Tag Archives: cricket

Friday musing – Soccer & penalties

February 20, 2015 @packers4 Leave a comment

This week there has been a bit of controversy around penalties in soccer. First there was the Seb Ryall penalty in the Melbourne Victory v Sydney game on the weekend and then the Wayne Rooney penalty in the FA Cup match between Manchester United and Preston during the week.

There have been calls for a video review of penalties and I must say that I support this call. Penalties are often the difference between winning and losing and seem to usually favour the home side.

When a penalty is given there should be absolutely no doubt that it was justified. I know I have been against the DRS in cricket because it often creates as many questions as it answers, but in soccer the video review is usually pretty clear and when in doubt it would simply revert to the referee’s decision.

Some pundits suggest it may hold up the game, but there are plenty of stoppages in the game anyway so shy not spend a little extra time and get it right.

What are your thoughts?

Have a great weekend!

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The Professor’s Thursday rant – AFL player wages & the grass roots

February 19, 2015 @packers4 Leave a comment

Western Bulldog’s President, Peter Gordon has it right when he suggests that more money should be invested in ‘grass roots’ football by the AFL. He said he feared (his word not mine) for the game’s future if significant (again his word) investment is not made at the grass roots level. He cited pressure on developing the next era of players due to inroads being made at junior level by soccer. He should know as he has recently chaired an AFL working group looking at junior participation rates in the west and north west of Melbourne.

Without those junior players and consequent supporters, the slice of the consumer market for the AFL will shrink and its ability to attract big dollars in media rights will be hampered.

Compare Gordon’s thoughts with those of AFLPA CEO Paul Marsh. Marsh thinks it is amazing that only one AFL player, Gary Ablett, made the top 50 of Business Review Weekly top sports earners. He has called for urgent attention to AFL player remuneration to remedy that situation.

Of course, an increase to player wages will reduce any ability for the AFL to invest in grass roots football.

Sportzfan Radio has long argued that professional sports people are well remunerated and gain an equitable portion of the pie already. Consider that the average AFL player receives at least $250,000 per year. In 2014, the average wage in Australia was almost $79,000.00 meaning AFL players, as a rule, are very well remunerated compared to the average Australian. That average wage increased by 2.3% from 2013. I have no argument in sporting people achieving parity with the rest of the Australian full time workforce and receiving the agreed Australian Bureau of Statistics annual increase. However, I perceive that Paul Marsh has a much higher increase in mind.

From where I sit, grass roots football is considerably under resourced and this state of affairs doesn’t look like it will be addressed anytime in the near future. The AFL and the AFLPA would do well to heed the words of Peter Gordon. Failure to do so will invariably lead to a reduction in participation (and supporter) rates and a consequent inability to demand the big figures in future media rights deals. One only needs to look at the NBL as a shining example of a sport that failed to invest at grass roots level and suffered a huge fall from grace with the media.

Perhaps Paul Marsh should should add his voice to those calling for greater investment in the grass roots. That would seem to be the best way for him to ensure he achieves his goal of increased wages for AFL players.

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Friday musing – Cricket, World Cup, Essendon FC…..

February 13, 2015 sportzfan Leave a comment

Well the Cricket World Cup is about to begin and I note that Australia is drawn play a game against New Zealand in New Zealand, so much for the home World Cup. With 2 pools the Australians and the New Zealanders should have been placed into different pools so that there was no away game for either team. In the previous World Cup in 1992 the same thing happened with Australia drawn to play New Zealand in New Zealand (and we lost!). With the 2 pools it is unlikely that either side would miss the next stage, however, I do have an issue with that type of fixturing.

It will be interesting to see how the World Cup goes. It would appear that some games will be very popular, like the opening game of the tournament tomorrow with Australia v England and the India v Pakistan game in Adelaide which was apparently sold out some months ago. However, many of the others could be television games only. The tournament is scheduled to go over seven weeks which to me is way too long and there is a big risk that the interest in the game will wain over that length of time. I think a compressed format of 4-5 weeks would have been more appealing. The Big Bash was played over a period of a month and I think they got that right.

I was bemused to hear Mick Malthouse and Nathan Buckley’s comments about the Essendon players and their stance regarding the NAB Challenge series. I think the club should field a team for the series, however, I also agree with the approach that the entire list from 2012 should not play to at least try and preserve the anonymity of the players to which they are entitled. There should be enough players that have come onto the list since 2012 and I wonder what Malthouse & Buckley’s views would be if the boot was on the other foot and it was their players that had to bear the brunt of this continued saga.

Have a great weekend!

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Friday musing is back – Test Cricket, Big Bash, Asian Cup & more

January 9, 2015 sportzfan Leave a comment

Happy New Year!

Well it is all about the cricket at this time of the year and my first observation relates to the standard of pitches that have been produced for the series against India. For as well as Virat Kohli and Steve Smith have played, there has been a lot of runs and not many wickets.

