Gabba - Day 5 - Oz selectors need to show some gumption

Yes, the scoreboard said the match ended in a draw, but anyone with a modicum of common sense knows the Poms had a solid points victory and will head to Adelaide for the Second Test (it starts on Friday) with their heads held high while a few of the Oz mob must be wondering about the security of their spots. Honestly, some of the Oz lot are so deep in the doldrums they need to be sent back to state duties with specific instructions to improve their game or take the big step and advise selectors that their dance cards have expired and will not be renewed.

The Poms piled on record after record performance.

The Poms declared at 1/517 in their second innings - enough said!

Now who has been loose with the facts in the Clarence Valley rate debate??

Was poor Truth murdered by the Colonel in the conservatory, the Rector in the library or the Cook in the kitchen?
I leave those who know the local personalities involved to make up their own minds.

Excerpt from The Great Divide, Graham Orams, The Daily Examiner, 18 November 2010, Page 1:

Councillor Craig Howe strongly disagreed, stating the Valley already had parity in water, sewerage and waste collection rates.

He went on to say it was unfair that a Grafton business valued at $150,000 paid $2776 in rates, whereas a business in Maclean paid just $1138, and only $848 in the tourist mecca of Yamba.

"This issue is causing divide in the Clarence Valley community and needs to be addressed in a real way that achieves a fair outcome for all businesses," he said.

Excerpt from former Maclean Shire councillor Bill Day's letter to the editor, The Daily Examiner, 26 November 2010, Page 12:

In your November 18 front page story, "The Great Divide", you quote councillor Craig Howe as saying it was unfair that a Grafton business valued at $150,000 paid $2776 in rates, whereas a business in Maclean paid just $1138, and only $848 in the tourist mecca of Yamba.
This is a deliberate distortion of the real issues......

Excerpt from Clarence Valley Shire councillor Craig Howe's letter to the editor, The Daily Examiner, 29 November 2010, Page 10:

At no point did I ever refer to Yamba as "the tourist Mecca". I would not be so flippant or inflammatory with such a serious matter, don't take my word for it, ask the journalist for a copy of what I said.....

Cartoon figure from CrystalXP

B#gger, b*gger, b^gger! Our Tony just won't shut up

I honestly thought, with the 2010 Australian Federal Parliament in its last dying days playing legislative catchup before the Chrissie break, that I wouldn’t find Opposition Leader Tony Abbott saying something quite so stupid as this comment on the pending marriage of a young British couple:"something as natural and as fitting as the marriage of an appealing man and an attractive woman".
Although most of the print media tried to save Tony from himself by omitting the “fitting” from published quotes on Sunday, ABC News gave the game away with its televised sound bites from his speech at the national conference of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy in Sydney on Saturday, 27th November.
Fitting? Wot? It’s unnatural and improper for socially inept, cauliflower-eared blokes like myself to pull a sheila who’s attractive? Strewth, Tones, you live in a weird and dispiriting world!
#Snapshot of Abbott with foot-in-mouth on 27.11.10

Ashes Test at Gabba - day 4 - Poms turn it on

Boy, oh boy, what a difference a day makes! The Poms really gave the Oz XI something serious to think about on Day 4.
Pommy openers Strauss and Cook put on 188 before skipper Strauss departed for a very solid 110. Cook had another Big Day Out and at day's end was 132 not out - his 67 in the first innings was obviously an entree.
The Poms go to Day 5 with an overall lead of 88, so they can be expected to grind away at the expense of an Oz bowling attack that looks like it's been to the blood laboratory and had it confirmed that it currently lacks venom.
Heading the lengthy list of visitors from Old Blighty at the Gabba is the Royal Family.

 And for those who think/hope/wish the Barmy Army will fade away in the not too distant future, they're in for a big disappointment. Young BA offspring were at the Gabba in big numbers!

NCVs had a yarn with a couple of Pommy brothers who were beside themselves about their prospects for the the rest of the series.

Remember, the only Oz who took a wicket on Day 4 was Marcus North and his hold on a position in future Test sides is indeed most tenuous.Reckon that says it all.