Talent scouting

A major part of my weekend was spent with family members, but great as that was, I don't feel like talking about it. Instead, my subject shall be cricket.

Today, DL and I went to the SCG to watch NSW play England. It was the beginning of a three-dayer which will likely finish in a draw and, due to some wacky rule changes, isn't being classified as a First Class Match (presumably meaning it'll be exempted from the record books). So why go?

Basically, we wanted to gauge the Poms' strength before the Ashes. It was also a less crowded (11k vs ~50k) and cheaper ($20! vs ~$100 - assuming we'd even got hold of tix before they sold out) alternative to attending the Sydney Test.

NSW won the toss and elected to bat, dashing our hopes of seeing Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee attacking the tourists' top order. However, we did witness:
* The Blues make 325 runs
* Phil Jacques score a century
* Simon Katich and Michael Clarke reach 50
* The Poms take 5 wickets
* Kevin Pietersen catch a ripper on the boundary
* Monty Panesar bowl his spin here for the first time (impressive!), AND
* Freddie Flintoff in excellent form

Although England were trounced by the Prime Minister's XI last Friday (when Jacques scored another 100) and are far from in control of this match, their team spirit appears good and I still think they'll battle hard to retain the little urn.