Archives
Posted by Justine at 3:11, January 8th, 2009 under Cricket, Sport, Sydney/Australia |
Tony Greig just said on Channel Nine that "South Africa's cricket team has had a quota since Nelson Mandela was elected."
Um, no, Mr Greig. South African cricket has always had a quota system. It's just that prior to the end of apartheid that quota was 100% white.
Posted by Justine at 0:06, January 6th, 2009 under Cricket, Sport, State of the World |
Posted by Justine at 0:12, December 30th, 2008 under Cricket, Sport, Sydney/Australia |
Posted by Justine at 18:47, December 25th, 2008 under Cricket, Food, Praising, Sport, Sydney/Australia |
Posted by Justine at 0:03, December 21st, 2008 under Cricket, Food, Sydney/Australia |
Posted by Justine at 19:25, August 10th, 2008 under Cricket, Liar Book, Sport, Travelling |
. . . Is USians what know zero about cricket writing about it.
Today's example comes from the New York Times and concerns
a novel that's been written about the Staten Island cricket club ((And apparently other things such as 9/11, family, politics, identity. That kind of stuff. Obviously, none of it as important as cricket.)) by one of the members, Joseph O'Neil. Here's my favourite bit:
That Mr O'Neill in his other life happens to be a novelist is a matter of indifference to most of his teammates. They're more interested in him as an accomplished batsman, a sure-handed fielder and a decent off-speed bowler.
Off-speed! Hahahahahahah! Perhaps they meant "
off-spin"? Or has the Staten ...
Posted by Justine at 12:13, May 17th, 2008 under Cricket, New York City/USA, Praising, Reading |
Cricket Buzz just named its
top 51 cricket blogs and I'm on the list!
Yay!
And also---how embarrassing! I have been very remiss of late when it comes to cricket blogging. I mean I haven't mentioned the blessed sport since March and not written anything proper since January. Largely because (for reasons beyond my control) I have not been home since May of last year. ((Waaaaahhhh!!!!!)) Thus I have not been immersed in cricket culture and have not been keeping up with things such as the new
Twenty20 Indian Premier League. ((The link is to a NYT article explaining the League which will amuse those of us who know about cricket and hopefully be a clear-ish explanation for ...
Posted by Justine at 0:00, May 12th, 2008 under Bloggery, Cricket, Liar Book, New York City/USA, Sport, Sydney/Australia |
Rome was unbelievably wonderful especially the food. A friend of mine spent four months in Italy and gained around three kilos---I think I managed that in one week. Excellent!
I am at work on a post about the fabulous food we ate and a number of others---including another writing one ((See? I do listen to you. You ask that I blog it and blog it I will.))---but work on my next novel has got in the way of finishing them. Stupid novel! Not to mention the erraticness of our internet access. But, soon, my pretties, soon!
In the meantime I'm exhausted but happy: there's cricket on the tellie. All's right with the world. And even though England's doing kind of okay I ...
Posted by Justine at 19:11, March 24th, 2008 under Cricket, Excuses, Sport, Travelling |
In the vociferous arguing about the ins and outs of who behaved worst over the second test etc etc there are people implying that criticising the Australian cricket team is unAustralian and whingey. ((Though what's more Australian than whingeing?!))
Please! I love my country, I love cricket, but when the men's team behave like dickheads they should be called on it.
People who play sport at a professional level are not exempt from the social contract. No one is. Writers (to pick a random example out of the air) shouldn't behave like dickheads either. Recently I was at an award ceremony where the speeches of the winners were generous and moving. All but one. This one person got up to accept their ...
Posted by Justine at 0:01, January 9th, 2008 under Cricket, Sport, State of the World, Sydney/Australia, Whingeing |
I've had a few people writing to ask why I'm not commenting on the disastrous second test between Australia and India. There are several reasons. I've not been able to follow any of the cricket as closely as I'd like. I haven't had time.
But mostly because I'm embarrassed. And, well, I think
Greg Baum and
Mike Coward have expressed what I feel about it so well that i don't really need to add anything.
