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19-02-2012 22:36 ??tinyurl.com

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Now Lose Weight Safely. - Video

Updated: February 17, 2012, 3:07 PM ET

Former unified featherweight titlist Yuriorkis Gamboa will jump up two weight classes and face former lightweight titleholder Brandon Rios in a fight that matches two of boxing's most crowd-pleasing fighters.

They will meet April 14 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas for a vacant lightweight title. It will be televised on HBO's "World Championship Boxing."

The fight, for which HBO is paying a little more than $2 million for, is easily the biggest in the careers of both fighters and the winner likely will be propelled into even bigger events.

"Rios and Gamboa are two young and hungry fighters in their prime looking to make a leap to stardom," Top Rank promoter Todd duBoef said on Friday.

DuBoef had been in Miami to personally close the Gamboa side of the deal, which had been the difficult side to get done. Rios badly wanted the fight and his side of the deal has been done for about a week.

"This is what Brandon really wants," Rios' manager, Cameron Dunkin, said. "I feel that it's an opportunity that could catapult the winner. A lot of people who call me tell me this is a great fight. I really think everyone will be excited by this fight."

Rios will stay at 135 pounds for the fight despite past problems making weight. In December, he was stripped of his lightweight title because he failed to make weight for a defense against John Murray on the Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito II pay-per-view undercard at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Rios (29-0-1, 22 KOs), 25, of Oxnard, Calif., ate essentially nothing for five days leading up to the fight and also severely restricted his fluid intake in an ultimately futile attempt to make weight.

The fight went on, and Rios stopped Murray in the 11th round -- though he lost his title by not making weight. Now Rios will have the chance to win the vacant belt back against Gamboa.

Rios talked about moving up to junior welterweight, but decided to remain at lightweight and is now working with a nutritionist and a strength and conditioning coach to make sure he makes weight safely, Dunkin said.

"He's got a full-time guy watching what he eats every day and he hasn't ballooned up," Dunkin said. "Last time he was huge when he started training. He doesn't have near that kind of weight to lose this time. He'll be really ready. He's already been working out, doing cardio, all kinds of different exercises and strength training. It's completely different than what Brandon has ever done before. We know it is a really, really tough fight."

Dunkin said even though Rios was excited about making the fight, he was not so sure about it at first.

"Sure, you doubt yourself, but I really believe in my guy," he said. "Brandon is so determined. He talks all the time about what he wants to accomplish. (Trainer) Robert (Garcia) was very confident and liked the fight from the beginning, and he had to sway me a little because I was hesitant. But Robert said we'll be fine and I know how much Brandon wanted this fight. I don't know Gamboa but I'm sure he's like Brandon, that he knows this is an opportunity to prove how good he is."

Gamboa (21-0, 16 KOs), 30, of Miami, was a decorated amateur, including winning a 2004 Olympic gold medal for Cuba before defecting and turning pro in 2007. He is one of the most electrifying fighters in boxing, a rare combination of power and speed.

"Gamboa has been constantly referred to as a 'rising Cuban star' throughout his career. But on April 14, the word 'rising' will finally be eliminated. Gamboa will be a superstar," said Arena Box promoter Ahmet ?ner, who co-promotes Gamboa with Top Rank. "Gamboa is so special and though he has been fighting at 126 pounds, 135 pounds is where he belongs. He will be so much stronger fighting at lightweight."

Rios won a lightweight belt on a 10th-round knockout of Miguel Acosta in February 2011. He made one defense by knocking out Urbano Antillon in the third round in July before the weight problem against Murray cost him the belt.

Gamboa won a featherweight belt in 2009 and unified two titles in 2010, but the politics of boxing ultimately caused him to be stripped of both titles, although his previous four opponents -- Jonathan Barros, Orlando Salido, Jorge Solis and Daniel Ponce De Leon -- were either former or future world titleholders.

Dan Rafael covers boxing for ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter

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Gamboa, Rios agree to April 14 bout in Vegas

MESA, AZ - If you are looking to lose those extra pounds, a casting event for “Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition” will be held in Mesa this weekend.

The show documents the makeover of courageous, “super obese” people who, in 365 days, set out to safely lose half their body weight.

The term “super obese” is used to define those who exceed their estimated ideal weight by approximately 225-percent and who are roughly 200 pounds or more overweight, according to an ABC press release.

Trainer and transformation specialist Chris Powell guides each of the eight participants through their transformation process by moving into their homes and assuring they have the proper nourishment and exercise movement.

“Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition” will chronicle each participant’s journey as they go about reclaiming his or her life.

There will be a nationwide tour to nine cities in search of participants for season three.

Candidates are asked to either attend an open call in one of the cities or send in a home tape. 

Information about how to apply can be found on the official casting website .

The Valley event will be held on February 18 th at Superstition Springs Center 6555 E. Southern Avenue in Mesa, Arizona 85206 from 10am to 4pm.

Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Weight loss TV show casting in AZ

It turns out that the humble penny is a pricey coin. Specifically, each new penny coined by the government costs 2.4 cents.

My point here is not to remind you that pennies are anachronisms that ought to be dispensed with entirely—though that is true. This is actually a story about the federal budget, and why it’s so tough to manage.

Yesterday, President Obama unveiled his budget for 2013—a plan for everything that the government will spend money on and where it intends to get that money. I won’t bore you with the details, since this document won’t survive first contact with Congress and doesn’t offer a final picture of what government activity will look like next year, although it does reveal a lot about what the president thinks is important.

One good idea in the budget is to change the way we make those expensive pennies and nickels (which cost 11.2 cents each), using cheaper metals to do the job. Pennies are now made mostly of zinc, and nickels have more copper than nickel. If we switch up the raw materials—perhaps to an aluminum alloy, like other advanced economies, or else industrial porcelain—the Treasury Department estimates we could save about $100 million a year.

Of course, $100 million a year sounds awesome, but in budget terms it’s a tiny amount of money—less than one-100th of 1 percent of the entire $3.7 trillion the president proposes spending next year.  But like everything that matters, budgeting is a game of inches, so lopping off small stuff—especially no-brainer waste like this—is a good way to find breathing room as you work your way up to the big stuff

Did I say no-brainer waste? This is where it gets interesting. Even though this idea seems like pragmatic good government, there are plenty of people who think it’s a bad idea. The Wall Street Journal wrote about many of these naysayers in 2010, the first time the president proposed the idea:

Zinc miners. Believe it or not, the people who sell zinc the government uses to make pennies aren’t eager for them to change their ways. Big Zinc spends a lot of time lobbying to keep pennies the way they are—even funding an organization called Americans for Common Cents to lobby Congress to keep the penny around.

People who conflate coins' value with the metal in them. Plenty of people think that coins are valuable because they have valuable metal in them, but that’s not how it works: Our money is valuable because we agree to use it as a medium of exchange. Supply and demand determines the rest; U.S. money hasn’t depended on the price of any metal since 1971. People who believe that there’s a scenario that involves selling their pennies to the local zinc smelter would probably be better off hoarding bullets instead. There are also a lot of people who just plain like pennies and think new ones won't be as nice. 

Businesses that rely on coin-operated vending machines. Folks worry that vending machines, laundromats, coin-counting machines, and parking meters will need to be adjusted en masse if coins' weight or conductivity (two common ways machines identify change) shifts. This is a pretty reasonable concern, but when was the last time you used a penny or a nickel at a vending machine?

