Search Results for: Sal

A Confederacy of Dunces (Pt 2): Big Bash League

  Glamorous, jaw dropping, captivating, brilliant. No, it is not Erin McNaught strutting down a catwalk. It is T20 cricket – and it is about to rock Australia like never before. BBL ‘20 Days to go’ promo “KFC T20 Big Bash League is the most talked about event in the country. Fans love their teams [Read more]

My Australian XI for Boxing Day

With the pre-season and rookie drafts done and dusted it’s time to take a look at the state of Australian cricket. Unlike many others who were calling this past week’s defeat one of the lowest moments in Australian cricket, I see it more as a wake-up call. This side needs a total overhaul for the [Read more]

Rescinding a decision

  by Sean Curtain It takes a big man to admit when he is wrong, and on this occasion, I am both of those. Last week, after many reds worth of soul searching, I declared that I no longer wished the selectors to include me in their considerations for a position in the Australian Test [Read more]

That’s Real Entertainment!

Owing to illness, Peter Flynn was unable to provide his scheduled report.   For those marketing types on constant lookout for ways to repackage cricket as an ‘entertainment product’, this match should hopefully serve as a reminder that cricket has long offered one of the best entertainment packages there is to be had in sport. [Read more]

Kiwis Falter, Aussies Take Advantage

Australia vs New Zealand. 2nd Test, Bellerive Oval, Hobart Day 3.   A catastrophic – but not unfamiliar – batting collapse by New Zealand in the morning session saw them forfeit their strong position in the Second Test. From the healthy, but hardly impregnable, overnight score of 3/139, the Kiwis lost their last seven wickets [Read more]

The Limits of Aggression

  Australian cricket has long worn aggression as a badge of honour. In our modern period of domination  that badge was often brandished with zealous fervour.  It gave our cricket with an uncompromising edge. Sometimes it seemed we courted controversy for its own sake, even when it was superfluous to the requirements of victory. In [Read more]

Premier Cricket: Round 9 Preview

Round 9 of Premier Cricket is another Saturday/Sunday affair (Dec 10 & 11). Clubs may have access to their state representatives. Good for them.   Rain is forecast for both days. Anyone surprised?   Here’s a preview of this weekends games.

North Melbourne 2012 season preview

  by Josh Barnstable   “Close but no cigar” “Almost there” “Just not good enough” One word comes to mind. Two, in fact. North Melbourne. If North’s ’10 and ’11 AFL seasons were made into a novel, pick any of those three sayings above and you have a perfectly suitable title. That’s the reality of [Read more]

Premier Cricket – Round 8 review

  by Mic Rees Round 8 of Premier Cricket was a Saturday/Sunday fixture completed last weekend (Dec 3 & 4). Bat dominated ball with 9 batsmen posting centuries. Amongst the three figure totals were two maiden tons, another coming off the bat a district stalwart, his first in senior company in over a decade. At [Read more]

Quietly, a line in the sand.

  Quietly, A Line in the Sand.   I went to Southport in Tasmania the southern-most town in the land, looking for the southern-most footy oval in the country, or, I dunno, unless they play Aussie Rules that far south in New Zealand, maybe the world. But when I left I saw the dirt road [Read more]

A navy blue and white comparative

By James Grapsas On 4 October 2011, Ben Jensen wrote an informative analysis of the best teams of all time (Geelong ninth best team of all time).  Geelong’s feat of winning three premierships in five years (including four Grand Finals), which was ranked 9th in the article, soon brought to mind the performance of Carlton [Read more]

Premier Cricket Preview – Round 8

Hopefully our match starved Premier Cricketers will take the field this weekend. Round 8 is a Saturday/Sunday (3rd & 4th December) fixture. The heavy rains that hitMelbourne over the previous two weekends sabotaged Round 7,Geelong v Casey South Melbourne the only game to get a start on either of the past two Saturdays.   It [Read more]

Crio’s Racing: Summer comes with the Cricket

The Brisbane Test formalises summer’s arrival and, with it, Racing’s requirement to relinquish theatre-goers’ interest. But, much like modern cricket schedules, racing grinds on away from the spotlight. Serious punters might be battling for cash to send around – all businesses are tight and, for punters, results have been dire of late. Last Friday night’s [Read more]

War and Peace

  by Damian O’Donnell A reflection should be just that; a careful consideration of previous events, actions or decisions. It should not be a reaction. I feel that a respectable period of time has elapsed for this to be considered a true reflection.   The Bloody Sock Era (1964 – 1975) The boys’ toilet was [Read more]

Almanac Rugby League – Four Nations Final

When the final whistle blew for Australia to defeat England 30 – 8 in the Four Nations final this morning, two thoughts occurred to me. Firstly, Will Evans is a prophet – a week ago he said that the Poms would stay with the Australians for an hour before the Australians got away. Score one [Read more]

Almanac Rugby League – Farewell Fit for a Legend

Darren Lockyer’s farewell cavalcade finally came to a triumphant end at the fitting venue of Elland Road. The hallowed Leeds ground was the scene of arguably Lockyer’s greatest performance – Australia’s 44-4 thrashing of Great Britain in the 2004 Tri-Nations final. Lockyer laid on five tries, scored one himself and kicked six goals as Australia [Read more]

Premier Cricket: Round 7 Preview

Round 7 of Premier Cricket will be played over the next two Saturdays (November 19 & 26), weather permitting. Here’s a brief look at those games.   MATCH OF THE ROUND Frankston Peninsula (3rd) 20pts v Melbourne (4th) 20pts – AH Butler Oval Frankston 2011/12 FP WWLWLW – MCC LLWWWW Last time they met: Round [Read more]

AFL Comebacks

It is becoming an increasing trend in AFL. While I’m not familiar with the figures of pre-2008, surely the number of comebacks to AFL ranks by a player has risen in the past five years. Yes, we saw Tony Lockett return to the Swans a couple of years after retirement, and of course we remember [Read more]

Australia at 6s and 7s on 11/11/11

  by Andrew Gigacz After the day 2 shenanigans of this Test, the third day was almost certainly going to be an anti-climax. How do you top – or should that be how do you “bottom”? – a session and a half in which 18 wickets fall for 68 runs (from SA being 1/49 to [Read more]

Day 2: Believe it if you saw it.

In normal circumstances, I would have started proceedings by talking about Michael Clarke’s wonderful batting performance: an innings which, hopefully, will not define his captaincy, but will be a portent of the maturity he is beginning to show. Upon coming to the crease with his team precariously positioned at 3-40, the new skipper played possibly [Read more]