1. Test Cricket. One Test loss is not the end of the earth in a five Test series, but this will be a significant thumping. Yashasvi Jaiswal is the next Indian legend. Such quick wrists and feet! He can bat a long time. It is hard to imagine a loss of this magnitude on Australian soil. Maybe back in the World Series days with Tony Mann, Gary Cosier, Paul Hibbert, Jeff Moss, Wayne Clark and Sam Gannon.
Our bowling was solid early, but our batting... awful. No chance of holding on for five days with the pitch seaming and playing tricks now.
The Australian public are completely out of love with the national team and sadly, the game. Are the multi-million contracts and the spoilt antics... with a useless governing body...taking their toll? The withdrawal of players from the Pakistan ODI series has proven to be another nail in the coffin of Australian cricket. Lucky we withdrew our players, otherwise we could have been caught short and under prepared and possibly lost the first test!
The IPL auction is later tonight, so this will be another opportunity for the general public to judge the playing group and their priorities. Smith has himself at top freight but has not been picked up for two years. It would be a surprise if he is signed.
Our batting has been suspect for a number of years. Smith looks terrible and Marnus... he is nearing the 'getting dropped' phase of his career. 50 balls for two runs? Please. Head is a duck or a hundred man and Carey scores Shield runs, but too often looks handcuffed on the international stage. It has been coming for a long time.
Greg Chappell has been warning about this weakening of Australian batting techniques and mindsets for a long time. Greg sure writes a top article, but can't coach.
2. Sheffield Shield. Back in Sheffield Shield today, Bancroft got another duck...Harris 2, which gives no joy to selectors. No one is scoring runs consistently. Oh for the days of Barsby, Siddons, Maher, Hills, Cox, Lehmann, Law who all reeled off ton after ton week after week. Poor buggers couldn't get a look in at the national level. These days they would be automatic picks and captain!
3. Wallabies. Yet another six changes... how can this be? Honestly, what sort of crazy crap is this? Too many blokes in the squad. A win against Scotland would be a surprise, but a showdown with Ireland would be a top result from the tour. Scotland can play...so hopefully we are ready!
Interested to see if Harry Potter can provide that extra magic out wide. Cruel parents.
4. NRL. Ben Hunt. Sign him and move on... please. Is he that good? There is a hint of the Adam Reynolds here. Flashes of brilliance, but an imminent decline. Not sure of his mindset at that age.
Jason Ryles seems to be a walking headline. Poor bloke. Some good signings with much needed pace. The media will be gunning for him.
The spoon race will be interesting in 2025. Surely it can't be the Tigers, so then who? Auckland Warriors loom large. Eels? Broncos? Titans seem better than previously.
5. EPL. Tottenham played Man City... close to an impossible ask with so many injuries, but Ange delivered. A 4-0 thumping of Man City at home - to hand Pep his worst loss ever. Their 'goals for' is second best in the EPL now. Plenty of attack, but what of defence? Sixth on the table is solid, but I am not hearing the Robbie Williams "I'm loving Ange instead" song too often.
6. Australian PGA Golf. Cam Smith and young Elvis Smylie really served it up for the Joe Kirkwood Cup at Royal Queensland. Mother Liz was smiling through her chewing gum. Exxtra! Impressive work by a 22 year old! A great achievement. Greyhound build, but a tremendous future in the game.
7. A League. Alen Stajcic the Western Sydney Wanderers coach seems to enjoy the headlines. He did it on the Central Coast and now he is refusing to start/ play his marquee signing - Juan Mata, the Spanish midfield legend... despite the string of three losses from five games. Alen may need to change tactics before he is shown the exit door.
8. Davis Cup Tennis v Italy. Not a fan of the new structure, but de Minaur is no match for the top 10 players. Hopefully he can improve further, but as it stands, we are solid, but not spectacular. Sinner dominated him.
9. F1 - Champion. Max Verstappen is now the four time consecutive F1 drivers champion (replacing Lewis Hamilton who was a four successive winner from 2017-2020 and now joining Man City and the Penrith Panthers as 'four-peat' achievers). The WA Shield team and the Wests Tigers are on track too! So are the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL (four Super Bowls for three wins in the past five years).