I will though: I'm sick of Aussie sportsmen (and, frankly, it's the blokes, not the women) behaving like dickheads. I'm not Indian, so the bad behaviour of the Indians doesn't make me ashamed, and, you know what? We're the host country here. We should be ...
Posted by Justine at 0:00, January 8th, 2008 under Cricket, Sport, Sydney/Australia |
Posted by Justine at 12:07, July 31st, 2007 under Bloggery, Cricket, Sport, Sydney/Australia, Whingeing, Writing life |
Posted by Justine at 18:24, April 8th, 2007 under Bloggery, Cons & Other Gatherings, Cricket, New York City/USA, Scott's books, Sport, Young Adult literature |
El and
Rachel Brown correctly surmised that the fan half of
my question was inspired by
the bruhaha about whether John Scalzi should be nominated for a fan writing Hugo or not.
For the record: yes, Scalzi should, and I hope he wins for all the reasons that have been described in great detail
here,
here and
here. I'm also not comfortable with people telling other people that they are or aren't "fans" or "geeks" or anything else. Those are the kind of labels you get to choose for yourself.
The geek half was inspired by my being asked to contribute a story to an anthology about geeks and geekery. My instant response ...
Posted by Justine at 12:52, March 31st, 2007 under Bloggery, Cons & Other Gatherings, Cricket, Listening, Praising, Ranting, Reading, Research, Sport, Viewing, Words & Language |
I was going to rant all over my blog today about the bloody
ICC's idiotic decision to demand that
youtube take down all footage from the World Cup. But then I found
this excellent rant that says everything I want to say. Here's a taste of Andrew Miller's wrath:
Only three days ago it was suggested on this website that the events of the past week might serve as a wake-up call for cricket's fiscally obsessed powerbrokers. Fat chance. A game run increasingly by lawyers for lawyers, has deemed it necessary to go to war on the very online enthusiasts who can spread the word of a game whose reputation has been dragged through the mincer.
It is an ...
Posted by Justine at 9:15, March 28th, 2007 under Cricket, Ranting, Sport |
Shashi Tharoor has written a
wry op ed piece for the New York Times on the World Cup and how Americans are oblivious to what is preoccupying a billion plus folks at the moment. It ends thus:
In any event, nothing about cricket seems suited to the American national character: its rich complexity, the infinite possibilities that could occur with each delivery of the ball, the dozen different ways of getting out, are all patterned for a society of endless forms and varieties, not of a homogenized McWorld. They are rather like Indian classical music, in which the basic laws are laid down but the performer then improvises gloriously, unshackled by anything so mundane as a written score.
Cricket ...
Posted by Justine at 9:20, March 23rd, 2007 under Cricket, Magic or Madness trilogy, New York City/USA, Sport, State of the World, Sydney/Australia |
For the next month, there's an ad for Magic's Child up on
Locus online. Tis my very first one and I'm dead excited. Ordinarily, I can't stand ads but somehow it's different when it's an ad for one of my books. That makes me want to pat it and sing it songs. Lovely, lovely ad. Designed by the fabulous Courtney Wood who also made those beautiful screensavers which you can now download from the links in the sidebar.
There is now a cover for the Science Fiction Book Club's 3-in-1 version of my trilogy. It's called The Magic or of Reason.
In other vainglorious news, the
Hathor Legacy likes Daughters of Earth, describing it as ...
Posted by Justine at 11:35, March 22nd, 2007 under Bloggery, Cricket, Daughters of Earth, Magic or Madness trilogy, New York City/USA, Praising, Sport, Vainglory |
Every
world cup it seems
there's a debate about whether allowing in the so-called minnows of the game is a
good idea or
not. Because every world cup there are 200-plus run victories as Bermuda or Scotland or whoever are bowled out for less than a hundred by Australia or India or whoever.
It's happened again this year. Herschelle Gibbs even smashed a
world record 36 off an over against the Netherlands. For those whose maths is as poor as mine that's a six off every single ball. No one had ever it done it internationally before, not in ODIs and not in test cricket.
The argument
against the inclusion of minnows is that they help ...
