I saw am awesome sight last night, Aussie fast bowler Brett Lee bowled 10 overs during the Aussies defeat last night, nothing exceptional about that, except he had a stress fracture in his left foot, the foot he piles all his weight on when bowling! now I have tried to bowl with a sore toe and that was sheer agony, yet to bowl with that type of injury takes some doing, and he was not just strolling up he was putting everything into it, incredible...

I have stayed up the last few nights watching the Boxing Day Test, from Melbourne, where Australia are 1-0 down in a series against a very good South Africa side, last night SA were 199-7 at early doors a full 198 runs behinds the Aussies 1st innings, thanks to a few factors the situation has deteriorated for the Aussie, firstly Brett Lee did not take the field, secondly a South African, J P Duminy plying in only his 2nd Test decided with the help of his lower order batsmen to do something about it, the Aussies looked clueless to stop Duminy and his bowlers picking off the runs, and wearing down the target to reach parity, so clueless where the Aussies, that at close of play South Africa were 459 all out, a stunning counter attack that leaves them 65 runs ahead of the limp looking Aussies, the Aussies are in serious trouble in this game, they have too many players out of form, Hayden for so long the man at 1st slip laughing like a drain at the misfortune of opposition batsmen seems to be wearing a more troubled look, the laughter is not there, the reason? the runs are not forthcoming, and he is fighting for his place in the Test Team, is the bullying opener coming to the end of the road? in his mid 30's I think that may just be the case. Mike Hussey known as Mr Cricket in OZ and known for scoring loads of runs now looks like he could not hit a cows arse with a banjo, Brett Lee's bowling is below par, and Mitchell Johnson is not quite the top bowler just yet, despite taking a shed load of wickets in the first test.
The trouble is Australia have been spoilt for so damn long in terms of World Class players, and 4 of the big uns have retired in the past 18 months, Justin Langer an absolute run machine, one of the greatest openers, Glenn McGrath a machine like bowler who loved to probe the corridor of uncertainty and one of the most consistent wicket takers ever, Adam Gilchrist, one of the best wicket keepers ever and a highly destructive batter, and finally Shane Warne, the greatest spinner ever (we dont count Murali, he is a chucker)? Now you take 4 world class players out of any team in a short space of time and you will undoubtedly struggle, previously when Australia where in trouble, one of these 4, would chip in with a top notch performance, whether it be Langer or Gilchrist with a century, McGrath with his pace or Warne with his hard to read mixture of wrong ungs, flippers or balls of the century, and they would emerge victorious as ever. That has all changed, the Aussies are looking very ordinary, sure they have players in the side who can raise a performance on any given day, but then so do South Africa, so do India and so do England.
So taking all that into account I am looking forward to this summers Ashes battle, I really do not think it will be as exciting as 2005, the nerve jangling excitement and pure tension of that amazing series will never be repeated, but what I think is that England will eek out revenge for their winter thrashing down under last winter, this Aussie team stripped of 4 world class players, with Hayden and Brett Lee struggling with their age I really do not think they can beat us, We have Pietersen playing well, Cook and Strauss looking solid, Freddie back to his best with both bat and ball, Stuart Broad a top notch bowler who will just get better and better. I dont think it will be a 5-0 job but maybe 2-1 to England, I personally cannot wait.

Whilst we are on the subject of cricket the Star Inn resumes practice in a few weeks, last season was our best and in the last few games we looked very very good, our bowling looks dangerous and our batting starting to look useful and our fielding at the back end of the season was inspirational, new players joined last year, including a balding rotund looking fella who seems vaguely familiar, and our young quicks started to look really menacing, our outgoing skipper at our AGM asked if they could ease up a bit next season in games, that was howled down by the rest of the team who love to see them tear into the opposition, although facing the two buggers in the nets is a seriously scary thing let me tell you!
So get ready for the aches and pains for days on end after training, the bruises the box shattering balls, bring it on I cannot wait!

