Though the weather briefly attempted to emulate dreary Australian spirits, it couldn’t prevent the final rites being enacted on this Ashes series. Steve Smith and Peter Siddle did their best to delay the party, but as English players and fans swung into full celebration mode, it was left to a humbled Australian cricket scene to [Read more]
The Making of Michael?
January 3, 2011 by 2 Comments
Any boy who has ever played a backyard test match has likely imagined himself captain of Australia, but only a rare few are able to convert those boyhood dreams into reality. When it happens, the anointed one is expected to cherish the honour with the utmost reverence. More people dream of captaining Australia than ever [Read more]
Boxing Day and the Damage Done
December 28, 2010 by 6 Comments
MCG, Day 2: Australia 98, England 5/444 You suspect Ricky Ponting slept uneasily in the wake of his team’s Boxing Day disaster. Perhaps fevered imaginings came to him, where he was Captain Willard, staring at the ceiling fan, The End playing in the background, Colonel Kurtz’s words echoing. The Horror! The Horror! In cricketing terms, [Read more]
The Resurrection of Mitch and Mike
December 21, 2010 by 3 Comments
In the three days and fifty minutes of play that encapsulated the Perth test, we received startling affirmation of two of the hoariest cricketing truths of all; firstly, that it is a team game heavily reliant on individual performance; and that so much of the game is played in the mind. Though they played unevenly [Read more]
On Our Selection: Perth, Ready Or Not
December 13, 2010 by 10 Comments
You were hoping that our Ashes predicament was too bad to be true? Expecting that those charged with running a multimillion dollar enterprise were possessed of calm minds, steady nerve and clear vision? That they would have ready answers to what currently ails us? So how reassured are you by the events of the past [Read more]
Ashes Status Update: Any Bright Ideas?
December 9, 2010 by 24 Comments
In the wake of a nightmarish Adelaide test, local hopes for a tightly contested summer are appearing decidedly on the optimistic side. A 1-0 series score line wouldn’t normally prompt such widespread despair, but in this instance the trend line is hard to ignore. Featherbed wickets aside, it’s hard to put a positive spin on [Read more]
Happy Birthday Pete
November 26, 2010 by 1 Comment
by John Butler 1st Test Brisbane: Day one- England 260 Australia 0-25 The anticipation of this Ashes summer comes not from any great expectation of consistently brilliant cricket, such as Australian fans have feasted on for most of the last two decades. Rather, it’s the prospect of a real tussle between two evenly matched sides [Read more]
A Gloriously Uncertain Summer Awaits
November 24, 2010 by 5 Comments
If nothing else this summer, we’re about to discover the value of a sound preparation in the scheme of modern cricket tours. For the first time in a long time, England have picked a squad with credible back-up in all areas, arrived early, played serious warm up games well, and appear genuinely ready for what [Read more]
Book Review: A Prodigious Tome for an Epic Tale
November 7, 2010 by 4 Comments
A Prodigious Tome for an Epic Tale Book: The Red Fox: The Biography of Norm Smith Writer: Ben Collins Publisher: The Slattery Media Group, 2008. Contemporary football biographies continue to fill a lucrative corner of the sports publishing market place. Rarely does a champion seem to retire without the close accompaniment of a publishing deal. [Read more]
Sri Lanka Celebrates as Australia Wobbles Again
November 4, 2010 by 11 Comments
1st ODI- Australia v Sri Lanka- MCG 3rd November 2010 It’s usually unwise to rush to judgement on the basis of a single one-day match, but last night’s astonishing Sri Lankan comeback would have done nothing to allay the anxieties of Australian supporters contemplating the summer ahead. This midweek fixture was ludicrous in design, especially [Read more]
Old not-so-reliables will have to fly the Ashes flag
October 28, 2010 by 8 Comments
For those who may have erased the moment from their memory, it has been 431 days, or nigh on 62 weeks, since Graeme Swann dismissed Mike Hussey at The Oval, and England claimed the Ashes with a 2-1 series victory. As we sit 28 days out from the next Ashes test, it seems opportune to [Read more]
Myth and Reality in the Common Wealth
October 21, 2010 by 9 Comments
“… the Commonwealth Games are Australia’s gift to the weaker nations of the region…” Perry Crosswhite – Head of the Australian Commonwealth Games Association. It is tempting to write off a comment like this as just another entry to the Sir Les Patterson School of Australian diplomatic niceties, but it does seem pertinent to the [Read more]
Carlton 2010: Patience is a Learned Virtue at Princes Park
October 13, 2010 by 5 Comments
Assessments of a season are hard to separate from the expectations held going into it. In Carlton’s case, the departure of a certain erratic, ego-centric full forward had the Blues widely written off. Lost in all the Fevola fluff was football’s forgotten man, Nick Stevens, who’s forced early retirement confirmed he lacked that most essential [Read more]
Don’t Believe The Hype!*
September 23, 2010 by 12 Comments
It’s Black and White Groundhog Day once again. The Magpies are on a roll and the hype surrounding them is on an even bigger one. Both media and Magpie faithful seem joined in a common belief that if they say the word Collingwood a million times between now and Saturday they will create their own [Read more]
Magpies set a new benchmark
September 18, 2010 by Leave a Comment
2010 Preliminary Final: Collingwood v Geelong High level professional sport is an unforgiving environment. As soon as you claw your way to the top, it becomes a battle to stay there. Enjoy the glory while it lasts, because the only way is down. Team sports multiply the variables many times over, making sustained success an [Read more]
2010 2nd Qualifying Final: Geelong vs. St Kilda
September 5, 2010 by 37 Comments
The Saints have attracted a lot of attention this season, most of it for the wrong reasons. But amidst the soap opera of dramas, I think a couple of salient points have been under-estimated Firstly, this is not the St Kilda club we’ve traditionally known. That club often had talent, but was too easily and [Read more]
Fremantle maintain home ground advantage
August 28, 2010 by 2 Comments
With the finals die already significantly cast, this was the Round 22 encounter of most consequence to the combatants: home or away in Perth will always be vital to finals prospects. Eleven inclusions to the Dockers side indicated the extent to which they’d staked their hopes on this game. Carlton had an army of fans [Read more]
AFL Rule of Law
August 20, 2010 by 6 Comments
With the current season not yet complete, Adrian Anderson is already floating thought bubbles about rule changes for next season. Here we go again, it seems. So ingrained has this ritual become it’s possible to forget a time when constant tinkering with the rules wasn’t a given. Before we had Rules Committees, Umpires Directors and [Read more]
Blues Dominate Waning Tigers
August 15, 2010 by 2 Comments
For all the great history between Carlton and Richmond, supporters of either would be painfully aware that not much of it has been written recently. Since2001, when they last met in a final, both clubs have suffered more low points than they’d care to remember. Which is why the 2010 season found both these traditional [Read more]
Pies Dominate: Civilisation Teeters on the Brink
August 8, 2010 by 64 Comments
Forget Global Warming. Forget Nuclear Disarmament. Forget Peak Oil. Collingwood have beaten the Cats to become red hot flag favourites. This is getting really serious. Forget Malthusian concerns over population, it’s the potential impact of Malthousian theory that should be occupying minds on the campaign trail.
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