A penny saved .....

eigbtened inAation is a legacy that the global financial crisis bas left in its wake, and people all over the world are ree ling from its effects. The cost of living is constantly rising, forcing everyone to tighten their be lts I-Jere in Australia we have grown so accustomed to an easy, comfortable life tbar this global phenomenon and more recently om own carbon ta,, resulting in inflated petrol prices, skyrocketing water and e leccrici cy rates, unaffordab le housing and unpalatable fruit and vegetable prices, is hitting us pretty hard. Tbe good news however, is tl1at a few simple steps and changes can ensure we get back on cop of things, make our do llars go a longer way and develop some good saving habits that will serve us well throughout our lives.

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The recent electricicy bills have been the bane of everyone's existence and it is time to make so me changes:

• Use electric blankets co warm up your bed in winter, cacher than heating the whole room which takes up much more energy. Electric blankets cost a little more than duvets and use only a fraction of electricity compared to heaters.

\Xlhen using heaters or air conditioners, readjust tl1e iliermostat. For every degree you turn down on ilie heat during winter or nun it up for summer, you will save one co three percent on your cotal electricity b il l. Turn off tl1e lights when you leave tl1e room.

Rep lacing old .incandescent light bulbs w ith energy saving Auorescenc bulbs can save up co 75% on your annual lighting b ill. Tmn off appliances at ilie switch. Don't forget co switch yo ur computer and te levision off. A plasma TV on standby uses as much energy as yoLJI fridge.

Drying your cloches in the sun instead of using a clothes dryer can save hundreds of dollars on yo m e lectricity bill

Use the washing machine in offpeak times to take advantage of lower rates

,irC""onwa r

In the light of recent droughts, water is to be conserved anyway and a rapidly ascending water bill is just one more reason to be ilirifty witl1 water.

Use rainwater can.ks to collect water and save 011 yotu water bill. Wash dishes in a dishwasher, as d1is appliance uses much less water ilia.n washing by hand. Scraping food off d ishes rather tl1an rinsing before putting d1em in d ishwasher also conserves water.

Take shorter five minute showers and use a l ow flowing shower head. This way yo u w iJJ use only about 45 li tres of water compared co 140 litres for a fifteen m inutes shower wiili a high Aov.ring shower head.

• Wash your car less often as each wash uses up between I 50-350 litres of water, and even using tl1e carwash can sometimes he lp yo u save on water bills.

P lant drought- resistant plants in tl1e garden and mulch to save on watering cost. Turn off ilie tap between brushing and shaving.

Invest in a water-e ffi cient d ishwasher and washing machfoe and you'JJ be amazed at the d ifference in your water biU.

Low fuel prices now truly seem a thing of the past and we have all accepted ilie fact iliat high fuel prices are here co stay However, tl1ese tips could help you save tl1ose extra dollars instead of spending them on fuel.

Shop around for the best place co bu y fuel and use your fuel vo uchers from ilie shopping trips. Slowing down can save on petrol, as acceleration uses more fuel.

• Turn off me AC and roll down yom car \'lri.ndows in pleasant weather

Sec up a ca r poo l. Sharing your car ride wiili just one friend can save the boili of yo u hundreds of doJJars.

Check your air filter and tyre pressure regularly co keep yo ur car fuel -efficien L Cut down 011 unnecessary loads in the car like r oof racks and buJJ bars if yo u don't need iliem; it will save on fuel.

Avoid hard braking and Aat footing to reduce fuel consumption b y 30%, and don't rest yo ur left foot o o the brake o f an aucomatic car as the extra drag increases fuel consumption by 5%

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The best way to save on your food bill is to reduce che number of tim es you eat our or better sti.U, scop it alrogether. Take a homemade lunch to work and make your own tea or coffee. Th.is is not only healthier, but ends up saving you heaps.

\,1(/hen grocery shoppin g, always check yoLtr receipts; yo u 'U be surprised how man y times even computers stuff Ltp.

Buy in bulk and check tl1e unit pl'ices co get [he best deals.

Use your scores reward, loyalty or membership cards to save on special deal s Make a budget and stick to it. Ser yourself a limit on money spent on food per day. O nc e you've reached chat limit don't spend mor e, no matter what.

Reve rt co paying by cash. It i s proven iliac peop le spend less when iliey pay in cash , rather ilian when us ing credit or deb it cards.

