Religious Nuttery Down Under (re: Australian bush fires)

Even before the last embers have died on the worst bush (forest) fires in the history of Australia, a fire that is predicted to claim more than 300 lives [1], some religious nut-job here is trying to relate it to abortion laws:
The Catch the Fire Ministries has tried to blame the bushfires disaster on laws [...]

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Aussie cricketer defies the laws of physics

During a crucial period of an embarrassing [1] loss to the Kiwis last Sunday at the WACA, the Australian side effected the following controversial dismissal:

If you watch the replay, you will find that the New Zeland batsman Broome was given out bowled, but it looks like it was Haddin’s gloves and [...]

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In which I am Conn-ed

Gautam Gambhir apparently purposefully elbowed  Shane Watson yesterday in the third test between India and Australia. The Aussies are furious. How dare Indians turn cricket into a physical sport ! It should have been an innovation coming from them.
I reckon they have a fair enough complain, banging into opponent players has no place in cricket. [...]

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FCB: A non-religous Easter and a Scotch-based drink

In which Friday Cocktail Blogging makes a (hopefully) stealthy return (just like a much too drunk husband enters the bedroom after a nite out with the blokes ? [1] ) Written while copiously consuming the drink mentioned below and the hi-fi belting out classic Ghazals such as Main Nashe Mein Hoon, Hungama Kyon Hai (Thodisi [...]

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Weeding Monkeys

Praveen Kumar, Piyush Chawla, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma.
Names I had not even heard of before this Aussie summer. But names that should come up frequently if this recently concluded series is any indication.
And if people had told me back in January that this combination was going to win India its first ODI tournament in Australia [...]

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Yahooooooooooooooooooooo!

We win the series. Who would have thunk ?
Possibly, the most touching moment:
Praveen Kumar is the Man of the Match for his four wickets and he looks a bit embarrassed, all beams he has to be taken on to the stage by his captain, Dhoni, a touching moment. He takes the cheque and runs [...]

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The Scratchy Itch…

While the Sydney Morning Herald continues to embarrass itself by its near apoplectic harping on the ’scartching’ non-issue (see the previous post), one of its writers, Greg Baum, cuts through the crap (via):
“There are a lot of young people sitting here, and it was inappropriate,” one spectator told The Age. “If he wants respect, he [...]

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Dont scratch yourself….

….err in the arm-pits. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the gesture is racist (apparently a monkey taunt) !!!!
Check for yourself and judge:

I won’t be defending Harbhajan if indeed he made monkey taunts, but if this is the picture that forms the basis of their accusation, it is a very weak one.
[Not justifying anything, [...]

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Stay classy, Matthew Hayden (updated)

Updated: Here is the actual mp3 of the Hayden interview from Bisbane’s triple M (via). Apart from the comment on Harbhajan, Hayden mocks Ishant Sharma, mimicking an Indian accent, while inviting the 19-year old into a boxing ring. As I said, real classy behavior from one of the seniormost Australian players.
——————————–
  Matthew Hayden, otherwise [...]

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Recurring theme and a milestone

The recurring theme for the first two days of the test match has been India on the verge of putting Australia away for good, but a combination of luck and Aussie resourcefulness sees the game back on even keel. Most commentators are saying that India are on top, but I still think it is anybody’s [...]

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All said and done…

…..in case you missed it, there was cricket played over the last five days as well. And some top-notch cricket at that with an even contest right upto that fatal Micheal Clarke over.
(Okay this is the final post about the recent test match…..and will try to restrict to cricketing aspects )
You have [...]

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Medieval Justice

[update: Also read this piece by the GreatBong - he is obviously angry. Also, my new post on the cricketing aspects of the test match here].
Mike Procter, the match referee for the recently concluded, controversial India-Australia Test at Sydney, determines that Harbhajan used a racial slur against Andre Symonds (called him a ‘monkey’). Yet [...]

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