“You got an MBE, right? For scoring seven at the Oval? It’s an embarrassment.”
– Dr Shane Warne to Paul Collingwood MBE, Sydney Cricket Ground, 4.1.07.
Continue reading “Sydney Day Three: You did *what* for an MBE?”
Sydney Day Two: Warne’s 1000th vegetable
You have to hand it to the Murdoch comic books. One week they are celebrating – in advance – the Lord Of The RingsText Alert’s 700th wicket, the next week they are celebrating his 1000th wicket. With that rarest or rarities, the full page colour liftout commemorative poster.
So what are we celebrating again? Shane Warne’s 1000th international wicket. As in all “full internationals”. Let me explain, by introducing the rickeyre.com vegetable index (More about the fruit index later) Continue reading “Sydney Day Two: Warne’s 1000th vegetable”
How much does a tabloid Urn?
Yes it’s that time again, when the populists and the ignoramuses (or in John Howard’s case, both) call for the urn holding the original “Ashes” to be kept in Australia. At least until England wins again.
As Malcolm Fraser used to say: Let me be quite plain. Continue reading “How much does a tabloid Urn?”
Raccoon’s in The Guardian
The Guardian’s online over-by-over coverage of the final day of the Fifth Test has come top of website editor Emily Bell’s Guardian.co.uk Top 5 for this week. Among the edited highlights reproduced from that tumultuous day was my remark about Kevin Pietersen and the dead raccoon under his helmet. Continue reading “Raccoon’s in The Guardian”
Riots in Belfast? What riots in Belfast?
Yes it’s always good to have an historic sporting triumph to keep civil unrest off the front pages…
Congratulations to you and the whole team on your fantastic series win.
It’s been sport at its very best, played in a wonderful spirit between two exceptional sides, and has gripped the whole country.
With so many people following this extraordinary series ball by ball, I’m not sure our economy could stand many more days like today – or our nerves any more excitement.
But by bringing the Ashes back after so long, you have given cricket a huge boost and lit up the whole summer.
Congratulations to everyone on an unforgettable series and a fantastic win.
With best wishes
Tony Blair
Ashes, bombers, weasels, feet, mouths
Ah yes, sport and politics can be such a hilarious mix sometimes. Here’s an extract from the Hansard from the House of Reps session in Canberra earlier this evening. Continue reading “Ashes, bombers, weasels, feet, mouths”
Earth, I’m comin down!
Warmest congratulations to you, the England team and all in the squad for the magnificent achievement of regaining the Ashes. This has been a truly memorable series and both sides can take credit for giving us all such a wonderfully exciting and entertaining summer of cricket at its best.
ELIZABETH R
– The Queen of Australia, among other countries, displays her partisanship in a congratulatory message to Michael Vaughan
Ashes 2005: Fifth Test The Oval
Unlock with PatreonAshes News 4 Kids
The BBC’s childrens digital TV channel CBBC has a daily news program called “Newsround” which presents the news of the day in a manner that is aimed at children. I can only evaluate their work from what I see on BBC Online’s Newsround website, but I quite like what I’ve seen so far. Continue reading “Ashes News 4 Kids”
Father’s Day
Today, the first Sunday in September, is Father’s Day in Australia and New Zealand. On Friday it was announced that Steve Waugh is Australia’s Father of the Year for 2005. My congratulations to him. Continue reading “Father’s Day”