Boxing Day Preview

Cricket – Australia versus India

Australia lead the four test series 2-0 after wins in Brisbane and Adelaide. Both tests were close for at least three days until Australia took control. India will rue a few moments and decisions in both matches. While the visitors batting has looked strong enough their bowling still looks light on, and taking the twenty wickets required to win a match looks difficult. They took 16 in Brisbane as Australia faltered slightly chasing not much more than a hundred to win. With Umesh Yadav and Ravi Ashwin the Indian’s looked stronger in both batting and bowling and this will give them some hope for the third test. The key wickets for India are those of David Warner and Steve Smith. They have been Australia’s best batsmen for the last twelve months and are holding the side together while others contribute sporadically. Shane Watson and Brad Haddin are hardly even doing that and both are in desperate need of a descent score. It will be a day to remember for Joe Burns who will make his debut for Australia, replacing the injured Mitch Marsh. Australia’s bowling attack has wicket takers and match winners throughout and it is this that gives them the edge.

Tip – Australia to win and secure the series.

 

Cricket – South Africa versus West Indies

It looked like being a one sided series before a ball was bowled and the first test did nothing to suggest otherwise. South Africa batted the West Indies out of the match then dismissed the Windies twice without needing to bat again to secure an innings plus victory which broke plenty of records. It’s hard to imagine anything other than a South African victory in the second test. Robin Peterson and Quinton de Kock may have been ruled out with injury but in Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers South Africa have arguably the two best batsmen in the world at the moment (2 and 3 on the ICC batting list behind Kumar Sangakarra) and a pace attack that is as dominant as any seen in the last twenty years. The West Indies lost Kemar Roach, who had looked their most dangerous bowler, to injury during the first test and he will be missing for the rest of the series. They will be hoping that Shivnarine Chanderpaul and some of their young batsmen will show some discipline and fight to make their showing more respectable.

Tip – South Africa to win.

 

Cricket – New Zealand versus Sri Lanka

The most difficult to predict of the three tests that start on boxing day sees New Zealand taking on Sri Lanka in Christchurch. Both sides strength is in their batting, though if the ball is swinging both have fine proponents of swing bowling. New Zealand are coming off an impressive series against Pakistan in the UAE and will be confident that they can defeat Sri Lanka given the home ground advantage. They’ll be missing the big hitting Corey Anderson but with Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor and Brendan McCullum still boast a middle order that are all in good form and will be eager to impress at home.

Tip – New Zealand to complete a trifecta of home winners in the boxing day tests.

 

Sailing – Sydney to Hobart

The Rolex Sydney to Hobart starts in Sydney Harbour at 1pm on Boxing Day. With 117 boats to take to the start line there will be three waves. The most interest will be in the first, with the likely winner to come from one of the five super maxis that will be lining up. Wild Oats XI has dominated the race in recent years and will once again start as favourite. But this year the race for line honours could be far closer than some of the recent battles. Comanche, an American yacht, is making its open water debut. Only a few months old it has all the mod cons and a quite different design. It and Perpetual Loyal are the biggest (and heaviest) boats in the field and will be favoured by the conditions forecast for the opening 12-24 hours. The initial forecast has strong winds against the current which will generate big surf and swell. When the winds drop off Wild Oats, which is lighter, has greater manoeuvrability and will come into its own. Ragamuffin 100 is the fourth of the super maxis. It has been rebuilt considerably since last year and thus is a slightly unknown quantity. Ragamuffin and Perpetual Loyal are on the third line of betting at $7. Rio 100 is the fifth and least fancied of the super maxis.

In addition to the race for the line honours is the arguably more prestigious race for Handicap Honours. This is calculated based on a boats time, length, weight etc. Wild Oats has won both categories twice but this year conditions are expected to favour the smaller boats, with conditions improving after the first day or so. The weather also means that a race record is extremely unlikely. The first boats will probably cross the line sometime on Sunday afternoon, but the race for handicap honours may not be decided until much closer to New Years Day.

Monday Musings

Firstly to some domestic football (soccer) action in Australia. Canberra United were crowned W-League champions on Sunday after defeating the highly fancied Perth Glory 3-1. It has been an up and down year for Canberra, who suffered a mid-season slump and only qualified for the top four on the final day of the regular season. Perth dominated the regular season and the minor premiers had only lost twice all year going into the grand final. But Canberra secured a famous upset to be crowned champions for the second time. For Canberra Ashleigh Sykes was the hero with two goals in quick succession late in the second half. It could have been a different story had Canberra goalkeeper Chantel Jones not saved a penalty with the score at 2-1. Many of those in action will be eagerly awaiting the announcement of the Matilda’s team, due out today, for next year’s World Cup.

Wellington Phoenix were expected to struggle in the A League this season, and some were even tipping them for the wooden spoon. Their home form so far this year has been excellent but on the road they have struggled to secure results. That changed on Sunday and it could well be the day that the Phoenix announced themselves as true contenders in 2014/15. And it was a familiar face who stole the show, with Nathan Burns scoring both goals in a 2-0 win over Sydney FC. The win lifts the Phoenix above Sydney and into fourth on the table. Sydney had the better of the first half but were over-run and out played in the second as the Phoenix secured a deserving win. Sydney have now won only one of their last seven matches and Graham Arnold needs to find the spark to switch the Sky Blues back on.

