1. Ashes Cricket. A resounding 4-1 smashing. The Poms really struggle in Australia. Starc was awarded Man of the Series and deservedly so (has also hit a hole in one at Long Reef since too!). He got Australia out of a jam regularly, with ball (and bat), but it was Travis Head who won three tests on the back of his unorthodox batting and now 12 Test tons. He passed Simpson/ Katich/ Hassett (10 Test tons), Dean Jones and Marnus (11) and is now on 12 Test tons equal with Arthur Morris. If he can drop the clown act and mature even more, he could become a 20 Test ton legend.
Khawaja ends his career on 16 test tons, one short of Gilly (17) and has played very strongly over a long while, resurgent at the back end of his career like many more players.
Steve Smith - 37 tons at 56.05 - has an awesome Test record, however very unorthodox at times. Seeing him bowled by Jacks is extremely rare. A framed photo for the all time Jacks family memorabilia stand.
One for the Poms to have a beer or two around... if they can be trusted on the drink!
- Boland: 19 tests - 82 wickets at 18.59. Superb.
- Neser: 5 tests - 22 wickets at 18.91. Excellent.
- Starc: 105 tests - 433 wickets at 26.52. Outstanding.
2. The SCG Test. A tight finish but five days for a Test was unique. The SCG Test rarely disappoints. Some memorable highlights:
- 1984 - The retirements of DK Lillee, Rod Marsh, GS Chappell.
- 1992-1993 - The sensational Brian Lara 277 innings.
- 1994 - Fanie de Villiers wins the impossible with the Damien Martyn silly drive
- 2003 - The Steve Waugh 100 off Richard Dawson on the last ball of the day.
- 2007 - The retirements of McGrath, Langer, Warne.
- 2008 - The Michael Clarke spinning the team to victory (Ishant Sharma and the gloves that would not fit - OJ Simpson style).
- 2009 - Johnson bowling the injured Graeme Smith to win the test.
- 2012 - Michael Clarke 329no (and Hussey 150no) v India.
- 2017 - Dave Warner hits a hundred in the first session v Pakistan.
- 2018 - Twin tons to Shaun (156) and Mitchell Marsh (101).
- 2020 - Marnus hits 215 v NZ and Lyon takes 10 wickets.
- 2022 - Usman Khawaja hits a ton in both innings v England (137 and 101no).
- 2025 - Boland gets 10 wickets v India as MOTM.
- 2025 and 2026 - Beau Webster's heroics in 2025 (57, 39no, 1 wicket and two catches) and 2026 (71no and 3/64). We won both Tests.
3. Australian Open Tennis. For the third straight year, Nick Kyrgios has withdrawn from the singles. This year though he did not seem as though he was actually 'in' and withdrew all the same. I suspect the AO were not so inclined to give him a wild card and with that, he bailed. Maybe not, but he needs to keep it a little more low profile than riding camels into stadia and claiming like he did in the 'battle of the sexes' if he is not right to play. It is all about Nick who has had many injury troubles, but also longer, more ingrained attitudinal problems. Good luck to him and nice to see him admit the attitudinal errors of his ways of the past more recently.
4. EPL. West Ham seem anchored to the bottom of the table now after 21 rounds. They will struggle to get many more points (14 at present) and seem to be staring relegation in the face. Burnley (13 points) and Wolves (7 points) already seem gone too. Notts Forest sit on 21 points and are closest.
Magnificent to see Nottingham Forest crash out of the FA Cup on the weekend to the Hollywood stars at Wrexham. A team of over indulged brats with an owner who can't tell the difference. Sean Dyche, the new manager/ coach, is starting to appreciate the lack of fight and selfishness of the players sitting in that dressing room. Maybe the owner might sack a few players once the team is relegated.
Interesting that Tottenham also got kicked out of the FA Cup and are also coming 14th in the EPL. Maybe time for some playing staff to move on there too perhaps. Or just the manager/ coach?
How about Crystal Palace, the carry over FA Cup champs, losing to sixth division, Macclesfield? An upset for the ages.
5. NRL - Zac Lomax. There is zero sympathy for him from anyone so it seems. He is an amazingly self centred player who struggles to commit to anything. Talented yes, but hard for team mates to believe he is standing with them.
6. BBL #15. On it rolls with the older players still dominating. Some mighty entertainment and Dave Warner is the second highest run scorer of the tournament, with Sam Harper the surprise leader. Peter Siddle is the second highest wicket taker too! Khawaja, Smith... while Konstas retreats to the bench with Fraser-McGurk not too far away!
The Sydney Thunder have already notched up FIVE wooden spoons ...a sixth is imminent. Maybe recruit some bowlers who get wickets and who are not Daniel Sams?
7. NFL. In the NFC playoffs, the Chicago Bears crushed the Green Bay Packers in a scintillating comeback (the biggest in franchise history from 3-21) to win in the final seconds 31-27... their first play off win in 15 years! The fierce rivalry against the 'Cheeseheads' saw many Bears fans wearing cheese graters on their heads at their home base of Soldiers Field. Love the NFL fan intensity where every inch and every second counts. Great times!
The Rams also knocked over the Carolina Panthers 34-31. Pounded!
Plenty more to come tomorrow.
8. NRL. Tyran Wishart to the Perth Bears. Finally a great long term signing! Perhaps Parramatta may have been better served here than with a one year deal for the talented Jonah Pezet? The Bears will need talent to be competitive.
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