When all is said and done, these reasons probably aren’t worth the extra $100 million it costs us not to change the composition of the coins. But these people think about pennies a lot, and they spend money to let the government know what they think. When was the last time you thought about the penny, much less mentioned it to an elected representative?

Now imagine how this dynamic plays out when it comes time to cut outlays on more complex, more expensive issues like health care and national security, which affect nearly everyone and touch businesses across many sectors. The same thing happens with other deficit-drivers, like the Bush administration’s tax cuts or the raft of tax breaks we give out to individuals and corporations.

The penny paradox is a dilemma at the heart of democratic government—a engaged, concentrated group of people who benefit from spending can keep it going, even if it’s not in the broad public interest. Conservatives and other folks with an anti-government bias see this dynamic as one more reason to keep the government out of the spending business. Meanwhile, those of us who think the government can do more harm than good see this as a problem to be solved through better institutional design, a more engaged citizenry, and better politicians—if we can find them.

So if you’re ever wondering why Washington’s fights over the budget seem wildly out of proportion or overly gridlocked, remember that cutting waste and focusing on top priorities is harder than it looks. And the next time you hear someone complaining about our sky-high deficits, ask them how much it costs to make a penny.

Photo via (cc) Flickr user terrypresley

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What the 2.4-Cent Penny Says About America's Budget Problem

OVER 32 Pak 114/9 Saeed Ajmal 2 Wahab Riaz 0 Swanny can't do it in that over.

OVER 31 Pak 114/9 Saeed Ajmal 2 Wahab Riaz 0 Steve Finn is back on, hunting what would be (strangely) the first-ever five-fer for an Englishman v Pakistan. Just one leg bye off the over as the Pakistan tailies defend. Boo-ooooring.

OVER 30 Pak 113/9 Saeed Ajmal 2 Wahab Riaz 0 Wicket maiden from Swann and he could have had another when Wahab Riaz got a thin edge on a huge slog. Kieswetter couldn't cling on to a tough chance. Swann looks absolutely livid, really disgusted.

WICKET! Umar Gul lbw Swann 2 Yep, no doubt about that one. Swann spins the ball back, it hits Umar Gul on the pad again, similar to over 28. Given out this time. Umar Gul figures he might as well review it, but more in hope than in expectation and that's the end of him. FOW 113/9

OVER 29 Pak 113/8 Umar Gul 2 Saeed Ajmal 2 Four off that Samit Patel over, but to be totally honest I was looking for something so can't tell you how. Singles, anyway.

OVER 28 Pak 109/8 Umar Gul 0 Saeed Ajmal 0 England use, not to say "waste", their review when Swann turns one back to hit Umar Gul on the pad. Given not out, and quite right too: it hit him outside the line. Maiden.

OVER 27 Pak 109/8 Umar Gul 0 Saeed Ajmal 0 There were 13 off that over, but the wicket of Afridi extinguishes any hope.

WICKET! Shahid Afridi c Swann b Patel 28 Ahh, that's a real shame. Afridi was having a lot of fun against Samit Patel, smacking a cover drive for four, and then clubbing one through off for another boundary. Then five wides as Samit over-adjusted and sent the ball down leg. But, sadly, he then slogs one to long off where Graeme Swann shows Samit how it's done by taking a decent low catch. FOW 109/8

OVER 26 Pak 96/7. Shahid Afridi 20 Umar Gul 0 Into the bowlers now as Umar Gul comes in. Surely Shahid Afridi will just go ballistic now? Dunno why they don't take the batting powerplay, mind you.

WICKET! Umar Akmal st Kieswetter b Swann 22 Ha, Samit Patel is a relieved man. Swann was starting to tick - perhaps annoyed at not being used as a bowler as soon as a man of his status might expect? Afridi slogged him for a brutal four, and then smacked the ball down the ground, where Samit was stationed at long on - only to drop! the ball. The batsmen crossed. Swann fumed. Next ball, though, Umar Akmal gave Swann the charge and missed, his unimpressive, injury-hampered knock coming to an end with a regulation stumping.

OVER 25 Pak 90/6. Umar Akmal 21 Shahid Afridi 15 Well played by Shahid off Finn. Cuts him away for a couple, then repeats the dose through the offside. Good batting. Umar, meanwhile, is swinging like billy-o, but not really getting anywhere near the ball.

OVER 24 Pak 84/6. Umar Akmal 20 Shahid Afridi 10 All wee-wee and vinegar, really, from Shahid in that Swann over. Lots of bristling and bluff-charges, but no actual shots as such.

OVER 23 Pak 81/6. Umar Akmal 19 Shahid Afridi 8 Even though the match is effectively over, Cook knows that the only thing that could possibly hurt England is one of Afridi's Roberto Carlos-esque ultra rare thunderclaps. He brings Finn on to keep Afridi honest. There's nothing to hit really and Finn manages to pin Afridi in the breadbasket with one short ball.

Fatima Ahmed: "Pakistan loves its tag of unpredictable a bit too much I think..anyway you win some you lose some..fingers crossed that they will cross 150 at least!"

OVER 22 Pak 79/6. Umar Akmal 18 Shahid Afridi 7 Graeme Swann finally comes into the attack and Shahid Afridi's eyes light up. Skips down the track and smashes it back past the bowler for a one-bounce four. Now Swann flights it, and Afridi comes again, but only a single this time. This should be fun.

OVER 21 Pak 72/6. Umar Akmal 16 Shahid Afridi 2 The Boom Boom comes in and I am sure we will see some shots now. He and Umar share four singles off four balls.

WICKET! Shoaib Malik c Pietersen b Patel 7 Good grief what a wretched shot. Full toss from Patel, spooned up in the air off the toe of the bat and caught by KP at mid on. Simple chance. FOW 72/6

OVER 20 Pak 68/5. Umar Akmal 14 Shoaib Malik 7 Looks like Umar Akmal's back has gone, he's just swinging at everything and clearly figures he might as well go down swinging (and wincing). He slogs one up in the air and it lands safe. He's stepping away to leg, throwing the bat, and this is all going to be over pretty shortly. Anderson traps him on the crease and there is a big shout for lbw, but too high I think. The powerplay comes to an end, an England-esque 15 runs off it.

OVER 19. Pak 65/5. Umar Akmal 12 Shoaib Malik 7 Maiden for Broad, who has been mean as sin since an opening over of 11. England are all over Pakistan here.

OVER 18. Pak 65/5. Umar Akmal 12 Shoaib Malik 7 Anderson gets too wide, a rare blot on England's copybook, and Malik creams that away through point. Shot. Umar also joins in on the fun, heaving agriculturally across the line for a four.

OVER 17. Pak 56/5. Umar Akmal 8 Shoaib Malik 2 Looks like Broad has been watching Finn, because he now exactly replicates some of the material his mate was sending down earlier. Shoaib Malik plays a dreadful waft at one ball, and is then hit on the pad by the nip-backer. The hapless Simon Taufel gives him out, and then has to change the decision after a review by Shoaib shows the ball pitched a fair way outside off. Oh, Simon. Another boob. 0, 17, 0, 2, 14, 2, 39, 8, 36, 2, 28, 11, 26, 2, 27... that sorry lot is Malik's most recent ODI knocks since his September 2009 ton v India., so I don't expect it will be all that long.

