Cricket

brett lee is insanely popular in india, apparently.

he's also in a band with his brother Shane (ex-Aussie allrounder) and a bunch of ex-NSW players http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_&_Out

News: Matthew Hayden is retiring

He had a pretty useful career: 103 Tests, 30 centuries, 8625 runs at 50.7, highest score 380.

However, I think his time has passed.

Yep, he's all over. Should be interesting to watch the 20/20 again tonight. Expecting more big hitting.

7 off 12 from the walnut... i had my hopes up.

I went to watch Aus vs NZ at the MCG on friday night. The Aussies completely fluffed it, and the Kiwis got over the line in one of the flattest games i've ever seen. Anyway, it was good to be there.

PS go the Windies!

also, here's a shot of the MCG at dawn the following morning (this turned out to be the hottest day ever recorded in Melbourne at 46.4 degrees).

dont think you need to wish the windies luck mate!!! England were a shambles in the second innings...

still think we will win the series though.

Nice shot of the MCG would love to see a game there

there is nothing like seeing the first ball of an Ashes Test at the MCG on Boxing Day, with 85-90,000 people in the crowd. I was there the day Warnie took his 700th wicket (Boxing Day 2006) and the ground was packed and totally silent until he took it. I believe he bowled Andrew Strauss, from memory. It's a fantastic ground. I am a member there, there's a 17 year waiting list.

yep i think it was strauss..thankyou !!! great day to be there to catch Warnie's 700th. My old man was a cricket nut and loved the Boxing day test he would listen on the long wave radio here in england at stupid a'clock to a radio signal that you could just about hear of couse England were mostly on raod to beating.... :(

ENGLAND BEACH TOUR INTERRUPTED BY CRICKET

TEN UK tourists on a Carribbean beach holiday have had their trip thrown into disarray after being forced to play cricket matches.

** **
'I'm going to go and see if I can find the buffet' Strauss tells his friends

Trip organiser Andrew Strauss has complained to travel firm ECB after being told to turn up and play a series of games that he and his friends are completely unprepared for.

Strauss started badly, with his helmet on backwards and holding the bat upside down, before asking the umpire if you get free cocktails as part of the all-inclusive deal.

He added: "I managed to hit a few of the balls until there was a big commotion and that man in the white overcoat asked me to leave."

ECB chief executive Denys Finch-Hatton said: "All a bit last minute to be honest. Suddenly remembered we owed the Windies a tourney, so I got this bunch of Johnnies to pop over, telling them it was a beano.

"We stuck some pads on them, gave them a jolly old helmet and hoped for the best. What larks!"

Strauss's fellow holidaymaker Andrew Flintoff, from Preston, said: "Bloody 'ell. Ent had time to do 'owt. By now I was hopin' to 'ave peed off balcony, set fire t'half dozen pedaloes and spewed me tea in t'pool."

Meanwhile other group members are understood to be confused and upset after being forced to cancel a planned ganja-tasting and spend the afternoon having a really hard ball thrown in their direction at 90mph by an angry Jamaican gentleman who seems to have some sort of problem with them.

http://www.skellion.com/track.php?tid=10535

Anybody say Windies...............?

i would love to watch cricket in the caribbean some day.

Am I right in thinking that we are the worst team there has ever been or something?

The Aussie team is struggling too, but we're taking some comfort in the knowledge that England are looking even worse leading up to the Ashes.

a) Kiwis unlucky to draw the Chappell-Hadlee series due to rain in Brisbane, they were really good in the series http://content-eap.cricinfo.com/ausvnz2008/content/current/story/390590.html and were looking good in the final game. They are ranked 4th on the one-day table though, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

b) what the fuck? how can a test match venue not be up to a standard where the bowlers can run in? what a joke!

terrorists have attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, Pakistan: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/mar/03/sri-lankan-cricket-team-shooting

Several players were injured, and a number of police and security staff were killed.

That's fucked.

ok, let's not talk about the pakistan tragedy then.

moving right along, it's good to see the Aussie team has found its feet again, and this young bloke Phil Hughes looks like a real cricketer: http://content.cricinfo.com/rsavaus2009/content/current/story/393713.html

hitting a dashing hundred in your second test, opening against the best attack in the world, not a bad sign at all.

what's happening in the west indies? have the windies won the series yet?

It was great following Katich and Hughes today, Punter and co did their best to make things interesting but hopfully Hussey and North can crack on a get 450+ on the board tomorrow. Looks like the pitch is dead so I'm predicting a draw unless SA choke.

well JDB your prediction of a flat pitch and a drawn match are looking a bit shaky... the wickets were going down faster than mikec at a cyclist training course, on both sides!

hopefully the aussies can clean up the South African tail quickly on day 3 and get on with winning the series. Mitchell Johnson's early spell must've been spectacular - 3 wickets for bugger all, plus broke Smith's hand and nearly Kallis' jaw! That's fiery stuff! good to see andrew mcdonald pick up a few wickets as well. people have been criticising him, but i think he's bowled well, very economical and builds the pressure effectively, and it is only his 3rd or 4th test. just cos he's not express pace everyone writes him off.

JP Duminy is a talent, too. He has a good head for pressure situations.

i choose to continue the conversation with myself by pointing out that the aussie side is definitely back. maybe not back to what they were 3 years ago, but still good enough to tear england a new one this summer.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/mar/08/australia-south-africa-cricket-hughes this kid can really play. youngest player ever to score two centuries in one match.

my bold prediction is that the aussies will bat until just before lunch, try to get a lead of 600, then give themselves 5 sessions to bowl south africa out.

what's with the flat pitches in the caribbean? it's like a pitch curators' conspiracy to raise batting averages!

Any one planning on going to the 20/20 world cup this summer? A few friends and I are about to get some tickets for the scotland v new zealand ....Aussie v windies double header group game at the oval

All the england games look sold out

yep i'll prolly head along for a look at a few games.

btw, am currently enjoying england's inability to make a decent T20 score in 50-over matches on flat decks against mediocre opposition :D

mediocre?

that's not true, WI have been a pretty decent one day side for a while. Gayle would be in any world 11 for 50 overs.

england are shit at the moment, that's true. but we beat south africa 4/0 in the last one day series against them when we had a better team. we usually do better in tests than 50 over, but we've managed to become crap at both recently. Looks like your chances of beating a fully fit, decent england side this year are nill.

rubbish England