Wrap - Stars and Hype

1. Am I missing something re the Sydney Chunder? They win the thing last year...they retire two stars (Hussey and Kallis) and replace them with no one. They are batting Pat Cummins at number 6...pathetic depth and no strike power. The fans deserve better. Watson will not be the answer just quietly. They are spoon bound. You need plenty of good bats to triumph. Look at WA Scorchers...they have it. So do the Hobartians.

2. This bloke Matt Lodge (the NY menace) and Fifita. The game needs to slam these blokes. It does not need them if they can't behave. Surely an NRL ban on any writing in arms/ tape/ padding is required too? Lodge had a stint with this nonsense too. Why the NRL does not insist on that for all players is beyond me. They need pure champions, not fallen angels, prisoners and the dark side. The game's image is forever being battered. A hard sell to parents long term.

3. Chad Robinson. An extremely sad tale. Depression and massive gambling debts seem to plague many NRL players. What is ever put in place for retirees other than a Grand Final Day farewell? They need to strengthen the support and training pathways...When the adulation dies off and the autographs fade, what is left? The coaching boxes and commentary boxes are crowded places.

4. Boxing Day Test. There seems to be a sort of national betrayal when we play teams that are not England, India or South Africa in this national day. The others wouldn't fill Punt Road. Now that Melbourne is surrendering its 'sports mad' title to Brisbane and Perth, they don't seem so interested either. Their cricket crowds are lower than their football crowds.

Warner due for a score. Hopefully he can exhibit the required composure. It has been a long time coming. Had to agree with his straight talk post the Gabba Test. We won. We are on a roll - not the losing team. We need to bat well in Melbourne. Too often we have crumbled on Day One.

It has been a long time since a team getting 477 in their first innings loses a Test. England had a wretched time of it on the sub continent v India. We will be similar.

5. The ICC Team of the year omitted Smith, Moeen Ali and Virat Kohli. Based on dates and early cut offs. Clearly the ICC can now get nothing right at all - ever. What a disgrace. Move the dates lads - make it a calendar year...surely that is not too difficult.

6. Bill Lawry. His return is eagerly anticipated to the commentary cheam. Some sanity. I don't think a commentary team of Slater-Healey-Clarke gives enough. I noticed the great Tony Cozier died this year. I missed that one, but one of the great voices. They need more credibility at Channel 9 - and more antagnoism. They would not be hurt by a Crash Craddock or Mike Coward adding a bit of steel and controversy to it all. There needs to be more aggro between the commentators. We got this with Ian and Tony..Bill and Tony. Now we have a sameness to it all.

7. The cash being offered EPL stars out of Chinese football is staggering. They might have the best league in the world before too much longer.

8. I like Eddie Jones' idea re Super Rugby. Get rid of the Rebels and the Force and stop pretending.

9. Is the Sydney to Hobart race getting worse each year? No one gives a bugger about the rich guy in a massive boat looking to break the race record. They want stories of triumph over adversity. They want storms and toughness. They want fewer celebrities and more excitement! The footage of the whole thing becomes very tired once they leave the heads.

Wrap - Garry Galah

1. "Garry...well bowled Garry"...Matthew Wade is adding brilliantly to the crowd culture, but not that much else. Dropped catches. Missed stumpings. He is just not good enough with the gloves. His bat seems a bit average too. Nevill is a likely starter in India.

Garry (Nathan Lyon) was cheered louder than anyone. He has fought back really well from being on the cusp of extinction! The Gabba is the best deck in Australia by a long shot now. GOAT.

2. As predicted, Nic Maddinson is definitely a fish out of water. He has always had talent but has always lacked poise and self discipline too. Test cricket is not the playground for a risky temperament or inconsistent technique. Kurtis Patterson should always have been selected ahead of him. Younger and now two Tests the poorer. Handscombe's composure and focus is impressive.

Suddenly with no more extended cricket across Australia, Maddinson may retain his spot. Unbelievable.

3. Sarfraz is a good bat. Not sure of a connection to the great Sarfraz Narwaz who was disliked like many Pakistani players over the years...eg: Javed Miandad, Inzamman...They have errors in them Pakistan! That or TAB tickets...you never know which one sadly.

4. Cricket has ridiculous nonsense around wet weather. Umpires are out of touch. Delays and silly time reschedules. Wake up and join the 21st Century. It's warm in here.

5. Big Bash time this week. A time when the second TV comes into its own for the rest of the family. Remember too, start strategising about offloading the Foxtel movie package (if you have not already) in preparation for the footy season. Saturday night is dad time. The movie package of course is either far too expensive/ out of date/ not enough variety. Take your pick.

6. NRL. Just when we thought there was an outbreak of normal behaviour, right on cue Kenny Edwards produces a domestic violence charge. That would be Radeangurangoo, Edwards and the new Rabbits signing fro mthe same Eels squad now...maybe throw in Corey Norman too. Plenty of work for lawyers.