Well thats Christmas done and dusted, Young Finch loves his Wii, even if I think there is a fault with PGA Golf!
Lunch was Roast Beef with all the trimmings, the young un had way too many presents and was spoilt rotten as usual by everyone.
The day was rounded off with a game on the Wii, the Kiwi was far too good on the bowling and was getting a bit carried away with her score, until I slaughtered it by a country mile.
Its a wquiet day here in Finch towers, Young Finch is away with his mother for the weekend, so its perfect peace here, and leaves me more time to work out how to beat him on all his new games!

The 12 Days of Christmas Cutbacks....

Effective immediately, the following economizing measures are being implemented in the “Twelve Days of Christmas” subsidiary:

1. The partridge will be retained, but the pear tree, which never produced the cash crop forecasted, will be replaced by a plastic hanging plant, providing considerable savings in maintenance;

2. Two turtle doves represent a redundancy that is simply not cost effective. In addition, their romance during working hours could not be condoned. The positions are, therefore, eliminated;

3. The three French hens will remain intact. After all, everyone loves the French;

4. The four calling birds will be replaced by an automated voice mail system, with a call waiting option. An analysis is underway to determine who the birds have been calling, how often and how long they talked;

5. The five golden rings have been put on hold by the Board of Directors. Maintaining a portfolio based on one commodity could have negative implications for institutional investors. Diversification into other precious metals, as well as a mix of T-Bills and high technology stocks, appear to be in order;

6. The six geese-a-laying constitutes a luxury which can no longer be afforded. It has long been felt that the production rate of one egg per goose per day was an example of the general decline in productivity. Three geese will be let go, and an upgrading in the selection procedure by personnel will assure management that, from now on, every goose it gets will be a good one;

7. The seven swans-a-swimming is obviously a number chosen in better times. The function is primarily decorative. Mechanical swans are on order. The current swans will be retrained to learn some new strokes, thereby enhancing their outplacement;

8. As you know, the eight maids-a-milking concept has been under heavy scrutiny by the EEOC. A male/female balance in the workforce is being sought. The more militant maids consider this a dead-end job with no upward mobility. Automation of the process may permit the maids to try a-mending, a-mentoring or a-mulching;

9. Nine ladies dancing has always been an odd number. This function will be phased out as these individuals grow older and can no longer do the steps;

10. Ten Lords-a-leaping is overkill. The high cost of Lords, plus the expense of international air travel, prompted the Compensation Committee to suggest replacing this group with ten out-of-work congressmen. While leaping ability may be somewhat sacrificed, the savings are significant as we expect an oversupply of unemployed congressmen this year;

11. Eleven pipers piping and twelve drummers drumming is a simple case of the band getting too big. A substitution with a string quartet, a cutback on new music, and no uniforms, will produce savings which will drop right to the bottom line;
Overall we can expect a substantial reduction in assorted people, fowl, animals and related expenses. Though incomplete, studies indicate that stretching deliveries over twelve days is inefficient. If we can drop ship in one day, service levels will be improved.

Regarding the lawsuit filed by the attorney’s association seeking expansion to include the legal profession (”thirteen lawyers-a-suing”), a decision is pending.

Deeper cuts may be necessary in the future to remain competitive. Should that happen, the Board will request management to scrutinize the Snow White Division to see if seven dwarfs is the right number.

I am still stunned at winning the poker night! despite being rather drunk, had a shocking head ache all day yesterday but managed to shake it off before my babysitting duties, which went very well young Chris who is 5 thoroughly enjoyed his bedtime story, I gave him Peace At Last, it used to be Young Finch's favourite, Chris enjoyed the story which included noises and a fair bit of action from the story teller, the other 3 popped up to bed at 9, so we had a peaceful evening in front of the TV.
Easy day today, been working out recipes for my fudge, truffles and coconut ice, that will keep me amused Xmas Eve afternoon!

Blimey, guess who won the Poker last night? I say last night it was more like 4am this morning when a rather tired and emotional radio reporter clinched the hand that scooped the cash and the bloody shirt! Sadly this morning it dawned on me that maybe a bottle of red and an entire bottle of Bombay Sapphire are not the best things to demolish if you want to go shopping, I work up with an absolute stonker of a headache, and was very unsteady on the old pins, luckily the Nurofen and the bacon butties seemed to perk me up, so its an evening of babysitting duties this evening for me with the 3 Ellis young uns and Young Finch. Sunday I promise to behave!