South Africa Perform well at Newlands ODI (Trying to level the series)

It has been a great batting performance from South African batsmen. Graeme Smith has set the tone trying to dominate the England bowling in the first ten over’s. Amla and Smith batted well in a first two powerplays putting the English bowling under immense pressure. This has forced the English captain to hold off the third powerplay which have played into the hands of the South African team. This meant that the batsmen could rotate the strike and play themselves in and they could then attack when the powerplay had to be taken. Smith eventually fell to a ball playing the ball on to his stumps. Amla have also played a big part in South Africa reaching the score, which set the stage for AB de Villiers to play a blinder of an innings. He played with freedom and attacked the bowling also running between the wickets wit Amla and later with Pietersen. The only negative from the South African team was the batting of JP Duminy going out to a pull shot scoring 6 from 15 balls faced

South Africa VS England 2009 ODI Newlands

South Africa has won the toss at Newlands and elected to bat in their cricket match agianst England. Newlands which has been known for pear shape match results where the team batting first has a huge advantage over the team batting second. The reasons for these phenomena can be attributed to the lack of movement from the ball during the day comparing it to the night. It has been known that the ball is doing something from the deck and through the air. England will be doing well getting close to the huge total that South-Africa has managed to score. The score for the South African innings was 354 for the loss of 6 wickets. Special mention needs to be made in the way AB de Villiers has batted like a rock dispatching the ball all over the park 121. He was well supported by his fellow batsmen. England that has got match winners in their team but it is going to be tough.

Kallis Out ODI's against England

Jacques Kallis has been replaced by Hasim Amla for the rest of the ODI’s against England. Kallis that has not responded on treatment for a bruised rib have been diagnosed with a cracked rib after a second scan yesterday. This have been a cruel blow to the South African team just before the start of the Odi. This will be a good opportunity for Amla to prove that he can play a integral part in the South African line-up. Meanwhile South Africa has gotten of to a decent start to there innings. The current score is 43 for the loss of 2 wickets after 9 overs. South Africa will have to consolidate their innings as there was a loss of two wickets in short succession.

Proteas vs England ODI Centurion 22 November 2009

So it is Cricket at last since the rain has set in over Gauteng over the past week. It is the first time that the weather is looking good and that we are sure there is going to be some good cricket played. England has won the toss and elected to bowl due to some moisture around. I think that this is the prudent decision that might prove to be the correct one for them. I think Smith would have done the same if he won the toss. The only good thing positive for the Proteas is that it is not overcast , but you can be assured that there is going to be some lateral movement.
Then there is the omission of Jacques Kallis which has been removed from the line-up due to a suspected cracked rib. This will also put him in doubt for the rest of the one day internationals and even for the first test against England.
Anderson will be opening the bowling and the Proteas will have to be at their best if they stand a chance of getting off to a good start.

Smith and Bosman dominate T20 at Centurion

I am happy to report that the batsmen have done the job in the 20/20 match last Sunday. Gleam Smith and Loots Bosman were superb in the way they went about in there dismantling of the English bowling attack. It has been calculated low risk cricket that have placed the pressure squarely on the English bowlers. The opening partnership was the biggest in the 20/20 form mostly because both batsmen like to dominate the bowling and that they were on a role.
Bosman nearly became the second batsmen in international T20 match to reach the elusive three figure total. He ended up with 96 runs unfortunately hauling out to a shortish delivered ball. He tried to hit the ball for a boundary not backing down putting the team upfront. Smith also played absolutely excellent and it is evident that his elbow is much better than last season in the way he is stroking the ball with immense power. It has also been evident in his shot selection that he is not only limited to certain regions he is playing his shots. This will make things much more difficult for the English especially in the upcoming test series.

Proteas vs England 20/20 Centurion

So there is again some weather around in the Johannesburg, Pretoria area. The Duckworth / Lewis method of determining the eventual winner might be again come into play. South Africa has probably been the team most affected in this manner, but it is probably because they only have one game plan, and that is to chase a target rather than to set one. It has cost them two advances in world cup matches one against England in Australia and one against West Indies in South Africa. I sure don’t hope that DL will be used today to determine the winner of today’s match. The previous game has shown signs of being a cliff-hanger up to the point that the rain has intervened. If this first encounter has anything to go by the tour will be something else and the intricate matchups something to behold and to enjoy.

