Our Pick for the IPL

The Brat and I have been having a bit of a think about who we're backing for the IPL this year, and we have, miraculously, both agreed on a team.

Yes, campers, the Cheap Seats pick for the 2010 IPL season is...

The Kolkata Knight Riders!

For the following reasons:

1. Shane Bond. Yes, actually, he IS that good.

2. Ricky Ponting. Yes, he's Australian and yes, he is a bit of a prat, but he's still one of the best opening batsmen out there.

3. Brendon McCullum. Yes, he is that good-looking. And from Otago.

4. Ishant Sharma. For godsake just LOOK at him. Oh, and also he's a pretty good fast bowler in his own right. Might end up truly world-class if he keeps going at this rate.

5. They're named after one of the cheesiest television series EVER MADE. We at the Cheap Seats are easily amused and think that's fantasmic.

Exhibit A:

Sadly, my mate who lives in Bangalore has refused to go to the Royal Challengers Bangaluru vs Kolkata Knight Riders game holding up a sign saying YOUR MUM LOVES BONDY TOO on the grounds that it might get him beaten up.

Ah well, can't win 'em all. But hopefully the Knight Riders can.

When in Rome

Hello possums! Last weekend I went on an expedition to foreign climes, namely a hop across the ditch to Melbourne to watch a friend of mine get married. (And it did happen -- matrimony was definitely the winner on the day! I wish a long and happy life to Glasshopper and his new wife K.)

I love Melbourne and I'm rather fond of Australia, as it happens, on the grounds that it's just like New Zealand except for when it's really, really not.

One of the things I really love about Melbourne is that nobody follows rugby there -- everybody's into Australian Rules Football, aka "rules" or "footy".

How much are Melbournians into their footy? The first time I visited, I found myself with a bit of free time and had a look through a local paper. The page headed "Religion" held... the footy results.

Last Friday night I found myself in my hotel room with very little inclination to go out, and that Melbournian phenomenon, Friday Night Footy, on the TV. Collingwood vs Essendon, one of the great grudge matches between two famous teams. (Hell, even I've heard of them, and I'm a New Zealander.)

So I watched the game.

All of it.

All two hours of it.

Why, you ask?

Well, there are 22 reasons per team, each in superb physical shape, wearing singlet tops and tiny shorts. And doing a lot of running and jumping and kicking. Seriously, what's not to like.

And it's different enough from rugby that I was riveted for the whole time, trying to work out how the game play went. No, really. I watched for the game play. As well.

Interestingly, every single Australian I talked to about it said "That was a crap game!" I don't know enough about how the game works to know whether it was crap or not. It was entertaining, and I'd like to see more of it.

And not just for the singlet tops and tiny shorts.

Honest.

Full Credit to, well... Everyone.

Well, despite the blindness of the umpires, we won. We actually actually won. And I will be in Melbourne for the next game. I'm all a-quiver.

And, despite dodgy knees and an even dodgier bandanna, Rafa won. Which is awesome. Even though it made Roger prove that he is a big wuss. Buck Shelford wouldn't have cried.

So. It was a night of two games, everyone gave a hundred and ten percent, and my multi-bet was the winner on the day.

Oh, and I suppose I should mention that Northern won the State Shield against Otago a few days ago. I like the look of this Kane Williamson. (And not just like that.)

George came up with the best quote ever to describe Grant Elliot - "Elliot can't bat, he's an ostrich! Ostriches don't have hands!"

Mrs Robinson

So I was at a sports bar a couple of nights ago with the Brat, watching the end of the Bathurst race, the end of the Japanese GP and a bit of the cricket.  As you do.  

The cricket in question was the India vs Australia test in Bangalore.  I'll cop to not having paid much attention to cricket in the last while, my mind having been focussed on more worldly matters (like earning money so I can afford beer and tickets to the rugby).  

I have, however, found a reason to pay more attention to the cricket, and that reason's name is Ishant Sharma.  

Apart from being one hell of a fast bowler (he was responsible for taking out Ricky "I'm just going out to the creases, I may be some time" Ponting), it struck me after a while that he's an Afghan Hound in human form. 

No, seriously.  Stay with me here.

Observe the strong yet delicate long-legged frame, the noble profile, the flowing, glossy coat.  Observe the "if I try to look past the end of my nose I'll go cross-eyed and fall over" expression on his face.  Observe the complete underestimation of his intelligence by his opponents (based on the aforementioned expression) and the lethal speed and accuracy with which he takes down his prey.

Yeah, I think I'll be paying more attention to the cricket from now on.  I've always liked Afghan Hounds.