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Weekend musing – Perpetual Loyal, Big Bash League & Boxing Day test match….

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Sfan OB6When it took line honours earlier this week, Perpetual Loyal broke the Sydney to Hobart yacht racing record by nearly five hours. If a record is broken by that much you have to sit up and take notice. Theunknown 630 nautical mile race is said to be one of the most difficult yacht races in the world, but this year conditions were tailor made for a quick journey as the second and third placed boats also beat the previous record. That record was held by Wild Oats XI. Even though it now no longer holds the race record, Wild Oats XI has set a Sydney to Hobart mark that will be difficult to beat in that it has the most line honours victories (8) and has twice held the race treble with race record, line honours and handicap honours all in the same year (2005 & 2012).

I have been watching a bit of the Big Bash League and the sloppy fielding by the Sydney Thunder in their match against the Brisbane Heat on Wednesday night got me thinking that it was so bad, a person might wonder what the coaching staff are teaching the imagesplayers. Three relatively easy catches went down and another was totally misjudged – mistakes so bad that the commentators spent two nights talking about it. The Hobart Hurricanes captaincy is also under question from me with Tim Paine failing to utilise his most economical bowler for the full four overs against the Melbourne Stars. Clive Rose started with 3 overs for 17 runs and was not used again in a very close match. I also thought Paine erred in bringing back Stewart Broad too late to have an impact. A case of poor decisions losing a match!

Sticking with cricket, it was interesting to hear Steve Smith say at the end of day 4 of the Melbourne Test Match that he didn’t think smiththe Pakistanis were trying to get him out. I would suggest that Smith was trying to apply some subtle final day pressure on the opposition through the media and it seems to have worked considering the dramatic second innings collapse by Pakistan that allowed Australia to win by an innings and 18 runs. Smith had a great match and was named man of the match after his 165 not out in the first dig. The experts must have been tested in selecting Smith though as David Warner and Mitchell Starc also had great games.

This is the last musing for 2016 so have a great weekend and Happy New Year!

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Weekend musing – Sportsmen and alcohol, drawn AFL Grand Finals

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Chris Barwin HillsI was thinking about Grant Hackett this week and how he now joins a burgeoning list of sportsmen who should refrain from drinking. I understand the incident itself may have been blown out of hackettproportion and has been sensationalised as seems to happen these days to sell papers. Hackett is in good company with the likes of Brendan Fevola, Robert Allenby, David Warner, Mitchell Pearce and any number of rugby league and union players. Most of these people are reasonable types who just don’t seem to be able to handle their grog. There is no doubt they should find other ways to relax!

I must say I think the move to drop the AFL Grand Final replay in the event of a draw was the correct decision. It may have been OK in the old VFL days when teams were all situated in Victoria but now with the national competition, imagine if Brisbane were playing Fremantle drawin the Grand Final and they had to come back the following week. It would be just too difficult. In addition, it would be unfair if a Melbourne based team were playing an interstate team.

What I do not agree with is the pundits who suggest the same should apply to a draw in the regular season games. A draw is an unusual outcome and I agree it does leave everyone a bit flat, but it is a arsenallegitimate result and history does not need to be changed just because some want a winner and a loser at the end of each game. Soccer is the most popular football game in the world and a draw is a common occurrence. Imagine if the same ‘sensibility’ applied to that game?

Have a great weekend!

Sports

Friday musing – Ashes washup, Nat Fyffe…..

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Chris Barwin HillsWell the Ashes are over and Australia has lost 3-2 with none of the five games going into the fifth day. When you examine the averages it is hard to see how Australia lost. Joe Root was the only English 1440188864611batsman to average more than 40 for the series, while Australia had Chris Rogers, Steve Smith & Dave Warner who all averaged over 40. Warner got a half century in each test without going on to get a hundred. Then you look at the bowling and while Stuart Broad took the most wickets with 21 the next best Englishman got 12 wickets, Australia had four bowlers who took 15 wickets or more.

In a series where the ball seemed to dominate the bat, no bowler really dominated. Broad’s 21 wickets has to be considered in the context of his match winning 8-15 in the fourth test, take that away and he averaged just over 1.5 wickets an innings. The 21 wickets is less than 2.5 wickets an innings which is hardly a domination compared to previous series. It was more like one bowler stood up each innings and then didn’t do much else and that applies to both sides.

