The Ashes: Third Test Review

By Justin Davies ( @DragonPunk12 )

Rain, rain go away come back again never!

So a draw that is something different. An Australian finally made a century and besides the small precipitation drops that ended day five it was a good test for the tourists despite losing the ability to regain the Ashes.

It was a new dawn for the Australian team after the massive defeat at Lords. Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc and David Warner came in after the wheel of selection misfortune landed on their names. The bowling contingent breathed a sigh of relief as 1) Australia won the toss and batted! 2) They weren’t going to be bowling with a total under 300.

Further proving this new dawn, Shane Watson showed that he was a jack of all trades, getting out caught instead of lbw. The Australians led by Captain Michael Clarke applied themselves for batting longer than an hour and it produced results with Clarke making the first century of an Australian in this series while Rogers and Smith made 84 and 89 respectively.

In making 527, Australia still managed to be spun out by Graeme Swann who picked up another five for including Usman Khawaja who was given out after review despite not touching the ball. The use of DRS is continuing to provide evidence to eradicate the technology. This Ashes series has been blighted heavily with umpiring and DRS mistakes taking the spotlight off the actual cricket being played.

For the first time in the series when it was needed, Australia put on some runs on the board forcing England to start their innings half an hour before close on day two. Peter Siddle threw a spanner in the works picking up Joe Root and later, nightwatchmen Tim Bresnan to leave them 2/49 with following on a distinct possibility.

Someone had to step up for the home side to make Australia sweat and up stepped the figure they needed, Kevin Pietersen. He is a batsman who can take the game away from a side in a session with a positive batting approach and he took to the Australian bowlers on his way to the fourth English century of the series and nudged them towards passing the follow on.

The problem as England passed the follow on, was the spinners. Australia hadn’t had large contributions from their slower bowlers in this series. If a result was to be forced in this test and keep the series alive, Nathan Lyon needed to step up much like Graeme Swann did in the first innings. He produced a tight line but it wasn’t penetrating as he picked up a single tail end wicket leaving the work to the pace bowlers to take the remaining nine leaving England trailing by 159 but looking likely for a draw.

Since they couldn’t lean on the follow on – Australia needed to plunder some quick runs to leave themselves enough time to bowl out England with the ominous presence of rain. Clarke knowing this sent David Warner up the order in a shuffled batting line-up including Shane Watson batting at four. Warner once again found his nemesis in Joe Root with a misguided hook but the following batsmen kept the scoring up work the lead past 300. There wasn’t going to be much more play after the umpire’s took off the players for bad light despite Clarke’s protests to throw more drama into a series starting to resemble the bold and beautiful more than cricket.

The rain that was predicted on day four held off but came in bucketloads on the final day when it wasn’t needed. The rain held off long enough for play to get underway allowing Ryan Harris to take the crucial wicket of Alastair Cook for a duck plus wasting a review. Harris added another along with Siddle to leave England 3/37 but down came the rain, washing Australia’s Ashes chances away with no play after lunch.

The home side had retained the Ashes for the fourth time since 2009, celebrating with the crowd who had braved the forecast for the job being done at home. Australia on the other hand have pride to play for in the final two tests before looking to win back the urn back on home soil.

 

pic: ecbtv

Is Tomkins A Warrior or a Warrior?

By Brad Eveleigh ( @Brad_Eveleigh )

Sam Tomkins has revealed to Sky Sports (UK) that reports of his move to the New Zealand Warriors in 2014 are completely false.

The Wigan Warriors and England full-back has caused some confusion over his future by stating “I’ve not signed a contract with any NRL club”, which is the opposite that has been reported in the southern hemisphere.

On the 23^rd of June, Farfax Media reported that two separate sources have confirmed that the deal to bring Tomkins to the New Zealand Warriors was a done deal.

It was also reported that the NZ Warriors had an agreement with his release from Wigan that they play a part in the announcement.

Other NRL clubs were also interested in the signing of the 24-year-old Man of Steel winner with the Gold Coast Titans one most notable. Gold Coast Chief Executive, David May, even went to the extent of flying to England earlier in the year to meet the appropriate representatives in an attempt to strike a deal.

It all seemed a waste of time for May as reports suggested that Tomkins was to reunite with his former Wigan team-mate Thomas Leuluai in New Zealand on a 2-year-deal.

To add further confirmation to the apparent NZ Warriors move, talk of squad reshuffling and the future of current Warriors players have been a hot topic ever since.