OVER 16. Pak 55/5. Umar Akmal 8 Shoaib Malik 1 England call for the bowling powerplay, and Jimmy Anderson bowls the first over of it. Just two runs. Looks like Broad will bowl from the other end.

OVER 15. Pak 53/5. Umar Akmal 7 Shoaib Malik 0 A wicket maiden from Samit Patel. The stadium is silent. I mean, it wasn't exactly a cauldron beforehand, but it really is quiet now. This game be over.

WICKET! Misbah lbw Patel 14 Yet another lbw against Misbah, this time to Samit Patel as he slides the ball past the Pakistan skipper's forward prod. Dear me, it really was a meat and potatoes delivery (this is not a dig at Samit's weight) - just a regulation ball from around the wicket from the left armer that came along in with the arm, but Misbah totally missed it. FOW 53/5

OVER 14. Pak 53/4. Misbah 14 Umar Akmal 7 And I say again: "where Swanny?" as Ravi Bopara comes on. This has the slight whiff of the premeditated, schoolboy captaincy about it, to me. If that's not too much of a cheek to say about a captain who has just scored a surely match-winning ton. Like, "after the first hour, we'll try and fiddle through the fifth bowler overs". Surely England are only a wicket away from near-certain victory; don't let this pair settle against the weakest bowlers in the line-up. Anyway, no disasters in Ravi's over, just four off it. Umar Akmal needs a bit of treatment on his back, and we'll take drinks.

OVER 13. Pak 49/4. Misbah 12 Umar Akmal 5 Steve Finn goes for a well earned rest and Samit Patel comes on for a bowl. Where Swanny? Anyway, five off it.

Alexander Agranovsky mails: "People argue a lot whether South Africans should or should not play for England, but it seems that nobody minds a Finn leading the bowling attack. Is it because Finland are not a Test nation?" Meanwhile Jon Horsley has got to the hear of the matter: "While I admire Finn's bowling today, I did prefer it when he kept doing pratfalls after every other delivery. Is there no way he could combine the two?"

OVER 12. Pak 44/4. Misbah 10 Umar Akmal 2 Two excellent bits of England fielding - one from Anderson, the other from Morgan - help Broad to get through a two-run over.

OVER 11. Pak 42/4. Misbah 9 Umar Akmal 1 Another snorter from Finn that nips away and beats Misbah's prod. Streaker single for the skipper off the inside edge and that makes just two off the over.

OVER 10. Pak 40/4. Misbah 8 Umar Akmal 0 After an expensive first over, Broad gets his mojo back with a mean maiden to Misbah.

Tweets Aatif Nawaz: "That expansive shot first ball tells you everything you ever need to know about Umar Akmal..."

OVER 9. Pak 40/4. Misbah 8 Umar Akmal 0 Simply brilliant from Finn, sending a real message to those selectors after he spent the Test series carrying the drinks. (Mind you, Broad and Anderson were pretty damn impressive in the Tests as well). The wicket came off ball five of the over, and new man Umar Akmal has a wild swish at his first delivery. He's lucky not to get an edge.

WICKET! Imran Farhat c Kieswetter b Finn Never mind about Misbah's cover drive, if Finn carries on bowling like this, it's going to be all over by the first drinks break. Bit of zip around, perhaps as a result of some dew, and another perfect delivery. Slanting across Farhat, just nibbles away from the left-hander and another good catch from Craig behind the stumps. FOW 40/4

OVER 8. Pak 38/3. Farhat 9 Misbah 7 Captain Cook makes his first bowling change, replacing Anderson with Broad. It does not pay immediate dividends. Single for Farhat, then skipper gets of the mark with a square drive for three, then three for Farhat as well. The final ball of the over, though, sees the shot of the innings so far, a picture-perfect drive through extra cover for four. No fielder even moved, and nor should he have bothered. Misbah looks like he's going to take the fight to England. 11 runs off that over.

OVER 7. Pak 27/3. Farhat 5 Misbah 0 Brilliant from Finn, and the vital wicket I feel. Younis was looking in nice touch - earlier in the over, he had played a delightful straight drive down the ground for four.

WICKET! Younis Khan c Kieswetter b Finn 15 That is sensational from Finn! What a delivery. Proper quick, jags back a long way off the seam and YK gets an inside edge. Kieswetter with a good tumbling catch. FOW 27/3

OVER 6. Pak 23/2. Younis 11 Farhat 5 Younis looks busy. Despite Finn's couple of lbws he's not afraid to play across the line and work the ball into the on-side. Jimmy's only really moved that one ball, a jaffa to Hafeez, in his first over. Tyers back on the ones and twos after this over.

OVER 5. Pak 20/2. Younis 10 Farhat 4 Finn's pace is up in the 140 kphs, which is 90mph in old money. Looks a hell of a bowler these days, has really added a bit of menace into that run up, and he gets in really nice and close to the stumps. Younis picks up a couple as England's comedy outfielding bites them in the behind. KP slid and popped it up but he was on a completely different wavelength to Samit, who then has to go chasing after the ball. Frustrating for Finny.

OVER 4. Pak 13/2. Younis 2 Farhat 4 Quiet over from Jimmy. Just a single from Younis who'll stay on strike. Good noise in the ground now, few more Pakistan fans have piled in during the break. No doubt who they're here to see. The noise when Afridi comes in will be massive.

OVER 3. Pak 12/2. Younis 1 Farhat 4 Brilliant start then for Finn. And England are probably slight favourites now? Prof Hart is back on re KP: "Pietersen seems to play all his cricket in a match environment whether for England or in the IPL. Statistically, how many balls has he faced per year? Since 2005 not many. So where does he hone his shots? It would seem the nets. But such practice rules out the psychological element of match play. The nearest is county cricket. But he didn't play that for years and last year with Surrey saw nothing to raise the eyebrows. Yet county cricket is the basis for raising one's game. Actors of old had repertory theatre to acquire their skills before going onto to greater heights. Compare those actors to the present ones who leave acting school and go straight to television with a throat mike. There is no comparison. "

WICKET! Shafiq lbw Finn. Pak 11/2. And another! Two in two for Finn! Anything Afridi can do, Finny can do better! Or just as well anyway. Hat-trick ball coming up! That was a carbon copy of the Hafeez dismissal. Full and straight and just a little bit of wobble in the air as it crashes into Shafiq's pad right in front of middle and off. Plumb. And it's Youns Khan to face the hat-trick ball. He survives, it's too short and let harmlessly go.

WICKET! Hafeez lbw Finn. Pak 11/1. Well bowled Steven Finn! Full and straight and that just looked dead. Finger up, no review and off goes Hafeez.

OVER 4: Pak 11/0. Hafeez 4 Farhat 5 Oh wow, what a start that is for Farhat. Drives Jimmy's first ball down the ground for four. Fabulous straight drive. Good comeback through from JA as he squares up Hafeez with a snorter that moves away in the air. Nice smile from Hafeez, because that was waaaay too good for him. Jimmy then goes for the miracle ball, pitching leg, hitting off, but it's a wide down leg. Cook gets a straight mid-on in there now, a man on the drive, but would a second slip be better bet? Nasser says yes. Which usually means no.

