Saved

Mathew Bell gets down and dirty in an attempt to save more runs than he has so far scored in the match. Tomorrow will dawn bright and clear with an opportunity for Mathew and his fellow under performing top order players to put bat on ball and stick around. Lets hope they can do it with out falling over.

Head Shot II

In a further shameless attempt to curry favour with Uncle Jrod we give you the head of David Hussey. He is not yet Prime Minister but domestic Twenty20 player of the year must certainly be a step on the ladder. All he needs now is a little focus, or is that vertical hold?

Young Guns

The great advantage of being the new boy is that you have so little history of failure. It allows people to play in an uncomplicated way, which makes us look at the old hands and ask why can't they be like him. That, of course, is why God invented sports psychologists. Well done young Ambrose and stay fresh.

Head Shot

This is the first in an occasional series I shall call Head Shots for the want of any other inspiration. Say what you like about cricketers, and we certainly like to, it is a sport that attracts some genuine characters.

Passion My Arse!

You can blame The Atheist at AYALAC for getting me into this rant, though to be fair it has been building for some time. Deep breath, here goes.

Passion is for the bedroom not the sports field. Any cliche spouting halfwit can tell you he is passionate about something. So bloody what? If passion was the essential ingredient we would damn near all have Olympic medals and world champion status. In the '90s we had to "strive for excellence" now in the '00s we must be passionate about what we do - instance Peter Moores, Graham Henry and just about every plonker who applies for a job these days.

What is the point of being passionate if you have no idea how to achieve your goals. Get some skills, develop a plan, be bloody cunning and make sure you win. Old Andre pictured above wears his heart on his sleeve but that doesn't get him any wickets - that takes skill and perseverance - if it just took the ability to shout at people I would have more 1st class wickets than Murali and Warne combined.

Remember, if someone tells you they are passionate they had better be about to stick something cute and wet in your ear, failing that find someone with more brains and less heart.

Stand Tall

Stand tall is all very well, but if you are 5 foot bugger all and he is 6 foot everything it is a great bit of advice best given from the boundary.

Long Levers

Chris Martin enjoys his success 'cause in this game the next day might be very different.

What confuses me is how The England look to be struggling in the conditions. Surely there is no where they can go that is more like home, the Hamilton night life excepted.

Gis A Hug

No false modesty in this one folks, they gave The England a dicking.

Having said that, both sides have far too much experience in making twats of themselves to turn this into anything more than one team turning up and the other - well god knows where they were.