Farewell, Gilly: Your say on the retirement of an Australian great
ANOTHER luminary from Australian cricket's golden era has called it a day. A year after Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer retired, Adam Gilchrist stunned the world by announcing his retirement from Test cricket, effective from the end of this match against India. The Australian vice-captain will retire from the one-day game after the triangular series against India and Sri Lanka later this summer.
Gilchrist informed his parents of the decision on Friday night, and his teammates yesterday morning on the bus on the way to Adelaide Oval. All were surprised by Gilchrist's move to stand down from all forms of the game, as most had anticipated he would continue for another year.
But, as with Warne, McGrath and Langer last year, Gilchrist said he knew the time was right to leave the game he revolutionised.
Share your thoughts on the end of the Gilchrist era within Australian cricket. The game will never be the same again.
more- Posted by Alex Brown in The Tonk at 12:02 PM
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PCB chief rules out tour switch
PAKISTAN'S cricket board chairman has told AAP there is "no question" his country will host the upcoming Test and one-day series against Australia.
more- Posted by SMH Online in The Tonk at 12:01 AM
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A-League Semi Finals, 1st Leg Fixtures
A-League Finals time. Week 1 of the finals sees the 1st Leg of the Semi-Finals, with the Premiers Central Coast travelling to Newcastle and Sydney FC hosting Queensland
more- Posted by Ben Willing in Flog at 2:20 PM
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Verbeek pulls selection surprise
Australia Coach Pim Verbeek has selected a whopping 39 players in preparation for the Socceroos' first World Cup Qualifier
more- Posted by Ben Willing in Flog at 10:41 AM
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Tait wants to hurry up and experience a win
Expect Shaun Tait to find another gear in the second innings. The South Australian speedster, who went wicketless over the first two days, has never experienced a Test victory for Australia, and is desperate to shake the feeling of being a hex. Before this match, Tait's only previous outings in the baggy green resulted in a loss at Trent Bridge in 2005, and a draw at The Oval in the following game. His entry into one-day internationals was hardly better, losing four of his first five matches. "For a while I was wondering if it was just my influence," Tait told The Tonk before the Perth Test. "But we have since won the World Cup, and I have overcome a lot of shoulder and elbow problems to get back. I just really want to be part of a winning Test side."
more- Posted by SMH Online in The Tonk at 9:03 PM
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Can Keegan handle the pressure?
So 'King Kev' is back. Newcastle believes again and is awash with hope and glory.
So why did owner Mike Ashley want him?
- Keegan loves the club and probably would have done the job for free. The club will bring the best out in him.
- Keegan has an infectious passion. All the players need a lift and a boost to their confidence.
- The club couldn't be in a much worse state and they really can only get better. Ashley probably feels he has nothing to lose.
- Keegan probably thought he was finished so he's not going to want to waste it. It's a second chance he believed he was never going to get.
- Keegan is renowned for playing free-flowing attacking football, football the fans crave.
- Keegan has rejuvenated clubs when they have been down on their feet before. Not only did he do it at Newcastle, but also at Fulham and Man City as well.
- Not one of the six managers since Keegan last bossed the club in 1997 has been as successful as he was.
Only Bobby Robson, when he guided them to third place in the league (I still maintain they could have won it if Craig Bellamy hadn't got injured in the run-in) has come anywhere near matching him.
But is it the right decision?
more- Posted by Brian Brownstein in The Football Life of Brian at 11:15 AM
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Did Sam deserve to go?
When Sam Allardyce took on the Newcastle job, the whole city was buzzing - the saviour had finally arrived.
Here was the man who was going to raise their football club to new heights; the man who was going to win them their first domestic trophy since 1955.
And things started off well. "Big Sam" got the Magpies off to their best Premier League start in a decade. The fans dared to believe of a return to the Keegan-inspired glory years of the mid-Nineties.
But a few months later and it's all over. The dream has been shattered. Allardyce is out on his ear and Newcastle are searching for their seventh manager since "King Kev" walked away 11 years ago.
more- Posted by Brian Brownstein in The Football Life of Brian at 10:55 PM
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Aussies welcome with sixes not sledges - IPL
THE chairman of the Indian Premier League, Lalit Modi, has warned Australia's cricketers to be on their best behaviour when the lucrative Twenty20 competitions begins later this year. Modi said Australian players were still coveted by the IPL "for the time being", but insisted that any recurrence of the unpleasantries of the past week would be viewed dimly. "I hope the current controversy will die down, and that this kind of thing will not be repeated," Modi told The Tonk. "It will be up to the individual franchises how they deal with their players, but from the top end of the IPL, we want to see entertainment and not an ugly spectacle. Things got out of hand, and everybody hopes it won't happen in the IPL." Though public sentiment in India seems heavily against the Australians at present, Modi said Australian players were still welcome in the tournament. "As far as we are concerned, we want to take them on for the time being," Modi said. "There will be no impact for the moment."
more- Posted by SMH Online in The Tonk at 8:44 PM
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A-League Round 20 preview
The top four battle it out this weekend, jostling for position, with Adelaide and Melbourne only a mathematical chance of making the finals.
more- Posted by Ben Willing in Flog at 2:48 PM
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New Year's Test a bit older in 2009
A decade-long tradition is set to be broken next year when the Sydney Test is delayed by a day.
more- Posted by SMH Online in The Tonk at 12:54 AM
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A-League Round 19 preview
- Posted by Ben Willing in Flog at 12:44 PM
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Verbeek selects locals for training camp
The Socceroos head coach has selected twenty two A-League players for a training camp to be held next week
more- Posted by Ben Willing in Flog at 12:19 PM
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Pup gives no inkling of mystery tatt's meaning
Michael Clarke is sporting a fresh tattoo but is coy on its meaning.
Can you shed some light? Tell us what you think Clarke's tattoo means.
- Posted by SMH Online in Your say at 10:38 PM
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Not a Harsha word to say about Aussies
Australia are the best cricket team in the world. But they are also the most humble.
How so, we hear you ask? Well, the respected Indian broadcaster and writer Harsha Bhogle, here calling the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series for the fourth time, said the Australians just worked harder than everyone else at improving themselves. As such, he said, they were more humble than any other team.
more- Posted by SMH Online in The Tonk at 9:18 PM
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