OVER 1: Pak 4/0. Hafeez 4 Farhat 0 Finn runs in hard and his pace is good but he's picked off when he strays onto the Hafeez's pads and the ball rockets across this lush outfield.

15.14: Okay. Finny's out there with the new ball, so let's see how they go...

15.10: For all those of you who've been asking for some stats about the number of batsman who've scored more than 1500 ODI runs with fewer than two sixes, I have something for you. Here's the list Only seven have done it, and two of them - Cook and Trott - bat in England's top three. Manoj Prabhakar made 1858 ODI runs in 130 games without hitting a single maximum. Bet the bat sponsor's were banging his door down...

14.54: Hello all, Mike Norrish here for the first hour of the Pakistan reply, which happily is also the bit with lots of seam bowling and long run ups and five minute overs. And not the bit of spin bowling and short run up and frantic, two minute overs that turn an OBOer into a Wagamama's chef. Sorry, Al.

So how many times do England win from here, do we think? Two out of five, perhaps? Send us your emails at mike.norrish@telegraph.co.uk.

Here's those two Afridi jaffas...

ENGLAND 260/7 The first innings par on the ground is 251, so that's a workable proposition. When Cook was going nicely, it was looking like they might get a fair few more. But when Saeed Ajmal started to work his magic, it seemed that England might be lucky to get 235. So, all in all... a tiny bit better than average I'd say. Cook was brilliant. Bopara was lucky not to be out lbw, and lucky not to be stumped, but played well for 50. Samit Patel chipped in at the end. The less said about the rest, the better. The experiment with KP at the top of the order didn't work, nor could Kieswetter and Morgan get going later on. There were no sixes in the innings.

Afridi took two wickets with lovely deliveries, and that man Ajmal had five before England knew what had hit them. Overall, thank goodness for the seamers, who sent down 15 overs for 100, while spin bowled 35 over for 160. Lucky that England have gone with those three pacers then, amiright?

I'm off for some lunch, the mighty Mike Norrish will be here for the first hour of the Pakistan reply. Let's have a few emails in the meantime:

Ivor from South Africa writes: "Pietersen had his day many days ago. The best batsmen have regular good scores and OCCASIONALLY have a huge day or a bad day. Not Pietersen, I cannot understand why England has persevered so long. If you wanted a WILD card you could have taken on Gibbs!"

Andrew Holgate says: "KP might be out of form, but if you are out of form when playing premiership football you get dropped to the reserves for a few games. Unless you are Spanish, called Torres and cost £50m then you get supported blindly in the vain hope you will "come good". What I am saying is that KP needs time away from the team, refresh himself and come back stronger."

Alan Gill reckons: "So KP struuggles all the way through before he even gets to double figures. Can anyone tell me how he survives the cut each game and is allowed to walk onto the field? He has to be a drain on the whole team. What is scary about the "selectors" is that if he has a good innings they bestow another year's contract on him and thus negate the opportunity for those who deserve the chance. He is no Ricky Ponting whose own great contribution may not be enough to see him in place for the next Ashes and look how great he is. Move him out now. Whether in limited overs or tests Bowlers are probably more than happy to see Pietersen, Morgan and Bell walk out to the wicket. Certainly nothing like the middle orders of teams of old."

Usman Khan "Is that score enough to best Pakistan? I think England should be happy with their batting performance especially Ali Cook what a knock from him perhaps others should learn from him. Let's see how Pakistan do."

Indeed. Right. Lunch.

OVER 50: ENG 260/7 (Patel 17* Swann 13*) Wahab Riaz bowls the last over of the innings. A good away swinging yorker finds the edge of Patel's bat and runs away for four. A wide in the over as well - what the hell is wrong with this guy? Come on Wahab Riaz, sort your life out. Anyhow, just seven off it all told and that is the end of the innings.

OVER 49: ENG 253/7 (Patel 16* Swann 9*) Umar Gul, who has also not been entirely at his best, will bowl the penultimate over of the innings. Patel picks his slower ball and slaps it back down the ground for four. Some decent striking from this pair for ones and twos, before Umar gives Patel a bit of width and Samit carves that like a delicious turkey with all roast potatoes and gravy and yorkshires and a lasagne in a bun and that's four over point. 13 vital runs off the over.

OVER 48: ENG 240/7 (Patel 5* Swann 7*) Swann clips Wahab Riaz for four into the leg side and gets another two past point. Thank goodness for Wahab Riaz, basically: if he hadn't bowled six overs for 41, England would be deep in the doo-doo.

OVER 47: ENG 232/7 (Patel 4* Swann 0*) England kept Ajmal quiet for his first six overs, and then he has come back at them with five for 15 in his next four. This guy is simply too good for England. They were able to keep him out, but once they needed to score off him, Ajmal ripped through them. That's Ajmal's first five-fer in ODIs and England once again had no answer. All that said, England do still have quite a few runs on the board, not enough quite yet maybe, but it's not been a disaster by any means.

WICKET! Broad c and b Saeed Ajmal Well, that was a brief pleasure, madam Broad. He sweeps his first ball firmly and crisply for one, Patel gets a single and then Broad chips his second ball back to the bowler. FOW 232/7

WICKET! Cook b Saeed Ajmal 137 Oh, that's a shame. A superb innings comes to an end as Ali Cook gets down to sweep, and is bowled around his legs. FOW 230/6 And that deals England's hopes of getting 270 a hammer blow. It was the second highest score by an Englishman against Pakistan in an ODI; Cook's mentor Goochie is the record holder.

OVER 46: ENG 228/5 (Cook 135* Patel 3*) You never really know what you're going to get with Wahab Riaz. This over is a mixture of wides down leg, no balls, perfect toe-crushing yorkers and full reverse swingers. Six off it, by hook and by crook.

OVER 45: ENG 222/5 (Cook 133* Patel 0*) Earlier in the over, Cook had shown CK how it's done, getting down to crack a slog sweep right out of the middle for a boundary. The batsmen crossed as the ball was in the air for CK's dismissal off the fifth ball of the over, and then Cook pinched the strike off ball six. Good thing too. It's not easy coming in to bat in the twilight against high quality spin.

WICKET! Kieswetter c Wahab Riaz b Saeed Ajmal 9 Oh dear, well, the best you can say about that is "at least we don't have to watch Craig scratching around anymore". He tried the slog sweep, failed to get hold of it and the ball top edged to Wahab Riaz, who held on to an easy catch at third man. FOW 221/5

OVER 44: ENG 214/4 (Cook 126* Kieswetter 8*) Horrible hoick from Craig Kieswetter, comes off the toe and goes miles straight up in the air. It lands safely. The run-rate has tanked: just 19 off the last five. Kieswetter has having problems getting going. 17 balls for his 8. I myself have never been entirely impressed by CK.

Usman Khalid is sticking up for Kevin: "Come on, we cannot criticise KP. He is a great player and has done well in the past for England, he is just out of form currently, we all know how much of an exciting player he is."

OVER 43: ENG 209/4 (Cook 123* Kieswetter 7*) Afridi will now bowl the last of his ten overs, it's not the most threatening he has sent down, and England get five singles off it. Ten overs two for 55 for Boom Boom.

