- He establishes a break away tennis player’s union.
- He heavily supports the new approach to the Davis Cup,
breaking a long standing tennis tradition for finance.
- He hosts a tennis tournament in the middle of COVID and
contracts COVID
- He refuses to be vaccinated.
- The Australia fiasco with family, friends and politicians and mystery new COVID positives, no masks, etc.
Yet
he is one of the best ever, but will never be truly revered sadly.
2. Sightscreens. Why have sightscreens become such a circus? Greg Chappell scored tons galorewith blokes hanging off the sides at crowded cricket grounds. We went through a phase when the advertising wouldn’t turn around in time for a new over. They now take up three hundred seats and represent one of the biggest overreactions ever. Joel Garner added 1.5 metres to the height of most sightscreens worldwide. It is a fiasco.
It probably started about the same time as oversized cheques and dancing up and down on the victory dias like an EPL player. I must say Tassie need to get the sky high confetti and coloured paper right.
3. 4-0 Debacle. A close game loomed, but only England can fall in a heap like they did. 4-0 is a humiliation. At least the Barmy Army trumpeter has mastered the Pet Shop Boys 'Go West'. A KPI achieved for the tour.
The shots by Stokes to be caught by Lyon and the effort of Ollie Robinson at the end speak of a poisoned mindset. Not up for it, despite being 0/68 at the start. Mark Wood could be anything. With Joffra Archer and Ollie Stone, England will be formidable. Not sure how long Anderson and Broad will prevail, but both should have played every test.
Great to see Green finally get some runs - and Carey whose second innings 49 and a stunning catch late in Hobart was superb. Marcus Harris and Dave Warner may not be around too much longer... in these "unprecedented times".
When a team has their No. 5 and 6 performing well, victories seem to flow! Head was a great selection for man of the series.
4. Coaches. Justin Langer’s mates are circling to keep him as Australia’s coach. Steve Waugh, Warne, Hussey, Ponting, Gilchrist…. He's given most of them jobs at one stage or another and gets a lot of advice from them all from the width of the slips to batting techniques.
Again a circus, but they need a quick decision to put the nonsense to sleep. How players dictate here is unbelievable. Too many high performance managers. More high performance players and mindsets required. He's winning everything and we have these Cricket Australia blokes who have no idea other than to pander to players. I remember this got us into trouble some time ago in South Africa.
5. Hair Today... Never knew Rory Burns had long hair. Have not seen much of him this summer, so at least he's had time to shampoo the mop. Can only think of a few long haired blokes to play Test cricket - Jason Gillespie, Ishant Sharma, Chris Gayle, KP, Dohni, Andrew Symonds (?)…then there were the mullets (Fleming, Mark Waugh, Bruce Reid) and the turbans (Bedi, Sidhu).
6. Umpiring Worldwide. The DRS has taken the local umpire out of the equation. Debacles like those in the past with Gatting, Colin Croft, etc are behind us with COVID and DRS making umpires more accountable. Reiffel, Tucker and Wilson is a great team. Unflappable.
7. Australian Batting. Underneath it all, Australia’s batting continues to be of serious concern. Sadly, our current lack of batting resolve will never allow us to dominate as #1 Test cricket nation or for very long. We can’t seem to assert ourselves. Head has been exceptional.
Less “no run” loud calls and exaggerated leaving of the ball. These cloud the mind when once they freed it. Smith and Marnus have become comical caricatures this summer. Marnus needs to shut up and stop being a clown. Neither are captain material with this approach. He should keep those ‘best batsman in the world’ headlines somewhere safe. It seems a long way away into the future. His dismissal in the first innings entertained a few in the commentary box, but impressed no one really. Poor value on his wicket for Australia’s number three. Warner and Smith have disappointed.
8. EPL. Man City are a lock now for the EPL premiership, having deposed of Chelsea. Kevin ‘Heaven’ deBruyne hit an awesome goal.
9. Australian Open. Not sure who wins now, but what a circus. Lots of spoiled individuals who need to focus on the tennis. Spare us your indulged approaches and be real.
10. South Africa had a top series win v India. A 2-1 series win is exceptional after being 0-1 behind. They aimed up with not a lot of talent or experience. Kohli and others screaming at broadcasters through the stump microphones makes little sense. Of course the ICC had the wet lettuce leaves out for the transgressors! No one must offend India.
11. NFL. Woeful loss by the New England Patriots today to the Buffalo Bills in the post season. They need some serious recruiting. Despite the greatness, the fans have lost patience with the supercoach, Bill Bellichick. The currency is silverware.
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