Wonder of Warner

All plaudits must go to Warner for his 69 ball century on day one of the 3rd test at the WACA.  Also it is time for a positive article on cricket after so many negative articles in the past.

After India were skittled for 161 on a pitch that looked like it was a minefield for the Indian batsmen the Australian pair of Warner and Cowan made India look like what they are.  A team that is past it's used by date and in need of a fresh change, similar to that of which Australia is going through.  

With less than a session to bat, most would have expected Australia to set up ready for tomorrow and hopefully both batsmen still there on a healthy 60odd runs.  No one could have predicted what was to come, unless it was a short format version of the game that is.  What Warner showed though was that a quick fire innings can be done without having to resort to slogging.  When you compare his quickfire century to others in that list, you have to consider that he was opening the batting on day 1 on a pitch that had the opposition in fear  of every ball.  Most quickfire centuries come from middle order batsmen who are facing bowlers that are tired and bowling on a lifeless pitch. 

Warner how has the chance to go into the record books and record what could be the fastest double century and if he bats all day I would predict him to be well over 400.  With his cavalier approach though one would not be surprised he he falls at any stage but he has laid the platform and the rest of the Australian team should be able to heap on plenty of runs and humiliate an Indian lineup that does not have any signs of ticker.

Also of note was the support role of Cowan at the other end.  He played the perfect accompanying role and still scored at a healthy strike rate to ensure he didn't bog up one end.  Cowen is well placed now to go into day 2 with every chance to go on and score a century and you havee to look back to March 2009 for the last time an Australian opening pair scored a century each (Katich & Hughes - Kinsgmead).  

With Warner now showing what he is capable of in a Test match, as we have all seen it in the short form of the game, you have to take the good with the bad.  With his style of attacking play he will get out cheaply on plenty of occasions, but if he can minimise his failures he will set plenty of records in his career. 

Cricket Australia & Contracts

Australian cricket is about to face a major change in it's contractual shape when the new contracts are announced after the tour of the West Indies.  And it is about time that Cricket Australia changed how it does contracts.

I have no problem with players being payed for the effort they put in for their country but I have a problem with players being contracted to a national team that is picked on merit.  Has anyone thought that this might be what is hurting Australian cricket?  How many times have players been put on big contracts and then their career falls away and they get paid a lot of money playing 1st class cricket without any chance of ever playing for their country again. Instead why don't Cricket Australia look at paying higher match payments and pay bonuses on performance.  If a player has to play well and win to get a good payday I am sure you will start seeing more consistent and high standard performances.

Then you will also take away the possibility that a player is only selected due to the fact of how much his contract is worth.  This is a very similar scenario that Australian Rugby is in and it is not helping them.  If a player is contracted on a large percentage of the income then there must be a lot of pressure from those paying the bill for that player to be in as many games as possible due to influences of sponsors who put the money in the kitty.

Contracts are needed in the modern sporting world but it does not meant that you have to throw large money at players for things they have not achieved yet.  Just because a player performed well last series it does not guarantee they will perform highly again.  Surely it would not be hard to work out a structured reward payment system in a game where rain affected results can be decided by a mathematical system that most know nothing about and understand little about it's formula.

Roar Robbed

The Brisbane Roar were robbed by referee Ben Williams in their game against Adelaide United.

In a game that Brisbane really should have won rather than tie with the amount of chances they missed, it was yet another game that was decided by a very poor decision.  Brisbane's captain, Matt Smith,  was clearly tripped from behind which led to him falling into Adelaide's Sergio van Dijk.  How both the referee and the sideline offical missed this is, hard to believe, but then again the Referee and sideline official also failed to see what was a  blatant free kick to Brisbane in the first half when Visconte was tackled from behind in the box.

Yet again though the media is failing to make much mention of these instances rather talking up the game and touching lightly on the free kick decision.  If the A-League wants to be taken as a serious competition it not only needs the teams in it doing well and having players in it's competition targeted by overseas clubs, it also needs it officials to be of a high standard that would be welcome in overseas competitions.

