Bring on the Big Game!

I'm looking forward to the big game at Bellerive. Two top ranking sides at the top of their games. Long standing rivalries and individual brilliance and all the color and movement we expect when India play Sri Lanka. February 28 is the date we await. By then the series against New Zealand will be forgotten, the Big Hash will be over (not that I am against T20 which I think perfectly suits our modern lifestyle I just can't believe the scheduling), the tests against India will have been played too.

What a welcome return to the old Tri series format. I would like it to be called the World Series Cup again - that title had all the right elements. Adamant exaggeration - designed to drive the purists mad.

I suspect the crowd will be poor for this game because Australia won't be playing. (It would be interesting to speculate on the make up of the Australian team by the end of February. ) But it could be the one day game of the summer- one of the teams might be playing to keep the Aussies out of the finals - although current rankings suggest both may be playing to keep the other team out. I think the day will be worth the admission price.

Before that, we have the Test match against New Zealand at Bellerive. No doubt we will be exhorted to attend and told we are ungrateful if we don't. With so much Test cricket to watch on TV and the novelty of the Test Match event having worn I doubt the crowds will be big - unless Punter scores a day straddling 300. Give us an Engalnd or an India Test and the crowds might come - just as they do in any discerning market.

On a footnote I think the selectors have not gone far enough with their renewal policy. It's time from renewal in the batting order too. Surely it is better to build against New Zealand when we are one up than to become desparate against India where are one down with one to play?

Sunrise at St Paul's River

Something different - our Botanical Gardens

Friday night feasting

What a Friday night. Firstly a seafood risotto - Mako had Pink Ling on special, a yellow chilli spiced it up and some prawns gave it more flavour. Went down well with the table.

Then a diet of Friday night crime Telly. Silent Witness featured a back from the dead Dr Harry Cunnigham! (Celebrated by a friend on Facebook!) What is it with that team of pathologists? Are they crime fighters? How come no one tells them to stick to their jobs? During their Hungarian jaunt the Magpies and the Cats got underway and at quarter time it looked like a predictable result was coming up. Then the second quarter started and the Cats came back from the dead too! 10 goals! Were Collingwood lying down or just lieing? Meanwhile the Socceroos got underway too and Thailand scored. Could Australia come back from the dead? Apparently - according to the Twitter Feed - the Socceroos were panicked, desperate and playing poorly. Lucky there was a second half where they came back from the dead. Apparently the right cross was overworked and obvious.

Case Sensitive got underway and in Galle the Sri Lankans were in trouble - they look unlikely to do the resurrection shuffle to me. Nathan Lyon went from boom recruit to promising possibility. A great debut from Case sensitive somewhat spoilt by the voice over - "that was the series final of Case Sensitive" - perhaps I missed something?

Meanwhile Geelong made the finals just that little bit more interesting. Were the Pies playing with us? The Socceroos netted twice to put Thailand in their place but the rematch in Thailand may be more difficult than first thought.

A feast of entertainment. Multi-tasting, multi-tasking. All witnessed from the lIving room!

Is this the most boring AFL season ever?

Is it just me or is this the most boring AFL season ever? Collingwood's dominance is one reason why this might be true. I'm sure fans of the mighty black and white may not agree but even they must miss the anxiety that comes from thinking your team might actually lose?

As a Richmond supporter I have been disenchanted (again) by early season promise , mid season slump and late season surge. It's an all too familiar pattern. Has Dimma got it? I think so. But compare Richmond's progress with that of the Eagles. They are in the top 4 after finishing last last year. That is progress.

Even the Swans have had a pretty tedious year. They are making up the numbers.

Essendon has been exciting at times. Popping up here and there with a surprise win. But can they go far in the finals?

Port have had a miserable year and it is boring to see their losses continue.

Fremantle have struggled. The Saints too. Where is the exciting progress of any team. The cats just continue on.

Has the AFL achieved homeostasis? We need upsets, surprises and change. We haven't got much.

The main problem though has been the bye. A week without your team playing breaks the link with the competition. thoughts turn elsewhere
- perhaps gardening?

What this competition needs is Greater Western Sydney. Bring on Issy and Sheedy, I suspect they will stir things up.

Aker at the Tacca

What a great day at the TCA. After a blizzard of publicity about the poor facilities awaiting our latest mainland import at the "quaint" TCA ground on Hobart's Queen's Domain, a crowd of over 2000 turned up to be treated to a reasonable game, some great skills, some old fashioned biffo and a howling northerly.

