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I occasionally read a magazine called ‘NEXUS’ [described as the ‘Alternative News Magazine] –   alternative indeed, often, quite difficult to interpret, even believe, sometimes quite scary in terms of the subject matter been explored and examined. I wonder at times how some of these ‘experts’ and ‘writers’ come to be able to, in some cases, spend their entire life trying to prove some aspect of fantasy science, occult powers, and general theories about life that most of us would consider far-fetched, and generally, conspiracies of one sort or another.

Having said that, I do find many of the magazine’s articles to be of interest, putting aside the fact of a natural born sceptic when it comes to out of this world theories,  and./or lack of clear understanding of what is been written up, if that makes sense!!  In a  recent edition, there was one example which illustrated those  conflictions [interest and vague understanding]  –  an article in it’s Science News section entitled ‘Radio Waves and Life  –  quoting an article previously published in ‘Popular Electronics’, where it was reported  by mainstream media in 1960 that strong evidence existed at that time, and as far back as the 1920s that life [human and otherwise] can detect, and be adversely affected by radio waves.

Or more easily followed, and of a personal interest, the ‘Qanats of Persia’ –  where the writer takes readers into the world of Persian  subterranean qanat technology, used by the ancients as a water transport system, and discusses its spread as far as Europe, Africa and Asia, enabling parched lands to be opened up for agriculture and trade. What a pity Australia has never managed to achieve anything of that nature on a large scale, as have many of the ‘so-called’ second and third world countries around the globe in the modern era?

Anyway, to the point of this contribution – another example of a direct personal interest –  from the Global News section of the magazine [August-September 2020], I copy below an article entitled ‘Ancient Aboriginal Artefacts found at Underwater Sites] [ as reprinted from the source of Flinders University, July 2020].

‘The first underwater Aboriginal archaeological sites have been discovered off northwest Australia, dating back thousands of years, when the current seabed was dry land.

An international team of archaeologisyts from Flinders University, the University of Western Australia, James Cook University, Airborne Research Australia and the University of York [UK] partnered with the  Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation  to locate and investigate ancient artefacts at two underwater sites which have yielded hundreds of stone tools made by Aboriginal peoples, including grinding stones.

In a study published in PLOS ONE, the ancient underwater sites , at Cape Bruguieres and Flying Foam Passage, provide new evidence of Aboriginal ways of life from when the seabed was dry land, due to lower sea levels, thousand of years ago.

The submerged cultural landscapes represent what is know today as Sea Country to many Indigenous Australians, who have a deep cultural, spiritual and historical connection to these underwater environments.

“Australia is a massive continent but few people realise that more than 30 per cent of its land mass was drowned by sea-level rise after the last ice age. This means that a huge amount of the archaeological evidence documenting the lives of Aboriginal people is now underwater”, saYS Associate Professor  Jonathan Benjamin, who is the Maritime  Archaeology Program Coordinator at Flinders University’s College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences.

“Now we finally have the first proof that at least some of the archaeological evidence survived the process of sea level rise.  The ancient coastal archaeology  is not lost for good; we just haven’t found it yet. These new discoveries are a first step towards exploring the last real frontier of Australian archaeology.”

The dive team mapped 269 artefacts at Cape Bruguieres in shall water at depths down to 2.4 metres below modern sea level. Radiocarbon dating and analysis of sea-level changes show the site is at least 7,000 years old.

The second site at Flying Foam includes an underwater freshwater spring 14 metres below sea level. This site is estimated to be at least 8,500 years old.

Both dates may be much older as the dates represent minimum ages only; they may be even more ancient.’  [Flinders University: 2 July, 2020]…………………

Next edition, we look at a couple more books read recently, and their authors!!

This is just a brief reference to a couple of small books recently read concerning fairly current historical events in two vastly different parts of the African continent –  one written by a Frenchman, and the second, from the experiences of a South Sudanese refugee. The contents of the second book, may prove quite disturbing to many readers, but unlike fiction, one cannot [or shouldn’t] hide from the reality of actual recent history, and pretend or ignore it didn’t happen.

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The first of these is titled  –  ‘A Bookshop in Algiers’ by Kaouther Adimi’, translated by Chris Andrews from French, published in 2017, 146 pages.

To my own detriment perhaps, I’d really given little thought to the North African former French colony of Algeria, before picking up this little book –  a very thought provoking little story, to which I was initially attracted by the title [not surprisingly].  The story was quite tragic and disturbing in places, and did not install within me much favour towards the French, and their colonial treatment of Algeria, even as late as the tragic protests in Paris on the 17 October 1961.  Although admittedly, in many ways, some of the French reactions depicted, were little different from the attitudes of the English, and other European colonial powers over the past century or so.. Also disturbing was the reminder, that literature, books and writers have been so persecuted and ridiculed through the centuries by those who disagree with views expressed, etc.  Overall, though a small book, it provided me with an historical insight into a country I’d never given much thought to –   and encouraged me to learn so much more about that aspect of world history [if I have the time!!].

Algeria, after in ancient times being under Carthage and then Roman rule, was  conquered by the Arabs in the 7^th century, and about 800 years later, taken over by the Turks in 1518, with the country eventually becoming one of the Barbary pirate states. French conquest followed in 1830, and Algeria was declared French territory in 1848. A move towards nationalism after WWII led to much brutal fighting  in 1945-46, and then a further uprising in 1954 led to even more violence and bloodshed. French President De Gaulle promised self-determination for Algeria in 1960, but the French population rebelled, almost creating civil war, and the resulting revolt in 1961.

Much of the storyline in the book covers the period from the 1930s to this period of self-determination. A Bookshop in Algiers charts the changing fortunes of Charlot’s bookshop through the political drama of Algeria’s turbulent twentieth century of war, revolution and independence. It is a moving celebration of books, bookshops and of those who dare to dream.

A brief review from publishers, Allen & Unwin summarises, what the book is about
“A moving novel inspired by the true story of an extraordinary bookshop and the man who founded it..  A Bookshop in Algiers celebrates quixotic devotion and the love of books in the person of Edmond Charlot, who at the age of twenty founded Les Vraies Richesses (Our True Wealth), the famous Algerian bookstore/publishing house/lending library. He more than fulfilled its motto ‘by the young, for the young’, discovering the twenty-four-year-old Albert Camus in 1937. His entire archive was twice destroyed by the French colonial forces, but despite financial difficulties and the vicissitudes of wars and revolutions, Charlot carried forward Les Vraies Richesses as a cultural hub of Algiers.
A Bookshop in Algiers interweaves Charlot’s story with that of another twenty-year-old, Ryad, who is dispatched to the old shop in 2017 to empty it of books and repaint it. Ryad’s no booklover, but old Abdallah, the bookshop’s self-appointed, nearly illiterate guardian, opens the young man’s mind.  Cutting brilliantly from Charlot to Ryad, from the 1930s to current times, from WWII to the bloody 1961 Free Algeria demonstrations in Paris, Adimi delicately packs a monumental history of intense political drama into her swift and poignant novel. But most of all, it’s a hymn to the book and to the love of books.”

 

Our second book was ‘Father of the Lost Boys: A Memoir by Yuot. A. Alaak, published in 2020, 230 pages, written about a part of Africa which has always been close to my thoughts over the years –  Sudan and Ethiopia. Back in the early 2000’s, I was privileged to be a part of a small group of friends who assisted in the sponsorship of two young boys and two adults from refugee camps in the Sudan to Melbourne, greeting their arrival at Tullamarine Airport, and in later years, visiting the boys on a couple of occasions. In more recent times, I have wondered how those boys [now in their 20;s] have  made their way in Melbourne’s Sudanese society, which has so often been maligned due to the actions of a small minority of their race..

 

In this book, the worst of the actions of the human race are depicted. Back in the late 1980;s in that part of Africa – well, some of us may have read about events of those times [which in many ways continue today] or watched reports on TV, and I dare to say, in most cases, we quickly turned our minds to other matters and continued with, in the main, our comfortable and safe lives here in Australia.   This story reminds us of just how ‘lucky’ we really are!

Briefly, ‘Father of the Lost Boys’ is centred during the second Sudanese Civil War, when thousands of South Sudanese boys were displaced from their villages or orphaned in attacks by Northern “government”  troops, with many becoming refugees in Ethiopia.  When that nation’s government was subsequently overtaken [and supported by the North Sudanese government forces], those refugees, not just the boys but whole families, were forced to flee again, for their lives. In 1989, teacher and community leader Mecak Ajang Alaak [the father of the book’s author], himself a survivor of imprisonment and torture, assumed care of the Lost Boys as he sought to protect them from becoming child soldiers, and simply save their lives. He would spend the next four years leading the 20,000 Lost Boys out of Ethiopia back to Sudan [where most had fled from in the first place], and on to the supposed safety of the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya.   Together, those that survived, endured starvation, animal attacks, and the horrors of what was a determined policy of genocide that included landmines, ambushes and aerial bombardment.

 

From the pages of this book, a couple of quotations to perhaps illustrate just  ‘how lucky we are’ in Australia!!

• [The author as a an 8 year old child, fleeing to Ethiopia with his siblings and his mother] – “We spend the day under a tree in Anyidi. As evening approaches, we are told that since we don’t have a secure hut, we will have to sleep in the military compound guarded by soldiers. Hyenas and lions have been feeding on human flesh since the war started. They trail government troops, feeding on he corpses of massacred Southern villages. The adapt to hunt us, a far easier prey to catch than anything in the wild. We have moved up on their list of staple prey. Hyenas hunt in packs at night. They have almost annihilated some villages. Each night, packs roam on the outskirts of Anyidi. They search for doors left unsecured, or anyone foolish enough to step outside at night……………..The army compound lies at the centre of Anyidi. Hundreds of displaced persons sleep there each night. It is bare, open land encircled by a grass fence. If it rains, people must simply wait it out. We arrive as dusk approaches. Mum picks a spot at the centre of the compound. It is prime real estate – the safest spot. She verbally fights off several other mothers to keep it. There is little energy for a physical confrontation. As night falls, I am petrified. The howl of Hyenas is constant. It gets louder as they prowl closer to the centre of Anyidi. A lion’s roar rumbles. Gunfire rings out from surrounding villages. The roar of the beasts gets louder.  I hang onto Mum tightly through the long night….” [p.36-37]
• [The early stages of the trek from Ethiopia to Kenya, the author aged 10-11years, as Alaak attempts over many days to get thousands of boys, women and younger children over the flooded Gilo River to reach the border of Ethiopia and southern Sudan, with less than a dozen canoes at his disposal, and rebel forces closing in behind them]  –  “Before long, planes appear in the sky, and begin their attack. As bombs fall, I pray with hope and fear that Mum and Athok [my sister] are far enough that the artillery  shells from the direction of Gilo do not reach them. We step over the dead with no time to stop, no time to cry and certainbly no time to bury……Some of the shells tear into the jungle, killing wildlife. In this moment, hunter and hunted, we are all victims of war…………………….Even so, as we race towards Pochalla, lions, tigers, hyenas and African wild dogs continue to snatch babies from their mothers’ breasts, and attack the youngest and smallest of the Lost Boys. They prey on the elderly and the frail, as if they are a herd of zebras. Pythons constrict and swallow babies and children who are resting by the trackside with their exhausted mothers….. Slaughter was what the president of Sudan had ordered for his citizens in the south. The rebel soldiers mowed down refugees and Lost Boys with their bullets. Small boats loaded with machine gunners appeared on the river and opened fire on the refugees on the riverbank. The rebels fired at those already in the water trying to escape.  Bullets cut canoes and barges and their occupants into pieces. Women attempting to run with children on their backs were felled. Young children dived into the river but were snapped up by crocodiles, drawn by the smell of blood…………….When the shooting stopped, toddlers and babies were clinging to their dead mothers. Other little ones, separated from their mothers, crawled around in agony and shock. The bodies of Lost Boys were scattered along the river’s edge or were carried away in the water. The river was red with the blood of hundreds of innocent victims, most of them women and children……………My father takes the news very badly. Although he had managed an exodus of nearly twenty thousand Lost Boys, it is the loss of hundreds of lives that weighs on him…” [p. 101-103]

 

That latter quotation was taken from the very early stages of that 4 year trek  – and if readers get that far in the book, well, you may not feel like continuing. However, like so many similar stories, not just from within the African continent, but worldwide, they are aspects of history, and basically, man’s inhumanity to his fellow man, that we should never ignore, or pretend didn’t happen – well, while modern history suggests we don’t seem to have learned from the past, one can only hope, that maybe in the future, lessons can be learned  and heeded to. It’s difficult to be optimistic however.

 

I’ll conclude with reference to a recent television report, and specifically to the aspects of the story referred to the foregoing quotations.

As reported on an SBS news feature earlier in June, this eyewitness account by Mecak Ajang Alaak’s son, Yuot, is the extraordinary true story of a man who never ceased to believe that the pen is mightier than the gun.  Aged 76 years, a towering figure of a man,  Alaak now lives in a suburb of Perth, WA.. Mr Alaak’s mind is a lifetime away. Thirty years ago, in Pinyudu refugee camp in Ethiopia, he was responsible for the education of around 16,000 displaced youth from southern Sudan. “I was a teacher, and the role of a teacher is to educate the people and the community,” he told SBS News recently. “That was the role that I saw, to help these children to have a future.”  Mr Alaak had been a headmaster at a secondary school in Sudan before the country was plunged into its second civil war in 1983. Like many others, he fled to Ethiopia. As Pinyudu camp’s director of education, he was given responsibility for the schooling of ‘lost boys’, thousands of youths who had been displaced by war.   “The children were in a war where they might be attracted to be child soldiers, but my aim was to have the education for them. That is why I say ‘the pen is mightier than the gun’. I wanted to draw them away from the war,” he said..

Mr Alaak’s son, Yuot A. Alaak, who also now lives in Western Australia, was 11 years old when, in 1990, he joined his father and thousands of lost boys on a perilous march from Ethiopia through southern Sudan.

“We basically left in the wet season, it was raining so we walked through the mud. A lot of the boys were attacked by wild animals and eaten along the way. Some fell and broke bones,” Yuot, 41, recalls.

After several days of walking, the group made it to the crocodile-infested banks of the Gilo River on the border between Ethiopia and Sudan. On the other side lay the relative safety of Pochalla, a South Sudanese garrison town occupied by soldiers from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army.

“Once we reached Gilo, the river had swelled during the rainy season. It was flooded, but Dad managed to take canoes from the soldiers and he used that to get as many boys across as he could,” Yuot says.

As thousands lined up and waited to cross the river, a group of Ethiopian rebels attacked, in what has come to be known as ‘the Gilo massacre’.

“Dad lost hundreds of boys that day, some were shot as they jumped into the river, or drowned while they were trying to reach the other side.”

The survivors made it across the river to Pochalla, but they arrived emaciated and faced more starvation

 

Next time we are quick to criticise the South Sudanese refugee communities [or refugees from other parts of the world], perhaps it may be wise to keep in mind that they and/or their families most likely were a part of the kind of stories depicted in this little book by a man and his father who lived through the worst of a genocidal situation…..

 

 

 

I thought I’d try this through my WordPress medium, maybe someone out there might happen to come across it, and the contents touch a cord  😊 .

Three separate queries relating to the same family from Scotland

1. Robert Kirk [1746-1820] and Helen Somerville [1755 – ?]

They had , as far as I’m aware , four children  –

• Ebenezer Kirk [c 1780- c 1841] married Isobel King [1776-1851], had James, Helen, Catherine, James & Ebernezer;
• Margaret Kirk [c 1782 –  ], married Andrew Keltie, had at least 2 children, Andrew & Helen;
• James Kirk, married a Margaret Drummond; and
• William Kirk [my ancestor].

I’m seeking contact with family descendents of Ebenezer, Margaret & James.

 

2. William Kirk [1773-1858] and Margaret Littlejohn [1775 – 1855].

They had  nine children.

• Ann Kirk [1800 -1883] married James Miller , had Charlotte, Margaret & William;
• Helen Kirk [1801-1875] married David Robertson, had 9 children;
• Robert Kirk [1802 – 1838] married Elizabeth McLean had William, Alexander & Helen;
• John Kirk [my ancestor];
• Margaret Kirk [1808 – ] married Peter Sangster [c 1799-1871], had at least 6 children, David, William, Margaret, Robert, Ann & John.;
• James Somerville Kirk [1810-1859] married Elizabeth Gibb [c1810-1866], had William, Elizabeth, James & Helen;
• Jean Kirk [1813 – ], married ? Duncan McDonald, and children were Peter, Elizabeth, Christian, Alexander, James & Catherine;
• William Kirk [1814-1837];
• Francis Kirk [1817 – ]

I’m seeking contact with family descendants of Ann, Robert, Margaret, Jean, William and Francis [not sure if the last two ever married].

3. John Kirk [1805-1866] and Elizabeth Welsh [1804-1865]

They had six children.

• William Kirk [my ancestor];
• John Kirk [1802 –  ?] married ? Isabella Law, possibly at least 2 children, Margaret and Mary [details not confirmed];
• Isabella Kirk [1834-1863] married [1] Henry Albeury [1830 – ], had Joseph and John; and [2] William Dalgliesh [1841 –   ], had William, George & Isabella;
• Margaret Kirk [1837-1914] married George Ross [1835-1878], had 8 children – they were Elizabeth, William, George, Isabella, James, Margaret, Elizabeth, and Louisa;
• James Smith Kirk [1839-1908] married Jessie Douglas [1839-1908], had 5 children, Jessie, Robert, John, Margaret & a 3^rd
• Elizabeth Kirk [1842 – 1891] married James Christopher Shearing [1839-1920], and they had 11 children named James Christopher, Elizabeth Isabella, Thomas Smith, Julia, Albert Edward, William Kirk, George Thomson, Margaret Ethel, Samuel Charles, Maude Eleanor, & Charles.

I’m seeking contact with family descendants of John [in particular], Elizabeth, Isabella, Margaret, and James Smith Kirk.

I can be contacted directly on email at billjkirk5358@gmail.com

addressed to Bill  🙂

 

When I was studying at the University of Melbourne back in the early 1970’s, one of the most memorable and impressionable lecturers was Professor Geoffrey Blainey, the noted Australian historian. His subject for my purposes was Economic History, and for what might seem to  many readers to be a rather dry topic, Blainey had a way of creating a certain fascination for the subject, particularly on such occasions,  as the excursion on one occasion, when he led us students to a site somewhere to the east of Ballarat, searching for Aboriginal artifacts. This ‘creative’ ability to make a ‘dry’ subject interesting, is also expressed in many of his books, a number of which I have read.

From one Wikipedia source, we read that –  “Geoffrey Norman Blainey AC FAHA FASSA (born 11 March 1930) is an Australian historian, academic, philanthropist and commentator with a wide international audience. He is noted for having written authoritative texts on the economic and social history of Australia, including The Tyranny of Distance..  He has published over 35 books, including wide-ranging histories of the world and of Christianity. He has often appeared in newspapers and on television. He held chairs in economic history and history at the University of Melbourne for over 20 years.  In the 1980s, he was visiting professor of Australian Studies at Harvard University. . He received the 1988 Britannica Award for dissemination of knowledge and was made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2000.  He was once described by Professor Graeme Davison as the “most prolific, wide-ranging, inventive, and, in the 1980s and 1990s, most controversial of Australia’s living historians”

On the question of controversy –  “Blainey has, at times, been a controversial figure too. In the 1980s, he queried the level of Asian immigration to Australia and the policy of multiculturalism in speeches, articles and a book All for Australia. He was said by leftist critics to be closely aligned  with the former Liberal-National Coalition government of John Howard in Australia, with Howard shadowing Blainey’s conservative views on some issues, especially the view that Australian history has been hijacked by social liberals [the so-called ‘History  or Culture Wars’].    As a result of these stances, Blainey is sometimes associated with right-wing politics.^[  Blainey himself is a member of no political party”……….

From my reckoning, Geoffrey Blainey has published 51 books  from ‘The Peaks of Lyell’ [1954] to ‘Before I Forget [2019], together with countless shorter publications, newspaper and magazine articles, etc,  –  principally on the history and other aspects of a broad genre of subjects ranging from histories of Australia, Victoria, the world, Mt Isa mines, Christianity,  Australian mining, Camberwell, University of Melbourne, Wesley Colleger, the rise of Broken Hill,  the origins of Australian football, the NAB, Captain Cook  – the list goes on!! Probably the book he is best known for was ‘The Tyranny of Distance: How Distance Shaped Australia’s History’.  First published in 1966, the book examines how Australia’s geographical remoteness, particularly from its colonizer Great Britain, has been central to shaping the country’s history and identity and will continue to shape its future. The long distance between Australia and its colonial forebears in Europe, and also the United States, made Australians unsure of their future economic prosperity.

Geoffrey Blainey is now 89, and some might suggest he is still creating controversy, as for example with an article published in August this year in the ‘Australian’ newspaper,  headed ‘Too easy to be an Aussie: Blainey” [Historian’s Citizenship Stance].  I copy that article in full for the interest of readers…………………………………….

“Noted historian Geoffrey Blainey believes Australia gives away citizenship too easily, and that it creates a problem for our democracy.

Professor Blainey told a Sydney audience on Wednesday night  ‘Why should someone who has been in the country two or three years and does not know the language or the common discourse, why should they necessarily have a vote, if voting is compulsory?’

Last night, speaking from his Melbourne home, the 89-year old said that the right to vote was ‘quite a difficult responsibility if you know very little about the society and the language of the society. After all, democracy is government by discussion and not to have the common language limits your ability to take part in that debate and take responsibility for what happens in an election.

‘Once you accept the idea that everyone can vote, you are really downgrading democracy because you are really saying that it doesn’t matter if it is hit or miss, it doesn’t matter if a considerable proportion of the population, whether they’re native-born or not, it doesn’t matter if they know what they’re talking about or not.’

Professor Blainey said that compulsory voting was now widely favoured in Australia, and would probably not be abolished.

‘But we have to be wary of our tradition of compelling adults to vote on election day, especially when many know little or nothing about the national questions they are asked to vote upon’ he said. ‘That custom makes light of democracy.’

Professor Blainey’s initial comment was in answer to a question at a Sydney Institute event celebrating his new memoir ‘Before I Forget’, which covers his life until the age of 40.

Last night, he did not resile from his answer, but admitted to being concerned about sparking a controversy – although he has commented on the issue many times in the past.

‘I am concerned, it’s very difficult to take part in these debates’, he said. ‘But when people ask you a question you’re almost honour-bound to try to answer them.’

Professor Blainey told the audience that governing in a democracy was difficult and he would not be surprised if democracies did not exist in 100 years’ time.

‘Democracy depends not only on having parliamentarians but on 15 to 20 per cent of the population [taking responsibility for democracy],’ he said. ‘It depends on that segment of the population but I think that segment is diminishing. I remain optimistic but I remain wary in assuming that democracy will go on and on.’

Professor Blainey recalled that he invented the phrase, the ‘black armband’ view of history in the early 1990s to explain the change in approach to writing history. People had seen the phrase as anti-Aboriginal but it was ‘in no way anti-Aboriginal’. When he was younger, Australian history had been very congratulatory but later people felt ashamed.

‘They felt the treatment of the environment was terrible and in some ways, it was,’ he said. ‘Aborigines, contrary to the statements that they made [at Welcome to Country ceremonies] were not really custodians of the land. No human being can be custodian of the land. Nature is infinitely stronger than human beings.

Professor Blainey said the phrase ‘the history wars’ was exaggerated because all forms of intellectual activity involved debates ‘in which friendships are broken. History was full of disagreements, but in Australia, far more than in other countries such as the UK, history was an important arbiter in current topics such as the republic issue.

‘All the major questions have a very strong historical component. That is especially true of Australia at the moment and especially true of Aborigines and their way of life and Europeans and their way of life,’ he said.

‘The saddest thing is not that the debate takes place but that important areas of evidence are not even considered safe to investigate, and that is wrong.’

In Aboriginal.European issues there was clear-cut evidence that was regarded’as out of bounds’ because one side would not look at it.

‘We hear again and again people say it’s terrible that Aborigines were not considered worth counting in the Census,’ he said.

‘I looked up the Censuses since 1901 and there have been more Censuses that count Aborigines than count other Australians. How can you possibly allow a heresy like this to be undiscussable?  That’s when the history war becomes a war rather than a serious discussion of the facts.’

However, Professor Blainey said his view was Australia was a ‘success story’.  ‘[There] are many failings but Australia, by and large, is a success story and that’s why we have such an immigration border-protection problem,’ he said………………………….

[From the ‘Australian’ newspaper, 2 August, 2019, written by Helen Trinca].

Now admittedly, that article strayed from the nature of the way in which the article was initially headed [an easy way to attract attention to a piece of writing that might otherwise be ignored, with a leading ‘controversial’ statement].  However, I’d just make one reflection on the area where Professor Blainey comments on the question of people seeking citizenship and with it the right to vote, while not really being qualified for either because they know little or nothing about the national questions, or the language,  on which they are asked to vote or acknowledge in the relevant ceremony.  I wonder just how many ‘native’ Australians [Indigenous and non-indigenous] really have much idea themselves about the ‘debates’ and national questions that they are asked to vote on –  how many just blindly follow the way their fathers voted, or simply vote because they have to, without giving any consideration at all to policy issues, etc?

 

The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 18th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men’s national basketball teams. The tournament was hosted in China and was rescheduled from 2018 to 2019, becoming the first since 1967 that it did not occur in the same year as the FIFA World Cup (which was held the previous year). The group stage was expanded from 24 to 32 teams.

The tournament also acted as qualification for the 2020 Summer Olympics, which took the top two teams from each of the Americas and Europe, and the top team from each of Africa, Asia and Oceania, alongside the tournament’s host China. Czech Republic and Montenegro made their first appearance as an independent nations after previously being part of Czechoslovakia and Serbia and Montenegro, while Poland made its return to the FIBA Basketball World Cup for the first time since 1967.

In a lead-up to the tournament, Team USA played two exhibition matches against Australia, in  Melbourne, the weekend before the World Cup began

MELBOURNE (Australia) [23-25 August] – Australia fell short in round one of their preparation games series against Team USA, but they made up for it in their second encounter, with prolific guard Patty Mills basking in the spotlight. Mills dropped 30 points on Team USA as the Boomers prevailed, 98-94, today at the Marvel Stadium in Melbourne in front of more than 52,000 fans. It was a terrific bounce-back win for the home team, which lost to the Americans in their first meeting, 102-86.

The World Cup is a week away, and the United States is no lock for gold. Australia delivered that message to the world on Saturday. How prophetic that would be!! For the first time in nearly 13 years, a U.S. roster of NBA players played an international game – and lost. Patty Mills scored 30 points, and Australia rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half to stun the Americans 98-94 and snap a 78-game U.S. winning streak that started with the bronze-medal game at the 2006 world championships.  “They wanted it more than us tonight,” U.S. guard Kemba Walker said. “Lesson learned for us.”

