Ponting: Bowing out quietly, but respectfully

I've never been a massive fan of Ricky Ponting. I've often found him arrogant and, well, Australian. The person leaves much to be desired, but as a player, I've always respected his contribution to the game, and appreciated his quality. Recently though, I've had to review my opinion of the 'person'.

ODI future looms, but for now...

T20's, as I touched on in my last blog post, have become a prominent part of the tour structure between international teams. In the past there would typically be one international T20, merely playing the role of a curtain raiser or afterthought. Now however, you will rarely see fewer than two being played, and what has become more common is three between two international sides, as we are currently witnessing between New Zealand and South Africa.

Something else I touched on in the last post is the ominous future of ODI cricket. What role does it have to play in this day and age, when you have the excitement of the T20's, and the enduring theatrics of test cricket? Again, this is a question for another time, but for the time being, it is still integral to the triumverate of international stages.

T20 Cricket- Endless Possibilities

After several days of wallowing in self-misery over the sudden (yet hopefully brief) downslide of English cricket, I decided to switch my attention to the Australian T20's. My intention was initially to be brisk, as it should be for any English supporter delving into the world down under, yet I felt instantly rejuvinated from the dire situation in Dubai, and couldn't help but put the remote control down and settle into what was a brand of cricket that I haven't feasted my eyes upon before.

The Ramblings of a Fulham Fan

There's been a lot of focus on the underperformances of Arsenal and Chelsea this season. Of course with their fan base and expectations, why wouldn't there be? They want trophies, and with each result it seems, the possibility of one this season slips away. On a more discreet level though, you have my club, Fulham. A respectable 8th last season, and European football for the 2nd time in three seasons. The expectations for any club from this point is to push on; fight for another European place and go far in domestic competitions. The only niggle seemed to be in the managerial department. Mark Hughes, to the bemusement of the black and white contingent, left on the grounds of wanting a new challenge. Martin Jol, Fulham's first choice ahead of Hughes in the first place, took up the post in a matter of days. It was another new face, but atleast the replacement was swift and canny. Many will argue that it's still too soon to judge his performance at the helm. However, he has done worryingly little to suggest that Fulham can indeed 'push on'.

Modesty Follows Exuberance: Transfer Window Roundup

As Big Ben struck the twelfth chime on the 31st January, a trenchant sense of anti-climatism hit me, after a long, almost dullish transfer window closed for the season. Sneijder never went to Man Utd, Kaka never joined Spurs, Samba didn't leave Blackburn and Tevez never swapped with Carroll. The latter would of course have been a humourous one, but with only 55.2 million pounds being spent this time around, in comparison to 218.5 million the year before, the mouth watering expectations of this transfer window quickly dried up. But with the likes of Andy Carroll and Fernando Torres prompting managers to think twice before splashing out in exuberance, the 55.2 million spent this time screams out in modesty (if you excuse the oxymoron there), with a series of frugal signings throughout the Football League. These were my picks of the January 2012 edition-

Hype, What Hype?

On the eve of the second test between England and Pakistan, there's plenty of speculation as to whether a repeat of the first test is to happen or not. My initial reaction would be to say definitely not. My reasoning for this is that I can't see another thrashing. The last and only two tests played at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium have both ended in draws, and have produced three double centuries.

Match Report: Fulham 5 Newcastle 2

This is a bit of a boring post, as it's only a report on the game at the Cottage, but it made it through to the Daily Mail young football writing competition, which gives it a little more street cred! The link to the article is on http://www.barclaysfootballwriter.com/. Click like under the article if you deem it worthy.

Clint Dempsey scored a hat-trick, as Fulham overcame a dreary first half performance to send Newcastle crashing to defeat.