• Buy score brands for basics like sugar, !lom and salt etc. They are all just ilie same, but big brands cost more.

up to 75 9-'o on your ,ii nnu

Baba Aparajith, left, ce lebrates w ith teammates the dismissal of Australia's Kurtis Patterson, the 2012 ICC under- 19Cricket World Cup final Sunday, Aug. 26, 2012, In Townsville, Australia

It was still winter down under, bur in late August

Inclia won tbe U nder- 19 Cricket World Cup, beating Australia in a tense final in Townsville, Queensland. The match was underlined by a stu nning century by the L1dian skipper, Unrnukt Chand, aod certainly exposed some exciting talents to the international cricket community.

U- 19 tourney gaining glory

The lCC Under- 19 Cricket World Cup has taken place every two yea.rs since 1998, having initially been sraged as a one-off evenr Lhat year. Whil e it does not carry with it the prestige of the senior version, the pedigree of tli e players that take part in it makes up much of the attractionplayers s uch as Saqlain Mushtaq, Brian Lara and Sanath Jayasuriya featured in d1e earliest edition; die 2008 murna.mem included James Pattinson, Darren Bravo and India's Virat Kohli, who led the side to the trophy, and currentl y sits as d1e second - best OD1 batsman in the game. The hype tliat has surrounded the tournament in recent yea rs, then, is oot without reason - ir really has become a breeding ground for future champions.

Mental preparation is key

\'v'hile die senior lndian ream was at the same time busy tlirashing a hapless ew Zealand om/it by an innings and 115 runs at home in H yde rabad , tl1e U - 19 side proved just how much more mental preparation goes into young lndiao players today. The side lost their very first march against a talemed West Indian outfit, but comprehens.ively thrashed minnows Zimbabwe and Papua New Guinea. They then scraped through a ridiculous ly tense quarter- final against Pakistan, winning by just one wicket - and dien backed the performance up with anodi er narrow win in the semi- final b y just 9 runs against New Zealand. After SLich an emotional rollercoaster, die side, which featu red playe rs as yo ung as 17, might have been forgiven for an average disp lay in the final. lnstead, lndia got off ro a g r eat start, p icking up four early wickets against an Australian batting line up that had not yet failed to deLiver. Led by a steady unbeaten 87* by captain William Bosisto (w ho was dismissed only once in 6 innings - and that coo, ruo- (mt), die Aussies recovered and posted an impressive 225/8 off tl1eir 50 overs Ian Chappell, the for m er Australian captain , had remarked about this tournament that it was notable how much more ad vanced the fast bow lers were in their development than th e batsmen - and this explains die low-scoring affairs throughout die competition. The top team score in the semi - finals was 209 ; in the quarter- finals, 244 Fo r Ind ia, chasing 225 in a final, with cloud cover and a stro ng home bowling attack, was not an easy cask.

A dete rmined win

Whil e Australia were 4/38 early in their innings, lndia had moved steadily to 1/75, largely due to the sparkling strokep lay of Baba Aparajich - who is definitely o ne to watch om for in the s horter fo rm at o f the game. Australia's Gur.inder SancUrn, however, who spoke to I11dia11 Link ahead of the tournament, broke die ChandAparajith partnership, and a flurr y of wickets followed.

Ac 4/97, widi v ice- captain Akshdeep Na d1 woefully oul o f form, India moved their enterpris ing and confident wicketkeeper, Smit Patel, up the order. B y now, Australia were rampant - runs were extremely d i fficLtlt to come by, and die press ure on Chand was immense.

Joel Paris, the Australian leftarmer, was regul arly clocking up speeds above 140km/h The parttimers were stifling and d1e fie lds inmitive. The Aussies had dieir tails up, and they lee me Indians know it, coo. Tt was no place for the faint-hearted.

Some w1believably beautiful batting then mrned the match on its bead.

Chand began hitting pure cricket strokes - drives over extra cove r, lofted straight drives down the ground - ro not only reach the boundary, but to clear it comfortabl )'- Chand, who was especially brutal on Sandhu, hit 7 fours and 6 sixes in all, including a perfectly- timed drive over the cover region which both brOL1g ht up his cenmrr and all but sealed die trophy. It was Chand's 5th centllr)' at the U - 19 level, but more tellingly, his third in tomnarnent finals - B osisto , the Australian captain, later remarked that that it was "nor tl1e first time h e has terrorised us".

Patel's contribution, roo, was crucial ; his 62* in a partnership of 130 - the hig hes t in any U- 19 World Cup final - was enterprising, and simi.larly risky. Blll it paid off.