Posted by Justine at 18:05, March 17th, 2007 under Cricket, Sport, State of the World |
Posted by Justine at 10:07, February 13th, 2007 under Bloggery, Cricket, Excuses, Praising, Sport |
Scott just sent me this because we both love cricket and monkeys. ((He
found it here, but I'd love to know the original source.)) It is the personification of our love. It makes me so happy!
Though I gotta say that's a pretty suspicious looking bowling action. And why is the umpire lying on the ground? Because the monkey is totally using body line? Check it: the monkey's aiming at their heads! Or perhaps because the monkey has used six different balls? That's gotta be worse than ball tampering, right? Bad cheating monkey!
Posted by Justine at 16:52, February 11th, 2007 under Cricket, Frippery |
For ages people have been telling me that I have to see
Lagaan. Well, now I have. And everyone's right. It is the best movie of all time. No contest.
It has everything that should be in a movie: cricket, the British are the baddies, more cricket, dancing, singing, a love triangle, and more cricket. Lagaan is perfect. (Well, it could have been longer with a wee bit more cricket and a few more songs, but other than that---perfect.)
At least seventy minutes of the movie is a cricket match. How did that make any sense to American viewers? Cause most of the folks who've recommended it have been yanquis who know nothing about the noble game. How did you keep ...
Posted by Justine at 1:34, February 6th, 2007 under Cricket, Sport, Viewing |
This one breaks my brain.
From the Sydney Morning Herald the
Australian cricket team responds to accusations of being arrogant, rude, sledging bastards:
"The way I look at cricket, you do everything possible to win. Some people like the verbal side of the game, some don't, but you just get one with what your job. I take what Vincent is saying as a backhanded compliment."
Hayden, Clark's Australian teammate, was equally indignant.
"If he considers that to be the case, I'm not unhappy about it, to be honest," Hayden said. "It's a great clash between New Zealand and Australia and long may it continue. It doesn't matter what sport---we could be playing kick a cockroach from here to the wall and we'd want ...
Posted by Justine at 12:39, January 31st, 2007 under Cricket, Ranting, Sport, State of the World, Words & Language |
Posted by Justine at 18:04, January 25th, 2007 under Bloggery, Cons & Other Gatherings, Cricket, Excuses, Fashion, Young Adult literature |
I cannot explain why this make me so very very very happy. It just does.
Australian fast bowler, Brett Lee, in a duet with Indian legend
Asha Bhosle. Why don't more cricketers sing?
The song is currently no. 4 on the charts in India. Wonder if they'll release it here?
Posted by Justine at 14:49, January 21st, 2007 under Cricket, Frippery, Listening |
Posted by Justine at 9:01, January 8th, 2007 under Cricket, Excuses, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Viewing, Writing goals & milestones, Writing life |
The last day of this year's Ashes series didn't even amount to two hours of play, but it sure did sum up the series. Australia bowled well; England crumbled. Didn't run except when Andrew Symonds was holding the ball ready to run them out. Then Langer and Hayden got the handful of runs necessary for the 5-0 sweep. It took five overs longer than I thought it would on account of Harmison finally decided to bowl some scorchers. But then it was done.
And for years I will have fun telling folks that I was there to see Langer, McGrath and Warne say goodbye to cricket. The way I've already been able to skite about being there to watch Steve Waugh ...
Posted by Justine at 18:22, January 6th, 2007 under Cricket, Sport, Sydney/Australia |
Today I will share with you one of the many reasons I love cricket. This is more for me than for you, because I am currently very cranky with cricket---specifically with the Australian and English cricket teams---and I need to remind myself of the love.
Australia because they got out way too early: Warne? Gilchrist? I'm looking at you! Where were your centuries?
And England because they crumbled and lost five wickets. Yet a-bloody-gain.
I would like to remind you both that I have tickets for tomorrow's play and right now I'm not seeing it go past lunch. A pox on both your houses.
I am also pretty dirty on the weather. What? You can rain all night? But barely disturb the cricket? Curse ...
