Sledging bingles

A NZ ex-cricketer, cricket CEO and cricketer have come out saying that sledging Michael Clarke over his bingle/bungle (Kiwis can't tell the difference, after all) in his relationship. That hardly brought a response, but somewhere in there teammate Michael Hussey opined that it would indeed be "going a bit too far", and that brought on comments galore.

There's a lesson in that.

While still looking for lessons on sledging, isn't it interesting how these stories tend to prompt writers to include the stock list of all-time famous sledges? Isn't it even more interesting that nearly all of them aren't in the list because of the original sledge, but for the response?

Sheep, scabs and other Champions

Going by the Australian media, you'd hardly think this Champions Trophy is on. To be fair, it is on in South Africa at awkward times and it is currently the business end of the football seasons. Perhaps more to the point, when did Australia even pay any attention to previous versions of this tournament?

So far in Group A, Pakistan have fought off the best team WICB money (or organisational ability?) can buy. This team, which would probably even make England look like an ODI powerhouse, gives Australia there entry into the competition tomorrow, while the sporting eyes of the nation are on Melbourne. The India-Pakistan match seems to have more potential for drama.

Meanwhile, Group B is turning on the excitement. Sunny England has Sri Lanka's top order in real trouble, after the Lankans had put away the favoured hosts. If the results can be interpreted as a hierarchy, then the South Africans are left only above their comprehensively defeated opponents. To keep the S theme, lets call them Shebangabang - after all, that's what they're called by the advertising advisors to the Australian ODI sponsors.

It wouldn't be an ICC event without room for criticism, and F50 isn't the flavour of the month, but I reckon that simply as a chance for so many teams to play cricket against each other in a tournament, it isn't bad. It deserves a bit more attention over here.

Smiles for some

The first day of summer... it's a long time since I've been able to say that. I think I've forgotten how to cope with hot weather, but I'd rather have it than the heated events of the last week in Mumbai.

As terrible as they were, they didn't disrupt the continuation of the Trans-Tasman Trophy series. Once again, the selections were interesting. Shane Watson doesn't approve of the "horses for courses" philosophy that saw him dropped - but surely it was the main reason he was in the team in Brisbane anyway?

I can only wonder what Nathan Hauritz thought, going from opening the batting for Randwick-Petersham because he couldn't make an almost second-string NSW XI, to playing for Australia, only to suffer a similar injury to the guy he was replacing. In the meantime, Beau Casson, on the other end of the conflicting messages from different selectors, has injured his hand and might have trouble playing for anyone.

As for the game itself, it was enjoyable. It was more a case of a NZ team below full strength looking not quite up to the task, than anything spectacular from the Australians. It was a good chance for several to put in solid performances, get over the last tour and prepare for the South Africans. Lee and Haddin in particular should have smiles significantly less clouded than the one in the sky tonight.

Let it begin...

At last! This summer's international cricket in Australia is about to start, no thanks to the weather. It all seems familiar - once again, the selectors have decided that the Gabba pitch requires a banana-bending seamer (especially after rain?), and once again, a visiting captain decides to bowl first. Will it actually pay off this time?