A positive memory from the Sydney Test

In all the noise, rancor and recrimination that comprises the fallout of the Sydney Test between India and Australia, it’s very easy to forget the good things that happened.

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Channel 10 and Formula 1

Several years ago, after enduring the woeful coverage of Formula 1 on Channel 9 with the twin wonders of Daryl Eastlake and Alan Jones, Channel 10 bought the broadcast rights and promised a new era of Formula 1 coverage. It sounded great, and I was looking forward to being able to watch races live (or close to live as they put it in the press release), and with improved coverage.

At first, they were good. Neil Crompton actually knew what he was talking about, and the races were shown live, or at 10:30 (after the Sunday night movie). I’m a realist. I know that they’re not going to broadcast something that doesn’t rate spectacularly well right in the middle of prime time. But at least it was within an hour or so of the race running, and at a standard time.

Then, Big Brother started. It consistently ran over time, which meant you had no idea when the race was going to be broadcast. Of course, BB was ratings gold, so it gets precedence. But still, it was annoying, particularly for those of us who think that BB is an horrific show. But, it was just indicative of the lack of care/attention they were paying to Formula 1.

And that brings us to today. The race is in Malaysia, which is in a similar time zone, meaning that it is run at 3PM Perth time. And when are they showing the race? 10:30 PM! OK, so there must be something that rates really well at 3PM, to take precedence? Let’s look it up. Hang on, “City Slickers II”???? WTF?

OK, so you don’t care anymore Channel 10. It’s not rating? OK. Don’t show it. Let the rights slide and let Foxtel show it. They do a good job with the MotoGP.

Sigh.

Watson induced humble pie

As much as it pains me to say it, Watson’s throw was simply brilliant. Fast, hard and accurate. Totally game changing.

It’s hard not to see South Africa’s performance as a continuation of their susceptibility to pressure in big games. True, the game was just a group match, but the two points that get taken through to the next stage are important, and you could tell that each team desperately wanted the win.

Whither the Australian "death" bowler

In the past year, Australia has gone from being able to strangle the opposition’s scoring at the end of an innings, to being having one of the most expensive bowling attacks in the world. Now, this article doesn’t attempt to show why, but it certainly makes for alarming reading.

One of the most (for me at least) interesting tidbit is about bowlers like Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Chaminda Vaas. The former is horrifically expensive during the first 40 overs of the game, but in the last 10 overs he is transformed into a miser. Vaas, on the other hand, is almost unplayable with the new ball, but turns into a regular pie-chucker in the last 10.

No doubt the teams have this type of statistics up the wazoo, but it makes me wonder why anyone is bowling Brett Lee in the last 10 overs, when his economy rate skyrockets. Of course, that’s not going to be an issue in this world cup. Unfortunately.

On a side note, I wonder what that does to all of the sponsors plans for the tournament. No doubt companies like 3 Mobile and Weet-Bix would have large campaigns centered around Lee for their advertising during the cup. Time for a few new ideas I think.

Watson induced apathy

Is it wrong for me to want England to actually win the CB One Day Series if for no other reason than because Shane Watson is playing, and if we lose the series there is a chance (however remote) that he will never play for Australia again?

I don’t think so.

If only this were true

In the light of Western Australia’s woeful performance in the Pura Cup game against Queensland (that was still meant to be going on), I IM’d Phil and said:

so, what should be happening now is that Gillies and Dorey should be mopping up the QLD tail to register the first win of the season

And in perhaps the best piece of fantasy cricket writing ever, he replied:

in my own dream state that is exactly what has happened. After Gilchrist had made a tidy 250 from 138 balls and Martyn a very stylish 303*. Then I would have had the Bulls 8-15 with Watson ‘retired dead’ before a handy last wicket partnership of 290 took them to within two runs of victory before Bichel suffered a massive brain haemorraghe and fell on his own stumps cutting his carotid artery.

Gold.

Ineffectual Jedis

defective yeti: Break A Leg!

On the World Cup:

I also love the way how, after the ball goes out-of-bounds or there is foul, each player involved will stop, stare directly at the referee, and act out the call he wants the official to make. And then the ref goes ahead and makes whatever ruling he was going to issue anyway. It’s as if every team were made up of the galaxy’s most ineffectual Jedis.

Google is really pushing the video

In the ever competitive world of trying to forge new markets, google is doing some handy stuff with video: The SuperBowl Ads

Does he even listen to what he is saying?

After a fairly comprehensive victory in last night’s cricket match, Ricky Ponting had this to say: “I don’t think we had to prove anything to anyone,” he said. “We heard some things coming into the tournament that we were a bit vulnerable. We had some points to prove and we’ve done that.”

Pakistan v Western Australia 2nd XI

Caren, Evelyn and I spent a relaxing couple of hours at UWA watching Pakistan and WA 2nd XI play. Sitting on the lawn, with Evelyn playing around, and a couple of friends from indoor cricket is a great way to spend the afternoon.

Of course, returning home to get involved in the middle of a domestic violence dispute with our non-english speaking neighbours made for a slightly stressful and non-relaxing late afternoon. We think all is relatively well now that tempers have dropped.

The Chavvest of the Chavs

There are two things that leap out from this article:

Talking about the night he proposed to his girlfriend, Coleen:

“I’d picked it (the ring) up from the jeweller and told her we were going out for a Chinese meal, but we stopped at a BP petrol garage because Coleen had to get the money to pay for the meal.”

That’s right, he’s a starting player for England, and he makes his girlfriend go get money to pay for dinner, during which he planned to propose to her. Romance = Alive and Well.

And then this:

Wayne and Coleen are set to dislodge David Beckham and his pop star wife Victoria as English football’s first couple after Beckham had a poor tournament and has seen his image tarnished by accusations of extra-marital affairs.

Yeah right. A chav (albeit a talented chav), with an ugly head, and a Council Flat girlfriend is going to take the place of Beckham and Posh. Uh-huh.