Posted by Justine at 18:47, January 4th, 2007 under Cricket, Sport, Sydney/Australia |
It's been another good year for me professionally and I will now skite about it: My second and third books, Magic Lessons and Daughters of Earth, were both published to some very nice
reviews and
reader responses. The whole Magic or Madness trilogy sold to
Editora Record in Brazil, Magic or Madness and Magic Lessons sold to
Mondadori in Italy, while Magic Lessons and Magic's Chld sold to
Amarin in Thailand. And then there was the recent sale of the trilogy to the
Science Fiction Book Club for a 3-in-1. Not to mention Magic Lessons being on the shortlist for the Aurealis.
It was a great year for
Scott who hit the ...
Posted by Justine at 9:50, December 31st, 2006 under Bloggery, Cricket, Daughters of Earth, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Last Day of the Year, Magic or Madness trilogy, Praising, Scott's books, Sport, State of the World, Sydney/Australia, Vainglory, Writing goals & milestones |
What is wrong with England?
shite fielding: Look at Australia in the field and then look at England. The Poms with a few exceptions (Collingwood, Panesar, Pietersen) have no intensity. They don't run down every single ball, turning fours into threes, twos into ones, and saving singles. They look lethargic and bored.
shite captaincy: Flintoff looks lost. He's not leading by example given his poor batting displays and erratic bowling and he's not leading on the paddock. His field placings have been all over the place. He elects to bat when the wicket is iffy. He doesn't seem to know whether he's playing test cricket or Sunday arvo mah jong. And way to not show any confidence in your new bowlers ...
Posted by Justine at 9:11, December 29th, 2006 under Cricket, Sport, Sydney/Australia |
Posted by Justine at 9:47, December 26th, 2006 under Cricket, Excuses, Sport |
I just came across a
lovely piece by Mark Lawrence about the outsiderness of living through Australian summers while knowing very little about cricket:
What [being a migrant] means is that I have very little understanding of the finer points of cricket, and don't play it at all well. I can't tell the difference between 'long leg' and 'short leg', and I have absolutely no idea where 'mid-on' is. After over a decade living in Australia, I do have an idea of how the game is played, but only a middling understanding of how it is scored or how a test proceeds. Strategy? Not a scratch. So much so that during the recent Ashes test in Adelaide, I ...
Posted by Justine at 0:01, December 23rd, 2006 under Cricket, Praising, Reading, Sport, State of the World, Sydney/Australia |
Shane Warne is retiring. I cannot believe it. He was good for another three or four years easy. What the hell?!
Thank God I get to see him bowl in Sydney. He is the best bowler I've ever seen tweaking the leather. And I've seen some greats. I don't know what I'm going to do with no Warne to watch? Aaaarggh!!
And what is he going to do now? The mind boggles.
How can I go to bed on this calamitous news?!
Update: I have deleted comments on this thread which I deem to be disrespectful. When I am in deep mourning my sense of humour is impaired. I do not mock your sporting idols (okay, except for Johnny Damon. But that's different.)
Posted by Justine at 0:19, December 21st, 2006 under Cricket, Sport |
The Ashes are back where they belong and all is right with the world.
Now if only they'd give us the actual urn!
Posted by Justine at 16:32, December 18th, 2006 under Cricket, Sport |
I haven't been blogging the third test because I've been sitting in front of it entranced, transfixed, and incapable of typing (plus there's the whole absence of wireless thing). Those first two inning were something else, weren't they?
I can't tell you how thrilled I am to see Andrew Symonds back and making magic for the Australian test side. He's one of the best fielders of all time. His bowling was fabulously effective---if only he could stay in a tad longer he'd be a lock on the number six spot. Frankly, I think his performance in this test should bag him number six no matter what. His fielding alone makes an insanely big difference. Plus he's one of the most entertaining ...
Posted by Justine at 12:38, December 16th, 2006 under Cricket, Sport, Viewing |
See, that's the problem (("Problem" here is a synonym for "glory".)) with test matches. They don't always go the way you think they're going. First innings points can mean nothing. There are five days, fifteen sessions. Oodle of time for oodles to happen. Any one of those sessions can go badly, one or two or three or four or five or more players can have an awful match, and yet that team can still win.
Like Australia did today. On the back of fabulous second innings efforts from Lee & Warne. Especially Warne. He may well be a dickhead off the paddock, but on he's a genius. And both of them were being written off after their first innings. Drop Warne? ...
