on performing in those competitions.That said, we do still have space and freedom to grow - we have to be able to reward players at the right time - so we will continue to assess the central contracts list on an annual basis. The new level of rookie contract also gives us greater flexibility in this respect, allowing us to financially support players who sit just above the England Womens senior academy squad, but who have not quite hit the level required to win a full central contract. ' ' '