All seems to be misguided and incorrect information as Tomkins explained the situation to Sky Sports in England on Wednesday

At the moment Tomkins said: “I’m firmly concentrating on Wigan.”

New Zealand Warrior’s Chief Executive, Wayne Scurrah has not commented on the recent reports.

pic: news. williamhill  

The Ashes: Second Test Review

By Justin Davies ( @DargonPunk12 )

From the euphoria that followed the opening Ashes test with Australia losing by 14 runs. The second test was the exact opposite. The margin only scratched the surface of the problems facing the tourists in the remaining games.

Australia started on the backfoot losing the toss once again and being told to field. There were two changes for the Aussies in Ryan Harris and Usman Khawaja. The former showed why fans had wanted the quick selected much more than his number of caps showed when he tore through the English top order to reduce them to 3/28 on his way to a first innings 5 for.

That was where the joy for Australia’s quicks ended though. England much like in the first test, were able to hold their ground through Ian Bell with help from Johnathan Trott and Ian Bairstow. This had been the difference in the series thus far, the English collapses were stabilised before becoming calamity.

Bell had his third consecutive Ashes hundred before an unlikely hero stepped up for Australia. Steven Smith thrown the ball to waste time before the new ball, produced a ripper to remove Bell and followed up with dismissing Bairstow and Prior.

Australia have been looking for the unlikely hero (Agar in the first test with the bat) while England were consistent with odd flashes of brilliance from someone to propel them on. The consistency was underlined with the lower order scoring 12, 28 and 33 respectively to drag England to 361.

It was the same old song and dance for the tourists once they got the chance to wield the willow. Shane Watson got off to a promising start then was caught lbw, Chris Rogers missed a full toss and Usman Khawaja tried to send Swann into the stands but only made mid-on. Those were the glaring moments in a collapse of 128 with the strains of “Swann, Swann will tear you apart again,” ringing true around Lords.

Heads were bowed again and the Australia that had surrendered meekly at home in the Ashes battle reared their ugly head. Michael Clarke called it an embarrassment but that was still to come. Alastair Cook showed some leniency in not enforcing the follow on thus  England got a chance to bat again and put Australia out of the contest.

Once again though, the bowlers had worked magic for Australia. Peter Siddle in this instance probably greater than anything Harry Houdini produced as he reduced England to 3/30 allowing that wicked mistress hope to poke her head out. She was promptly firmly in her seat soon into the afternoon session though.

Joe Root before this test was known to Australian’s for getting into an altercation with David Warner but he turned conqueror on the Lord’s pitch. He was dispatching the bowling with ease as he motored to his century and more importantly, team wise making the lead unassailable for the tourists.

Cook’s men had studiously worked to move the lead past 500 only leaving the opportunity for Joe Root to make 200 at Lords. He was denied twenty runs short in a rare bright spot on Day four for the Australians. 583 was the target but reality had the Aussies surviving day four and doing the single largest rain dance to draw.

Any talk of the rain would be premature though, as Australia in the most predictable outcome since Phil Taylor was winning darts tournaments, collapsed. The collapse wasn’t immediate like the first innings though, Clarke and Khawaja allowed hope to poke her head back in before both falling to Joe Root who had a smile you couldn’t wipe off if you tried after this test.

Predictably Graeme Swann delivered the final blow catching Pattinson lbw on the final over of the day after Harris and Pattinson teasted to drag the public (and Lord’s crowd attendants) into the final day with a dogged stance.

Where to from here? 2-0 isn’t an unsurmountable lead but with the batting frailties Australia has, pride and preserving their test spot would be high on the agenda. For England, it is all about the sweep on a side that is ripe for that.

The Ashes: First Test Review

By Justin Davies ( @DargonPunk12 )

Has everyone recovered yet?

Five days of late nights and coffee laden mornings for Australia ended in heartbreak with Australia falling 14 runs short of England’s target of 311 to win after checking with a DRS system. Those two lines though don’t convey how tight, tense and emotionally draining the five days were.

The drama started on the first day, in the Trentbridge sunshine Alastair Cook elected to bat testing out an Australian attack that was packed with pace but were erratic in their lines. James Pattinson struck first removing captain Cook but it was Peter Siddle who has been the saviour for the Australian side in recent years.

He kept a full length that profited in uprooting (sorry had to) England’s most important batsmen in Pietersen and Trott while remaining economical amongst the erratic lines of his fellow fast bowlers. Australia had shown that they weren’t going to lie down at least on the bowling and fielding side of matters.

