http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/cricket/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/flick-the-switch/ Nevermind the result. All the talk today is about Dave Warner’s remarkable “switch hit” against India last night. Wow. Talk about skill. But was it legal? Not according to respected ABC commentator Jim Maxwell it wasn’t. “The switch hit is deadset against the spirit of the game,” Maxwell told The Punch today. “Not to take anything away from the amazing skill of Dave Warner, but if I was the bowler and I saw a batsman do it, I’d chuck it at him!” The laws of cricket have nothing to say about the practise whereby a batsman changes his grip on the bat and effectively changes from left to right hander, or the reverse, while the ball is in flight. But the laws are crystal clear that a bowler could never do the same thing. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/flick-the-switch/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/flick-the-switch/#item7665 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 I went to the KFC T20 Big Bash League game at the Sydney Cricket Ground in character. My self-assigned role was to play the sporting curmudgeon, a cricket connoisseur abhorring the form of the game designed for people who don’t like cricket, and left-wing romantic appalled by the abominations of corporate consumption capitalism at its most bone-headedly tasteless. Attending my first live Twenty20 event was an exercise in leisure and education, meaning that I was looking for fun but brought my notepad along. Following the pedestrian flow through Surry Hills to Moore Park and breathing humid evening air spiced with vehicle and restaurant emissions, the collective feeling was unmistakeably that of summer carnival. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Shh-dont-tell-my-highbrow-chums-I-liked-the-Twenty20/ I went to the KFC T20 Big Bash League game at the Sydney Cricket Ground in character. My self-assigned role was to play the sporting curmudgeon, a cricket connoisseur abhorring the form of the game designed for people who don’t like cricket, and left-wing romantic appalled by the abominations of corporate consumption capitalism at its most bone-headedly tasteless. Attending my first live Twenty20 event was an exercise in leisure and education, meaning that I was looking for fun but brought my notepad along. Following the pedestrian flow through Surry Hills to Moore Park and breathing humid evening air spiced with vehicle and restaurant emissions, the collective feeling was unmistakeably that of summer carnival. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Shh-dont-tell-my-highbrow-chums-I-liked-the-Twenty20/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Shh-dont-tell-my-highbrow-chums-I-liked-the-Twenty20/#item7591 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 I went to the KFC T20 Big Bash League game at the Sydney Cricket Ground in character. My self-assigned role was to play the sporting curmudgeon, a cricket connoisseur abhorring the form of the game designed for people who don’t like cricket, and left-wing romantic appalled by the abominations of corporate consumption capitalism at its most bone-headedly tasteless. Attending my first live Twenty20 event was an exercise in leisure and education, meaning that I was looking for fun but brought my notepad along. Following the pedestrian flow through Surry Hills to Moore Park and breathing humid evening air spiced with vehicle and restaurant emissions, the collective feeling was unmistakeably that of summer carnival. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/A-great-batting-display-but-its-hardly-a-true-test/ Not for a minute did I fail to enjoy watching Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting make the Indian “attack” look like a very weak defence yesterday afternoon. And if you think that two double negatives make for a confusing opening line to this story, you’re right. But it’s hard to be positive when there were so many negatives in the big picture of yesterday’s first day of the Adelaide Test. India are dead. They are last week’s vindaloo. They are a bloated cow carcass floating down the Ganges. And they should go home. They should not even be playing this Test. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/A-great-batting-display-but-its-hardly-a-true-test/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/A-great-batting-display-but-its-hardly-a-true-test/#item7601 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 I went to the KFC T20 Big Bash League game at the Sydney Cricket Ground in character. My self-assigned role was to play the sporting curmudgeon, a cricket connoisseur abhorring the form of the game designed for people who don’t like cricket, and left-wing romantic appalled by the abominations of corporate consumption capitalism at its most bone-headedly tasteless. Attending my first live Twenty20 event was an exercise in leisure and education, meaning that I was looking for fun but brought my notepad along. Following the pedestrian flow through Surry Hills to Moore Park and breathing humid evening air spiced with vehicle and restaurant emissions, the collective feeling was unmistakeably that of summer carnival. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Hey-pup-keep-your-bat-clean-and-your-image-squeaky/ When Australian skipper Michael Clarke raised his bat to celebrate his historic triple century at the SCG it showed a man becoming aware of his stature in the game. Instead of pointing to a bat sponsor - a deal which can be valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars - he gestured towards the McGrath Foundation sticker placed there earlier that day. Clarke’s manager James Erskine later explained the skipper had split with Slazenger and he is still mid-negotiation with two or three companies to finalise a deal. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Hey-pup-keep-your-bat-clean-and-your-image-squeaky/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Hey-pup-keep-your-bat-clean-and-your-image-squeaky/#item7588 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 I went to the KFC T20 Big Bash League game at the Sydney Cricket Ground in character. My self-assigned role was to play the sporting curmudgeon, a cricket connoisseur abhorring the form of the game designed for people who don’t like cricket, and left-wing romantic appalled by the abominations of corporate consumption capitalism at its most bone-headedly tasteless. Attending my first live Twenty20 event was an exercise in leisure and education, meaning that I was looking for fun but brought my notepad along. Following the pedestrian flow through Surry Hills to Moore Park and breathing humid evening air spiced with vehicle and restaurant emissions, the collective feeling was unmistakeably that of summer carnival. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/old-dudes-who-still-got-it/ OK, so having spent half the summer bagging old buggers who don’t know when to quit, let’s give some love to those who continue to ripen on the vine without rotting. Firstly, Roger Federer. The Swiss master is known as FedEx because he delivers results fast. Last night, the Ex stood for Exhibition, as in exhibition match. There were two tennis players on Rod Laver Arena last night – Federer and Jim Courier, who interviewed him after the game. Bernard Tomic was apparently also there, but pretty much just as a hitting partner. Oh, he tried. He came with a plan. A plan to blast Federer off the court instead of teasing him with deft touches he’d employed so well against lesser opponents. It was the Malaysia Solution of sporting strategies. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/old-dudes-who-still-got-it/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/old-dudes-who-still-got-it/#item7585 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 I went to the KFC T20 Big Bash League game at the Sydney Cricket Ground in character. My self-assigned role was to play the sporting curmudgeon, a cricket connoisseur abhorring the form of the game designed for people who don’t like cricket, and left-wing romantic appalled by the abominations of corporate consumption capitalism at its most bone-headedly tasteless. Attending my first live Twenty20 event was an exercise in leisure and education, meaning that I was looking for fun but brought my notepad along. Following the pedestrian flow through Surry Hills to Moore Park and breathing humid evening air spiced with vehicle and restaurant emissions, the collective feeling was unmistakeably that of summer carnival. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-tendulkar-trap/ As India lurch from hopelessness to complete incompetence, one man sure to escape the axe, not to mention any serious scrutiny, is Sachin Tendulkar. To Indians, the Little Master is beyond reproach. He is bigger than Bollywood and greater than Gandhi. Click on the special “Sachin Zone” on the Times of India website today, and among the usual fatuous stories arguing Tendulkar is better than Bradman, you’ll find a story about the value of the insurance policy on his house. For all the magnifying glass scrutiny on his private life, there’s a major hole in Tendulkar’s batting record which no Indian ever seems to notice. In short, he is not a match winner. Not when playing against Australia, anyway. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-tendulkar-trap/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-tendulkar-trap/#item7534 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 I went to the KFC T20 Big Bash League game at the Sydney Cricket Ground in character. My self-assigned role was to play the sporting curmudgeon, a cricket connoisseur abhorring the form of the game designed for people who don’t like cricket, and left-wing romantic appalled by the abominations of corporate consumption capitalism at its most bone-headedly tasteless. Attending my first live Twenty20 event was an exercise in leisure and education, meaning that I was looking for fun but brought my notepad along. Following the pedestrian flow through Surry Hills to Moore Park and breathing humid evening air spiced with vehicle and restaurant emissions, the collective feeling was unmistakeably that of summer carnival. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/is-it-unaustralian-to-barrack-for-the-other-team/ Norman Tebbit - a key confidante of Margaret Thatcher entirely ignored in the recent film The Iron Lady - is commonly remembered for two prescriptive statements. The first was that, instead of complaining or rioting, the unemployed should get on their bikes and look for work. The second article of Tebbitism is that immigrants should take a ‘cricket test’ of national loyalty and identity.  If you’re living in one country but decline to support it against your nation of origin in an international sporting contest, Tebbit implied, you have failed that test. Australia had its own less strict but more formal version of a cricket test in the sample question about Don Bradman in the original Australian citizenship test under the Howard government. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/is-it-unaustralian-to-barrack-for-the-other-team/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/is-it-unaustralian-to-barrack-for-the-other-team/#item7518 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 I went to the KFC T20 Big Bash League game at the Sydney Cricket Ground in character. My self-assigned role was to play the sporting curmudgeon, a cricket connoisseur abhorring the form of the game designed for people who don’t like cricket, and left-wing romantic appalled by the abominations of corporate consumption capitalism at its most bone-headedly tasteless. Attending my first live Twenty20 event was an exercise in leisure and education, meaning that I was looking for fun but brought my notepad along. Following the pedestrian flow through Surry Hills to Moore Park and breathing humid evening air spiced with vehicle and restaurant emissions, the collective feeling was unmistakeably that of summer carnival. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/nanny-state-calling-stumps-for-no-good-reason/ The news that a municipal council in Melbourne has banned local cricketers from playing the popular, fast-paced Twenty20 in more than 40 parks raises questions about the increasingly litigious and risk-averse culture in which we live today. According to reports, the Boroondara Council introduced the ban to minimize the risk of injury and property damage. Apparently one ball had shattered a car window. It is also a reminder of one of the most well known judgments in the English common law. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/nanny-state-calling-stumps-for-no-good-reason/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/nanny-state-calling-stumps-for-no-good-reason/#item7480 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 I went to the KFC T20 Big Bash League game at the Sydney Cricket Ground in character. My self-assigned role was to play the sporting curmudgeon, a cricket connoisseur abhorring the form of the game designed for people who don’t like cricket, and left-wing romantic appalled by the abominations of corporate consumption capitalism at its most bone-headedly tasteless. Attending my first live Twenty20 event was an exercise in leisure and education, meaning that I was looking for fun but brought my notepad along. Following the pedestrian flow through Surry Hills to Moore Park and breathing humid evening air spiced with vehicle and restaurant emissions, the collective feeling was unmistakeably that of summer carnival. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/clarkey-smacks-tall-poppy-syndrome-for-329-not-out/ Say hello to our latest sporting hero. He’s had quite the journey to get to this point. “Michael Clarke now walks with giants”, The Daily Telegraph editorialised yesterday. That was before he became only the third Australian ever to score a triple century on Australian soil. It’s a feat that pales only in comparison with Sir Donald Bradman’s 452 not out against Queensland at the SCG. But Clarke is no Mr 99.94, lionised by all in perpetuity. He belongs in a different category of Australian hero altogether. Clarke is one of those superstars who we, the fickle Australian general public, only seem to really care for when they’re winning. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/clarkey-smacks-tall-poppy-syndrome-for-329-not-out/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/clarkey-smacks-tall-poppy-syndrome-for-329-not-out/#item7485 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 I went to the KFC T20 Big Bash League game at the Sydney Cricket Ground in character. My self-assigned role was to play the sporting curmudgeon, a cricket connoisseur abhorring the form of the game designed for people who don’t like cricket, and left-wing romantic appalled by the abominations of corporate consumption capitalism at its most bone-headedly tasteless. Attending my first live Twenty20 event was an exercise in leisure and education, meaning that I was looking for fun but brought my notepad along. Following the pedestrian flow through Surry Hills to Moore Park and breathing humid evening air spiced with vehicle and restaurant emissions, the collective feeling was unmistakeably that of summer carnival. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/pointing-went-the-distance-did-his-time-took-his-chances/ In legendary English cricketer, Freddie Trueman’s biography, You Nearly Had Me that Time, Alan Wharton notes: “It’s a well-known fact that when I’m on 99, I’m the best judge of a run in all the bloody world.” The same could be said for Ricky Ponting’s long awaited century. I suspect I was not alone with my heart in my mouth yesterday when Ponting set off for a chancy run that gave him his ton. He would have been out by a metre if the ball had hit the stumps, but as the fates would have it, he made his ground. In doing so, Ponting not only answered his critics but settled a few yips. But beyond the broad smile, triumphant wave of a bat and a very dirty shirt from his desperate slide, this was a ton with more than a little meaning. It showed Ponting made good his declaration that he believes he has still got what it takes to be a world class cricketer. That much is settled. So what else? Plenty. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/pointing-went-the-distance-did-his-time-took-his-chances/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/pointing-went-the-distance-did-his-time-took-his-chances/#item7479 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 I went to the KFC T20 Big Bash League game at the Sydney Cricket Ground in character. My self-assigned role was to play the sporting curmudgeon, a cricket connoisseur abhorring the form of the game designed for people who don’t like cricket, and left-wing romantic appalled by the abominations of corporate consumption capitalism at its most bone-headedly tasteless. Attending my first live Twenty20 event was an exercise in leisure and education, meaning that I was looking for fun but brought my notepad along. Following the pedestrian flow through Surry Hills to Moore Park and breathing humid evening air spiced with vehicle and restaurant emissions, the collective feeling was unmistakeably that of summer carnival.