Aker impressed me - his skills were on another level to many on the ground. His second quarter receive in the centre square and delivery to a team mate in the goal square was smooth as silk. He knew how to play into the wind - and that didn't come from his local knowledge. He largely got on with the game rather than get distracted.

The crowd impressed me too. I spent the first quarter with AFL Tasmania's Talent Manager Nick Probert, the second with our very own Minister for Infrastructure and lots more, David O'Byrne and his two daughters who were white with excitement- about their imminent birthday! Just before half time, anxious to grab the best spot for first serve at the half time bar in the Den I met up with the ubiquitous Dean Parry - telling tall tales and true of his trip to the ground and the parking prowess of his mentor, Dr Brian Morey.

After a quick cooling refreshment at half time I met some of our brightest young political activists (some of whom were) at their first TSL game, Mr Henry Pill, bemused by his recent elevation to fake mimicry in the twitter sphere, Mr Matt Nesham, Mr Kester Takayama, Ms Lisa Caswell and Mr Scott Bacon MP (certainly not at his first TSL game) Later local raconteur Mr Paul Munting joined our small group on the terrace.

Why is all this important? Because this was local footy at its best. A spectacle, the opportunity to share thoughts with friends, former students, political friends and rogues from these parts. Afterwards in the Den we purchased tickets in the meat raffle, discussed the ethics of local restaurants charging minimum seating fee and the next big day at the Tacca - Good Friday when Hobart will take on and cut down to size North Hobart, who will be exhausted from the bus trip up the hill.

What's wrong with Australian cricket?

Cricket is an aristocratic sport - in its origins at least. Games played over 3, 4 or 5 days. Who else had the time to watch or sponsor such events? Could you give up 3 or 4 days down pit to wield the willow or leave the fields and beasts to themselves while you spent a couple of days pursuing your love?

An aristocratic sport - played by Gentlemen and Players (professionals who were saved from the aforementioned wage slaveries and who the upper class needed to make up the numbers and bowl fast).

Australian cricket has retained this aristocratic character. With a few exceptions the most prominent cricket administrators and even most of the players have lined up with aristocratic interests - witness the nomination of former conservative Prime Minister John Howard as ICC Vice President.

Yes we have adopted the T20 but it is seen simply as a money earner to support the "true" game - Test cricket, where we can all book tables and have a lovely lunch while the players play the game.

Australian cricket administration retains the anglo-saxon conservative conservative approach. Few prominent cricketers are of other than these origins. Usman Khwaja is the first muslim to play for Australia. There are parallel leagues in some states made up of cricketers of other ethnic origins that dont feed into the official "Aussie" system.

We need a Labor politician to be given the job to take over the game and democratise it - throwing out the private school tie, the business connections and the Liberal party flavour. I nominate Paul Keating for the job. I dont know that he likes the game much but that is who we need to develop a system and approach that represents our modern society.

We dont need State administrations - centralise it and bring all cricket under the one governance structure.

I trust this submission will receive great support from the official review.

Australian Politics - the year ahead.

A not unexpected start to the year - the Government suggests a levy to pay for the natural disaster with the biggest financial impact in our history and Abbot says No! The Government suggests paying some of the cost of rebuilding the roads, rail and bridges by scrapping green programs. Does this mean there are still some in the Labor party who believe they can do without the Greens? Only if they want another election. How could they possibly want that?

I have seen the estimates of how much we will pay via the levy - the first figure I read was just over $140. I thought given the squealing this must have been a per week figure! But No, it's a total figure! Good grief - I will have to cut back on......umm....something that costs me $140 a year!

Of course Tony wants the Government to pay for it by scrapping the NBN. As he said he is no tech head - certainly not in terms of building national infrastructure.

George Megalogenis suggests that the reform era is over - that our leaders dont have the long game that is needed for reform. This is a challenge to all involved in the Australian conversation this year - can we resist the pollsters data long enough to say "Yes, it may not be immediately popular but the nation needs it"? I like to think we can. I think people such as Albanese and Combet can do this. I'm also interested in Cameron's call for the scrapping of the pledge. I think this would make politics and governing much harder, and the national outcomes would be more conservative - but perhaps we have gone so far down the conservative road this wouldnt matter.

I'm sure the Liberal Party believes that it just has to keep saying No and this Government will fall over and Tony will take power. Megalogenis points out that a sizeable proportion of the young have shifted to the Greens and probably arent coming back unless there is a serious contest in ideas between the two major parties. If this is the case then the ALP must table serious ideas for reform and continue to push for them no matter how unpopular they may be at this early stage - as Megalogenis says it wont cost Labor their majority to do this - they have already lost it.

And if government is not about bringing about change for the better - what is it about?