by Chris Riordan I know Test Cricket can be a bit of a tedious, eccentrics’ game with the old joke of five days, 30 hours and then a draw. It takes a certain type to want to persist with the time, patience and faith in the hope that something worthwhile will emerge. The Second Test [Read more]
Footy: Glenn Archer a champion on and off the field
December 8, 2009 by 2 Comments
By Stephen George Where egos can overshadow champions of Australian football, few players have had an impact like North Melbourne champion, Glenn Archer. Throughout his career, he admitted to feeling violently ill before games because of nerves, such was his fear of failure. This didn’t prevent him though from confronting each contest on the field [Read more]
Soccer: Demetriou overreacts to World Cup talk
December 8, 2009 by 45 Comments
By Martin Reeves The 2010 World Cup in South Africa is just around the corner, but it’s Australia’s 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids that are dominating the headlines as the culture wars are reignited on the Australian sporting landscape. At the centre of the latest war is an Australian of Greek descent, representing the [Read more]
Second Test, Day 5 Preview
December 8, 2009 by 16 Comments
by Andrew Gigacz On a ground that has produced its fair share of tight finishes, the Second Test is poised on a knife-edge. My rule of thumb is that a team batting second in a Test needs a lead of 100 in the first innings to break even. On that basis, the Windies are well [Read more]
Footy Talk: Richo and Hamlet ponder what might have been
December 8, 2009 by 5 Comments
by John Butler Setting: Matthew Richardson – magnificent, flawed prince of the Richmond Football Club. Recently retired after 282 games, no premierships and not enough finals. Hamlet- tragic, flawed prince of Denmark (long before the guy who married the Tassie realtor).
Second Test, Day 3: A challenging day
December 7, 2009 by 2 Comments
by Tim Adam Watching cricket in Singapore is strangely dissatisfying … and culturally challenging. The internet tells me that at drinks in the midst of the first session on day 4 the West Indies are 2/64 in their second dig with the honours going to Australia this morning.
Could we please review the Review?
December 7, 2009 by 3 Comments
by John Butler An issue which has already commanded far too much attention this summer is the new review/referral system. So naturally I’m going to add to the clamour. My initial judgement on the changes made to this system were along the lines of “much ado about nothing”; that it would be just another of [Read more]
Logic from the backyard
December 7, 2009 by 1 Comment
by Patrick O’Keeffe Some of the hardest fought cricket matches I ever played took place in backyards and driveways. And I’m not just saying that. As pleasantries were dispensed with, friends became bitter enemies. Every ball was delivered with ferocity, while the batsmen rarely gave their wicket away cheaply. When they did, they would channel [Read more]
Russians not Hiddink it off with Guus
December 7, 2009 by 2 Comments
by Tim Ivins Guus Hiddink would have cast a lonely figure in the bowels of Petrol Arena late on November 18. His Russian team, chock full of talent and Euro 2008 runners up had been eliminated by lowly Slovenia on away goals. In the first leg, a goal from Nejc Pecnik in the 88th minute [Read more]
Second Test, Day 3: A classic day of cricket
December 6, 2009 by 2 Comments
by Chris Riordan I heard an ABC Radio cricket promo refer to “the rhythm of summer”. I like that. Cricket on the radio is synonymous with holidays, sunshine…a myriad of memories in which cricket is sometimes at the foreground but just as often is the backing beat to this great time of the year. It [Read more]
Second Test, Day 2: Aussies’ effort all well and good, but did you hear about Mumbai?
December 6, 2009 by 7 Comments
West Indies 451; Australia 0/174 I awoke before dawn on Saturday to pore over the many elements of the impending contest, and then spent much of the morning attending to the nuts and bolts of getting to the big event – next year’s FIFA World Cup in South Africa, that is. By breakfast, I had [Read more]
Second Test, Day 2 – A change of fortune for West Indies and Clifton Hill
December 6, 2009 by 3 Comments
by Andrew Gigacz From the outside, the parallels between the current West Indies team and the Clifton Hill 5th XI may not appear obvious. Actually, even from the inside, they probably aren’t apparent to anyone but me. And in truth, they did not even manifest themselves in my mind until I woke up on Day [Read more]
Soccer: Hey Liverpool, another title before I’m 64, please!
December 6, 2009 by 11 Comments
By Stephen George I sat back and thought about what the Fab Four from Merseyside would sing in these situations. I convinced myself it would be something along the lines of needing help from somebody, but not just anybody. For the last 19 years, supporters of one club have been searching far and wide for [Read more]
Soccer: Australia’s tough draw leaves me wondering what’s in store
December 5, 2009 by 3 Comments
By Tim Ivins “The punishment an Almanacker and Socceroos tragic will put himself through,” I thought to myself as I turned off the alarm at 3.30am. The kettle goes on and so does the TV as beautiful Cape Town streams in. It’s an exciting time, the World Cup Draw, and probably the closest I will [Read more]
Second Test, Day 1: A uniform performance from a team that doesn’t know how to play the Safe way..
December 4, 2009 by 639 Comments
By Steve Healy After spending my first holiday morning at the uniform shop with my Mum, the cricket couldn’t have come at a better time: The West Indies won the toss and elected to bat, Adrian Barath and Chris Gayle strolled onto the brilliant Adelaide surface at the picturesque Adelaide Oval, with an attacking mindset. [Read more]
Second Test, Day 1 – Bravo Bravado
December 4, 2009 by 1 Comment
by John Butler The lead up to this game was again dominated by dire prognostications on the state of Test cricket, the state of West Indies cricket and various predictions on the state of the Earth (emanating mainly from Canberra). I leave the state of the Earth to those better informed, but can’t help feeling [Read more]
Launch: Top night at Adelaide launch
December 4, 2009 by 1 Comment
Crows fans partied like it was 1998 in the Adelaide Lutheran rooms during the SA launch. Add your comments on this night of mirth and midfields.
Boxing: It’s tough when you wait so long for something that’s over so quickly
December 4, 2009 by 658 Comments
With footy season over, I do my best to substitute footy with other sports. With the big Green v Jones fight tonight, I think it might be worth checking it out. I’ve never been a big boxing fan. My boxing knowledge spans only from Danny Green v Anthony Mundine to Rocky Balboa v Apollo Creed. [Read more]
Crio’s Question: Who is the best sports commentator?
December 4, 2009 by 38 Comments
Thanks to Peter Flynn for this instalment. It’s been inspired by Britain’s Daily Telegraph, whose readers have voted Murray Walker as “the greatest sports commentator of all time”.
Launch: A time to acknowledge our comforting, yet slightly mad, friend
December 4, 2009 by Leave a Comment
The Footy Almanac 2009 Perth launch speech by Dr Ken Spillman, delivered at the Subiaco Football Club, 27 November 2009 What an honour it is to launch The Footy Almanac 2009 in Perth – particularly so because the invitation to do so recognises the place of a book I conceived and co-edited almost 25 years [Read more]
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