The Buzz
Women not allergic to Kat hair
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
The pre-count favourite Mitchell Johnson missed out on the Allan Border Medal in Melbourne on Monday and he even failed to win a title that should have been his in a canter.
Channel Nine polled the women at the awards night to find the sexiest player featured in the Men of Cricket charity calendar.
Full postWarne snaps at snapper
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
Two years after his retirement from Test cricket and Shane Warne's celebrity shows no signs of abating. In fact, he still rivals A-list celebrities the world over. The former Australian legspinner, amid growing speculation of another reunion with ex-wife Simone, has asked the police to get rid of that famous celebrity parasite: the paparazzi photographer.
The Herald Sun reported that Warne has lodged a complaint against Jamie Fawcett, a famous celeb snapper who's been involved in a harassment row with Nicole Kidman previously. Warne was apparently angered by photos taken of his three children - Brooke, Jackson and Summer - during a recent family day out on the beach. The photos subsequently appeared in a women's magazine.
Full postPanthers sighted in Middlesex
Middlesex’s decision to ditch their existing nickname – the Crusaders – in favour of a more paletable Panthers has not gone down well in certain quarters, mainly because Vinny Codrington, Middlesex’s CEO, let slip that one of the reasons was that a
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
Middlesex’s decision to ditch their existing nickname – the Crusaders – in favour of a more paletable Panthers has not gone down well in certain quarters, mainly because Vinny Codrington, Middlesex’s CEO, let slip that one of the reasons was that a he had had objections from a handful of Muslim and Jewish people to the Crusaders connotation. The political-correctness-gone-mad lobby were out in force, and the county were forced into a rushed statement which hinted that they had been caught on the hop.
No explanation was given as to why Panthers had been chosen. Usually the nickname had some link to the county, however tenuous, but few Middlesex residents can recall ever seeing panthers roaming the streets of Edgware. It is possible that some marketing wag has decided that the pink kit sported by the county in one-day matches ties in with the Pink Panther films and will appeal to sponsors.
And another name change might be on the cards if Codrington is bombarded with complaints that associating a graceful and powerful big cat with an underperforming county side amounts to animal cruelty.
Full postStranded on 99 by a team-mate ... twice
Tasmanian No 11 Tim Macdonald isn’t going to be on his team-mate Brett Geeves’ Christmas list this year
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
Tasmanian No 11 Tim Macdonald isn’t going to be on his team-mate Brett Geeves’ Christmas list this year. For the second time in this season’s Sheffield Shield, Macdonald has managed to leave Geeves stranded on 99, tantalizingly short of his maiden first-class century.
The first offence was against Victoria in November last year and Geeves vented on his blog on the Tasmanian Cricket Association’s website. “Can I start this blog by apologising for Tim MacDonald’s woeful display of playing short pitch bowling?” Geeves wrote. “Yes I’m angry. 99 no and the number eleven gloves a short ball from a guy who is into his 50th over of the match. Clinton McKay won't mind me saying he wasn't bowling his quickest. Sore groins, ankles barking at him saying, "Why don't we ever get any tucan pie?" Duck the ball Tim!!”
The second occasion was during the ongoing contest against New South Wales: Macdonald left Geeves left high and dry on 99 off only 113 balls. He hadn’t updated his blog yet when last checked …
Full postListen to your body
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
Playing a cricket match on the slopes of Mount Everest is no joke, warns a doctor in Nepal. Dr Buddha Basnyat, who specialises in high altitude health, said the lack of oxygen – which is only half of what it is at sea level – could lead to illness and even death, even for those not chasing a ball. Basnyat said the players from England, who will play the highest field sport match - a Twenty20 on April 21 - will have to be extremely careful not to over-exert themselves.
"The important thing is, if people aren't feeling well and yet push themselves to play, especially if they exert themselves, that can predispose them to altitude sickness," Basnyat told the BBC. "Basically the players should listen to their own bodies."
Full postLitigation gone mad
London might be the litigation capital of the world these days, but America isn't far behind
Will Luke
25-Feb-2013
London might be the litigation capital of the world these days, but America isn't far behind. Straight out of the texbook Lawsuits For Fun comes this particular gem: Sharon Anderson from Georgia is suing the mayor of her home town, Fort Oglethorpe, for laying a concrete cricket pitch in the middle of a polo field.
