Following on from my post about the Cricinfo awards, I thought that I would write about my team of the year in Test Cricket. I'm less concerned about the other two formats :)
My team is below, and I think most of it picks itself. The unlucky man for me is Josh Hazelwood. He for me was the pick of the Australian bowlers during the Test series against South Africa and Pakistan.
1. David Warner (Australia)
2. Alastair Cook (England) (captain)
3. Kane Williamson (New Zealand)
4. Steve Smith (Australia)
5. Virat Kohli (India)
6. Jonny Bairstow (England) (wicketkeeper)
7. Ben Stokes (England)
8. R. Ashwin (India)
9. Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka)
10. Mitchell Starc (Australia)
11. Dale Steyn (South Africa)
--
12 Joe Root (England)
Some reflections on the Path to Life. "You have made known to me the path of life; you fill me with joy in your presence" (Psalm 16:11)
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Monday, January 16, 2017
Ten albums
I've seen this in a few places, list ten influential albums when you were a teenager. I've taken this to mean that albums influential to me while I was a teenager. I've limited this to one per artist. Most of the albums were released in 1991 or 1992.
U2 - Achtung Baby (1991) - Not much to say about this album than hasn't already been said. Almost the perfect album for me.
R.E.M. - Automatic for the People (1992) - Was a toss up between this one and Out of Time. Automatic for the People got it because of Everybody Hurts (the film clip is one of the more moving ones you will see).
Bon Jovi Keep the Faith (1992) - Loved the film clip for Bed of Roses. Keep the Faith was not only the first Bon Jovi album I owned, and one of my first CDs. I've never forgotten their Eastern Creek Show in 1995. Jimmy Barnes and Keanu Reeves band (Dogstar) were support. But I think Dogstar didn't play because of the weather. We stood through a massive hailstorm before Bon Jovi took the stage.
The Corrs - Forgiven not Forgotten (1995) - I've always liked traditional Irish music, and The Corrs were easy and fun to listen too. One of the first concerts I saw too.
Jewel - Pieces of You (1994) - A distinctive voice (and sound), and I love her lyrics.
Def Leppard - Adrenalize (1992) - Loved the attitude of Let's Get Rocked (which was my introduction to Def Leppard). They one band that I would have loved to seen live.
Living Colour - Stain (1991) - One of the bands which were big with my school group. They were the first band I saw live (at the Hordern Pavilion, in 1993, Set list). I'd only heard their song Love Rears its' Ugly Head (on a compilation tape).
Genesis - We Can't Dance (1991) - I recall being moved by their song No Son of Mine.(the song is the story of a boy who runs away from his abusive home and then returns home to be rebuked). Really love Phil Collins voice. The album also features the fun I Can't Dance.
Roxette - Joyride (1991) - Really enjoyed the title track, and the distinctive voices of Pers and Marie. Was such a blast seeing them live in 2014, such a fun show.
Bryan Adams - Waking up the Neighbours (1991) - After Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Every I Do (I do it for You) was heard quite frequently in our house, and I got into the album from their.
A few other albums I recall fondly from the period were Extreme's - Pornograffitti (1990) (the song with the biggest radioplay was More than Words) and Mr Big's - Lean into It (1992) - a great album, and the biggest (only) single was To Be With You. Though I wasn't into them at the time, Pearl Jam's Ten is another brilliant album from that era which I'v grown to love.
U2 - Achtung Baby (1991) - Not much to say about this album than hasn't already been said. Almost the perfect album for me.
R.E.M. - Automatic for the People (1992) - Was a toss up between this one and Out of Time. Automatic for the People got it because of Everybody Hurts (the film clip is one of the more moving ones you will see).
Bon Jovi Keep the Faith (1992) - Loved the film clip for Bed of Roses. Keep the Faith was not only the first Bon Jovi album I owned, and one of my first CDs. I've never forgotten their Eastern Creek Show in 1995. Jimmy Barnes and Keanu Reeves band (Dogstar) were support. But I think Dogstar didn't play because of the weather. We stood through a massive hailstorm before Bon Jovi took the stage.
The Corrs - Forgiven not Forgotten (1995) - I've always liked traditional Irish music, and The Corrs were easy and fun to listen too. One of the first concerts I saw too.
Jewel - Pieces of You (1994) - A distinctive voice (and sound), and I love her lyrics.
Def Leppard - Adrenalize (1992) - Loved the attitude of Let's Get Rocked (which was my introduction to Def Leppard). They one band that I would have loved to seen live.
Living Colour - Stain (1991) - One of the bands which were big with my school group. They were the first band I saw live (at the Hordern Pavilion, in 1993, Set list). I'd only heard their song Love Rears its' Ugly Head (on a compilation tape).
Genesis - We Can't Dance (1991) - I recall being moved by their song No Son of Mine.(the song is the story of a boy who runs away from his abusive home and then returns home to be rebuked). Really love Phil Collins voice. The album also features the fun I Can't Dance.
Roxette - Joyride (1991) - Really enjoyed the title track, and the distinctive voices of Pers and Marie. Was such a blast seeing them live in 2014, such a fun show.