South Africa VS England 20/20 match

I went to the South African vs England 20/20 match tonight. I think Standard bank was greedy selling the tickets for much more than they should have. I think they could have had about an extra 10 000 people at the Wanderers tonight if the pricing was done more prudently and even if there was a drop of R30 to R50 on the cover price they would have made more money in the stadium. I have spent more than that amount at the stadium. I don’t know how these corporate companies work out the price, but the one stand had 3 dancers only dancing for 10 to 20 people in the one corner. That was really lame that the stadium was not packed like during the 20/20 matches that were hosted by the Indian organizers a few months ago. They worked with a much better plan trying to fill the stadium to capacity and gaining more revenue on the Advertising and the selling of memorabilia to fans.
I think Standard bank should revisit their prices and that they might make more friends in the future. People don’t like being ripped off especially if they don’t get the moneys worth from what they are getting. I think the chance of games being rained out id quite good, luckily there was some play tonight, and it the chances of being a cliff-hanger was good. With the rain coming early and putting an end to proceedings I have felt a bit short changed. You are welcome to give your views on this.

The Springbok starting XV to face France in Toulouse on Friday

So the Springbok team for the match Friday evening will be as follows:
15 Zane Kirchner (1)
14 JP Pietersen (30)
13 Jaque Fourie (51)
12 Adi Jacobs (28)
11 Bryan Habana (54)
10 Morné Steyn (9)
9 Fourie du Preez (52)
8 Ryan Kankowski (9)
7 Schalk Burger (53)
6 Heinrich Brüssow (10)
5 Victor Matfield (89)
4 Bakkies Botha (63)
3 John Smit – Captain (90)
2 Bismarck du Plessis (30)
1 Tendai Mtawarira (19)


So here is my take on the team selection and things that we will have to keep a look out for – There will be the battle up front that is going to be fundamental in the outcome of the match. I have seen that a hard battle upfront certainly have an effect on the way a team dominates and controls the match. France have one of the biggest front five combinations in world rugby at the moment. We must see if South Africa can stand up to the task that have been set by these players.
I do think that South Africa should fare well in the loose with Heinrich Brüssow and Schalk Burger both fetchers and complementing each other well. It is a pity that Spies was ruled out due to injury as that would be by first choice.
I do think the most stringent test will fall on Zane Kirchner and Adi Jacobs which has to fill cardinal positions and will be playing in stead of De Villiers and Steyn which have been playing well during the whole Tri Nations campaign. I predict a very close game that might be won by drop goals and penalties in stead of the wide open running Rugby. Good luck Boks!

Preview to the 2009 Currie Cup Final Bulls vs Cheetahs

This is certainly going to be unforgiving hard physical rugby being played at Loftus with no prisoners taken by either of the two competing teams.

The Bulls will probably have the upper hand in both the lineout’s and rumbling the ball up with a good kicker to convert and capitalizing on any errors form the Cheetahs. The Bulls will have to be patient in their buildup and going through the phases. Regardless of the score there should not be a letup during the last twenty minutes of the match. It was during this time that the Cheetahs have normally caught up with their opponents in the past seven matches.

The Cheetahs will probably have the upper hand in the scrums and has shown in the past few weeks of the Currie Cup that they have a formidable pack upsetting the springbok front row in the semi finals. Then there is also Brussouw that will probably get some turnovers or win penalties with his phenomenal speed and quick recovery, putting pressure on the opponents. Then there is Potgieter that can also slot some testing kicks.

It will certainly be a tight game. Good luck to both teams but we would like to see a winner and not a draw.

The lack of some of the Springbok players for the Sharks has not gone unnoticed

The lack of some of the Springbok players for the Sharks has not gone unnoticed. Players like the beast and John Smith have looked lacked lustred in their performance. It was noticeable that both of the players have struggled in the scrums and might have been the reason that they have not performed in the match. The calling of the word Beeeeeast was lacking in the game which has gone to show that there was seldom a rollicking run by the beast that normally end up with a gain in field position. John Smith was just as quite in the game and this have shown up to be one of the reasons that they lost out to the Cheetahs. Players in the Shark team that was playing well includes Bismarck Du Plessis, Kankowski, Pienaar which seemed to be the form players for the Sharks. The loss to the Cheetahs was a definite surprise for me but the Cheetahs always seems to get stronger to the end of the season when the weather normally gets warmer and the chance for running rugby is a better prospect.