In the final test Shane Warne was harping on about the selectors making a mistake and not playing Peter Siddle for Josh Hazlewood in the 4th test. To that stage Hazlewood had taken 16 wickets at an average of 25.75, not bad numbers really, but he was not really providing the Glenn McGrathish pressure that allowed them to playUnknown two left arm bowlers. Here I think was the major selection blunder playing the two left arm bowlers who were a bit all over the place. I would have dropped Mitchell Johnson for the last two tests and played Siddle or Cummins. They eventually played Siddle and he surprised everyone with a stellar performance in the final test.

Overall, if you win three games as easily as England did, you deserve to win back the Ashes.

Turning briefly to the AFL there was a lot of discussion earlier in the week with the Nat Fyffe incident with many of the pundits calling for his suspension. Quite rightly the MRP chose not to impose any fine or suspension. The incident was a free kick for too high, but nothing more than that. Having said that I am an unabashed Fyffe fan and hopes that he wins the Brownlow and goes on to get the Norm Smith medal in a Freemantle grand final winning team.

Have a great weekend!

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Friday musing – cricket, AFL, Sydney Swans……..

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Chris Barwin HillsWell I have been concentrating on the cricket in Sth Africa recently and this week is no exception. My observations and reiteration of a few maxims from the last test and the series are as follows:

1) You don’t insert the opposition;
2) You don’t enforce the follow-on;
3) Bowlers win matches, batsmen save them;
4) David Warner says some absolutely stupid things, but he seems to thrive on the pressure he draws  to himself and away from his team mates. A rare breed of sportsman;
5) I don’t think you can underestimate the influence of Shane Warne’s presence in Capetown. Clarke finally produces an innings of some magnitude and the team turns around the disappointment from the previous week;
6) Test cricket is a test of mind and body and Morkel certainly tested Clarke’s body, but his mind  won the contest;
7) The Sth African batsmen could teach our boys a thing or two about a solid defence;
8) Batting first in modern cricket seems to be too much of an advantage. Clearly Capetown was  prepared in the hope that Sth Africa would win the toss again.

On a different tack, the AFL flagged this week that the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) in Sydney  would be phased out. Given that Sydney has netted two very big names in Tippett & Franklin in the last two years it is no surprise, but is it fair. It is not my idea, but I agree, that the COLA should be there for the 1st or 2nd year players and rookies, but not for those who are on decent contracts, say greater than $150,000 per annum. Taking it one step further, why wouldn’t the same group of players in other states also be entitled to a COLA. Say you get a rookie from WA coming over to Victoria on basic payments, they are going to struggle financially and will need to get a job to supplement their payments because they do not have the fall back position of living with their parents.

Food for thought.

Have a good weekend!

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Friday musing…..the Ashes, Australian Open, Hewitt, Arsenal…..

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Chris Barwin HillsWell the Aussies wrapped up the Ashes in record time and in the end it was great to win and win well, but it was something of an anti-climax given the meek way the English capitulated. Clearly their batting let them down throughout the series and the only ones who could put their hands up would be Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes. Michael Carberry was passable, but he got a lot of starts at the top of the order and only once went on to make a 50. He reminded me a bit of Usman Khwaja, not how he batted, but the fact he continued to get a start and didn’t go on and post a decent score.

One of the quirkiest statistics from the recent series was the batting performance of Nathan Lyon. He batted six times for sixty runs, but was not dismissed in any of those six innings and as a result did not have a series average. I am not sure about the record for the most consecutive number of “not outs” in Test cricket, but it must be right up there.

While the Aussies won the series 5-0, their batting was still brittle at times and the forthcoming series against South Africa will reveal how much progress has been made. It has been widely discussed how well Brad Haddin batted in the series and I think he was the first batsman ever to score greater than fifty in five consecutive first innings of a series. Certainly he was the first to do it in an Ashes series. If Australia need to rely on him and the tail to bale them out in South Africa we will be in for a rude shock. Rogers, Warner, Clarke & Smith all made two centuries in the Ashes series, but to be successful against the Proteas we will need more partnerships. I doubt we can win the series, but it would be good to be competitive.

Moving away from the cricket to the tennis, it was good to see Lleyton Hewitt win a tournament in Australia last weekend. I have never been a particular Hewitt fan, but there is no doubting his competitiveness, his passion for the game and his passion for the Davis Cup. He has battled a lot of injuries over the last five years and most other sportsmen would have given up by now. It is hard to think of too many former Number 1 players who have hung around well after their star has dimmed. Good on him and I hope he does well in the Australian Open.

Bad news about Theo Walcott from last weekend, but one small positive is that at least it happened in January so they can utilise the transfer window if they wish. Better news with Oxlade-Chamberlain fit to resume, Giroud & Ozil likely to play and Ramsay & Gibbs pretty close. It is time to extract revenge on Aston Villa after that poor start to the season.

