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Friday, December 9, 2016
In brief
■ CRICKET
Aussies eye a clean sweep By Ben Horne A fairytale lifeline for hometown boy Glenn Maxwell might be Australia’s only hope of lighting a fire at the MCG and igniting Melbourne’s dwindling interest in one-day cricket. For some time now the Big Bash has outstripped international crowds at the mighty ‘G’ and across the country and it’s set to continue for tonight’s Chappell-Hadlee dead-rubber against New Zealand with officials hoping for a best-case scenario of 25,000 spectators. The possible injection of Maxwell into the line-up after the most controversial week of his career could provide a last-minute buzz around town, but it still looms as the lowest ODI crowd at the MCG since less than 15,000 watched Australia play South Africa back in 2014. Maxwell is the only member of Australia’s 13-man squad yet to play against the Black Caps, and with the series now wrapped up and captain Steve Smith promising changes, it would be harsh to continue the 28-year-old’s exile particularly when he could have been playing Sheffield Shield instead. Plenty would be interested to see how Maxwell handles the spotlight of a recall and how he might interact with ‘keeper and Victorian teammate Matthew Wade in particular. But low crowds at the MCG and at other major grounds around Australia for one-dayers is unlikely to change any time soon as fans flock to the Big Bash. Interestingly, ODIs still rate higher than any other format on television, but only 22,502 attended the Sydney opener against NZ and 9173 in Canberra when the Chappell-Hadlee trophy was
Hat-trick not enough Rain made for a tense finish to the final round robin games at the under 17 representative regional cricket tournament at Mandeville yesterday, Mid Canterbury narrowly missing the final despite a hat-trick by Richard Turpie in the penultimate over of the game. Mid Canterbury batted first and were 133-6 off their rain-shortened 23 overs and needed to beat Buller outright to advance to the final. Oscar Redfern 49 and Tom Ravenscroft 26 were the top scorers, while Turpie finished with 4-7 and Archie Redfern 3-23 to have Buller 99-9 at the end of the overs. Christchurch Metro Red beat Metro Black to ensure Red would play Canterbury Country in the final today. Mid Canterbury plays Black for third.
Red card ‘unnecessary’
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is capable of holding some huge numbers, but that won’t be the case when New Zealand and Australia fight out a dead rubber tonight. won. The average crowd for MCG one-day games in the past five years, not including the one-off World Cup, is a touch over 32,000, which tops all venues around the country and if they crack 25,000 tonight it will be the best attendance of this bizarrely scheduled early-December series. But at Australia’s sporting coliseum, crowds that fail to top 30,000 make for a cavernous atmosphere that comes across on television as if only friends and family have shown up. The figures are put in the shade by Big Bash crowds from last summer for the Melbourne Stars. The average attendance for five
MCG games for the T20 franchise was more than 42,000. That included a Big Bash record 80,883 for the local derby against the Melbourne Renegades, a bigger figure than for any one-day game at the MCG, except the 2015 World Cup final which drew a world record 93,013. And in the summers of 2011/12 and 2010/11, crowds at two T20 Internationals in Melbourne drew 55,000 more people than two one-day games at the MCG in the same seasons. Australian all-rounder Mitch Marsh says the home team won’t let up in tonight’s tri-series dead rubber against New Zealand as
they look for a clean sweep. And after a swashbuckling 76 not out on Tuesday night, Marsh said no matter how many turned up, the home team would be going all-out to win again. “We spoke about (a clean sweep) straight away last night,” Marsh said yesterday. “It’s obviously lovely to win the series but we’re not going to just settle for that. “We’ve got another series in New Zealand in a couple of months’ time so we really want to go on with it. “We’re representing our country in the series and we want to win 3-0.” - AAP
De Villiers debunks child prodigy claims It’s all hokum – and that’s straight from the horse’s mouth. South African cricket superstar AB de Villiers has officially debunked the myth that he was an allround sports prodigy at school. Earlier this year, a story emerged out of the republic that as a schoolboy he had held South African national records in swimming and athletics, was a tennis and badminton prodigy, a standout junior rugby and soccer player, as well as playing off a scratch handicap in golf. But de Villiers has revealed in his autobiography, AB: The Autobiography, that the claims are “falsehoods and exaggerations”. “I played hockey for one year at high school ... but I was never shortlisted for the national hockey squad, or ever came remotely close to that level,” de Villiers wrote. “I have never played any or-
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AB de Villiers is playing down the childhood prodigy stories. ganised football (soccer). “We used to kick a ball around during break at school and the game has become part of the Proteas’ warm-up routine. That is all. “I never represented South Af-
rica (in rugby) at any level ... and was never captain. “I never played badminton at school. “If my memory is correct, I have only ever played one game of badminton in my entire life,
and that was just a fun game with (former South Africa wicketkeeper) Mark Boucher. “I did get my official handicap down to a respectable one when I was 15 but there’s not much time to play golf these days and my handicap has drifted to nine.” Media outlets around the world, including the Herald, published the claims. But while de Villiers dispelled some of the myths around his alleged superhuman talents, he did concede he showed promise in a few other sports. “These are the facts: decent at golf, useful at rugby and tennis when I was young, and enjoying cricket ever since,” he said. “The errors will doubtless remain on the Internet and people will continue to believe I was some kind of prodigy at all those different sports, but the truth will hopefully somehow endure.” - NZME
Former international umpire David Quested has scoffed at cricket’s new red card punishment system calling it “totally unnecessary.” The red card announcement was made by The Marylebone Cricket Club “the guardian of the laws of the game” which said players could be ejected from games from October 1, 2017 if its main committee approves their recommendation from the world cricket committee. But Quested believes there are already systems in place that deal with these sorts of situations. - NZME
Baz back, but not for us Brendon McCullum is heading to Australia to make his return to cricket but it won’t be for the Black Caps. The struggling Black Caps would probably have opened arms to their former skipper tonight, however McCullum will be making his return at a slightly smaller venue – the Ian Healy Oval in Brisbane. McCullum is expected to turn out for the Ipswich Logan Hornets in a club T20 game against Norths on Sunday as he begins his preparations for the Big Bash Twenty20 competition. - NZME
Beale set for debut Wallabies star Kurtley Beale will put his seven-month injury hell behind him this weekend when he makes his long-awaited Wasps debut. Beale ruptured his patella tendon playing for the Waratahs in May just 24 hours after inking a STG750,000 ($NZ1.3 million) a year deal with the English giants. The contract – the most lucrative in the British domestic game – is a two-year agreement with a 12-month break clause option and there’s been intense speculation Beale will return home at the end of the season. - AAP
Football coach arrested A former football coach has been arrested in Northern Ireland over sex abuse claims. Jim McCafferty, 71, who was involved in football in Scotland and Ireland from the 1980s was arrested in Belfast. It follows an interview that McCafferty gave to the Irish Mirror. McCafferty, who now lives in Belfast, was formerly a kit man at Celtic, Hibernian and Falkirk. Detective Superintendent Deirdre Bones, from the PSNI’s public protection branch, said: “A 71-year-old male was arrested on suspicion of sexual offences against children in Northern Ireland. He is currently helping police with their inquiries.” - PA