They still had to bat which had been the Achilles heel in recent years. Once again the fragile top order reared it’s head after a promising start, Shane Watson and Ed Cowan departed in succession from Steven Finn with Cowan going after a daft shot on his first delivery. Finn was only the warm up act though, as James Anderson doing his impression of a puppeteer having the ball on a string in his five-for including a jaffer delivery reserved for Michael Clarke which left the Australian captain bewildered and departing on a duck.

Australia had once again had shown why many had tipped England to win the series in a canter being left on 9-117 early on day two with only Steve Smith and Chris Rogers showing some grit and determination in preserving their wickets. This was until Ashton Agar stepped up.

The Melbourne born leg spinner wasn’t named in the initial Australian squad and was a shock selection over Nathan Lyon sending the social media into a buzz. Smiling as he took guard, Agar and Hughes grafted the early portion of the partnership but as the runs flowed, so did the confidence from the Australian support with both passing 50 showing no signs of stopping. The signature shot lifting Graeme Swan over mid-off for six!

He roared into the 90s, breaking records with each run while Phil Hughes, a maligned figure in cricketing circles recently compiled a tough 81* to march Australia over England’s total and a 65 run lead. The main story was Agar who fell two runs short of the century after holing out to Swann in the deep, he didn’t bow his head in disgrace, he walked off head held high, a smile plastered on his face to applause from everyone in Trentbridge and watching at home.

England were stung from the young leggie’s innings and were reeling at 2 for 11 early after Cook and Trott were dismissed but they dug in to prevent a repeat of the first innings. Cook and Pietersen compiled a hearty 100 run partnership before Agar once again stood up, removing Pietersen earning his first test wicket. In their absence though, Ian Bell worked his way along to 109 as his Bairstow and Prior fell with Stuart Broad providing a steady anchor to get the right hander to the milestone which passing one himself being the fifty.

Broad’s dismissal garnered more scorn from the southern end of the hemisphere as he didn’t walk after nicking Agar to slip. I won’t get into the semantics of walking but this test match had several peculiar decisions for both sides although these weren’t the main reasons that England won the match. Australia’s ill use of reviews and fragile top order cost them the contest.

After Bell and Broad departed, England were quickly finished off for 375 with a huge lead of 311 that if successfully chased would be the largest fourth innings chase at Trentbridge. Australia started in brisk fashion, Watson looking ominous in taking bowlers to all parts but it ended in predictable fashion out for 46, lbw while wasting a review. The rest of the batsmen inched the total to 161 over halfway to the total before they fell into disarray again. Clarke, Smith and Hughes falling in quick succession leaving Australia 6/176 at the end of day four, requiring 135 on the final day.

It seemed the final day would be a fait accompli for the English side to mop up the Australian tail and move 1-0 up in the series. Australia provided fuel for this fire as after moving past 200 with the first innings hero, Ashton Agar falling for 14. Starc and Siddle followed as the English crowd grew to a fever pitch in anticipation of the final denouement.

No one told Brad Haddin and James Pattinson though, the two fought and battled their way through the opening session, taking calculated risks in chipping away at the total. The fervent support had quietened in the stands but grew louder back home in Australia especially when Steven Finn was taken for 15 in an over. Besides James Anderson, the English bowlers had no luck and not even the stall tactics from Stuart Broad in the final over before lunch could quell the momentum Australia built.

It came down to this – after lunch either Haddin and Pattinson would get the twenty runs still required or England would get the final wicket. England predictably turned to their strike bowler, James Anderson who after two warm up overs produced the ball that feathered against Haddin’s bat and into the waiting gloves of Matt Prior but no movement from Alem Dar.

England reviewed and upon further inspection, Haddin got the slightest touch confirmed by hot spot and snicko (eventually) to get Dar to lift that finger. This started the celebrations on field and in the stands but the series has only begun.

Get your sleep Australia, it is back on Thursday night and I love it.

What’s Next For Scottish Football?

By Brad Eveleigh ( @Brad_Eveleigh )

In recent times the Scottish Premier League (SPL) has taken a few crucial blows resulting in some big backwards steps for both clubs and the League, which molds the question: Is the SPL a healthy league?

This is not an opinion piece to potentially persuade readers either for or against but rather placing the topic up for debate for the millions of interested football fans around the globe.

Before I go into why I think this is even a topic I shall start by explaining the structure of the SPL as it’s not your common “everyone plays everyone twice” type set-up. I have extracted the explanation from Wikipedia where it is best described and it is as follows:

There are currently twelve clubs in the Scottish Premier League. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then goal difference, and then goals scored. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned champion. If points are equal, the goal difference and then goals scored determine the winner.

