JH is a simple man of simple 1950s Sydneycentric values, so missing an AFL grand final because his daughter was getting married at the same time didn't trouble him that much. Though it did upset lots of Melbournites.
Melanie Howard married Rowan McDonald (no relation to Ronald, apparently) at the father of the bride's taxpayer-funded residence at Kirribilli House on Saturday afternoon, September 27. The ceremony started during the fourth quarter of Brisbane's drubbing of Collingwood.
Not content with ignoring the Kyoto Protocol on global warming or the UN Security Council over Iraq, JH decided to disparage a ruling of the International Rugby Board over the singing of "Waltzing Matilda" before Australia's Rugby World Cup games.
The IRB made a decision in August that only national anthems and performances such as the haka could be performed before the start of matches in the World Cup. While the haka was considered to be of "cultural significance", Waltzing Matilda was rejected because the IRB deemed the emotional Australian ditty about a suicidal sheep stealer not to be culturally significant.
Agence France-Presse have dropped an incredible clanger in a item which has appeared in many news services around the world in the past 24 hours, incorrectly attributing Steve Waugh with comments made by Murray Goodwin last week.
As I've previously discussed on the forum, former Zimbabwean Test batsman Goodwin made some fairly outspoken comments about that country's selection policies when talking to reporters in Perth on October 6, comments which have since seen him charged with an alleged breach of Cricket Australia's code of player conduct.
The ups and downs of Kenyan cricket continue. After their amazing - if somewhat lucky - appearance in the semi-finals of the ICC World Cup earlier this year, Kenya has failed to qualify for the Under-19 world championships to be held in Bangladesh next February.
The only one of the eleven full One-Day International countries needing to go through the qualifying rounds for the Youth World Cup (by virtue of not having Test status), Kenya had merely to finish in the top two of the combined Africa-East Asia Pacific tournament which concluded in Windhoek, Namibia, last week.
It's going to be a struggle to take an interest in the two Test "3 Test Series" between Australia and Zimbabwe. Coming so soon after the Bangladesh series, it is hard to see this being anything other than a 2-0 cakewalk for the Australians.
Australia is the outstanding Test team of our time, there can be no doubt. They have a batting lineup whose depth and talent is of historic proportions. Matthew Hayden demonstrated amazing staying power with his world record 380 against Zimbabwe at the WACA, while Adam Gilchrist is an extraordinary player to be coming in to bat at seven. The bowling, however, does not have the same immense depth to draw upon.
JH visited Darwin on Monday August 5, where he attended the Darwin Cup (and failed to pick the winner). On Tuesday and Wednesday August 6 and 7 he headed east to northern Queensland to visit aboriginal communities in Weipa. Australia played Bangladesh in a one-day international at Marrara Oval, Darwin, on Wednesday the 7th - the first ODI ever held in Darwin (which had staged the First Test between Australia and Bangladesh almost three weeks earlier). JH wasn't there.
Bravo to Matthew Hayden for a brilliant innings and a new world Test record of 380. And for grabbing some of the media spotlight away from the Rugby World Cup on its opening night.
There's been a lot of friction in Zimbabwean cricketing circles over "black quotas" in team selection. I believe that an "affirmative action" policy is important for the long-term development of the game in Zimbabwe. It's a pity that the ZCU is not being open and transparent about its motives.
It is clear that there has been a lot of dissatisfaction among some of the country's leading white players in recent years. Murray Goodwin stated it in a rather unsubtle fashion the other day when he said that black players were getting a "free ride" into the team without having to "perform as well as the European guys to get a game". (It looks like he's in trouble with the WACA over those comments, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Sussex CCC, his northern hemisphere employer, has words to him as well.)
Some thoughts about the controversy over the ABC's post-midnight delayed telecast of the netball National League final on Friday (September 12).
It amused me on Thursday night to see Fox Sports News making a point of discussing the ABC coverage for the game. What, precisely, has Fox Sports done in the way of televising local netball in the 2003 season? Zilch. The national netball competition has not been shown on Pay-TV since C7 was alive.