It was the first loss for the U.S. in a major international tournament or exhibition since the 2006 world championship semifinals against Greece. The Americans won the bronze there, then were unbeaten through the cycles for the 2007 FIBA Americas, 2008 Olympics, 2010 World Cup, 2012 Olympics, 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics.  Add all that up, along with wins over Spain and Australia with this team, and it was a 78-game winning streak for the U.S. – the longest in program history……………………And it’s now over.  “It was awesome,” Mills said.

The competing teams for the World Cup  separated into 8 first round groups

GROUP A:  Cote d’Ivoire; Poland; Venezuela,  China;

GROUP B:  Russia; Argentina; Korea; Nigeria;

GROUP C:  Spain; Iran; Puerto Rico; Tunisia;

GROUP D:  Angola; Philippines; Italy; Serbia;

GROUP E:  Turkey; Czech Republic; USA; Japan;

GROUP F:  Greece; New Zealand; Brazil; Montenegro;

GROUP G:  Dominican Republic; France; Germany; Jordan;

GROUP H:  Canada; Senegal; Lithuania; Australia;

Comments and reports which follow are generally taken from the FIBA Basketball World Cup web site reports, unless otherwise indicated..

FIRST ROUND 31/8 -5/9/2019

 Saturday, 31^st August

Serbia defeated Angola 105-59;

Poland defeated Venezuela 80-69

Russia defeated Nigeria 82-77

Iran vs Puerto  Rico defeated Iran 83-81;

Italy defeated Philippines 108-62;

China defeated Cote d’Ivoire 70-55;

Argentina defeated Korea 95-69;

Spain defeated Tunisia 101-62;

Sunday, 1^st September

Australia defeated Canada 108-92;

Brazil defeated New Zealand 102-94;

Turkey defeated Japan 86-67;

Dominican Republic defeated Jordan 80-76;

Lithuania defeated Senegal 101-47;

Greece defeated Montenegro 85-60;

Czech Republic vs USA defeated Czech Republic 88-67;

France defeated Germany 78-74;

 Monday, 2^nd September

Italy defeated Angola 92-61

Venezuela defeated Cote d’Ivoire 87-71;

Argentina defeated Nigeria 94-81;

Tunisia defeated Iran 79-67;

Serbia defeated Philippines 126-67

Poland defeated China 79-76

Russia defeated Korea 87-73

Spain defeated Puerto Rico 73-63

Tuesday 3^rd September

Australia defeated Senegal  81-68

New Zealand defeated Montenegro 93-83

Czech Republic defeated Japan 89-76

Dominican Republic defeated Germany 69-67

Lithuania defeated Canada 92-69

Brazil defeated Greece 79-78

USA defeated Turkey 93-92

France defeated Jordan 103-64

DONGGUAN, China — That didn’t go as planned. It wasn’t pretty, but the Boomers picked up their second win of the tournament, edging Senegal 81-68. Joe Ingles was at his playmaking best, falling one assist shy of a triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, while Patty Mills took over the second half, scoring 17 of his 22 points after the main break.  The outcome for the Australian Boomers was what they and the basketball community expected, but the way they got it was surprising, to say the least.

Senegal was coming off a 54-point loss to Lithuania, but the Boomers were only able to defeat them 81-68, in a game that would’ve had Australian fans worried during several portions of it. Patty Mills led the way for Australia with 20 points, while Joe Ingles had a near triple-double; 17 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists. The win puts Australia at the top of Group H, if only temporarily, because Lithuania is facing Canada later in the evening. If Lithuania wins, then they’ll join the Boomers as the two teams through to the next phase. The top-two teams from Group H will move on to Group L, where they’ll form a new foursome that includes the best pair of teams from Group G. The likelihood is that those two teams will be France and Germany, with both points and points differential carrying over from the first group phase, into the second one.  Youssoupha Ndoye finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for Senegal, who remain winless in the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

Wednesday, 4^th September

Angola defeated Philippines 84-81

Poland defeated Cote d’Ivoire 80-63

Nigeria defeated Korea 108-66

Puerto Rico defeated Tunisia 67-64

Serbia defeated Italy 92-77

Venezuela defeated China 72-59

Argentina defeated Russia 69-61

Spain defeated Iran 73-65

Thursday, 5^th September

Canada defeated Senegal 82-60

Brazil defeated Montenegro 84-73

Czech Republic defeated Turkey 91-76

Germany defeated Jordan 96-62

Australia defeated Lithuania 87-82

Greece defeated New Zealand 103-97

USA defeated Japan 98-45

France defeated Dominican Republic 90-56

DONGGUAN (China) – Australia confirmed the top honors in Group H with a solid all-around performance against Lithuania and a Patty Mills dagger late in the game. It finished 87-82, with both teams moving on to Group L for the Second Round.

Australia enjoyed a double digit lead for most of the game, but an 11-0 run to start the fourth quarter saw Lithuania get in front. The Boomers scored their first field goal of the fourth quarter with just 3:30 left on the game clock, and that allowed them to stop the rot and stay attached.

In the closing minutes, it was all about the one-two punch of Patty Mills and Aron Baynes. Mills hit the biggest shot of the game, while Baynes played his best game for the national team in the World Cup, with 21 points and 13 rebounds. He turned into a shooter, too – Baynes was only 1-of-3 from the three-point range in his previous 25 games at the World Cup and the Olympics, but scored 3-of-5 against Lithuania on Thursday.

Australia are a 3-0 team ahead of their  Round Two duels with France and the Dominican Republic, meaning they are an inch away from the Quarter-Finals. For Lithuania, they now know that they will most probably have to go 2-0 in the Second Round to reach elite eight status.

SECOND ROUND 6/9 -9/9/2019

Friday 6^th Sept

Poland defeated Russia 79-74

Nigeria defeated Cote d’Ivoire 83-66

Iran defeated Angola 71-62

Serbia defeated Puerto Rico 90-47

Argentina defeated Venezuela 87-67

China defeated Korea 77-73

Tunisia defeated Philippines 86-67

Spain defeated Italy 67-60

Saturday 7^th Sept

New Zealand defeated Japan 111-81

Australia defeated Dominican Republic 82-76

Canada defeated Jordan 126-71

Brazil vs Czech Republic defeated Brazil 93-71

Turkey defeated Montenegro 79-74

France defeated Lithuania 78-75

Germany defeated Senegal 89-78

USA defeated Greece 69-53

 BEIJING (China) – Two more teams advanced to the Quarter-Finals of the FIBA Basketball World Cup  with Australia and France confirming their entries and joining Poland, Argentina, Spain and Serbia in the Final Round of the competition.

Australia eked out a close 82-76 decision over the Dominican Republic to remain unbeaten in four games while France survived a thrilling 78-75 victory over Lithuania that came down to the wire.

After leading for most of the game, France had to stave off a furious rally from their European rivals which even saw Lithuania taking a 72-70 lead with 3:10 left. Nando De Colo delivered the finishing touch for France with a clutch game-winning basket. Australia and France will face each other to dispute the top spot in Group L for a better placing in the Quarter-Finals bracket.

The only remaining group with tickets up for grabs is Group K, with Czech Republic opening it up for everyone with a massive 93-71 victory against the previously unbeaten Brazil to tie their fallen foes in the standings with an identical 3-1 win-loss cards.

Meanwhile, the much-anticipated matchup between defending champions USA and the Giannis Antetekounmpo-led Greece provided an entertaining affair with the defending World Cup champions taking a 69-53 victory.

In the Classification Round 17-32, New Zealand dominated a Rui Hachimura-less Japan to the tune of a 111-81 win and get their second win of the tournament, while Turkey bounced back from a mediocre start to beat Montenegro, 79-74.

Both the Tall Blacks and 12 Giant Men sport 2-2 records and will play it out among themselves for the top spot of Group O.

In Group P action, Canada overpowered a hapless Jordan side with a 126-71 victory and tied Serbia for most assists in a game with 37, the highest total since the 1994 World Cup while Germany outclassed Senegal 89-78, setting up a battle for top honors win the group with Canada.

These Australian Boomers just can’t seem to put their proverbial foot on the throat of those less-talented teams. We saw it against Senegal in the first phase of the 2019 FIBA World Cup, and it reared its head again against the Dominican Republic. Australia managed to walk away with an 82-76 win, but it wasn’t as easy as perhaps it should have been.  “Obviously 4-0 is the key,” Joe Ingles said after the win.  “You wanna win games; that’s the end goal. There’s patches of games we need to get better at. End of the game there, we could stop those free throws; little things like that can cost you a game. A little bit of those things that we can look at, watch some film, and get better at. But, overall, we obviously wanna keep winning, and we’ve been doing that.”

On the flip-side, we’ve seen time and time again when Andrej Lemanis’ team finds that second tier when they’re up against elite teams. It happened against Lithuania in Dongguan, and, naturally, Boomers fans will be the team’s Monday night game against France follows the same trend. “We obviously prepare for every team the same way,” Ingles said, on if Australia plays better against more talented opponents. “We don’t disrespect anyone; we go in and do the same thing.

It was Patty Mills who led the way for the now 4-0 Australians, posting 19 points and nine assists; while Chris Goulding came off the bench for 15 points. With the win, Australia knocked the Dominican Republic out of finals contention, and it was clear that they were playing with everything on the line. “They were playing for their World Cup survival tonight,” Lemanis said of the Dominicans. Eloy Vargas led the way for Nestor Garcia’s team with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Victor Liz finished with 14 points.

Matthew Dellavedova opened the game with a three, setting the tone for the Boomers, but the Dominicans wouldn’t back down. Liz and Vargas found easy scores to keep the game within arm’s reach, trailing just 24-19 at the end of the first quarter. As much as the Boomers tried to step on their opponent’s throat, with an eye toward jumping out to a significant lead, the Dominican Republic grinder their way into staying in the game.

Sunday 8^th September

Russia defeated Venezuela 69-60

Korea defeated Cote d’Ivoire 80-71

Tunisia defeated Angola 86-84

Italy defeated Puerto Rico 94-89

Argentine defeated Poland 91-65

Nigeria defeated China 86-73

Iran defeated Philippines 95-75

Spain defeated Serbia 81-69

Monday 9^th September

Montenegro defeated Japan 80-65

Lithuania defeated Dominican Republic 74-55

Jordan defeated Senegal 79-77

Greece defeated Czech Republic 84-77

New Zealand defeated Turkey 102-101

Australia defeated France 100-98

Germany defeated Canada 82-76

USA defeated Brazil 89-73

NANJING (China) – In a battle between two heavyweights of the basketball world, Australia outdueled France with a heart-stopping 100-98 victory to take the top spot in Group L heading into the Quarter-Finals of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019. In a thrilling back and forth game that featured 15 lead changes, 17 ties on scoreboard and no one giving an inch, Patty Mills rose to the occasion with a clutch steal to deliver the win to the Boomers. Down by one, 99-98 with 4.4 seconds left, France had a chance to win the game, but Mills’ phenomenal defensive play saved the day for Australia.  The game displayed tremendous shooting from both sides with Australia and France delivering 58 percent and 57 percent respectively in a highly entertaining game

Turning Point: In a game as close as this one, there wasn’t a bigger play than Mills’ steal that sealed the win. Mills is used to making  a living on the offensive side of the ball, but the sharpshooting guard showed his determination to tow the Boomers to the top of their Second Round group.

TCL Player of the Game:  Aside from his defensive gem, Mills continued his offensive brilliance, exploding for a team-high 30 points. Mills has scored 19+ points in his last four games with Australia in the FIBA Basketball World Cup. He scored 19+ points in only one occasion in his first seven games in the competition.

Stats Don’t Lie: Both teams were hot from the outside but France could not keep up with Australia long-range barrage, hitting a scorching 13-of-27 shooting from the outside. It was a three-headed attack from the Boomers side with Mills, Aron Baynes and Joe Ingles combining for 74 points out of the 100 scored by Australia.

Bottom Line: Australia further solidified their status as one of the contenders of the Naismith trophy after a thrilling win over a tough France squad who was previously unbeaten in their first four games. The Boomers will face second-placer of Group K, Czech Republic, while France have a rendezvous with USA in the Quarter-Finals..

QUARTER-FINALS  10/9/2019

Argentina defeated Serbia  97-87

Spain defeated Poland 90-78

QUARTER-FINALS  11/9/2019

France defeated USA 89-79

Australia defeated Czech Republic 82-70

SHANGHAI (China) – Czech Republic kept things close for two quarters before Australia turned up the jets and ran away with an 82-70 Quarter-Finals win at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center. Behind the superb playmaking of Tomas Satoransky and the scoring of Patrik Auda, Czech Republic gave Australia all they could handle for about 25 minutes, but the Boomers just blew the game open, pulled away when coach Andrej Lemanis’ players shifted into high gear to keep their foes at bay. Patty Mills, Chris Goulding and Andrew Bogut carried Australia in this game, combining to score 43 points for Australia, who booked their sixth win in a row at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019. Czech Republic, meanwhile, drew 21 points from Patrik Auda and a sublime performance from Tomas Satoransky, who tallied 13 points, 12 assists and 9 rebounds, narrowly missing a rare triple-double.

Turning Point: Things continued to be tight in the third quarter with the game last tied at 43-all, but that’s when Australia began to roll, outscoring the Czechs, 25-5, for the remainder of the period to take a commanding 63-48 lead into the fourth. Czech Republic would not go down without a fight, cutting the lead to 8 points, but that was as close as it would get.

TCL Player of the Game: Mills was his usual brilliant self in this game, shooting 9-of-15 from the field en route to a game-high 24 points. He also added 6 assists and 4 rebounds while also landing six bombs from beyond the arc. With Mills shooting so well, Australia were just too good against the upstart Czechs.

Stats Don’t Lie: Czech Republic experimented with a small-ball combination in the second half, and it bit them hard as Australia dominated the glass. In total, the Boomers outrebounded their opponents, 41-34, and had more second chance points, 14-2. Australia also forced five more turnovers from the Czechs, scoring 25 points off these errors.

Bottom Line: Australia qualified World Cup Semi-Finals for the first time ever and have a great chance to add even more to their already historic campaign if they advance to the Final. To do that, however, they’ll have to topple mighty Spain in Beijing on September 13.

Czech Republic, meanwhile, had an inspired run here at the World Cup but saw it come to an end in Shanghai at the hands of a bigger and deeper Boomers quintet. Now they are assured of a spot in next year’s FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament and are going to shoot for as high a finish as possible in the Classification Round.

CLASSIFICATION GAMES 5-8:  12/9/2019

Serbia defeated USA 94-89

Czech Republic defeated Poland 94-84

SEMI FINALS:  13/9/2019

Spain defeated Australia 95-88

Argentina defeated France 80-66

 I was a bit disappointed with the reaction of at least one Australian player, as reported below from ‘The Guardian’, Australia – the Boomers had numerous opportunities in the closing stages –  they simply failed to score when they should have, and their turnovers just kept coming – on that performance, certainly towards the end of the match, Spain fully deserved their win.
Nevertheless, we copy the following report.

“Andrew Bogut will likely be investigated for a foul-mouthed post-game spray while Boomers assistant coach Luc Longley was also fuming after the Europeans beat Australia 95-88 in a double overtime World Cup semi-final heartbreaker. Spain trailed by 11 against the Boomers in Beijing but, just like in the Rio Olympic bronze medal game three years ago, rallied and went ahead courtesy of a dubious foul – on Bogut – in the final seconds.

Spain won that match by one but this time Patty Mills (34 points) had the chance to get one back for Australia when he went to line with four seconds on the clock down by one. But his second free-throw bobbled out and Ricky Rubio’s long heave just missed to force overtime.  Matthew Dellavedova’s desperate floater on the buzzer clanged out to send teams into a second extra period, where Marc Gasol (33 points) and Rubio (19 points, seven rebounds, 12 assists) steered their si

A “furious” Boomers team surged through the media mixed zone post-game, Bogut yelling “Google where headquarters of f……g Fiba is … it’s a f……g disgrace”.  On court Bogut had earlier flashed a money signal with his hands after the foul that helped put Spain ahead, and he is likely to face investigation and a fine ahead of Sunday’s bronze medal game against either France.  His comments were curious, given Fiba headquarters are in Switzerland.

Sunday will be Longley’s fourth bronze medal game, having played in two and coached in one already, the most recent in eerily similar circumstances against the same opponent in Rio.  “We’ve got to find an altar somewhere and burn a sacrifice to the basketball gods, because they’re not kissing us on the dick yet, like they do Spain,” he said. “I feel like Spain are kissed on the dick by the basketball gods every time we play them.  “It’s gut-wrenching for the guys; they’ve been so fucking good, so consistent and played so hard and I felt like they deserved to win that and it doesn’t feel like that’s the right result.”  Australia did have their moments though, with Mills’ free-throw somehow rimming out and 22 turnovers a constant olive branch to a Spain side that shot at just 31% in the second half. Dellavedova’s attempted match-winner looked good too, before it bounced out and he was forced out of the second overtime period with cramps. Nick Kay was enormous for Australia off the bench, scoring 16 points and grabbing 11 boards as the Boomers grabbed a staggering 20 offensive rebounds. “They’re furious, crushed. .. it’s very quiet in there and it stings in lots of ways, not least of which is that’s the team we lost to in Rio,” Longley said. “It’s not the time to start pointing fingers and spitting dummies; we’ve got to reload.”

CLASSIFICATION GAMES 5-8:  14/9/2019

For 7^th -8th

USA defeated Poland 87-74

For 5^th – 6th

Serbia defeated Czech Republic 90-81

BRONZE MEDAL FINAL

France defeated Australia 67-59

Another disappointment for the Boomers – their 12^th World Cup appearance, previous best was 5^th, today’s loss, means they finished 4^th. Meanwhile, at the Olympic Games level, Australia’s best has been also 4^th – four times.

BEIJING (China) – For the second straight World Cup, France finished  third, and that just makes them hungrier to bring home more valuable silverware in the future.  Les Bleus finished among the top three teams five years ago in Spain right behind champions USA and second-place Serbia, and they duplicated that feat here in China, beating Australia in their final game to bring bronze medals home once more.  That’s all well and good, of course, but the French knew this was one of the best opportunities to take the next step, and they’ve resolved to take everything they’ve learned here to improve in the next big tournament.

 Meanwhile, for the Boomers, it happened again. The Australian Boomers are still medal-less.

It was the same story, too, and in more ways than one. Their downfall was turnovers, something that had plagued them for the entire 2019 FIBA World Cup. The outcome: fourth place, a result that’s haunted this program since day dot.  Just like their semi-final game against Spain, the Boomers abandoned a double-digit lead to France, suffering a 67-59 loss that’s become their unfortunate signature.  Patty Mills capped off his impressive tournament with 15 points, while Joe Ingles’ 17 points perhaps came a day too late; the French leaving China with bronze medals. Apart from Mitch Creek’s appearance at the mandatory press conference, the Australian players went straight to the locker rooms and left the arena without talking with the media.

The Australians left with their hands empty, and that’s not just because of the 19 turnovers.  “Some of it is, now, just ensuring that we’re really tight in offensive and defensive schemes when we get in those crunch situations; where we’re gonna go to,” Andrej Lemanis, the Boomers’ head coach, told the Australian media of where the team goes from here.  “Particularly when we’re fatigued. I thought obviously earlier in the tournament, we were able to deliver in those situations. Back end of the tournament – day on, day off; four different cities in between – there’s a fatigue factor there you’ve gotta account for as well.  “Perhaps just ensuring a couple of things where we can get to the point, and an offence that moves quite a bit, and involves player and ball movement, perhaps more stuff when we can get a bit more to the point, in those games when we’re looking a little tired.”  Taking care of the ball had been an issue all tournament for the Boomers, and their inability to fix it came back to bite them, with Nando de Colo leading France’s second-half onslaught, posting 19 points off the bench. Evan Fournier finished with 16 points.

The fourth place finish is tied for the Boomers’ highest finish in a major international tournament, with the program placing in the same position in four other Olympics: 1988, 1996, 2000, and 2016.

“The sorrow comes from having the effort that the boys put in, and then them not being rewarded for the sacrifices, and the commitment to team, and playing the right way, and all those things they do,” Lemanis said.  “They represent Australian basketball and, as I said, I’m really obviously proud of that, and being connected with this group. It’s an honour and it’s always humbling being around these guys. You want to see them rewarded. It’s tough to see them with just the hurt that they have at the moment.”

 

GOLD MEDAL FINAL:  15/9/2019

Spain defeated Argentine 95-75

From Fox Sports.

Spain has captured its second World Cup championship, defeating Argentina 95-75 on Sunday to give Marc Gasol a rare double-title year.

Tournament MVP Ricky Rubio scored 20 points and Sergio Llull added 15 for Spain (8-0), the ninth team to make it through a World Cup or world championship unbeaten. Gasol scored 14 for the winners, who never trailed.  For Gasol, it was historic.  The Toronto Raptors center becomes the second player to win an NBA title and a FIBA world gold medal in the same year, joining Lamar Odom – who did it for the Los Angeles Lakers and USA Basketball in 2010.  Gasol is also the 19th to win either an NBA or WNBA crown along with a gold medal, either of the Olympic or World Cup variety, in the same year. And he’s the first to accomplish that feat while representing a nation other than the U.S.  When Spain won its first title in 2006, it was Pau Gasol – Marc’s older brother – leading the way. This time, it was the not-so-little brother who led his nation to gold, hoisting the World Cup trophy three months after getting his hands on the NBA’s Larry O’Brien Trophy for the first time.

Gabriel Deck scored 24 points for Argentina (8-1), which got off to a slow start and played uphill the rest of the way. Luis Scola was held to eight points, shooting 1 for 10 from the floor.

Spain led 43-31 at the half, riding the strength of two big runs. Spain ran out to a quick 14-2 lead, only to have Argentina answer with an 11-0 spurt. But when that ended, Spain came back with a 17-1 run and took what was then its biggest lead at 31-14. Scola, even at 39 years old still Argentina’s best player throughout the tournament, didn’t get on the scoresheet until he made a pair of free throws with 2:57 left in the third.  But they only cut the Spain lead to 19, and by then the Argentinian fans – who stood in the stands a few rows from their team’s bench, singing and chanting for much of the game – were relatively quiet. They probably had a good idea what was coming. There was one last gasp from Argentina, an 11-4 run to open the fourth quarter and cut Spain’s lead to 12 with 6:30 left. But Llull’s three-point play on the next Spain possession pushed the lead back to 15.

From NBA Sporting News, written by Gilbert McGregor [not necessarily the views of NBA] – ‘What’s next for the Boomers’?

After winning their first six games at the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, the Australian Boomers again failed to medal in international play as they suffered heartbreaking losses to both Spain and France to close the tournament.  Still, despite coming up short with a fourth-place finish in China, the summer of 2019 is a step in the right direction for the Boomers future With a spot secured in the 2020 Olympics, Australia could potentially roll out an even more talented roster next year meaning the unfortunate streak without medalling could come to an end sooner rather than later.

For more on what lies ahead, take a look at where Australia stands…

Australia finished fourth at the World Cup with a record of 6-2 with its two losses coming in the Semi-Final round and the third-place game after winning six straight to open the tournament.

First Round

108-92 Win vs. Canada…………….81-68 Win vs. Senegal………..87-82 Win vs. Lithuania

It was essentially smooth sailing for the Boomers in the First Round, with the biggest test coming in the third game against a staunch Lithuania squad. Patty Mills established his dominance from the get-go, averaging 20.0 points and 3.0 assists per game in the First Round, serving as the teams leading scorer in the second and third game.

Second Round

82-76 Win vs. Dominican Republic……………….100-98 Win vs. France

In the win over the Dominican Republic, the Boomers put on a ball movement clinic, assisting on all 30 of their made baskets in the six-point win to set up an undefeated showdown with the French National Team. It came down to the wire but a combined 74 points from Mills (30), Joe Ingles (23) and Aron Baynes (21) proved to be the difference for Australia as it earned a 100-98 win.

Quarter-Finals

82-70 Win vs. Czech Republic

Coming in first in both of its groups proved to be beneficial for Australia, as it faced the Czech Republic in the Quarter-Final round. It was another win and another big performance from Mills, as he led the way for Australia with 24 points and six assists while shooting 9-for-15 from the field and 6-for-9 from beyond the arc.

Semi-Finals

88-95 Loss vs. Spain

As one win stood between Australia and its first medal, heartbreak came in the form of a double overtime loss at the hands of eventual-champion Spain. Mills once again led the way with 34 points in 45 minutes of action but it was the Spanish National Team that made more plays in the end.

Third Place Game

59-67 Loss vs. France

With a bronze medal still in sight, Australia failed to truly get going offensively as it scored just 59 points while shooting 4-for-17 (23.5%) from beyond the arc in the eight-point loss to France. In a rematch of the thrilling Second Round meeting, the Boomers simply didn’t have enough as it appeared the rigours of the tournament had finally taken their toll.

Australia’s top performers

Scoring: Patty Mills, 22.8 points per game

Rebounds: Joe Ingles, 6.1 rebounds per game

Assists: Matthew Dellavedova, 6.3 assists per game

Other top performer: Aron Baynes – 11.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.8 apg, 56.5 FG%

Through its performance at the World Cup, Australia is one of the eight countries that has qualified for basketball at the 2020 Olympic Games. The Boomers join Spain, Argentina, France, Nigeria, Iran, the United States and host country Japan as eight of the 12 teams that will compete for Olympic gold.  With Australia qualifying, it will not need to participate in one of the four Olympic Qualifying Tournaments in the summer of 2020.  While the key pieces from the World Cup should be expected to reprise their roles in 2020, there are some other names that could be in the mix for the Olympics. An increase in depth can be major for the Boomers, who used their top three players more than any other team at the World Cup. Mills, who at times put the team on his back during the tournament, and Joe Ingles each averaged a team-high 33.9 minutes per game while Dellavedova wasn’t too far behind at 30.6 minutes per contest. Baynes, the only other current NBA player on the roster, logged over 21 minutes per contest and made his impact felt in his time on the floor.

It’s no coincidence that the four NBA players on the roster saw the most playing time and next year, with potentially more NBA talent joining the Boomers next summer, there could be a dispersal of playing time.  Of course, all eyes shift to Philadelphia 76ers All-Star Ben Simmons, who did not participate this summer but has already stated that he is “committed and excited to compete in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.” Simmons, the only Aussie All-Star in NBA history, could lift this team to another level with his size, rebounding and playmaking ability should he stand firm on his commitment. At 17, Simmons made his first and only appearance with the Boomers to date at the 2013 FIBA Oceania Championship, where the team would go on to win gold. He stands to rejoin the senior team at 24 as he continues to establish himself as one of the best young players in the NBA.

