Wrap - Wobblies Mirage and Ashes Headbutts

1. Cricket. Steve Smith must be getting sick of bailing out his mates, but he has inspired them to a likely win. Warner has been great in the second innings and batting with a right hander suits him too. Aggressive running between the wickets - and a six too from Bancroft is a far cry from Renshaw's dour stodgy approach.

However, a long way to go yet in the series. Far too often we are in top order trouble. "Smith out - all out" reminds me of the AB days. The Bancroft first innings shot was terrible for a test batsman. Outside his zone and a windy woof snick! Khawaja is the next Shane Watson with his pads. Too lumbering and a real risk to LBW too often.  Handscomb is next in line for the chop without a lot of runs. He is under delivering big time at present.

Tim Paine was up and down (great stumping, but turfed a sitter), while the catching of Shaun Marsh - like everything from him - was inconsistent, brilliant, unpredictable and he almost took out Mitchell Starc with his sprigs. Such a risk. Batted real well on the second evening and then for 51 until his final shot said it all. The Maxwell 270+ at North Sydney Oval can just about be halved on that ground. Still a solid knock...(like Mitchell Marsh) sadly when it is too late...unreliable, wasted talent...a familiar record.

2. England. I really like the cut of this Moeen Ali. Mentally tough, resilient and resolute...not your usual Englishman. He saves them a lot. Runs and wickets. What about Broad...is he one of few bowlers worldwide who look like getting a wicket most balls? The Root LBW trap will be short lived. He is too good to get pinned down with this deficiency. Cook needs to improve or perish.

The spin in that deck so early was ridiculous. These old curators need to move on sometimes and I am told it is Kevin Mitchell Jr's last Test. Good. Haezelwood, Starc and Cummins need to fire up as well. Too tame for me on Day One. Starc smiles way too often on the field. They need to menace - and finally did late on Day Three.

Johnny Bairstow in a bit of strife for a headbutt on Bancroft at a niteclub early in the tour when playing WA...weak arsed England don't suspend him at all. I'd suspend him for that terrible shot that got him out in the second innings when he was in control. It cost his team badly. Self indulgent. Talk of Ben Stokes returning to play is beyond belief too.

The best part of the Australian showing thus far has been the fact that we DO NOT NEED an all rounder. Four bowlers can do it. Warner turns the ball a mile but never bowls. Smith too. I noticed Jon Holland got a lot of wickets v NSW.

3. Indian Test Match v Sri Lanka. I noticed at the same time, Pujara hit another test ton v Sri Lanka while Kohli hit a double ton. Kohli is as prolific as Smith. He hit a ton in the last test too.

4. Ange Postocoglou. How complicated is this nonsense? Pulls the pin before the World Cup? Ange has a million reasons for pulling up stumps. Fair enough. Will be interesting to see if a million here or there from a rich European or Asian club changes his mind in the coming weeks. He may "freshen up" quicker than a few boys on a night out in the queue outside The Orient.

5. Brad Fittler. How long does it take to appoint a coach? Saga of all sagas. No wonder we can't win a thing in Origin. Finally he is through the door. Excited to see this Reagan Campbell-Gillard play. He is awesome - and hopefully a few other names walk into camp. We need Ivan Cleary and a few speed machines...Cotric has been mentioned. Out with the busted attitudes of Ferguson et al...Woods would want to get better too. Hopefully Fittler has the courage to pick new folk of talent.

6. Rugby League World Cup. Fiji were outclassed 54-6, but won the singing and prayer stakes. A great effort by them all, but Australia looks unbeatable. Dugan looks very strong out wide and how good is Valentine Holmes. A good combo for Cronulla if they can get him away from trouble and the niteclubs. Awesome!

The Tongan effort v England was awesome. A shame they did not win. Typical arrogant NRL ref at the end. Cecchin. Not prepared to test the video ref in case uncle Wayne got upset (?)...please.

7. Wallabies v Scotland. After what looked like a late year recovery, the house of cards has crumbled in a heap. What a pathetic effort by a team that has more excuses than NSW Transport. Cheika's coaching career is on life support. But who are the options? Steve Larkham? less Kiss? Phil Blake? Surely there are better NSW options...

8. Golf. The Stonehaven Cup. Cameron Davis brilliant in the stretch home with a 64! Beating Day and Speith is no mean feat. Great to see some new young talent rising in Australian golf.

9. A-League. Melbourne Victory are struggling this season early. Newcastle Jets are going great guns but Sydney FC appear to be a cut above the lot - again.

10. Western Sydney Wanderers. They are on a winner with Josep Gombau as coach - but are anchored to 8 lousy points early. When Gombau arrived at Adelaide he famously told a sychophantic journalist whose son played in a lower division side with aspirations for the big league and who was annoying him: "your son is a shit goalkeeper". How can you lose with that honesty? He or Tony Popovic could be a Socceroo coach surprise...

11. V8 Supercars. Jamie Whincup in Newcastle was immense. He had to win and did. The Novacastians now have a new meal ticket and a new track. A hit for the town and you can't underestimate the petrol heads. They are massive fans who travel and party hard.