Tag Archives: cricket

Weekend musing – Michael Clarke, Nick Kyrgios……

August 16, 2015 sportzfan Leave a comment

It was with mixed emotions I received the news that Michael Clarke had decided to pull the pin and retire. In my time following cricket I don’t think there has been a better tactician, Mark Taylor and him may have been on a par, but I rate him better than the Chappells, Waugh or Ponting. You also have to remember that those other well regarded Australian captains had some formidable bowlers at their disposal. Waugh & Ponting essentially had the two best Australian bowlers in Warne & McGrath at their disposal through most of their stewardships. Clarke has had some good bowlers, but injury and form has meant that he has not had a consistent strike force while he has been in charge. Is it the right decision to retire? Yes, I think it is. His batting is clearly on the wane and even he said that he has become a passenger. Having said that, I do hope that the Australian team can do him proud at the Oval and send him out a winner which he thoroughly deserves.

The Nick Kyrgios sledge to Stan Wawrinka has attracted a lot of attention which to my mind seems to be somewhat of an over reaction. Yes what he said was wrong, but was it front page news? Would anyone have known if not for the very sensitive court side microphones? This type of sledging happens all the time in other sports and one of the best sledges of all time was of a similar theme. Glenn McGrath bowling to Zimbabwe’s Eddo Brandes asked him why he was so fat. Brandes’ response was along the lines of “because every time I make love to your wife she gives me a biscuit”. I certainly don’t condone what Kyrgios said, but lets not get carried away and lets not get too far up on that high horse.

Have a great weekend!

Sports

Weekend musing – Cricket, the Ashes, AFL, the vernacular……

August 8, 2015 sportzfan Leave a comment

I sat down over the last two nights hoping to enjoy an Australian revival in the 4th test at Trent Bridge only to witness the abject failure of any of our recognised batsman to get in behind the line of the ball. Yes, there was a bit in the pitch, but not that much. I am sure the batsmen were spooked by Alistair Cook winning the toss and bowling which would have to be just about a first in England. I thought the worst offender in the first innings was Michael Clarke. As captain of the team and coming in with the team in diabolical trouble he first tries a pull shot and was lucky it dropped into no mans land and then he has a swing at a wide ball. Surely the captain has to show more than application when the chips are down. Even when Ricky Ponting lost the Ashes in 2005 he battled his guts out to try and turn things around. We are now hoping for a miracle. Perhaps three days of rain.

I thought the crowd figures for the Richmond v Hawthorn clash last Friday night were interesting. There was 66,000 people there which was apparently a record between the two clubs. This is quite surprising when both teams have memberships of 70,000+. I understand that not all members turn up to watch their team play, but given the size of both memberships and both teams vying for the top 4, 66,000 could be considered quite disappointing.

There is one term that has entered the AFL vernacular which I am getting quite sick of very quickly and it is the “competitive beast”. I think if I hear one more commentator or one more player describe someone as a competitive beast I may just throw up.

Have a good weekend and let us hope the Gelding has a speedy recovery!

Sports

Weekend musing – AFL, Adam Goodes, cricket, Mitchell Johnson……

August 1, 2015 sportzfan Leave a comment

I ventured along to the MCG last Friday night to see the Real Madrid v Manchester City game and it was mazing to be part of a crowd of 99,000+ people. I enjoyed the game for the first 60-65 minutes, but with Real controlling the game each side took off their best players and it petered out towards the end. Having said that it was great to see the skill of Cristiano Ronaldo and to see him get a goal on the MCG. It also is a reminder of what a great sporting stadium the MCG is. I have witnessed the World Cup cricket final, game 2 of the NRL State of Origin series and now the soccer in front of 90,000+ crowds. I missed the Anzac day game this year in front of 88,000+ and the biggest AFL game I have witnessed this year was the Dreamtime game before 83,000+. This year the ground has hosted four different sporting codes with crowds exceeding 88,000 and when you factor in the AFL Grand Final it will means the average will be lifted over 90,000+. We are truly blessed to have this magnificent stadium to showcase all these different sports.

Last night at that great ground we had the Richmond v Hawthorn game and I was expecting a good game. I wasn’t disappointed! Richmond displayed an ability to retain the ball which put pressure on Hawthorn and this was instrumental in the Tigers’ win.

