Well that was a bit crap wasn't it? Unless you love cricket and feel like summer is upon us because there is sycophantic Mark Nicholas foaming over Australia's field settings and Ian Chappell slagging off the Australian top order before you've even managed to get your lips around your first beer on Day 1. "Khawaja is an inferior player to Smith, no disrespect but he's an inferior player..." Cue footage of Smith trying to mute Chappelli on the dressing room TV.
Click here for BYC Podcast #225: The Dutch Tawhirimatea
Sure, we reaffirmed how good Kane Williamson is, and saw how evil the pock-faced Mitchell Starc can be if we can just clatter him to the fence a bit more - but it was gut-wrenching to be walloped so comprehensively. Away from the onfield hiding, Ian David Stockley is holding has own and has started the commentary season in scintillating form - the segments where he reported one of his sons ("the football one") hadn't made it to the ground for the first session of Day 4 and when he told Steve Smith via the Sports Ears to declare now and give NZ a sniff were simply outstanding.
I watched the All Stars cricket game for past masters from Citi Field in Flushing Meadows. It was fine and wasn't pretending to be anything other than a half-paced walk around the park for subcontinental expat cricket fans in The Land of Hope and Glory. As Neil Maxwell said: "It's a group of retired blokes playing a game of cricket." That said, I won't be back for rounds two and three - but if I thought Sachin Tendulkar was a deity I would be right at home. Why wasn't Danny Morrison there to hyperventilate, humiliate or haka?
Morrison haka
