The Wrap - Would you like ashes with that poor English team selection?

1. Test Cricket. Shocking COVID bad luck for Pat Cummins, but the team looked quite composed under Steve Smith. Not sure if anyone caught the Cummins special on Fox on Saturday night, Brilliant viewing. Quality bloke.

These pink tests under lights are so weighted to wickets in the evening session. It changes the whole game. So hard to get runs, but memo to the double figures man (Harris -finally!), don't run our senior players, they don't like it.

Starc has brained them again in these night tests, passing Gillispie without so much as a murmur this weekend. He is a difficult enough proposition in the blazing sunlight (despite what Shane Warne thinks), let alone at night with a pink ball. Starc's record of 262 Test wickets in 63 Tests aims up well in the top ten best ever Australian bowlers. Striking better than Craig McDermott (29 wickets away), Brett Lee (48 wickets away) and Mitchell Johnson (51 wickets away) who are all above him! (Not as good as McGrath or DK of course). He could easily end his career up in the top five best ever for Australia!

Lyon is also surging on in this series. He enjoys bowling to blokes without patience. How many wickets does he get through reckless dumb batsmen?

Joe Root spinning the ball like a top only reinforces the silly selections England have made in two Tests thus far. Incredible they could get it so wrong. Like Australia before them, so locked into rotation policies and resting people, they forget about winning. 0-2 would be a shocking, irretrievable position when you don't hold the Ashes.

2. Lewis Hamilton. A crushing loss which became farcical after a stage managed end. but Max Verstappen triumphed and probably deserved it based on the superior number of F1 wins this season.

3. Junior Paulo. A significant signing by Parramatta and a stabilising one. His majestic ball skills and toughness (rarely ever injured) would have been really missed. He is a mainstay of NSW State of Origin teams now. The back row losses and even the hooker Mahoney, were not as significant as this one. Exceptional prop forwards are hard to find, but they win matches and comps. Back rowers can be made. 

Not so sure about Haze Dumpster. I am still struggling to see his pace or size. Courage yes, but speed and projections for greatness? The big Sivo surely heads to union soon. Simonssen may be a surprise and will get more powerful. Curtis Scott...ummm.

4. Bernard Tomic. Apparently with new white hair and a few social media posts, we are going to see this 29 year old do something on the world circuit of tennis again. Teaming up with his father once again, everyone is hoping the hype transfers into hard work and less media nonsense. Lofty ambitions, talent aplenty, but attitude? Fast cars, public relationship spats, reality TV shows, publicity... reminds us all of some sad fallen sporting greats - Mark Philippoussis, Sam Burgess, Michael Slater...

5. Bailey Smith. Another young AFLgun who seems to be struggling. These young athletes who seemingly have it all, often struggle and need a lot of care... and reality. A job might help as a starter or a mandatory training course for all players?

6. Paul Gallen. He has been a warrior and a talent for many years. Is it time to give it all away and relax now? Darcy Lussick? Is this the extent of the Australian boxing scene? We need to get rid of the exhibition bouts and really look at the gun exponents. These are under card bouts really, despite the incredible fitness feats.

7. Football. The Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers A-League teams are struggling, yet here is possible silverware ahead for Ange Postocoglou this weekend with Celtic in the Scottish League Cup Final!

8. Spin Twins. Sounds like Stuart Macgill may need to turn back to spin when his kidnapping reaches court. How is Robert Allenby travelling after his kidnapping?

The Wrap - Pea Heart Career Soup

1. The Ashes. Cummins starts brilliantly as skipper and he even gets Nathan Lyon back into the winning books with a few wickets. Amazing how bowlers can ignite a team's fortunes. Sadly, Shane Warne continues to talk down Mitchell Starc no matter what he does. That first ball Ashes wicket was exceptional, setting the tone! 400 wickets to "Gary" is a special achievement. Get to 450 wickets and you are comfortably in the top ten of all time.

Head and Warner batted brilliantly, especially Travis Head. A cracking middle order achievement. When a number 5 or 6 gets a ton, you know you are on top. It has been a while! We may struggle without Warner. Hazelwood surely gives way to Neser. He has that many wickets this year and will be a handful seaming away under lights. Please do not even mention Matt Renshaw as a possible for Warner. 

Sadly as mentioned last week, Marcus Harris did not crack double figures (3 and 9 no.). Maybe one day. The Adelaide pink ball Test is a lottery. Get runs in the sunlight, because no one gets runs at night. Broad and Anderson will be near impossible to contain... so long as they are selected to play!

Sad to see Tasmania pick up a Test on a seaming deck, under lights in 'English conditions"...could be one we regret. Anderson could well pick up all 20 wickets!

2. F1. Sir Lewis Hamilton v Max Verstappen. On equal points, but Abu Dhabi is not kind to those passing, so a pole position here is invaluable. A bingle here or there may make things interesting. Hamilton has won 2017-2020 and is shooting for five in a row! He also is tied on seven world championships...so will become the greatest driver of all time with a win tonight! 