This brings me to something I have been mulling over the last couple of weeks. When St Kilda belted Essendon a month ago I thought it may be detrimental to St Kilda as it may have given them an unrealistic appreciation of their ability. The next week they lost a winnable game against GWS and the following week only just lost to Richmond after the Tigers led by 9 goals at 3/4 time. I think for sides on the way up like St Kilda, it would have been better to have beaten Essendon by 5-6 goals than to win by 18 goals because the youngsters understand they need to work hard every week to get the result. Conversely, you get a top side like Hawthorn give a fellow top eight side in Sydney a belting, then they come out the following week against Carlton and win by even more. The theory is, a big win by a good side against another good side franks their form, a big win by a lower side against another lower side is not a great guide to form. St Kilda’s grittier win last week against Melbourne will be better for them going in as underdogs this week against Port in Adelaide.

The Adam Goodes story just won’t go away and I won’t go over the issues that I raised earlier in the season, but I thought two articles in the Herald Sun on Thursday were worth some thought. The paper printed a poll of 50,000 people where 80% said the booing wasn’t
racist. There is no doubt a percentage of the booing is racially motivated and the rest is part of a mob element where people follow on like sheep. What we do know is Adam feels it is racially motivated and so it doesn’t really matter what the poll finds or what other people think.

The other article wasn’t even about Goodes, but about Mitchell Johnson and how the Barmy Army got stuck into him in 2009 and just about destroyed his career. It is an indication on how barracking can destroy the confidence of some players where race is not even an issue. Crowds now know that Goodes is affected by the booing so it is hard to see it being totally eradicated unless both captains agree to stop the game until the booing ceases. I have expressed my views previously about Adam Goodes on field persona, but it would be a real shame if he was forced into retirement because of the booing, just as it would have been if Mitchell Johnson pulled the pin after the 2009 Ashes series.

Have a great weekend!

Sports

Friday musing – Serena Slam v Grand Slam, Test match cricket, Cameron Smith plays 300

July 18, 2015 sportzfan Leave a comment

I first turn my attention to the Serena Slam. Apart from Serena Williams essentially referring to herself in the third person, I cannot understand why she is not considered a Grand Slam winner. I know it is considered to be holding all the championships in the one calendar year, but I cannot see the difference. If any player holds all four championships at the same time they should be considered winners of the Grand Slam. Forget the Serena Slam it is a Grand Slam.

It is amazing the difference a week can make in cricket. I went to bed last Saturday night thinking that Australia had a good chance to bat through the day and consider launching an attack on the last day to try and win the test match in Cardiff. I was disappointed to wake up and hear they were all out and the top scoring batsman was Mitch Johnson. Surely if Johnson can make 77 runs, the other specialist batsmen should have been able to cobble together a decent score! The disappointment of last week was put aside this morning when I woke up to hear that Australia had amassed a score of 337 for the loss of one wicket.

This brings me to one of my hobby horses – test pitches. Too often these days pitches are prepared to favour the team that wins the toss and bats first. A traditional test match pitch should offer some hope to the bowlers in the first session, last night there was nothing in that pitch at all and the only wicket to fall was to a somewhat profligate shot. I think it might be time for the ICC to step in and have the match referee involved in the pitch preparation.

Congratulations to Cameron Smith for his 300th NRL game this weekend. I am not a huge NRL fan, but I must say that Cam Smith is one of the more impressive people in Australian sport. Not only is he a great player and a great leader, but he handles himself well in
public no better than the recent controversy that he was somehow landed in. He has chosen not to comment on the matter in public and wants to meet with Alex McKinnon and sort it out behind closed doors. How refreshing!

Have a great weekend!

Sports

Friday musing – Arsenal, Sepp Blatter, Adam Goodes & Adam Voges

June 5, 2015 @packers4 Leave a comment

Well it was great to see Arsenal salute in last weeks FA Cup final and what a comprehensive result. I don’t think Aston Vila had a shot on target for the entire game, whereas the Gunners put four past their goal keeper and he also made several good saves. This now makes the Gunners the most successful club in FA Cup history and whilethe Cup doesn’t carry the aura that it once had, it is still a significant piece of silverware. The goal from Alexis Sanchez had to be seen to be believed and it certainly caught the Vila goal keeper by surprise. I thought I would not see a better goal for quite sometime, until I saw Lionel Messi’s slalom effort in the Spanish Cup final, unbelievable!

