CRICKET.

So, I'm reading Shane Watson's book at the moment.
And I came across something interesting.

In the Ashes series of '10-'11 that us Aussies would like to shove out of our heads forever, the English pace bowlers were really good at swinging the ball (especially reverse swing) whereas the Aussie pace bowlers were struggling to do this.
(Disclaimer: I have no idea what 'swing' is, but just go with this, okay?)

Anyway, in Twatto's book, he mentions that there's different type of balls.
There's a Kookaburra, which they use in Australia. It loses its shine after about 10 overs and sucks at swinging.
Then, there's a Duke. Which is what they use in England. And this ball has this awesome shininess that is easy to polish and you can swing the ball all day. (Also, you'd sweat less in England, so the ball would stay dry and hence swing more.)

My point:
Maybe those bastard English pace bowlers were using their special "Duke" ball. Did anyone check? DID THEY? Maybe the umpire doesn't know, and just assumed all balls are the same. Maybe that's why we lost, our bowlers were using the crappy Kookaburra.

Massive freakout.
Those cheaters.
Steve Finn has some answering to do. Especially to me.
And to think... Alastair Cook, the silly mid-on and chief ball-wiperer, didn't even tell me in one of our sexual encounters.
What the heck.

I hate England even more.
And this theory may not even be right, but you know what? I don't really care. I'd do anything to throw a bit of mud at them. ANYTHING.

AUSTRALIA DAY.

Anyway, I went to Hanging Rock during the day.
We got there early, set up our chairs and food and stuff, some people went to put bets on, and waited for the first race.
And waited some more.
Then, when the race was about to start, some kangaroos decide to hop around the racecourse.
So, the horses couldn't race and the security staff people thingy couldn't get the kangaroos off (have you ever heard of shooting a kangaroo on Australia Day? No, me either. A little bit un-Australian, y'know.)

Don't worry, no one shot the kangaroos. They were just left to have their fun on the racecourse, and then, the person on the loudspeaker said that all races were cancelled, and the kangaroos scattered and went elsewhere. WHAT EVEN.

Anyway, it was still only 1pm, so a lot of people continued to stay, betting on the Caulfield races and such.
Some people had brought a beach ball, so they were throwing that around. And it got caught in the tree twice, so people would throw their shoe or an umbrella up there. Good entertainment. :P
And then, some party pooper/policeman got hold of the ball and took it away. Rude.

Oh and in the middle of the racecourse, there was a massive lake with signs all around it saying "Beware: Snakes" and other such warning signs.
And some people (probably after a few drinks) decided to jump in the lake and swim over to the island in the middle. That was entertaining, but then the security/police-y people went over and ordered the people out of the lake.

Overall, it was a good day. I didn't place any bets, but I did walk around the whole racecourse. The horses weren't using it. :P
I didn't get lost at Hanging Rock, hahaha. If I did, I think people would be too absorbed in making a movie about it, then actually searching for me. :/.

Now, onto the cricket.
Besides the fact that they lost and didn't manage to hit many sixes, Australia still did pretty good. They made 276 or something, which is a pretty good score for a One Day match, but unfortunately England had made 299. :(.

If only (t)Watto, DHuss or Cameron White had stayed in longer.

Whatever. Apparently the bowling wasn't too good, with DHuss getting 4 wickets, and Steve Smith getting 3. Brett Lee only got 1, and I don't even think Bollinger got any.
I hope this means Siddle and Hilfenhaus will be back. :).

La la la.
I want Mitchell Johnson to come back in the team, but they don't really need a wicket-taker, just an economical bowler who won't concede many runs. (i.e. Hilfenhaus.)

And yeah.

MOARRR CRICKET.

Yeah, okay, I'm blogging about cricket too much.

