Five wickets for twenty runs. If Pakistan were consistent, they'd be dangerous.
Pakistan squandered a great start at the SCG yesterday. From 3/241 to 8/260 and thence to 9/292 when bad light (at the SCG, aherm!) ended play at 5.21pm eight overs early.
Star of the day was twenty year-old Salman Butt, who joined the pantheon of visiting Test batsmen to score a hundred at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The Pakistan captain at the 2002 Under-19 World Cup, Butt has scored his first Test century in his fifth Test after making an ODI hundred against India in November.
A rather staggering report from Indo-Asian News Service:
Indian sports federations reluctant to help tsunami-hit
By Qaiser Mohammad Ali, Indo-Asian News Service
New Delhi, Dec 31 (IANS) While people in different walks of life are coming forward to help the survivors of the tsunami disaster, leading sports federations of India have shown a certain lack of interest in doing so.
Over 122,000 people, including thousands in southern India, died in South and Southeast Asia in Sunday's tsunami.
These are my top ten world news stories of 2004, in reverse order (actually, it's eleven):
=10. People power in Venezuela and the Ukraine
In Venezuela, attempt after attempt to remove Hugo Chavez from power came to an end when his presidency was reaffirmed in a recall vote in August. In the Ukraine, a presidential election was so blatantly rigged that public pressure forced a fresh poll, and a win for opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko after he survived a bizarre assassination attempt.
The Australian Tax Office saved $700,000 by changing the printing of tax returns to a new paper supplier. Today's Sun-Herald explains the consequences for ATO staff.
Dropped catches don't help. Yasir Hameed is 54 and Salman Butt 34. MacGill got belted for two overs before lunch.
Shane Watson, who is 5-2-9-0 at lunch, is the third Australian from the 2000 U19 World Cup in Sri Lanka to make his Australian Test debut, following Michael Clarke and Nathan Hauritz. (Another member of that squad, Ed Cowan, makes his NSW one-day debut at the WACA later today.)
Payneham CC, from the Adelaide Turf Cricket Association, won Grandstand's Cricket Club of the Year award.
ABC Grandstand has selected five finalists for its "Cricket Club of the Year" competition. With the announcement to be made a lunchtime today, the five nominees are (in no particular order):
(i): East Coburg Cricket Club (Vic)
(ii): Randwick-Petersham Cricket Club (NSW)
(iii): Poowong/Loch Cricket Club (Vic)
(iv): Payneham Cricket Club (SA)
(v): AKA Sports Cricket Club (NSW)
A steady first hour, Salman Butt and Yasir Hameed opening for Pakistan. Shane Watson, 2005's first Test debutant, has bowled already, one over for one run.
Today must officially be a sellout. Channel 9 broke into "The Prince and the Showgirl" at 10.45am to start live coverage in Sydney 15 minutes late. There must be plenty of pissed-off Marilyn Monroe, Laurence Olivier or Terence Rattigan fans out there!
The Sydney Test starts in a few minutes. The game is not a sellout, therefore channel 9 in Sydney is currently showing The Prince and the Showgirl starring Marilyn Monroe and Laurence Olivier.
Gates opened for the members at 7am this morning. SCG webcam at 7.27am showed the members stand already starting to fill. I wonder what they had for breakfast.
The "top 10 news stories of 2004" lists from around the world tell more about the quality of media these days than they chronicle the year's major events. But bear in mind that most were announced before the tsunami struck on December 26.
The Associated Press named their top 10 world news stories of 2004. Make of them what you will:
A quick summary of my New Year:
