Political Greg

Greg here

Yes, i'm still here, courting Kate and thinking it will be nice to see the one-day matches and while I'm here Ted says put something in his blog. I guess he is all written out, poor bugger, what with his missus doing all the work, him having gout and the blog needing to be filled every day.

"Doesn't much matter what the subject is," he says so here goes.

This business - just a rumour, an urban myth and a bit of a conspiracy theory, all right - about the Ashes being rigged so that the crowds for the next series Down Under are big.

Well, first of all I don't see how it is done without some wise guy wanting to spill the beans and earn a heap of money; but secondly, why not?

Cricket is an entertainment; anything to put bums on seats, give the spectators value for money and make them think they will see a good series next time.

Cricket is certainly not a competitive sport; otherwise the English counties will support 50-over cricket instead of plumping for the 40-over version which will dominate next summer and which no-one else plays. They will also - and heaven help me, I am backing Ted once again - stop employing all those Yarpies and give some young British players more of a go.

I say that if the series is rigged - and I still want to know how you get a whole team to lose - good luck to the plotters.

The more I think about it - no my tiny Aussie brain does not hurt - the more I see a similarity with the case of the guy who is supposed to blow up that Pan Am plane and kill all those passengers.

The British, the Scots or the English - you can take your pick - send him home because the poor sod is dying and now they may - or may not depending who you believe - get some of the oil sloshing around Lybia's deserts.

Nice work if you can get it. Well done, Mr.Brown, Mr. Straw and whoever else has a hand in the deal. Tough, Mr. Obama. Pity you didn't have someone to swap for a can or three.

See, what cricket does today, the rest of the world does next week.

Keep smiling,

Greg Orry