You don't have to wait until cricket mate. I have been involved heavily in baseball over the years and still a big fan of the game, both here in OZ and OS. I follow Melbourne ACES here and Atlanta Braves OS.
It's been a busy and great week here as I have the World Series happening OS and ACES playing in their new comp OS in South Korea. Both live broadcasts. ACES left Australian Baseball Legue at end of last season and joined an OS comp. On Tuesday just gone an 18 innings game was witnessed by me and thousands of other fans through a live broadcast and 58,000 people at the LA Dodgers, Dodger Stadium. 9 innings is a standard game. The game went for so long I had a numb bum. The Dodgers won that game, but Toronto Bluejays won yesterday's game, making it 2 all.
Melbourne ACES have won 7 out of nine games and play in semifinal tomorrow sometime TBC. Then if they win that game go into the final Saturday. Their move to the OS scene has paid off for them but I wasn't too confident earlier this year.
So, see, Cricket is not everything
Must go as World Series about to start game 5.
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Live Life On Your Terms
DOUGChief One Feather (Losing feathers with age)
TUG.......2014 Holden LT Colorado Twin Cab Ute with Canopy
DEN....... 2014 "Chief" Arrow CV (with some changes)
The beer will be tonight (Friday) during happy hour more like 4-5 hours
2.00pm today (Friday) here is the ACES game.
Toronto won game 5 yesterday Phil making them 3 wins and the Dodgers 2 wins. If Toronto win game 6 tomorrow they win the World Series and happy times. If not, goes to game 7 on Sunday. It's really the pointy end of the tick (Bat) now.
Keep Safe on the roads and out there Phil (and enjoy your cricket)
__________________
Live Life On Your Terms
DOUGChief One Feather (Losing feathers with age)
TUG.......2014 Holden LT Colorado Twin Cab Ute with Canopy
DEN....... 2014 "Chief" Arrow CV (with some changes)
There will be a couple of hard decisions for George Bailey and his mates before the Adelaide test Collo. Lyon was crapped off big time at being left out and Cummins returning.
The interview with McCullum was interesting. It looks like he is having second thoughts about bazball, but it might just be too late!!
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It is better to keep your mouth closed, and let people think you are fool than to open it, and remove all doubt.
I reckon McCallum and Stokes have put England well behind with that ridiculous Bazball rubbish.
The only time England looked to be able to fight back was when Stokes and Jacks played like "real" batsman to nearly put England back in the game again.
Starc has been dominant and brilliant but he has also been assisted by some backyard cricket batting from a talented but coaching misguided top order.
The first test was a farce and McCallum and Stokes style of play indicated a massive weakness.
I think the selectors have an easy job for Adelaide.
Cummins in, Lyon in (although his behaviour with his comments when "rested" were very poor and could consider himself lucky to get a berth). If I were a selector I would be pulling him aside for a quiet but succinct chat.
Doggett out, Inglis out. Carey is good enough to bat six against a third rate England team and Starc 7, Neser 8 and Cummins 9 can currently hold a bat better that the England top three.
Inglis a bit unlucky but Doggett lacked penetration and might be a good shield bowler but didn't worry the Poms too much and he is probably 10KM below in pace.
Khawaja out, he is not fit enough now for that level and his footwork has always been poor, Weatherald has superior footwork to Khawaja who pokes too much outside off peg early.
Also, not impressed with Khawaja for his bringing his politics into sport, happy to see him fade away. A bit like Lyon, let the performances talk instead, my late father always used to say to me "runs talk" or, "let the ball do the talking".
Head is good enough and versatile enough to bat anywhere, if a young opener (other that that grossly over-rated Konstas) shows some ability, then Head can easily drop back to his preferred batting spot.
All in all, the tour has been a sad flop so far with a very talented England team hamstrung by poor team management.
They have probably brought out their most lethal bowling attack since John Snow, but the fact their major strike bowler brings a pillow to a test match says lots about their commitment and drive.
Rmoor, totally agree with your comments. In an interview with McCullum after the game, he said that if anything, they had "over trained"prior to the match and they are now heading off to Noosa for a few days R and R!!!! That says it all for me.
