Macca

Stage 2 Jean Francois Pescheux's view ... Mountains of opportunity en route to Ajaccio

Didn't he fracture his pelvis last year? That's gotta impact your career you'd reckon (in such a gruelling sport) ... here's an interesting article on him ... Andy Schleck still on comeback trail at the Tour de France The bloke that I'm intrigued about is Contador. The bookies have him as firm 2nd favourite but I'm not sure about the strength of his team. I'm reminded that all sorts of things can happen during the Tour. Injuries occur and as we found out last night, crashes can happen all too frequently. As you mentioned, Cavendish was involved in one as well. There are 2 more stages in Corsica and the commentators made mention of some of the narrow parts of the course. The barriers came in quite close to the Peloton last night and this contributed to a few falls. It's quite different to have a category 2 climb on the 2nd day of the tour. Tonight will be very interesting.

It was high drama wasn't it? I'll post the stage 2 profile and route later on but tonight's stage involves a couple of category 3 climbs and a category 2 climb. A number of the sprinters could lose touch with the peloton. Not sure how others see things, but I see an averall podium finish to Cadel as quite an achievement. He's now 36 years old and doesn't have the team to support him that Froome has. Anyway ... for a summary of last nights stage go to this site.

1st Innings Watson Cowan Khawaja Clarke Hughes Haddin Faulkner 2nd Innings Cowan Khawaja Hughes Clarke Haddin Faulkner None of the bowlers got a hit (apart from Faulkner) but all the batsmen spent good time at the crease.

There's a bus stuck at the finishing line under the banner. Hard to believe something like this could happen. They've moved the bus. Is Reg Varney at the wheel? Chaos!

We ended up winning by 6 wickets (after declaring at 5 down in our 1st innings) Haddin and Hughes posted half centuries whilst Khawaja got 73 and Cowan 46. Quite a good hit out really and the team would have achieved a number of goals ... scorecard The next 4 day warm up game starts in a couple of days so we could expect Rogers, Wade, Smith, Bird and Harris to all get a run. Hard to know who may be rested but possibly Pattinson, Siddle and Starc could sit things out if it's been decided that they'll be the starting trio of quicks in the 1st Test.

The 2nd Weekend (Fri, Sat, Sun) will be tough as well. Stages 7, 8 and 9 are very tough. I like the way they've set up the tour this time - especially the last 8 or 9 days. Even the last time trial involves 2 medium level climbs. These first 2 days in Corsica will be fascinating. Tomorrow's stage involves a few reasonably hard climbs. Hopefully the footy team gets up for a win tonight for a nice lead in!

Rogers has been playing county cricket prior to joining the squad and he has a couple of big scores to his name this season. There's 2 schools of thought - they've put him in the squad to play him immediately to shore up the top order ... or as a back-up if our top order doesn't measure up. He's made a lot of 1st class runs in his career. It's looking more likely that Clarke will bat at no.4 with Hughes to possibly bat in the late middle order (no.5?) I edited my previous post mentioning this. I agree with you re the no.3 spot. Traditionally it's the most vital spot in the order and often the best batsmen bat in that spot. Khawaja has spent a large part of his cricket batting there so he's the more logical choice however, Rogers or Cowan could bat there at a pinch. Much will depend on what happens in the current warm up game and the next one. In the past, these games were used as practice for our 'established' batting order. Right now it's more about who can do well enough to get a game in the Tests. Pattinson and Starc look like they've done enough to get into the team for the 1st Test. Match totals of 7 wickets for Patto and 6 for Starc.

Hughes did make 76 batting at 5 in this game so maybe the decision has been made with that effort. Clarke batted at no.4 so it looks like he'll bat at that spot in the Test matches. Khawaja has a chance tonight to get himself a good score - he opened the batting in the 2nd innings (of this warm up game) and is 18 not out. Cowan is 14 not out. It could be that both these batsmen are fighting for the one spot. (that's if Rogers is pencilled in) The positive is that Hughes and Watson have both spent good time at the crease in the current game. Clarke batted for nearly 2 hours in the 1st innings as well (he made 45) Regardless, we could expect Swann to be brought into the attack very early on in the Test matches. They've got a very good bowling attack but Swann could be our biggest worry - especially if the wickets presented are dry and take spin. It would be preferable that whoever bats at no.6 can play spin well. If it was out of Warner, Wade or Khawaja, I'd go for Usman. Brad Haddin should bat at no.7 in an ideal batting line-up. Edit: ... McDermott warms to an Ashes return ... Warnie could be helping out as well. Billy worked well with the bowlers in his previous stint.