A lot of the Australian wickets have gone in the chase for quick runs. I wonder if the Indian authorities warned their Australian counterparts about preparing wickets to suit Mitchell Johnson. Johnson has struggled on these pitches with only one session in Brisbane where has been truly dangerous. It is hard to be too critical when there has been two results from the first three tests, with Australia batting India out of the Melbourne test to ensure they won the series.

However, I am sure if these pitches had been presented to the English last year there is no way we could have won 5-0. Nathan Lyon will be the number one bowler for the series and who would have predicted that at the start? I think in many ways for as well as the Indians have played, their fielding and catching has been sub-standard and you can’t keep dropping catches and win matches.

I hark back to one of those ill fated series in the 1980s against the West Indies when the Aussies dropped at least 30 catches. When you are playing one of the best teams in the world you have to limit their scoring not let them off the hook.

Continuing the cricket theme I have a comment about the Phil Hughes tributes. When does it all get too much? I understand the test team has been truly rocked by what happened and it is quite unparalleled in cricket, however, I think we are getting very close to putting a lid on the tributes. His family have been decidedly absent from the public eye and I now think it is time for the players pay their respects in private.

Finally on the cricket, I have watched a little of the Big Bash and it is great to sit down and watch a bit of sport at night time and see a result. I am sure Channel 10 are rapt they have the rights. My accolade goes out to Brad Hogg playing for the Perth Scorchers. At 43 years of age he came on the other night and landed his spinners perfectly and essentially set up the win for Perth. Amazing!

The Asian Cup starts tonight and I must say my enthusiasm has yet to be piqued. Perhaps once it gets going I will be more interested, but at this stage the jury is out.

Continuing the World Game theme, I went to the Melbourne Victory v Perth Glory game last week in Geelong and while the result was not so good and it was still very hot, the crowd and the atmosphere were very good. I think of the AFL venues, Kardinia Park lends itself to soccer because it has narrow wings. The Victory have two more games at the venue in the next two years and my guess is the experiment will be continued or even expanded.

Have a great weekend!

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Friday musing – cricket, Nathan Lyon, Shane Warne, Michael Clarke…

December 19, 2014 sportzfan Leave a comment

When Nathan Lyon bowled Australia to victory in Adelaide last weekend with a twelve wicket haul it got me thinking about Shane Warne’s record against the Indians. Warne who is Australia’s best ever spinner only had one five wicket haul in an innings against the Indians (6/125) and no ten wicket hauls for the match. In addition, his bowling average against the Indians was 47.19 which is way over his career average of 25.41. His average was probably not assisted by his first test results against a rampaging Ravi Shastri, but even when his career developed he didn’t get good results against the Indians. Maybe Lyon deserves more credit for his bowling than he is currently afforded.

Another thing to come out of the Adelaide test was the vulnerability of Michael Clarke to injury. First he injures his back swaying out of the way of a bouncer and then he does his hamstring when jogging to pick up a ball. Both pretty innocuous incidents that would occur several times in a game. If I was him I would be concerned sneezing! In some ways he has been lucky to last into his thirties given how injury prone he has been throughout his career. The sporting world is littered with talented sports men and women who have had their careers abbreviated due to injury.

Have a great weekend!

Sports

Friday musing – Golf, Jordan Spieth, cricket, Sean Abbott….

December 12, 2014 sportzfan Leave a comment

Well Jordan Spieth proved that his Australian Open success was no fluke by returning to the US and taking out a quality restricted event and beating the world number two by 10 strokes! As I suggested last week this guy looks to be the next superstar of world golf and to put away a quality field the way he did was nothing short of spectacular. He will be a very big drawcard next year when he returns to defend his Aussie Open title.

I was amazed to see Sean Abbott return to the fray so quickly after the unfortunate events of a few weeks ago. As I stated in an earlier “musing”, if it was me I would have considered giving the game away or at least having some time off, but he has got right back on the horse. Good on him and it must be a testament to his mental toughness that he can get back to bowling so quickly. That sort of resilience should make him a good test player if his bowling makes the grade.

Have a great weekend!

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Friday musing – cricket, golf, Jordan Spieth…..

December 5, 2014 sportzfan Leave a comment

Last weeks Musing was devoted to Phil Hughes and I must say the despite not knowing the guy, it continued to affect me through the week. Now that we have had the funeral we can move on.

In my opinion the big thing from last weekend was the performance of the 21yo American, Jordan Spieth in the Australian Open. Currently ranked at number 158 in the world, he shot a 63, which was poignant in itself, to win the open easily was an amazing performance. The course was probably at its most difficult when he played and I understand the best score from earlier in the day was 67. So he shot a score to win the tournament that no one else got close to during the day. And he is only 21! This is the guy that almost became the youngest US Masters winner, so he is no slouch and he could be the next world wide super star in golf now that Tiger Woods cannot seem to re-capture his former brilliance.

