Every Wild player was offered a booster shot last month when the virus surfaced

Scott Borthwick hopes a winter in New Zealand will prove beneficial as he looks forward to the start of Durhams season. Borthwick, who came through the ranks predominately as a leg-spinner, was Durhams batting star in 2015 when he piled up 1,286 runs in 16 matches at a healthy average of 42.87.But the 25-year-old is keen to improve his bowling, which led to an England Test call-up at the end of the Ashes series in Australia in early 2014, and hopes changes in playing conditions this season will be a benefit to him, as well as other slow bowlers. It was fantastic to have a full winter in New Zealand, playing for Wellington, Borthwick told Sky Sports News HQ ahead of Sundays Division One opener at home to Somerset.The idea was to go over and work with Jeetan Patel, which was fantastic as he is a top bowler, but I managed to get into their four-day team and it was fantastic to get some runs and a few wickets as well.Ever since I have come into the Durham side weve been successful. Im not saying thats my fault but the last few years weve won three titles, and thats been fantastic. Hopefully that can continue this season.Midway through 2013 I got the chance to bat at No 3. It was always my goal to move up but maybe from eight to three was a bigger step than I wanted. But Ive really enjoyed it and its nice to be in the team as a batter as well as a bowler. Borthwick wants to improve on his 15 first-class wickets from 2015 Among the changes in the County Championship this summer is the scrapping of the mandatory coin toss, designed to encourage the curation of better pitches.And Borthwick hopes the move, which will see visiting captains offered the chance to bowl first, will be advantageous to spin bowlers after he only bowled 149.1 overs in 2015, taking 15 wickets.He added: This time of the season its quite tough, with your fingers feeling a bit chilly. Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali bowled well in the World Twenty20, so hopefully its promising - theres quite a few spinners around now so hopefully we can take a few wickets.Later on in the summer when teams are batting first, hopefully well get some dry wickets and I can come into my own at the end of games, bowling some 20 or 30 over spells I am not very used to here. If we do tend to bat first here then I might have a chance to bowl in the second innings. Ben Stokes was inconsolable after Englands World Twenty20 final defeat Borthwick will be back playing alongside Ben Stokes when the all-rounder makes his domestic return - expected to be against Middlesex on April 24 - and he is backing his team-mate to recover from a heartbreaking finish to the World Twenty20 in India.Stokes was left in tears after giving up four successive sixes to Carlos Brathwaite in Englands six-wicket defeat against the West Indies in Sundays final.Obviously he was massively down the other night, but knowing Ben, his character and his mental skills, hell bounce back from that, he said.I dont think it will bother Stokesy too much. Hes a fantastic cricketer and hell be itching to get back playing for us, and England as well. Hell want to put that behind him, and hes definitely got the character and skills to do it. Also See: County Ins and Outs England stars to feature Monty glad to be home Bayliss backing Stokes Air Max 97 Silver Bullet Fake . Jimmy Howard made 44 saves and Henrik Zetterberg scored two goals, leading the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Saturday night. Air Max 97 2020 .Y. - Major League Soccer is prepared to start its season this weekend even if there isnt a labour deal with its referees and other on-field officials. http://www.outletairmax97.com/sw-air-max-97.html. CEO Steve Koonin on Tuesday told the Hawks flagship radio station that he made the decision to discipline Ferry but allowed him to keep his job managing the team. He did not say what the punishment was, but noted that he relied on a law firms three-month investigation of Ferry and him describing Deng as someone who has a little African in him. Air Max 97 Fake For Sale . Alina Fodorova of Ukraine took third place. Broersen based her gold-medal performance on great high jumping, and finished with 4,830 points, while Theisen-Eaton, from Humboldt, Sask., set a national record of 4,768. Air Max 97 Shanghai . Some teams got significantly better, some teams divested themselves of talent and some teams had quiet afternoons, keeping the status quo.NEW YORK, N.Y. - Once mumps invades a professional sports dressing room, it finds a fertile breeding ground and the NHL is finding that it is not easy to get rid of.Multiple players on multiple teams from coast to coast have come down with the mumps, an illness more typically associated with children.It started in Anaheim and plagued the Ducks, who had three players affected. The Minnesota Wild was next, with five victims. Tanner Glass of the New York Rangers then came down with it, and as recently as Wednesday, the New Jersey Devils had two players turn up sick.It is certainly an outbreak that was unexpected and has caused unwanted disruption at the team level, but it is not something we have any significant control over, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said. As long as our clubs are doing what they need to do to minimize risk of contraction, we are hopeful that the wave of cases will run their course and life will return to normal.The Ducks hosted the Wild in mid-October, New Jersey and the Rangers played each other a few days later and Minnesota visited the Rangers not long after that before facing the Devils in mid-November. But it was not clear whether the teams shared the virus with each other or picked it up in other ways.You see the hits that they have, and sometimes the spraying of saliva, said Dr. Judith Aberg, chief of the infectious diseases division at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital. I think they are high risk. I am surprised we havent actually seen this before.The illness isnt just hitting hockey players, of course. Students on college campuses have also recently fallen victim in another close environment that promotes spreading of the very contagious virus.It is relatively uncommon since the vaccine was licensed in the early 1960s, but this year weve actually had more cases, Aberg said. In 2013, we had less than 500 cases, and already this year were looking at about 1,000 cases in the United States. One person is expected to infect 10 others.Millions are vaccinated at a young age, but Aberg said the immunity can wane with age and 10 to 20 per cent of individuals who have been vaccinated may not have full protection.The NHL and the players association have provided information to teams and players on ways to protect themselves against the mumpss.dddddddddddd Vaccination decisions for any disease are made by club medical staffs and the players themselves.The Rangers quickly moved to give boosters to players, and other teams have done the same. The Ducks cleaned and sterilized their entire operation following the outbreak that hit Corey Perry and others. Everyone was encouraged to get re-vaccinated and most did.Some affected players have already returned to the ice, and all should recover without lasting effects.Each season at training camp, players are encouraged to provide their vaccination records. Childhood vaccine programs are fairly universal and accessible worldwide, although arent mandatory in every country, the NHLPA said.The NHLPA has been actively educating the players regarding the recent outbreak, while providing best practices on how to avoid contracting and spreading mumps, players association spokesman Jonathan Weatherdon said.Many of the recommendations about locker room and bench behaviour are similar to the standard precautions the NHL provides regarding the flu, which is similarly transmitted.Simple coughing and sneezing and getting those respiratory droplets on each other can cause the spread of mumps, Aberg said. The problem is that it is contagious before you have symptoms. Thats where it gets tricky because you dont know youre going to come down with the mumps, and youre contagious. Then you are contagious for five days or so after you have symptoms.The illness even felled Minnesota ironman defenceman Ryan Suter, the rare American-born player to be affected.Every Wild player was offered a booster shot last month when the virus surfaced. Suter decided not to take it, and paid the price. He was the fifth Minnesota player — all defencemen whose cubicles are next to each other — to come down with the mumps.Suter, who hadnt missed a game since joining the Wild in 2012, led the NHL in ice time each of the last two seasons.I probably wash my hands more than anybody, he said. I go out of the way to make sure Im a clean guy. So for me to get it, it stunk. I always tell these guys, Youve got to be mentally strong and youll never get sick. So theyre all giving me a hard time.___AP Sports Writers Greg Beacham in Anaheim, Calif., and Dave Campbell in St. Paul, Minn., contributed to this report. ' ' '