Australian Cricket

When I was younger and fitter I used to play cricket, so I’m still quite interested in the game. In fact, I did hope to play some cricket again, but my car accident finished that off.

Being an ‘old’ cricketer I like to watch the cricket and I am dismayed by some of what I see in Australian cricket these days. There is plenty of great cricket and good cricketers in Australia. Michael Clarke is playing the best cricket of his life and then you have David Warner, the new fast bowler Jackson Bird, etc. However, I am dismayed by plenty also.

The ‘rotation’ policy or player management, or whatever they want to call it is simply a disaster that officials don’t get. ‘Fess’ up and admit it was a mistake – please! Australia’s spin stocks are terrible and it is simply frustrating seeing some of the bowlers being consistently picked to bowl spin – I’ve heard some of the commentators saying  ‘he needs to spin the ball.’ Yeah, that’s a no brainer for a ‘spin bowler.’ The number of players being picked without having the opportunity to have a fair go and yet the odd player or two who should have been dropped ages ago have been able to play on and on and on…

The battle of the Australian batsmen with swing bowling is a problem of course, but that is something the batsmen need to learn to cope with and is simply part of the game. Australia has very little in the way of swing bowlers these days (and spin by the way), so I don’t think picking other batsmen will make a great difference. The battle with swing is great to watch, yet the good batsmen will develop the means to stand up and be counted in the face of quality swing bowling.

I’m sure there is plenty of other things to think about, but they appear to be the biggest challenges facing Australian cricket. The Ashes will be very interesting.

Big Breakfast and the Paper

Something I quite like to do is read the paper and have a Big Breakfast somewhere. I know of a couple of places that I go to from time to time to have what’s known as a ‘Big Breakfast’ and to read the paper – I usually also have a 600ml Coke with it. So as you can see, it’s not necessarily the healthiest breakfast you can get. I don’t do it too often, but today was one of those times when I do. In fact, it would be the first time in months that I have done so. I’m on holidays and it was something of a holiday treat. I’m not likely to do so again for some time, as I am trying to be a bit healthier and loose a bit of weight, but with the occasional indulgence.

As you can see in the picture, there’s the Big Breakfast and the paper as well. So what’s in the Big Breakfast? Well in this example of the Big Breakfast there were 2 fried eggs, 2 slices of toast, some chips, 1 sausage, some bacon and 2 small hash browns. You can get some fried tomato at this place if you want it, but I always choose not to – they make me ill. The quality of the Big Breakfast can be a little up and down, even in the same establishment. This one was pretty good, but I do get the occasional poor slap up from time to time, which can be disappointing. I generally don’t give a place too many opportunities with poor quality meals.

On of the worst things in a Big Breakfast, or indeed any type of fried egg, is getting some shell served up with the egg. Places that do that to me don’t get many second chances – I really hate that.

So that was a Brunch I like to have every so often – yeah Brunch. I usually don’t have lunch when I’ve had a Big Breakfast – far too many calories if I did that!

Three Sisters: Blue Mountains

Some of the photos that I’ll be posting over the next little while were taken some years ago on very ordinary cameras, so they won’t be all that brilliant. However, the photos posted here are not all about quality, they are about memories, scenery and landscapes, and so on.

The picture posted below is of The Three Sisters, which is a rock formation in the Blue Mountains to the west of Sydney at Katoomba in New South Wales, Australia. I can’t remember exactly when I took the photo, but expect it was in the late 80s or early 90s. As can be seen in the photo, the Blue Mountains is a beautiful wilderness area.

HAWKS NEST – OCEAN BEACH

Today’s photo was taken at Hawks Nest, the neighbouring town to Tea Gardens (where I currently live). I went down to the beach and decided to take a few shots of the coastal scenery close to where I live.

As can be seen, the weather was fantastic and the surf pretty small. The scenery however, was still pretty special I think. The water here is of great quality – crystal clear. Not a bad beach.

For more photos visit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinmatthews/sets/72157622123626697/