Looking back at the week’s Semi-final match between the Sharks and the Cheetahs.

Looking back at the week’s Semi-final match between the Sharks and the Cheetahs it has been clear that the Sharks have been maybe overconfident in their match approach. The Cheetahs has always been a team that finishes strongly in the last 20 minutes of the game and has proved to be the case in the match. The non performance of some of the staunch Springbok players in the Sharks outfit is also a course for concern in the year end tour to England. The front rows for the Sharks have been totally dominated in the scrums by their Cheetah counterparts. I personally think that Os du Rant has done wonders to the cohesion in the front row for the cheetahs and they will still improve into the future. Maybe they can become a force to be contended with in the future and maybe also in the super14 competition. It will be interesting for me to see how the Bulls front row is going to stand up to front row of the Cheetahs in the final. I personally think that the Freestate has got the best front row in the Curry Cup competition.

Formula1 refuelling 2010 – Should Diesel be allowed to compete in next years championship or will there be only a few finishers.

I am thinking back to Formula1 era where there were no refuelling allowed, it must be said that was when the turbo versions of the formula1 cars was allowed. I seem to remember a race where there were only 3 or 4 cars that managed to finish the race due to all the other participants running out of fuel. Should Diesel cars be allowed in next year’s competition? At least there fuel consumption is a lot better than the normal formula1 cars and will be lighter in weight and can go further with the same amount of fuel . This should be a good contest between the fuel and diesel with both having some advantages and disadvantages for both and where diesel has improved rapidly during the last few years

The ICC cricket final - What a prospect.

Congratulations to New Zealand cricket for beating Pakistan convincingly in the ICC champions trophy match at the Wanderers. New Zealand played exceptionally well and beat Pakistan against my expectations to setup a final at Centurion against Australia. This is going to be a magnificent day for both teams trying to win the ICC competition for a second time. I think New Zealand has an even chance of winning this competition but Australia will start as favourites in the match. As explained in a earlier post I think that Centurion has one of the most consistent pitches during both the innings. Australia does not have a huge advantage over New Zealand as New Zealand always seem to have some impact in New Zealand, Australia matches and Australia only had two players batting on the pitch that is going to be uses for the final where it was only Watson and Ponting getting the bulk of the runs in their semi final match against England. So if there players can be dismissed cheaply it will be game on. The strengths for New Zealand other then the opening bowlers will be the spin of Vitori in the middle over’s that always seem to get some purchase from the wicket and also a wicket or two during this spell. I think he is a better bowler than Haurits in the middle over’s that will narrow the margin of victory for Australia or swing the game New Zealand’s way. So this game is not a one horse race and I am looking forward to see what the final result will be. Good luck to both teams you deserved to be in the final.

Australia vs England in ICC champions trophy match (Prediction update)

So England has come up about 25 runs short because of some pretty tame dismissals and not batting out the overs. England has done got the runs on the board and Australia has to chase it now and the rest is history. The weather is quite fair with some cloud around so here is my prediction – Australia will find it quite challenging in the beginning of the innings due to the bowling conditions, but if they can preserve their wickets in the first ten to twelve over s they will be set to progress to the finals. My gut feel is that Australia will progress to the next round and win the match by four or five wickets with about 4 over’s in hand.

Australia vs England in ICC champions trophy match (Prediction)

So it is time to look into the crystal ball and yet another game between England and Australia but this time at Centurion in Pretoria. Centurion has one of the best batting pitches definitely in South Africa with true bounce and not deteriorating throughout the day. I think this pitch is probably the best one day “day game” pitches in the world but does benefit the team batting first in a “day night” game mainly to two factors. During the day the pitch is so flat and does not deteriorate a whole lot, but at night there is just a bit of nip around but does not moisten the ball sufficiently to detract from bowling and the second factor will play into the team bowling second will be that the ball will discolour quicker due to the moisture on the ball that makes it difficult to pick up from the pitch.
England posses a devastating team in suited swinging conditions for bowling, but I don’t think Centurion will have wet enough conditions and Australia has a hard working attack that will pick up wickets on a regular basis.
My Prediction Scenario one -- England wins the toss and elects to bat. England will score 287 to 293 for the loss of seven wickets. Australia should win with 4 wickets in the second last over.
My Prediction Scenario two – Australia wins the toss and elects to bat. Australia will score 310 to 320 with the loss of six wickets. England will fail to get the needed runs to win and lose by about 25 to 17 runs if there is no movement of the ball at night but will win by 45 it there is assistance.