In addition to Simmons, the Boomers have the option to include the likes of Deng Adel, Jonah Bolden, Ryan Broekhoff, Dante Exum and Thon Maker. Adel was one of the Boomers’ final cuts ahead of the World Cup while Bolden had full intentions of competing this summer before withdrawing due to outside circumstances.  Broekhoff, Exum and Maker have each represented Australia at various competitions and, barring any hindrances, could be wearing the green and gold in Japan. Prep standout Josh Green, who is set to embark on his freshman year at the University of Arizona, is another name that could be placed in the mix to play for the Boomers in 2020. The 18-year-old was a consensus five-star recruit and could turn in a big season in the Pac-12. An invite for Green, who is a member of the long-term future of Aussie basketball, could be the experience he needs to lead the charge of the next generation of Australian hoops. Factor in 2005 No. 1 overall pick Andrew Bogut, who could again make an NBA return after the upcoming season with the Sydney Kings, and the crop of NBL talent that has suited up for Australia, and the Boomers could very well be bringing their most talented team ever to the 2020 Olympics……….The future is bright for the Boomers and next summer could be a benchmark year ushering in a new era of basketball for the nation. It all begins with using their unbelievable talent to capture their first medal in international competition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TOUR de FRANCE 2019

 

The 2019 Tour de France is the 106th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling’s three grand tours. The 3,480 km (2,162 mi)-long race consists of 21 stages, starting on 6 July in Brussels, Belgium, and concluding on 28 July with the Champs-Élysées stage in Paris. A total of 176 riders from 22 teams would participate in the race.

[From Wikipedia] -The race was first organized in 1903 to increase sales for the newspaper L’Auto and is currently run by the Amaury Sport Organisation. The race has been held annually since its first edition in 1903 except when it was stopped for the two World Wars. As the Tour gained prominence and popularity, the race was lengthened and its reach began to extend around the globe. Participation expanded from a primarily French field, as riders from all over the world began to participate in the race each year. The Tour is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams that compete in the race are mostly UCI World Teams, with the exception of the teams that the organizers invite. It has become “the world’s biggest annual sporting event.”  Traditionally, the race is held primarily in the month of July. While the route changes each year, the format of the race stays the same with the appearance of time trials,^[1] the passage through the mountain chains of the Pyrenees and the Alps, and the finish on the Champ-Élysées in Paris.  The modern editions of the Tour de France consist of 21 day-long segments (stages) over a 23-day period and cover around 3,500 kilometres (2,200 mi]. The race alternates between clockwise and counter-clockwise circuits of France

The 2019 edition of the Tour de France consisted of 22 teams.  Each squad was allowed a maximum of eight riders, resulting in a start list total of 176.  Of these, 33 competed in their first Tour de France.  The riders came from 30 countries. Six countries had more than ten riders in the race: France (43), Belgium (21), Italy (15), Spain (13), Germany (11) and the Netherlands (11).

UCI WorldTeams  –  AG2R La Mondiale; Astana; Bahrain–Merida; Bora–Hansgrohe; CCC Team; EF Education First;  Team Dimension Data; Groupama–FDJ;  Team Ineos; Team Katusha–Alpecin; Team Jumbo–Visma; Lotto–Soudal;  Movistar Team; Mitchelton–Scott; Deceuninck–Quick-Step;  Team Sunweb; Trek–Segafredo;  UAE Team Emirates  UCI Professional Continental teams  –  Cofidis;  Wanty–Groupe Gobert; Total Direct Énergie; Arkéa–Samsic

As with previous international sporting events I have featured in these pages,  my specific interest was from an  Australian competition point of view, however, the outcome will be fairly broad-based. In general, comments on each race have been taken from the cycling.com website, in some cases, other sources.

 Stage One:  6 July:  Brussels to Brussels: 194.5 kms [flat]

1. Mike Teunissen [Team Jumbo-Visma] [Nederlands]
2. Peter Sagan [Bira-Hansgrohe] [SVK]
3. Caleb Ewan [Lotto Soudal] [Australia]

Mike Teunissen [Jumbo-Visma] was the shock winner on stage 1 of theTour de France   taking the first yellow jersey of the race on the uphill finish in front of the Laeken Castle in Brussels. Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) finished second, just inches back, while Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) rounded out the podium.

The Dutchman, who won the ZLM Tour late last month, was a surprise winner on the stage, having been expected to help lead out for sprinter Dylan Groenewegen. The Dutch sprinter, along with the bulk of his lead-out, was caught up in a big crash inside the final two kilometres.  From there, Deceuninck-QuickStep took control at the front, but their sprinter Elia Viviani was caught way out of position in the final kilometre. Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) launched the sprint 300 metres out, just as Viviani was moving up, before then Sagan burst past with Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) alongside him.  Behind the duo, Ewan was forced to check his sprint just as he looked to move up the middle to take the win, but it was Teunissen on the outside who finished the fastest. He sped past in the closing metres and threw his bike just far enough to seal an unlikely victory.

Stage Two: 7 July: Around Brussels: Team Time Trial 27.5 kms

1. Team Jumbo-Visma 28.57
2. Team Ineos 00.20
3. Deceuninck-Quickstep 00.21

Jumbo-Visma made it two out of two at the Tour de France  following up Mike Teunissen’s  surprise stage 1 win with a dominant performance on the stage 2 team time trial. They took victory with a time of 28:57, 20 seconds ahead of Team Ineos and 21 up on Deceuninck-QuickStep.

General Classification after Stage 2

1. Mike Teunissen [Team Jumbo-Visma] [Nederlands]: 51.34
2. Wout Van Aert [Bel\] [Team Jumbo-Visma: 00.10
3. Steven Kruijswijk [Ned] [Team Jumbo-Visma: 00.10
4. Michael Matthews [Australia]:Team Sunweb: 0.00.36

 

Stage Three: 8 July:  Binche to Epernay, 215 kms

1. Julian Alaphilippe [France] Deceuninck – Quickstep     40.29
2. Michael Matthews [Australia]:Team Sunweb: 00.26
3. Jasper Stuyven [Belgium] Trek –Segafredo                                00.26

General classification after Stage 3

1. Julian Alaphilippe [France] Deceuninck – Quickstep     32.19
2. Wout Van Aert [Bel\] [Team Jumbo-Visma: 00.20
3. Steven Kruijswijk [Ned] [Team Jumbo-Visma: 00.25
4. George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma 00.25
5. : Michael Matthews [Australia]:Team Sunweb: 00.40

Alaphilippe attacked boldly but decisively with 15 kilometres remaining near the summit of the final climb of the Cote de Mutigny and never looked back. He built up a lead over the final rolling kilometres and held on to win, while Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) and Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) came over the line 26 seconds down with a group that contained most of the pre-race favourites. Overnight leader Mike Teunissen (Jumbo-Visma) was unable to live with the pace on the final set of climbs and was finally dropped on the Cote de Mutigny, but the stage outcome was dominated by Alaphilippe, who stamped his authority over the peloton despite a huge amount of pressure on his shoulders coming into the stage.

 Stage Four: 9 July:  Reims to Nancy: [Flat]:  213.5 kms

1. Elia Viviani [Italy] Deceuninck- Quick Step                   09.20
2. Alexander Kristoff [Nederlands] UAE-Team Emirates     “
3. Caleb Ewan [Australia] Lotto Soudal                                  “

General classification after Stage 4 [no change]

6. Julian Alaphilippe [France] Deceuninck – Quickstep     41.39
7. Wout Van Aert [Bel\] [Team Jumbo-Visma: 00.20
8. Steven Kruijswijk [Ned] [Team Jumbo-Visma: 00.25
9. George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma 00.25
10. : Michael Matthews [Australia]:Team Sunweb: 00.40

Elia Viviani claimed his first Tour de France stage win of his career on Tuesday, making amends for a barren Giro d’Italia with a well-executed sprint in Nancy on stage 4.  The Italian, whose only other appearance at the Tour came back in 2014, profited from a strong lead-out to get the better of Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) in the bunch sprint, with Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) taking fourth place.  Viviani’s victory made it two in two days for Deceuninck-QuickStep, who successfully defended the yellow jersey on the shoulders of stage 3 winner Julian Alaphilippe. With just two minor category-4 climbs on the 213.5km route from Reims to Nancy, it was a quiet day for the overall contenders, with no changes to the general classification.

Stage Five: 10 July:  Saint-Die-Des-Vosges to Colmar [175.5 kms]  

[ a hilly stage,  cuts a big loop through the heart of the Vosges, a mountain range in eastern France known for short, steep climbs and treacherous descents. With four categorized climbs, including the first Category 2 ascents of the Tour, it’s not a good day for the sprinters].

1. Peter Sagan [SVK] Bora-Hansgrohe: 02.33
2. Wout Van Aert [Belgium] Jumbo-Visma
3. Matteo Trentin [Italy]

Australia’s Michael Matthews was 5^th for Team Sunweb

General classification after Stage 5 [no change] – the leader on 18.44.12, second now on 0.00.14 behind, 3-5 as per Stage 4

After several near misses, Peter Sagan [Bora-hansgrohe] took his first win on stage 5 of the 2019 Tour dee France  Colmar ahead of Wout Van Aert (Jumbo Visma) and Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton Scott). The three-time world champion was simply too good for the opposition after a number of pure sprinters had been dropped on the climbs that littered the stage through the Vosges.Team Sunweb controlled the peloton for most of the finale as they rallied behind Michael Matthews but the Australian was boxed in when the sprint began and could only manage seventh. Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) finished tenth and retained his overall lead in the race.

Stage Six: 11 July:  Mulhouse to La Planche Des Belles Filles [Mountain] [160.5 kms]

After five days devoted to sprinters and breakaways, the overall contenders will take center stage on Thursday for the first time in the2019 Tour. Stage 6, in the heart of France’s Vosges region, is relatively short at 160.5K. But it features seven categorized climbs, including an early Category 1 ascent that starts just 29K into the route, and a summit finish on La Planche des Belles Filles.

1. Dylan Teuns [Belgium] Bahrain-Merida: 29.03
2. Giulio Ciccone [Italy] – Trek –Segafredo: 00.11
3. Xandro Meurisse [Belgium] Wanty-Gobert:  01.05

First Aussie in was Richie Porte, 11^th: Trek Segafredo:  0.01.53

General Classification after 6 stages

1. Giulio Ciccone [Italy] – Trek –Segafredo: 14.55
2. Julian Alaphilippe [France] Deceuninck – Quickstep     00.06
3. Dylan Teuns [Belgium] Bahrain-Merida: 00.32

Leading Australians

21. Richie Porte: Trek-segafredo:  0.01.56

59:  : Michael Matthews [Australia]:Team Sunweb:  0.19.02  –  has dropped right down the list from a couple of days ago

Two Tour de France rookies stole the show on the first mountain stage, with Dylan Teuns of Belgium winning Stage 6 and Giulio Ciccone of Italy taking the overall race lead on Thursday.  Geraint Thomas, the defending champion, also rode strongly, going some way to answer questions about his fitness after he crashed out of the Tour de Suisse in June. Thomas rode in fourth at the top of the terrible climb to the Planche des Belles Filles ski station in the woody Vosges mountains of eastern France. But the severity of the ascent, with a final 24 percent incline and an unpaved section that kicked up clouds of dust, torpedoed other main contenders for overall victory in Paris on July 28.

Dylan Teuns had never won a Grand Tour stage before today, but not for lack of trying. The Belgian puncheur was a constant in breakaways at last year’s Vuelta a Espana but only racked up a frustrating string of near misses. Here, on his Tour de France debut, he struck gold.

Stage Seven 12 July:  Belfort – Chalon-Sur  Saone [230 kms] Flat.

After two hard days in the Vosges, riders will face the longest stage of the 2019 Tour.

1. Dylan Groenewegan [Nederlands] Team Jumbo-Visma   02.44
2. Caleb Ewan [Australia] Lotto Soudal
3. Peter Sagan [SVK] Bora Hansgrohe

In a sign that he has fully recovered after a crash on the opening day, Dutch sprinter Dylan Groenewegen won Stage 7 of the 2019 Tour de France in an ultra-tight pack finish on Friday.  Following the longest stage of this year’s race—a 230K ride away from the Vosges, with all categorized climbs appearing in the first half—Groenewegen attached himself to the wheel of Caleb Ewan to fight his way out of the group.  Then he launched his final dash for the line half a moment before Ewan, rocketing to the front at 70 kph (about 43 mph) and narrowly beating the Australian in a photo finish after more than six hours of racing.

Overall classification after 7 stages

1. Giulio Ciccone [Italy] – Trek –Segafredo: 17.39
2. Julian Alaphilippe [France] Deceuninck – Quickstep     00.06
3. Dylan Teuns [Belgium] Bahrain-Merida: 00.32

First Australian listed is 21^st: Richie Porte: Trek-segafredo:  0.01.56

 Stage Eight; 13 July:  Macon to Saint-Etienne [200 kms] [hilly]

The climbs are a mix of 5-8km hills with gradients that aren’t especially frightening and much shorter ascents that include some imposing ramps on what are tight and twisting roads. It is ideal terrain for breakaway specialists, and there should be plenty of them looking to infiltrate the early attacks, further buoyed by the knowledge that the sprinters’ teams might not be too committed in chasing them down in such undulating countryside.

1. Thomas De Gendt [Belgium] Lotto Soudal: 00.17
2. Thibaut Pinot [France] Groupama FDJ:  00.06
3. Julian Alaphilippe [France] Deceuninck – Quickstep     00.06
4. Michael Matthews [Australia]:Team Sunweb: 00.26
5. Peter Sagan [SVK] Bora Hansgrohe 00.26

Thomas de Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) survived from a day-long breakaway to take the victory in a relentless day of racing on Saturday. The Belgian went away early with three others and was the last man standing, holding off a late chase by French duo Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) and Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ).  “I had a really good feeling all day so I believed in it all day,” said De Gendt. “In the morning I ate a good breakfast. This [from a break] is the only way I can win a race. I like to do it in this way. Once I get in a breakaway, that gives me energy.”

Overall classification after Stage 8.

1. Julian Alaphilippe [France] Deceuninck – Quickstep     17.59
2. Giulio Ciccone [Italy] – Trek –Segafredo: 00.23
3. Thibaut Pinot [France] Groupama FDJ  00.53
4. George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma 01.10

Leading Australians  are:

18. Richie Porte [Trek-segafredo] 0.02.19
19. Jack Haig [Mitchellton-Scott] 0.15.23
20. Michael Matthews: [Team Sunweb] 0.19.25
21. Simon Clarke [EF Educastion First] 0.46.22
22. Rohan Dennis [Bahrain-Merida] 0.52.46
23. Luke Durbridge [Mitchellton-Scott] 0.55.06
24. Caleb Ewan [Lotto Soudal] 1.16.06
25. Michael Hepburn [Mitchellton-Scott] 1.23.21

 

Stage Nine; 14 July [Bastille Day]:  Saint-Etienne to Brioude [170.5kms] [hilly]

This is an intriguing stage, another that offers encouragement to breakaway riders, Classics specialists, puncheurs in the Julian Alaphilippe mould, and even some sprinters. Like the day before, it rises and falls incessantly, although not as fiercely. There’s a very savage ascent in the form of the Mur d’Aurec-sur-Loire – 3.2km at 11% – but it crops up too early to have any lasting effect. While sure to string out and perhaps even shred the peloton, the dropped riders have plenty of ground ahead on which they can recoup their deficit.

1. Daryl Impey [South Africa] Mitchelton-Scott: 03.12
2. Tiesj Benoot [Belgium] Lotto Soudal
3. Jan Tratnik [SIO] Bahrain-Merida         00.10

Australians

9^th: Simon Clarke [EF Education First]                            0.01.50

27^th: Richie Porte [Trek segafredo]                                 0.16.25

Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott) outsprinted Tiesj Benoot (Lotto-Soudal) to take stage 9 of the Tour de France, Sunday.  “It’s the seventh time I’m riding the Tour de France and have been in a number of breakaways,” said Impey. “To finally nail it today is a dream come true. I really don’t have any words.”  The South African champion had been part of an early breakaway which split after a series of attacks in the final stages of the race, and ended up going clear with 15 kilometers remaining. The Mitchelton-Scott rider came around the Belgian in the final 100 meters to win his first Tour de France Stage. Jan Tratnik (Bahrain-Merida) was the first home from a small chase group to take third, 10 seconds behind.

General Classification after 9 stages

1. Julian Alaphilippe [France] Deceuninck – Quickstep     37.36
2. Giulio Ciccone [Italy] – Trek –Segafredo: 00.23
3. Thibaut Pinot [France] Groupama FDJ  00.53
4. George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma 01.10

18^th: Richie Porte [Australia]  0.2.19

Stage Ten; 15 July :  Saint-Flour to Albi [217.5 kms]  Flat

Four short categorised climbs lie ahead, the first a fourth-cat and the other three rated third-category, but there are constant undulations as the route heads through the beautiful, ancient volcanic wilderness of the Aubrac. The rolling of the terrain and the length of the stage will make it hard for the sprinters’ teams to control the break.

1. Wout Van Aert [Belgium] Jumbo-Visma: 4.49.39
2. Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
3. Caleb Ewan [Australia] Lotto Soudal
4. Michael Matthews: [Australia] Team Sunweb
5. Peter Sagan [SVK] Bora Hansgrohe

Wout Van Aert [Belgium] claimed his maiden individual Tour de France win on stage 10, and on a day of racing that saw the overall standings change after a number of contenders lost significant time in the crosswinds.  Van Aert – making his Grand Tour debut – won ahead of Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) in Albi, but the stage was dominated by the splits caused with 30km to go as Team Ineos and several allies tore the peloton apart during a section of crosswinds.  The effort succeeded, with Thibaut Pinot (Groupama FDJ), Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo), Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First) and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) all conceding 1:40 on a group that contained Nairo Quintana, Julian Alaphilippe and the Team Ineos pair of Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal. Alaphilippe heads into the first rest day with a 1:12 lead over Thomas, with Bernal four seconds further adrift. For Pinot, this was a disaster of a day after his stage 8 heroics had seen him rise up the standings. He now sits 10th overall at 2:33.

General Classification after Stage 10:

1. Julian Alaphilippe [France] Deceuninck – Quickstep     27.15
2. Geraint Thomas [Great Britain] Team Ineos    01.12
3. Egan Bernal [Colombia] Team Ineos                                             01.16

20^th:  Richie Porte [Australia]  Trek Segafredo                                      0.03.59

 

Stage Eleven:  17 July :  Albi to Toulouse [167 kms]  Flat

Tour boss Christian Prudhomme and his deputy Thierry Gouvenou have decided against a big mountain test the day after the rest day and opted instead for what may be the most straightforward stage of the race bar the final day. With just two categorised climbs, a third-cat and a fourth-cat, in the first half of the course, this stage is clearly intended as a comparatively gentle return to action, a chance to get for the riders to get their legs re-accustomed to race pace before the four big tests that lie immediately ahead in the Pyrenees.

1. Caleb Ewan [Australia] Lotto Soudal: 51.26
2. Dylan Groeneweganj [Netherlands] Team Jumbo Visma
3. Ilia Viviani [Italy] Deceuninck-Quickstep

Caleb Ewan won his maiden Tour de France stage on stage 11 in Toulouse. The Australian had to do it the hard way after one of his lead-out men crashed in the closing stage but despite remaining isolated in the sprint Ewan came around Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) to take the biggest win of his career. Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-QuickStep) finished third, with green jersey leader Peter Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe) in fourth.  After four top-three finishes in this year’s Tour de France, Ewan finally had his just reward and picked up Lotto Soudal’s second stage win of the race after Thomas de Gendt’s win in Saint Etienne.  “To be honest I can’t believe it. I’ve been close in the last four sprints I’ve done, and my team never lost faith in me. I never lost faith in my sprint. I knew if everything came together then I can be the fastest on the day, and I think today I showed that,” the winner said at the finish.  “I think with about 10km to go I got caught behind my teammate Jasper who crashed, and I was really at the back of the bunch. Roger came back for me, and he basically took me from the back of the bunch to Groenewegen’s wheel in the last few kilometres. Once I had a bit of time to recover, luckily I had the legs to be able to win.  “There’s no other race I’ve dreamt of winning since I was a young kid. I can’t believe it. The Tour de France is something so distant from Australia, something we only watched on TV. I can’t believe I’m even here, and to win a stage is a real dream come true for me.”  Ewan came into this year’s Tour de France with a point to prove. He was controversially left at home on the eve of last year’s race, with that decision part of the reason as to why Ewan would jump ship from Mitchelton-Scott and join Lotto over the winter. The Giro d’Italia provided Ewan with two valuable stage wins but he would always be judged by his performances in July. Third in the opening stage Brussels was followed by narrow misses in Nancy, Chalon-sur-Saone and Albi and it looked as though time was running out for the Australian in this year’s race.  However, he and his Lotto Soudal squad stayed the course and even when Ewan was forced to unclip his right foot and grind to a halt with 10km to go when his teammate Jasper de Buyst was nudged into the ditch the team rallied around this sprinter.  Ewan made his way back towards the front of the main field just as Jumbo-Visma imposed their dominance on the race, with Mike Teunissen the last man for Groenewegen. On this occasion, the Dutch squad simply ran out of men in the closing stages and when Teunissen’s legs failed, Groenewegen was forced to open his sprint. Even at that point only Ewan and Viviani were in contention. A corner inside the last few hundred metres ended a promising sprint from Edvald Boasson Hagen, while Sonny Colbrelli, and Alexander Kristoff were already out of contention with around 500m to go.

Overall classification after 11 stages

1. Julian Alaphilippe [France] Deceuninck – Quickstep     18.41
2. Geraint Thomas [Great Britain] Team Ineos 01.12
3. Egan Bernal [Colombia] Team Ineos                                             01.16

19^th:  Richie Porte [Australia]  Trek Segafredo                                      0.03.59

 

Stage Twelve:  18 July :  Toulouse to Bagneres-De- Begorre [209.5 kms]  Mountain

Starting in Toulouse, Stage 12 of the 2019 Tour brings the race into the Pyrenees. Two Category 1 climbs near the end should serve as nice warmups for Friday’s individual time trial, as well as for the harder mountain stages coming on Saturday and Sunday.

1. Simon Yates {GB] Mitchelton-Scott – 57.53
2. Pello Bilbao [Spain] Astana Pro Team
3. Gregor Muhiberger [Austria] Bora Hansgrohe

First Aussie in – Simon Clarke: 9^th:   E F Education First:  0.01.28

Simon Yates [Mitchelton-Scott] won stage 12 of the Tour de France in Bagnères-de-Bigorre, outsprinting Pello Bilbao (Astana Pro Team) and Gregor Mühlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe) after the trio had emerged from an initial 42-man break group after attacking the final climb of Horquette d’Ancizan.  It was Yates who launched the decisive attack, four kilometres from the summit of the climb, bridging across to teammate Matteo Trentin. Mühlberger followed, while Bilbao chased, making the catch on the descent.  The three leaders worked well on the run-in to ensure their lead was safe from the chase group, only starting to play games in the final kilometre. Bilbao led the way, before Mühlberger took the front with 500 metres to race. Yates launched the sprint first, outwitting and outpacing his companions around the final turn and holding on to take the win.

Overall classification after 12 stages

1. Julian Alaphilippe [France] Deceuninck – Quickstep     26.09
2. Geraint Thomas [Great Britain] Team Ineos 01.12
3. Egan Bernal [Colombia] Team Ineos                                             01.16

19^th:  Richie Porte [Australia]  Trek Segafredo                                      0.03.59

Stage Thirteen : 19 July :  Individual Pau Time Trial: [27.2 kms]

1. Julian Alaphilippe [France]  Deceuninck – Quickstep     00
2. Geraint Thomas [Great Britain] Team Ineos 14
3. Thomas De Gent [Belgium] Lotto Soudal                            26
4. Rigoberto Uran [Colombia] EF Education First                   36
5. Richie Porte [Australia] Trek Segafredo 45

Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step) surprised his doubters to win Friday’s 13th stage of the Tour de France, a 27.2 kilometer time trial in Pau.  Known more for his punchy accelerations on steep climbs, Alaphilippe blazed a impressive individual time trial to defeat defending champion Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos) by 14 seconds  The course has several twists and turns, as well as two climbs: the Côte de Gelos (1.1km at 7.8 percent) and Côte d’Esquillot (1km at 7.2 percent). Alaphilippe said that the hilly terrain gave him an advantage. “On this parcourse it was really perfect for me. The first part I went full gas and I just wanted to see what I could do in the second [half],” Alaphilippe said. “In my ear I hear from my sport director, he said I had the best time.”

Overall classification after 13 stages

1. Julian Alaphilippe [France] Deceuninck – Quickstep     01.09
2. Geraint Thomas [Great Britain] Team Ineos 01.26
3. Steven Kiuijswijki [Nederlands] Team Jumbo Visma                  02.12

15^th:  Richie Porte [Australia]  Trek Segafredo                                      0.04.44

 

Stage Fourteen : 20 July :  Tarbes to Col Du Tourmalet [117.5 kms] [Mountain]

This is the first of an unprecedented three stage finishes above the 2,000-metre mark. It will take place atop the Tour’s favourite pass, the Col du Tourmalet, which will feature for the 87th time. This, though, will be just the third summit finish here following Jean-Pierre Danguillaume’s victory in 1974 and Andy Schleck’s in 2010

1. Thibaut Pinot [France] Groupama FDJ  10.20
2. Julian Alaphilippe [France] Deceuninck – Quickstep     00.06
3. Steven Kiuijswijki [Nederlands] Team Jumbo Visma                00.06

First Australian rider in was  Richie Porte, 14th [Trek Segafredo]   0.02.05

Thibaut Pinot [Groupama –FDJ, won stage 14 of the Tour de France atop the Col du Tourmalet, outsprinting a select GC group in the closing metres of the mythical climb to take his third career stage win at the race.  Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) took second, six seconds back, to defend his yellow jersey and extend his lead over Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos), who cracked in the final kilometre, finishing 36 seconds down. Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) rounded out the podium just behind Alaphilippe.

Overall classification after 14 stages

1. Julian Alaphilippe [France] Deceuninck – Quickstep     11.29
2. Geraint Thomas [Great Britain] Team Ineos 02.02
3. Steven Kiuijswijki [Nederlands] Team Jumbo Visma                  02.14

12^th:  Richie Porte [Australia]  Trek Segafredo                                      0.06.49

Richie Porte has moved up the leader board, but after stage 14, have dropped a couple of minutes further behind the leader.

 

 Stage Fifteen : 21 July :  Limoux-Foix; Prat d’Albis [185 kms] Mountain

The 2019 Tour’s third and final day in the Pyrenees, Stage 15 begins in Limoux and slowly heads to the top of the first climb, the Category 2 Col de Montségur. A large breakaway should have forged a big lead by this point, with Peter Sagan likely to attack to score maximum points at the Intermediate Sprint in the valley on the other side.  Then things get real, with three Category 1 climbs jammed into the final 75K. The day’s penultimate climb, the Mur de Péguère, is by far the toughest, with several extended pitches nearing 20 percent in the final 3.5K to the summit. A selection will certainly be made here, with real contenders for the stage win emerging before a 25K descent to Foix and the base of the final climb.