OVER 42: ENG 204/4 (Cook 121* Kieswetter 4*) Generously, Misbah reintroduces the iffy Wahab Riaz into the attack, and the left armer serves up some wide stuff that is lucky not to be called wide, before a no ball. He gets his act together as the over goes on, to be fair, and it looks like is getting something out of the old ball. Just four off the over.

Geoffrey Lippitt says: "My order of merit is Tests, 50 over and a long long way behind 2020. Frankly 2020 is to tests what 5 a side is to 11 a side football and is merely a means of pleasing the instant gratification that is prevalent. I do not believe KP is finished at all, he is still a force." Meanwhile, Robin Retchtub writes: "The best is "the test", but I do love a good ODI. T20 has, after 50 years, got my wife interested in cricket, all of it. Now to learn how to make tea." I like it. Old skool.

OVER 41: ENG 200/4 (Cook 120* Kieswetter 2*) Afridi returns to the attack and his over goes for four. There might have been a sniff of a run out, but some very poor ground cricket by Pakistan and the throw dribble pathetically wide. Still, four singles off the over only. 200 comes up. 251 is the average score batting first here; so England are on course for that I would say, but maybe not a lot more.

Zain Khan says: "Momentum might be shifting to pakistan now ......England are no longer looking at 270's now .....Pakistan will fancy their hance now.....there are still 3 overs which Malik/Wahab will share that the weakest link and England must be looking to take the maximum out of those overs."

Mrinal Madina writes: "Cook has shown real class and leadership with this knock. He has proven to be adaptable, humble and hard-working in his approach. Guys like him do not get enough glory as he shies away from the limelight. Many other England players could perhaps learn a thing or two from him. It's mental toughness that gets results, not those who talk a good game and happen to entertain the team by making a fool of themselves. We all like a laugh now and then, but sport is about winning, isn't it? Save the good banter boys for the friendly or county stuff. Pick more winners and less "good lads" if you want results."

OVER 40: ENG 196/4 (Cook 118* Kieswetter 0*) Just one off the over, and the wicket, and of course England could still snatch minor disaster from the jaws of competitiveness.

WICKET! Morgan lbw Saeed Ajmal 2 Christ, poor Eoin Morgan is left looking like an utter plum as he gets down early to reverse sweep. He misses it all over the place and is hit on the pad. Given out. He reviews, but that looks like a very good lbw shout for me. Yep, decision upheld and Morgan departs, taking England's review with him. FOW 196/4

OVER 39: ENG 195/3 (Cook 117* Morgan 2*) Thick edge from Cook gives him four. Morgan is then hit on the pad, but I think that has pitched outside leg, maybe height as well. Umar Gul likes it, didn't look right to me. Anyhow, given not out.

OVER 38: ENG 190/3 (Cook 112* Morgan 2*) The out-of-form Irishman Englishman Morgan comes to the crease and smears the ball from Ajmal down the ground for an unconvincing two. Fails to connect with another couple of heaves. Important innings for Eoin, this.

WICKET! Bopara st Umar Akmal b Saeed Ajmal 50 Oh noes! That fellow D. Rinks has done it again. Second ball after the break, Bopara comes down the pitch, fails to pick the doosra and is stumped by a country mile. Not even an Akmal keeper could balls that one up. Well, saying that.... anyhow, that's the end of Ravi. Gutting. FOW 188/3

OVER 37: ENG 188/2 (Cook 112* Bopara 50*) Pakistan, who are now behind the eight ball in this game, turn to Umar Gul to see if he can maybe reverse it, or just give England's well-set pair something to think about. It doesn't do the trick. Cook nudges off his legs for a couple, and then drives him down the ground for a boundary. Single brings Ravi on strike, and the Essex man bunts a single down the ground to bring up a well-earned 50. He was a bit shaky to start with, and frankly he should have been back in the hutch after a plumb lbw, but hey. Look in the papers tomorrow morning, as they say. Or the internet, now. We'll have a drink, with England sitting pretty.

OVER 36: ENG 178/2 (Cook 104* Bopara 48*) With the powerplay upon us, Pakistan turn to Saeed Ajmal. And that is superb from England's captain! The first ball of the over is short and wide, Cook slaps it away through the offside for a boundary, his 11th, and it brings up his 100. That is his third ODI century, and I must say I'm delighted for Ali Cook, well played that man. There's half an lbw shout later in the over with an Ajmal ball that turns back to hit Cook on the pads, but that was doing too much.

OVER 35: ENG 169/2 (Cook 97* Bopara 47*) Just three off the Mailk over, and England will now take their batting powerplay, whether they like it or not.

Nick Hoult tweets: "100 partnership between Essex players at 5.05 an over. That lbw reprieve for Bopara looking crucial."

OVER 34: ENG 166/2 (Cook 95* Bopara 46*) That's a brilliant over from England, Cook picks up two fours with cuts through the offside as the mighty Afridi is tamed for the time being. Bopara inside edges for a single and then cuts into the offside, and all in all it makes 12 off the over, bringing up the 100 partnership in the process. Dare I say it, but England are now in front in this match.

OVER 33: ENG 154/2 (Cook 86* Bopara 43*) Four off Malik, with some mild amusement as Ravi comes down the pitch. He plays the ball to the bowler, who makes to throw down the stumps. Ravi's dive back is most undignified.

OVER 32: ENG 150/2 (Cook 83* Bopara 42*) With England looking strangely comfortable, Mizzer throws the ball to the brilliant Afridi. Three singles off the over, and a two as Cook sweeps nicely. That went quite well, all things considered. Only 47 balls for the third 50 of the innings. What's a good score on this wicket, then?

OVER 31: ENG 145/2 (Cook 79* Bopara 41*) After a few good overs for England, you'd score that one to Pakistan on points. Just three off Shoaib Malik, and a leading edge from Cook that was close to getting point interested.

OVER 30: ENG 142/2 (Cook 77* Bopara 40*) Another good over from England. Excellent sweep from Bopara - Essex man Andy Flower himself would have been proud of that one. Four. Sweet shot. And four singles in the over as well, one of them a very sharp one that might have ended in tears had the throw hit.

George Davidson says: "KP was a legend in 2005 and won the Ashes with an extraordinary knock that Monday afternoon at the Oval. These days, he gets a cameo 15 or 25 and then tells us that is just him and just the way he plays. Sometimes he'll get you a 100 and sometimes a low score. The sad truth is, the vast majority of times he just gets the low scores." I think he just got an absolute snorter today; it happens.

OVER 29: ENG 134/2 (Cook 71* Bopara 38*) Well played, Ravi Bopara. Excellent ODI batting, he drives down the ground safely for a couple, he works into leg, all good low-risk stuff, and England have picked up seven in the over before you know it, scoring off all but one ball with a two, two leg byes and three singles.

OVER 28: ENG 127/2 (Cook 70* Bopara 34*) Cripes, it all happened in that Ajmal over! Bopara gets four off the outside edge to third man. Saeed Ajmal would call it an edge, Bopara would say he ran it away fine for a boundary. There's a near run-out when Cook sets off from the non-striker's end and Bopara sends him back. Younis K cannot hit the stumps. Then a big shout for lbw, but that was sliding down past Bopara's leg stump. And now he's beaten by the doosra outside off! Phew. Anyhow, Ravi's still there at the end of it all.

