Australia vs South Africa, 1st Test Day 3

An excellent day's cricket.

I haven't watched much cricket recently, but it's good to see the Australians can sometimes dig in and fight hard. It's not easy to watch Hodge leave so much ball, especially in this era of Twentytwenty cricket, but by the end of the day he proved it was the right strategy. The pitch is clearly abit slower than a normal Perth pitch, so patience and good shot selection was the order of the day. I'm yet to be convinced that Hodge is the man for the job, but he performed very well yesterday.

Meanwhile Hussey continues to show that he is of the highest calibre. Every time he's been called upon, Hussey has shown that he is technically sound, an outstanding fielder, an intelligent cricketer and a team player. We can't ask for much more than that.

Of the South Africans, Andre Nel has impressed. What a psycho! He's all fire and brimstone, glares and nostril flares! You can't help but enjoy the spectacle, despite the fact the fact that he doesn't even bowl that fast! He has been extremely accurate though. A good find for the South Africans. Nel will provide them good service for years to come.

More insightful comments to come through out the summer...

Retraction

Alas I had to take down the picture of Santorini since it wasn't displaying properly in IE. I'll repost when I work out how to get it to display as I want.

Muddy's Best

Muddy took alot of great photos whilst we were on our European adventure in 2004. But none better than the one I have just put up. That picture would not have looked out of place in any travel magazine in the world! Although whoever owned that place in Santorini is a real b_stard. No one deserves that view every day surely!

Btw does the spell checker in the post actually work? I click on it and it does nothing. I highlight text and it still does nothing...?

Japan is the Key

To make it through to the final 16 in next years World Cup, the socceroos must defeat Japan. There are those out there that might think a draw is good enough. I disagree. In a pool with Brazil and Croatia, Australia must defeat Japan.

It is the first match, it will set the trend, give confidence and put pressure on the other teams in the group. If they lose it's almost all over immediately because they would then have to beat both Croatia AND Brazil.

Can't wait.

An Emperor's Gambit

The UN elections did not go well for Napoleon. Not that he had any illusions of gaining the secretary generalship. The support just wasn't there. Napoleon had centuries ago made it quite clear that he heeded only his own thoughts and desires. The French empire was barred shut almost four millennia previously and remained so to this day. Admittedly the Incans finally pried open the gate, but only because they had the firepower to force it open anyway. For everyone else France was a land of arrogance and mystery.

The Aztechs had surely played a role in his UN defeat. His divisions of infantry were at this moment preparing to storm their last bastion on the northen continent. They had gambled that his war with Victoria had weakened the French empire sufficiently for them to a seize rich French cities on their eastern border.

Unfortunately for the Incans, Napoleon had suspected just as much and divisions of cavalry had been deployed secretly awaiting the Incan invasion. The French cavalry had struck fast and frequently as Aztech foot soldiers surged over the border. Their rolling retreat had bought enough time for the French Grand Army, fresh from their conquest of England, to rush west and lift the seige of Lyon.

From that point the Aztechs knew that their lightning strike had failed. What should have been a precise blow had become a relentless struggle. Both armies were blooded, well trained and well led. However France had the edge in production and logistics.

After fifty years of struggle the once mighty Aztech empire was now a backwater kingdom in exile. They had sued for peace of course, knowing full well there wasn't the slightest hope. Theirs was an empire too rich to be left unsubjugated.

And so all that remained for the proud Aztechs was to ensure that France would be humbled at the UN. Napoleon would have lost the vote in any case. But the Aztech had worked hard to ensure that it became a foregone conclusion.

Bah, the UN was fool's construct! Created to protect the weak from the strong. Strangely it was the Incans that had established the United Nations in the first place. Napoleon had to admit it was an amazing gesture from the worlds greatest civilization. They could afford to be magnanimous. The Incans had also created the first section of a craft they believed would allow them to travel the cosmos. Grand dreams indeed.

Dreams that he hoped to shatter! It was all or nothing now that the Incan space program was advancing so quickly. The Grand Army had received their first tank battalion a month prior. Assembly lines were manufacturing more by the day. His spies were starting to infiltrate the Incan hierarchy. All was not yet lost. Or so he hoped.

He had never seen himself as a gambler. But this time he would do just that. One throw of the die for glory... or total annihilation.

Viva La France!

So this is blogging

I've finally joined the blogging word. Let's find out if I can still write intelligibly!

Hopefully this will start me down the path to writing that novel that's been floating around in my head for so long.

In other news race riots in Cronulla. Sigh, I need to get that taverna in Santorini as soon as I can.