I’ve never understood why the Aussie national anthem is called ‘Advance Australia Fair’. From where I’m sitting, there’s absolutely nothing fair about Australia and Australians at all. They get to bask in beautiful heat most of the year (all year in many cities), there’s sod all rainfall and the landscape is diverse and jaw-droppingly beautiful. From the great barrier reef and dense rainforest of Queensland, to the rugged beauty of Uluru and Kakadu National...
Why Mitchell Johnson will decide the Ashes
He bowls to the left, he bowls to the right, but Mitchell Johnson will decide who wins this fight. On the face of it, this claim hardly seems credible. Mitchell Johnson is a flawed sportsman: his technique is poor and his mind is fragile. However, I really believe that Johnson’s performances in this series will decide who wins the urn; it’s not because I think he’ll be either brilliant or terrible – to be honest, he’ll probably be somewhere in between – it’s because I think run rates will...
Why England will retain the Ashes – Part II
Here’s the second part of Shaun Edward’s epic Ashes preview … Two: Batting Long. Or, if you’re being less kind, batting dull. In the last victorious Ashes series, the main plan was to bat once, and bat long. It worked, England winning all three of their matches by an innings, having racked up scores of 620, 513 and 644. Even in the drawn opener at the Gabba they saved the game with a truly monstrous 517-1 declared. I’ll be honest: when Andrew Strauss hung up the boots and...
It’s about time: Australian cricketer deported
In a move which will delight cricket fans across the country, Mitchell Starc, the least impressive of Australia’s young fast bowlers, was detained at Heathrow today and ultimately sent back to Australia. His Yorkshire debut will have to wait. What was his crime I hear you ask? Although we initially suspected he was up to his eyeballs in a vegemite smuggling ring, these rumours (which were based on nothing other than my own imagination) proved baseless. It was just a visa cock up. None of this...