1. Simon Yates [Great Britain] Mitchelton-Scott 47.04
2. Thibaut Pinot [France] Groupama-FDJ                 00.33
3. Mikel Landa [Spain] Movistar 00.33

First Australian rider in was again  Richie Porte, 10th [Trek Segafredo]   0.01.30

Simon Yates [Mitchelton-Scott won his second stage of the Tour de France  triumphing once again from the break on the summit finish of Prat d’Albis. Thibaut Pinot [Groupama-FDJ], was once again the strongest of the GC contenders, taking second ahead of Mikel Landa (Movistar) and gaining precious time on each of his rivals. While Yates won from the day’s early break, chasing down Simon Geschke (CCC Team) on the day’s penultimate climb before going solo on the climb to the finish, it was Pinot who stole the headline with his relentless attacking on the slopes of Prat d’Albis. Pinot launched 6km from the line, dropping all but Egan Bernal (Team Ineos), Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) and race leader Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep), though the trio couldn’t hold his pace for long. Richie Porte has moved up one position.

Overall classification after 15stages

1. Julian Alaphilippe [France] Deceuninck – Quickstep     00.22
2. Geraint Thomas [Great Britain] Team Ineos 01.35
3. Steven Kiuijswijki [Nederlands] Team Jumbo Visma                  01.47

11^th:  Richie Porte [Australia]  Trek Segafredo                                      0.06.30

 

Stage Sixteen : 23 July :  Nimes to Nimes [117 kms] Flat

The last time the Tour raced into the Roman city of Nîmes, Alexander Kristoff burst through to claim victory after long-time breakaway Jack Bauer had been overhauled an agonising 25 metres short of a solo victory. That scenario is likely to repeated to an extent with a stage that, unusually, starts and finishes in the same location and is set up to give the sprinters their last chance to dominate proceedings before the race finishes in Paris, unless a breakaway can thwart them.

1. Caleb Ewan [Australia] Lotto Soudal 57.08
2. Elia Viviani [Italy]  Deceuninck-QuickStep
3. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma

Next Aussie in was Michael Matthews , Team Sunweb

Australia’s Caleb Ewan [Lotto Soudal came from behind to take his second stage victory of the 2019 Tour de France beating Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) in a high-speed sprint in Nîmes. Deceuninck-QuickStep took control of the sprint in the final 500 metres just before a late roundabout, giving Viviani a clean run to the line. Ewan was further back but not concerned and clearly confident of his sprinting ability. He opted to start his sprint early, anticipating Groenewegen and Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) to come up alongside Viviani. The Italian had the best line along the barriers, but Ewan had more speed in his aero tuck and came down the middle of the road to win by half a bike length. Ewan admitted he had suffered during the stage but had some personal motivation to win. His win means he is the only sprinter to so far have won two stages in this year’s Tour de France. The final sprint opportunity is expected to be on the Champs Elysees in Paris on Sunday.

Overall classification after 16 stages

1. Julian Alaphilippe [France] Deceuninck – Quickstep     57.30
2. Geraint Thomas [Great Britain] Team Ineos 01.35
3. Steven Kiuijswijki [Nederlands] Team Jumbo Visma                  01.47

10^th:  Richie Porte [Australia]  Trek Segafredo                                      0.06.30

 

Stage Seventeen : 24 July :  Pont du Gard to Gap [200 kms] Hilly

This transition stage has ‘breakaway’ written all over it. With three race-deciding mountain stages just beyond it, the only concern for the GC leaders and their teams will be to reach Gap without suffering any mishaps and having expended as few resources as possible. Similarly, the sprinters are unlikely to instruct their teammates to chase down any escapees thanks to the presence of the third-category Col de la Sentinelle little more than a dozen kilometres from the finish.

1. Matteo Trentin [Italy] Mitcheleton-Scott 21.36
2. Kasper Asgreen [Denmark] Deceuninck-Quickstep    00.37
3. Greg Van Avermaet [Belgium] CCC Team 00.41

11^th:  Simon Clarke [Australia] EF Education First   0.01.23\

Matteo Trentin [Mitchelton-Scott], claimed victory on stage 17 of the Tour de after soloing clear of the break on the road to Gap, while Julian (Deceuninck-QuickStep) retained the yellow jersey after a day of relative truce among the general classification contenders.  On a day of two races within a race, Trentin rode to his third stage victory at the Tour – he previously won in 2013 and 2014 – after punching his way clear of the breakaway group ahead of the final climb of the Col de la Sentinelle. Alaphilippe and the podium contenders, meanwhile, rolled home more than 20 minutes behind, content to spare themselves for the rigours to come in the Alps over the next three days. Trentin was part of a 33-strong break that amassed an unassailable lead over the peloton on yet another day of soaring temperatures, and he proved the strongest and savviest of their number when the move began to fragment in the final hour of racing.

Overall classification after 17 stages [no change in leaders from yesterday].

1. Julian Alaphilippe [France] Deceuninck – Quickstep     39.16
2. Geraint Thomas [Great Britain] Team Ineos 01.35
3. Steven Kiuijswijki [Nederlands] Team Jumbo Visma                  01.47

10^th:  Richie Porte [Australia]  Trek Segafredo                                      0.06.30

 

 Stage Eighteen : 25 July  Embrun to Valloire [208 kms]  Mountain

The stairway to heaven stage. There are four climbs, each higher than the last, the final three topping out at 2,109 metres, 2,360 metres and 2,642 metres, respectively. In other words, at the finish in Valloire the identity of the remaining contenders for the yellow jersey will be confirmed, and one outstanding candidate may well have stepped forward or strengthened their position as the king of this mountainous Tour.  Extending to more than 200 kilometres, this will be a long day in the saddle.

1. Nairo Quintana [Colombia] Movistar:   34.15
2. Romain Bardet [France] AG2R La Mondiale 01.35
3. Alexey Lutsenko [Kaz] Astana Pro Team   02.28

17^th: :  Richie Porte [Australia]  Trek Segafredo     00.05.18

Nairo Quintana [Movistar] claimed victory on stage 18 of the Tour de France after he soloed clear of the day’s early break on the Col du Galibier, but not for the first time on this race, the day’s drama centred on Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep), who retained his yellow jersey following a breathless descent into Valloire.  Alaphilippe was distanced by his direct rivals near the summit of the Galibier, but he scrambled down the other side to recoup his 20-second deficit and keep a hold of the maillot jaune. Just two days from Paris, Alaphilippe remains on course for a most improbable overall victory, though Egan Bernal (Ineos) reaffirmed his credentials on the first of three consecutive Alpine stages by gaining more than half a minute on the yellow jersey to move up to second place overall

Overall classification after 18 stages [no change in leaders from yesterday].

1. Julian Alaphilippe [France] Deceuninck – Quickstep     18.49
2. Egan Bernal [Colmbia] Team Eneos                                              01.30
3. Geraint Thomas [Great Britain] Team Ineos 01.35

11^th:  Richie Porte [Australia]  Trek Segafredo                                       0.06.30

 

Stage Nineteen : 26 July  Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne – Tignes [126.5 kms]  Mountain

This is the first of two consecutive stages of around the same shortish length with a finish located well above 2,000 metres. Both are likely to see the main action kick off very early and, as a consequence, the riders in the gruppetto will be hard pushed to finish inside the time limit on each of these days.

Stage results nullified, times for GC taken atop Col de l’Iseran:

1. Egan Bernal [Colombia] Team Eneos
2. Simon Yates [Great Britain] Mitchelton- Scott
3. Warren Barguil [France] Arkea Samsic

11^th: :  Richie Porte [Australia]  Trek Segafredo

The Tour de France was rocked by a freak hailstorm that cut short Styage 19 and produced one of the most dramatic days in its history..  Egan Bernal (Team Ineos) was the big winner during a shortened stage 19 of the Tour de FRance .  Although the jury ruled there would be no official stage winner, Bernal took the yellow jersey after the race was cancelled on the descent of the Col d’Iseran. Hail and ice in Tignes, as well as a landslide blocking the road   between Val d’Isère and Tignes, made the final kilometres of the stage impossible to pass by bike. The Colombian had attacked midway up the Iseran, launching after teammate Geraint Thomas  put yellow jersey Julian Alaphilippi  (Deceuninck-QuickStep) into major trouble on the 2770-metre mountain. Bernal caught and passed the remains of the break in the final kilometres of the climb, gaining a minute on Thomas, Steven Krujswijk (Jumbo-Visma) and Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), and two minutes on Alaphilippe.  Amid a shroud of confusion, general classification times were taken at the summit of the Iseran, meaning Bernal takes over the race lead, with Alaphilippe set to lose over two minutes to the 22-year-old.  The chaos marked the end of a frantic stage of racing, officially 126.5km long but cut to 88.5km due to the weather. Almost forgotten amidst the stage cancellation chaos was Groupama-FDJ leader Thibaut Pinot’s abandon. The Frenchman, who lay fifth overall at the start of the day, left the race after suffering through the opening 40km with what turned out to be a torn thigh muscle.

Overall classification after 19 stages

1. Egan Bernal [Colombia] Team Eneos                                           00.42
2. Julian Alaphilippe [France] Deceuninck – Quickstep       00.48
3. Geraint Thomas [Great Britain] Team Ineos 01.16

10^th:  Richie Porte [Australia]  Trek Segafredo                                      0.06.28

 

 Stage Twenty : 27 July   Albertville-Val Thorens [130 kms]  Mountain

The final mountain stage begins to climb the stunning Cormet de Roselend soon after getting under way in Albertville. After dropping into Bourg-Saint-Maurice, the route veers away from the main road to cross the second-category Côte de Longefoy to reach Moûtiers and the start of the interminable ascent to the finish.

1. Vincenzo Nibsli [Italy] Bahrain Menda.. 51.53
2. Alejandro Valverde [Spain] Movistar Team 00.10
3. Mikal Landa [Spain] Movistar Team           00.14
4. Egan Bernal [Colmbia] Team Eneos               00.17

First Australian in today was Luke Durbridge [Mitchelton-Scott]   0.8.27

Egan Bernal [Team Ineos], is one stage away from sealing the overall victory at the Tour de France,  crossing the stage 20 finish line at Val Thorens hand-in-hand with teammate and reigning champion Geraint Thomas as the pair finished safely among the lead group on the shortened stage 20.  Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) took the stage win as the last man standing from the early break, holding off the peloton and redeeming what has been a tough campaign for the 2014 Tour champion. Movistar duo Alejandro Valverde and Mikel Landa launched late bids for victory, but had to settle for second and third, 10 and 14 seconds down.  Bernal and Thomas rolled in three seconds after Landa, while Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) moved up into third overall after former race leader Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) was dropped 13km from the finish of the micro-stag

Overall classification after 20 stages [one to go]

1. Egan Bernal [Colombia] Team Eneos                                           52.52
2. Geraint Thomas [Great Britain] Team Ineos 01.11
3. Steven Kiuijswijki [Nederlands] Team Jumbo Visma                  01.31
4. Emanuel Buchman [Germany] Bora- Hansgrohe                        01.56
5. Julian Alaphilippe [France] Deceuninck – Quickstep       03.45

11^th:  Richie Porte [Australia]  Trek Segafredo                                      0.12.05

 

Stage Twenty-One : 28 July   To the Champs-Elysees [126kms]  Flat

Finally, the climbs are almost over and the Eiffel Tower and Paris’ other celebrated landmarks will soon be visible on the skyline. The Tour’s final stage has long been a victory parade, with the yellow jersey and his teammates toasting each other with champagne and then leading the race onto the Champs-Élysées for several laps of fast and furious racing, concluding with arguably the most prestigious bunch sprint of the season and well-deserved laps of honour.

And the result:  Egan Bernal [Team Ineos] sealed overall victory at the 2019 Tour de France  finishing safely in the peloton on the Champs-Élysées.

Caleb Ewan [Lotto Soudal] won the final sprint, beating Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) and Niccolo Bonifazio (Total Direct Energie) with a perfectly executed late surge on the most prestigious sprint finish in cycling. Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) finished tenth in the sprint but had already mathematically won a record-breaking seventh green points jersey.  “I can’t believe I just won on the Champs Elysees,” Ewan said.  “When we rolled onto the Champs Elysees, I almost had tears in my eyes, it was such a surreal feeling. I can’t believe I just won the stage.”   ……….It was Ewan’s third win in what was his debut at the Tour de France.  “The Tour de France started off quite slow for me. It was like I could never get there. But the second half has been unbelievable, I’ve won every sprint in the second half,” he said, explaining how he came from behind.  “The sprint was quite messy and we were quite far back but I was patient and waited. I didn’t know how many guys were in front of me and so I waited and then ran at the three guys across the road. I went down the right, most sprinters I’ve talked to, said don’t go down the right because its bumpy. But luckily I had the speed to come through in the end.”

Meanwhile, for the overall winner –  The 21st and final stage of the 2019 Tour de France covered 128km from Rambouillet to the iconic finishing circuits on the Champs-Élysées in Paris – a mostly celebratory ride to close out the race that celebrated the 100th anniversary of the race leader’s yellow jersey.  Bernal was greeted outside the Team Ineos bus in Rambouillet by a huge crowd of supporters waving Colombian flags and cheering for the 22-year-old. He took the start line wearing the yellow jersey, happy to ride alongside his teammates into Paris, where he would be officially crowned the overall winner of the Tour de France.  In the early part of the stage, riders were seen congratulating one another on finishing off a very tough and unpredictable three weeks of racing.  Bernal wore his yellow kit and rode a custom yellow Pinarello team bike surrounded by his teammates. He was also given a customary glass of champagne from the Team Ineos car, as were all of his teammates, as the toasted to their first and second place finishes in the overall classification and the team’s seventh Tour de France victory.  Bernal hit the finish line alongside 2018 Tour de France winner and runner up this year Geraint Thomas. The two pointed at each other in celebration as they passed the crown of Tour de France winner. They were joined by third placed Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma). Thomas finished 1:11 down on Bernal, with Thomas at 1:31.  Bernal again struggled to believe what he had achieved, almost crying on the podium.  “Wow. It’s incredible. It doesn’t seem true. I’ve won the Tour de France but I’m struggling to understand it all. I’ll need some days to realise what has happened,” he said.  “I saw my family after the finish and we celebrated together. It’s all incredible.”  “It’s the first Tour win for a Colombian and so everyone is so happy. I’m very proud to be the first Colombian to win the Tour. Now I want to go home, celebrate with my family and take it all in,” Bernal said.

 Stage 21 result

1. Caleb Ewan [Australia] Lotto Soudal] 04.08
2. Dylan Groenewegan [Nederlands]; Team Jumbo Visma
3. Niccolo Bonafazio [Italy] Total Direct Energie

Final Overall classification after 21 stages in 2019 Tour de France  [Yellow Jersey]

[top 10 positions, followed by Australians remaining in the event at the end]

1. Egan Bernal [Colombia] Team Eneos                                57.00
2. Geraint Thomas [Great Britain – Wales] Team Ineos 01.11
3. Steven Kiuijswijki [Nederlands] Team Jumbo Visma      01.31
4. Emanuel Buchman [Germany] Bora- Hansgrohe            01.56
5. Julian Alaphilippe [France] Deceuninck – Quickstep       04.05
6. Mikel Landa [Spain] Movistar Team                                  04.23
7. Rigoberto Uran [Colombia] EF Education First                 05.15
8. Nairo Quintana [Colombia] 05.30
9. AleJandro Valverde [Spain] Movistar Team 06.12
10. Warren Barguil [France] Arkea Fransic                           0-07.32
11. Richie Porte [Australia] Trek Segafredo                              12.42

Other Australians to finish

38. Jack Haig [Mitchelton-Scott] 1.36.59
39. Simon Clarke [EF Education First] 2.11.43
40. Michael Matthews [Team Sunweb] 2.16.34
41. Luke Durbridge [Mitchelton-Scott] 3.15.36
42. Caleb Ewan [Lotto Soudal] 3.54.34
43. Michael Hepburn [Mitchelton-Scott] 4.07.32

Final Team Result

1. Movistar Team 58.15
2. Trek Segafredo          47.54
3. Team Ineos 57.52
4. EF Education First 25.57

 Points Classification [Green Jersey]

1. Peter Sagan [SVK] Bora Hansgrohe                    316 pts
2. Caleb Ewan [Australia]                                     248 pts
3. Elia Viviani [Italy] Deceuninck-Quickstep 224 pts
4. Sonny Colbrelli [Italy] Bahrain –Merida            209 pts
5. Michael Matthews [Australia] Team Sunweb 201 pts

   Mountain Classification [King of the Mountains: Polka Dot Jersey]   

1. Romain Bardet [France] AG2R La Mondiale   86 pts      
2. Egan Bernal [Colombia] Team Eneos                    78 pts
3. Tim Wellens [Belgium] Lotto Soudal                     75 pts                                      

Young Rider Classification [White Jersey]

1. Egan Bernal [Colombia] Team Eneos             57.00
2. David Gaudu [France] Groupama FDJ 23.58
3. Enric Mas [Spain] Deceuninck-Quickstep 58.20
4. Caleb Ewan [Australia] Lotto Soudal                3.54.34

Combativity Classification

1. Julian Alaphilippe [France] Deceuninck – Quickstep

From news.com report regarding Caleb Ewan [Australia]

Aussie freak Caleb Ewan has cemented his reputation as the fastest man in the world after saving his best for last in the frantic sprint to the finish on the iconic on the Champs-Elysees on Monday morning.  Ewan is again the toast of the cycling world after finding a way to hit the line first despite being crunched deep in the pack while winding through the Paris streets, just a few hundred metres from the finish line of the final stage of the event.  Ewan’s stunning dart to the line handed him his third stage win and marked him as a man to be feared when the peloton returns to France in 12 months.    The Australian burst through on the right side of the cobbled avenue, hugging the fence, to beat Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen and Italian Niccolo Bonifazio, despite only being able to get a late launch.  “It’s unbelievable,” Ewan said.  “When we rolled onto the Champs-Elysees, to be honest I almost had tears in my eyes when I rolled through there. “It’s such a surreal feeling and I can’t believe I just won the stage.”  The stage victory was the Australian’s third of his debut tour, putting him second after Peter Sagan in the points classification, and continuing a successful season that includes two stage wins on the Giro d’Italia and two on the Tour of Turkey. “The Tour de France started off quite slow for me. It was like I could never get there. But the second half has been unbelievable, I’ve won every sprint in the second half,” Ewan said.  “The sprint (on the final stage) was quite messy and we were quite far back but I was patient and waited. I didn’t know how many guys were in front of me and so I waited and then ran at the three guys across the road.  “I went down the right, most sprinters I’ve talked to said don’t go down the right because its bumpy. But luckily I had the speed to come through in the end.”

It was just 12 months ago that Aussie team Mitchelton-Scott GreenEDGE dramatically left Ewan off their team for the Tour, resulting in the rising star’s move to Lotto Soudal.  After not being able to get a start on the 2018 Tour, Ewan’s debut has been worth the wait.  The 25-year-old seems certain to be jostling for stage wins for many years to come.  Even sprinting legend Mark Cavendish was left in awe of the Aussie on Monday.

Meanwhile, Australia’s best result in the overall classification was Richie Porte.

From AAP: ‘Long touted as a potential Tour de France winner during a luckless career, Australia’s Richie Porte finished 11^th  overall, 12 mins 42 sec behind winner Egan Bernal of Colombia”.  Porte had hoped for an even better outcome this year after two disastrous events in 2017 and 2018. He had remained in 10^th position for a number of days, his best position from Stage 15,  but dropped back in time and position over the concluding stages………Porte was philosophical, while disappointed,  after the event, stating that he had hoped for a better outcome……Halfway through the event,   “Keep on keeping on,” was the message from Richie Porte as he crept into the top 10 at the Tour de France. The enforced withdrawal of Jakob Fuglsang during the 177km 16^th stage to Nimes continued the Tasmanian’s gradual progression up the standings. Since stage 10, his overall position climbed from 20^th to 19^th, 15^th, 12^th, 11^th and then  10^th, with his best result a fifth place in the individual time trial around Pau.

And from the ‘Examiner’ Tasmanian Cycling News –  “Richie Porte took little consolation from recording his second-best Tour de France finish.  The Launceston 34-year-old slipped out of the top 10 on a “terrible” penultimate stage in the Alps to finish 11^th overall, bettered only in his nine Tours by fifth place in 2016.   Porte finished 19^th and 23^rd in 2013 and ’14 respectively but had failed to finish the last two Tours.  “I didn’t come here to come 11th, that’s no secret, but I think I fought with everything we had and we didn’t have great luck but we had a great team here, a good atmosphere and the three weeks went really fast,” he said.  “It’s been three years since I made it to Paris so bit of a miracle to get here and it’s been a great three weeks.  “The good for me personally would have been the time trial (fifth place), the bad probably the Tourmalet and the ugly was stage 20 (38^th place) – I had a terrible day and exploded – but otherwise I think there was probably more good than bad.”   Porte was the team leader for Trek-Segafredo which finished second in the teams classification but director Steven de Jongh was not mincing his words.  “With Richie, we wanted to be top 5,” he said. “That was the expectation, but we also must not forget that Richie finished his last Grand Tour in 2016, and after that, he always crashed out.   “Coming back and finishing in 11th was not what we expected he’d do, and he’s also disappointed in that, but in the end, at least he finished the Tour again. Now he knows again what it is and what he needs to do to be up there and I think that will help him in future Grand Tours.”

 

The Vitality Netball World Cup 2019 took place over 20 thrilling sessions of netball from 12-21 July 2019. The 2019 Netball World Cup was the 15th staging of the premier competition in international netball, contested every four years. The tournament was held from 12–21 July 2019 at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England.  Once again, this asrticle is constructed from the perspective of an Australian supporter!

All matches at the event were held at the M&S Bank Arena (known for non-commercial purposes as Liverpool Arena), which has a seating capacity of 11,000. The venue was the centre-piece of the ACC Liverpool sporting and events precinct, which allowed the event’s other amenities, such as warm-up and administration facilities, to take place within the one location. Sixteen teams contested the 2019 tournament Five teams automatically qualified by virtue of their high ranking position in the INF World Rankings, and England qualified as the host nation. The remaining ten teams qualified via regional qualification tournaments, with two teams selected from each of the five international netball regions; Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania. The five teams (six if England is included) to be granted automatic qualification, in order of seeding were

Automatic:  Australia, England [host nation], New Zealand, Jamaica, South Africa, and Malawi

Qualified:  Scotland; Northern Ireland; Fiji; Samoa; Uganda; Zimbabwe; Trinidad & Tobago; Barbados;  Sri Lanka; and Singapore

The Australian squad  for the competition was:

Caitlin Bassett(captain), April Brandley, Kelsey Browne, Courtney Bruce, Paige Hadley, Sarah Klau, Jamie-Lee Price, Caitlin Thwaites, Gretel Tippett, Liz Watson (vice-captain), Jo Weston, Steph Wood.

A new format was introduced for the tournament. Teams  competed in three stages; the Preliminaries Stage One (12-14 July), Preliminaries Stage Two (15-18 July) and the Play-offs and Placings matches (19-21 July).

Preliminaries Stage One
There were four groups (A, B, C and D) of four teams in the first stage, with the top eight teams pre-assigned to their groups and one team from the 9th-12th seeds and one from the 13th-16th seeds drawn randomly into each group. However no more than two teams from the one region could be drawn into the same group. The top three teams from each group progressed to the second preliminaries stage.

 Preliminaries Stage Two
The top three teams from Groups A and B formed group F, and the top three teams from groups C and D  formed group G. The bottom four finishers from groups A-D competed against one another in group E. Where teams in groups F and G had already played each other in the Preliminaries Stage One (i.e. A1 has already played A2 and A3), those results carried through to the Preliminaries Stage Two.

 Play-offs and Placings
The teams finishing first and second in groups F and G went through to the semi-finals, with the top placed team in each group facing the second placed team in the other group. The winners of each semi-final competed for gold in the final, with the losers played for bronze.

The teams finishing third and fourth in groups F and G will competed for final positions fifth to eighth – third in one group played fourth in the other – with the winners playing off for fifth place and the losers for seventh. The teams that finished fifth in groups F and G played off for ninth and 10th places. The teams that finished last in groups F and G played off for 11th and 12th places. The teams that finish first and second in group E played-off for 13th and 14th place and the teams that finished third and fourth in group E played-off for the 15th and 16th places.  This writer was still confused about all that when the final games were being played!!!

Australia’s Netball World Cup campaign kicked into gear on the Friday night with the team still haunted by their Commonwealth Games nightmare. Australia’s quest for Commonwealth Games redemption at the 2019 Netball World Cup began this night.   Coach Lisa Alexander’s team were hoping to win the prestigious tournament for a fourth-consecutive time — and this year had the added motivation of revenging their loss to England at last year’s Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

Australia Ranking: 1  Nickname: The Diamonds……….World Cup wins: 11 (1963, 1971, 1975, 1979, 1983, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2007,2011, 2015)………….World Cup final appearances: 14…………The dominant team in the world game were the team to beat in Liverpool as they looked  for an astonishing 12th world title in 55 years. Although the squad contained nine World Cup rookies, they boasted some of the sport’s outstanding players in mid-courter Liz Watson and goal shooters Caitlin Bassett and Gretel Tippet.

Preliminaries Stage One results

 Group A: Australia, Northern Ireland, Zimbabwe & Sri Lanka

12 July: Australia defeated  Northern Ireland [7.30pm AEST 9 Gem]….88-24

              Zimbabwe defeated  Sri Lanka……79-49

13 July: Australia defeated Zimbabwe [5.45pm  AEST 9 Gem]…73-37

Northern Ireland  defeated  Sri Lanka…  67-50

14 July:  Australia  defeated  Sri Lanka  [11.45pm AEST, Chan 9]….99-24

Zimbabwe defeated Northern Ireland…51-49

 Group B:  New Zealand, Malawi, Barbados,& Singapore

12 July:  New Zealand defeated Malawi…65-45

Singapore defeated Barbados…69-34

13 July:   New Zealand  defeated  Barbados…78-25

Malawi defeated  Singapore…87-38

14 July:  New Zealand  defeated  Singapore…….90-21

Malawi  defeated  Barbados….66-41

Group C:  Jamaica, South Africa, Trinidad & Tobago, & Fiji

12 July:  Jamaica defeated  Fiji…85-29

South Africa defeated Trinidad & Tobago…76-45

13 July:   Jamaica defeated Trinidad & Tobago…68-43

South Africa defeated  Fiji… 90-35

14 July:  South Africa defeated Jamaica…55-52

Trinidad & Tobago defeated  Fiji…..67-56

Group D; England, Uganda, Scotland & Samoa

12 July:  England defeated Uganda…64-32

 Scotland defeated Samoa…53-35

13 July  England defeated Scotland…70-33

Uganda defeated  Samoa…69-48

14 July:  England  defeated Samoa…94-24

Uganda defeated Scotland..,.52-43

 Preliminaries StageTwo results

After Stage One, the following groups have resulted for Stage Two Preliminary matches. If teams have already played each other, the results of the earlier match are carried forward, eg, Australia vs Northern Ireland & Zimbabwe in Group F.