Pick the talent

The re were also notable performances by seamer Sand eep Sharma - who finished with 12 wickets ar 15. 75, including 4- 54 in the Ii nal, as well as tweaker Harmeet Singh, who lan Chappell has stated categorically as tbe best left- a.rm spinner in the world, and the second- best overall behind Graeme Swann But you can only compare apples with appl es - and it's plaudits like d1ese which can often send young athletes down the wrong road. b stake home

Greats such as Tendu!kar and Ponting n ever p layed in an Under- 19 World Cup. India's Robie Sharma and Australia's Mo ises Henriques both shone in the 2006 edition, ye t both have found international cricket thoroughly miserab le Lara, Jayasuriya, Kohli - none of these names were the mp run- sco rers in their respective tOL1rnamenrs. There was some brilliam cricket p layed in Townsville, and no doubt there ·was an abundance of talent on display - but pare of the fascination of d1e U - 19 World Cup is see ing how they develop from here. There's still one more step to go - who will put their l1and up?

The Indian U- 19 team returns home with the Cricket World Cup trophy to many accolades ... and one brickbat!

India's Under- 19 oy the trophy

Euphoria back home

Back home, a hero's welcome awaited the U - l9s as they triumphantly carried home the World Cup. W inning against Australia has become almost as prestigious as a win against hereditary arch - rivals Pakistan, and cricket- lovin g Indians were quic k to shower appreciation on these young stars.

The triump hanr U - l 9 Indian cricket team arrived ho m e to a euphoric reception in Mumbai

As Delhi boy and skipper

Unmukt Chand came out of d1e

Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport terminal holding the trophy, cel ebrations broke out Mumbaiite Harmeet Singb 's relatives and friends also turned up in large numbers and carried a huge cutout of the spinner.

•1 am very happy. We played well in Australia and won iL It's a proud feeling," said Chand, who is the d1ird captain after Mohammed

Kaif and V irat Kohli to lead the country to the ru1der- 19 World Cup tide

In Kolkata, a hose of Cricket Associatio n of Bengal (CAB) officials and a large nw11ber of East Bengal fan club members waited at ilie NSC Bose lncemational Airport here to greet R avikant Singh and Sandipan Das, the two cricketers from Bengal who were in d1e winning squad. \Xli th 12 wickets, Ravikant finished as the most successful Indian bowler in rne. cournan1enc played in Australia.

In die melee of fans eager to greet the young cricketers, their families were p u s hed to the sidelines and se.curir:y personnel had to intervene, getting the cricketers into their cars in a hurry, drns cutting the celebrations short.

However, the glory of d1e wi n was overwhelming, as Ravikant stated. "\Y;/e were over the moon. I ever in my life was I so happy," h e said adding, " l owe a lot to captain Unmukt (Chand). 1 came. into the team as a replacement but he showed faith in me and gave me confid ence. Unrnukt is a batsman, but he is a bowlers' captain."

Unmukt is now richer not just in experience, but also financially as the state of Utcarakhand announced a cash reward of Rs. l 1 lakh for the young cricketing star who h it a match-winning w1beaten cenh1.ry in the final.

Although Unmu kt p lays for Delhi in do mestic cricket, he hai ls from Khudku Bhalya village in Uttarakband's Pirnoragarh district. Officials said the state was also considering felicitatin g the entire

U - 19 cricket team.

And while accolades have been pouring in, the International Cricket Coun cil (ICC) president Alan l saac also con gratulated t he Indian team for winning the U - 19 World Cup for the third time. "It has been an incredible performance by India. The way the team bounced back after losing th e tourname n t opener reflects rne talent and self- co n fid ence of d1e side. And with captain U nmukt Chand leading the side from the from with a century in d1e final, i t just sums up three great weeks for th em in Townsville," sa id Issac.

Ironic loss over win

And in what can o nly be termed as a bi2a.rrely typical situation, Unrnukt Chand was disallowed by St Stephen's College in Delhi to sit fo r his annual exam because his cl ass attendance was poor Unmukt was forced to approach the Delhi High Court petitioning that he was un able to attend classes because of cricket matches, inclucling di e Indian Premier League. He requested the Hig h Court co ask his college to allow him to si t for the annual exam. Fortunately, the Association of O ld Stephan ians are backing up the talented cricketer, and have appealed co St Stephen's College and Dell1i University "to take necessary steps co ensure that promising sportspersons are encouraged to perform better and bring laurels to d1e country". It's the old fanuliar a rgument between academics and spores. So wbo will be the winner?