Switch-Hits
This is a re-hash of a previous controversy. Kevin Pietersen first sparked this of with his switch-hit, but David Warner re-opened the can of worms by switch-hitting Indian spinner Ravi Ashwin 100m for a 6.
The controversy is that a switch-hit involves the batsman switching stance either from right handed to left handed or vice versa.
The fact that a bowler cannot change style of bowling, or the side of the wicket or hand he releases from but the batsman can suggests an unfair advantage.
The shot has been legalised by the ICC, and is a very difficult shot. Warner hit it 100m, further than most batsman can hit with their chosen hand, but this is less to do with the shot and more to do with his frakish and exceptional talent.
I think the fact only the best players can succeed with the shot, is a proof that it is not cheating but a highly-skilled shot.
Spinners
England have just been beaten 3-0 by Pakistan in the latest cricket series. It was by all accounts an abject performance, with averages amongst the batsman ranging from low teens to mid twenties, with only Matt Prior (coming in at no.7) averaging over 30.
The fact is England were undone by the spinners from Pakistan, Rehmann and Ajmal, and struggled to play them at all. Thier overconfidence due to their no.1 world ranking and the fact that many of the batsmen seemed out of touch, didn't help.
The truth is in my opinion to be truly no.1 in the world, you have to be able to win home and away, against both seam attacks and the spinners, hopefully we can improve in Sri Lanka.
With matches against Sri Lanka, West Indies, South Africa and India still to come, if England are still no.1 at the end they will truly deserve it.
Superbowl
There is little to say about the superbowl as I've only seen highlights. This was probably my most bizarre superbowl experience, being at work on a Monday morning while the game was being played. The game did not finish until mid-afternoon Australian time. It makes it very difficult to watch the game being at work and all!
The game featured two very good quarterbacks, but this is only ever half the story, a quarterback needs the support of a good offence to protect him, good wide-receivers to offer options to pass to and good running backs to offer an alternative and take pressure off.
For instance Tom Brady's touchdown throw for the Patriots came due to a great set of plays culminating in some great offence that provided him with what seemed like an age (or a superbowl in itself - it seemed so long) that he could easily pick out a receiver for the touchdown.
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/09000d5d826aedd4/Super-Bowl-XLVI-highlights
In the end i believe the best team won.
Clenbuterol
Finally to my favourite sport, cycling, unfortunately so often overshadowed by doping, and no more so than today.
I will post more on this soon, but just to give an overview of my thoughts.
Today was no shock, the investigation has been a long saga, much longer than was necessary and cycling has been greatly damaged for it.
This only shows once again the incompetence of the authorities and the muddle of the doping authorities. CAS overrules the Spanish body on behalf of WADA and the UCI, with the Spanish Government also interfering.
There are no winners from this, just losers and defacto winners, but that means very little, to them or anyone else.
On the face of it, it seems like the case was a trial of guilty until proven innocent, in many ways this is true, but a better analogy is one of a crime scene.
A murder has occurred and the suspect's DNA has been found, now he must prove why it was there. The fact is he couldn't, and even though the burden of proof for doping was lacking, there was equally no proof that it was contaminated meat, although as ludicrous as that sounds it is plausible.
What is clear is that cycling is the big loser, Contador was able to continue competing and winning, despite now being judged to be guilty, others are denied their glory and cycling seems no further ahead than in the mid-noughties, despite the opposite being true.
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