OVER 27: ENG 122/2 (Cook 70* Bopara 30*) Misbah has had enough of Wahab Riaz's nonsense and replaces him with Shoaib Malik, the off-spinner. SM is a personal favourite of the skipper. He beats RavBop on the outside edge and there is an appeal for a stumping, but Ravi's foot is anchored safely. Pretty good over for England other than that, six from it as Ravi works a length ball away to cow for three.

OVER 26: ENG 116/2 (Cook 68* Bopara 26*) Meanwhile, Cook and Bopara keep plugging away against Ajmal who has not, in truth, looked at his most threatening (cue a flurry of wickets, no doubt). Three off the over.

Nick Hoult tweets: "Perhaps Pakistan should have picked 6 spinners. Riaz is cannon fodder."

OVER 25: ENG 113/2 (Cook 66* Bopara 25*) Ravi, who has looked a bit more settled in the last couple of overs, and certainly a lot more settled against Wahab Riaz than he did against the spinner, produces three very nice shots in a great over for the E. He clips through square leg, and then two lovely extra cover drives. Two, four, four. Go on Ravi lad! Couple of singles to boot, and that makes 12 off the over. The fifty partnership comes up in that over as the Essex men rebuild and, well, thank heavens for Wahab RIaz. He's bowled two overs for 18.

Andrew Holgate: "Time to send KP back to the Counties to get some batting practice. He looks like he is being controlled by an 11-year old on a Play Station. Did Trott not fancy it today?"

OVER 24: ENG 101/2 (Cook 65* Bopara 14*) Four singles in the Ajmal over, and the hundred comes up for England. The second fifty of those runs have taken 80 balls. The first, 63.

OVER 23: ENG 97/2 (Cook 63* Bopara 12*) Wahab Riaz is into the attack. That'll be a relief to England. A brief respite from the dreaded spin. I figure Misbah is hoping that his left-armer can maybe remove Cook, who is surely England's only realistic chance of posting the 250 total that would be the minimum requirement here. Riaz has "a problem with no balls" says Nasser. Yeah. Anyway, he serves one up in this over. Bopara helps a poor delivery on its way to long leg for four.

OVER 22: ENG 91/2 (Cook 62* Bopara 8*) Ah, here he comes. The smiling assassin. Saeed Ajmal is into the attack. Just a single off his first over, and no Bopara wicket, oddly enough.

Oh wow, an email from a professor! Awesome. "When are the selectors going to drop Pietersen? What tenure contract has he signed? Any other out-of-form batsman would have been dropped ages ago as history shows. He is not even England-born. England cannot keep fielding 10 men against a class team like Pakistan," says Prof Charles Hart, OBE.

OVER 21: ENG 90/2 (Cook 61* Bopara 8*) Eek, the jig was nearly up for Cook there. A leading edge from Afridi falls short of cover. He gets a couple to backward point, a single, and then Bopara survives two balls from Afridi, which I would say is the summit of his realistic ambition.

OVER 20: ENG 87/2 (Cook 58* Bopara 8*) Five singles in that over, it's the end of Mohammad Hafeez's spell and he has done a great job for his side with ten overs for 30. England managed 23 from that powerplay, thanks really to that one over from Cook. Oh god, Saeed Ajmal hasn't even bowled yet...

OVER 19: ENG 82/2 (Cook 55* Bopara 6*) Alastair Cook is bringing it! He slog-sweeps Afridi for four, the bowler overcompensates and overpitches next delivery, and Cook clips that away for another boundary. Sweet. Four singles in the over as well makes twelve runs. Cook has his fifty. Some much-needed impetus in the powerplay. Some rather sluggih fielding in that over, as well.

OVER 18: ENG 70/2 (Cook 45* Bopara 4*) No real threat from Hafeez as such, but he fiddles through another over for just two.

Drinks: ENG 68/2 (Cook 44* Bopara 3*) Cook's done pretty well, he has got his runs off 51 balls. England's right-handers, though, look outclassed by Afridi. We're into the bowling powerplay, and England have only managed four in two overs of that so far. Off-spinner Mo Hafeez has been allowed to get through eight overs for 23.

OVER 17: ENG 68/2 (Cook 44* Bopara 3*) Afridi's masterclass continues. This is a joy to watch, it really is. Lures Ravi outside the off stump pushing forward and the legbreak beats the outside edge. Just two off the over and it's drinks.

OVER 16: ENG 66/2 (Cook 43* Bopara 2*) Pakistan take the bowling powerplay. Good tight stuff from Hafeez; just two off that over to Cook.

Fal Hussain says: "I think you can't ask for a better selection. Test match, followed by exciting odi and heart racing 20-20 to top it all off."

OVER 15: ENG 64/2 (Cook 41* Bopara 2*) Bopara tries to cut Afridi, and that is a seriously risky shot if you are not picking the ball out of the hand. And he isn't: cuts at the googly, it turns back and hits him on the pad right in front. Huge shout from Shahid. Given not out. I think umpire Raza reckons he hit it. Well, he didn't: he hit his own pad with the bat. That is plumb out and Ravi Bopara has had a big let-off.

OVER 14: ENG 61/2 (Cook 40* Bopara 1*) Bopara is off the mark but is lucky to still be there. He gives Hafeez the charge, makes a mess of it and is miles out of his ground. Umar Akmal misses the stumping. In fairness to the part-time keeper, the ball got a tiny deflection off the batsman's pads on the way. But you have to say that a proper wicketkeeper would probably have had that one.

OVER 13: ENG 57/2 (Cook 38* Bopara 0*) Sorry to gush, but that was delicious legspin. The quicker leg-break to undo KP, and then a flighted googly that Trott totally failed to pick. Earlier in the over, Cook had hit a nice boundary but it's all Pakistan now thanks to that man Afridi. Ravi Bopara survives the hat-trick ball, a bustling straight one.

WICKET! Trott b Afridi 0 And that ball to Trott is even better. A perfectly flighted googly, it draws Trott forward and turns back to beat his stumbling lunge to crash into the stumps. Spin of the highest class and that, as Marcus Trescothick wisely points out, has put England on the back foot now. Yep, two wickets in two balls will tend to do that. You gotta love the Boom Boom. FOW 57/2

BOOM BOOM BATSMAN BYE BYE! WICKET! Pietersen b Afridi 14 That is a beaut! A slightly quicker one from Afridi, legspinner, it hurries through, KP plays all around it and is clean bowled. FOW 57/1

OVER 12: ENG 52/0 (Cook 33* KP 14*) KP plays three from MoHaf straight back to the bowler, then picks out midwicket. That's a maiden.

OVER 11: ENG 52/0 (Cook 33* KP 14*) Boom Boom is into it right away. He beats Cook outside off, then next ball Cook plays for turn-in that isn't there and gets an inside edge. Still, no further dramas and England have four singles off the over.

David Green tweets: "Simon Taufel is obviously shopping at the same opticians as Arsene Wenger and Kenny Dalglish." Poor Simon has had a bit of a mare of late, it is true.