Posted by Justine at 19:14, December 5th, 2006 under Cricket, Sport |
168 runs off 36 overs. Can we do it? Oh, yes, we can!
Posted by Justine at 16:17, December 5th, 2006 under Cricket, Sport |
And
so it begins in sunny Brisbane three hours ahead of sunny Bangkok. I'll make no predictions of the 5-0 variety (though wouldn't that be nice?) but I will say that you're barking mad if you think England has a chance in hell of keeping the Ashes.
Yes, I know I said that last time too. And frankly if it hadn't been for some shocking lapses by the captain we woulda won that and all.
Here's to the next few weeks of battle. May it be as awesome as four two years fifteen months ago, except with the proper ending this time.
Oh, and check out the
English Ashes cricket blog (via
Alison). Fabulous!
Posted by Justine at 8:56, November 23rd, 2006 under Cricket, Sport, Sydney/Australia |
This is not a question I get asked very much. Not directly, anyway, but every single time I post about sport someone writes and asks me when I'm going to post about interesting topics again. That's right, the biggest complaint I get from you, dear readers, is that I talk about sport too much. (( It's particularly weird as I've hardly blogged sport at all this year. Very little mention of cricket, the World Cup, or the Tour de France; pretty much nothing about the Liberty's unhappy WNBA season, and hardly any mention of all the various Australian triumphs this year. I've been busy, okay?))
Now I ain't never gonna stop writing about sport, no matter how many of you are ...
Posted by Justine at 0:03, September 26th, 2006 under Basketball, Cricket, Fans & readers, Sport, Tour de France |
Posted by Justine at 18:05, August 5th, 2006 under Bloggery, Cricket, Frippery, Magic or Madness trilogy, New York City/USA, State of the World, Writing goals & milestones |
Something not to do while you're exhausted and have a head cold:
Atttempt to buy tickets for the 06/07 Ashes series.
The article does not exaggarate. I logged on just before 9AM (Sydney time) when the tickets were to go on sale. The server was busy and busy and busy and busy and busy and busy and aaargghh!!
It took me half an hour to get through to actually buying the tickets. At which point all the tickets I was interested in for days 2 & 3 were gone. I then went to buy tickets for the fourth day but just as I selected them a pop up box announced that my session had timed out.
Cue screaming and swearing.
I logged back in ...
Posted by Justine at 22:02, May 31st, 2006 under Cricket, Ranting, Sydney/Australia |
Posted by Justine at 7:48, April 21st, 2006 under Bloggery, Cricket, Daughters of Earth, Publishing business, Sport |
In the few moments that I'm not banging MorM 3 into shape, I've been taking a squiz at the first test in Bangledesh and, wow. Turns out
my sister was right and I---like many other commentators (most notably, our noble captain, Ricky Ponting who said they weren't worthy of test status)---was talking out my arse. And ain't that fabulous?
Matthew Hayden batting (briefly); Shahadat Hossain appealing (unsuccesfully)
Getty Images
Bangladesh are the worst ranked team in the world; Australia are the best (by a considerable margin) and right now Bangladesh are pounding us. Excellent stuff. Not just because it's been an incredibly entertaining test match, but because of what it means for the future, for the raising of the level ...
Posted by Justine at 7:56, April 12th, 2006 under Cricket, Sport |
A HUNDRED demons were slain at the Wanderers as the Australian tail-enders took their side to the verge of victory and then completed the task. ---
The wisdom of Peter Roebuck
Getty Images
We beat South Africa 3-zip in the greatest form of cricket. I got home just in time to catch the last days of the third test. Wow! It was fabulous, evenly poised throughout. Is there anything better than a test match when either side can win right down to the very last ball? No, there is not.
Some men don't deserve to finish on the losing side. But that is the nature of sport. Indeed, it was the message of this match. Although sport has its heroes and ...