I have always been doubtful of Stokes ability as Captain, and I wasn't all that surprised when McCullum sent a message out to him to change his field settings. I have been watching the great game for more years than I care to remember and I have never seen that happen to a Captain.
There was obviously some tension between Archer and Stokes, maybe because of his field settings, Archer did not bowl at his best speed and , when he had a few words with Smithy, frustration?, he came off second best with that as well.
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It is better to keep your mouth closed, and let people think you are fool than to open it, and remove all doubt.
I have never considered Stokes as captain material, neither do I recognise McCallum as a quality coach.
When this Bazball rubbish first surfaced I thought it to be a ridiculous tactic. There is a time and place to turn the heat up with the bat. First ball of an innings is not an good choice one would think.
I spotted that fielding instruction to be sent out, I think Ricky Ponting picked the same thing at the time.
This "over training" bit is more McCallum rubbish. Steve Waugh used to say "the more I train, the luckier I get".
It seemed to work OK for him.
I think McCallum, like Justin Langer was with Australia are, put simply, just poor choices as coaches.
A mate I play golf with mentioned on Saturday, when his son was playing for Australia, Langer played with his head and set his career back terribly at the time.
I don't think he was the only one, another old team mate's brother was the Australian bowling coach at the time and Langer abused him also, only to cop it back bigger and better.
Puny batsmen taking on big burly fast bowlers can have bones in it.....
Back in the 70's teams did not have coaches, why do teams need these ego driven over-paid washed up old cricketers anyway???
I played under some excellent captains, several former Sydney first grade captains, two country firsts captains, they were all great cricket minds and tacticians.
I really don't see the need for all these coaches, bowling coaches, batting coaches, a head coach - really???
Possibly one assigned tactician maybe, all a bit too much.
Maybe England would be better off with a "batman" to carry all Archer's pillows and sleeping attire into matches for him if he is that tired?
Smith seemed to rightly point out to Archer in that heated moment that he only bowled faster when the test was effectively over.
Pretty fair comment that, Archer looked pedestrian in his first spell of the match but then turns on the heat when the match is all but over? Go figure.
Maybe he was just a bit too tired at the time?
Anything over 150 KM per hour is frightening and really stirs a game of cricket up.
Against the new ball I once faced one of the fast bowlers John Dyson once named as one of the six top fast bowlers he ever faced in his whole career.
In about the his 3rd or 4th over he bowled me 3 balls I could not see. I had a rough idea where they were, but was simply rooted to the spot and dumbfounded where the ball was.
It wasn't until the third one I found out where it was, I felt the wind from it as it passed between my top lip and my nose at it went past - unseen.
It is frightening when someone sends them down at that pace.
Also that was in the pre-helmet days.
Absolutely scary stuff, I remember walking away to square leg, bewildered and with fear setting in.
The likes of Lillee, Thomson, Aktar, Holding, Roberts etc really liven up a game of cricket.
It is shame the two England quicks are so brittle and sleepy, they are the key to any success England may have.
Im still trying to work out what bazball is.
In any case, one strategy wont fit. A good captain observes whats going on and develops and implements a plan to tempt a batsman into playing a shot and sets the field accordingly like a trap.
Steve Smith is an expert at it.
Stokes, not so much.
Cummins has had some pretty good cattle in his herd.
There has always been conjecture about bowlers as captains.
Richie Benaud wasn't a bad one.
I think Cummins is a good captain, he seems to display all the right qualities.
Noted that Wood has returned to England and out of this series with his dicky knee playing up.
England really needed Wood and Archer to be bowling 150 plus to give our Aussies some some ginger but the dicky knee and the pillow display has left the poms with a pedestrian popgun attack for the rest of the series.
Good. Stokes, the former "wanderer" Bairstow, Broad etc have a touch of arrogance about them and a bit of come uppence from the Aussies brings a chuckle.
With the huge amount of money these players earn now it is little wonder that Khawaja, Hazlewood, Lyon etc hang around for so long.
It appears the wear and tear on the body could see the end of Khawaja and sadly Hazlewood's careers in the very near future.
I think it would be a selectors error to include a doubtful fitness Khawaja into a winning side in Adelaide.
Would rather see Kellaway blooded and retain a fighting Weatherald than a 38 year old Khawaja re-instated.
more like 4-5 hours 