Alonso to be unveiled for the Ferrari Formula 1 team.

It is expected that Alonso will be signing his contract with Ferrari. This will be a valuable commodity in next year’s competition and Ferrari has spent good money to acquire the services of this talented driver. I think that he could be a sure bet for next years driver championship competition. Alonso has proved time and time again that he is a above average driver and with a better competitive car next year he will certainly be a force to be reasoned with. With this move to Ferrari the only thing will be to fit in with the team form the outset to assist him in going for the competition
It will now be interesting to see how the refuelling rules will impact the championships – Read my views on the refuelling.

England VS New Zealand in ICC Champions trophy

So New Zealand has bowled out England for a meagre total of 147 on a weather assisted Wanderers pitch. With the ball swinging nicely this will be a quite daunting target to achieve. If New Zealand can beat England convincingly they will go to the next round of the competition and the hopes of Sri Lanka dashed. New Zealand has done the basics well to ask the questions right from the start of the match and earned their right to be in this position. It is now up to the batsmen to show their skill and worth to see if they can progress in this years ICC champions trophy.

Pakistan progress to next round of the ICC Champions trophy

So Pakistan also progressed to the next round of the ICC champion’s trophy due to the fact that the game between Australia and India was rained out and them being at the top of the pile. Meanwhile the rain looks set to continue today and might influence the outcome of today’s proceedings. It has been a great tournament so far that have produced interesting outcomes

England on top in ICC match against South Africa

England has outplayed South Africa in their ICC champions match. It seems like South Africa will also fail to proceed to the next round of the competition. I would like to see only day matches played at Centurion as it has been shown that the team batting first in the

Graeme Swann has been introduced to the bowling attack

Graeme Swann has been introduced to the bowling attack in the 21st over going for a four in his first over. The performance of Swann will be pivotal in the outcome of the match. To my thinking the partnership between Smith and de Villiers will be the make or break to their chances in the ICC champion’s trophy competition.

Graeme Swann has been introduced to the bowling attack

Graeme Swann has been introduced to the bowling attack in the 21st over going for a four in his first over. The performance of Swann will be pivotal in the outcome of the match. To my thinking the partnership between Smith and de Villiers will be the make or break to their chances in the ICC champion’s trophy competition.

Graeme Swann has been introduced to the bowling attack

Graeme Swann has been introduced to the bowling attack in the 21st over going for a four in his first over. The performance of Swann will be pivotal in the outcome of the match. To my thinking the partnership between Smith and de Villiers will be the make or break to their chances in the ICC champions trophy competition.

South Africa VS England in ICC 2009 Second innings

South Africa has made a good enough start to the run chase on Centurion in their match against England in the ICC champions trophy match to be in front 89 for the loss of two after 17 over’s of the scoring rate compared to rate of England at the same stage. The two batsmen out for South Africa are Herschel Gibbs and Jacques Kallis, both of whom were caught in a soft manner. At the crease at the moment are AB De Villiers and Graeme Smith

New Zealand beats Sri Lanka in ICC trophy.

With Sri Lanka losing against New Zealand today it seems that my prediction can still come true that New Zealand can reach the next round of the competition.

Eoin Morgan has played a gem of a innings.

Eoin Morgan has played a gem of a innings at the tailend of the South Africa, England game in the ICC trophy competition. The final score was England 323 for the lost of 8 wickets. Now we will have to wait and see if this is a bridge to far for the South African team to come back and score the runs to proceed to the next round of the competition or is this is wickets for them

England VS Sri Lanka Update

England has set South Africa firmly on the back foot in the ICC champions match with Shah eventually out for 98 well played runs. The only thing that is sure is that this is going to be one hell of a game if South Africa gets close to the target set. There was a incident that I saw where the backup runner has backed up about 5 meters. This brings to mind that mancad should be ruled legal dismissing a player as the benefit of backup is not fair to my mind.