A crash and 'Mad Max' wins after securing more wins this year. Hamilton is on the charge!

Riccardo has more excuses than a kid on afterschool detention. 

3. F2 Glory. Interested to see an Aussie - Oscar Piastri - winning the F2 World Champion over the weekend. One to watch!

4. Big Bash. Matthew Wade (Hobart Hurricanes) was awesome with the bat - less awesome with the gloves and the mouth. Colin Munro (114 no off 73) - outstanding crisp hitting of the ball by the Perth Scorchers. Unbelievable striking making Siddle and Rashid Khan look sick! Alex Ross (Sydney Thunder) has what it takes too.

5. All Blacks. Jordie Barrett. Happy to have a crack at league apparently, but it is his brother Beauden we want to see!

6. EPL. Great weekend for a healthy multi collect - ManU, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea! You would not have needed the 'One Leg Fail Multi Hotline' there.

7. Tiger Woods - Comeback. Great to see Tiger and his son Charlie join in that PGA Tour PNC Championship in Florida with a family relative. Should bring it into NRL - Don/ Ray Price and Les/ Noel Cleal, the Chappell brothers, the Bracewell cricket family and the Paul brothers Henry and Robbie.

8. Bernard Tomic is turning a new leaf apparently. Lucky it is not autumn. Can he arise out of the murky career soup thus far? His talent needs to be matched by greater application. Great to hear he is keen to win again.

The Wrap - Patel Excels

1. Ashes. Has it ever started on a Wednesday before? It is becoming painful in the media. Friday starts at the Gabba is the tradition. Surely Usman needed to open for Harris. I will be stunned (happily) if Harris gets double figures. Jimmy Anderson will make mince meat of him. About time Nathan Lyon picked up wickets - and Starc (255 test wickets). However Lyon has 399 test scalps and has gotten as many 10 wickets in a match as the great Glen McGrath.

Pat Cummins (167 test wickets) too for that matter, but at 21.59, he is taking them at a rate better than McGrath! It's been a while since we saw any Australian Test Cricket. Get ready for the controversy.

2. Bathurst 1000. The crowds were not as large as back in the day, but a great event. Is the Safety Car an interest gathering device? Surely times should determine distance between the cars when they resume. Chaz Mostert the victor. Skaife was serving it up to Scott Morrison too! Plenty of cliches all day long. Liked the pits man on the coverage as well...lively and insightful!

Ian Moss struggled with the anthem. Back to the Bridge Hotel for him.

3. Brandon Smith. This merry-go-round nonsense seems largely to be a product of the bored NRL media wanting something! Scandals and drunken behaviour have not yet occurred en masse (wait till New Year's Eve at least), so this has taken pride of place. Not sure podcasts are where you want to launch your media career. Brandon is a young kid with plenty to learn there. He has been caught out a few times (post GF celebrations, F-bombs live on TV, white powder shots), but this is starting to wear thin. He needs to get this under control and excel on the field.

4. Ajaz Patel. A fantastic achievement by a New Zealander to take 10 wickets in an innings, especially v India inside India. That is an EPL contract right there! Rare gold. 14 wickets for the match is handy, but well short of the best ever efforts of Jim Laker (19 wickets for the match). 

Ajaz is following in the great tradition of Patels to play the game - Sandeep, Dipak, Jeethan, Parthiv, Axar and the famous Rashid Patel. Rashid Patel excelled at chasing down opponents with stumps while unhappy! Samit Patel also struggled in a run out decision: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w03QKcN4EDs 

Ravi Ashwin may rival him with 4/8 in the first innings and three already in the second innings.

Where are the NZ stars? They are a nation that struggles to keep the same players on the field for any consistent time period!

5. F1 - Max Verstappen's effort on the last lap of qualifying was woeful for a driver of his class. Gives up pole to Lewis Hamilton who is eight points behind him for the championship. A win and he is uncatchable by Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton needs to finish top six to rival him! Exciting stuff!

6. Junior Paulo. Suddenly he is going to command top bucks. He is such a talent with ball and as an enforcer. The trouble now is that he is going to blow someone's salary cap... Parramatta are trying not to make it theirs. He is largely uninjured every year and is a regular State of Origin player now. He is someone to build your club around. Gus Gould knows it.

7. EPL. Hard to see one of Man City, Chelsea or Liverpool not winning it, but West Ham are serving it up too! Always gold to see a new club beat some of the bigger ones.

8. Sydney FC. Troubling form early on in the world's longest comp... the good news? They have time to catch up...

9. Big Bash. Entertaining to a degree, but where are the stars? There are so many no names it is ridiculous. Has the concept tired already? Probably COVID impacted, but they are like ODIs. No one can remember the result two days later.

10. Boxing. Liking this George Kambosos, the new lightweight boxing star for Australia - IBF, WBO, WBA belt owner. He can put on a show and is a respectful guy. He has a future in media as well. He is looking for 80,000 to support him live in Australia. He may go close! Ex Cronulla Sharks junior out of Gymea.