Group E: Sri Lanka, Singapore, Fiji, Samoa,

Group F: Zimbabwe, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Malawi, Australia, Barbados,

Group G:  Jamaica, England, Trinidad & Tobago, Uganda, South Africa, Scotland

15^th July – 16^th July:

Group F: New Zealand defeated Zimbabwe…79-36

Malawi defeated Northern Ireland…47-43

Australia defeated  Barbados [8pm]…91-22

Group E: Sri Lanka defeated Singapore…88-50

Group G: England defeated Jamaica…56-48

Group E: Samoa defeated Fiji…56-54

Group G: Uganda defeated Trinidad & Tobago…57-54

Group G: South Africa defeated  Scotland…66-38

16^th July:   -17^th  July

Group E: Fiji defeated Singapore…71-56

Group E: Samoa defeated Sri Lanka …65-55

Group F: New Zealand defeated Northern Ireland …77-28

Group F: Australia defeated  Malawi  [2am]…74-25

Group F: Zimbabwe defeated Barbados…66-41

17^th July – 18^th July

Group E: Fiji defeated Sri Lanka… 59-44

Group E: Samoa defeated Singapore…63-49

Group G: England defeated Trinidad & Tobago…72-46

Group G: Jamaica defeated  Scotland…67-36

Group G: South Africa defeated Uganda…67-40

18^th July – 19^th July

Group F: Northern Ireland defeated  Barbados…46-43

Group F: Australia defeated  New Zealand [7.30pm]…50-49

Group F: Malawi defeated Zimbabwe…59-43

Group G: Trinidad & Tobago drew with Scotland…43-43

Group G: Jamaica defeated Uganda…61-48

Group G: England defeated South Africa…58-47

Australia survived its sternest test at the Netball World Cup, holding out a hard-charging New Zealand to win a thriller 50-49 in Liverpool. Even though little was at stake, the trans-Tasman rivals fought out easily the best game of a tournament that has been dominated by one-sided fixtures through the first week. Both teams were guaranteed a place in Saturday’s semi-finals yet they played with intensity throughout, particularly in the final quarter when New Zealand gobbled into a lead that was as big as nine goals midway through the third quarter. With the scores locked 49-49 in the final minute, captain Caitlin Bassett sunk a goal to hand Australia the advantage.  New Zealand’s Maria Folau had a chance to level with a shot five seconds from the end but missed, handing the Diamonds a 12th win from their past 13 meetings.  “We all know how accurate Maria is from range,” Diamonds defender Courtney Bruce said. “I was just trying to my hardest to annoy her and get over her shot and really get in her head.”  The result means Australia’s semi-final will be against South Africa after it lost its final group game to England 58-47.

19^th July – 21st July

 For 5^th to 8^th position

Jamaica defeated Zimbabwe …77-47

Malawi defeated  Uganda ..55-44

Uganda defeated Zimbabwe…58-47

Jamaica defeated Malawi…68-50

For 9^th to 12^th position

Scotland defeated Barbados… 53-42

Northern Ireland vs Trinidad & Tobago

For 13^th – 16^th Position

Samoa defeated Fiji…53-42

Sri  Lanka defeated Singapore…78-57

Semi Final 1:

New Zealand defeated England…47-45

New Zealand have booked a place in the Netball World Cup final with Australia after edging hosts England 47-45 in a dramatic last four clash 47-45 in Liverpool. Tracey Neville’s team clawed back from a nightmare start to lead 24-21 at halftime on Saturday but a disastrous third quarter gave the Silver Ferns a three-point lead going into the last. The deficit proved too tough to breach for an England team who must now somehow recover for Sunday’s third-place playoff against South Africa. The warning signs were there early on as Maria Folau gave New Zealand a 5-0 lead inside the first four minutes.

Semi Final 2

Australia defeated South Africa…55-53

Alexander made five changes to the side that edged out the Silver Ferns on Friday with skipper Caitlin Bassett and Steph Wood dropped to the bench as Caitlin Thwaites and Gretel Tippett filled the goal shooter and goal attack roles. South Africa started strongly in a keenly-contested opening quarter, as both sides turned the ball over regularly in the opening exchanges. The Proteas were made to pay for missed chances from under the hoop by Lenize Potgieter as the Diamonds scored two quickfire goals to open up a 14-10 lead at the start of the second stanza. The Diamonds slowly started to exert some dominance with Tippett causing South Africa all sorts of problems in the attacking third of the court as they stretched their advantage to 31-23 at halftime. However, Plummer’s message to her players during the interval had the desired effect as the Proteas won the third quarter to close the gap to 43-39 going into the final 15 minutes.

For 3^rd and 4^th position [Bronze Medal]

England defeated South Africa…58-42

England won bronze at the Netball World Cup by beating South Africa 58-42 in their play-off match in Liverpool. Tracey Neville’s side were aiming for gold on home soil but suffered an agonising two-goal defeat by New Zealand in Saturday’s semi-final But the Roses, ranked third in the world, did finish with a medal – comfortably seeing off the Proteas after a cagey opening quarter. England won an unexpected gold at the Commonwealth Games 15 months ago and although they could not match the elation of that moment, the home crowd were still delighted to see the Roses on the podium on the final day. It also gave head coach Neville a positive send-off in her 70th and, as it stands, final match in charge before she steps down to concentrate on starting a family. “When Tracey first came into his job it was a whirlwind, but to see her grow as a world-class international coach has been a pleasure,” said England captain Serena Guthrie. “Today was about sending her off as best we could and we did that. “It’s hard to keep it together when we have got everybody crying at the moment. This has been the best experience.  “We almost feel like we have won a gold medal because of how we have changed the game. These 12 athletes have been up against it from the beginning and I’m so proud of everyone. I’m lost for words.”

 For World Cup Final [Gold Medal]

New Zealand  defeated Australia… 52-51

Australia are suffering heartbreak in Liverpool after losing the Netball World Cup final to New Zealand by a goal. For the first time since 2003, the Silver Ferns beat the Diamonds in the gold-medal match 52-51, with classy defence and better control.  Having lost their last meeting to Australia in the final game of the preliminary rounds, New Zealand overthrew the hosts and favourites England in the semi-final.  This was an impressive feat itself, considering they did not even place at the last Commonwealth Games.  The opening quarter was the sort of tussle we are used to seeing from the trans-Tasman rivals and heading into the first break the score was level, 10-10.  A similar pattern was repeated in the second quarter, with each team shooting one-for-one until the Silver Ferns got on a roll, scoring three consecutive goals in the final minute.  Goal shooter Maria Folau had started slow, but improved during this period, moving from 63 per cent accuracy to 85.  Her shooting partner in goal attack, Ameliaranne Ekenasio, also outsmarted the Diamonds multiple times, drawing both circle defenders away to leave Folau free in open space for the feed.  Unfortunately Australia did not learn from this mistake and it cost them. Even the injection of Sarah Klau at goal keeper in the third quarter could not stop the momentum.  Brimming with confidence and sticking to the dogged defence that helped them reach the big dance, New Zealand continued to test the Aussies, scoring six unanswered goals in this quarter to take a seven-goal lead in the final break.

While the Diamonds fought hard in those last 15 minutes, they could not take back the lead.  Basset scored to make the difference just one in the final minute, but a mixture of penalties meant the Silver Ferns held on to possession.  The experience of their older and more capped players paid dividends in ensuring they held onto concentration in such a big event.  One of them, Casey Kopua, who was awarded player of the match, influenced the game from the back with two intercepts, three gains and an important rebound.  She gets to leave the game a hero, having played her final game in a black and silver dress.  But Australia should be proud of their performance, especially the fight they showed in the fourth quarter to bring the difference back to a single goal.

[Note, comments on matches taken from various netball related websites]

 

 

The 2019 ICC World Cup was the the 12^th instalment of this event, and was held over the period May 30^th – July 14^th and was hosted by England and Wales.  The previous World Cup was shared by Australia and New Zealand as joint hosts.

The format for the tournament was represented by a single group of 10 teams, with each team playing the other nine once, while the top four at the end of the group phase progressed to the semi-finals. The 10 teams, is a decrease from previous World Cups in 2011 and 2015 which featured 14 teams. The 10-team tournament did gain criticism due to the lack of Associate teams in the tournament. Given the increase of the Test-playing nations from 10 to 12, with the admission of Ireland and Afghanistan in June 2017, it was the the first World Cup to be contested without all of the Test playing nations being present [with Zimbabwe and Ireland eliminated in the qualifying tournament], and after the elimination of all the Associate teams in that tournament, it was also the first World Cup to feature no Associate members.

The group stage format was a round-robin, where all ten teams played each other once, in a single group. This meant a total of 45 matches were played, with each team playing a total of nine matches. The top four teams from the group progressed to the knockout stage. A similar format was previously used in the 1992 Cricket World Cup, though that tournament featured nine teams instead of ten.

Australia have won the World Cup on five occasions – in 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2015. The full results of the previous 11 competitions were as follows.

1975:  West Indies 8/291 [60 overs] defeated Australia 274 [58.4 overs] by 17 runs, at Lord’s, London  [Host: England];

1979:  West Indies 9/286 [60 overs] defeated England 194 [51 overs] by 92 runs,  at Lord’s, London [Host: England];

1983:  India 183 [54.4 overs] defeated West Indies 140 [52 overs], by 92 runs, at Lord’s, London [Host: England];

1987: Australia: 5/253 [50 overs] defeated England 8/246 [49.2 overs] by 7 runs, at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, India [Hosts: India & Pakistan];

1992:  Pakistan 6/249 [50 overs] defeated England 227 [49.2 overs] by 22 runs, at M.C.G., Melbourne, Australia [Hosts: Australia & New Zealand];

1996: Sri Lanka 3/245 [46.2 overs] defeated Australia 7/241 [50 overs] by 7 wickets, at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, Pakistan [Hosts: India, Pakistan & Sri Lanka];

1999: Australia 2/133 [20.1 overs] defeated Pakistan 132 [39 overs] by 8 wickets], at Lord’s, London [Hosts: England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland & Netherlands]

2003: Australia 2/359 [50 overs] defeated India 234 [39.2 overs] by 125 runs at Wanderers, Johannesburg, South Africa [Hosts: Kenya, South Africa & Zimbabwe]

2007: Australia: 4/284 [38 overs] defeated Sri Lanka 8/215 [36 overs] by 53 runs, at Kensington Over, Bridgetown [Host: West Indies];

2011: India 4/277 [48.2 overs] defeated Sri Lanka 6/274 [50 overs] by 6 wickets, at Wankhede Stadium Mumbai, India [Hosts: Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka]

2015:  Australia 3/186 [33.1 overs] defeated New Zealand 183 [45 overs] by 7 wickets, at the M.C.G., Melbourne, Australia [Hosts:: Australia & New Zealand]

 Australia’s Cup squad for 2019 of fifteen players was chosen in early May, and will be:-  Aaron Finch [Captain]; Jason Behrendorff; Alex Carey; Nathan Coulter-Nile; Pat Cummins; Usman Khawaja; Nathan Lyon; Shaun Marsh;  Glenn Maxwell; Kane Richardson; Steve Smith; Mitchell Starc; Marcus Stoinis;  David Warner;  Adam Zampa.

The predictions prior to the tournament regarding each team’s likely performance [as briefly noted by columnist,  Jon Pierik] were

Afghanistan:  Could claim a major scalp but bottom-four finish is likely.;  Australia:  No reason Australia can’t make the final;  Bangladesh:  Won’t make the finals.  England: Primed to make the final.  India: Top Four.  New Zealand:  Will miss semi-finals.  Pakistan: In a tussle for a semi-final berth.  South Africa: Semi-finals.  Sri Lanka: Bottom three.  West Indies:  Capable of something special but likely to miss the finals.

On that basis, Jon predicted the final four would be Australia, England, India and South Africa or Pakistan.  Let’s see how he fared!!   In his preview in the ‘Sunday Age’ [Melbourne] on the 26^th May, Jon wrote “The World Cup should be a joyous time for players and supporters, a time to celebrate the bonds that link the ten nations competing in the 12^th edition of the showpiece tournament….Let the games begin”.

And begin they did  –    the results of the 45 preliminary matches to decide the final four teams follow.

 ODI 1: England  8 for 311 [50 overs] defeated South Africa  207 [39.5 overs] by 104 runs;

After South Africa won the toss and elected to field, it ended up a comfortable win for the joint host nation. In particular, a fantastic performance by England in the field, in particular Jason Roy at backward point who must have stopped four or five boundaries with dives.

ODI 2: West Indies  3 for 108 [13.4 overs] defeated Pakistan 105 [21.4 overs] by 7 wkts

West Indies won the Toss and elected to field – and quickly bounced Pakistan for the low score of 105, which the Caribbean team had little trouble in reaching.

ODI 3: New Zealand 0 for 137 [16.1 overs] defeated Sri Lanka 136 [29.2 overs] by 10 wkts

Another convincing win, this time for the Kiwis. New Zealand skipper, Kane Williamson says it’s a great start for them. Mentions that winning the toss and picking early wickets was important on that wicket.

ODI 4: Australia vs Afghanistan

Australia’s first game against Afghanistan [ODI 4] –  suggested the latter is the best placed team in the world to exploit Australia’s weakness against spin, where our batsmen  rank in the bottom half at the World Cup at facing spin. From the batting viewpoint, it was felt that if Australia could score300 runs at the same ground the West Indies made 421 recently, it’s hard to see Afghanistan winning.

Meanwhile, Aussie coach Justin Langer has called for an easing of the booing against returning players, Dave Warner and Steve Smith who in last week’s warm up game were booed by English fans, and faced chants of ‘cheat, cheat, cheat’ – Smith and Warner were banned for 12 month following the ball-tampering incident in South Africa early last year. ‘We have talked about earning respect. I think it is really important that people show some respect as well”.

As former player Andrew Symonds wrote – “Obviously the crowds are going to really give it to them and they have got to be ready for that”  –  in his view ‘the Aussies are primed’  for the tournament. We shall see.    And the result:

ODI 4:  Australia 3 for 209 [34.5 overs] defeated Afghanistan 207 [38.2 overs] by 7 wkts

And from New.com after the game.  On a warm day in Bristol where the picturesque ground playing host to Australia’s World Cup match against Afghanistan was, for the most part, bathed in sunshine, the men in green and gold felt the chill of an icy reception.

Plenty of locals and Afghanistan fans filled out the venue as the cheers of Aussie supporters in the stands barely made a ripple.

Steve Smith and David Warner are expecting to be booed wherever they go in England this summer but it’s doubtful their teammates would have been expecting similar treatment.

Support for the underdog ran deep in the southwest of England as neutral fans jeered Justin Langer’s troops and Afghanis with faces painted and flags in tow made their presence felt.

It was obvious from the opening over Australia has a long way to go to win back the love of the cricket world.

ODI 5:  Bangladesh 6 for 330 [50 overs] defeated South Africa  8 for 309 [50 overs], by 21 runs.

Bangladesh looked inspired as they broke a host of records, posting their highest ODI total (6/330), their best ever World Cup partnership of 142 runs shared by Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan, and Shakib becoming the first Bangladesh player and the fastest cricketer ever to reach 250 wickets and 5,000 runs in ODIs.

South Africa, by the most glaring of contrasts, were outplayed in every department. As South African news site sport24 claimed, “It will go down as one of the Proteas’ darkest days at a World Cup, and it was a performance fitting of that title.”

ODI 6:  Pakistan 8 for 348 [50 overs] defeated England 9 for 334 [50 overs] by 14 runs

England have suffered a shock loss at the hands of Pakistan and it was a case of the match quite literally slipping through their fingers.  After being bundled out for just 105 on Friday, Pakistan bounced back to score a whopping 8 for 348, a figure which England couldn’t chase at Trent Bridge.   And it was a littany of misfields and dropped catches, that came back to bite the host country and tournament favourite.

 ODI 7:  Sri Lanka 201 [36.5 overs/41 overs] defeated Afghanistan 152 [32.4 overs/41 overs] by 34 runs under the DLS Method [rain delays].

Nuwan Pradeep and Lasith Malinga starred as Sri Lanka fought back to crush Afghanistan’s hopes of a World Cup victory on Tuesday night.  Afghanistan, bidding for just their second win in a World Cup match and their first against a Test nation, were in command halfway through a gloomy day in Cardiff after dismissing Sri Lanka for 201.

But faced with a rain-revised target of 187 in 41 overs, their batting let them down again as they were bowled out for 152.

But Sri Lanka’s batting remains a concern. They were set for a huge total against Afghanistan at 144 for one but lost their last nine wickets for 57 runs, with spinner Mohammad Nabi taking three in five balls.  Nabi accounted for opener Lahiru Thirimanne (25), Kusal Mendis (2) and Angelo Mathews (0) one after the other to take 3-2 off the over. “This is one of the most sensational overs in World Cup history,” one of the commentators said.  “It has changed completely this match in the space of six deliveries.”

 ODI 8: India 4 for 230 [47.3 overs] defeated South Africa 9 for 227 [50] by 6 wickets

Opener Rohit Sharma scored a composed unbeaten century as India got their Cricket World Cup campaign off to a solid start with a six-wicket victory over a sloppy South African side at Southampton.

 ODI 9:  New Zealand 8 for 248 [47.1 overs] defeated Bangladesh 244 [49.2 overs] by 2 wickets.

New Zealand nerves jangled  as they beat Bangladesh in thriller … A match that looked pretty humdrum for a long while, and turned into a tension-packed dramafest in the final hou

ODI 10:   AUSTRALIA vs West Indies 

Australia’s batsmen have spent time copping bouncers from their own bowlers in practice as they await a bumper barrage from the West Indies.  Fixed on spin for the past six months after their last 25 competitive matches were against sub-continental teams, the Aussies’ focus has shifted back to facing pace at Trent Bridge.  But the adjustment will have to come fast against a West Indies side threatening to throw things back to Calypso days of the 1980s

ODI 10:   AUSTRALIA 288 [49 overs] defeated West Indies 9 for 273 [50 overs] by 15 runs

Australia recovered from an awful start to beat West Indies by 15 runs in a wonderful World Cup encounter at Trent Bridge.  A day where fortunes fluctuated throughout could have been over quickly when the ferocious West Indies pace attack reduced the defending champions to 38-4 and 79-5.

Australia were held together by the unflappable Steve Smith, who made 73 and was only dismissed by the most incredible boundary catch by Sheldon Cottrell, one that perhaps bettered the grab of England’s Ben Stokes in the opening game against South Africa.  By the time Smith was out, Nathan Coulter-Nile, batting at number eight, had already begun his power hitting in a 60-ball 92 that lifted Australia to 288 all out.

After Chris Gayle threatened to thrill in his 21, West Indies were anchored by Shai Hope’s 68. The chase was ultimately left to captain Jason Holder, but both he and Carlos Brathwaite fell in the same over from Mitchell Starc, whose 5-46 helped restrict the Windies to 273-9.  Australia join New Zealand on two wins from two matches and move on to play India on Sunday.  West Indies, with one win and one defeat, take on South Africa on Monday.

ODI 11:   Pakistan drew Sri Lanka 

This match was completely washed out, and the game abandoned.

ODI 12:   England 6 for 386 [50 overs] defeated Bangladesh 280 [48.5 overs] by 106 runs  

After their loss to Pakistan, they needed to come out today and give Bangladesh a hiding and that’s what they have done. The visitors did commendably, Shakib’s wonderful 121 in 119 the backbone of their resistance. But chasing 387, they were out of the contest by the end of Archer’s first spell. Meanwhile, Jason Roy top-scored with 153 as England gained revenge for their 2015 World Cup defeat to Bangladesh.

ODI 13:  New Zealand 3 for 173 [32.1 overs] defeated Afghanistan 172 [41.1 overs] by 7 wkts

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson led from the front in the 173-run chase against Afghanistan. The batsman scored a half century and ensured his side do not make a mess of the chase despite a poor start that saw Martin Guptill getting dismissed on the first ball. Kane remained unbeaten on 79 as the Kiwis won by 7 wickets with almost 18 overs to spare.

 ODI 14:  India 5 for 352 [50 overs] defeated Australia 316 [50 overs] by 36 runs

Preview:  From Fox Sport:   We are only two matches into the World Cup but Australia’s selectors already have a big call to make on the future involvement of Usman Khawaja.  The left-hander is the only member of Australia’s top four to not make a half-century at the tournament after being dispatched for scores of 15 and 13 against Afghanistan and the West Indies respectively.  And while two low scores isn’t usually enough to hit the panic button – especially for someone who has averaged 53.13 in ODIs this year – it’s the nature of his latest dismissal causing concern. After being struck by a bouncer in a warm-up match against the West Indies, the short-ball was perceived to be his weakness and the Caribbean outfit went after it relentlessly on Thursday.

And they were successful, striking Khawaja multiple times which was enough to visibly disturb the batsman who was guilty of a piece of premeditation that led to his downfall.

He backed away from his stumps anticipating another bouncer before Andre Russell delivered a full ball. Khawaja was out of position and flashed his hands at it which led to him edging to the keeper.

Meanwhile, from the Cricket World Cup site  –  Australia’s famed never-say-die spirit once again came to the fore, when they staged a remarkable comeback against West Indies at Trent Bridge on Thursday. Now, Australia once again meet the opposition against whom they began their remarkable ODI turnaround earlier this year – India.. Their opponents, are riding their own wave of confidence, having announced themselves with a convincing victory against South Africa on Wednesday. The spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, who wiped out half the South African line-up between them, might once again be a decisive factor. While Rohit Sharma seemed back in touch with his gritty century, KL Rahul’s resistance during a tough period of play must be heartening for team management.

Australia have suffered just their fourth World Cup loss in 20 years and been handed a reality check by India in the form of a 36-run defeat at The Oval.

Asked to complete a record chase after a century from Shikhar Dhawan exposed their lack of bowling depth in India’s 5-352 on Sunday, Australia were all out for 316 in reply.

Aiming to continue their undefeated start to the tournament, the world champions let the asking rate get to above 11 with 15 overs to go before upping the ante. But when Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis soon fell within seven balls of each other, any hopes of an Australian victory went with them.

 ODI 15: South Africa 2-92 [7.3 overs]  drew  versus West Indies [dnb]

South Africa’s chances of qualifying for the World Cup semi-finals were dented when their match against West Indies was rained off.

The Proteas, who lost their first three games, reached 29-2 in the 7.3 overs possible in Southampton.

They collected their first World Cup point but face a struggle to finish in the top four in the group stage.

“We are in a bad position but it’s our own fault,” said South Africa captain Faf du Plessis.

“We haven’t played our best cricket so far and we need a solid performance to get the team’s confidence up.”

 ODI 16: Bangladesh drew Sri Lanka

Match delayed due to rain.  Match subsequently abandoned no result, points shared between the two teams.

 ODI 17:  Australia 307 [49 overs] defeated  Pakistan 266 [45.4 overs] by 41 runs

David Warner hit his first ODI century since being banned for a year, and Australia’s bowlers held their nerve to win a memorable, seesawing match at Taunton. Australia has survived an almighty scare from Pakistan to put its World Cup campaign back on track..  Australia took the major gamble of not picking a specialist spinner in Taunton and almost paid the ultimate price as the majority of its bowlers were put to the sword by Pakistan’s batsmen.

Only Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Coulter-Nile were hit for less than a run-a-ball as Australia’s part-time bowlers, plus Kane Richardson, struggled to defend 307.

Pakistan needed just 44 runs off 34 balls with three wickets remaining until yet another clutch, late over from Mitchell Starc sealed the win in the 45th over. He took 2-3 in the over and Pakistan was bowled out four balls later, falling 41 runs short.

 ODI 18: India vs New Zealand

Match abandoned no result due to weather. This was the 4^th match of the tournament to be abandoned because of poor weather – in each instance, the two teams are awarded 1 point, which in some cases, can be a definite advantage.

ODI 19:  England: 2 for 213 [ 33.1 overs] defeated West Indies: 212 [44.4 overs] by 8 wkts

The sun appeared after a week of gloom and shined on England, giving the World Cup hosts perfect batting conditions to chase down a meagre West Indies target and clinch an eight-wicket win with almost 17 overs to spare on Friday.

Joe Root was able to get on the front foot to nullify any threat of an expected barrage from the West Indies pace attack and scored an unbeaten century to guide England to 213-2 in reply to 212.

 ODI 20:  South Africa: 1 for 131 [28.4 of 48 overs] defeated Afghanistan: 125 [34.1 of 48 overs] by 9 wkts [DLS method]

South Africa kept alive their slim hopes of reaching the World Cup semi-finals, crushing Afghanistan by nine wickets on Saturday to record their first victory at the tournament.  Faf du Plessis’s side endured a torrid start to their campaign, losing their first three matches before a no result against the West Indies.  But the outcome never looked in doubt in Cardiff, with man-of-the-match Imran Tahir taking four wickets as South Africa bundled out their opponents for a meagre 125 after two rain delays cut the match to 48 overs per side

 ODI 21:  Australia:  7 for 334 [50 overs] defeated Sri Lanka: 247 [45.5 overs] by 87 runs.

A glorious innings by Aaron Finch  and a rampaging Mitchell Starc have taken Australia to the top of the World Cup table and already within touching distance of the semi-finals.  Australia suffered scares against the West Indies and Pakistan and were beaten by India, but against Sri Lanka at the Oval, it was back to business for the men in green and gold.

After being sent in to bat, Finch plundered the third highest score in Australia’s World Cup history – 153 runs off 132 balls – leading his men to their highest score of the tournament so far, 7-334. The formidable total was comfortably defended by 87 runs, courtesy of Mitchell Starc’s 4-55 that made him Australia’s joint second-highest World Cup wicket-taker.

Australia is the first team at this year’s tournament to four wins, and will no doubt fancy its chances of a fifth against Bangladesh on Thursday night.

ODI 22:  India: 5 for 336 [50 overs] defeated Pakistan:  6 for 212 [40 overs – target 302] by 89 runs [DLS Method]

The English weather has been a most unwelcome guest at this Cricket World Cup. But try as it might – and there were downpours and drizzle, as well as mist and mizzle at Old Trafford – it was unable to stop India emphatically proving their superiority over Pakistan in a match loudly billed as the most watched cricket game in history.

As India finally confirmed their victory by 89 runs by the Byzantine Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method in the early evening gloom, one fan was beaming more than most. “I’ve paid the equivalent of £4,000 to come to England for a week for this one match, so I am so thankful the rain didn’t ruin it,” said Tarum Babhala, a furniture seller from Delhi. “This is more important than winning the World Cup final, because India versus Pakistan is such an epic rivalry.

 ODI 23: Bangladesh: 3 for 322 [41.3 overs] defeated West Indies: 8 for 321 [50 overs] by 7 wickets.

Both Aussie openers, an Indian star, the English captain… a Bangladeshi all-rounder?!

