1917: Chicago White Sox
1918: Boston Red Sox

2004: Boston Red Sox
2005: Chicago White Sox

"It really is a heavy book. It'll break your shoulder."

- Margaret Throsby on "Out Of My Comfort Zone" by Steve Waugh, ABC Classic FM, 25.10.05

Christmas is coming, and that means another book from Steve Waugh. Retirement from the game may well mean no more diaries, so this year we get his autobiography. That, of course, means hitting the media trail. Two interviews that he gave to ABC Radio this morning are both online.

A great American died on Monday. An icon of the civil rights movement. Rosa Parks.

Here's the obituary in the Detroit Free Press, from the city where she spent her final years. I won't say any more here except to point to the unfolding news and commentary through Technorati and Google News.

Today would have been Day Six of the "Super Test" at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It seems an eternity since the game actually ended.

Meanwhile, in real cricket, Tasmania are following on against Queensland while Victoria have taken first innings points over WA.

There aren't enough Novocastrian bloggers out there, let alone Novocastrian bloggers about cricket. This from the city that gave you Greg Matthews, Gus Gilmour, Belinda Clark, Sandman Abbott, Dutchy Holland, Johnny Watkins, me...

From "One Salient Oversight" comes a thought-provoking analysis of Flintoff, Pietersen and the Jerk Factor.

I haven't had much to say about the unfortunately-named Super Series which ended two and a half days early yesterday. And I still don't.

Issue Four of the world's first cricket podcast series, The Net Sessions, is out now. A big thank you to everyone who has been waiting patiently for the next edition to come out. And thank you for all the feedback that I have received.

Yes it originated in a Murdoch fishwrapper, but this story is just too silly to ignore, as reported by The Register:

Coming Soon: The MP3 Breast Implant

It was heartening to hear Ehsan Mani announce at the awards night on Tuesday that the ICC had decided to donate $US 500,000 to the Red Cross to assist in relief for victims of Saturday's devastating earthquake in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. There was also a moment's silence observed during the evening's function in respect for those affected by the disaster.

The ICC paid a fitting tribute to the memory of the late Don Adams in their announcement of the 2005 ICC Player of the Year in Sydney last night.

For the first time in the two-year history of the awards, the Gold Sobie was shared by Jacques Kallis and Andrew Flintoff. The two all-rounders each polled 86 points in the player of the year voting, thus equalling the number allocated to CONTROL agent Maxwell Smart, so lovingly portrayed by Adams, who died on September 25.