Eoin Morgan yesterday made a five-hour dash by plane to join his former teammates and compatriots Ireland for their World Cup match against India at Hamilton - he wasn't selected.

I once wrote a really angry column when a football team that didn't win a game won the Halberg supreme award.

When talk turns to salivating opening-round match-ups, it usually centres on Melbourne, where Australia meets England, or Adelaide, where those great foes India and Pakistan will meet.

Jesse Ryder is being counselled by some of those close to him against trying to make a return to international cricket.

The All Blacks took their travelling show to Toyota Stadium yesterday, home of football team the Chicago Fire.

It seems likely Sonny Bill Williams will get his first start for the All Blacks since 2012 on Sunday at Soldier Field.

"Chicago welcomes the New Zealand All Blacks," was writ large in LED lighting above the freeway as the bus rolled out of O'Hare Airport towards downtown.

Lou Vincent's life ban is, for him, the culmination of a series of dreadful personal decisions, writes the Herald's Dylan Cleaver.

Not for the first time in my life I wondered: "How could you cheat this magnificent sport?" writes Dylan Cleaver.

"Twenty professional cricketers have used mental health support programmes recently, and a clinical psychologist says more are waiting to be seen."

As a Hindu, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar knows the universe is a complex place, that actions taken in this world have consequences in the next.

If it was a tacking duel for the sporting public's affections, Dean Barker has, until the past two days, picked all the right shifts while Ma'a Nonu is still adrift on a sea of indifference.

It's Mad Monday season and, right on cue, the insanity starts.

The problem with cricket these days is (insert your own clause here) the proliferation of T20 leagues/ player power/ DRS/ visible tattoos and ... no, please stop me before I take a bath with a live toaster.

He's a real card, that Israel Dagg. The type of guy that can keep you entertained for hours armed only with a sock puppet and a whoopee cushion.

It might have escaped your notice, but New Zealand had been doing rather well in Dunedin, aided and abetted by an England team that played the first half of the test like a side that had spent the previous week in Queenstown.

As a lifelong cricket fan trapped in a city without a suitable test venue it is not easy to admit this - but Western Springs should stay exactly as it is.

Brendon McCullum wants Tim Southee to be his vice-captain, he's said as much, writes Dylan Cleaver. "He wants him to be his v-c for all the right reasons."

Taylor is a good man and a very good player. He doesn't deserve this humiliation, writes Dylan Cleaver. "Wrong-headed decisions have become as much a part of everyday life at NZC as cups of tea and spreadsheets."

League to Eden Park, rugby to Waitakere Trusts, cricket to Western Springs, speedway to Mt Smart? What is going on? Dylan Cleaver investigates.