And then their is the media.  Why can they all write negative articles about teams, players and coaches but the referees very rarely get much media speculation.  I am not saying that a complete article needs to be written on an official but when an official makes a howler of a decision which directly impacts on the result then they should expect the criticism that results.  Would Ben Williams be getting different treatment if this was a game involving Melbourne Victory and it was harry Kewell that was penalised and gave away the free kick?  Maybe this is what is wrong with Australian media, our media is so centralised in Sydney and Melbourne that a journalist only reacts in the media if it happens to a club from those two cities.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the week and I will be watching with interest to see how The World Game panel evaluate this game Monday on SBS.

SCG Test Match Wrap

Australia have given India a hiding by more than an innings yet things are not all rosy for Australia. Before getting into what went wrong with Australia I will take a bit of time to gloat about how India are not the team they think they are.  After losing 4 tests to England India have now lost the first 2 in Australia and do not look like being able to get a win.  Their bowling attack just do not look like being able to lead their team to victory and yet again are showing that if the pitch is not a dusty, spin top then they really struggle to look commanding.

This might seem harsh but suddenly Australia's middle order look like world beaters yet only 2 tests ago were playing for their careers.  If India are rated number 2 in the world then they are going to quickly slide down the ranking after what I have seen.  They might have been great players in the past but now look like a former shadow of themselves.  On a highway of a deck in Sydney where they were let Australia put on over 600 for the loss of one wicket over 2 partnerships their batsmen may have scored 400 but not one of them were able to score a century.  Dravid & Laxman are no where near the standard they once held and Sehwag may be able to score quickly but his reckless approach to batting is not going to enable him to score a lot of runs without giving plenty of opportunities.  Tendulkar has been scoring runs but has also had plenty of close calls that could have cost him his wicket for a paltry amount.  Add to this a bowling attack, that once the ball, is old is lifeless and backed up by an fielding side that is bereft of energy.  India is in dire trouble if they do not start finding some new talent in a side that has a lot of players closer to retirement than they would like.

Now to Australia.  Yes it was not long ago that I was calling for Ponting and Hussey's head due to their lack of runs, but after scoring commanding centuries they have bought themselves time as long as they can continue on in form.  Australia cannot afford for them to go on long stretches of poor form again.  Clarke's triple century was superb and was the sort of knock he needed to score to show he can bat for long periods of time.  I only wish he had batted longer and at least scored Australia's second highest test score if not only to ensure Mark Taylor was one notch lower.  But Clarke showed that he thinks more about the team than his own records which is good to see.  Besides those three batsmen though there are still troubles ahead for Australia in the batting department.  Australia cannot afford to keep losing quick wickets early for little return from the top three.  Warner has shown he can score runs but he needs to be able to put scores of fifty together on a regular basis.  Cowan has showed promise in his debut and should be given a few more goes before he is crucified but it is the number three spot that is where Australia is weak.  Marsh has failed yet again to a very poor shot and after returning from injury might need to go back to domestic cricket to get some form.  Rushing him in the team with only twenty/20 games might not have been the best thing.  Watson would be seen to be a perfect replacement but with Watson also returning from injury the selectors might need to look for a player who has been showing form over a period of time.  In normal circumstances the selectors would look at the leading run scorer in the domestic scene and that would be a very competent and able Forrest from Queensland who would be worth a chance.

The other issue from the test is the performance of Haddin.  As he was not able to bat, all he has to take from the game is his effort behind the stumps and frankly speaking it should be his last test after the performance he put in.  Yet again he has dropped a catch that was straight forward, and he not only dropped it, he failed to get his hands to the ball.  Commentators in the game will say that he deserves to stay as the best replacement, Payne, is injured and that the other in line, Wade, is not quite good enough in his keeping skills.  Wade can't be any worse that what is there at the moment and why is it that Hartley does not even get a mention?

Whilst Australia is dominating India and the confidence is in the team the selectors need to keep rebuilding the team.

Slap On Wrist For Gesture

Indian batsman Virat Kohli has been fined 50% of his match fees for giving the finger to the crowd at the SCG. As stated by the Indian Team manager GS Wahlia: "The matter as been sorted out....the player felt guilty and sorry and the matter has been closed",  he has been given pretty much a slap on the wrist.

