Exhibit A: Ian Thorpe pulls out of the Australian swimming team for the Commonwealth Games because of the flu. Who is first to know?

I've been providing some cheap entertainment for CricInfo readers on the 23 Yards blog over the past week.

Now Amit Varma is one of India's better known bloggers - I often enjoy reading India Uncut - but his socio-economic world view is, well, a tad different to mine.

... a part of our community might be regarded as suspect because many were recent immigrants. They put the strictures of their faith above Australian law and recognised a foreigner as their highest authority. Their loyalty and patriotism were suspect, particularly when newspapers published stories of secret training camps in the Blue Mountains for young men planning to fight against Commonwealth forces.

Australia 434 for 4 lost to South Africa 438 for 9.

Having not followed the game last night, I awoke with horror at the scoreline on the 7am news on the radio. As Tourism Australia would say, "bloody hell".

http://sport.guardian.co.uk/cricket/story/0,,1728691,00.html

Freedom of expression came at a high price for a teenager sent home from school for styling his hair like his cricketing hero Kevin Pietersen. Although Pietersen has now shaved off his trademark hairdo, its punk spirit lives on in 15-year-old Carl Ferris, right, who refused to go back to class after being ordered by teachers to get rid of his "extreme" style.

Congratulations to Andrew and Rachael Flintoff on the birth on Wednesday of their 6lb 14oz baby boy, National Public Radio newsreader and Alaskan mafiosi Corey Flintoff.
With the distinguished American broadcaster's birth coming thirteen days early, His Freddiness celebrated at Mohali on Thursday by winning the toss and scoring 4 not out.

The Marylebone Cricket Club has announced on Thursday the dates and venues for the Ashes tour of Australia in 2006-07:

I've just been fined $100 by two Revenue Protection Officers of the State Transit Authority for travelling on a bus with an invalid ticket. I don't know any further details. The officer confiscated the ticket and refused to tell me how it was invalid. His reply to my repeated requests for details were "You should know what date it expired" and "You should have a better idea of what's on your belongings."

Separation of church and state? What's that? The following resolution was passed by Baulkham Hills Shire Council at their meeting this week:

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