Symonds needs to go
Andrew Symonds was involved in a selection incident involving Bangladesh for the second time today when he missed playing for Australia in Darwin.
Symonds was late for a team meeting because he had been fishing. He was sent home and dropped from the series.
Bangladesh are easybeats and Australia won comfortably, but what about Symonds? Read more
Usain Bolt stuns Matthew Hayden
Jamaican sprint champion Usain Bolt surprised international journalists when he said Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden was his sporting hero.
“I am a huge fan of Matty Hayden and he’s a cool customer out in the middle and I like his style,” Bolt said.
Most of the international media listening to Bolt’s interview didn’t know who Hayden was and were intrigued to know what role he played in cricket.
Hayden was humbled.
“It’s pretty humbling isn’t it for an old fisherman and surfer in Queensland who now and then plays a bit of cricket,” he said.
“It’s an amazing achievement and to be mentioned is something I’m very proud about and I can’t believe he even said that.”
The story illustrates the power of cricket in the West Indies, which does appear to have waned in recent years based on test performances. It’s great the sport still ranks highly in public consciousness there.
Embarrassing sporting photos
There’s a good discussion on the cricket website Cricinfo about sportsmen being caught in embarrassing photos they would rather forget.
The most recent example is former England cricket captain Mike Atherton shaking hands with Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe in 1996. Read more
Special moment
The 1982-83 Melbourne Ashes Test is special to me for several reasons. I was 15 years old and it was the only time my Dad took me to the city alone for consecutive days.
We stayed at a motel in Carlton and made our way to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) each day for five days of gripping action.
The scores were fairly even and below 300 for each team on every day. The crowds were large throughout. Read more
Respect the baggy green
Australian cricketers wore VB promotional caps on their opening match of the West Indies tour overnight, causing a furore among die-hard fans and former players.
“Money talks, you’re selling your pride, selling the baggy green, what price is it? It just cheapens things,” former Test player Greg Matthews said.
“Personally I would have worn my baggy green, I wouldn’t have given a razoo what they told me. If someone said to me I had to wear a VB hat, I’d tell them to piss off.”
Cricket Australia’s public affairs manager Philip Pope said the decision was not made for commercial reasons, but because team management wanted uniformity. Read more
Great sporting streaks
Andrew Symonds shoulder charged a streaker at the Gabba tonight in a bone-jarring tackle more reminiscent of rugby than cricket.
It will send the otherwise ho-hum, yawn pitch invasion into the realms of sporting folklore. And let’s face it, a photograph or video footage is necessary to make a streak memorable.
There was a female streaker at the local cricket in Kalgoorlie on the weekend, but it’s unlikely to be spoken about in pubs or written about in blogs (except here).
Michael O’Brien’s streak (below) during a rugby international at Twickenham in 1974 was caught on film by Ian Bradshaw and made immortal.
Television doesn’t normally record streakers, but I seem to recall an exception being made for Helen D’Amico during the 1982 VFL grand final at the MCG. Super cool Bruce Doull (headband) was nonplussed.
And in New Zealand, Australian batsman Greg Chappell once spanked a streaker with his bat and was charged with assault.
Harbhajan monkey comment
My last words on the cricket monkey furore:
I think New Zealand Judge John Hansen reached the obvious conclusion. No disrespect to match referee Mike Procter, but the judge knows what he’s doing. Far-reaching decisions like this need to be based on evidence.
I found this part of the transcript interesting: Read more
Adam Gilchrist
Adam Gilchrist dropped a bombshell by announcing his retirement from all forms of the game during the Adelaide Test.
As a young boy I idolised Allan Border and thought nobody could replace him in the pantheon of cricket greats. Gilchrist came close.
He is a sensational batsman and a great bloke. I won’t compare him with Border, because they had different roles and played in different eras (perhaps another post).
I just want to pay tribute to the great man, an unsung hero of Australian cricket, a man who has changed the way the game is played, certainly for wicketkeepers.
Never say never, but it’s hard to imagine anyone being as good as Gilchrist with the bat and the gloves.
Cricket sledging
Sledging is part of cricket and some examples are better than others. Sometimes it rebounds on the bowlers who deliver the words.
Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath to lower-order Zimbabwean batsman Eddo (chicken farmer) Brandes: “Why are you so fat?”
Brandes: “Because every time I “f**k” your wife, she gives me a biscuit.”
In an interview, Indian bowler Sreesanth said: “He (Lara) defended a ball with an exaggerated back-and-across movement and I just stood there and murmured my disapproval. Next ball he was beaten and I said, ‘is this the King Charles Lara? Who is this impostor, moving around nervously?
“I should have kept my mouth shut for the next ball - mind you, it was a length ball - Lara just pulled it over the church beyond the boundary! He is a true legend.”
I don’t have much personal experience of this. In the under 12s I was once heckled by a wicketkeeper who made abusive remarks I can’t remember while I was facing to bat. My response was to pull the bowler up half way into his run-up, which of course they hate.
It worked.
Press coverage of test saga
It’s been interesting to follow the Australian press coverage of the Sydney test match aftermath. On Monday and Tuesday I thought there was a consenus between commentators and publishers (Fairfax and News Ltd). They all seemed to agree:
- The match should have been a draw;
- The umpiring was terrible;
- Harbhajahan Singh was poorly treated;
- Anil Kumble hit the mark with his comments;
- The Australians were brash.
It’s funny the difference a day makes. Read more
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