Redleg

Won't be putting $11m in the bank long term, it has obviously been earmarked for better use.

Go Aussies in the Games, help us forget the last test series.

No doubt about Bentleigh site being a valuable piece of land.

I think it would be safe to assume that there is a bigger game happening. I am confident that PJ and our CFO and the Board are not all idiots.

Interesting that Saints with about 15% more gaming revenue make 100% more profit than us. We must have a far higher expense ratio for every gambling dollar taken.

I think Gus is a see ball get ball player and not a tagger, not that he couldn't do the job if asked.

It was a tiring game last night and North have had longer to get over their last game. We will bring in fresh legs and probably Brayshaw will get his chance again and be among the ins. A real positive for us is that we now have depth and can bring in fresh players without destroying the basic makeup of the team.

Well apparently a zipper just appeared on Du Plessis' cricket pants. He tried to remove the zipper with the ball.

Not fired up, just bemused by the hypocrisy of so many.

Even that is interesting, as the ICC handed out their penalty of one match as others have got over the years. The time should fit the crime, that is my point. It was all the hysteria in Oz that landed these guys the heavy penalties, not to mention the shame and money lost. I am not excusing cheating as that is what it was, but penalties should be the same for everyone. Remind me again what the South African Captain the mint sucker, got for putting a zipper on his cricket pants and rubbing the ball on the steel zipper, which would have impacted far more than the sandpaper. Don't recall him showing remorse and crying and being shamed in front of the world. "Current South African captain Faf du Plessis has been found guilty of ball tampering multiple times. The first time was in 2013, when cameras caught him scuffing the ball with his trouser zip during a Test against Pakistan in Dubai. Three years later against Australia, he used mint saliva on the ball and was fined his match fee." Read the full article: Bizarre ways of ball tampering: Mint, zipper, teeth and now sandpaper Ball tampering has been around for decades in cricket and is back in the limelight after Australia’s Cameron Bancroft used a yellow strip of sandpaper to alter the shape of the red cherry during the Australia vs South Africa Test Last Published: Mon, Mar 26 2018. 05 57 PM IST Bharat Sharma New Delhi: Teeth, zipper, mint and add sandpaper to it now, the desperation to extract reverse swing in unfavourable conditions has driven international teams to find bizarre ways to tamper the ball. Cameron Bancroft hiding a yellow strip of sandpaper in his pants easily fits into one of the many bizarre ball tampering tactics but perhaps more sillier in execution when hawks like ‘Oscar-The Cameraman’ are in operation. The phenomenon of ball tampering has been around for decades in the gentleman’s game and the infamous incident in the third Test between Australia and South Africa has only put spotlight back into the ‘illegal yet almost unavoidable’ tactic. In the mid-70’s, one of the earliest allegations of ball tampering was levelled against England seamer John Lever, whom the Indian captain Bishan Singh Bedi had accused of using vaseline to aid pronounced swing during MCC’s tour of India in 1976. Bedi was then targeted by the British media for trying to malign an England player. The rule allows the use of sweat and saliva to shine the ball but it becomes an offence the moment you do that with an “artificial substance”, leaving a grey area in between. The fielding sides has been found working on the ball for decades but it was not until 2000 when Waqar Younis became the first cricketer to be suspended for ball tampering. However during Pakistan’s tour of 1992, the two W’s Wasim and Waqar were accused of getting excessive reverse swing with allegation that they used bottle opener to scruff up the seam of the Dukes ball. Repeatedly bouncing one side on the ground and scratching the seam are common ways of getting the seam scruffed up on abrasive surfaces but some players suddenly become more “creative” than required. Bottle openers, zippers of trousers, lip balm, hair gel, or in Bancroft’s case, a sandpaper then come into use. Back in 1994, England captain Michael Atherton was accused of ball-tampering after cameras caught him rubbing the ball with the hidden dirt in his trousers’ pocket. Atherton later claimed that he had dirt in his pocket to dry his hands but was still fined £2,000 for not disclosing the substance. The then England skipper’s case will never be proved but sometimes confession by players make the job much easier for the match referee, like it happened with under-fire Australian Steve Smith and Bancroft in the recently concluded third Test. Some choose to confess after they retire, like what former England opener Marcus Trescothick did. The stylish batsman has revealed in his book that he used mint-induced saliva to shine the ball during the 2005 Ashes. “Murray Mints worked really well,” wrote Trescothick. In 2010, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi found a new way to prepare the ball as he was caught on television biting the seam during a T20 International against Australia. It resulted in a two-match ban though Afridi claimed that he was only trying to smell the ball. Current South African captain Faf du Plessis has been found guilty of ball tampering multiple times. The first time was in 2013, when cameras caught him scuffing the ball with his trouser zip during a Test against Pakistan in Dubai. Three years later against Australia, he used mint saliva on the ball and was fined his match fee. Commenting on the controversial subject, former India pacer Ashish Nehra said that there is nothing new about ball tampering. “Yes, it’s an art but then stealing is also an art. Would you put a thief in jail or praise him. Reverse swing is an art but ball tampering is dishonesty. And there are ways to prepare a ball for reverse swing without tampering,” said Nehra, who is one of India’s finest exponents of swing bowling. “Also this is a phenomena, you will find mainly in Test cricket as in T20 and ODIs, it’s difficult to reverse the white ball. In ODIs, two new white balls are used, so chances are really less. It’s only in Test cricket which is played for a considerable amount of time that teams want their bowlers to try reverse swing,” he added. PTI First Published: Mon, Mar 26 2018. 05 56 PM IST

Not condoning what Smith and co did, but they aren't the first, in a game full of cheating. Just look at the doctored pitches, you need go no further.

Pity the Crows were decimated with injuries.

I always loved CCR.

Not worried about him, he will be ok for us. To me his area of improvement needs to be in reading the play.

I prefer his cousin who kept the full family name, Burt Bacharch.

Planning the big effort for the Lions game at the Gabba. Travel on the day will be car to Tullamarine, plane to GC, car to Surfers, then walk, tram, train, bus, bus, train, tram, walk. A nice variety of travel indeed. Hopefully it ends up in a Dees win. PS. Almost forgot, hopefully a banana snack on the train.

Well at least teetering.

Viney out and the banana crop being flooded, what a week.

Can't lose with the banana.

What some clubs have is that superstar like Danger, Selwood, Dusty and Pendles who can drag a team over the line. I know they are few and hard to find. We have developed a very good list and it would be even better if say Trac or Jack V could elevate their game to that level. I know a champion team will always beat a team of champions or so they say, but it wouldn't hurt if we could develop/ find one or two. Max is probably our best at the moment and most valuable player.

Wonder if the new format for practice games hurts the rookies, as most teams go in with pretty strong lineups and close to their best team, depending on injuries and not a lot of rookies get a look in. In previous years more rookies would be given a chance, with more games in the practice game period.

Who cares about Barnaby, we are discussing the more important Bayley.

No.

I saw the Bigger Bang that created the Big Bang.

I saw his dad kicking in his mother's womb and said that he would one day have a son who would play for Casey and then go on to be drafted by the Dees and ultimately play for them. PS. Don't try and beat that, as I also saw his grandfather in the womb and also saw his great grandfather before he went out with Bayley's great grandmother in fact and foresaw the whole chain of events.