Collingwood and Shah are playing the spinners quite comfortable

Collingwood and Shah are playing the spinners quite comfortable with no real spin as the other day against New Zealand. The lack of spin will bode well to the South African team trying to negate the spinning ball in their run chase. England has reached 100 for the loss of two wickets in the 22 over. I am certain that there is a big chance of a run out ending the partnership as the calling by both Collingwood and Shah is not the best

Parnell has bowled a maiden over

So Wayne Parnell has bowled a maiden over from the opposite side of the field that he started of. This will put some pressure on the England batting with the spinners coming on and probably bowling in unison

England undoing good start

England has undone some good work in the first few over’s by losing two quick wickets in succession. Boucher took a magnificent catch to dismiss Straus. Straus tried to play the ball fine to third man, but could only manage to find a thick edge. The new man at the crease is Shah and Collingwood. There was no sign of spin yet. By my thinking the spinners will come on as soon as the fifteenth over

South Africa VS England in ICC 2009 Update

So Joe Denly forced his hand once to often trying to clear the fence. Denly took on Jacques Kallis with a forcing shot down to square leg. The catch was held neatly in the deep by JP Duminy. Meanwhile Kallis left the field with a suspected side strain and we will have to wait and see if he will play any further part in the match bowling.

So England has won the toss and elected to bat.

So England has won the toss and elected to bat as expected and in the first few over’s proved to be a good decision with 17 on the board after only 3 over’s being bowled. They were out of the blocks in similar fashion as Sri Lanka in their day night match against South Africa. This is going to be a thriller of a match with South Africa having a good record at this venue. Gibbs is has been recalled for this game and we will have to see what influence he will have on the game

South Africa VS England in ICC 2009

It is wonderful weather in Pretoria today with a mouth watering game in prospect at Centurion. South Africa will be taking on England in a deciding match in the ICC trophy match. My suspicions will be that the captain winning the toss will use be batting first to take some advantage of the conditions and to set a total rather than chasing. We will have to see how this pans out and the result of this decision on the outcome of the match

Owais Shah has been playing the anchor role.

Owais Shah has been playing the anchor role in the 50 run partnership with Eoin Morgan fighting for every run and playing ultra defensive. It seems like the game plan was to button down the hatches at one end and trying to score the runs from the other. Shah has just demonstrated a majestic shot over square leg, the first shot of intent as the score moves closer to the Sri Lankan score.

England VS Sri Lanka Update

England is coping better with the Sri Lanka unorthodox bowler Mendis than South Africa a few days ago. Both the England players at the crease tried to play the bowler with a straight bat and also tried to play the ball well away form the pads.
Collingwood has played selectively attacking cricket with big over’s in between solid defensive cricket. The score have progressed to 63 for 2 wickets after 17 overs which should stand them in good stead in the latter overs. Murali have not started his bowling spell yet and I suspect he will do his complete spell without interruption from somewhere in the early 20th over

What is the scenario if England beats Sri Lanka in the Champions trophy?

The scenario will be that England , Sri Lanka and South Africa will have a victory each that will put England in poll position in the group because they only played one match in the competition. This will place extra pressure performing in Sunday’s match between England and South Africa as the winner will probably go to the next round. But the odds on three teams ending up with the same amount of points will be the favourite and it might boil down to run rate difference.
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England VS Sri Lanka Champions trophy match

The England cat is literally amongst the Sri Lankan pigeons in their Champions trophy match played on the Wanderers cricket stadium. The Wanderers gave more than expected assistance to the bowlers in the first few over’s and reduced the Sri Lankan team to four wickets down in the first few over’s that helped England to restrict Sri Lanka to 212. It is still going to be a tough ask for the England team to get the runs. The openers should be circumspect in the first few over’s and play each ball on its merit more than the olden day type cricket.
My view is that they should play save for the first 15 to 18 over’s and the number of runs scored then will make a big impact on the score chase scenario.

