Blogs & Pods

Date: January 1, 2012 / Posted by control

Lyricist Irving Mills once penned, “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing”. I doubt the American jazz genius had even heard of cricket when he put pen to paper in 1931 to create one of the genre’s standards. But in some ways those words have become somewhat of a mantra for […]

Date: December 26, 2011 / Posted by control

It was only going to be a matter of time. And in the end, it has taken less than a day in this Border-Gavaskar duel between Australia and India to raise howls about the refusal of one of the combatants to allow the utilization of the DRS technology. At a seemingly comfortable 3/205, the home […]

Date: December 24, 2011 / Posted by control

For Indian cricket fans, Test tours to Australia have taken masochism to a whole new level. Since it first arrived on our shores to face the might of Don Bradman in the summer of 1947-48, India has toured down under a total of nine times without a series victory. It has come close with three […]

Date: December 21, 2011 / Posted by control

Ed Cowan will open the batting at the MCG on Boxing Day. Chairman of selectors, John Inverarity has given the 29-year-old left-hander an assurance that he won’t be one of the players cut from the preliminary squad of 13 named earlier today. His elevation to the baggy green has been a bumpy one and fascinating […]

Date: December 19, 2011 / Posted by control

When the first Test gets underway at the MCG on Boxing Day much of the focus will centre on Sachin Tendulkar and his quest for that elusive 100th international century. While Michael Clarke and his team will be especially keen to capture the great man’s wicket, another batsman will also have dominated much of Australia’s […]

Date: December 18, 2011 / Posted by control

“The problem is this. How is it possible to describe the meaning of what we enjoy, whether it be Mozart, Cezanne or sport?” Those words were uttered by the legendary Sir Roger Bannister, who in May 1954, became the first man to achieve a sub-four-minute mile. And like he was on that fateful day at Oxford, he […]

Date: December 17, 2011 / Posted by control

Australia’s new-look five-man selection panel has only been in place for a few weeks but already some alarm bells are ringing. There was always going to be a perceived conflict of interest with the inclusion of both captain and coach to sit alongside Rod Marsh, Andy Bichel and new chairman, John Inverarity. Following Australia’s capitulation […]

Date: December 15, 2011 / Posted by control

The words ‘champion, legend and great’ are so often thrown around in the world of sport nowadays it is easy to forget their true meanings. However, there is no doubt at all that you can assign those words, with their dictionary meaning, to South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis for he epitomizes each of them perfectly. […]

Date: December 14, 2011 / Posted by control

Sachin Tendulkar may be short but he casts a disproportionately long shadow. With the exception of Brian Lara, and at times Ricky Ponting, nobody has really threatened to challenge his long-standing prowess. Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis have accumulated mountains of runs yet have never captured the public imagination like the Little Maestro from Mumbai. […]

Date: December 13, 2011 / Posted by control

“The country needs, the country demands, bold, persistent experimentation. Take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But, above all, try something.” Franklin D Roosevelt uttered those words on the campaign trail in May 1932 enroute to his unprecedented four-terms in the White House. They could be aptly […]