7. Besart Berisha has some sort of killer instinct. He is an absolute winner. A goal scorer like no other in the A League. Hated by opponents - loved by teammates!

8. ManU recovering, but Chelsea will be hard to peg back now. 9 points ahead is significant in the EPL! They have strung together a massive 11 wins in a row...

Wrap - Raju, Raju, Raju

1. Boys we are at a lean time of the year for Sport. When the A League is about it you are in trouble...and motorsport - or the UFC. Bring on the Big Bash I say! (Is it just me or is there something really annoying about Mark Waugh? I have heard he won't go to his mailbox without a cheque from Australia Post for a guest appearance).

2. The ODI series win against NZ always makes us feel warm and pleasant inside. Warner dominant and Smith amazing...but who else? Maybe Head was good. Starc awesome. But Finch and Bailey need to go. Surely we have better than both...Lynn? Then we realise we beat no one of consequence.

Pakistan will give it to us and a few techniques will be hung out to dry as usual. Worried about this Renshaw - and Maddinson. Both have huge flaws in their style. Hopefully they can withstand the heat from Aamir (Sohail the great man) the spot fixer, Riaz and co.

Noticed talk of a 'red card' for cricket this week...only a matter of time. Remember where you heard it first, but I personally feel the sin bin is best...5 overs off (= 10 overs if you bowl)...10 overs off (= 20 overs if you bowl).

3. Virat Kohli continues to dominate - three double tons in a year. As Dolf would say, the problem with Kohli is he just does not seem to produce runs when it matters. In India he is near invincible. He will be really anxious when Nathan Lyon gets hold of him though...(not!). Gotta laugh when a number 9 scores a Test ton. Yadav. A common Indian name...Shivlal springs to mind. We will get thumped over there. Badly thumped...

I must say I am disappointed that there a dearth of great Indian names at present...outside of your regular Ravis and Jayants...there is nothing like VVS Laxman, Laxmanan Sivaramakrishnan, or indeed my personal favourite, Venkatapathy Raju!

Richie Benaud loved this one - cue your best Richie voice - and say after me: "Rar - jyu!".

4. Great to see a good swimming coach story in summer. Usually it is a stray pill in the bag, a child abuse tale, a catastrophic meltdown or a bureaucratic nightmare. This one? Dennis Cotterill earning a million in China to coach their drug tainted group.

5. Nice to see Leicester bump out Man City. Rare gold for them this year.

6. I am disappointed the NRL can only give us a few lame staged fights at this stage of the year...should be about time for a drug scandal/ nite club scandal/ dog incident...instead the AFL seem to be hogging the headlines - especially with their player payment dispute.

7. This won't mean much to some of you, but the Boston Redsox have traded a lot of young talent for Chicago Whitesox pitcher, Chris Sale. An impressive snare. This could tip them into super favouritism next season. Noticed Bryce Harper is looking for a $400 million extended deal. Not bad coin.

8. Kgyrios and coach Philippoussis ...they deserve each other. One sounds like crap and the other has an attitude like crap. Give it six weeks.

Wrap - Summit to Plummet

1. Australian cricket. What is it that is annoying about this present lot? The constant chopping and changing in the team, the wasteful scores of twenty or so, the out of touch administrators obsessed with cash, or the proliferation of underperforming egos? Whatever it is, Glenn Maxwell sums most of that up. The spat with Wade was typical selfish cricket rubbish, beat up by the media and a mystery fine results ($100?).

The Steve Smith ODI innings of 164 and his catch at backward point may improve our stocks there. The arrival of BBL 06 will ignite a bit more passion.

2. F1 Retirement of Rosberg. Really? They are a temperamental lot. Again, hard to follow and hard to like, regardless of the size of the show. Riccado an exception.

3. A League. Saw an article comparing it to the English Premier League on the weekend. The comparison ends with the word 'league'. Poles apart.

As suggested earlier, get on Leicester for relegation. It will be a world record price - summit to plummet. Chelsea's weekend ambush of Manchester City was stunning. Their turnaround since the departure of Mourinhou has been equally as impressive. Man United's form has been generally quite poor under the same bloke.

That Aussie, Tom Rogic continues to impress in the Scottish league...needs to join the main show.

4. Wallabies. When will Cheika stop trying to be the main man? He talks too much. In the end, his poor 2016 record demands respectful silence. We have been hammered when it mattered most. We need a bit more leadership and resolve in the group. His days are numbered.

5. Harold Varner III wins the Australian PGA. Is there another sport where the number of your lineage "the third" appears more often than golf? It all started with "Thurston Howell the third" on Gilligan's Island all those years ago.

6. A kiwi won the Supercars. Great but no one cares. Car racing can do that to you.

7. Can anyone explain the scheduling where there is no Shield game this weekend? Unbelievable. I'm getting the feeling that as a cricket playing nation, our administrators may be bringing the demise of test cricket to us more rapidly than any of us could have dreamed. Time for a change there. High performance? Hardly.