OVER 10: ENG 48/0 (Cook 31* KP 12*) Cook plays back to Hafeez, tries to work it to leg, gets in a pickle and is hit on the pads right in fron. Taufel gives him out. Cook calls for a review right away, gesturing to his bat, and it only takes one look at the replay to tell you that he's got a thumping big inside edge. Decision overturned. Review system working well so far, that was overturned quickly and without fuss. Good start from England, then, at the ten-over point. Shahid Afridi, the man, the legend, will bowl the next over.

OVER 9: ENG 46/0 (Cook 30* KP 11*) Decent stuff from England in that over as they work Gul for three singles before Cook whips the ball into the legside for a 2. It's not what you would call pulse-racing but England are doing well enough.

OVER 8: ENG 41/0 (Cook 27* KP 9*) While KP looks a bit nervy and scratchy, Cook is playing very nicely. He cuts Hafeez away for four, and then picks the length of a ball very early to play back and dink that into the legside for another low-risk four. This is excellent so far from the skip; he's scoring at a run-a-ball and Pakistan might need to get Hafeez off.

OVER 7: ENG 32/0 (Cook 19* KP 8*) Cook mistimes a cut against Gul, but gets it right the next ball for a couple. He then swats a ball away to cow, where Afridi is too slow to stop it. Four. I've seen Umar Gul bowl a lot better than this, I must say.

OVER 6: ENG 26/0 (Cook 13* KP 8*) Pietersen starting to use his feet against the spin. Bounce looks a tad uneven. A single for each batsman in that over. Here's a little stat from the telly: Cook's strike rate as skipper (19 matches) is 92; when he was in the ranks it was 68. That shows an impressive ability to take responsibility, doesn't it?

OVER 5: ENG 24/0 (Cook 12* KP 7*) Real mixed bag from Umar Gul. A poor legside ball first up, that's four leg byes. Then KP shuffles miles across his stumps, plays around the ball and is struck on the thigh pad. Ooof! That looks a good shout, apart from maybe height, and umpire Raza gives him out. KP looks aghast, and asks for the review. And Kevin is proved right: that would have gone over the top. The decision is overturned. Kev celebrates his deserved reprieve by whipping a ball through the legside for four, almost a flamingo shot. That might settle him down a bit.

"If it wasn't for ODI to compliment Test cricket, some of us would have to do more work. ODI provides a nice break from the tedium, even if England aren't very good at it," saus Andrew Holgate. Good point well made, I say.

OVER 4: ENG 15/0 (Cook 12* KP 2*) Eventful over. Cook gets down to sweep and misses, he is hit on the pad. Big shout from Mo Hafeez but that is just about sliding down leg. Not by a lot, but Pakistan wisely decide against the review. Leg bye. But KP is then hit on the back pad, and that looks a very good shout indeed. Given not out, but Pakistan like the look of it and review! I think he might have been struck just outside the line, and it would seem that the umpires agree. Not out. Single from KP, so just two off the over, but that's a good over for the E, in that Pakistan have burned their review.

OVER 3: ENG 13/0 (Cook 12* KP 1*) KP, always a candidate for a run out when on nought, plays the ball down the ground and sets off for a very risky single. Luckily for him, Imran Farhat makes a hash of the gather and, even though his throw hits the stumps, KP has just enough time to get back. Oh, Kevin. Now a lovely cover drive from Cook for four! Peach! Umar comes back at him with a good ball that Cook thick-edges through the slips for one. Just so you know, we are having the review system in this match, but each side only gets one "wrong" one.

OVER 2: ENG 7/0 (Cook 7* KP 0*) J Trott's mate Wahab Riaz is in the side but he's not called upon to bowl right away. Mizzer instead chucks the ball to Mohammad Hafeez. Oh God, here we go... Death by spin. Ali Cook turns a ball into the legside for a couple, and repeats the dose later in the over. Four off it. He's faced 11 balls to KP's one so far. Last ball of the over is the slider and Cook is unwisely back, just about keeps it out.

OVER 1: ENG 3/0 (Cook 3* KP 0*) Umar Gul is a bit lucky that his loosener isn't called a wide outside off. Cook twice gets on the front foot and meets the ball with good timing, it looks a nice true pitch, but he picks out the fielders. Classic England ODI play, then. Umar gets too wide on ball five and Cook drives into the covers for three, doesn't quite time it. KP defends his first ball down the pitch. Oh, and Paul Allott is on the mike. Good old Paul.

10.59 Ahsan Raza and Simon Taufel are the standing umps. HDPK Dharmasena is in the TV chair.

10.58 Here come Cooky and KP. It all looks a bit like glorified pinch-hittery to me, but if Kev gets going, he could obviously do some damage. Umar Gul has the ball in his hand.

10.55 Can KP give England some much-needed impetus at the top of the order? Is Ravi Bopara the answer in the middle order? Can a top three containing Trott and Cook take the fight to the opposition? Is Craig Kieswetter international class? Should England have gone with three seamers? Five "no's" from me, but what do I know...

10.40 IMPORTANT NEWS: Nick Knight returns to commentary duties. He reckons it looks a good pitch, couple of cracks. There might be some dew later. The stadium cost $22million to build, says Knight. Nobody there, mind you. Poor Knighty, it's a tricky start for him: he loses his audio link-up to the studio and couldn't hear David Gower's questions. After three attempts, Gower gives up and says "go away". Poor Knighty, again.

10.30 England have won the toss and will bat. "We start at nil all," says Ali Cook. Bullish. Hey here is a bit of good news for England: Pakistan have left Abdur Rehman out. Imran Farhat, Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal come into the team for them.

For England, Jimmy Anderson and Steve Finn play alongside Stuart Broad. Tim Bresnan hasn't made it through that elbow injury. KP is promoted to open.

England: Cook, KP, Trott, Bopara, Morgan, Kieswetter, Patel, Broad, Swann, Finn, Anderson.

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Asad Shafiq, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq*, Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal†, Shoaib Malik, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz

10.15 England abroad in sub-continental conditions, batsmen out of form, a re-jigged batting order and a hungry, focused opponent whose ranks are packed with devilish twirlymen… What could possibly go wrong?

Last time England played an ODI series abroad, they lost 0-5 to India. The time before that, 1-6 to Australia. An Australia side with Mitchell Johnson in it, mind you. In between that, a typically second division effort at the World Cup. So... yeah, the form does not suggest that England will do too well against a Pakistan 50-over outfit who have played 19 since their CWC semi-final defeat by India and won 16 of them - with two of their three losses coming in dead rubbers.

All that said: England have recently done brilliantly in Tests and then been a shambles in the ODIs. They've turned that around by getting smashed in the Test series, so it logically follows that they will now be vastly improved in the 50-over game. Seriously, that's all I've got.

I'll bring you the team news as I have it. This is the first of four ODIs, by the way. Then we'll have three T20s.

Read the original here:
Pakistan v England, first ODI: live

By RYAN BERLIN
@RBerlin_MSun

(This article has been corrected to change the total amount lost by initial participants to 2. 7 tons, not 97 tons. -Ed.)

In the first month of competing in the Morey Courts Slim-to-Win contest, 542 participants lost a total of 2.7 tons.

After a month of working out by themselves, the top 10 finalists were announced on Thursday morning.

"That was a hard first month. You put a lot of effort into it and you don't really think about making the top 10. I knew I had a good number but I didn't know how other people were doing," finalist and Mid-Michigan associate professor Jeff Percha said.