There’s an odd man out in the top five run-scorers at the World Cup, and he leads all comers at the halfway point of the tournament. Shakib Al Hasan hit the top of the leader board in blistering fashion overnight, plundering 124* off just 99 deliveries to lead Bangladesh to the second-highest successful run chase in World Cup history – knocking off 321 with a ridiculous 51 balls to spare.  He’s now amassed 384 runs in just four innings at cricket’s biggest tournament, 41 runs clear of Aussie skipper Aaron Finch at the top of the charts – despite Finch having played one extra innings. The Bangladeshi phenom also has 5 wickets – sitting equal 16th overall.

ODI 24:  England: 6 for 397 [50 overs] defeated Afghanistan: 8 for 247 [50 overs] by 150 runs.

Rashid Khan arrived at the World Cup as one of the most dangerous bowlers in the world. He will now leave with an ugly stain on his record. Rashid Khan arrived at the World Cup near the top of the list of most dangerous bowlers in limited-overs cricket. He’ll leave with a mark near the top of the list for most runs ever conceded in one ODI innings.

The 20-year-old spinner had a concussion in a loss to 2015 finalist New Zealand and wasn’t allowed to bowl in the next innings.  He had a headache of a different kind against England on Tuesday when he was plundered for a World Cup-record 110 runs from his nine-over spell.

The return ranks him second on the list of worst figures ever in a one-day international game, behind only Mick Lewis’ 0-113from 10 overs when South Africa chased down 435 to beat his Australian team at Johannesburg in 2006.

Rashid went for 22 in one over at Old Trafford as England captain Eoin Morgan repeatedly launched his deliveries out of the ground.

ODI 25:  New Zealand:  6 for 245 [48.3/49 overs] defeated South Africa: 6 for 241 [49/49 overs]

Kane Williamson hit a six in the last over to reach his century and followed it up with a boundary to give New Zealand a four-wicket victory over South Africa with three balls to spare Wednesday, in the closest finish of the Cricket World Cup so far. New Zealand went into the last over at 234-6 and chasing 242 for victory. Andile Phehlukwayo’s first ball was sent for a single by Mitchell Santner, sensibly giving Williamson the strike, and the New Zealand captain immediately took his chance with a powerful six. Williamson finished 106 not out off 138 balls as New Zealand reached 245-6 in a match reduced to 49 overs each innings.  In doing so the Black Caps’ captain to all intents knocked out South Africa and dented Bangladesh’s chances of breaking the top four. With England second and fourth-placed India having a game in hand, Mashrafe Mortaza’s side must beat third-placed Australia in Nottingham on Thursday and hope further upsets can truly re-open the race for the chasing pack

 ODI 26:  Australia: 5 for 381 [in 50 overs] defeated  Bangladesh: 8 for 333 [in 50 overs] by 48 runs.

Australia has all but qualified for the World Cup semi-finals off the back of another century from David Warner [166],  and an improved showing from under-fire Usman Khawaja. A 48-run win against Bangladesh at Trent Bridge was important in relieving any pressure on the Australians, who have the toughest end to the group stage with matches against England, South Africa and New Zealand. A loss against Bangladesh would have given the Tigers a chance of upsetting the top four and left Australia sweating over the result of its next three matches. Now Australia can breathe easy — it has a two-game buffer from fifth and can realistically lose all three of its remaining games and still go through.

That’s largely thanks to Warner who shot to the top of the World Cup’s run charts on Thursday night with his second century of the tournament.

The opener blasted in the first innings 166 runs off 147 balls — the highest of the tournament — taking Australia to 5-381 from 50 overs.  In the process, Warner became the first player to score 150 multiple times at a World Cup.

Bangladesh was impressive in reply, scoring at a similar rate to the Australians for much of the second innings and finishing strong with a fifth-wicket partnership between Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah of 127 runs.

Consistent wicket-taking through the middle-overs and a late collapse, however, proved to be the downfall of the Tigers, who ended their 50 overs on 8-333.  Mushfiqur also struck an unbeaten 102 for the Tigers, as a World Cup match featured 700 runs between two teams for the first time.

Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mitchell Starc and Marcus Stoinis all took two wickets for Australia, while Adam Zampa got one.

ODI 27:   Sri Lanka:  9 for 232 [50 overs] defeated England: 212 [47 overs] by 20 runs

Angelo Mathews posted a defiant 85 and Lasith Malinga took four wickets in vintage fashion as the veterans combined to guide Sri Lanka to an upset 20-run victory over England that could change the momentum of the Cricket World Cup.

England had been aiming to retake the lead in the standings with a win at Headingley on Friday and was on track after Jofra Archer and Mark Wood took three wickets apiece to restrict Sri Lanka to 232-9.

But when Malinga removed Jonny Bairstow on the second ball and dismissed opener James Vince (14) in the seventh over, England was suddenly wobbling at 26-2. The massive win over Afghanistan earlier in the week suddenly seemed like an age ago.

ODI 28:   India: 8 for 224 [50 overs] defeated Afghanistan: 213 [49.5 overs]  by 11 runs.

India survived a mighty scare from winless Afghanistan to win a thrilling Cricket World Cup contest by 11 runs on Saturday.

Unbeaten India was made to sweat the entire distance by the winless Afghans, who produced their best effort yet and almost prevailed in a compelling match in the Rose Bowl.

Just four days after conceding 397 runs to England, Afghanistan restricted India to 224-8 and made a good fist of the chase but ran out of steam.  Afghanistan needed 16 to win off the last over with three wickets in hand. Mohammad Nabi hit a boundary off the first delivery by fast bowler Mohammed Shami, Nabi was caught in the deep on the third delivery to end a 55-ball 52-run knock, and Shami became the second India bowler to take a World Cup hat trick, and the 10th overall.

 ODI 29: New Zealand:  8 for 291 [50 overs] defeated West Indies: 286 [49 overs] by 5 runs.

Cricket fans were left in stunned silence as New Zealand and the West Indies played out one of the all-time great World Cup matches. New Zealand’s unbeaten Cricket World Cup run went within one shot and metres from being ended in the most improbable way as Carlos Brathwaite blazed away for West Indies.

Brathwaite hit 101 from 82 balls and combined with the last three batsmen to add 122 runs, getting the West Indies within six runs of a spectacular comeback victory with six balls remaining.

However, the Kiwis held on to win by five runs to regain top spot in the standings, one point above defending champions Australia. It very nearly went the other way. Brathwaite went for broke, trying to hit the last ball of the 49th over from Jimmy Neesham for six, and was caught on the long-on boundary by Trent Boult.

 ODI 30:  Pakistan: 7 for 308 [50 overs] defeated  South Africa: 9 for 259, by 49 runs

[From news.com] South Africa will have to wait four more years to shed the tag of World Cup chokers after the Proteas officially hit rock bottom in the UK.    A sheepish Faf du Plessis has admitted to feeling embarrassed as South Africa officially hit rock bottom at the Cricket World Cup after a 49-run loss to Pakistan.

The Proteas skipper was crushed after his side suffered its fifth loss in seven games — a record that confirms it will miss the semi-finals and live for four more years with the tag of being World Cup chokers.

“Yes, definitely (it is the lowest point). I’m a very proud player and captain, and playing for South Africa means a lot for me, and the fact that the results we’re dishing out at the moment … it’s really, really tough,” du Plessis said.

“Today, it’s a little bit embarrassing. We’re trying but it’s just not good enough. Obviously I’m human as well, so it will keep chipping at me.  “It’s important that the coach, myself, the senior players, are the guys that needs to front up to this challenge. That’s when your players need you the most. So right now, I need to be there for the other players as well.”

 ODI 31:  Bangladesh: 7 for 267 [50 overs] defeated Afghanistan: 200 [47 overs] by 62 Runs

Bangladesh talisman Shakib Al Hasan reclaimed his position as the World Cup’s leading scorer after producing a stellar all-round display to secure his team’s 62-run victory against Afghanistan. Put into bat on Monday, Bangladesh posted a strong 7-262 on a slow track after Shakib, who made 51, forged half-century partnerships with Tamim Iqbal (36) and Mushfiqur Rahim (83). The left-arm spinner went on to return the tournament’s best bowling figures of 5-29 as Afghanistan, all out for 200 in 47 overs, succumbed to their seventh defeat in a row in the tournament.

Bangladesh has seven points from as many games, with three wins, three losses and a washout. The Tigers are just one point short of fourth-placed England, but have played an extra game.

After 31 games

From nine.com.news

In the spiteful spirit of cricket’s greatest rivalry, England’s most sanctimonious sports lovers have salivated at the prospect of making Australian lives miserable this winter — as Australians have so often done when hosting the Old Enemy.

With a further World Cup meeting in the knockout stages possible and an Ashes series in which the home team will still start favourites to come, well-sharpened English knives could well be twisted.  But against the grain (sandpaper joke not intended!) comes a chance for the Australians to defy their self-inflicted behavioural wounds and the doubts surrounding form and selection that preceded this long campaign, and inflict the first painful blow.

Tuesday night’s World Cup group game at Lord’s was supposed to be a pressure test for a still patchy Australian line-up, while Steve Smith and David Warner were subjected to the most venomous of the ritual jeering that has abated somewhat against other opponents.  But England’s defeats by Pakistan and, most abjectly, Sri Lanka have diminished the pre-tournament favourites’ aura and, at a stretch, even their prospects of making the semi-finals of a tournament that is supposed to be the scene of their coronation.

From the ‘Guardian’,

Even two-thirds of the way through the Cricket World Cup group stage we are still waiting for teams to peel off their false moustaches and reveal who they really are. Pakistan have been traditionally variable. Sri Lanka put in some feeble performances before swarming the tournament host. West Indies flattered, then were flattened.

And when England play Australia at Lord’s on Tuesday, there is a sense that it will answer questions about both teams. For England’s part, whether they will flourish or falter when the pressure really starts to build. For Australia’s, whether this current team can really mount a credible challenge for the trophy.

For Australia, there is at least no intimidation at untrodden ground. Winning the thing is almost humdrum. “The fact that we’ve got six guys in our squad who were part of the 2015 World Cup win is really valuable,” said the captain, Aaron Finch, in understated fashion. “We’ve also got Ricky Ponting with us, Brad Haddin with us, as coaching staff who have won World Cups, and multiple World Cups as well.”

Last year Finch’s team looked like a rabble and even through this tournament there has been a sense of disjointedness to how the batting order is composed and what roles batsmen are there to play. Yet the team have found a way past most opponents. “I think over World Cup history Australia have had that record of peaking at the right time of the tournament,” said Finch.

The Table after 31 games.

1. New Zealand [11]
2. Australia [10]
3. India [9]
4. England [8]
5. Bangladesh [7]
6. Sri Lanka [6]
7. Pakistan [5]
8. West Indies [3]
9. South Africa [3]
10. Afghanistan [0]

 ODI 32:  Australia:  7 for 285 [50 overs] defeated England: 221 [44.4 overs] by 64 runs

Report from ICC-cricket.com:   –  Aaron Finch’s century, supplemented by nine wickets between Mitchell Starc and Jason Behrendorff, helped Australia to a 64-run win over England at Lord’s on Tuesday, 25 June. With this win, Australia became the first team to cement their semi-final spot in the 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

Jofra Archer and Chris Woakes had the ball nipping around in the morning after Eoin Morgan elected to field, but David Warner and Aaron Finch battled through to their third 100-plus partnership in the tournament to give Australia a strong base. Warner perished to Moeen Ali after reaching another half-century in the tournament. Finch remained ticking, going on to bring up his 15th ODI century from 115 balls in the 36th over.

The Australia skipper departed the very next ball after reaching the landmark, top-edging a hook shot off Archer to the safe hands of Woakes. From there England’s bowlers fought back with regular breakthroughs, and some key errors from the Australians – the run-out of Marcus Stoinis a strong exemplar – saw aims of reaching a 300-plus score diminish. A cameo of 38 from 27 balls from Alex Carey offered a bit of respite as Australia finished on 285/7. England’s chase was rocked early on as Behrendorff bowled James Vince for a second-ball duck. Things went from bad to worse for the English, with the in-form Joe Root pinned on his pads by Mitchell Starc, before Eoin Morgan and Jonny Bairstow followed to leave England 53/4. Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes rebuilt with a 71-run stand before an excellent running catch on the boundary by Usman Khawaja ended the stay of the England wicketkeeper.

Stokes and Woakes lifted the mood of the Lord’s crowd with another productive partnership but Starc then interrupted the English charge with a searing yorker to remove England’s No.5 batsman, and from there Australia took complete control over the match, Behrendorff leading the way with figures of 5/44.

 ODI 33: Pakistan: 4 for 241 [49.4 overs] defeated New Zealand: 6 for 237 [50 overs] by 6 wickets.

From ‘Fox Cricket:  Pakistan kept alive their chances of reaching the World Cup semi-finals on Wednesday, cruising to a six-wicket win against previously unbeaten New Zealand at Edgbaston.  New Zealand scored 6-237 in their 50 overs but that total proved inadequate as Babar Azam scored an impressive unbeaten 101 and Haris Sohail (68) offered valuable support.

Pakistan reached their target off the first ball of their final over, finishing on 241-4.  “The wicket was difficult but my aim was to bat for 50 overs and if I did I knew Pakistan would win the match,” said man-of-the-match Babar.  “We know we’d need to score runs off the pace bowlers. Once (Mitchell) Santner came on it was doing stuff off the pitch so (Mohammad) Hafeez told me to stick at it and score three or four runs an over.”  Sarfaraz Ahmed’s side, who beat South Africa on Sunday to revive their flagging World Cup campaign, now have seven points, level with fifth-placed Bangladesh and just one point behind hosts England.

 ODI 34:  India: 7 for 268 [50 overs] defeated West Indies: 143 [34.2 overs] by 125 runs

From news.com:  Indian stars set records tumbling in massive World Cup win

Indian replacement Mohammed Shami has come from nowhere to be the quickest bowler to 25 wickets in the history of the World Cup..  Virat Kohli became the fastest cricketer to 20,000 runs across all formats as he helped fire India to a thrashing of the West Indies at the Cricket World Cup.  Kohli fired with the blade and then re-called quick Mohammed Shami tore through the Windies with the ball to book India’s spot in the semi-finals of the tournament.  Still undefeated, India’s win moved them up to second on the Cricket World Cup standings, breathing down Australia’s neck.

Shami only got a start at the World Cup because his India teammate Bhuvneshwar Kumar was injured.  He is now the quickest bowler to record 25 wickets at the World Cup in the history of the tournament.  After finishing off contrasting victories over Afghanistan and West Indies within a week, Shami may just have secured his spot.  He certainly finished off the West Indies, taking 4-16 at Old Trafford to seal a 125-run win for India and end any hope the Caribbean team had of reaching the semifinals.  It game Shami back-to-back four-wicket hauls this World Cup after he also took 4-40 against Afghanistan last week.  It gives him eight wickets in this tournament in less than 17 overs bowled.  It also took him to 25 career wickets at the World Cup in just nine games played — the fewest number of games taken to reach the 25-wicket mark.

It was a fifth loss in six games for the West Indians since a commanding opening win over Pakistan, and it makes them the third team to drop out of playoffs contention along with Afghanistan and South Africa.

They’ve still got games against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan to go.

 ODI 35: South Africa: 1 for 206 [37.2 overs] defeated Sri Lanka: 203 [49.3 overs] by 9 wkts

From ‘Firstpost’ –  The South Africans have only made it all the more difficult for Sri Lanka as far as their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals are concerned. The Proteas were clinical in their display today, winning every phase of the match barring the first powerplay of the Sri Lanka innings, and deserved the nine-wicket victory in the end. Captain Faf du Plessis though, will be ruing the fact that they’ve rediscovered their golden touch at a time when they’re already out of contention for the knockouts.

Meantime, there was an extraordinary halt in play brought a buzz to South Africa’s game against Sri Lanka, as players from both team dove for cover. There was a bit of a buzz for a while in the first of the tournament games at Durham, but it didn’t last long. A swarm of bees halted the game in the 48th over. All of the South African fielders, the Sri Lankan batsmen and both umpires went to ground, face down, to avoid any stings.

ODI 36:  Pakistan: 7 for 230 [49.4 overs] defeated  Afghanistan: 227 [50 overs] by 3 wkts

All-rounder Imad Wasim’s unbeaten 49 has guided Pakistan to a thrilling three- wicket victory over minnows Afghanistan in Leeds, moving ahead of England on the ladder and maintaining their hopes of reaching the World Cup semi-finals.

Chasing a target of 228, Pakistan lost opener Fakhar Zaman for a duck on the second ball of the innings when he was trapped lbw by off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

Babar Azam, who scored his maiden World Cup century in Pakistan’s win over New Zealand earlier this week, combined with Imam-ul-Haq to stabilise the innings on Saturday with a steady 72-run partnership.

Off-spinner Mohammad Nabi removed the pair to expose the middle order, before Mohammad Hafeez and Haris Sohail fell cheaply to leave Pakistan reeling at 5-142.  Captain Sarfaraz Ahmed (18) and Shadab Khan (11) were run-out to set up an intense finale but Wasim and Wahab Riaz (15) ensured there were no further hiccups as they chased down the target with two balls to spare.

Pakistan now sit in the top four, ahead of England, but may still need to win their final match against Bangladesh on Friday and hope other results go their way to advance to the semi-finals. England plays World Cup favourites India on Sunday night.

 ODI 37: Australia: 9 for 243 [50 overs] defeated New Zealand: 157 [43.4 overs] by 86 runs

From Fox sports:   Australia has thumped New Zealand by 86 runs at the Cricket World Cup, with Mitchell Starc taking 5-26. Australia has thumped New Zealand by 86 runs at the Cricket World Cup, with Mitchell Starc taking 5-26.

A batting promotion and a shot at the Ashes could be in store for Australia’s unsung hero Alex Carey, who has sent a message to his doubters at the World Cup.  That is the view of former Australia opener Michael Slater who was impressed by Carey’s man of the match performance against New Zealand at Lord’s on Saturday night.

“He’s a talent. He really is a talent,” Slater said in commentary. “He’s my No.5 in this Australian outfit if they’re willing to do it.”  The South Australian came to the crease against New Zealand with his side at 5-92, before resurrecting Australia’s innings alongside Usman Khawaja in a 107-run sixth-wicket stand. Carey scored 71 off 72 balls as the pair took Australia to a total of 243, which the Black Caps fell 86 runs short of.  Carey is now Australia’s third-highest scorer for the tournament with 244 runs at 61.00, which includes two half-centuries and three unbeaten knocks.

Meanwhile, Trent Boult has made history against Australia, becoming the first player from New Zealand to ever take a hat-trick in the men’s World Cup and the 11th player in tournament history.  Boult put on a death-bowling masterclass in the final over of Australia’s innings, firing three consecutive yorkers to take the first one-day international hat-trick Lord’s cricket ground has ever seen.  The left-arm fast kicked things off by bowling Usman Khawaja for 88 with a full ball that reversed in late to clatter into middle stump. He backed that up by using Mitchell Starc’s greatest weapon against him, bowling him for a golden duck with a delivery that had shades of Starc’s own to remove Ben Stokes

ODI 38:  England: 7 for 337 [50 overs] defeated India: 5 for 306 [50] by 31 runs

From news.com.au   –  England lives to fight another day, ensuring cricket fans around the country still have hope this year might finally see a maiden World Cup win. England’s World Cup dream is still alive after a crucial 31-run victory over India in Birmingham.  The home team made the most of favourable conditions after winning the toss and batting, bouncing back from recent lacklustre efforts to post 7/337. With the ball England was sensational, tying the explosive Indian batsmen down and not even Virat Kohli could see his side home as it finished at 5/306 after 50 overs.

The hosts headed into today’s match needing a win to keep their fate in their own hands after sliding out of the top four when Pakistan beat Afghanistan yesterday. The Poms are now back into fourth spot and can guarantee their place in the semi-finals with a win over New Zealand in their final group game.

A loss would have been catastrophic for England, leaving it needing other results to go its way to avoid the embarrassment of being knocked out of a tournament it was tipped to win. But thanks to a brilliant effort from its top order and some miserly work from the quicks, Eoin Morgan’s men remain in the hunt to claim the country’s first ever World Cup.

After recent humbling losses to Australia and Sri Lanka — following an earlier defeat to Pakistan — it was essentially do or die for England against India and it delivered when it mattered most.

ODI 39:  Sri Lanka:  6 for 338 [50 overs] defeated  West Indies:  9 for 315 [50 overs] by 23 runs

From India Today:  Sri Lanka (SL) vs West Indies (WI) Live Score, ICC World Cup 2019: Nicholas Pooran hit a hundred to bring West Indies close to Sri Lanka’s total of 338 but the lack of support from other batsmen except Fabian Allen meant that Sri Lanka still won the game by 23 runs. Earlier Lasith Malinga consigned West Indies to a poor start by removing Sunil Ambris and Shai Hope in their team’s chase of 339 in Chester-le-Street. Chris Gayle flattered to deceive once again as he fell while going for too many shots. But Nicholas Pooran brought the West Indies really close to pulling off the highest ever chase in World Cup history.

ODI 40:  India: 9 for 314 [50 overs] defeated Bangladesh: 286 [48 overs] by 28 runs. 

From Fox Cricket:  India captain Virat Kohli hailed Rohit Sharma as the “best one-day player around” after the opener’s fourth century of the tournament saw the side book their place in the semi-finals of the World Cup with an at times nervy 28-run win over Bangladesh at Edgbaston on Tuesday.

Sharma’s attacking 104 laid the foundation of India’s 9-314 after Kohli elected to bat first in India’s penultimate match of the league phase.   Yet for the second match in a row Sharma — as happened during India’s 31-run defeat by England at Edgbaston on Sunday — was dropped in single figures before making a hundred.

India’s bowlers then combined to dismiss Bangladesh for 286 with two overs to spare after star batsman Shakib Al Hasan top-scored with a valiant 66 and a rapid 51 not out from Mohammad Saifuddin gave Kohli’s outfit a small scare.

Jasprit Bumrah took four wickets and fellow paceman Hardik Pandya three, including the prize scalp of Shakib.

Kohli may be widely regarded as the best current batsman in all forms of the game but the skipper was unstinting in his praise of Sharma.  “In my opinion he is the best one-day player around, he is having the tournament of his life and when he plays well everyone has so much confidence,” said Kohli.

“When he plays well we know we are heading for a big score. He gives everyone confidence to go out and bat.” Kohli added: “Bangladesh played some really good cricket and deserve credit for the fight they put up. We had to work hard for the win and we are happy to see a ‘Q’ (qualified) in front of our name now.”

ODI 41:  England: 8 for 305 [50 overs] defeated New Zealand: 186 [45 overs] by 119 runs.

From ABC News: It was nerve-wracking at times but England is through to its first Cricket World Cup semi-final since 1992.

Save for a miracle for Pakistan, New Zealand is into the last four, too.

Propelled by another century by Jonny Bairstow and a freakish run-out that removed dangerman Kane Williamson, England coasted to a 119-run win over New Zealand on Thursday (AEST) to climb back into the playoff spots after its final group-stage match.  The English, who are guaranteed to finish third on the ladder, will play in the second semi-final — at Edgbaston on July 11 — against the team that finishes in second place. That is currently India.

Back-to-back defeats, to Australia and Sri Lanka, meant the knockout stage started early for England and the tournament hosts responded to being in a perilous situation by winning pressure-filled matches against India and now New Zealand.

“Maybe at the end of the World Cup, if everything goes to plan, we’ll look back on the Australia and Sri Lanka games and say that they built our competition and the character of the team. That was a huge test and we got through it,” England fast bowler Mark Wood said.

  ODI 42:  West Indies: 6 for 311 [50 overs] defeated Afghanistan: 288 [50 overs] by 23 runs. 

From ‘The Guardian’  –  Afghanistan and Ikram give West Indies fright but still end up winless

This was the first dead match of the tournament and it was really quite lively. In front of a healthy crowd the two sides at the basement of the league table battled away vigorously. In the end West Indies prevailed by 23 runs to make it two wins from nine World Cup matches. Thus one could conclude that the old order was re-established but for the fact that Afghanistan had won three of the last four encounters between these two sides.

By virtue of smashing 111 from their last 10 overs West Indies hit 311 for six, with Shai Hope, Evin Lewis and Nicholas Pooran the main contributors. As ever, Afghanistan squandered a few chances in the field even though their commitment never wavered

Ikram Alikhil, an 18-year-old wicketkeeper and gifted left-handed batsman, who was not in Afghanistan’s original squad, led the chase along with Rahmat Shah. After 25 overs his team were up with the rate with nine wickets remaining and Jason Holder was suddenly dependent upon his old soldier, Chris Gayle, to stem the flow of runs with his creaking off-breaks.  When Ikram reached 86 he posted the highest score by an 18-year-old in World Cup history, surpassing the record of Sachin Tendulkar. Here was a young man highlighting in one innings how Afghan cricketers have learnt to compete at the highest level with astonishing rapidity.

Now Gayle, in his final World Cup match, intervened decisively. After five relatively miserly overs he had Ikram lbw, sweeping; two balls later there was the chaotic run out of Najibullah Zadran, during which Gayle inadvertently revealed that he can still run fast if necessary.  From there the run-chase faltered and West Indies’ out-cricket improved. The catches found the hands of outfielders and Afghanistan were denied a first victory in the tournament despite a spirited knock from Asghar Afghan.

Thus two talented, entertaining yet obviously flawed teams ended campaigns in which we bid farewell to Gayle, who is unlikely to play any more further serious cricket in this country – though he may appear in the Hundred – and hello to Ikram, another special talent, who will become ever more familiar.

Meanwhile, on the Australian front  –  Shaun Marsh has been ruled out for the rest of the World Cup and Glenn Maxwell remains in doubt for Australia’s upcoming clash with South Africa after a brutal net session left them with injured arms.

Maxwell and Marsh were both sent for scans on their arms following a training session at Old Trafford, just two days out from the game. Maxwell was first collected by a Mitchell Starc short ball, resulting in a blow to his right forearm. Marsh replaced him in the net, only to be struck down by a Pat Cummins ball that hit him on the right wrist less than 10 minutes later. The news could not have been worse for Marsh. “Shaun Marsh has had scans on his right forearm after being struck while practising in the nets at training today,” Aussie coach Justin Langer said.

“Unfortunately the scans have revealed Shaun has suffered a fracture to his forearm which will require surgery. This is obviously shattering news for Shaun and the squad. Throughout this tournament his spirit, professionalism and the way he has competed has been typically outstanding. We are right behind Shaun in his recovery and rehabilitation.”

 ODI 43:  Pakistan: 9 for 315 [50 overs] defeated Bangladesh: 221 [44.1 overs] by 94 runs

From news.com, and Fox cricket:   Win, win, win, win … out. Pakistan beat Bangladesh by 94 runs at Lord’s for a fourth straight win and still missed out on the Cricket World Cup semi-finals.

Going to the last four instead was New Zealand, a team Pakistan beat by six wickets in the final over last week.

Pakistan secured fifth place and finished on the same points as fourth-placed New Zealand. Both teams had five wins but the Black Caps advanced with a superior net run-rate.

