1. The Ashes. A 3-0 result already. Stunning work from Scott Boland and terrible work from the English batsmen. What a disaster! They were backing in COVID that last night to save face. They could not even get that to work for them. Their record in Australia is horrific. Whenever they have done well, they have had batsmen who dominated...David Gower, Chris Broad (BC Broad), Alistair Cook. Geoff Boycott, Michael Vaughan, Ian Bell and Graham Gooch.
The current coaching staff seem to be completely lost. Really poor selections throughout and a complete lack of batting strength. James Vince would do better. England will be a shipwreck when Broad and Anderson retire.
2. The BBL. Looming into a fiasco with the English Cricket Board having a sook and getting their players back home early. Typical England. Bring back all of the players and let's see how many will be selected in the final team. No where near all of them.
The Renegades are truly terrible. The Strikers are not much better. The Stars have been so COVID impacted it is ridiculous. The players to watch - Ben McDermott (Hurricanes); James Bazley and Xavier Bartlett (Heat); Jake Fraser-McGurk (Renegades); Olly Davies, (Thunder); Josh Phillipe (Sixers) and Peter Hatzoglou (Scorchers), to me look better prospects than most.
Safest hands in the business? Chris Green, Sydney Thunder and Jordan Silk, Sixers.
Biggest and cleanest striker of the ball? Colin Munro, Scorchers - by a mile.
3. George Bailey - National Selector. George has a lot to say for a bloke new at his gig. A nice guy but he looks like he wants to be mates with everyone and give everyone a go. Fair weather selection philosophies. Will be interesting to see when we actually start playing tougher opponents eg. India and Pakistan. Pakistan are on the up. They will not fall for off spin. How he can comment on playing two spinners at the SCG without seeing the deck is beyond me.
4. Blake Ferguson. If true, Blake is back to where the nonsense all started in Canberra... on top of a roof with the finger stuck up. This time to a country where breaking rules is not permitted. The compliance and respect needed in Japan is so obvious when you land there. He could go for a long holiday behind bars there. Fancy doing that on the eve of a new season and new opportunity. That Parramatta Criminal XIII is a crowded house.
Joey Leilua is another bloke whose behaviour after winning a boxing bout and carrying on post match was hard to believe. Joey needs to learn that he is not the universe boss. The younger sportsman needs to learn his place and excel with advice.
5. New Years Eve - NRL and AFL PR Disasters. No reports of drunken blokes under trees or dodgy harbour cruises yet... or indiscretions with dogs. Won't be long I am sure before we get more. If competition points were deducted, all would be cured.
6. Celtic. Ange Postecoglou has recruited three Japanese players who will find the cold of Scotland to their liking. An unusual dimension to a traditional European club. They are six points behind Rangers and need a point of difference.
7. NFL. Interesting stage of the competition. Some critical games this weekend. The Buccaneers won from a wild card position last year (like winning the comp from position 8 in the NRL), so there is hope for all. Big weekend for the New England Patriots.
8. NBA. Amazing outcome from Chicago's DeMar DeRozan who made two consecutive "buzzer beaters" to win two successive games for his NBA team across the weekend. What odds for that? Incredible. LeBron has done incredible things as a player. Better than Jordan? I think so...
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