Ajantha Mendis has flummoxed South African

Ajantha Mendis has flummoxed South African left handed batsmen. Only bowling two deliveries to South African left handed batsmen and clean bowling both in his first spell of five over’s. Also tying down the scoring rate during his spell and putting Sri Lanka in a position as firm favourites to beat South Africa and sending them to third on the table of one day international rankings.
South Africa only had Graeme Smith until he received the first ball from Mednis and totally misjudged it playing down the wrong line. It will be interesting to see haw Mendis perform in the competition with the tracks giving assistance to spin.
The new rankings will be at number one Australia by a narrow margin then in second position India. Both these teams are in action in the other section of the competition.

ICC Champions Trophy South Africa VS Sri Lanka

It was quite clear that South Africa has been caught cold in there first match in the ICC champions trophy with both bowling and fielding has been shown up as mentioned in a earlier post. It is clear that it is not as easy after a long layoff as what the Proteas had to start firing from the outset.
In the South African opening bowlers was treated with distain and send to the boundaries on a regular basis. It has to be set that the pitch did not provide any assistance to the bowlers but that the lines and lengths of attack were not executed well.
Dilshan Telekeratne has blasted a quick fire 106 and was involved with a great partnership with Sangakara of 158 runs. If it was not for the tumbling of 5 wickets in the last 4 over’s the chasing score will have been much more than the 320 that was set as target by Sri Lanka. The death bowling have been much more improved but it was after the horse has bolted.
It will be interesting to see how good the South African batting will be under lights.
South Africa will have to produce a Centurion on Centurion to have a good chance to come near the score of Sri Lanka

Fabian Juries have been voted as the man of the match.

Fabian Juries have been voted as the man of the match in a losing course in the match between the Sharks and the Cheetahs. Plying for the Cheetahs for the first time this season Julies have played immaculately with relentless running from the back and combining well with the rest of the backline. It was indeed a breeze of fresh air to see someone counter like this. Julies more known for his sevens play might make an impact to the rest of the competition

Sharks vs Cheetahs 24-13

The final score in the game between the Sharks and the Cheetahs is 24 – 13. It was a physical game with the Sarks paying off mistakes form the Cheetahs. Neither team earned a bonus point in the match but the Sharks have been promoted to the top of the Log with their win

Will the sharks play for the Bonus Point?

Will the Sharks look for a bonus point in the final minutes of the Curry Cup competition between them and the Cheetahs? The bonus point will stand them in good stead for trying to benefit for a home semi final in the competition. With all the teams so close together on the log it might have a influence towards the latter stages in the competition. With everything to play for it will be quite interesting to see hew this competition pans out

Hernandez have slotted a nerveless penalty

Hernandez have slotted a nerveless penalty from close to the sideline to extend the Shark’s lead 21 to 13 leading by 8 points and leaving them the task to score at least twice.

Next 20 minutes Sharks vs Cheethas

The next 20 minutes will be influential in the outcome of this year’s Curry Cup. The Sharks have has lead from the start, starting like a house on fire but the Cheetahs have been closing the points deference ever so slowly. The Cheetahs have put up a fight in the Sharktank and the returning Springboks to both sides have made a difference in the intensity on the field

The Sharks vs Free State

The Sharks vs Free State is dishing up some spectacular running rugby for a change. Fabian Juries have been magnificent running from the back showing devastating speed. Free State is playing inspirational Rugby trying to force their way into the top four in the standings. If it was not for missed kicks from flyhalf it would have been an exceptionally close game

Griekwas have won the Curry Cup game against the Lions

Griekwas have won the Curry Cup game against the Lions 36-31

Riaan Viljoen has done it for Griekwas

Riaan Viljoen has done it for Griekwas scoring a try 5 minutes from time in the Lions Griekawas Curry Cup match in Kimberley. Griekwas is now 5 point to the good with only minutes left on the clock.matc

Herkie Kruger has slotted a penalty goal.

Herkie Kruger has slotted a penalty goal from some distance out to put the Lions in the Lead in the Curry cup match in Kimberley. The kick from the right hand side of the field cleared the crossbar to put the Lions in the lead by 2 points

Cat out of the bag for the Lions?

The Lions is starting to play very entertaining Rugby with Albert Hollenbach scoring a try narrowing the game to a one point game. The Lions still training by a single point after the conversion will still have to pull a cat out of the bag to ensure that they can proceed to the semi finals in the Curry Cup

Test if character for the Lions against Griekwas

Griekwas has scored two tries in short succession to take a commanding lead in the Curry cup match in Kimberly. Vermaak had to be stretchered off the field. This will be a test of character to see if the Lions can come back form this deficit.