Foxsports Article

Since being fined Kohli has complained about sections of the crowd taunting him.  In just about any other sport a player making gestures like this to the crowd would be facing a one match ban, just ask any footballer in the English Premier League.  If he felt that the crowd had crossed a line why did he not take it to the officials?  Or is this just an Indian cricketer with thin skin?  Or was he hoping he wasn't seen and caught on camera?

Let's hope the Indian don't make this issue into one about how they are getting treated harshly on Australian soil again.  Whether or not sections of the crowd crossed a line, this is a player who has decided to stoop to the same level as those on the other side of the fence and it is for that reason he should have received a one match ban.  If the ICC wants to be serious about it's image on the field then this is the only way it should handle such an incident.  He did not aim it at a player on the field sledging him, instead he has made a gesture to the direction of the crowd and even though he has in his mind aimed it at those taunting him, the gesture is directed at every single person in the crowd in that direction.

But at the end of the day the Indian cricket team will find a way to make this about the Australian crowds and nothing else.  It seems India forgets how sections of it's own crowd has treated players from other countries in the past.

Clarke Breaks Record, Haddin Drops Again

The Indians have been put to the pump in the second test at Sydney and it is on the back of a record breaking innings of Michael Clarke.

Clarke has become the first test cricketer in Test history to score a triple century at the SCG and he could have scored many more if not for a selfless act of declaration to enable Australia every chance to bowl out India in the second innings.  And with 2 days to go and only eight wickets left the win should not be a problem.

The day should have finished on a better note with what will be the main talking point of this article and because of Clarke's heroics may well be forgotten and forgiven by the selectors.  That issue of course is the keeping ability of Haddin.  With no chance to show his batting ability it is his glovework that is on show and he was consistent yet again in showing his poor glovework.  Quite sad really when this is the what he should be selected on.  The dropped catch by Haddin, of Gambir, is a catch that should be swallowed by a keeper at any level and shows why Haddin is out of form.  Every game now seems to feature a dropped catch by this keeper who has an amazing ability to completely miss the ball with his gloves.  With Australia starting to rebuild and showing great promise in it's bowling strength and a batting lineup on notice why is the keeper immune to the sack.  

If this dropped catch goes on to hurt Australia and India manage to bat out a draw then surely Haddin's head must pay the price.  Even if Australia win, Haddin must be dropped and he must be told it is due to his poor keeping ability.  A team cannot afford to drop catches of such easy standards, therefore a team cannot afford to carry a player that seems to drop a catch every game.  Fortunately for Haddin though the media will focus on Clarke's batting effort and make little mention of his dropped catch.  Not me though, I have been calling for it for awhile now and I will keep calling for it until it happens.  

Atomic Force Hits New Zealand

Soon there may be a drawing of today's win.

Dynamic Sydications are now able to proudly say that their champion sprinter, Atomic Force, is not only a multiple Group 1 winner, but also a Group 1 winner in 2 countries after winning the Railway Stakes.  Not bad for a horse that was snubbed by Hong Kong racing.

Sitting at home and listening to the race even with a bad barrier draw, a slow start and hitting the turn wide, it always felt that Atomic Force would power on to win. As I have said this is a champion horse that is always worth putting your money on, even when the odds are short.

Racing in New Zealand for the first time, from the start reading all the news before it travelled and from the moment it landed, all the news was good and it always look like a certain winner.  Once I saw that the track would be wet and slow it was only more positive news and Atomic Force certainly did not let anyone down.

Atomic force is a horse that now should now get mentioned in the same breaths as Black Caviar & Sepoy and this is something that has started to be seen when you read articles like that of Barry Lichter at the Sydney Morning Herald.

It will be now interesting to see if Atomic Force stays on for another race in New Zealand or decides to head back to Australia.  Either way, it is worth keeping a close on on this one.  Either way though Honk Kong racing might be regretting that they didn't ask this horse to have a gallop on their turf.