1. Chappell-Hadlee Trophy. I thought this was for test cricket. Seemingly not... T20 as well. Mitch Marsh continues to hit the ball well. Surely Matthew Short is a better option that Steve Smith. We all love Steve Smith, but T20 is not his go. I hope he realises that soon too.
For all our narrow losses in world cricket, we always seem to pip New Zealand. This time 3-0. Great cricket from Marsh, David and those fast bowlers. Hazelwood in particular. Zampa gets a lot of wickets - and can bowl tennis balls sometimes too. Warner hit them really well too.
2. Shoaib Bashir. Four wickets on Day 2 from a park bowler from Lindfield Shires - and an eventual 5 for. 31 overs straight. A super effort for England v India. At 2-1 down, England need to win this one. Result cricket in action. Joe Root bounced back when under incredible pressure, to hit his 31st Test ton... an incredible number really. 46 ahead on the first innings will not be enough. 200 looked ominous, but England will need to bat well. A characteristic visitors batting collapse looms.
3. Melbourne Rebels. They have the place in boxes and the curtains have also been taken down. The joint is in ruins. How they were ever allowed to play this year is staggering. TV contracts no doubt. This is a symbol of the game in Australia at present.
4. ODI Marsh Cup. NSW v WA. Typical poor batting from NSW brought them undone. Ollie Davies is a talent but 50 is a max. score for him. He needs to punch out some hundreds or perish. The work of Hilton Cartwright continues to be measured and sensible. He keeps his head well when others do not.
5. NRL - Las Vegas. Great to hear from Colin 'Funky' Miller re tips for staying safe in Las Vegas. Colouring your hair blue was not one of them. However, drugs, the drink and police trouble will not be far away. Leilua continues the off season goose tradition, keeping his DUI charge quiet. Again, a deduction of two points from his club(s) will deter most nonsense and repeat offenders.
6. NRL Trials. Did we learn anything new that we had not seen last week? There is some ordinary play it must be said. There was also some unbearable footy to watch. Bring on the real deal.
How very generous of the NRL offering a $100,000 prize to the preseason 'winners' in the same week they announced another property acquisition and a $130M profit. You can win more prizemoney at an average race at Randwick. V'landys knows this better than anyone.
7. World Club Challenge. Some sort of trial game with St Helens winning on the back of some terrible local English refereeing. The penalty call against Liam Martin for a 1:1 strip was appalling at a critical time. The tries with 'no try' and 'try' calls upstairs were impossible to make in either case. There were some huge hits. Penrith need one more big bopper for mine. Centres were sound with no Stephen Crichton, but they lack a bit of size. Moses Leota is an unbelievable talent.
8. Matildas. A big 3-0 win v Uzbekistan. Some good moments, but one attraction of the women's game is how flawed it is. 'Real' soccer basically that allows for flair and for entertainment.
9. EPL. Fulham beating ManU was a terrible result for the brand new ManU owners. The top four are stretching out now. Ange must win tonight to stay within striking distance. Aston Villa have been outstanding in season 2023-2024.
10. Waratahs... a longer season than even two weeks ago looms.