As I said on Friday, Shane Warne has wrapped up the 2006-07 Midwinter-Midwinter, the rickeyre.com BoG award for this summer's Ashes series.
(BoG stands for Best on Ground, a more appropriate term I believe than MVP)
The Midwinter-Midwinter is not an Award, Trophy, Prize or such, it is simply the Midwinter-Midwinter. Named after one of the few cricketers to have played for both sides in Australia v England Test competition.
"You got an MBE, right? For scoring seven at the Oval? It's an embarrassment."
- Dr Shane Warne to Paul Collingwood MBE, Sydney Cricket Ground, 4.1.07.
Now we all know that the credibility of the British honours scheme is in tatters, but the decision to hand out gongs to the 2005 Ashes team a year ago was really a bit silly, something that I wrote about at the time.
You have to hand it to the Murdoch comic books. One week they are celebrating - in advance - the Lord Of The RingsText Alert's 700th wicket, the next week they are celebrating his 1000th wicket. With that rarest or rarities, the full page colour liftout commemorative poster.
So what are we celebrating again? Shane Warne's 1000th international wicket. As in all "full internationals". Let me explain, by introducing the rickeyre.com vegetable index (More about the fruit index later)
Was this just another Pommy sledge, or a pagan ritual aimed at raising Sir Neville Cardus from the dead?
Melbourne cricket fans denied two days' unbridled adulation of Shane Warne as Test finishes early. Film at 11.
Dates and venues for the Shane Warne Final Farewell Tour have been announced through till September 2007, and can be viewed at a glance on the Hampshire section of the CricInfo website.
Tour dates for 2008 will be released towards the end of November next year. Tickets from the usual outlets. Be there!
"It wasn't enough for Melba to become one of the greats of the Golden Age of Grand Opera. She wanted to be the greatest. her glorious voice took her to the top; her ruthless determination to overthrow any rival kept her there long after the voice had begun to decline. Revealed in this relentlessly candid yet sympathetic study is Melba the drama queen, the monstrous prima donna, the canny businesswoman, the generous and kindly friend, the unique star who refused to fade."
The crowd erupts. The Waltz King is beaten by a glorious leggie.
Well I'll be.
I really thought he was going to stay on for the 2009 Ashes. What we will now see is a SCG dead-rubber which plays second fiddle to Warnie's swan-song in the manner of Steve Waugh 2004.
Here's the SMH report broken just a few minutes ago.
I wonder if Cricket Australia will give him a gold watch, or maybe a gold mobile phone...
