Money buys stars, but Teams win championships

There's the adage that a champion team can beat a team of champions any day. This much is true for the Rajasthan Royals. They were the cheapest team in the IPL. The franchise itself was purchased for the least amount of money, ($67 million, compared to the $111.9 million payed for the Mumbai franchise), and then when it came to buying players, the Royals spent so little, they were fined for not spending enough!

No one gave them a chance, but now they find themselves at the top of the table, and worthy leaders. They have been a team that has played consistently well, sometimes with a bit of fortune, but always with a winning attitude. They have had but a few stand out performances, and mostly all round team performances. The true hallmarks of a championship team.

Before the competition started, my money was on the Knight Riders - partly because of their strong line-up, but also because of their awesomely ridiculous name. Now, I'm all for Warnie and Royals to take it home.

Warne to the rescue?

I like the thought of having Warnie frozen in a glass container with the words "Break in case of Emergency" written on it. Warnie has gotten some attention over comments he made that "if required" he would don the creams again and roll the arm over for Australia in the Ashes.

Good ol' Warnie, when it suits him, he'll play for us. I'm not complaining - the guy is so bloody good, I'll gladly take him whenever he wants to. Any terms he makes, they're going to be worth it.

Of course, I don't think we need to panic just yet. MacGill is still around, let's see how he goes against the Windies. I have no idea what the future holds for our prospects with Beau Casson, but we're not quite at def con 2 yet, so Warnie can stick to taking the Royals to the IPL finals.

The Kat is back!

The career of Simon Katich has been, in my opinion, a strange one. He's struggled to find his place after showing promise early but being struck with chronic fatigue or something held him back. Till now he's had what I think is a one day career longer than he rightly should have, and a test career shorter than he deserves. Well now it seems he will get a temporary reprieve as he is playing in the first test against the Windies, replacing Hayden.

Unfortunately it seems he's already batted and only got 12. So the resurrection of the Kat's international career may be brief.

The End of the Tri-Series

I always had visions of it becoming even bigger, from a tri-series to a 5-series, where a series of 5 teams, always featuring Australia and New Zealand would play in a massive round robin tournament across Australia and New Zealand. It equalled more games in total, and less non-Australia matches because half would be played in NZ.

Anyway, those grand dreams have been dashed, and the tri-series altogether has been scrapped from the Australian calendar. It was very inevitable, but it's sad in a way. I have grown up with that formula and it dictated my summer.

However, I will not be sad for long, because it's place is a very robust little setup. 5 match series against two nations and featuring 2 and 3 test series as well. All in all, more Australia matches to enjoy and you can't complain about that.

Of course, I won't be in Australia come this summer, but I'll still be able to enjoy it on television, and mark my words - I will.

Can't wait for it!

The Hallowed Baggy VB

A lot of people have gotten very worked up about the fact that the Australian cricket team played a tour match against a Jamaican Select XI wearing caps featuring their sponsor VB rather than their traditional baggy green caps. The traditionalists, the ones I'm sure have already claimed that one day cricket and Twenty20 cricket will be the death of the game, got stuck into the Australians for their disrespect.

Well, it turns out it was actually all Brad Haddin's fault, because he hasn't played a test match yet, he doesn't actually possess a baggy green, therefore he would have to wear a broad brimmed white hat, which as we all know looks pretty naff, especially when you're the wicket keeper. The team management had decided that in a show of support, they would all wear the VB sponsored baseball caps.

Riiiight.

They quickly changed back the next day to shut everyone up.

I think the first clue should've been the fact they were playing a "Jamaican Select XI", "Select XI"?? Doesn't Jamaica just have a team of it's own? Sounds like the pickup truck scenario I mentioned before, either that or maybe it was the first eleven locals who came to the ground that day. That said, I wonder if eleven people actual did turn up to the ground to watch this.

I guess what surprises me more is that everyone got so upset that the Aussies were wearing the VB caps, but they didn't say anything about the fact Symmo was wearing thongs and stubbies - that's what you wearing when you're just playing a bit of backyard cricket, right?