"The fence prevented tourists from walking into town on the biblical-era route likely used by Jesus and Mary. Instead, they were forced to enter through an Israeli checkpoint. Shops, restaurants and businesses that once thrived remained shuttered, split off from the rest of the town by the barrier."

- 30,000 pilgrims flock back to Bethlehem for Christmas, Ha'aretz, 25.12.05

Coverage of some of this year's celebrations of the birth of Christ:

A Merry Christmas to all who celebrate the birth of Jesus today. To everyone, I wish peace, happiness and harmony for the festive season and beyond.

And to the Australian and South African teams, don't work too hard in the MCG nets today :-)

This issue of The Net Sessions is a bit different to my previous podcasts, indeed to most conventional podcasts, as it is a Podcast With An Appendix.

Also enclosed with this audio file is a playlist file which will take you - provided you are on-line at the time, of course - to a number of other audio files available for streaming on the net dealing with cricket over the last couple of weeks.

Brad Hodge's 203 against South Africa at the WACA continues to demonstrate the remarkable depth of batting reserves available to the Australian selectors.

Both he and Mike Hussey have given excellent service since being promoted to the Test arena during the West Indies series. Hussey has two centuries in four Tests, though his 23 and 58 in this game means his Test batting average has actually dropped to double figures (88.7 to be precise).