So it was good to see Dominic Sibley play well on Thursday evening, his 67 helping the South Londoners to an easy win over Hampshire (though his undefeated 74 could not prevent a Somerset win on Friday).
So, voters who share this principled enthusiasm for securing the largest possible number of Liberal Democrat MPs next Thursday must, in many constituencies, weigh the tactical option of supporting Labour to prevent a Conservative win.
When he died in jail within a month of Abacha's death, apparently of a heart attack, some of his fellow tribesmen assumed that he had been murdered to prevent a Yoruba winning power.
The attacks did not prevent an easy win by Mr. Romney there, but they did completely change the conversation in the days before last week's primary.
These attacks probably won't be effective enough to prevent a Democrat from winning next year.
The intent is to prevent a team from winning on a long field goal without giving the other team a possession, the way the New Orleans Saints beat the Minnesota Vikings in the N.F.C. championship game.
Vogel drew the ire of analysts when he chose to pull Hibbert at the end of Game One, hoping to match up better with Miami's shooters and prevent a potential game-winning jump shot from the Heat center Chris Bosh.
Saslaw said he expects the fall campaign to focus on Cuccinelli's beliefs and the need for Democrats to prevent a Republican from winning the top job in the decidedly purple state.
But goals from Mats Gambusch and Olympic gold medallist Christopher Wesley prevented a first win for Great Britain over Germany since 2000.
He received a delay of game penalty, but prevented a Canadian win.