Stage 1 Jean Francois Pescheux's view ... Magnificent countryside

From Iceland ... 'Of Monsters and Men' with a couple ... Macca 13.4

When too much sport is never enough ... CFL opening match highlights ... Montreal Alouettes @ Winnepeg Blue Bombers ... Not a bad standard and the big crowd got right into it! Those 'Tiger-Cats' take on Toronto's Argonauts tomorrow (I checked Toronto's roster and they've got a couple of players called Jason) 'My' Saskatchewan Roughriders take on the Eskimos on Sunday. Need a win - any sort of win.

Hughes ended up getting 76 not out and batted for over 2 and a half hours. If he gets amongst it again in the 2nd dig he may have played himself into the 1st Test. Both these warm up games are 4 day games. ... Scorecard

Maybe it's not a fait accompli just yet ... Familiar faces to help Cadel Evans regain Tour de France title Froome will be hard to beat but he hasn't been to the top of the mountain. I expect him to win but wouldn't be surprised if he has some problems in the last few days of the tour. It's a tough, tough finish in the last 3 days, prior to the finishing day. Stage 18, 19 and 20 ...

I reckon if Faulkner plays, he'll be one of the 3 quicks. Can't see it now after Starc's 4 wickets. Reckon Clarke will bat 5 so if we assume Watson, Rogers and Cowan fill the top 3 spots then that leaves no.4 and no.6 to be filled. Khawaja or Hughes could bat at 4 and Wade, Warner or Smith could bat at 6. If Clarke bats at no.4 then Hughes or Khawaja can bat at no.5. Watson did bowl a bit in the Champions Trophy so we've probably got the 5th bowler covered. But who would know with the way they've picked sides of late? Nothing would surprise me ...

Here we go again! Figure we can just use the same thread started by 'dee-luded'. Maybe a name change? Anyway, here's an excellent BBC audio documentary ... 100 years of the Tour De France Goes for nearly 2 hours but well worth a listen. It can be downloaded here on the BBC podcast page. You will need to scroll down on the 'linked' page for the podcast. Had a quick look at the stages and out of the 21 of them, 6 would be regarded as having 'medium to hard' level climbs and a further 6 would be regarded as having very tough and/or extremely difficult climbs. The last 7 stages leading up to the final stage all involve mountain stages (4 of them extremely tough) Here's a quick run down of the stages with a brief description ... Stage 1 - Sat 29th - Flat Stage 2 - Sun 30th - 3 x medium, 1 x hard (climbs) Stage 3 - Mon 1st - 2 x medium, 1 x hard Stage 4 - Tues 2nd - Time trial (flat) Stage 5 - Wed 3rd - 1 x medium Stage 6 - Thurs 4th - Flat Stage 7 - Fri 5th - 2 x medium, 1 x hard Stage 8 - Sat 6th - 1 x very difficult, I x extremely tough Stage 9 - Sun 7th - 1 x hard, 4 x very difficult Rest day - Mon 8th Stage 10 - Tues 9th - Flat Stage 11 - Wed 10th - Time trial (flat) Stage 12 - Thurs 11th - Flat Stage 13 - Fri 12th - Flat Stage 14 - Sat 13th - 7 x medium Stage 15 - Sun 14th - 1 x extremely tough Rest day - Mon 15th Stage 16 - Tues 16th - 1 x medium, 2 x hard Stage 17 - Wed 17th - Time trial (involving 2 x medium/hard climbs!) Stage 18 - Thurs 18th - 1 x medium, 2 x hard, 2 x extremely tough Stage 19 - Fri 19th - 1 x hard, 2 x very difficult, 2 x extremely tough Stage 20 - Sat 20th - 3 x medium, 1 x hard, 1 x very difficult, 1 x extremely tough Stage 21 - Sun 21st - flat (starting at the 'Palace of Versailles' and ending at the 'Arc de Triomphe' - finishing at 5.45am our time - 9.45pm in France) Legend (climbs) Category 3 or 4 - medium level Category 2 - hard Category 1 - very difficult Category 'HC' - extremely tough This link takes you to the official site.

Tony Kornheiser seems convinced that Tim Tebow will be used by the Patriots as a tight end. Given the events of the last few weeks, they might have to!