Posted by Justine at 18:32, April 5th, 2006 under Cricket, Sport |
Posted by Justine at 13:22, March 19th, 2006 under Cons & Other Gatherings, Cricket, Listening, Magic or Madness trilogy, New York City/USA, Reading, Scott's books, Young Adult literature |
I know I'm a
teeny bit obsessed with
search terms that lead to my website (especially when deadlines loom), but today's list was a truly bumper crop. Here are my faves:
Q:
does euphoria mean something bad?
Dr Justine says: It can. It really really can. Over-the-top happiness can lead to all sorts of injuries. I broke my toe that way once.
Q:
where does andrew symonds lives 2006?
A: Ya know, I have a feeling it's prolly better that you don't find out. Leave the poor bastard alone. He's injured and in South Africa. Stalk someone else!
Q:
what genre do first time novelists publish easiest?
A: What now?! There is no answer to this question. There is ...
Posted by Justine at 0:38, March 3rd, 2006 under Cricket, Search Terms, Sport, Words & Language |
Looks like 2006 is going to be the year of jetlag travelling for me and
Mr Westerfeld. I just updated our
appearances pages and it was quite a shock.
Brisbane!
Bologna!
New Orleans! Barely two weeks goes by without us chooffing off somewhere and that's with only the rock-solid confirmed events listed.
Not that I'm complaining, it's fantabuloso being asked to do so many different events. And I've never been to
New Orleans before. How fascinating is that going to be? Very.
In other news: I continue to be very very glad that I am in Sydney, not New York City.
Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times
And Australia thrashes Sri Lanka in the ...
Posted by Justine at 9:26, February 13th, 2006 under Cons & Other Gatherings, Cricket, New York City/USA, Praising, Sport, Sydney/Australia, Travelling, Whingeing |
How about
that Dilshan, eh? I love me some runout action.
Getty Images
And how fabbie is it that the ODI finals are turning into an actual contest? I'm so very relieved that the explosive Sri Lankans made it rather than the dour South Africans. Plus Bandara is the dead spit of
Theo Black. It's eerie. (Though the resemblance isn't as clear from photos. If onlly I could get the Blacks to come to Sydney and see Bandara on the tellie. I swear he even moves like Theo.)
Swiped from
here
Also, what
Peter Roebuck said about Murali.
Oh, and
how about that Tuffers? He funny. Ponting? Not so much. You should really worry, Mr Ponting, ...
Posted by Justine at 7:28, February 11th, 2006 under Cricket, Sport, Sydney/Australia |
I will never understand all the Melbournites who despise Sydney, some of them folks who've never even been here. Seriously, I've met Melbournites who sneer with disdain at the mere thought of stepping foot in Sydney. The horror they say!
Me, I'm from Sydney. I love it, but I also have a whole lot of time for Melbourne. Melbourne has better licensing laws and thus
better bars than Sydney, a better art and live music scene, and (mostly) better clothes shopping. Melbourne has
trams. And what is not to love about trams? But Melbourne has little of Sydney's
breath-taking physical beauty, doesn't have her
beaches, or
national parks, or
fairies, er, I mean
ferries, ...
Posted by Justine at 10:27, February 5th, 2006 under Cricket, Fashion, Food, Liquids, New York City/USA, Ranting, Sport, State of the World, Sydney/Australia, Whingeing |
I just pressed the send button, and now Magic! Magic! Magic! Oi! Oi! Oi! is winging its way across the Pacific, and then across mainland USA, all the way to Hudson Street in New York City. Except that, you know, technology, being what it is, my baby is already there. Freaky, eh?
I can now watch the Sri Lanka v South Africa One Day International in good conscience. Who am I barracking for? Sri Lanka, natch. But it would prolly be more interesting for the competition if South Africa won. But, frankly, without Makhaya Ntini South Africa just ain't that interesting. Even if Sean Pollock does look uncannily like my husband.
Sean Pollock aka
Scott Westerfeld (
original source)
Can ...
Posted by Justine at 21:45, January 24th, 2006 under Cricket, Magic or Madness trilogy, New York City/USA, Sport, Writing goals & milestones |
Posted by Justine at 13:30, January 10th, 2006 under Bloggery, Cricket, Magic or Madness trilogy, Publishing business, Sport, Sydney/Australia, Writing life |
