Ivo Francis Walter Bligh, the 8th Earl of Darnley.

You could not have written a script for what happened today. Even Aaron Sorkin would have struggled, though there would have been some great dialogue if he did.  Speaking of dialogue, it seems like we won't be hearing much of it from the NRL in the coming week, as the players' association have placed their players in a media ban as part of their protest in the stalling of negotiations in the NRL collective agreement. Is it just me, or has that protest done much of the viewing public a favour as we don't have to hear "we'll take it one set at a time", or "credit to the boys", or the seldom heard "I couldn't possibly go out on the cans with the boys after that win, I've got to drive home and do some chores around the house". But my favourite quote involving the NRL this week has to be this one from Rhino Harris: I agree. Sports journalists need to stay in their lane - particularly that one. I know Buzz's piece was one of opinion (...

Better weather was expected for today and lucky it is because this is proving to be an absolute corker!  The day started with the Aussies looking to press home the advantage. But as we have for each morning of this test, the Duke is performing more tricks than a clown at a 5 year old's birthday party. Smith and Head could not repeat their heroics of the first dig. throw in Ussie who looked like he was getting ready to call the Lord's honour board sign writer, and they were all gone too early with the visitors lead not yet 300 overall. England seemed to have learned from the visitor's tactics yesterday. whether it was tit-for-tat or just just clever bowling, the English were relentless in avoiding the "salmon-length" ball. Below is evidence of their attack, as well as my wife's forgetfulness in bringing her gluten free cereal down to breakfast (face slap emoji).  But the real story of the day was Nathan (Gaz) Lyon. They breed 'em tough in Young, NSW. Especi...

What a terrible turn for the 🐐.  Gaz’s calf injury appears to be bad . Bad enough to potentially rule him out of the series, and on his 💯 consecutive test no less. However there is more to this story. I refer you to my favourite cartoon of the past few years, Bluey. But there is one episode in particular called "Cricket"  (please invest the 7 minutes by clicking this iView link) that has been described as "a masterpiece", "brilliant", and "perfect". It has even claimed tears from grown men's eyes on occasion. For those who haven't seen it, I recommend you click this link  for a run down, or here's another critique is here . While that news is bad for the Aussies, it could have been much worse. What the cricket public did discover today is that Bazball is trumped by Ronball. England were poised to take a big first innings lead at the Home of Cricket. But instead, some absolute laughable shot selection by the English (none worse than ...

Apologies for the late posting for the rest of this test. The plan was to watch and post each night after a day on the slopes. However, apparently Jindy doesn't receive Channel 9 (news to me) and the Siesta Villa has wifi as temperamental as an MCC member in the Long Room. Yes, it means the next few days are written quite retrospectively, but I will attempt to do it justice nonetheless. Day 2 saw plenty of quality cricket. Steve Smith notched his 32nd century to trail only Ricky Ponting on the Australian list. Carey and Cummins added useful runs to ensure that the Green Caps batted 100 overs and score over 400 runs. But more importantly, England actually bowled better, with Too Much (Tongue) getting his third top order set of poles, claiming Smudge for 110, then Bracelet getting 3 cheap set of poles at the end, but not before he brought up the century with his fast medium pace with slight swing.  However, the start of the Second Test has seen an adaption of of Bazball - it's ca...

 What's the craziest thing that could happen during the first session of a Lord's Test? - Two wickets off the opening over of the Test, - A ramp shot for six runs off the fresh Duke, - T wo pitch invaders demonstrating the use of fossil fuels, disrupting play in the second over, and then Ginger No.2 carrying one of them off the field like he was a toy bear.  Seriously, if you guessed the last one, you need to buy a lottery ticket.  As I heard this on the wireless while in transit from an 18th birthday dinner, I thought my ears must be deceiving me. No way that Bairstow the Bouncer carried a human 50 metres to the boundary without dropping him!  The 'Just Stop Oil' campaign looked to halt play and cause an all mighty hoo-hah to oppose the use of fossil fuels. I'm no fashion expert (I'm regularly wearing clothes suggested by the 51% shareholder of the household) but those custom pants on Bouncer Bairstow's hug toy look like they're the product of the petr...