Whatever.
Australia won. Again. :P

This time, it was exciting, because Australia batted first (does Strauss always win the toss? Cheater) and they were 4/35 after about 15 overs.
Which was really bad. :(

But Shaun Marsh (who is not selected in the World Cup squad) and Cameron White (budding Australian captain plus an awesome Victorian) worked hard to build up a good total for Australia. They made about 130 or something, and White went out.

Man Of The Match: Shaun Marsh. :)

Then, Smith, Lee and Hauritz got 2 runs between all three of them. And both those runs were Hauritz'. :/.

So, Bollinger (who I, and several others, like to call "Disco Dougie" due to a certain Vodafone ad) came in and surprised everyone by hitting fours with perfect timing, and sometimes I thought it was Marsh batting when really it was Dougie. :P

Anyway, Marsh and Disco Dougie had a lot of fun, getting Australia to a defendable total of 230.
Marsh was on 95 and he hit a massive six that had some England player tripping over the rope. Hahahahaha.

And the bowling was really good by the Australians!
They managed to get some early wickets AND were pretty economical with the runs. :D.
Disco Dougie got 4 wickets, I think.
(t)Watto with one wicket, 2 catches, and a run out.
Smith took one wicket, and a catch.
DHuss took a catch.
etc etc.

But unfortunately, Hauritz (who played his first game for the summer) got a serious shoulder injury during the game, and he was in so much pain. :(.
Poo.
(Tait also got an injury. But I suppose anyone that bowls that fast would be more likely to get injured. Brett Lee, for example.)

And yeah.

1ST ODI.

For those of you who don't like cricket, you'll just have to scroll faster. :P

Because this blog post will be about Shane Watson and his epic win at the MCG.
It was really amazing, because England batted first and they made 294, which is a really good score for One Day matches.
And Mitchell Johnson's run out was SO COOL. He bowled the ball, and the batsmen hit it a few metres away and decided to make a single, so Johnson ran over to the ball, kicked it onto the stumps and GOT HIM OUT. Hahahaha.
(Although, Johnson might run off to play for the Socceroos now, but whatever.)

Oh and Stevie Smith got his first wicket for the whole summer! :)
(And then, he got another wicket, yay!)
Although, I had no idea why he came in to bat before Cameron White and the Husseys. He only made about 5 runs, but that's okay because he only faced 4 balls.
(At least he didn't just block each ball, and do defensive shots all the time. That's what Clarke did, and it annoyed me. Seriously? Clarke made about 30 runs, yet probably faced about 60 balls. The required run rate was about 7 per over, and I don't even know if Clarke hit a four.)

Anyway, Mike Hussey and White were really helpful to (t)Watto. They actually made runs, while Watson could have a break up the non-striker's end. :P

And Watson hit, like, 4 sixes or something, and made 161 runs. He has some amount of skill. :D.
He was (obviously) Man Of The Match, with his match-winning century. Haha.

And yeah.
Good times.
Hopefully, Australia can win the other 6 matches, and England can go home crying into their stupid urn. :P

WINNERS!!

Wow. Australia actually won a cricket match!
Okay, it was a Twenty20 match, not The Ashes, but whatever. :P

Anyway, Aaron Finch got Man Of The Match.
Hahaha. Victorians ftw~!

And Johnson got three wickets! :).
I don't know who will play in the One Day matches, but I hope they choose Johnson and (t)Watto.
And maybe Finch and/or DHuss, depending on how many other people are selected.
Also, they'd have to pick Steve Smith, because he's good in the field. (He took one of his awesome catches yesterday, and it was really awesome.)
(But then again, everyone was good in the field yesterday. That's probably why Australia won. Batting and bowling = okay, but fielding = win!).

MHuss will probably be in the team, although they may want to give him a longer rest, y'know?

Anyhoo, that's all. :D.

THE ASHES, SCG, DAY 5.

Not a big day, the Beer didn't even last till lunch. :(

Smith made a half-century and top scorer of Australia's second innings. A good start to proving why he replaced Marcus North.

