Each year throws up some memorable commentary: what springs to your mind? Wendell Sailor: “There may be no I in TEAM but there’s five in INDIVIDUAL BRILLIANCE” Danny Frawley, on Liam Jurrah’s mark: …laughter…”Oh my Lord!”
Out of the Ashes…
December 30, 2010 by 15 Comments
by Darren Dawson Is there anything more depressing than an eagerly awaited sporting contest which is decided far too early? Three hours into Day 1, this Boxing Day Test Match was over. There would be no coming back from 98 all-out. I was despondent. And as Strauss and Cook plundered 157 by stumps, it was [Read more]
Rebuilding the Australian team
December 29, 2010 by 5 Comments
by Ben Dunn (in response to Dave Goodwin’s Punter’s Goose is Cooked) Hey Dave, We miss your not so hittable leg spinners and lusty hitting up here in Singapore! Consider the current Australian side: Watson Hughes Ponting Clarke Hussey Smith Haddin Johnson Siddle Harris Hilfenhaus Now of that side how many will play in the [Read more]
In their prime
December 29, 2010 by 14 Comments
by Chris Riordan News filtered through on Christmas afternoon that Maurice Rioli had died suddenly. “He’s not that old!”, was the dismayed response. Not long ago, Andy Irons’ sudden passing made shockwaves – how could it be that one so young, with so much to live for, was gone? It is not a happy topic. [Read more]
Australia flogged
December 29, 2010 by 14 Comments
I spent the last few overs of the Australian debacle that was the third day of the Melbourne Test Match standing at the southern end behind the rampant Barmy Army. They were loving it. Next to me was a solemn man in a heavy metal T-shirt. I didn’t recognize the name of the band but [Read more]
Andrew Starkie’s Ashes Diary (10)
December 28, 2010 by 1 Comment
ASHES DIARY Entry 10 Monday December 27, 2010 Alighting at Jolimont, I inserted my Christmas present digital Walkman to discover Strauss had won the toss and elected to bowl. Again. Nassar shook his head and walked away. ‘Strauss has put the Aussies in. I can’t believe it,’ I said to the nearest person who happened [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]
Bullet dodged, England dominate
December 27, 2010 by 3 Comments
by Dave Bruce I got up this morning to the rather surprising news that England had won the toss and were bowling. Even more surprisingly, Ponting said that Australia were going to bowl if they’d won the toss. It sounded like two guys who were concerned that their batting line-ups couldn’t be trusted in less [Read more]
Boxing Day Blog
December 26, 2010 by 52 Comments
A world record crowd beckons. The sides are locked at 1-1. The ham sandwiches, the cordial and the Lions Christmas cake are packed. Bring on the Boxing Day Test! And bring on the banter, too. Give us your thoughts on how you think the next chapter of the intriguing tale of Ashes 2010-11 will pan [Read more]
Christmas Stakes Day
December 26, 2010 by 4 Comments
by Chris Riordan Sport and holidays are essential summer companions. While cricket fans munch on leftover sangers in the outer and salties head to Hobart, race meetings take place right across the country. The Riordans would head to Victor Harbor post-Xmas for the trots where I’d swing the bag for my old man, able to kick off [Read more]
ASHES DIARY- Entry 9
December 24, 2010 by 4 Comments
Friday December 24, 2010 It’s mid-afternoon and I’m lying under the tree in the backyard. It’s sunny, peaceful and quiet and the pre-Christmas madness has begun to dissipate. Early evening, I’ll meet family – parents, sisters, brothers-in-law, nieces and nephew – at St. Anthony’s, Fairfield. Afterwards, we’ll head back to Anne’s house, my elder sister, [Read more]
Happy Christmas from footyalmanac.com.au
December 24, 2010 by 14 Comments
Happy Christmas and all the best for the New Year, unless, of course, you are a Collingwood supporter. Just a few things for your diary: Lunches will continue throughout 2011. – last Friday of each month in Melbourne – stay tuned for functions (including book launches) in other states The Almanac Open – coming to a [Read more]
Where The Seagulls Nest
December 24, 2010 by Leave a Comment
In 2009 Jesse Maskell made a ten-minute documentary called Where The Seagulls Nest, as part of his VCE media studies. The documentary is a short history of the Williamstown football ground featuring archival footage and interviews with a handful of diehard long-time fans. Where The Seagulls Nest: http://vimeo.com/9752058
In A-League of Its Own
December 23, 2010 by 3 Comments
Tom’s weekly outlook on the A-League As the A-League reaches the end of a year, we can begin to clearly see the way the final positions on the table may turn out. Brisbane look the goods for the premiership, and confirmed that on the weekend by defeating a struggling North Queensland on their home turf [Read more]
Home is where the grandstand is
December 23, 2010 by 9 Comments
VFL club Williamstown won’t be playing at home next year due to major works on the 80 year old grandstand, and on the playing surface.The Seagulls ‘home’ ground for next year, for six games, is at arch-rival Werribee’s ground. The three other ‘home’ games will be at Torquay (vs Geelong), Keilor (vs North Ballarat) and [Read more]
Coming to Melbourne to see the Eagles
December 23, 2010 by Leave a Comment
It’s fair to say that 2010 was a year that didn’t inspire me to go to Melbourne to see the Eagles. However, just once I decided to make the investment and fly down from chilly, rainy Canberra and make my way to an iconic Melbourne sporting venue to do just that. I’d actually been watching [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]
The better angels of St. Pat’s Ballarat
December 20, 2010 by 5 Comments
“Ultimately it is this innocent charm that provides the lingering impression of John James, a boy who delighted in the stolen moments of jam toast with mates in the stoker room and a man, standing on his own staring in wonder at the corridors of his old school, smiling blissfully to himself.”[i] At 1pm on [Read more]
Oldies but goodies
December 20, 2010 by 39 Comments
by Chris Riordan Next week we turn the calendar to another year, staring down another birthday. Warnie aside, most of us battle the ravages of aging, looking back longingly on our “glory days”. Sportspeople know this acutely. Look at AFL clubs and their “youth policy” mantras. Read the papers on our cricketers – “inject some [Read more]
Throwing away the script
December 20, 2010 by 5 Comments
by Dave Bruce The story of what passed for Day 4 of the 3rd test in Perth was that Australia polished off the last five demoralised and unmotivated English batsmen in 10 quick overs to close out a win that was all but assured at the start of the day. However, I reckon there was [Read more]
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