To reach the semis, Pakistan had to win by an unprecedented 316 runs. It didn’t take on the challenge and finished on 315-9 with Imam-ul-Haq scoring a 100-ball 100 and Babar Azam 96 in 98.  The updated maths meant, to advance to the semis, Pakistan had to bowl out Bangladesh for seven runs or less, and that equation died in the second over of the chase.

Pakistani batsman Shoaib Malik has retired from one-day international cricket after Pakistan’s World Cup campaign came to close on Friday.  Malik’s announcement came after Pakistan’s 94-run win over Bangladesh, their fourth-consecutive victory of the tournament.  Malik retires as Pakistan’s fifth-highest ODI run-scorer, behind Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Saeed Anwar and Shahid Afridi.  After making his ODI debut in 1999, Malik played 287 ODI matches for Pakistan, scoring 7,534 runs at an average of 34.55.  Malik also claimed 158 ODI wickets with his part-time offbreaks – the fifth most for any Pakistani spinner.

ODI 44:  India: 3 for 265 [43.3 overs] defeated Sri Lanka: 7 for 264 [50 overs] by 7 wkts

From Fox Cricket:  Cricket World Cup 2019, India vs Sri Lanka at Headingley — A record-breaking century from Rohit Sharma and a maiden World Cup ton from KL Rahul have powered India to a convincing win over Sri Lanka and the top of the World Cup ladder.  How long India stay in pole position will depend on whether Australia manages to chase down a target of 326 against South Africa in the day’s second game.  Whatever happens, the Indians will not fear facing anyone in the semi-finals after crushing Sri Lanka by seven wickets at Headingley.

Sri Lanka looked to have set India a tricky target when it finished its 50 overs at 7-264, only for a 189-run stand between Sharma and Rahul to make easy work of it.  Having equalled Kumar Sangakkara’s record-setting century haul of four in a single World Cup campaign in India’s prior outing against Bangladesh, Sharma bettered it against Sri Lanka by notching his third consecutive ton and fifth of the tournament.  It took him just 92 balls to reach the century-mark and though he fell two balls later for 103, he looks a better than even chance of breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record for the most runs in a World Cup tournament. Tendulkar scored 673 at 61.18 and Sharma has made 647 at 92.42 with at least one game to go.

 ODI 45:  South Africa: 6 for 325 [50 overs] defeated Australia: 315 [49.5 overs] by 10 runs.

From news.com:   Australia’s World Cup has been plunged into a nightmare situation after South Africa pulled off an almighty upset in the final group stage match of the tournament.

South Africa flipped the script on their miserable tournament, defending a huge 6/325 which sets up a blockbuster semi-final between Australia and England on Thursday.

Australia fell just 10 runs short in their chase and still had hope of a stunning win mid-way through the final over.

Australia will play England in the World Cup semi-final on Thursday after a thrilling 10 run loss to South Africa.
Facing a daunting chase, Australia gave it their all but fell just 10 runs short.  David Warner hit an incredible 122 off 117 balls as wickets fell around him, while Alex Carey almost stole the win 85 off 69 balls.  It was a tremendous finish with Australia falling just short.

The loss sees India finish on top of the World Cup ladder and will play New Zealand in the first semi-final on Tuesday, while Australia will face India on Thursday.

 FINAL STANDINGS

1. India: 15 pts
2. Australia: 14 pts
3. England: 12 pts
4. New Zealand: 11 pts [+0.175]
5. Pakistan: 11 pts [-0.430]
6. Sri Lanka: 8 pts
7. South Africa: 7 pts
8. Bangladesh: 7 pts
9. West Indies: 5 pts
10. Afghanistan: 0 pts

SEMI- Final 1 [July 9^th]: 

New Zealand: 8 for 239 [50 overs] defeated India: 221 [49.3 overs] by 18 runs

From the ABC:  This was the biggest semi-final mismatch since Kenya stunned the world to qualify in 2003. New Zealand had two top-line bowlers and one star batsman in Williamson, with the rest of a batting order struggling either with inexperience or form. But those ingredients proved to be enough, with New Zealand scrapping their way to 239 on a very slow and stodgy pitch, then rain forcing India’s run chase onto the reserve day set aside for that purpose.

Williamson and Ross Taylor each made 67 on the first day, with Taylor struggling more with the conditions but battling through to remain not out by the time rain intervened. In the bizarre situation of having a night’s sleep before returning the next morning with 23 balls left to face, Taylor made 74 to help New Zealand to 239.

India’s bowlers had done their jobs, and that total shouldn’t have been enough. But as we’ve seen time and again in this World Cup, setting any total can create pressure, and the nature of knockout games means that one good performance can make all the difference.

Before this match, Kiwi fast bowler Matt Henry had taken three wickets in the tournament. Ten overs in, he had 3 for 13. Rohit, KL Rahul and Dinesh Karthik had given up catches, while his opening partner Trent Boult swung one into Kohli’s pads to trap him in front.

From a score of 4 for 24, any side will be up against it. The naturally attacking pair of Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya were caught in two minds, defending against Lockie Ferguson’s serious pace and Mitchell Santner’s left-arm spin when normally they would have been looking to score off both.  Eventually both were out trying big shots to force the pace, but had soaked up 118 balls between them for 64. The ask was already looking too much.

Then to turn an upset into an epic, in walked Ravindra Jadeja. The all-rounder with three triple hundreds in first-class cricket but who has never fully translated his ability onto the international stage.  The substitute who had fielded in eight matches in this World Cup before being allowed to play one. The player who had fired up at commentator Sanjay Manjrekar last week after being described as a “bits and pieces” cricketer.

He timed the ball like nobody else on the pitch had been able to do, skipping down to his sixth ball to launch Jimmy Neesham over long on. He ran like a demon, played the pull shot with exquisite violence, and hit sixes from spin, mediums, and Ferguson all the same.  Even as MS Dhoni at the other end put together an idiosyncratic innings typical of the late stage of his career, complete with leaving balls and patting them away as the overs ticked down, Jadeja made sure the required rate didn’t soar completely out of reach.

In the end though, with 32 needed from 14 balls, Jadeja had too much to do. Taking on Boult is fraught with risk, and the mistimed loft settled in Williamson’s hands. With him gone the chase fell away.

Henry was named the player of the match, but Jadeja was robbed. Exceptional bowling of 1 for 34 from 10 overs, a freakish direct hit to run out the main man Taylor, an equally brilliant catch next ball to get Tom Latham, and a catch the previous day off Williamson. Then his 77 from 59 balls — almost enough for what would have been one of India’s most famous victories.

Kohli may have been demonstrative when he was given out on the field, but he was calm and measured after the loss.

“They put up a great display how to bowl with the new ball. They had perfect line and lengths and forced us to make errors,” he said.  “That’s why they call this the knockouts. We have to accept that. We’re sad but we’re not devastated, because the kind of cricket we played in this tournament we know where we stood as a team.

SEMI- FINAL 2 [July 11^th]:

England; 2 for 226 [32.1 overs] defeated Australia: 223 [49 overs] by 8 wickets

From ABC News:  Australia’s promising Cricket World Cup campaign has ended in disappointment, as England progressed to the final with a comprehensive eight-wicket win in the second semi-final in Birmingham. England was never on the back foot at Edgbaston, tearing through most of Australia’s batting line-up before making light work of the run chase to reach the final for the fourth time, and the first since 1992.

The tournament hosts will be looking for their maiden world title in the July 14 decider, as will their opponents, New Zealand, who would have been interested onlookers as England easily chased down 224 to hammer its oldest rival.

England never looked in trouble at all at the crease. Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow started at a rapid pace and with Australia’s openers failing to swing the ball dangerously, dominated from the outset.

Roy in particular was setting the pace, using his unique style to whip and work the bowling to all corners of the ground. When the ball was thrown optimistically to Steve Smith, Roy counter-attacked brilliantly, hitting three consecutive sixes and ending the streak by putting one in the fourth tier.

Bairstow was more circumspect but just as impressive, even despite seemingly injuring his ankle while turning for a run.

The pair would take the game away from Australia in the fist 15 overs and pass 100 with ease. It came as a surprise when Bairstow fell LBW to Starc, simply missing a straight one and — crucially — opting to waste a review on a stone dead LBW decision.

Roy looked certain to reach his ton before controversy struck. Cummins sent a wild short ball down the leg side that Alex Carey scrambled after and caught, prompting appeals from the Australians.

Umpire Kumar Dharmasena took his time before eventually and gradually raising the finger, despite replays showing the glove was nowhere near the ball. Roy was bemused, and actioned to review the decision, but was quickly told he couldn’t as Bairstow had used his team’s only challenge.

Roy did not take the decision well. He refused to leave the crease initially, and argued with Dharmasena before the other umpire Marais Erasmus had to usher him off. He continued voicing his displeasure all the way off the field, and the stump microphone heard him saying “f***ing embarrassing”.

After Roy’s explosive display with bat and mouth, England’s most experienced batsmen, Eoin Morgan and Joe Root, calmly and quickly knocked off the remaining 77 runs to send England through to face New Zealand.

From news.com.au:   At the start of the 48th over in Australia’s batting innings against England in the World Cup semi-final, Steve Smith missed a leg glance and the ball clipped his left thigh.

Mitchell Starc called his partner through for a quick single and the former skipper responded straight away, putting his head down and charging to the nonstriker’s end.

But the ball — fielded then launched by wicketkeeper Jos Buttler — beat him there, crashing into the stumps as Smith stretched out to make his ground.

He was running full pelt and he just kept going after the zing bails lit up, continuing towards the dressing room and not bothering to wait for the third umpire’s verdict.

Smith was only just short of his ground but he didn’t need a replay to tell him that and his hopes of scoring his first century in Australian colours since returning from his ball tampering ban were dashed, out for 85.

The 30-year-old played his best innings of the tournament to defy a hostile English attack and give his team something to bowl at in the crucial clash, even if it turned out to not be enough. While top order teammates tumbled around him, Smith held the innings together and showed once again he is a cut above both in skill and sheer bloody-mindedness.

Without him, Australia could have started planning its World Cup Mad Monday before midday but Smith’s brilliant batsmanship meant England would still have to earn its way into the final.

But the ball — fielded then launched by wicketkeeper Jos Buttler — beat him there, crashing into the stumps as Smith stretched out to make his ground.

He was running full pelt and he just kept going after the zing bails lit up, continuing towards the dressing room and not bothering to wait for the third umpire’s verdict.

Smith was only just short of his ground but he didn’t need a replay to tell him that and his hopes of scoring his first century in Australian colours since returning from his ball tampering ban were dashed, out for 85.

The 30-year-old played his best innings of the tournament to defy a hostile English attack and give his team something to bowl at in the crucial clash, even if it turned out to not be enough. While top order teammates tumbled around him, Smith held the innings together and showed once again he is a cut above both in skill and sheer bloody-mindedness.

Without him, Australia could have started planning its World Cup Mad Monday before midday but Smith’s brilliant batsmanship meant England would still have to earn its way into the final.

 

WORLD CUP FINAL:  14 JULY 2019

ENGLAND  241 [50 overs] and 0 for 15 [1 over] defeated New Zealand 8 for 241 [50 overs] and 1 for 15 [1 over] after the Super Over

The England cricket team has ended a 44-year curse and sent a nation into rapture after holding aloft the World Cup in a one of the most dramatic clashes in cricket history at Lord’s, with a Super Over and then boundary countback needed to determine the winner.

From ABC Sport – a summary

You couldn’t have written a better script.

ABC Grandstand commentator Jim Maxwell described it as, “one of the most amazing finales to a game of international cricket that we have ever seen, probably the greatest finish in international cricket history”.

England has claimed its maiden World Cup title in an extraordinary finale against New Zealand at Lord’s, a final that has already been described as the greatest of all time and thrilled the sporting world with a finish for the ages.

As is befitting of a game that had everything, the real drama came in those final moments as England and New Zealand battled through 102 overs of cricket, only to end up level on scores not once, but twice, before England was awarded the title.

We’ll unpack the main talking points from a frantic 15 minutes that decided the destination of this year’s World Cup.

With wickets tumbling around him and England still needing 22 runs off nine balls, New Zealand-born Ben Stokes is, ironically, England’s last hope and appears hell-bent on hitting out in an attempt at glory.

Stokes, England’s last recognised batsman and the man upon whose shoulders rested the hopes of a nation, gives himself room to swing at James Neesham’s delivery with a shot that flies to the midwicket boundary, straight down the throat of Trent Boult.

Game over?

Not quite.

If Stokes had departed that would have been near enough it but, as Boult effects the catch, he steps backwards onto the padding surrounding the boundary.

Had Boult been half a metre further away from the boundary, he would have taken a giant step towards celebrating a famous win for the Black Caps, but instead, that step was backwards and New Zealand still had it all to do.

Instead of England being nine down with just Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid at the crease, it now needs 16 to win from eight.

Three balls left in the final over. England has just two wickets remaining after Archer is comprehensively bowled for a duck by Neesham’s last ball.

Stokes turns down two singles to avoid exposing Rashid’s somewhat-questionable tail-end batsmanship to Boult’s exquisite death bowling.

After slamming the third ball of the over into the stands for six, Stokes needs nine to write himself into history.

Boult thunders down a full toss that Stokes tickles away off his pads to deep mid-wicket to where Guptill —run-out hero of MS Dhoni in the semi-final— is ready to pounce.

The throw arrows in towards the stumps … and deflects off the outstretched bat of Stokes and away to the boundary for four.

So why is that six runs?

England has already run two, so is credited the four additional runs as overthrows.

Contests can be decided on fine margins and this is as fine as they get. Had the ball hit the bat at any other angle, it would have been unlikely that it would have then flown down the hill for four runs.

Equally, there is little Stokes could do to avoid this. He was fully committed and had no idea that the ball was on its way to hit his bat, so could not even come close to being accused of obstructing the field, as he was in a 2015 ODI between England and Australia, also at Lord’s.

Stokes, born and raised in Christchurch, told reporters after the game: “Playing against New Zealand is always a great event, they are a seriously good team and really good lads.

“I said to [New Zealand captain] Kane Williamson, I’ll be apologising for that for the rest of my life.”

The first tie

England is running for everything.

Rashid is run out off the penultimate ball after chasing an unlikely second in an attempt to level the scores with a ball to go.

With two required to win, Boult delivers a yorker that Stokes prods away to long on.

Stokes and Mark Wood hare between the wickets to chase the elusive winning run, but Wood is easily run out and the scores are tied.

So what happens now?

England lost more wickets (all ten of them) compared to New Zealand’s eight, but the number of wickets lost does not come into consideration, as stipulated in Law 16.3.1.

The two teams instead faced a winner-takes-all “super over” — an innovation incidentally introduced by Allen Stanford of West Indies-based Stanford 20:20 fame.

So, to the super over.

Teams can pick any three batsmen and one bowler to take part, with the team batting second in the match batting first in the super over.

England has first crack as per tournament rules, with Stokes joined at the crease by Jos Buttler.

The pair make a hugely credible 15 from their six deliveries off the bowling of Boult.

New Zealand’s reply starts well as Archer opens with a marginal wide, before Jimmy Neesham plunders 13 off the next five, legal deliveries.

Guptill on strike. Two required for victory.

He clips Archer’s last ball to the leg side and frantically sets off for an unlikely two.

The throw is a good one to the strikers end and Guptill is run out! Scores level again!

Countback controversy?

So, all square again but it is the English celebrating wildly.

Why?

According to the rules set out in paragraph 13 in Appendix F of the ICC Laws concerning super overs, the winner of the game in the event of a tie is the team that scored more boundaries over the course of the match.

New Zealand managed 14 fours and three sixes.

England plundered 24 fours and two sixes, the high-octane approach favoured by Eoin Morgan’s men over the past four years since being humiliated by New Zealand in Wellington at the last World Cup.

Is that fair? Perhaps not.

On ABC’s Grandstand at Stumps, Ed Cowan said: “To me, it feels like there is no integrity in the result almost.”

“It’s like the World Cup soccer final, 5-all in the penalty shoot-out, ‘oh actually, whoever had the most shots in the game actually wins this so we’re all going home now’.

“Imagine playing another super over? Surely there has to be a winner on the day.

Should another super over have taken place? That probably would have been fairer.

But both teams knew the rules before a bowl was bowled, or least should have done, and England should not be denied its moment based on a technicality.

Incidentally, if the number of boundaries was equal, the result would have come down to how many runs were scored on the final ball of each super over.

England scored four. New Zealand scored one.

Interestingly, in the semi-finals, had rain made play totally impossible, the team that finished higher in the final table would have progressed to the final.

Apply the same logic here, then England — who thrashed New Zealand to the tune of 119 runs in the group stages — would have been crowned winners anyway.

 

 

Australia at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2019

The 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup is the eighth edition of the international women’s championship, which has been held every four years since 1991, when the inaugural tournament , then called the FIFA Women’s World Championship, was held in China.  The seven FIFA Women’s World Cup tournaments had been won by four national teams  up until the 2019 event – United States had woin three times, including the last one in 2015. The other winners were Germany, with two titles, Japan, and Norway, with one title each.  Six countries have hosted the Cup – China and the USA have each hosted the tournament twice, while Canada, France [2019], Germany and Sweden have each hosted it once.  In all, 36 nations have played in at least one Women’s World Cup, and of those, the USA is the most successful Women’s World Cup team, and one of seven teams  to have competed on each occasion. They have also had the most Top four finishes [7], medals [7] and final appearances [4]. Germany is the only nation to have won consecutive titles – in 2003 and 2007  Summary of past results 1991:  USA [runner up Norway]  2-1  ……..host China; 1995:  Norway [runner up Germany] 2-0….host Sweden 1999:  USA  [runner up China]  0-0 [5-4 pens]… host USA 2003:   Germany  [runner up Sweden]  2-1  …..host USA 2007:  Germany [ runner up Brazil]  2-0……….host China 2011:   Japan [runner up USA]  2-2 [3-1 pens]…..host Germany 2015:  USA [runner up Japan]  5-2 ……….host Canada Australia has been represented at the FIFA Women’s World Cup on six occasions, viz, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, and qualified for the 2019 tournament:  our results were:  1991: DNQ; 1995: Group Stage 12th; 1999: Group Stage 11th;  2003: Group Stage 13th;  2007: Quarter finals 6th;  2011: Quarter finals 8th; and 2015: Quarter finals 7th. The 2019 Tournament   –  the round robin round of games. Here, I look at Australia’s matches, with comments, and indicate the result of other matches played .  From the quarter final stage. We will examine each of the respective matches for all teams concerned Round Robin Results 8/6/2019 – 11pm Germany 1 China 0 9/6/2019 – 2am Spain 3 South Africa 1 9/6/2019 – 5am Norway 3 Nigeria 0 9/6/2019 – 9pm AUSTRALIA 1 Italy 2 9/6/2019  – 11.30pm Brazil 3 Jamaica 0 10/6/2019 – 2am England 2 Scotland 1 11/06/2019 Argentina 0 Japan 0 11/06/2019 Canada 1 Cameroon 0 11/06/2019 New Zealand 0 Netherlands 1 12/06/2019 Chile 0 Sweden 2 12/06/2019 USA 13 Thailand 0 12/.6/2019 Nigeria 2 South Korea 0 13/06/2019 Germany 1 Spain 0 13/06/2019 France 2 Norway 1 14/06/2019 AUSTRALIA 3 Brazil 2 14/06/2019 South Africa 0 China 1 14/06/2019 Japan 2 Scotland 1 15/06/2019 Italy 5 Jamaica 0 15/06/2019 England 1 Argentina 0 15/06/2019 Netherlands 3 Cameroon 1 16/06/2019 Canada 2 New Zealand 0 16/06/2019 Sweden 5 Thailand 1 17/06/2019 USA 3 Chili 0 18/06/2019 China 0 Spain 0 18/06/2019 South Africa 0 Germany 4 18/06/2019 Nigeria 0 France 1 18/06/2019 South Korea 1 Norway 2 19/06/2019 Italy 0 Brazil 1 19/06/2019 Jamaica 1 Australia 4 20/06/2019 Japan 0 England 2 20/06/2019 Scotland 3 Argentina 3 21/06/2019 Netherlands 2 Canada 1 21/06/2019 Cameroon 2 New Zealand 1 21/06/2019 Sweden 0 USA 2 21/06/2019 Thailand 0 Chile 2

The Matilda’s games, as above.

Italy defeated Australia 2-1

From:  Fox Sports:  The Matildas came crashing back to earth in their World Cup opener, slumping to a 2-1 defeat to Italy in Valenciennes. In their first game of France 2019, Australia was exposed defensively while it struggled to make the most of its own chances in attack.  We take a look at some of the burning questions to come out of the Matildas’ first-up loss.

Australia came into the World Cup with question marks on its defence — valid concerns, given it had shipped eight goals across its previous two games. There was plenty of discussion regarding the decision to play a high line — with former Matilda Heather Garriock particularly scathing of the tactic— which Ante Milicic conceded didn’t work out at times.

The Matildas got caught out early — and arguably could have been punished more for their turnovers than they were.

“We have been working on that (high) line, and we need to have a better understanding when to drop and when to stay high, and the position of the goalkeeper,” Milicic said post-match.

That said, Italy was frequently caught offside and struggled at times to break that trap. The two goals came from an error in possession, and a failure to close out a late set piece — neither of which directly resulted from the high line. Regardless, composure at key moments remained an issue.  One of those occasions was when Clare Polkinghorne received the ball from Alanna Kennedy, and as she attempted to take possession, took a heavy touch, with Barbara Bonansea on hand to steal the ball and go on to score the equaliser.

But Milicic went into bat for his centre-back, emphasising the Matildas would continue to play out from the back.

“Clare is brave to do that. We are not going to change our style because we have conceded a goal,” he said.

“Yes, she had a heavy touch, but I thought our positioning could have been a lot better, you look at the isolated situation where we got caught playing out from the back.  “But I will always believe in that style, that’s the style we want to progress up the field, we just need to get better at it and better at it quickly.  “Clare has been excellent for us building up from the back, it’s just unfortunately that we got punished on this occasion.”

Meanwhile, Italy’s second goal came off the back of a set piece, with Sam Kerr and Lydia Williams both unable to clear the ball away from Bonansea, who effectively headed home unmarked for the winner.  “To concede on a set piece on any sort of the game is frustrating,” Caitlin Foord said post-match.  “Especially when you’ve been working on it.  “We’ll have a look at it and build off that.”

While there were question marks over Australia’s defence coming into the tournament, the attack — led by Sam Kerr — was one of the World Cup’s most-vaunted.  But despite scoring in the 22nd minute, Australia was unable to make the most of its chances from there, looking toothless at times up front despite having plenty of possession — and the likes of Kerr, Caitlin Foord, Hayley Raso, midfielder Tameka Yallop and Lisa De Vanna involved at times.

 

Australia versus Brazil

From http://www.telegraph.com.uk  –  What a game, what a comeback, what entertainment. Australia against Brazil has long been the go-to fixture of the World Cup. And here in Montpellier it was clear why this was the fourth time the two countries have been pitched together in four World Cups in a row. Because this is what you want to watch. Not least in its eye-watering clash of styles.

Full of giddily aesthetic touches, Brazil played as if straight off the Copacabana. Australia, like an outback sheep rustler, demonstrated no nonsense, gave no quarter, were relentless in their physicality. And they gave a timely reminder that in the World Cup it is goals that matter. While Brazil may have been well ahead on the nutmeg count, the Aussies put the ball more frequently where it matters: in the net.

“The Australian mentality is to come out swinging when our back is against the wall, we like a fight,” said the woman of the match Chloe Logarzo. And as Brazil succumbed to the Australian body blows, it was, perhaps, inevitable time would catch up on their operation. They have by far the competition’s oldest squad: seven of the starting XI are well over 30, while 41-year-old Formiga is playing in her seventh World Cup.

Though age did not seem to wither them as the match began. They may be oldies, but their touch – Marta in particular – remains golden. In the first half the veteran captain delivered a masterclass of technique. And she was inevitably involved as Brazil took the lead.   After turning down an Australian shout for a penalty on VAR (there had been an Aussie hand used in the build up), the referee Esther Staubli did not need it when Elise Kellond-Knight grabbed a handful of Leticia Santos’s shirt and hauled her down in the area. Marta was not going to eschew the opportunity to score her 16th World Cup goal.

The ageing Brazilians seemed to be in total control when Cristiane added a second. It was at the end of a superb team move. Tamires began it on the half-way line, leaving Emily Gielnik in her wash with a delightful nutmeg, before she laid the ball down the line to Debinha. The centre-forward provided Cristiane with the opportunity to head her fourth goal of the tournament. Australia responded as they had done all half, by firing in crosses. This seems the default tactical approach of many teams at this tournament: get it wide and lump it in. Here, finally, the law of averages worked in their favour. In first half added time, Tamara Yallop put the ball on Chloe Logarzo’s head, she flicked on and Caitlin Foord scooped home a goal that offered a hint of hope.

Brazil started the second half without either Marta or Formiga, both succumbing to wear and tear.

Australia started it by firing in the crosses. And as Australia attacked, so Brazilian defensive shape began to wilt. It was no surprise that the equaliser came from – guess what – a cross. The excellent Logarzo sent one in which no one touched, including the bemused Brazilian keeper Barbara.

Sensing their opponents weakening, Australia piled forward. And took the lead. Once more, the ball was chucked into the mixer, this time the venerable defender Monica heading home. VAR was again involved, as Sam Kerr had clearly been offside in the build up. But, despite fury from the Brazilian players and bench alike, the goal stood. “This was one of the finest Australian performances I’ve seen, I’m really proud of the girls,” said the Australian coach Ante Milicic. “We respected them, but none of our girls were afraid of them.”

The truth is, his approach worked: in the end, Brazil had no recourse to relentless Aussie bullying. The victors, meanwhile, celebrated at the end as if they had just won the tournament. They will not. Not least because there are others here who will not be rolled over.

 

Australia versus Jamaica

By Pete Smith [FIFA.com]  –Tim Cahill has long been the iconic figure around which Australia’s World Cup narrative has been

written. But now future generations of Australian fans might use the name Sam Kerr as their World

Cup touchstone.

Kerr almost single-handedly hauled Australia into second place in 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup

Group C by netting all her team’s goals in a 4-1 win over Jamaica, setting up a Round of 16 match-up

against Norway.

The four-goal haul saw Kerr become the first Australian to score a hat-trick in a senior World Cup

and pushes the prolific striker into France 2019 adidas Golden Boot contention.

The first two goals were majestic Cahill-esque headers in which Kerr made the difficult look simple.

Despite a modest build, Kerr has long been a powerful presence in the air.

“I am coming for his heading record,” laughed Kerr when asked about her similarity to Cahill in the air.

“I grew up watching Timmy Cahill.

“Headers are my favourite goals. I think it just comes naturally for me, I know it is one of my strengths

so I try and work on it a bit. Maybe it is coming from an AFL (Australian Rules football) background

and getting up there (in the air).”

Despite the glory of a large-scoring victory it was a tense night for Kerr and her team. The Aussies

pushed Brazil into third-place on goals-for with the positions not settled until the full-time whistle in

each match.

