HALLELUJAH. The Ashes are still going ahead.
Following discussions with the brass this week, the England team will come across for the biggest and most prestigious Test match series in the game after the possibility was floated it may be cancelled due to ongoing COVID-19 issues.
Skipper Joe Root led the charge for the visitors to go ahead with their tour, and it’s probably one of the few times we’ll acknowledge the Englishman positively over the summer. Veteran fast bowler Stuart Broad was also keen to go again.
It comes as a welcome relief for cricket lovers in that during this god-awful time we’re all experiencing, there is something to look forward to in the long run.
The 11th-hour concession that has been made which would see the families of the players avoid hotel quarantine upon arrival in the country. As I mentioned in last week’s column, many Australians have not been able to travel and see their own families, so it will be interesting to see the response to this fact.
Hopefully the fact that the skipper Root has been pushing for the tour will come in handy for convincing others to come along. We know Ben Stokes won’t be coming, having taken some time out from the game, Moeen Ali recently announced his retirement, and keeper-batsman Jos Buttler has already indicated he may remain at home with his family after a full short-form schedule.
Don’t be caught into thinking this tough situation for the visitors makes it a fait accompli for the Aussies. I can’t even remember the last time we played a Test match, and with ongoing issues in state borders with the Sheffield Shield, getting to cast their eye over all options won’t be easy for selectors.
Of the incumbents from the last match played against India in whites back in January, Matt Wade looks likely to be out of the reckoning at No.5, Marcus Harris is no guarantee to open with Dave Warner and skipper and wicketkeeper Tim Paine is in a race against time after surgery on a bulging disc in his neck. Yes, I almost did a Tony Armstrong while writing that.
At least the bowling line-up remains pretty settled, Labuschagne and Smith are in at three and four, and young gun Cameron Green has already scored a century for Western Australia so far.
Now that the speculation over the actual series itself is sorted, let the speculation over selection begin.
Now here’s a couple of other things that have caught my eye during the week …Horrible bosses
THINK your boss is demanding? You clearly haven’t met the Pozzos.
The Italian family are the owners of English Premier League club Watford, and during the week they just sacked their 13th manager since taking over in 2012.
Yep, the club formerly owned by Elton John is a poisoned challis for prospective managers.
The latest casualty was relatively unknown Portuguese coach Xisco Munoz, after the Hornets had won two games, drawn one and lost four from their opening seven games of the new campaign. Xisco had only taken over the role in December of 2020 while the club were still in the Championship (division) after Vladmir Ivic was canned.
Sitting in 14th, it hasn’t been an outstanding start for the promoted side, but it wasn’t to be expected that they would blow the competition away. And they’ve been reasonably good.
The fact that makes this decision so laughable and meme-worthy is just how trigger happy the Pozzos are when it comes to managers. Clearly they expect nothing less than perfection.
In fact, on average, a Watford manager’s tenure under the Pozzo regime averages out at just 30 games.
And now the new man in the hot seat is Claudio Ranieri, the man best known in England for being at the helm when Leicester City went on their fairy-tale run to with the Premier League in 2015-16.
I’d say it’s pretty short odds that the Italian will still be there by the time May rolls around.
A legless catch? You betcha
THERE are many great videos and images when it comes to catching a ball in a sporting crowd.
We’ve seen it a lot at the cricket here in Australia, but it’s nothing when compared to Major League Baseball and the lengths people will go to. Especially as they can keep the ball afterwards.
One Chicago fan this week made waves online for her ingenuity when it came to cupping the ball, using her prosthetic leg to pouch it. Yep, you read that right.
The woman, Shannon Frendreis, shared a video of the impressive catch on TikTok that garnered more than two million views and 300,000 likes in a single day.
Frendreis wrote in the caption that “five beers in, and taking my leg off to catch a ball seemed like a great idea.”
We do too, a tip of the cap to you, my friend.