Lions back in the lead

After 50 minutes of play between Griekwas and the Lions the score is 18 -15 in favour of the Lions

New Zealand VS Australia in Tri Nations

New Zealand have beat Australia convincingly in the last Tri Nations Rugby match in New Zealand. There were some brilliant moments during the match with Australia being beat to the breakdowns.
The final score was quite flattering for the New Zealand team with some soft tries being scored. The biggest bone of contention was the scrumming of both teams. The scrums had to be reset numerous times with valuable playing time going to waste. The administrators will have to look closely into this time wasting in test matches and the potential changing of some rules like One reset scrum and the second one in UNCONTESTED if there was no apparent problem with the scrumming of either team.
This is possibly why the time is stopped in NFL so that there cannot be a benefit from wasting time at scrum time.
What is your view on scrumming that falls apart and detracts from the spectacle of the game of Rugby?

ICC Champions trophy

Expectation is mounting as the warm-up matches for the Champions trophy is being played and some of the countries start to arrive in South Africa. The only teams still to arrive is Australia and England that is still in there closing match in England and Australia trying to white wash England it he current one day series.
The last match in England will start on the 20th September and will be flying out to South Africa soon after the completion of this match. It is indeed going to be a spectacle of a mini worldcup format with all the major strengths in Cricket being represented in South Africa. The first match will be between the hots South Africa and Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka that have performed consistently during the past view years will probably be the favours to win, with South Africa that only had a warmup match that thy played against West Indies.
Although South Africa won the match convincingly it will be a difficult task to beat Sri Lanka. Time It normally takes some time in the centre in a competitive match to gain momentum and form. With the South African team that took some deserved time out of competing before a tough season it might be a bridge to far to expect of them to start firing from the get go.

What was the reason behind the no refueling decision in F1

Was this decision made to save money in the racing calendar or was this done to prevent the controversy that happened a few times this year that one car was released by the lollypop man after fuel was taken onboard by one racer and another team fuelled with less fuel to try and jump a competitor in the middle stint? This is a bone of contention that can only be explained by the powers residing over the management of Formula1. The question at the top of my mind is : How will qualifying be influenced by this rule, will the team have to qualify with a full fuel tank and then have a certain amount of fuel added at the end of qualifying or will the team qualify with a empty fuel tank and then be allowed to add any amount of fuel at the end of the qualifying.

By my reasoning both ways of implementation will have benefits and disadvantages to next years racing. The benefit of the qualifying and addition of a certain amount of fuel will be quite heavy on the tyre usage but the team with the best car with a full tank will benefit. The advantage of the second type of qualifying will be that the fastest car will be at the front of the grid but the race might get compromised with filling the car and you might get a long procession of F1 cars that can’t overtake the front car until it is lighter.

I will be searching for answers and you are welcome to air your concerns and thinking around this factor in next years F1

I have found other views at http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2009/05/03/why-f1-will-be-better-without-refuelling/

No refueling in 2010 Formula 1 races: Will this cause more accidents at the start of the race?

News from formula1 is that here will be no refuelling in next year’s competition. My view on this news is that there will be more accidents at the start of the races as the cars will be carrying more fuel and will be more difficult to slow down especially at the start of the race with the cars in close proximity of each other. We will have to find out what the maximum weight of the cars will be set to . If anybody find out feel welcome to add it to this post
It will be interesting to see if there will be a review after the first half of the season as it will detract from racing if there is only a few cars finishing a race.

ICC champions League is starting soon

This will be the first competitive match for South Africa after a well earned rest after their successes last season. South Africa’s form will be tested by sides that have been paying well. The teams that have been playing well in the short fifty- fifty over version of the game include Australia, Sri Lanka. It will be a big ask for South Africa to step up to the plate against Sri Lanka starting their campaign against a team in good form.
Especially the bowlers did not have a test this season yet. This will be the start of a prolonged season against England that will be touring South Africa this season.

The teams playing:
Australia
England
India
New Zealand
Pakistan
South Africa
Sri Lanka
West Indies