Only two Australians made a half-century in the SCG match.
And they were both bowlers.

I'm thinking Australia should just not bother with batsmen any more, just pick 11 bowlers for the team.
(Plus MHuss. And Haddin. And, because I'm feeling generous, Khawaja.)

And apparently, Clarke has quit being Twenty20 captain.
Hahaha.
No idea who will replace him. Cameron White, maybe?

And that's the end of my Ashes blogs. Which are pretty lame but whatever. Deal with it. :P

THE ASHES, SCG, DAY 4.

England goes berserk, and make 600+ runs while none of Australia's batsmen has made over 50.

England's batting is way above Australia's.
Prior to today's match, I didn't know Prior could bat. He made a century. The tail enders made about 30 runs each.
Australia needs to learn reverse swing. Or, for a start, just swing the ball consistently. :P

Also: Out of all the Australians, Johnson has the highest score (53) of the whole match at Sydney.
Pretty embarrassing for the rest of the team. :/.

And well done to Smith and Siddle for sticking it out till stumps. Only one more day to go, hopefully they can hang in there. :)

THE ASHES, SCG, DAY 3.

Not much of a recap, okay, just pointing out some poor captain decisions.

England trail by 6 runs and there's 1 over left before the lunch break.
Obviously, it would be a nice for Australia if they still had a lead while they ate their Chicken McBites and drank pink Gatorade.
So, Clarke has to choose someone economical to bowl this last over, mainly so it can be quick because everyone's starving.

Clarke chooses Mitchell Johnson.
What does Mitch Johnson do?
He bowls a wide on the first bowl.

Great one, Mitch. You know what? No lunch for you, Warnie gets to have your Zinger burger. You can have a share of (t)Watto's pink lamington. :P

At least Clarke knows when Beer O'clock is.

THE ASHES.

So, Australia can't win the Ashes. Poo. :(
But they can still draw the series! Hahahaha. :P

Anyway, I'm no expert but I think Australia need a spinner. Like, an actual spinner. Doherty was good and I think they should've kept him but he didn't have much Test experience.
(I don't know why they want Michael Beer in the team because he has no Test experience, but whatever. The selectors probably have ulterior motives.)

Whatever.
I don't see what's wrong with Nathan Hauritz. (If you have any ideas, post a comment. I'd like to know.)
He's a good spinner! Why is he not selected in the team?
And he can make runs. Sometimes. I'm sure he could have made as many runs as Doherty, maybe even more.

Also, as well as a spinner, Australia need some middle order batsmen. (Or maybe just some batsmen, regardless of whether they are middle order or not.)
-MHuss can stay, he's been good in the first three Tests.
-Clarke should be dropped. idk.
-Ponting can stay.
-(t)Watto can stay. (Funny story: I has a poster in my room of Shane Watson. And it clearly says "TEAMWORK" on top. How ironic.)
-Haddin is definitely staying.
-Smith might stay. I don't think they should've replaced Marcus North with a bowler, but Smith is an alright batsman. Not much compared to North, but whatever.
-Siddle can stay, and may as well join the middle order after his 40 runs at the MCG. (But he should restrain himself from mis-timing his sixes. What even.)
-Hughes can stay. We shall overlook his run-out and blame (t)Watto for that. :P
-Johnson should go. But then again, Bollinger isn't much good with the bat either and neither is Hilfy. (My suggestion is Clint McKay but I know that will be ignored.)
-Hilfenhaus can stay. Batting is poor, but his super bowling is good.

I really want Harris to stay, because he's probably the best bowler (after Siddle and Hilfy).
But he's injured. :(

Anyway, I suppose Khawajahaja can come into the team, right? RIGHT?! /wishful thinking.
:P

MERRY CHRISTMAS Y'ALL!

I know this is a little bit late, but whatever. Christmas has come and gone, and I still haven't blogged in what feels like ages. :/.