"I didn't really know where I stood on it. (Finding out I was a finalist) was kind of a relief but at the same time, now we start again."

Joining Percha in the quest for $10,000 are Martin Brock, Doug Carey, Tim Daugherty, Rickey Hickey, Richard Lowe, Brian Maxon, Morgan Meier, Brian Tunge and Annie Vanderwater.

Finalists were selected by most amount of total

body fat percentage lost. Body fat percent lost for all 10 finalists ranged from 12 percent to 15 percent.

Percha made the cut by losing 13.9 percent. One month ago he weighed in at 325 pounds. At the last weigh-in he was down to 280. Continued...

"I started out at a very high weight, almost 325. For quite awhile it didn't really register that I was losing weight at all. Obviously you step up the workouts and you start to really train," Percha said. "I'm 50 so it has been a lot of years since I have been in that mode and you start to see your endurance pick up and your clothes fit a little better.

"When you're out of shape you think about every move you make. You can't just get out of a chair, you can't just turn, you can't just pivot, you have to think about all that. And all of a sudden it didn't hurt as much as it did before and I was able to do things that I hadn't been able to do before and that was inspiring. It made me want to do more."

Percha will now get his chance to do more. Being named a Slim-to-Win top 10 finalist allows him to have one visit with a dietitian and one visit with a doctor from McLaren-Central Michigan. Morey Courts will also be offering the finalists one training session with a personal trainer as well as a month-long membership to Morey Courts.

At the end of 30 days, the contestants will weigh in again and the finalists will be widdled down to four. Six weeks after that a final weigh in will take place and a winner will be announced on April 22.

Percha is going to take it one day at a time and do the best he can. Win or lose, he feels like a winner.

"If you lay out a program, as I'm sure the other nine finalists have done, part of it is diet and part of it is some kind of activity. It's a simple equation, you have to burn off more than you take in and you have to do it safely," Percha said.

"I had made the decision to lose weight in mid December. I cut out fast food and I quit drinking pop. The competitive side of me wants to win it all but as a realist, I don't know the other people that are in it and I don't know what my limitations are.

"The bigger picture is that I am 50 years old and I was over 300 pounds and I am not going to live a lot longer than 50 in that condition. Regardless of what happens in a month, yeah I am going to stay with it."

View post:
VIDEO: Top 10 to compete in Slim-to-Win contest

9 February 2012 Last updated at 21:57 ET By Eamonn Walsh BBC News

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

It takes both skill and courage to control huge locomotives laden with mineral ore as they wind up and down the Andes mountains - making Peru possibly the toughest country in the world to be a train driver.

The Ferrocarril Central Andino (FCCA) travels from sea level to the mines at Cerro de Pasco, one of the highest cities in any country, at 14,200ft (4,330m) above sea level.

The ascent, on some of the steepest tracks in the world, is a slow grind, but the real skill is in bringing the fully loaded locomotive back down to the Pacific coast, west of the capital Lima.

"You need to have nerves of steel," says driver Daniel Garcia Zegarra. "This is how you need to treat the train, caress it little by little, no roughness, but slowly."

Up in the mountains, the railway tracks have few signals or even safety barriers to guard against the sheer drop. The slightest error from a driver could prove disastrous.

Continue reading the main story “Start Quote

Once the brakes failed... We ended up travelling at 130km/h”

End Quote

"The train would derail and go down the cliff," says Ameliano, the train's brequero, or brake man, who has the crucial role of adjusting the large mechanical brakes.

The rear wagons of the 200m-long train are often out of the driver's sight as the route zig-zags, and its weight when fully laden with trucks and cargo can approach 2,500 tons.

There is a constant fear of derailing and falling down the mountainside.

"Once the brakes failed," says Ameliano. "We ended up travelling at 130km/h. We crashed into a tunnel.

"I took cover in the second wagon and I survived. The driver died, jumping out as the train derailed."

Daniel remains constantly alert, maintaining a steady speed to avoid possible disaster.

The air is thinner at such high altitude and the engine can stall if it is running too slowly.

It is a skill that is difficult to acquire even for an experienced train driver like Simon Davies from the UK, who travelled to the Andes with the BBC film crew.

Continue reading the main story Off the beaten track The Ferrocarril Central Andino runs for 535km (332 miles) It reaches 4800m (15,748ft) altitude at Galera station, about the same height as Mount Blanc There are 27 stations on the line Gradients on the line reach 5% between Matucana and Galera The railway crosses the Altiplano - the highest plateau on earth outside Tibet - which spreads across parts of Peru, Chile, Argentina and Bolivia

Once at the controls, Simon stalls the engine and the crew try but fail to get it restarted.

The men are now at risk of being stranded in sub-zero temperatures as they await rescue, and Simon senses real concern.

"Being stuck there, with no heat, no power... They were trying to hide it a bit, but I could see a bit of panic on their faces," he says.

Eventually, the engine starts but their trouble is not over.

The wheels spin, unable to get any traction, and as the weather worsens, Daniel decides on a drastic course of action.

"We have too much weight. The snow makes it worse. We need to remove some of the wagons. We have to cut the train in half," he decides.

It is well after dark before the exhausted crew arrive at their destination.

A chastened Simon is getting a taste of just how difficult conditions are for the men trying to control these huge trains.

"There are many times you lost concentration," Daniel tells Simon over a cup of tea. "This is because you are not watching your speed.

"If you lose concentration for just one second, it can be very costly."

The Andes mountains contain some of the richest reserves of metals and minerals on earth. Copper, zinc, lead and silver are all found here.

"If there wasn't any mining here, there wouldn't be any railway. We only transport minerals," says fellow driver Eloy Galvan.

The metals and minerals account for 60% of Peru's exports and have brought new wealth to the country.

The men of the FCCA can often spend up to two weeks away from home while on shift, working every day until they reach their destinations and then spending their nights in small, unheated cabins on the mountainside.

"These are sad and lonely places. It's not like home with my wife and children," says Eloy.

"I'm usually pretty good at working hard, but this is something else," agrees Simon. "This is more than hard work."

"We have to stay over and it's freezing cold. I'm leaving my hat on. I've got all my clothes on, because it's absolutely freezing and we've only got these llama blankets."

Waking the next morning and after a prayer at a shrine to the Virgin of Cocharcas, the men prepare to take the now fully laden train back down the mountainside.

Back home at the port of Callao, the railwaymen's families face an anxious wait for the crew and their heavy load to return safely home.

"I am scared. He's told me he sometimes comes down with 2,200 tons," says Cathy, Daniel's wife.

"It used to be less. When he comes down with 2,450 tons I tell him: 'No, think of your family.'"

Half way down the mountainside, the wheels do overheat but Daniel is alert to the danger. A short delay is enough to let them cool down, and the 15-hour non-stop journey continues.

For Simon Davies, who normally drives for Virgin Trains between London and Manchester, it is an experience he will never forget and he is struck by what his Peruvian counterparts have to endure.

"Every day, every hour, they're working with potentially major danger to provide for their families.

"That camaraderie is there, that teamwork is there and they really look after each other. I describe them as like warrior-type drivers."

Toughest Place to be... a Train Driver is on BBC Two at 21:00 GMT on Sunday 12 February or watch online via iPlayer (UK only) at the above link.

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The toughest place to be a train driver

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