That was the only upset of the round in the A-League. Elsewhere Melbourne City were victorious in their derby with Melbourne Victory 1-0 and the ninth placed Newcastle jets defeated third placed Adelaide 2-1. In the weekends other fixture the table topping Perth Glory thumped the Central Coast Mariners 4-1. Western Sydney Wanderers may be the reigning Asian Champions League winners but domestically their season has been a disaster. They were not in action on the weekend as they returned from the Club World Cup in Morocco (won by Real Madrid) and now find themselves languishing at the bottom of the table and four points behind the Jets. They may have two games inhand but a miserly three points from nine games is simply not good enough. Next up is a trip over the Tasman to take on the high-flying Phoenix.

Jacques Kallis and Michael Hussey may be one of the oldest opening partnerships going around in professional cricket but age was no barrier in the Big Bash on Sunday. Hussey and Kallis were dominant for the outset. Between the opening duo they struck 26 fours or sixes, though both will have been disappointed to fall short of their hundred. Hussey fell for 96, while Kallis was left on 97 not out as he was unable to get the three he needed for his century off the last ball of the innings. The 160 run stand was the second highest partnership in the history on the Big Bash and set up a commanding total of 208 for the Sydney Thunder. The Brisbane Heat lost wickets early and though they managed to stabilise collapsed to lose their last five wickets for only five runs as they were all out for 152 in response. On Saturday the Melbourne Stars poor start continued as they were beaten at home by the Hobart Hurricanes. Darren Sammy may not have top scored but he was the difference as he blasted 28 from just 12 deliveries at the end of the innings as the Hurricanes scored 47 off their final two overs. Set 190 to win the Stars made just 138, of which captain Cameron White contributed 62.

And finally, there was disappointing news for Australian cycling fans this morning with the announcement that the reigning national road race champion and Tour Down Under winner, Simon Gerrans, had crashed and broken his collarbone in a training ride yesterday. While his recovery is expected to be swift he will still miss both races in January. The crash happened while Gerrans was out cross training on a mountain bike. While a massive blow to Orica Greenedge before the season has even started the pressure will now be on Gerrans’s teammates to step up. In the lead up to both races I’ll have a closer look at the course and favourites.

Friday Forecast

The week before Christmas and plenty of sport to keep all but the most particular of sport followers entertained.

1. Alpine Skiing – Val Gardena-Groeden (men) and Val d’Isere (women) – The Alpine skiing World Cup is in full swing, with this weekend’s racing taking place in France and Italy. In France on Val d’Isere the women will compete in the Downhill on Saturday and then the Super G on Sunday. Over at the Italian resort of Val Gardena the men will follow Friday’s Downhill with the Super G and Giant Slalom on Saturday and Sunday respectively. What’s the difference between all these? In simple terms the alpine skiing events can be ordered Downhill, Super G, Giant Slalom and Slalom, with the gates getting more frequent and the course more technical. Downhill is the most open and thus has the fastest racing.

Tips – Men – Kjetil Jansrud to win the Downhill and Super G, Marcel Hirscher the Giant Slalom. Women – Lindesy Vonn to win the Downhill and Tina Maze to win the Super G.     

SUQ – 6 – The actions can be difficult to catch but if you can find the telecast then it is well worth watching.

 

2. Cricket – Australia versus India – Second Test – The second test looked like being evenly poised at the halfway mark, but some late innings hitting has given Australia the edge. Earlier in the day India had looked set for a solid first innings lead but a dynamic run-a-ball 88 from Mitchell Johnson helped drag Australia back to level pegging, with some even later hitting from Mitchell Starc securing a first innings lead, which now stands at 95. With the players at tea the Indian bowlers are still toiling and trying to take the tenth and final Australian wicket. Yet again Steve Smith was the mainstay of the Australian innings, with a well-crafted 133. Once again the main difference between the two sides has been the batting contribution from the tail. While India’s last four wickets added 80 Australia’s have added 256 and counting. It is a familiar story and one that continues to hurt India’s chances of winning test matches.

Tip – A great cricket wicket, still plenty of help for both batters and bowlers. A result looks definite and while India could win it’s hard not to feel that the match has turned. Australia has the lead, the momentum and a formidable record in Brisbane.

SUQ – 8 – India needs to win to have any chance of winning the series. It is all to play for in Brisbane.

 

3. Cricket – Australian Domestic Big Bash League – Last year the Melbourne Stars didn’t lose a game until the semi-final. Last night they were obliterated by the Adelaide Strikers in the season opener. The Strikers chased down the Stars 148 runs with ease, thanks mainly to the striking of Tom Ludeman. Last season he couldn’t get a game, last night he scored the fastest domestic BBL half century ever. It too just 18 balls. He slowed down slightly but still finished with an unbeaten 92 off 44 deliveries. This weekends fixtures see the Sydney Sixers take on the Melbourne Renegades, Melbourne Stars versus Hobart Hurricanes and Sydney Thunder host Brisbane Heat – a stormy weekend instore indeed. The opening games are extremely difficult to judge, and much of the interest will be around the performance of imports, such as Jaques Kallis. Kallis will be looking to inspire a Sydney Thunder side that has traditionally struggled in the twenty over format. Kevin Pietersen has been brought in to strengthen an already formidable Melbourne Stars batting line-up, and while he made an impressive 66 (off 46) on debut his performance was overshadowed by that of Ludeman. The Stars lost wickets at key moments in their opening games and will need to avoid that if they are to beat the Hurricanes.

Tips – I’m going to go with all the home teams – Sydney Sixers, Melbourne Stars and Sydney Thunder.

SUQ – 7 – Only early and the tension will build.