Bryan Adams - Waking up the Neighbours (1991) - After Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Every I Do (I do it for You) was heard quite frequently in our house, and I got into the album from their.
A few other albums I recall fondly from the period were Extreme's - Pornograffitti (1990) (the song with the biggest radioplay was More than Words) and Mr Big's - Lean into It (1992) - a great album, and the biggest (only) single was To Be With You. Though I wasn't into them at the time, Pearl Jam's Ten is another brilliant album from that era which I'v grown to love.
2016 in Sport
That theme of 2016 in sport, would be unexpected. Looking across different competitions last year was certainly the year of the underdog. Leciester City winning the Premier League, Cleveland the NBA, the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series, and in Australia, both the Sharks and Bulldogs broke long droughts to win Premierships (and the Sharks won their first). Not to forget Ireland's win over the All Blacks in Chicago.
Those stories are great for sport, a reminder that on any given day, anyone can win. They usually don't, but they can.
The Rio Olympics were also held during 2016. I've written about my highlights here.
Who knows what 2017 will hold. In terms of my expectations - I'm hoping to see Australia and New Zealand both qualify for the World Cup in 2018. Interesting to see they are expanding the cup to have 48 teams in 2026 (Read more). Meaning, theoretically at least, qualification for the next World Cup will be easier.
As always, I am hoping to see the Swans make the top four. I suspect the Giants will begin the season as favourites, and it will be interesting to see how they handle that.
I am anticipating a the Warriors to start slowly, show promise, then crash and burn, but who knows :) The Rugby League World Cup is held later this year, suspect Australia will win that.
January also brings the Australian Open, which seems more open than in previous years. Still hoping Federer has another Australian Open in him...
Rugby - excited for the Lions tour of NZ in June-July. Will be quite an interesting series. The Women's World Cup is held this year too in Ireland.
I'm excited for the launch of the Women's AFL competition next month, and the relaunch of the Netball competition. It is an exciting time for Women's sport.
Cricinfo awards
It's now the end of January, so Cricinfo has published their nominees for the performances of the year in the three formats of cricket. I am also stoked that this year they have included the best performances in Women's Cricket too.
Read the Men's nominations and the Women's nominations. Its great to reminded of some of the great performances from the past year.
So my picks are below:
Women's Nominations:
Batting: Ellyse Perry's 93* which guided Australia to a tense 2 wicket win against South Africa.
Bowling: I'd pick Leigh Kasperek, her 3-13 guided NZ to a win over Australia in the World T20 cup.
Full nominations.
Test:
Batting: Kusal Mendis 176* against Australia in Sri Lanka. His innings turned the test in favour of Sri Lanka. Who won their first test against Australia in 15 years (and eventually their first ever series win, 3-0).
Hon Mention: McCullum's 54 ball hundred in his final test.
Bowling: My pick is Mehedi Hasan Miraz. His 6/77 guided Bangladesh to their first win against England.
Hon Mention: Kagiso Rabada his 5/92 turned the Perth test in favour of South Africa. It was an impressive performance (and more notable after Dale Steyn was injured and took no further part in the series).
Full nominations
ODI
Batting: David Miller, his 118* guided South Africa to a successful chase of 372. Currently the second highest successful chase.
Bowling: Kane Richarson 5/68 v India. He removed Kohli and inspired another Australian victory.
Full nominations
T20
Batting: I still find it hard to remember many T20 games, but its hard to forget Carlos Braithwaite's four sixes to win the World Cup final against England.
Read the Men's nominations and the Women's nominations. Its great to reminded of some of the great performances from the past year.
So my picks are below:
Women's Nominations:
Batting: Ellyse Perry's 93* which guided Australia to a tense 2 wicket win against South Africa.
Bowling: I'd pick Leigh Kasperek, her 3-13 guided NZ to a win over Australia in the World T20 cup.
Full nominations.
Test:
Batting: Kusal Mendis 176* against Australia in Sri Lanka. His innings turned the test in favour of Sri Lanka. Who won their first test against Australia in 15 years (and eventually their first ever series win, 3-0).
Hon Mention: McCullum's 54 ball hundred in his final test.
Bowling: My pick is Mehedi Hasan Miraz. His 6/77 guided Bangladesh to their first win against England.
Hon Mention: Kagiso Rabada his 5/92 turned the Perth test in favour of South Africa. It was an impressive performance (and more notable after Dale Steyn was injured and took no further part in the series).
Full nominations
ODI
Batting: David Miller, his 118* guided South Africa to a successful chase of 372. Currently the second highest successful chase.
Bowling: Kane Richarson 5/68 v India. He removed Kohli and inspired another Australian victory.
Full nominations
T20
Batting: I still find it hard to remember many T20 games, but its hard to forget Carlos Braithwaite's four sixes to win the World Cup final against England.
Hon Mention: Glenn Maxwell's 145* against Sri Lanka.
Bowling: I'd pick Mitchell Santner's 4/11 against India in the World T20 cup.
Full list of nominations.
Bowling: I'd pick Mitchell Santner's 4/11 against India in the World T20 cup.
Full list of nominations.
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