Wrap - Dream On

1. Cricket. Shield Final. Strong win by Victoria yet again. Marcus Harris has booked his spot on the Ashes trip. (No Marnus, no Burns?). A tricky deck against some great bowling and he lands 141 out of a first innings of 289. Only Will Pucovski and Kurtis Patterson also got above 50 in the match! That may get both an air ticket to England too. A tough seaming deck (impossible really) with a Duke ball is an excellent Ashes test of skill. Top bowling from James Pattinson (7 wkts) and Trent Copeland (8 wkts). Copeland is my smokey now that Jhye Richardson is struggling with a shoulder. He could do an Alderman - and he fields in the gully or cordon - bonus. Pattinson has been injury plagued and is likely to do a hammy on the plane unfortunately. Lots of talent and pace however.


2. Cricket. ODIs. Australia have finally rested Cummins. He is Ashes gold and should not be in the UAE. Finch back in the runs and Handscomb has shown some good steel under fire. Amazing how you win when your bats get runs. Alex Carey is finished for mine. No runs. Maybe Josh Phillipe may get the golden handshake and call up.


Justin Langer may be losing the plot. He has said that Glenn Maxwell could be our Virat Kohli. Maxwell shows glimpses of greatness for sure, but I will take Virat any day. Entirely consistent and averages over 50 in every form of the game. The best we have ever seen I suspect.


3. Cricket. IPL. What a great tournament it is. Andre Russell is the man who turns games like no other. His batting has been sensational. Warner not far away either. Not convinced Smith has done enough for a recall. They will need to harden up. They will be sledged unmercifully in those small English grounds. Interesting how Ravi Ashwin recovers from his Mankad disgrace. Desperate and the Indian press sounded very silent here for some strange reason. No one brave enough to say anything perhaps? Very sad.


4. NRL. Cameron Smith is zooming in on the all time points record. Amazing work from a bloke who just keeps going and going. He will have broken every record in the game by the time he ends and could then move clubs if he is not wanted. What a Titans or others in England would give for his smarts on the paddock.


5. NRL Top Eight. Put a line through the Warriors and the Knights. Eels OK v Roosters but can't concentrate for 80 minutes. Raiders may surprise and the Dragsters will go close. They need to play Dufty and bite their tongues. Penrith might need to get their skates on soon too. Bulldogs surprise!


6. Waratahs. From the penthouse to the outhouse in one week. They beat the Crusaders and lose to the Sunwolves! Adopting a silly rotation policy of their stars. Ever since sporting "high performance" landed in sport, we all seem to have gone backwards. A deserved loss sadly.


7. AFL. Essendon on the skids and Sydney look like they will struggle. They have not off loaded enough of their mids and still lack pace for mine. Geelong and Port power on too. How bad were GWS? The Adelaide W-League team went well too and become premiers.


8. EPL. Huddersfield, Fulham and Cardiff all look gone. Interested to see Leeds United may be back in the top flight league next year! Huddersfield have been completely decimated this year. A shameful exit so early for their desperate fans.


9. A League. The world's longest comp keeps going. Sydney FC look a long way from Perth Glory and Melbourne Victory for mine. Time will tell.


10. Ashley Barty. What a success story she is having defied the critics and health concerns and powered into the top 10 in the Miami Open. A long way from playing WBBL in Brisbane. She has more business yet and should do really well in the US Open. A complete talent on the back of torturous hard work.
11. Daniel Riccardo. Can there be any more drama around him? Our press love to ham it up, but he needs to get rid of the sunnies and start "podiuming"!