Tag Archives: icc-world-cup

Easter musing – ICC World Cup – over!, ASADA – over?……

April 6, 2015 sportzfan Leave a comment

Well the ICC World Cup is finally over and while it was good to see Australia win, it was not much of a game. The Man of the Match was an interesting decision. It was clear that the bowlers had won the Cup for Australia, however, was Faulkner the pick of the bowlers? I think not! Starc and Johnson had better figures and Starc’s first wicket set the tone for the Kiwi innings. In the end I couldn’t split them and I would have given the nod to Michael Clarke for his batting and his captaincy.

Another sporting saga that went for a good deal longer than the ICC World Cup was the Essendon supplements issue. It may not have reached a conclusion yet, but it has certainly got close to it depending on what ASADA and/or WADA decide to do. As a domestic sport I cannot see WADA having too much interest in pursuing the matter and ASADA will have to think long and hard if they want to drag this out any further. To my mind, as a Bomber supporter, it is the right result as the players were always the innocent parties and the club has been punished already. I hope it is the end of it, but there seems to be a body of opinion out there that still wants blood.

Perhaps the positive tests to the two Collingwood players will be enough to draw the attention away from Essendon where there were no positive tests. Reading between the lines of the comments from the Collingwood football club, the positive tests could be linked to the use of other substances. Time will tell no doubt.

Have a great Easter!

Sports

Friday musing – ICC World Cup, Sheffield Shield, EPL, Golden Slipper….

March 27, 2015 @packers4 Leave a comment

Well after six long drawn out weeks we are down to the last two teams in the ICC World Cup and it involves the two co-hosts. The only host team to win on their home turf was India in the previous World Cup. Sri Lanka won as a co-host in 1996, but the final was played in Pakistan. I think Australia should start favourite entering their 7th final, whereas New Zealand are playing their first game outside New Zealand in this tournament, in their first final.

Australia are also playing on the MCG and the Kiwis have not played there for quite some time, so the visitors will be out of their comfort zone. If it is a close game, I think New Zealand could come out on top as they have found a way to win the close ones, but if one side wins comfortably that is more likely to be Australia. I will be at the game on Sunday, so I would like to see a close game with Australia winning!

Turning to domestic cricket it was great to see the Vics get up in the Sheffield Shield during the week, but you have to question the tactics adopted by Western Australia. The WA team had to win the game, however, not only did they not declare towards the end of the fourth day and have thirty minutes at Victoria, they also continued to bat and knock up a further forty to fifty runs on the last day. They had the upper hand and didn’t push their advantage. They had to bowl Victoria out to win the Shield, but did not give themselves every chance to do so. All in all the Bushrangers were a worthy winner.

Looking at the EPL, with Manchester United beating Liverpool during the week, the top four is almost set with eight games remaining. In the next round Arsenal play Liverpool at home and should Liverpool lose that would put them almost out of contention despite their very good form since the new year. Go the Gunners!

On the international stage, I didn’t see the game, but it was great to see Australia draw 2-2 with Germany in the friendly the other night. Maybe they are starting to turn the corner and be in a position to replicate their 2006 results at the next World Cup. Fingers crossed.

Finally, I watched the Golden Slipper last week and without any luck in the running and an average ride from the jockey, Vancouver proved that he was the best 2yo in Australia being able to draw away from the field in the final 50-100m. It was not an easy run and if I was one of the connections I would not be in a hurry to risk him in the Sires Produce Stakes next week. He is a magnificent looking animal and would have breeders licking their lips, so I would be putting him away until the spring.

Have a great weekend!

News, Sports

Friday musing…young athletes, Grand Prix, ICC World Cup & Ryan Crowley

March 20, 2015 @packers4 Leave a comment

I think we all get excited when a young up and coming sportsman or woman comes onto the scene and shows some real potential. Reading about the young sprinter from Tasmania, Jack Hale and the young high jumper from Victoria, Eleanor Patterson does get me a bit excited about two athletes who may establish themselves on the world stage. Hale has a best time for the 100m of 10.13 which was wind assisted and Patterson has a best leap of 1.96m which is only 2cm shy of the national record and, better still, both are still eligible for the world junior championships. These two will be worth keeping an eye on and I understand that Hale will be competing at the Stawell Gift so we will see him competing with open age sprinters sooner rather than later.

I am not a big motor racing fan, but I did sit down and watch a bit of the Grand Prix last weekend. What a procession! If the next few races go in a similar fashion I think even people who are into motor sport will start to drop off Grand Prix racing. The Mercedes car is that much better than everyone else it makes the sport quite boring. The two Mercedes drivers beat the third placed driver by over thirty seconds and lapped Daniel Ricciardo who actually got points for finishing 6th! It has always been a bug bear of mine that a sport is dictated by the equipment and not the sportsman. Put most of Sunday’s drivers in the Mercedes and the positions would have been no different. Where is the sport in that?

Well Sri Lanka are now out of the ICC World Cup, but we may not have seen the last Sri Lankan at the World Cup as I think the now retired Kumar Sangakkara will be named the player of the tournament for his four centuries in a row. What a player and even in his country’s paltry score against Sth Africa he top scored with 45. With form like that I wonder if he will be talked out of retirement.

Ryan Crowley was the big story in AFL circles this week. With the amount of scrutiny now placed on medication and supplements spiked by the ongoing Essendon saga, there really is no excuse. At 31 this could be the end of his career which could put a fair hole in Freemantle’s finals aspirations this year.

Have a great weekend!

News, Sports

Friday musing – AFL, Kevin Sheedy, ICC World Cup, Michael Clarke…..

March 6, 2015 sportzfan Leave a comment

It was announced this week that Kevin Sheedy was returning to Essendon in an ambassadorial role on something like $250,000 a year over 4-5 years. To me this is waste of money and it also smacks of desperation. Perhaps the club have been given an indication of the likely findings of the AFL tribunal and feel they need to muster some public and corporate support by a past club great not tainted by the current situation. However, in my opinion, to have Sheedy in that role is somewhat misguided. As the coach of the club he did a wonderful job promoting the club and building up the profile of the club whereby at some stage in the 1990s the Essendon Football Club were considered to have most number of supporters of any club in Australia. I think as the coach of the club he had a voice and because he was often quotable he got a lot of press, but I doubt he will carry the same degree of weight in the media in the role of a club ambassador. I am happy to be proved wrong.

Michael Clarke has been criticised for not batting against Afghanistan the other night and it was probably the same people who laud him as an astute captain. I think he made the right call. Clarke is not an explosive batsman who can pummel an attack to all parts of the field. He is a technically correct batsman who has to build an innings. With the state of play in that game he was better off allowing the likes of Glenn Maxwell, Mitch Marsh, James Faulkner & Brad Haddin to increase the run rate. Clarke has as ODI strike rate of less than 80 and the others are all around 100 or more so he made the correct decision in the interests of the team where the run rate may influence the ultimate position in the group stage.

Have a great long weekend!