1. The Ashes. Interesting how the hype of 'Baz ball' has taken hold with commentators and the media. It was 'Woz Ball' back in the day. Scoring 400 runs in a day is impressive - maybe a little less so when curators take advice from the national captain, but nonetheless... Hayden, Langer, Gilchrist and Ponting were doing it years ago - especially when they won 16 Tests straight. Not sure all English batsmen have the skill set to carry it off correctly long term... declaring Day 1 is brash and cool... but could backfire too. 'There's a time for reaping and a time for sowing...'.
Starc was omitted (loose v India), but there were 54 singles in the first session...better than 54 boundaries. This negativity may indeed be a new tactic to counter the other, but the new ball either flies backwards early or is hit down the ground by the very best.
The work of Khawaja with the bat (126no) was mighty. He passes Slater and Ian Chappell (14 Test tons) and joins KD Walters on 15 Test tons, two behind Adam Gilchrist on 17 Test tons (Taylor, Hussey on 19 Test tons). He is getting into elite status.
If Moeen Ali is spinning the ball on that deck, a lead by Australia will bring Nathan Lyon right into this game (4 wickets in the first innings already). He has had a good fortnight over there in England. He is already sitting on 491 Test wickets (Courtney Walsh is the next in line and he has 519 Test wickets). If he beats Walsh on this Ashes tour it would be very special.
Lyon is one of the best to have ever played the game. We were all shocked when Michael Hussey gave him the team victory song responsibilities all those years ago, thinking he was lucky to be selected. M. Hussey is a future Australian coach... after the second greatest Test cricket bat Australia has ever produced in Adam Voges.
Broad has played 163 tests and sits on 584 Test wickets and James Anderson sits on 685 Test wickets after 180 Tests. You need to be patient if you are a pace bowler in England, looking for a chance to play. Root hits his 30th Test ton (Alistair Cook is England's best ever and sits on 33 Test tons).
Troubling to see Warner's terrible shot and Marnus too. Neither batsman showed composure or patience in key moments and both did not move their feet one centimetre. So bad.
2. Test Cricket Championship v India. Funny how the Test Championship v India unfolded on the last day. Kohli and Rahane rolled in the 40s and Jadeja and Thakur got ducks! A brilliant achievement for the team and coach - Ronnie McDonald, who is looking forward to the next team photo. Hard to believe they could do it in the end, but bravo to them all and a good decision to replace Langer so it seems.
Scott Boland was super accurate again and got two critical wickets in an over. He has been something else in fourth innings of Test matches and has the best average (14) for any bowler in the 21st Century after 30 wickets (33 in eight tests).
3. US Open Golf. Min Woo Lee is a talent. Drives the longest ever US Open golf hole at 555 yards (16th) for 407 yards. Awesome strength. Cameron Smith is so consistent sitting near the top 10. Rory seems to be the romantic story, but he seems to lack that edge in key moments sometimes. Rickie Fowler has not been atop too many leaderboards in recent times but has been pretty consistent in 2023. Is it a case of now or never for Rory McIlroy?
4. NSW State of Origin Team. No Latrell is a heavy loss again. He is such a good player. Souths can't get a win without him either. The team will need to play the full 80 minutes and not over hype themselves. The media is something else. The mystery virus story has not emerged yet for Queensland, so we will expect that. In many ways the NSW team looks stronger. Mitchell Moses has been in good form in 2023, but he will need to be electric in attack if NSW are to win. He defends well usually.
Ben Hunt will be sitting comfortably regardless, but St George-Illawarra have been a mess for a while. They are paying the price for poor coaching decisions over the past decade - Steve Price, Paul McGregor and Anthony Griffin. All sub 50% win rate.
5. NRL Finals Bound. Two or three (!) byes across the season (4 - 6 points) can be deceptive. Parramatta are suddenly in the top four when a second bye is factored in. They have had a strong week, winning Monday v Bulldogs and Saturday v Sea Eagles. They are back in the mix with four straight wins after a horrific start to the season. Their for and against is actually one of the best in the comp too (third). That helps a lot in a tight competition where this will help determine semi final rankings for those tied on the same number of points.
6. AFL Finals Bound. Amazing how well the Richmond Tigers are performing since the departure of coach Hardwick. A cracking victory v the under performing St Kilda team this weekend. They are two points adrift from the top eight now. GWS are also four points outside and seem to be able to win great contests...then lose...then win again. The consistency is the thing for all teams!
The Swans have become an absolute misery and there will be a clean out of under performers and the aged and weary. The club needs to evolve - and quickly. Locating speed men is a priority. Height too! Their marking ability in contested situations is very poor...lots of small accurate kickers from the Swans Academy, but very few different body types. They have to start thinking beyond 'SCG Ball'!
Even Carlton won this weekend. The Gold Coast are perennial underperformers.
7. Tim Tsyzu. What a commanding performance. He stands to be the equal of or better than his old man Kostya. Hard as nails. He obliterated the big mouth of the Mexican Ocampo in 77 seconds. Awesome! Ocampo has had 30+ fights and only been stopped once before. The US fighter, Charlo awaits in a unified bout for all belts.
8. NHL. Las Vegas Golden Knights beat the Florida Panthers. Decisive. Las Vegas is becoming the real home to some serious US sports. This helps your tourist rotation. An emerging sporting capital with LA Raiders NFL...LA A's baseball and the Golden Knights NHL team! Of course, the NRL 2024 launch will add to this too!
9. NBA Finals. The Denver Nuggets are the new NBA champions. First ever title and some achievement.
10. Super Rugby Semi-finals. The strength of the Crusaders is on show again. They have won 13 of the 27 Super 12/ Super 14, etc competitions since 1996. They are about to beat the Chiefs next weekend too. The Brumbies battled hard, but were no match in the end. The Crusaders break dancing will be back on show next weekend. They are the Manchester City of the southern hemisphere. Awesome team, coaches and record.
11. Ange Postocoglou. Reported that he is being paid $9 million at Tottenham. That is cheap for an EPL coach at a glamour club. He will be worth triple that with a strong start to the new season!
12. Novak Djokovic. Best ever at 23 Grand Slams now. GOAT? There is not a lot of affection for Djokovic who could well be a Hollywood movie star villain as well. Unsurprising and maybe never to be beaten ever in history. Awesome, but a lot of collateral with attitudes and anti-vax nonsense too.
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