Book my skiing holiday in hell

Glenn McGrath’s maiden Test half-century at the Gabba yesterday was a masterpiece of cricket surrealism – not to mention a heartbreaking experience for the New Zealand team. While Channel Nein deserved to be jeered yet again for crossing to the 6pm news in Sydney before he actually got there, they did get to show one […]

Clarkie!

It almost seems like destiny for Michael Clarke to get a ton on Test debut, and that’s how it panned out. Great knock from a player who really should have been in the Test team a year ago. He’s a very mature 23 year-old, and congratulations to him. I am sure we have seen the […]

Zimbabwe’s tough road ahead

Zimbabwe departs from the VB Series with their worst record in three outings in the Australian triangular. At least they managed one win in both 1994-95 and 2000-01. This time, a washout at the MCG was the best they could muster.

Spamming to save a tour? and Canberra’s annual pastimes

It’s not exactly in the same league as selling mail order Via*gra, X[a]nax or p3nis enlargements, but the Zimbabwe Cricket Union’s unsolicited email to the eighteen first-class English counties on Monday will go down as one of the daftest acts by a cricket administration in recent times.

Zimbabwe: A terribly British problem

Bangladesh has just announced its touring team to play two Tests and five one-day internationals in Zimbabwe next month. Namibia has just completed a series of five matches in Zimbabwe against the national under-19 and A teams. Meanwhile, England is fretting over the prospects of touring Zimbabwe in October.

Cricket’s latest lolly scandal

Not since Marcus Trescothick spilled his minties at short extra cover in the Trent Bridge Test of 2001 has cricket seen a lolly scandal such as that which engulfed Rahul Dravid at The Gabba on Tuesday night.

Taking NSW cricket to the people

There were 26,190 people at Telstra Stadium at Sydney’s Olympic Park for a Saturday night interstate cricket match. In an arena of 80,000 capacity, this was the biggest crowd to see a day’s play of a New South Wales home game in more than forty years.

A Test on steroids

With one day remaining in the Sydney Test, Australia needs 433 runs to win with ten wickets in hand. It shouldn’t be possible. Shouldn’t. But this Test – and indeed many Test matches lately – have been so unusual that it can’t be absolutely ruled out. We’ve seen an exhilirating four days of batting at […]

The curse of the retiring captains

It was nineteen years ago – January 1985 – when Clive Lloyd played his 110th and last Test, his 74th as captain, leading the West Indies against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. A world-beating team at the peak of its form, the West Indies was expected to trounce Australia as they had done throughout […]

John Howard’s Great Moments in Sport 2003

The crowning achievement of self-styled sports fanatic and Australian Prime Minister John Howard in 2003 came at the final of the Rugby World Cup in November. After the Wallabies lost an exhilarating game on an extra-time field goal, JH looked like he was going to burst into tears as he handed out the winners’ medals […]