For Christmas, I got: a Glee DVD, a Glee CD (with songs from Season 2), shoes, socks, and some more stuff that I've probably forgotten. Whatever.

The Boxing Day test has started. Australia aren't doing too well. They are up to Day 4, and Australia still need about 250 runs to equal England's score, plus another 200 to give England a good run chase. Then, they still have to bowl England out.

And England already have 6 wickets (and maybe one more, because Ryan Harris is injured) and Haddin and Mitch Johnson have to keep batting for two whole days for a draw. :/

Anyway, England may have the urn, but hopefully Australia can win the Sydney Test. It will make the One Day matches a little more interesting, right?

Oh and I saw Hairspray on Boxing Day! :D
It was really exciting and bright and colourful. They sang a lot, and it was really loud, but it was pretty funny and stuff.
I have never actually seen either of the two Hairspray movies, but I still understood what was going on. :)

And the winner of the first SYTYCDA season (Jack Chambers) played Link, the teen heart-throb who the girls had a massive crush on. :P

And yeah. Good times.
Say hi to your mum for me, etc etc.

FANFIC #276

I feel like writing another fanfic. Even though you stalkers couldn't give a crap about my epic fanfics, you can put up with them anyway. :P

~FANFIC~
In another time zone, me and Mitchie sat outside the WACA, soaking up the sunshine.
"La di da," Mitchie mused, happily. He'd just finished playing cricket for the day, and was feeling very joyful.
Naturally, I was jumping out of my skin, because of Mitchie's awesomeness at cricket.

A guy drove past us going really fast.
We didn't notice who he was, until he braked suddenly and said, "Mitch, I want your phone number."
I gave him a fierce look. "Whaaaaaat?"
Kevin Pietersen repeated himself. "Mitch, d'urg? Phone number? Please?"
Mitchie shook his head. "Get lost," he said, frowning at Kevin.

I opened my bag and started to get the pies out. Mitchie beat me to it and grabbed one pie and shoved it straight into Pietersen's ugly face.
"Go Mitchie!" I yelled.
But Mitchie kept going. He got another pie, and shoved that in Pietersen's face.
"Bam!" I cried, grinning.
Mitchie ended up throwing four more pies into Pietersen's ugly face.
"D'urg?" KP asked, his face covered in custard and pastry.

"Hahaha," I said, high-fiving Mitchie, "That's the best 6-faaa of the day!"
Mitchie grinned back. "Uh huh."
THE END~.

Ashes update:
Mitch Johnson got 6 wickets(a 6-faaaa!), Harris got three, and Siddle got 1. Yay.
And (t)Watto and MHuss are going to make a big lead for Australia and bat all today and most of tomorrow. :D.
England were all bowled out for 187 in 1st innings. Shaaaaaaame.
But the hard part comes later when Australia have to get ANOTHER 10 wickets to win the game. :)

YOUR FACE.

Well. I probably haven't blogged properly in ages. Like, besides the fanfics and stuff. (They are good fanfics, I'd totally read them if I were you.)

I've been watching the Ashes lately. (the cricket- Australia vs England.)
Australia hasn't been doing too well. Like, they were lucky to get a draw for the first match, but in the second match, EVERYTHING was going England's way. :(.
(Well, maybe it was because England > Australia, and their batting and bowling was way better, but whatever. It could've been just luck. Who knows?)

Oh well. Australia can win the next three Test matches, no problem. Just bring in some other players, maybe Hauritz (cos he has experience at Test cricket, right?).
And I don't know who can substitute Marcus North, because you'd need someone who can score runs AND bowl a bit too.
And maybe drop a bowler. idk, maybe Bollinger?

La la la. :)
I watched Glee on Monday night. It was a repeat but still good. ^____^
I so hope that they put the Glee Christmas episode on TV in December, and not next year in March or whenever the ratings season starts again. :/.

Anyway, I am awesome. :P
Goodbye for now, peeps!