A season, which runs from July until May, is divided into two phases. During the first phase, each club plays three games against every other team, either once at home and twice away or vice-versa. After this first phase of matches, by which time all clubs will have played 33 games, the league splits into a ‘top six’ and a ‘bottom six’. Each club then plays a further five matches against the other five teams in their own section. Points achieved during the first phase of 33 matches are carried forward to the second phase, but the teams will compete only within their own sections during the second phase. After the first phase has been completed, clubs cannot move out of their own section in the league, even if they achieve more or fewer points than a higher or lower ranked team, respectively.

At the beginning of each season, the Scottish Premier League ‘predicts’ the likely positions of each club in order to produce a fixture schedule that will ensure the best possible chance of all clubs playing each other twice at home and twice away. These are known as the league seeding and are based on clubs’ performance in previous years. However, should a club not finish in the half where it was predicted to finish, it faces the possibility of playing an unequal number of home and away games; for example, one club may play another three times at home and once away.

The bottom placed SPL club at the end of the season is relegated, and swaps places with the winner of the Scottish First Division, provided that the winner satisfies the league’s entry criteria.

This split format can cause a little confusion for the average punter, for example: Hibernian (51 points) and Aberdeen (48 points) finished 7^th and 8^th overall, BUT, 1^st and 2^nd in the bottom half of the split table. Both teams finished on more points then Dundee United (47 points) but Dundee finished 6^th overall. Hibernian will not be bothered; they claimed a Europa League spot from 7^th on the table. As shown below.

This format in itself has come under some heated criticism from high levels within the SPL.

Scottish football has been known in the past for the dominance of Celtic and Rangers. For the average football fan here in Australia, you only really heard news of the SPL when there was an Old Firm Derby being played.

In the last 48 years Celtic and Rangers have shared the League title on 44 occasions. Aberdeen won the league in 1979-80 / 1983-84 / 1984-85 and Dundee United won it in 1982-83. So it’s pretty much always been a 2 horse race.

Domestically, Rangers have won more leagues and more trebles than any other club in the world, but, in 2012, Rangers FC became insolvent and were forced to enter administration, resulting in liquidation.

An agreement could not be reached with its creditors, business assets (including Rangers FC) were bought out, the clubs Scottish Football Association membership was transferred, eventually, so that the club could “relaunch” in the Third Division in 2012 (they won that league and have since been promoted to League 2).

With Rangers now out of the SPL international interest seems to have dwindled somewhat as that 2 horse race in now dead with some people referring to the league as the Celtic Premier League.

Celtic won the 2012-13 title 16 points clear of Motherwell, which places most interest on the challenges from 2^nd onwards.

Is this a good thing for the league? Is 1^st place just resigned to Celtic and other clubs aim for the 2^nd and 3^rd spots which European qualification is an acceptable achievement?

Another backwards step for the SPL occurred just yesterday as Heart of Midlothian FC (Hearts) entered administration with accountancy firm BDO taking over the running of the club.

Hearts have debts of up to £25m (AUD$41.74m), owed to companies formerly owned by Vladimir Romanov, who invested in the club back in 2005.

What is the solution to all of this? Does there even need to be a change? Are things fine the way they are? These are the type of questions I’d like to see discussed.

The always-present debate of Scottish teams entering the English Leagues never die off. Would this be a better option for the SPL clubs with all this grayness?

I’m sure 99% of Scots would tell me it’s a bullshit question and tell me to jog on but it’s always a point of conversation. I’m not promoting the move at all; it’s just a question.

If your answer is yes, they should join the English Leagues, how would they join? Take into consideration that clubs from both England and Scotland must not be demised. You must put the shoe on the other foot as some would say.

I don’t think it would be possible to place SPL clubs into the top tiers as this would disrupt promotion and relegation.

Would it be beneficial to create a League 3 constructed of all SPL teams and have Blue Square competition winners make up the remaining numbers? I don’t think so.

Going from the SPL to League 3 in England would be a slap in the face for the clubs, not to mention loss of revenue etc etc. Plus, the EPL team would buy the decent players and they would all be stuck in the pits of English football.

I would love to see Celtic play in the English Premier League, but how would they (and other SPL clubs) be injected?

The responses I’ve come across in the past have always been interesting. What are your thoughts? Change or no change? If so, how?

Fan Cam – Brad Eveleigh

Liverpool vs. Queens Park Rangers – December 10, 2012.

Anfield, Liverpool, England.

1 – 0 Liverpool.