Certainly an interesting development. For this to happen on the eve of the tour is a little startling. The press conference will be fascinating (has that happened yet?) Regardless, I don't reckon we're going to hear the full story. Anyway, here is an excerpt from this story in today's Age ... Arthur made scapegoat as CA bid to stop the rot Lehmann might prove a good choice as his replacement. It's all happened rather quickly though. Adding Smith* to the squad is intriguing. He batted ok a couple of times in India but his inclusion might have a lot to do with the real absence of some middle order players. Effectively having 5 openers as part of your 7 specialist batsmen was a bit of a baffling decision to start off with. And Khawaja is best suited as a no.3. At least that's where he's batted most of the time in his first class career. Not sure what to make of the Ahmed/Agar decisions. Reading between the lines, it still looks like either may be called upon to join the squad. *Just read that Smith is on standby for Clarke until the start of the 2nd Test. He then flies to South Africa as captain of the Australia A team. He might find himself getting a game in the early Tests anyway - especially if he makes runs in the warm up games.

Here's a talented singer/saxophonist ... 'Grace Kelly' From Grace ... Macca's jazz 6.2

Latest from 'Vampire Weekend' and 'Paramore' ... Macca 13.3

Seedings are out for Wimbledon. The big talking point is Rafa at no.5. David Ferrer is ranked 4 so the they may meet in the quarter finals. Then again, Nadal might be drawn to meet Murray, Federer or Djokovic in the QF's. The draw comes out later today (tomorrow, our time) Sam Stosur is seeded at no.14. Edit: After the draw was announced, Nadal will meet Federer in a QF (if both advance that far) If that does happen, the winner is drawn to meet Murray in a SF. Djokovic has the seemingly easier path with Berdych, Ferrer and del Potro in his side of the draw. In the Ladies, 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3 are the seedings match-ups for the SF's (if all the seeds advance that far) If Sam Stosur reaches the 4th round (the round of 16) then her likely opponent will be Serena Williams. Mens seeds ... Novak Djokovic Andy Murray Roger Federer David Ferrer Rafael Nadal Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Tomáš Berdych Juan Martín del Potro Richard Gasquet Marin Čilić Stanislas Wawrinka Kei Nishikori Tommy Haas Janko Tipsarević Nicolás Almagro Philipp Kohlschreiber Ladies seeds ... Serena Williams Victoria Azarenka Maria Sharapova Agnieszka Radwańska Sara Errani Li Na Angelique Kerber Petra Kvitová Caroline Wozniacki Maria Kirilenko Roberta Vinci Ana Ivanovic Nadia Petrova Samantha Stosur Marion Bartoli Jelena Janković

Heat just a little bit too good in the end. That game 6 epic will be talked about in future years. What could have been ... LeBron was the difference today ... Highlights

And off to Rio we go! That was a tense game. A goal the other way and it could have been all over. Well done! 3 qualifications in a row ... makes up a bit for getting so close, so many times.

Some good stuff there, JJ. Steely Dan are one of my all time favourite bands. This clip is a 'Classic Albums' music doco on their famed album 'Aja' from 1977. Goes for an hour so you'll need to to be in the mood. Some recognisable songs such as 'Peg' and 'Josie' are featured. Their music is a mix of jazz, rock and funk and they are what I would call an "acquired taste." Many of their songs need multiple listens to really appreciate the depth of this duo's talents. Macca's jazz 6.1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8GwEX7nn6o

Warner missing the 2 warm up games prior to the 1st Test means he'd have to be a doubtful selection for the first 2 Tests. Gives the selectors a chance to give Watson another chance at the top of the order. (Watson bowling again probably assures him a spot in the side) Rogers has made 214 and 184 playing for Middlesex in the last 5 weeks so he'd have to be a real chance to get into the starting XI. Cowan could drop down to no.3 or maybe Rogers could bat at 3. We could see a batting order going into the 1st Test as follows ... Rogers Watson Cowan Khawaja/Hughes Clarke* Wade Haddin Faulkner/Starc Pattinson Siddle Lyon/Ahmed The big concern for our bevy of left handers is Swann. He's in great form and if the wickets continue to be dry, he'll be more than a handful. Warner is not a good player of spin and I've left Hughes out for the same reason. In an ideal world Wade would be replaced with someone like a George Bailey or an up and coming young batsman like Burns, Doolan or Maddinson. However, Matthew can bat and he's worth a go in the lower middle order. Faulkner adds a bit of X factor although he might have to bide his time. Ditto for Fawad. *Pup might bat at no.4 and let's hope his back comes good. We're going to need him to make some big runs to have any chance.