Another goal for either Brazil or Jamaica would have shuffled Australia down to third, in theory

meaning a tougher draw.

The Round of 16 matches 23/06/2019 [1.30am] Germany 3 Nigeria 0 23/06/2019 [5.00 am] Norway 1 [4] Australia 1 [1] 24/6/2019 [1.30am] England 3 Cameroon 0 24/6/2019 [5.00  am] France 2 Brazil 1 25/6/2019 [2.00 am] Spain 1 USA 2 25/6/2019 [5.00 am] Sweden 1 Canada 0 26/6/2019 [2.00 am] Italy 2 China 0 26/6/2019 [5.00 am] Netherlands 2 Japan 1  Australia versus Norway Norway advanced to the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™ quarter-finals after a penalty shoot out against Australia Granted it’s a bit of a cliche but the Norwegians showed ice-cool nerve in the shootout… This was a great match and yet another wonderful advert for this tournament and the women’s game. It was end-to-end stuff, an entertaining spectacle that will – especially if you’re Norwegian, perhaps not so much if you are Sam Kerr or an Australia fan – live long in the memory. If England beat Cameroon tomorrow they know they will have a big task ahead of them against the Grasshoppers in the quarter-finals. Granted it’s a bit of a cliche but the Norwegians showed ice-cool nerve in the shootout… This was a great match and yet another wonderful advert for this tournament and the women’s game. It was end-to-end stuff, an entertaining spectacle that will – especially if you’re Norwegian, perhaps not so much if you are Sam Kerr or an Australia fan – live long in the memory. If England beat Cameroon tomorrow they know they will have a big task ahead of them against the Grasshoppers in the quarter-finals.   And so exited the Matildas from the 2019 competition

The QuarterFinals  England defeated Norway 3-0 From the BBC:  England reached their second consecutive Women’s World Cup semi-final as they produced an excellent performance to beat Norway in Le Havre.  Lucy Bronze’s brilliant second-half strike capped a fine night that saw the Lionesses become the first senior England team to reach the last four at three consecutive major tournaments. Two slick team moves had given them a deserved 2-0 half-time lead, as Jill Scott and Ellen White found the net from close range either side of White hitting the post.  Nikita Parris saw a late penalty, awarded for Maria Thorisdottir’s foul on England captain Steph Houghton, well saved by Ingrid Hjelmseth.  But that did not dampen England’s jubilant mood at full-time, as they celebrated with sheer joy after moving within one win of their first major final  USA defeated France 2-1 From news.com:  A Women’s World Cup plagued by refereeing blunders plunged further into controversy after host France was denied what would have been a game-tying penalty in the 85th minute of its 2-1 quarterfinal defeat against the USA.  Down 2-0 with 10 minutes to play, the local’s hopes were revived when Wendie Renard pulled back a goal to set up a tense finish.The French poured on the pressure — and appeared to strike gold when US defender Kelley O’Hara blocked a cross with her arm.  There was clear space between her right hand and her body when the ball struck, but the referee waved of France’s penalty claims and the VAR chose not to intervene. “It wasn’t like I was making my body big or anything,” O’Hara said. “You never know, though, because it’s a little sketchy sometimes but thankfully they called it the right way.” Jill Ellis’s  [USA] team held on and they go through to a semi-final showdown with England in Lyon next Tuesday as they seek to retain their crown and win a fourth World Cup in eight editions.  “We’d have loved to play nicer, but we now have England and we move on,” said Rapinoe.  “This is so special to beat the host nation in the Parc des Princes. You can’t ask for any more than this.”  They certainly couldn’t have asked for more from the referees — with even US fans conceding they’d made a lucky escape. Netherlands defeated Italy 2-0 From the World Game: Vivianne Miedema and Stefanie van der Gragt headed the Netherlands to a 2-0 win over Italy and into the FIFA Women’s World Cup semi-finals for the first time on Sunday morning (AEST). Arsenal forward Miedema and defender Van der Gragt nodded in a pair of Sherida Spitse free-kicks in the space of 10 second-half minutes to break the stubborn Azzurre resistance.  The second strike extended Netherlands’ tournament-high haul of headed goals to five and confirmed their passage into the final four, where they will face either Germany or Sweden. Clear-cut chances had been rare throughout a match played in stifling heat in Valenciennes but Sarina Wiegman’s side established control after half-time and were worthy winners in the end.  The first cooling break brought little disruption to the nature of proceedings, Valentina Giacinti firing wide off her left foot in the moments that followed. Lieke Martens, who overcame a foot problem to start for the Oranje, tested Laura Giuliani with a well-taken volley in the 50th minute.  That effort marked the start of a better period for Netherlands that saw Danielle van de Donk hit the crossbar with a classy curling effort from beyond the box, before Spitse arrowed a low free-kick against the outside of the left post.  The latter instead turned provider as the breakthrough eventually came 20 minutes from full-time. Spitse delivered an inviting free-kick from the left and Miedema guided a glancing header beyond the outstretched Giuliani, with the sealer from Van der Gragt following in similar circumstances 10 minutes later as Italy’s impressive run came to an end.  Sweden defeated Germany 2-1 From the World Game:  Sweden have produced a 2-1 comeback win to stun Germany to reach the FIFA Women’s World Cup semi-finals on Sunday After enjoying an early spell of possession, midfielder Lina Magull put the Germans in front in the 16th minute with an acrobatic volley through the legs of Swedish goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl. Sweden equalised six minutes later when winger Jakobsson latched onto a long ball straight down the middle from Linda Sembrant, and slotted home past goalkeeper Almuth Schult.  German coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg threw on midfielder Dzsenifer Marozsan, who had not played since breaking a toe in their tournament opener against China, at the start of the second half but it was Sweden who took a shock lead. Schult did well to turn away a powerful header by Fridolina Rolfo but the rebound fell kindly for striker Blackstenius, who fired home from point blank range to get her second goal in as many matches. Marozsan missed a glorious chance to force the game into extra time when she headed wide with the goal gaping in the 80th minute but Sweden held their nerve to reach the semi-finals

THE SEMI FINALS USA defeated England 2-1 From news.com.au   –  The USA made it through to the women’s World Cup final after hanging on to a 2-1 lead in a nail-biting finish. Coach Jill Ellis’ side will face either Sweden or the Netherlands on Monday morning (AEST) in the final. The US went through thanks to goals from Christen Press — who dramatically replaced superstar Megan Rapinoe in the starting line-up — and Alex Morgan. England answered with the tying tally at the 19th minute, when Ellen White got a foot on a crossed ball that ricocheted off the post and behind the goal line. It was the second time this tournament that the US allowed a goal in the first half. Morgan and White now lead the race for the Golden Boot with six goals each. England commentators were venting their frustration at the video review system after Ellen White was denied a goal with just over 20 minutes to play when the VAR showed she was a toenail offside as a ball was put in behind the American defence.  Jill Scott had been able to flick a ball into the path of White, who went on a solo run into the area and then beat the keeper one-on-one.  American coach Ellis was spotted screaming for a VAR review on the sidelines as soon as the goal was scored — and she got her wish.  There was just enough in it for the decision to be overturned. Netherlands defeated Sweden 1-0 The Netherlands will play USA in Sunday’s FIFA Women’s World Cup™ Final after Jackie Groenen emerged as their extra-time heroine. The midfielder, identified by our Team Reporter as the Oranjeleeuwinnen’s key player, scored a 99th-minute winner to sink Sweden and settle the first Women’s World Cup semi-final ever to go beyond the regulation 90. Dramatic as the conclusion was, this was a very different last-four encounter to USA’s breathless 2-1 victory over England last night. The first half was tight, tense and lacking in chances while the second was dominated by superb saves by Sari van Veenendaal and Hedvig Lindahl: the teams’ respective keepers. But the Dutch – who are playing in just their second edition of this tournament – secured a historic Final spot by producing the game’s one moment of real attacking quality. It came, of course, from Groenen, who charged through on to a clever lay-off from Vivianne Miedema and drilled a 20-yard shot beyond the previously unbeatable Lindahl.  7th July:  Match for 3rd Place: England vs Sweden  Sweden: 2 defeated England:  1 From FIFA Women’s World Cup site:  Sweden have finished third at the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™ after beating England 2-1 in Nice.  All three goals came in an open, incident-packed and error-strewn first half, with early efforts from Kosovare Asllani and Sofia Jakobsson putting the Swedes in control before Fran Kirby struck back. The quality of the Jakobsson and Kirby goals in particular thrilled the sun-drenched supporters in the Stade de Nice, with less to cheer in a subdued second period. England dominated the closing stages but were unable to break through, with Nilla Fischer securing victory – and bronze medals – for the Swedes with a dramatic goal-line clearance as the clock ticked down. England finish their World Cup adventure with back-to-back defeats, and that will sting for some time. But the Lionesses could not be accused of a lack of effort, having ploughed deep into Sweden’s half in the second half and pressed until the very end. It just wasn’t to be their day, and Nilla Fischer’s amazing goal-line clearance from Lucy Bronze’s thunderbolt seemed to sum that up. Desperation eventually got the better of Phil Neville’s side, this after three earlier minutes of wonder saw England hit the net twice – until VAR intervened, ultimately killing off Ellen White’s dream of the Golden Boot. Karen Carney’s final appearance as a second-half substitute gave England added impetus, but they just couldn’t find a way through.  8th July –  The FINAL: USA vs Netherlands  USA defeated Netherlands  2-0 From CCN:  It has been impossible to ignore the US Women’s National Team in this World Cup, but so too impossible not to admire them. When many teams would have soaked up the adulation and reveled in winning the biggest prize in women’s football  the USWNT regarded the aftermath of victory as the perfect platform to drive their fight for equality further forward. Almost immediately after beating the Netherlands 2-0 in the Women’s World Cup final in Lyon, the players issued a statement which brought their battle for equal pay with the US Soccer Federation  to the forefront of the conversation once again. “At this moment of tremendous pride for America, the sad equation remains all too clear, and Americans won’t stand for it anymore. These athletes generate more revenue and garner higher TV ratings but get paid less simply because they are women,” said Molly Levinson, spokeswoman for the USWNT players in their equal pay lawsuit. “It is time for the Federation to correct this disparity once and for all.” And from the ABC News: The question before the World Cup even kicked off was who would be able to stop the USA. The answer was nobody.  The US women’s national soccer team was the heavy favourite leading into the tournament and it lived up to its world championship billing, with a near-faultless, 2-0 performance against the Netherlands to claim a second consecutive title and its fourth overall. The first team since Germany to win consecutive world titles, this US side is making a case to be named the best women’s football team of all time.  Perhaps more astoundingly, despite the apparent ease of its progression through the tournament, it took the hardest route to the final. Having beaten the hosts, third-ranked England and the European champions in consecutive matches, there can be no argument that the US does not deserve to place a fourth World Cup-winning star above its crest.  After being gifted a less-than-challenging pool — featuring an under-gunned Thailand side, 39th-ranked side Chile and Sweden — the US lined up the competition favourites one by one before dismissively casting them aside.   And yet, for all its dominance, this US team has polarised opinion, with accusations of arrogance overshadowing the competition. The US team ruffled feathers by, in no particular order, over-celebrating, under-celebrating, and “disrespectfully” celebrating, and put President Donald Trump’s nose out of joint by refusing a hypothetical invitation to the White House. As the sport’s pre-eminent side, the US was always going to score plenty of goals in this tournament, but it has been the way it has celebrated its goals that has courted controversy on the pitch. The backlash to Alex Morgan’s tea-sipping celebration against England was met with surprise by the US star, who felt there was more than a hint of sexism in the criticism. “I feel that there is some sort of double standard for females in sports,” Morgan said. “[We need] to feel like we have to be humble in our successes and have to celebrate but not too much, or do something but always in a limited fashion. “You see men celebrating all around the world in big tournaments, grabbing their sack or whatever.” The celebrations Morgan was referring to — most recently utilised by Diego Simeone and Cristiano Ronaldo on separate occasions in the Champions League — were hardly met with universal acclaim, but her point stands. The storm generated from within that imaginary teacup barely registered after the criticism the team faced for over-celebrating against Thailand — a team so far behind the US in terms of financial clout and facilities that their opening-game slaughter was as inevitable as it was cruel. That the glaring disparity between the two nations did not stop the US from deploying their full range of pre-choreographed celebrations in the 13-0 thrashing lead to a barrage of criticism against the US team. The confidence that comes from a sustained period of dominance enjoyed by this side has been perceived as arrogance, with some suggesting that the brash demeanour so prevalent in domestic US sports does not marry with accepted sporting customs in the rest of the world. And yet, as former England star Alex Scott said on the BBC, the US had earned its right to be brash by virtue of its extended period of dominance, and it was up to other nations to adopt that winning mentality. “The USA do not apologise for wanting to be the best and they have that winning mentality that everyone else needs to get,” Scott said.   Among the litany of records the US broke at this World Cup, including the most number of goals scored in a single tournament (26), the US has now won twice as many World Cups as anyone else (four). Despite the European nations making up ground in this World Cup, the Americans are still the benchmark on the world stage.  Megan Rapinoe bristled at any suggestion that the US were doing anything wrong by their opposition. “Wah, wah, wah. We’re at the World Cup,” said Rapinoe, who was awarded the golden ball trophy as the tournament’s best player, before the final.  “I don’t think anyone truly believes that we disrespect the game, or disrespect our opponents. “We have the utmost respect for … every team that we’ve faced and every team that we will face, forever and ever.”   This World Cup has been ground-breaking in so many ways, not least in how many people watched the competition. In the UK, 11.7 million fans watched the semi-final against the US.  The record audience in the UK for a women’s football match before the tournament was 4 million.  Close to 59 million people watched the France-Brazil match from the last 16, making it the most watched women’s football game of all time. Despite the unfavourable time difference, 270,000 people tuned in to see the Matildas lose in extra time to Norway. Although Australia’s tournament ended in disappointment, the interest garnered by the tournament means that the FFA’s push to host the 2023 edition takes on added importance. For Rapinoe, the latest win means the US is ideally placed to continue its period of dominance. “This increases the visibility but it takes it up another notch for sure,” Rapinoe said after the match. For the meantime at least, the US will be at the forefront of the further development of the game. If the rest of the world doesn’t like it, the only way to stop it is to stop the US celebrating, which for now at least looks like a tough ask.

T

 

 

As Greg Baum wrote in the ‘Age’ on Tuesday, in referring to the previous Sunday –   “For Australian sport, this was not so much a red letter day as a pink figure day. Ash Barty became World No. 1 in tennis, Hannah Green  won golf’s PGA championship, one of the four majors, and in Brazil, Sally Fitzgibbons rode her wave to the crest of surfing as World No. 1”.

And let’s not forget our sporting women’s teams including the Matilda’s  – ceded top in the current FIFA World Cup, with high expectations which sadly,  didn’t succeed with their elimination by Norway at the Round of 16 stage, yet as a team, determined to re-unite and make good on their promise at the July,  2020 Olympic Games.  Despite their loss, Sam Keer and her team have earned the respect and admiration of sporting fans around the world.   We also have a very successful Women’s Cricket team who are about to start their own ‘Ashes campaign’ over in England, prior to the Men’s Ashes series.

In Greg Baum’s article titled “Playing like girls, Australians top of world’, he notes that “Australian sportswomen [have] been doing their thing for some time, forever in fact. Women have long outnumbered men in Australia’s Olympic success, for instance”.

In the past few days, we have seen three totally different individual performances by Australian girls with world-class sporting achievements.  Leaving Ash Barty aside for a moment, let’s first look at the other two sportswomen..

At the weekend just past, young Australian golfer, Hannah Green [aged 23 years], ranked recently as No. 114 in the world, and relatively unknown throughout the general sporting world, won the KPMG Women’s PGA at the Hazeltine Golf Club, an achievement described by one commentator as a ‘passing of the baton moment’, as it was Australian golf legend, Karrie Webb who had actually mentored Green for the past four years.  Describing Green in the media this week, Sam McClure wrote  –  “Australia’s newest major champion Hannah Green is different. She’s young, she doesn’t have a sponsor, and she wasn’t raised by overbearing golfing parents”.

Hannah Green turned professional in 2016, following wins in three Amateur titles in Australia in 2014-15. She subsequently produced a wonderful rookie season in 2017, claiming three major professional wins that year, which earned her promotion to the LPGA tour in 2018, where she gained placings in the Vicrtorian Open, Australian Open, and the Australian Ladies Classic.

She made her debut in the 2019 US Open in June,  and in only her second LPGA year, produced the performance of a lifetime to win the Women’s PGA Championship, after scoring a final round of 72. One could say, that in typical Aussie fashion, as soon as her final putt dropped into the hole, Green was rushed by Carrie Webb and other Australians who proceeded to ‘spray her with cans of beer’!!!

This result meant that Green became Australia’s third female major golf champion, and her first win on the LPGA tour. The other Australian women to have won major Golf championships at that level are Carrie Webb [seven championships between 1999 and 2006], and Jan Stephenson [three championships, between 1981-83].  The win also lifted Green to a career-high 29th in the world rankings.

Speaking after the win, her coach Ritchie Smith noted that “Her dad’s a social golfer and her mum knows very little about the sport. From a coach’s perspective, that’s a dream, because it allows us to build her career in our own way”..  After watching the end of the tournamnent on TV in Australia, Smith suggested  to an ‘Age’  reporter, that he was more nervous than Green –  ‘Her strength is her mental capacity….she’s able to operate under extreme duress to a high level…..she’s a great front runner, she’s tough and has a history of performing really well under the most stressful situations…..[but]… his star pupil still has plenty of room for improvement”.

And as a person –  “She’s just awesome….She’s fun, happy, she’s incredibly kind..”

Meanwhile, former touring pro and renowned course architect, Mike Clayton said  “All the years Hannah Green tried to win the Australian Amateur, she couldn’t get past the Koreans or the semi-final. Now she beats their best in a major”.

Away from the ‘greens’, and upon the water, we turn our attention to another female inspiration, namely,  Sally Fitzgibbons, who has put Australian surfing back at the top of the charts. while  the 27 year old Fitzgibbons  herself is now the new women’s surfing number one after winning the World Surf League’s Rio Pro in Brazil.  A win into the last event of the year at Honolua Bay would guarantee her first world title while she could still claim the crown if her rivals falter. On Sunday, she defeated  Carissa Moore in the final of World Surf League’s Rio Pro in Brazil.  The 28-year-old, originally from Gerroa, prevailed 14.64 to 12.57 over former world champion in clean 4-5 foot surf at the beachbreak of Saquarema on Sunday.

The win, Fitzgibbons’ first since the 2017 Margaret River Pro, adds to her three other podium finishes in 2019 to give her the yellow jersey at the halfway point of the season. Both she and Moore have overtaken reigning world champion Stephanie Gilmore, who was eliminated by the Hawaiian in the semi-finals.  Fitzgibbons now leads the world rankings on 32,580 points with Moore on 31,175 and Gilmore in third on 30,320.  Fitzgibbons has been number one before and joins a long list of Australian women to top the charts including seven-time world champions Steph Gilmore and Layne Beachley, as well as other stars of the sport, such as Tyler Wright, and trail-blazers Wendy Botha and Pam Burridge.

Reporting for the ABC after the weekend, it was noted that her career could have gone down a different track.  She  was formerly a champion middle distance runner in her teenage years. Fitzgibbons won the 800 and 1,500 metres events at the Youth Olympics in Sydney in 2007. “There’s no doubt that she would’ve represented Australia at the Olympics, no doubt whatsoever,” said her former coach, Ian Hatfield.

In 2007, she qualified for the World Youth Athletics Championships but it clashed with a surfing event. The two sports could no longer be juggled and the lure of the ocean was strong.  “She came and saw me and I said, ‘Sal, you go for it mate, you’re going to do a lot better financially going surfing than in athletics and that’s a mere fact, that’s not knocking athletics,” he said.

Fitzgibbons has a reputation as one of the most dedicated surfers on the tour.

“If she’s not surfing, she’s running, she’s in the gym. She’s carried it on through her life, her belief in fitness, good healthy living,” Hatfield said.  “She’s just such an inspiration to so many young athletes.  “She definitely made the right choice, you’ve seen what she’s done in surfing.  “Her profile has risen tremendously, and it was the right choice that’s for sure.”

Fitzgibbons appears destined to represent Australia in Olympics after all, with surfing to make its debut at Tokyo in 2020.

And now to Ash Barty, about whom much has been written recently, her story well credentialed. Irrespective of her two recent wins  – the French Open, and the WTA Birmingham Classic,  Ash has provided much for Australian sporting fans to be proud of,  in the way she has earned our respect, and continues to be a fine ambassador of women’s sport, in fact, sport in general. Over the past couple of years, in two of our most high profile international sporting arenas, viz, cricket and particularly tennis, too often, we have seen our representatives [usually male as it turns out]  let this country down with their self-crntered and  petulant attitudes. In contrast, it’s wonderful to have someone we can admire without question.  Winner of 18 Grand Slam titles, Chris Evert wrote on Twitter after Ash’s weekend win – “A big congratulations  to @ashbar76. Tremendous story, talent, and most importantly, person”.  That praise  says most of it.

Ash Barty’s story has become known round the tennis world, and beyond.  Ashleigh Barty was born on 24 April 1996 to Josie and Robert Barty. Her father is a Ngarigob Indigenous Australian, and her mother is the daughter of English immigrants.  Barty grew up in Springfield, a suburb of Ipswich in Queensland.  She played netball as a child, but decided to focus on tennis because she  “thought [netball] was a girls’ game”^,  and because her two sisters were better than her at that sport. With her tennis, she began with a racquet in hand at age 4 years, and into her teen years,  quickly developed to have a promising junior career,  reaching  a junior career-high ranking of No. 2 in the world after she won the Girls’ Singles title at Wimbledon in 2011. At that stage, she became just the second Australian to win the girls’ singles event after Debbie Freeman in 1980, and the first Australian girl to win any junior Grand Slam singles title since Jelena Dokic at the1998 US Open.     She would also be successful, as a teenager, in doubles on the WTA Tour  in 2013, where she finished runner-up at three Grand Slam doubles events [including the Australian Open]  with veteran partner  Casey Dellacqua, while still only 16 years old.

However, by her own admission, Ash was not happy on the touring schedule, and being a very strong family orientated person, missed her family and the home environment. Her decision,  late in the 2014 season  to take an indefinite break from tennis was accepted without argument from her family, and back in Australia, and off the tennis circuit, Ash, although having no formal training in the sport, ended up playing cricket  with the Brisbane Heat team, for what was the inaugural Women’s Big Bash League at that time.  Her  interest in potentially playing cricket, came  after meeting with the Australian women’s national team in early 2015 to discuss her experience as a professional athlete. She was intrigued by the opportunity to play a team sport as a change from the individual sport of tennis. She had previously only played cricket casually with her family.. Although she gave no reasons at the time, she later said, “I needed some time to refresh mentally more than anything. It became a bit of a slog for me and I wasn’t enjoying my tennis as much as I would have liked to”.   Her family and coaches all supported her decision.  Barty had no intention of retiring and continued to play casually during her hiatus, saying, “It was never in mind that I’d retired as such… I’d been coaching and holding a racquet pretty much every day so I wasn’t completely out of practice.  During her time off, she also pursued her hobbies such as fishing; and built a new house close to her family.

She ultimately decided to return to the sport, commenting, “After a break and trying other things, I missed tennis and decided that I wanted to come back.”  Ash returned to tennis at the beginning of 2016, just before her 20^th birthday. Initially she concentrated on doubles with Casey Dellacqua, before returning to the singles competition at the end of May that year. As Leo Schlink wrote from Birmingham, after the weekend’s triumph – “Just 1,119 days and 185 matches  after returning to tennis from a 21-month sabbatical ranked No. 632, Barty is only the 27^th woman in history to hold the No. 1 computer ranking and the first Australian since fellow Indigenous star, Evonne Goolagong, occupied the top rung in 1976”.  The only other Australians to to hold the No. 1 crown since computer rankings were introduced in 1973 are John Newcombe, Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt.

This year [2019], Barty has won more matches than any other woman  –  41 from 46  –  and three WTA titles.   With Wimbledon around the corner, and Ash Barty the No. 1 seed, her confidence levels must be high, but in her true genuine nature and persona, success is never assumed.    It’s fitting that Barty has succeeded her mentor, Goolagong Cawley — the woman who advised a burnt-out teenage Barty to break from tennis and “wet a line”.  As indicated above, it’s become part of Australian sporting history now, that not only did Barty do some fishing, she also played cricket successfully in the Women’s Big Bash League and returned to tennis refreshed, matured and emboldened  –  with no ranking, and just the aim of simply finding enjoyment in tennis again.

While not generally known,  Barty is the National Indigenous Tennis Ambassador for Tennis Australia. The goal of this position is to promote more Indigenous participation in the sport of tennis. The associated Indigenous Tennis Program expects it will reach more than 1,000 children each year in the Northern Territory, where a relatively high percentage of the population are Indigenous people. Barty has embraced her heritage and her role as an ambassador, saying, “I’m a very proud Indigenous woman and I think that for me taking on this role is something very close to my heart. I’m very excited”

Someone that Ash idolised as a child, and has always looked up to, was Evonne Goolagong Cawley, who  was full of praise after Ash’s weekend win,  and new status as World No. 1. Cawley said:  “Ash is a very worthy number one and winning at the French Open will have given her even more confidence. I am so proud that another Aboriginal player sits on top of the rankings in women’s tennis, particularly a young lady who conveys such happiness in all she does. She really enjoys being out there and she has become an outstanding and inspirational example to all Australians…”     And Ash’s response was to deflect that praise, saying “I’m nowhere near her status… Evonne …has set the tone for so many Indigneous Australians around the country…..what she has done in her career was incredible and what she continues to do off the court for us as a sport is amazing.

Finally, from the ‘Age newspaper’ editorial of June 25^th –  “Barty, Green and Fitzgibbons have not only displayed true brilliance, they have done so with dignity and grace sorely missing in recent times from the behaviour of their national male contemporaries. Their Professional courtesy and decency provide a model so much better, for example, that of some cheating male cricketers, and petulant, abusive, self-indulgent male tennis players”  [while agreeing with that statement, I should point out, that in respect to the tennis world, that description really only applies to a minority of our players – there are currently a greater percentage of Australian male tennis players, while not perhaps having the class and potential, nor media attention,  of those couple of men, who shall remain unnamed, continue to demonstrate similar standards to the three sporting women we have been examining].

That same editorial [under the heading ‘Woman sporting stars still wait for fairness] notes that  – “The colossal talent and success of these women, and the Matildas and many other teams and individuals may be feted, but it is not properly reflected in their remuneration. Barty at least, will play for the same prizemoney as the men’s singles players next month at Wimbledon, the last of the grand slam events to offer parity. But tennis remains the exception”.

Meanwhile, irrespective of how far into the Wimbledon Tournament Ash Barty progresses over the next fortnight, she is one of our modern sporting personalities that Australia can be proud of……I certainly am!!