Enough talk about pink balls

Friday Funnies strap 2-2

Pink ballIn recent weeks there’s been more talk of balls than you’d get in a schoolyard full of teenage boys.

We’ve heard that pink balls are hard to see, go soft pretty quickly, behave abnormally, are not real swingers and can turn green with wear and tear. Which is definitely not what you want in your balls.

And then there are others who say we should stop obsessing about colour.

To quote Elvis, it’s time for a little less conversation, a little more action.

So, today the balls which have been the talk of the cricketing world will be put to the test. The third Test, actually, between Australia and New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval. And the first day-night cricket Test between anyone.

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It’s not the only change under consideration in the gentlemen’s game. There’s talk of moving to a four-day Test format. And dispensing with the coin toss to remove any temptation for the home team to doctor the pitch.

Cutting a day off a Test, that’s no biggie. But getting rid of the coin toss. It’s just not cricket.

And cue one of the oddest Youtube videos I’ve seen in a while. Which is saying something.

Meanwhile, NSW wicket keeper Alyssa Healy was the cause of cricket’s strangest dismissal this week when a shot from Meg Lanning bounced off her forehead and into the lunging hands of Lauren Smith.

Which made Healy a real egg head.

We were led to believe it was a ‘small breakdown’. But the head of soccer’s ‘governing’ body, Septic Bladder, now says the stress-related illness that landed him in hospital recently almost killed him.

“I was between the angels who were singing and the devil who was lighting the fire,” he says. “I was close to dying. But it was the angels who sang.”

I’d blame the medication if this was the strangest thing that had ever come out of Septic’s mouth. But it’s not. Not by a long shot. Check out the last 10 seconds of this clip if you don’t believe me.

As for Septic being anywhere near angels, we’ll let Darryl Kerrigan have the last word on that.

Novak Djokovic has just racked up a season to remember, with three Grand Slam tournament wins — the French title still eludes him — and a whopping $21 million in prize money for the year, more than Ivan Lendl, Andy Roddick, Stefan Edberg and Jim Courier earned in their entire careers.

Rafael Nadal, who’s had quite the opposite year, looks on the bright side. “He cannot improve much,” he says.

So could this be the end of Nole’s trophy pashing ways?

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Former English tennis player David Lloyd could do with a bit of Rafa’s positivity.

After Andy Murray pretty much single handedly got the Poms into their first Davis Cup final in 37 years, Lloyd has accused the Scot of not doing enough to promote the game. Are you kidding me?

Says Murray: “It’s a bit like sort of background music, like you know it’s there but you’re not really listening.” In other words, David who?

This Adelaide kid stole the internet this week after hiccupping his way through the national anthem at an Australian Baseball League game. Because the show must go on, right?

Ethan Hall doesn’t mind the global attention one bit. “I love being famous,” he says.

Finally, this bloke has taken audience participation into new territory. Or maybe he was just worried that one of the players was thirsty.

Have a good weekend, everyone. Drink responsibly.

6 Comments Add yours

  1. Discussion about the pink balls has me remembering one of my mates back in highschool when he said, completely seriously, that red cars go faster. Yep. (His explanation being that there are fewer pigments so therefore the paint is lighter). As you can imagine we never let him live that down. Can’t help but feel like we’re going to look at the debaters in hindsight and just go, “you mean like how pink balls don’t bounce right?” or “as hard to see coming as a pink ball!”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. kazblah says:

      Much ado about nothing, hey? As for your mate, yes, a bloke should never be allowed to live down a comment like that. Besides, everyone knows that red car drivers are compensating for small packages…

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Balls were also used to explain The General Theory of Relativity https://twitter.com/BreakfastNews/status/668531769780506624

    Liked by 1 person

    1. kazblah says:

      The things you learn on a sports blog!

      Like

  3. Carlene Bath says:

    Loved the YouTube clip “It’s not Cricket”. Rather a “catchy” tune.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. kazblah says:

      How weird is it?!

      Like

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