She claims that she the city isn't abiding by a 1996 charter which states that the grounds “shall be preserved in its present condition for the use and benefit of the general public and no further construction or obstruction of any sort is allowed in the said circle". Ron Goulart, the city's manager, defended the cricket pitch and clearly finds the issue supremely dull. “It simply helps the people who use the field for recreation,” he said. “You really couldn’t find it unless it was pointed out to you.”
Holding the lawsuit, an inch thick, he said: "This is being stubbornly litigious." Still, she might have a point: concrete pitches are bowlers' graveyards.
Full postICL’s Law feels like a leper
Signatures on Indian Cricket League contracts continue to have lasting effects in Australia
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
Signatures on Indian Cricket League contracts continue to have lasting effects in Australia. First Jason Gillespie was banned from coaching at the Australian Centre of Excellence and the same thing has happened to Stuart Law.
Law, a former Queensland captain, has not played first-class cricket in Australia since 2004, but was told he could accept a position as batting coach at the Academy only if he stopped playing in the ICL. "I can't see what the problem is,” Law said in the Courier-Mail. “If the ICL was pinching young players like Alister McDermott to play then I could understand Cricket Australia getting upset about it.
“But guys who haven't played Shield cricket for a number of years ... what's the problem? The ICC are trying to sort this out and the ICL is happy to talk, but the IPL are making us lepers in the community."
Full postHeat treatment
Club cricketers the world over – especially those in England – are used to playing in the cold and the wet, but the current heatwave blasting parts of Australia has proved too much for even the hardy locals.
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
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Club cricketers the world over – especially those in England – are used to playing in the cold and the wet, but the current heatwave blasting parts of Australia has proved too much for even the hardy locals.
A day after the organisers defending men’s champion Novak Djokovic had to pull out of the Australian Open in Melbourne with heat cramps, South Australia took the decision to scrap most of the state’s men’s and women’s grade cricket because of the abnormal conditions.
With temperatures well into the 40s – so hot that insects were dropping dead in their thousands at the Melbourne tennis – the news might be seen as a sign that Australians are going as soft as their national team’s bowling attack.
But Cricket Victoria showed that the old hard approach remains. A senior CV official, sitting in his air conditioned office no doubt, dismissively brushed aside a request from South Australia that the start time of the Sheffield Shield game at the MCG be brought forward to 9am to try to avoid the worst of the day’s heat. More drinks, less whinging was the gist of his reply as he took another ice-cold can from his desk-side fridge.
Full postMulti-cultural South Africa floors Tutu
Archbishop Desmond Tutu can’t stop gushing about South Africa’s stunning Test and ODI victories in Australia, saying the multi-cultural team has set a shining example by performing as a unit.
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
Archbishop Desmond Tutu can’t stop gushing about South Africa’s stunning Test and ODI victories in Australia, saying the multi-cultural team has set a shining example by performing as a unit.
Tutu said two pictures from the tour had particularly impressed him. "The first, following the captain's brave effort in the third Test at Sydney, captured Graeme Smith and Makhaya Ntini together, arm in arm, brothers in arms,” he said. "The second, following the one-day series-clinching victory this week, featured batting heroes Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers in a similar embrace."
The most remarkable aspect, however, was the fact that Tutu was able to see any photos at all from a historic series, after Cricket Australia's decision to deny accreditation to most of the agencies that supply pictures to the world's media.
Full postDoug Bowler and Neil who?
An email plopped into our inboxes this afternoon from the Indian Premier League, excitedly announcing no less than 114 players for the forthcoming auction
Will Luke
25-Feb-2013
An email plopped into our inboxes this afternoon from the Indian Premier League, excitedly announcing no less than 114 players for the forthcoming auction. But which names have been included?
Well, alongside the expected ones – Michael Clarke, Andrew Flintoff, JP Duminy and the like – were the lesser-known Kevin Peterson, that nobody from Australia, Doug Bowler, and the South African Neil McKanzee.
England’s lot included the ageless Dominic Cork and, err, Tyron Henderson. Woops.
Full post