What's in a poll?

This the latest poll from the Herald Sun, just one of a plethora of Australian newspapers in huge admiration over Murali's Test record, I'm sure you'll agree! What is strange are the results over the last few days. Perhaps a case of sub-continent ex-pats refreshing the page, or have the Aussie public suddenly realised the freak nature of Kandy's spin king over their own Shane Warne? Below left is the same poll from two days ago, from After Grog's Blog.




But then there is this quote from former Cricket Australia chairman and Test umpire Col Egar, who once no-balled Australian paceman Ian Meckiff for throwing. "I couldn't care less about him. As far as I am concerned they should have a separate record for bowlers with illegal actions. Warne deserves the record and in my book he will always be the record holder. I've got a photo at home of Murali's arm bending at 48 degrees. The tests they did on him were rubbish. The only tests that matter are those conducted under match conditions. The administrators of the game have got to take the blame for letting his action go."

MacGill back in the mix

Previous posts on Australian cricket have highlighted the Test opening partnership as one area of concern. But how about Stuart MacGill's return to the Test arena?

I'm glad the wine-loving leggie is back and free from the burdens of having to cope second fiddle to that other leg-spinner of some repute.

MacGill needs two more victims for 200 Test wickets if he is picked for his 41st Test. Warne made the landmark in his 42nd Test, which goes to show just how good MacGill was and what could have been if Australia had picked two spinners more frequently.

What are your thoughts on MacGill's career? To give you a recap, here he is mowing through England in 1998/99.

Warne gets Six appeal

The Hong Kong Sixes takes place this weekend. A sell-out which features some competitive countries and the obligatory All-stars Six.

This tournament, held since 1992, has seemingly grown each year, while Shane Warne and Brian Lara have obviously given the ex-pat community even more reason to venture to the Kowloon Cricket Club to enjoy some ice beers in the humidity.

The All-stars team is: Geraint Jones, Anil Kumble, Brian Lara, Glenn McGrath, Craig McMillan, Heath Streak and Shane Warne.

The England team is: Darren Maddy, Luke Wright, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Tim Bresnan, Kabir Ali, Alex Gidman and Steve Davies.

Two legends in matter of months

So another legend bows out of the game. Brian Lara's last press conference predictably went on for a while and the left-hander answered the plethora of questions with consumate ease. When asked who was the best bowler he faced, he spoke most of Shane Warne. Although, he said, that Warne wasn't the "best" bowler and that Lara found him easy to play against, he explained that he always made him think, while the Aussie always seemed to be one step ahead in the heat of the battle.

Exclusive: Warne won't light up Rose Bowl

Has Shane Warne done the right thing?

Australia's thrashing of England over the summer Down Under, coupled with his retirement, left Warne a busy man.

And after announcing that he would be staying at Hampshire, the former Test leg-spinner obviously forgot to consult club officials about the coming season.

This is because the Rose Bowl looks like becoming one of the first public places to outlaw smoking - months before the nationwide ban takes effect.

The Daily Echo reports that the club is consulting members about the move but have they contacted cricket's most famous smoker?

If not, those pavilion tea breaks, with Warne, let's say, 93 not out or nine wickets to his name, will certainly be an interesting place to be.

Melbourne (mellow) drama

Last night, a reporter cousin and I were drinking with some locals. Word spread that Shane Warne was going to announce his retirement. A quick phone call to Cricket Australia put the story to bed: nothing in it.

This morning, the world's media crashed the MCG for the final Test chapter in Warnie's legendary and entertaining career. I've written an online piece for Cricket World Magazine on today's events, which you can read here.

It was clearly the Warne way to quit at the top. He also stated his intentions on getting his home life back on track, and one thing that struck me was the fact that if he intends on doing so why is he playing for Hampshire for the next two years?

The England team's media managament have also jumped on today's news and decided it was probably a good time to bury semi-bad news as they say, with Steve Harmison announcing his retirement from the one-day game.

Anyway, what can Warnie achieve in his two more years with Hampshire? Will he be a good commentator? Feed your comments...

Nutley's Ashes nuggets

It's time to unwind today with a few Ashes links. 12 days in Perth, the world's most remote city, was enough for me and just by walking around Melbourne, I have already encountered its vibrant and cosmopolitan atmosphere. And the "G" looks imposing too. Shane Warne's mentor Terry Jenner reckons Ian Bell will be the leg-spinner's 700th victim there: the Warwickshire man may have turned a corner in his Test career but Jenner's quote is enough to send any batsman over the edge, especially on Warne's home turf.
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Okay, let's forget Warne for a moment. It's Monty Mania time at the MCG in some circles. Geoff McClure's piece in The Age gives readers the usual 20 things no one knew about Monty while he says that England's cult hero will be given a roaring reception from the Bays.
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If you want to know who Phil DeFreitas dressed up as at England's Christmas party back in the days then you can listen to the latest Ashes podcast that I've done for Nobok Sports. Elsewhere, if you want to find out about Beefy's 51st birthday bash then Ted Corbett's recent Ashes Diary is up at Sportstar, while Andrew Flintoff's lbw dismissal is re-enacted by the excellent Ashes Blog - a pivotal moment on the last day, ending any hopes England harboured of winning on day five.

Golden Globe for Warne

Another memorable day's cricket. Ali Cook's century, Glenn McGrath's penultimate over and Shane Warne's histrionics the highlights.

He is a legendary bowler, but Warne must be stopped in his tracks when it comes to excessive appealing and the subsequent theatre he puts on in his disappointment when no finger goes up. On too many occasions Warne spun round looking for the decision to go his way, only to stay half-way down the track, shaking his head, hands on hips and bemused within himself that the batsman wasn't half-way back to the pavilion.

It's the Warne ploy, of course, to pressure the batsman but shouldn't match referee Jeff Crowe step in? The umpire would never rise to it, although Warne and Rudi Koertzen, standing at Warne's end for his long spell, at one point looked to be joining in on the fun when his body language suggested that one of Warne's deliveries was a particularly juicy one.

Hair today

If Warney thought he might get a quiet summer with Hampshire before the Ashes campaign, he has been sorely mistaken. Nobok's No.2 cricket legend has been in the news again, but this time for his hair-loss treatment ads, which were found to be in breach of British advertising industry rules.

The Hampshire skipper's image appeared beneath a headline reading: "Advanced Hair, Yeah, Yeah!", followed by the phrase: "Warnie, Warnie, Warnie." The 36-year-old was quoted as saying: "I've been hearing it for years but to me I've always taken it as a warning. And that warning was that if I didn't do something about my hair loss they may well have been chanting 'Baldy'!" However, the standards watchdog concluded that the ads had over-used the rules against celebrity endorsement.