Ball Don't Lie Blog - 08/08/19

Ashes First Test - Takeaways

• It was perfect, for it lacked for nothing. There was the four-yearly "oh shit, I forgot how bad we are against the moving ball" moment, Steve Smith's masterclass (not to be confused as some would have it with any form of redemption, for runs do not redeem rule breaking, only time and sustained good sportsmanship) and a triumphant fifth day like the old Shane Warne / Glenn McGrath fifth day specials. Given home country advantage, a World Cup hangover, the Jimmy Anderson injury, Jofra Archer's likely return and Australia's arguably unhealthy reliance on Smith, it was also a first Test win that could be savoured free of any fears of a subsequent landslide victory (unless you believe McGrath that is). 
  
• The counter to all that is that David Warner is a ticking run bomb. It was always going to be a huge adjustment for Warner to settle back into a team after being unceremoniously hung out to dry by teammates Smith and Cameron Bancroft in the wake of sandpapergate. That he had to confer with Bancroft over his first innings LBW decision, which he erroneously declined to review, summed up the conflict. But after a pair of failures amid the glow of Smith’s heroics and a willingness to jovially engage with the crowd speaking to a positive frame of mind, it will not surprise if Warner goes a little nuclear from here on out.
• Australian cricket’s near 20-year golden run from the late 1980s was highlighted by firsts and drought breakers - think the 1987 World Cup, 1995 Caribbean and 2004 India triumphs. And then there was nothing left to hunt. The pursuit of a first Ashes away series win since 2001 is refreshingly meaningful.
• As a related aside, if you haven’t already listened to the Michael Vaughan interviews on The Howie Games podcast, you should. Vaughan is fantastic value, a perfect blend of English humility and bravado. He shares the uber-entertaining tale of his cricketing journey before providing the rarest of insights into the epic ‘05 Ashes, including English perceptions of Australia’s team of giants.​

​
​AFL

​Red and Blake Reunion

The Blake Caracella appointment is sneaky good business by Essendon.

After the Guy McKenna and Mark Neeld missteps, the club has quietly poached a proven assistant coaching commodity with a Midas touch (Caracella was part of the coaching panels which delivered the Cats’ 2011 and Richmond 2017 flags).

The appointment serves four key purposes as I see it:

1. ​Provides incumbent John Worsfold with the contemporary tactical nous it has long been felt needed to round out his old school, man-management coaching style. 
2. Further to the first point, buys Worsfold another year even if club fails to make / win a final this season, but also means Worsfold will have nowhere to hide if club fails to so in 2020. 
3. Presents the club with a golden senior coaching transition opportunity if need be and a marathon job interview for Caracella in the meantime. 
4. Scratches the club’s Essendon old boy itch, but this time sans the untried risk that below up so spectacularly with the James Hird experience.

​The Katandra Kid

David Teague is the Blues’ anti-hero.

His Blues best (house in worst street) and fairest aside, Teague is not a former champion or football luminary, nor (like predecessor Brendon Bolton) picked by a select committee made up of them.

But Teague is exactly the sort of organic coaching phenomenon this club has been screaming out for.

While a far steadier ship these days, Carlton’s administration has endured a rocky 21st century punctuated by senior coaching swings and misses.

So what better gift than a likeable, humble yet determined country kid who looks set to take the decision out of the brains trust’s ‘training wheels-wary’ hands courtesy of a Carlton player and fan driven groundswell.

Avoid any blowouts and win one of the next three, and the Blues faithful will be banging on the gates. Beat the Tigers or Cats in the process, and Carlton’s decision makers will have a gun to their heads.
​
​Win-win. If it works, it’s a wonderful story based on a nod to long suffering Blues players and fans. If it doesn’t, there will be no one to blame at a club long defined by finger pointing.
​

Death to AFLX

Very few fans will be concerned with the death of football’s gimmick AFLX, particularly if it provides AFLW with greater bandwidth.

But any major U-turn by an uber-reformist AFL administration is an eyebrow raiser.

You come at the game’s fundamental rules, you best not miss.
​

Ben Simmons

On the weekend I posted a blog along the lines of Ben Simmons being an enigma both here and in the US.
 
In Australia’s case, I wrote that we just don’t really know him. He left for the US in early 2013, and has never meaningfully represented the senior Boomers team nor featured prominently in the Australian mainstream media.
 
Well it’s fair to say that after the Crown Casino entry storm - complete with a deleted Simmons Instagram video, a Crown denial and then news of Simmons’ Visit Victoria promotion deal - the Simmons mystery has deepened a tad.
​

Cam Smith

Cam Smith appeared on the eminently listenable The Matty Johns Podcast and confirmed something I had often wondered about.
 
I am paraphrasing, but Smith considers NRL premierships as the top of the tree in terms of rugby league-related achievements when compared with Origin and Kangaroos honours.
 
If you take Smith’s view as commonly held amongst players and bearing in mind the AFL experience, it’s a wonder the NRL has been able to maintain players’ willingness to risk limb for a (albeit wildly popular) mid-season sideshow that plays second fiddle to premiership Sunday.