I know I have made this observation before, but Peter Donegan was one of the commentators doing the golf telecast and he is one of the best all round sports commentators in Australia. He does the golf, he does the horse racing, he does the VFL football, the Olympics, is there any sport he cannot do? I struggle to think of any one better. Tim Lane and Bruce McAvaney have a higher profile, but PD is the ultimate support act.

Have a great weekend!

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Friday musing – vale Phil Hughes

November 28, 2014 sportzfan Leave a comment

Well I think yesterday must have been one of the saddest days in Australian sport that I can remember with the passing of Phil Hughes.

I got home and my daughter asked about my day and I replied that I was feeling numb, shocked and saddened about the young man that lost his life that day. Cricket is not a dangerous sport, yes there is the risk of injury, but you don’t pad up thinking your life is on the line.

This is a tragic accident and the prevailing mood these days when there is a tragic accident is to look for someone or something to blame. It was an accident pure and simple no blame should be levelled in any direction and there is no need to make any rule changes.

If it was a lower order batsman, then there may be some justification to look at the rules, however, with the level of protection batsmen have at their disposal these days the physical threat of a bouncer is not what it used to be.

I wonder how this will affect the bowler, Sean Abbott. It will be interesting to see how it impacts his career. I think if it was me I might consider giving the game away or at least take a break from the game for a while.

Sport has its highs and lows, but grief should not be part of a recreation.

Vale Phil Hughes

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Friday musing – Golf, Cricket, Spring Carnival…….

November 14, 2014 @packers4 Leave a comment

The thing that really piqued my interest in the sporting arena this week was the story about Phil Mickelson calling 16 year old US born Australian Ryan Rufflels (the son of former tennis player Ray Ruffels) to try and get him to Arizona State University on a golfing scholarship. Apparently Ryan plays off plus 6 and in a recent monthly medal at the Victoria Club shot rounds of 10, 9, 7 & 9 under. Wow! Golf seems to be producing some real prodigies at the moment and hopefully Ryan can go on and create a name for himself. Which country would have the bragging rights? I think that while he was born in the US, he grew up in Australia and took up golf in Australia, I consider that to be enough to claim him as an Aussie.

It was interesting to see that less than 25,000 people for the International T20 match against South Africa last Friday at the MCG. That is a disappointing crowd and casts a bit of doubt about the overall interest in the cricket coming into a summer where Australia will be hosting the One Day World Cup. Apart from the Ashes that is always well patronised, the cricket does seem to be losing its mojo. I have mentioned this in the past and in my opinion, it has a lot to do with the year round coverage of cricket throughout the world. The football is played over a period of six-seven months and then there is the build up and anticipation for the following season which is all very well staged managed by the AFL. The international cricket season has started with very little sense of anticipation and not helped by the recent test flogging at the hands of the Pakistanis. Time will tell if they can build some momentum into the World Cup.

The major races of the spring have now been completed and there was a number of notable performances, however, I do not think that any horse stamped its authority on the spring. There was not a dominant sprinter, there was not a dominant weight for age performer and there was not a dominant stayer. Having said that the “one off” performances of Terravista, Adelaide and Protectionist (you could also add in Admire Rakti in the Caulfield Cup) where truly great performances.

Have a great weekend!

Sports

Has cricket reached its nadir?

November 9, 2014 @packers4 Leave a comment

The much vaunted ‘international’ cricket season has commenced and if Friday night’s crowd of around 21,000 at the MCG is anything to go by, the bells are tolling for the health of the game as a spectator sport. The bash and crash form of the game usually draws big crowds, especially at Melbourne’s sports Mecca, but not this time!

I have read a number of excuses including that Melbourne sports mad public are tired of the non-stop grind of the annual sports calendar. This may be part of the cause but fails to acknowledge the gradual fall off in interest in the grass roots form of the game. I include Sheffield Shield in this.

Showing my age here, I can recollect watching a Sheffield Shield final involving Victoria at the MCG against Western Australia in 1980 where there were at least 50,000 people in attendance. What would the cricketing hierarchy give for crowds like that in today’s four day domestic fixtures? Regrettably, the last time I was at the MCG to see a shield game circa 2007, there were 15 people present on a Saturday afternoon.

The fortunes of the Australian side haven’t assisted as their recent history in Test matches and the limited form of the game haven’t set the world on fire. Spectators like winners and they fall off very quickly when the form line heads south.

By failing to capture the imagination of the sporting public in the domestic form of the game, Cricket Australia hasn’t generated sufficient interest in the game itself and it would appear only a matter of time until cricket becomes even more marginalised and follows the NBL onto the sporting scrap heap!