While we are on the World Game, it was no real surprise to see Sepp Blatter re-elected last Friday, but it was a big surprise to see him resign by Tuesday. He clearly has caught wind of further investigations which may involve him and yesterday we hear that Jack Warner from Trinidad & Tobago may be tipping the bucket on him. With 14 arrests already this organisation is clearly toxic and it will take someone of extreme integrity and resolve to sort it all out.

I was not going to weigh in on the Adam Goodes situation, but his behaviour last Friday night probably demands some comment. I have no particular issue with him doing the dance during the indigenous round, but it was clearly directed towards the Carlton supporters in the crowd. I have not booed Adam Goodes and nobody can say with certainty the booing is not racist, but for me it is his on-field demeanour, coupled with his ability to escape suspension for issues that other players get weeks for which I don’t like about him. He is self congratulatory and a bit of a “look at me” character, you notice it at the ground particularly after he kicks a goal, he actually goes looking for his team mates to give him high-tens. He is also not the first and won’t be the last player to get booed consistently and most of the time those players that do get booed are absolute champions, like Wayne Carey and Diesel Williams. I think Goodes is a fantastic player and I don’t think the Hawthorn crowd that booed him would do so for racist reasons given they have at least three indigenous players in their ranks, including Cyril Rioli who is just about their most popular player.

It was great to see a 35 year old debutante make a century on debut over night in the West Indies. I saw Adam Voges playing in a domestic one-dayer about ten years ago and thought I had just seen the next Adam Gilchrist. Well that didn’t quite pan out as I expected, but he finally got his chance at test level and scored a remarkable century given no one else in the team could get past 39 and that was the number 11. This reminiscent of Mike Hussey and Chris Rogers coming into the team in their 30s and making a strong contribution.

Have a great weekend!

Sports

3 thoughts on Thursday

April 2, 2015 @packers4 Leave a comment

With the Easter weekend looming, sport is definitely in the headlines!

Sitting in fourth spot on the A League table, Perth Heat are facing allegations that they have ‘significantly’ exceeded the salary cap due to the Club paying $150,000.00 into a bank account held by a family member for striker Andy Keogh. The payment was found after a forensic examination of the Heat’s accounts by Football Federation Australia. At present the Club is one point off the lead and if it loses points because of this that will be the end of thoughts of playing in the finals.

There is nothing to gain and everything to lose by not complying with the rules.

ASADA indicate there is a possibility it will appeal the decision by the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal in the Essendon supplements scandal. They have twenty-one days to make that decision and until it is decided, one way or the other, the whole of the football world will continue to be fixated on the topic. Regrettably, it has shifted the spotlight off the AFL’s opening round.

If ASADA proceed with an appeal, I hope Ben McDevitt has more evidence than was produced to the Tribunal.

The incoming Chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board is looking at reducing the number of days in a Test match from five to four with play starting at 10.30am on each day and the bowling side being required to bowl 105 overs per day. The rationale is to save on costs. What is left unsaid is that today’s society doesn’t have the concentration span to grapple with a five day event. Reducing the time of play by only one day won’t cure that.

Another example of less is more this week (see also AFL players looking at a 17 game season). Where can I get a job where I get paid the same or more for less work?

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!

News, Sports

Friday musing – NAB Challenge, AFL, cricket, ICC World Cup….

February 27, 2015 sportzfan Leave a comment

This week the NAB Challenge commenced and the AFL has decided to trial four field umpires. I have no particular problem with the trial of four field umpires, however, why not trial using the boundary umpires and/or goal umpires assisting with the decision making. Often times the boundary/goal umpires are in the best position to see infringements, particularly those behind play and to me it makes more sense to use what you have got instead of adding more ingredients to the pudding.

The ICC World Cup continues to roll on and I must say with most of the games being covered by Foxtel, there is very little discussion and very little vibe around the place regarding the tournament. I think the organisers have made a mistake by not showing games, other than those involving Australia on free-to-air television. Imagine the free-to-air audience for the India v Pakistan and the India v South Africa games and the number of people that would have tuned in once news about Chris Gayle’s innings during the week got out. The Big Bash did it very well having a game on most nights and the World Cup could have tapped into that interest. A chance lost in my opinion.

Have a great weekend!