Have a great weekend.

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Friday musing – cricket, the Ashes, soccer, Arsenal……..

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Chris Barwin HillsWell what good timing for a Musing with the Aussies securing the Ashes on Tuesday! I thought Australia were a good chance in the series on the back of some pretty encouraging performances in England earlier in the year, but I did not think we would win the first three Tests in good style.

I mentioned last week about the toss playing a big part in teams winning and the last six results in Ashes test matches have seen the team winning the toss and batting coming out on top. You would think that the team batting second should have the best of the batting conditions, but England have not capitalised at all and have trailed in each of the first three tests. So much so that Australia have declared four of their six innings to date.

Mitchell Johnson seems to be most pundits pick for man of the series so far, but Warner, Haddin and Clarke are not far behind and when you factor in the performances of Siddle, Harris, Lyon and Smith, you can see why Australia are winning. That is not to down play the performances of Rogers and Watson who have also been solid contributors. Bailey has saved his spot because the team is winning and they can afford to give him time to settle. He certainly did his job on Monday morning.

I think the performance of Nathan Lyon needs a special mention. He has been much maligned and I have been guilty in that regard, however, you look at his scalps so far in the series and he has picked up crucial wickets. In the last test he got Cook in the first innings and Stokes in the second who were their teams highest scorers. He has earned his spot.

I can now go to the Boxing Day test and enjoy the cricket. Some would say it would be better to still have the series alive, but it is like being 10 goals up on Collingwood going into the last quarter just knowing you can enjoy the game.

Last week I lauded the Gunners for making the knockout phase of the Champions League for the 14th straight year and then they go out and lose to Manchester City 6-3. That is a tennis score isn’t it? Man City have been irrepressible at home this year and I suppose you could look on the positive side and say “well at least Arsenal got 3 goals”. I think the fixturing so close to the away game in Italy may have had an impact, but for the top team to concede 6 goals it is a bit of a worry.

Have a great weekend and a very Merry Christmas and we will muse up again in the New Year!

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Friday musing – Ashes, sledging, Jason Day & more

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Chris Barwin HillsWell I don’t think we can let an Aussie win in a Test match go without a bit of commentary, particularly as the Aussies were closing in on a record number of tests without a win.

Mitchell Johnson produced one of the great all-round performances in a test match in my time
following cricket. 103 runs for once out and 9/103 with the ball, so by my reckoning he is leading the averages with bat and ball at this stage. We all know one test doesn’t make a summer and in the last Ashes series in Australia he only produced one good performance, so I am not getting carried away, but it was a damn good start for a player that thrives on confidence.

Cricket is often identified as a ‘team sport for individuals’, but the contrary view to that is
that batting partnerships are intrinsic to winning matches. Australia produced three of the best partnerships of the test and won the game with Haddin/Johnson in the first innings and Warner/Clarke & Haddin/Johnson again in the second innings.

Speaking of Warner, we all like sportsmen that break the mould and speak their mind, however, I think he went a bit too far with his comments about Jonathan Trott.  He should’ve just left it as “a few of their batsmen looked a bit scared out there”.  Clearly Trott was showing signs of stress and perhaps Warner’s comments helped polarise his position and in turn prompted him to return to England and seek help.  It was interesting to read Greg Baum’s article in the Age during the week about cricketing suicides. It is clearly an issue and while we don’t like to see them make runs, I don’t think anyone gets any joy from the cricketers, or any sportsmen for that matter suffering mental
breakdowns.

Away from the cricket it was also good to see Jason Day salute in the Golf World Cup. I thought
given what happened in the Philippines he performed very well and it was a fine gesture to donate a portion of his winnings to the victims of the typhoon. Hopefully the headlines from that will raise the profile of the plight of the people from his mother’s homeland.  I have waxed about his performances before in the Majors and I don’t think it will be long before he finally snares one.

You also have to acknowledge the performance of Adam Scott. He wins the Aussie PGA,
Masters and shares the team result in the World Cup with Jason Day as well as finishing 3rd overall and is the overnight leader in the Aussie Open. I hope he becomes the 2nd golfer to take home the triple crown as he seems to be a very humble and likeable fellow.

Have a great weekend!

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Sportzfan Radio show #292 highlights

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Feb 27 2011 025The Professor and the Gelding talk about worrying signs for Australian cricket – the Professor thinks cricket is in the same boat as swimming and the Melbourne Football Club – all have problems at the top of the tree. The Gelding comments on Michael Clarke’s captaincy 1606 – cricket The Professor and the Gelding also talk about what assistance the AFL should provide to the Melbourne Football Club 1606 – melbournefc