No Follow-on

Australia lead by 445 after the first innings. It seems that not only do I like watching tail enders bat, I also like watching Aussie pace bowlers bowl (though I didn't get to see that much).

But the curious think is why we didn't follow on... There are some probably logical explanations, especially considering the wicket may be deteriating, but it just seems cruel to toy with them like that.

Oh well, at least it secures fifth day cricket for the marketers.

Last Ashes thoughts for a day or so

I love watching tail enders bat. Caution thrown to the wind a bit more, and less perfectionist and safe when compared with those up the order. It is what I used to love about Gilchrist and Slater and others too, though their aggression has not always been channelled well.

So it was lots of fun today to watch the play while Brett Lee, Stuart Clark and Glenn McGrath were at the crease. Lots to enjoy and celebrate about it, especially after a strong performance over the first day and a half by conventional batsmen.

To top it all off, Australia then went into the field and secured three wickets before stumps. It is set to be an interesting series if this keeps going. Though my memory keeps telling me that this is typical for first tests in Australia, and that slowly the Batting of the Away team improves as ours declines.

Go Australia, but keep the fight up. In my blogging absence, enjoy it anyway.

Day One

It begins... The much awaited Ashes series has started.

As has been said by those more knowledgeable than I, Test cricket is all about long term strategic dominance, rather than short term bursts of flair.

This series has all the makings of a nice hard fought series, though the honours at the moment seem to be going Australia's way. I tried to be productive while watching the first session, and sorted lots of things in front of the TV, but watching Langer play this morning was just beautiful.

Go Australia, but just don't let those Poms be good Queenslanders and make you think you will win easily, only to surprise you when they are surprisingly good.

Fantasy NBA Update

Over the past week I have been slowly moving up the NBA ladder, regaining some ground on the whole competition.

Yesterday I even moved out of 13th (and last) place, into equal 11th. Today while picking up ground on average I slipped back to 12th.

Sometimes a bit of statistical skill works wonders, as does a form improvement from some of my key player's and their teams.

Queensland must be really boring...

Sold out Rugby League test matches...

ARL chief executive Geoff Carr says officials can no longer sit back and tolerate empty seats at major games in Sydney when Queenslanders are fighting for tickets to any game played at Suncorp Stadium.

"Since Suncorp reopened, we've had crowds of more than 40,000 in Brisbane at every Test,'' Carr said. "And whenever we take a game to Melbourne and promote it as a major event, we get great crowds, support and atmosphere.

"We all realise Sydney is the heartland of rugby league. But for whatever reason, whenever Tests are shown live on TV, fans haven't gone to the ground. It's something we're going to have to look at. We're running a business and gate receipts are an important part of that.''

Two weeks ago the "official'' crowd was 22,000 when Australia played Great Britain at Aussie Stadium. Insiders have told The Sunday Telegraph there was some creative counting going on and the true figure was closer to 18,000.

Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

Note Offensive Comments Below

The Ashes (since 1989) has followed a similar trajectory to the Rugby League State of Origin since the mid 1990's. Partly built on the long-term domination of one side who simply have better players (at present Australia and NSW), the series can often get written off as a fait-acompli.

Sure it is nice to give the Queenslanders a token series win here or there, or to give the Poms a dead rubber near the end of the series, but the dominance of one side has always led to a questioning of whether the games mean anything anymore.

The absolute dominance of Australia's cricketers since Mark Taylor began opening the batting and the classy batsman simply unable to get selected for Australia because of the men above them, has created a degree of complacency over the whole contest.

I can feel the mood coming again now (just read the sports papers from the weekend). But it is important to realise just one thing... the last time we lost the Ashes, we didn't expect to either.

In 2005 we won the first test by 239 Runs... The poms were absolutely belted, and couldnt manage to score more than 200. We all thought that it was just another ordinary Ashes series (like after State of Origin 1 this year), and the comments were about how big Australia would win by.

But then we lost the second test, despite the valiant batting effort of Brett Lee, and the brash and ill thought choices of Shane Warne in the second innings.

The third test we scraped a draw, and the fourth test saw us smashed.

Just keep those victory celebrations on ice for a little while. The english may have lost to our Prime Minister's team (which is no shame), may be getting carted around the SCG by the blues, and may look like a bunch of amateurs. But we need to win at least twice before we can go nuts, otherwise we might just have another 2005.

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have proven a dismal failure (as expected) in Fantasy NBA.

There is plenty of time left, but I need some assistance... otherwise I will quickly end up with no points.

ARGHHH!!!

(Along with the dearth of good sport, it is enough to almost tempt me away from writing about sport much now).

Update: Just visited the Yahoo Basketball News site (as opposed to the Fantasy site), and it turns out my key teams are underperfoming, so I am screwed.