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Always loved test cricket - first got into it with the West Indies side of the late 80s early 90s - Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh etc. Fell out of following it for a few years but the Ashes 2005 got me back into it - this series is not as good as that year but as mentioned the Sky coverage is first class.

Bringing it back to the hurling v football debate, sport is sport, and for me there is no aesthetic difference between Conor Lehane side stepping for a point, Jack mcCaffrey blasting past wing forwards to set up an attack, or Ian Bell dissecting the Aussie attack for another century - we're just privileged to see these artists doing their thing. Genius.

(though as I speak the Aussies are taking over the 4th test - Warner playing great for a man who usually wears a comedy moustache!)

Forget snooker or golf - the cricket has been brilliant this summer......


I'm actually serious.

I really think the analysts in hurling are so far off the beam in discipline matters, it is unreal - don't know why I'm surprised, Loughnane's Clare were hardly a model of decorum. There is a huge conspiracy of silence, or else they cover up with euphemisms like "manliness" or "just tipping". The reality is if you compare a game from the mid to late 90's with one from now, the challenges now are higher and more dangerous, the ruck is now the dominant method of gaining possession, pulling in the air is nearly extinct, whilst intelligent ground hurling has already gone the way of the dodo (amazing really, since the standard of pitch surface has gone up). The scales fell from my eyes when I was watching the All Ireland Final of 2010 - a lot of the analysts consider it a classic, but look at the first half of the game - it is like rugby league with sticks thrown in. And all the commentators could talk about was "intensity"!! We laud the skills of hurling yet we don't let the players use them - hooking and blocking are replaced by fully body challenges. They're right about football ruing the game - but that's because hurlers and managers insist on playing and training like footballers, rather then refs reffing them like it.
I'm a Dub and found a lot to hugely admire about their performances this season, and in players like Kelly and Hiney, they have terrific old school defenders - but Ryan O'Dwyer deserved both his yellows and there is no point cribbing about it. The game was very entertaining but could have been even better if both sides weren't emplying sweepers (even when one was a man down!) This season has been a breath of fresh air, and all the better for the refs clamping down. Just because your name is Sheflin doesn't mean you have immunity.
Unfortunately a decade of Kilkenny dominance has left a load of inferior imitators intent on replicating the darker parts of their game because that is easier than breeding a generation of skilful hurlers. Hopefully, with sterner reffing, we can see the return of a more open game, which this season we've definitely seen more off. Let Cyril and Ger off with it - they are part of the problem rather then the solution.

Fair enough AZ - and as I said, as a card carrying member of the corner back fraternity I probably would have rugby tackled him at the handshake. Completely agree with the more systemic stuff being cracked down on - my point was more about the depressing reaction from ex players. Yes we know you're being honest, but very few of them brought the debate forward - most either thought there was nothing wrong with it under the "getting it done" rule, or else seemed to think there was nothing we could do about it.

As systems evolve, so should the rules - this shoulder-shrugging apathy really bugs me. Things can change if the will is there, and if Brolly's mis-guided missile provides some kind of impetus, it will have served a purpose.

Good to be back Croí by the way.

The problem I'd have with the reaction to this is the stunning cynicism with regard to the ex-players who have commented on it. We are still an amateur sport, but the over riding mantra here is "do what has to be done" - a philosophy that created Eastern European steroid farms, Flo Jo, Ben Johnson, Lance Armstrong, Pete Rose, Calciopoli, Balco. Coupled with this cynicism from the actual players is the wilful niavety we display ourselves as fans. Can we honestly believe that if we tolerate a culture that allows such calculation in search of victory on the pitch, that off it things are living up to the Corinthian ideals of amateurism?

I'm not saying that I have any knowledge of organised cheating off the pitch, but the logical outcome of this philosophy isn't hard to see. I've heard Cavanagh's actions (who I hugely admire as a footballer and a man) excused by the fact that he is an elite athlete, and that is what they do - they win. All of the examples above are of elite athletes who won.

I play five a side still and the other week chopped down my best mate with a horrible challenge to stop him scoring. But I'm not an elite athlete (and I'm a bit of a clown) and during my own, mercifully short, playing career I substituted faux hard-man pretensions for actual skill. At the highest level you'd hope that skill is the difference between the journeyman and the legend. People have always tried to take out the skilful - think of Matt Connor skipping challenges, Mikey Sheehy shrugging off Cork full back lines, Bernard Brogan scoring a point with three Donegal players on his back. What is most depressing about all this is that Cavanagh felt the need to do it, and Cavanagh in full flow is one of the greatest expressions of the game. Even the angels are carrying forks now.

I don't personally have any problem with Cavanagh doing it. What I do have a problem with is the shoulder shrugging acceptance of this philosophy. The GAA needs to not only to change the rules, but also change their attitude towards changing rules. They are the guardians of the game - the protection and encouragement of skill should be paramount. Rule changes should be a fluid and ongoing, evolving process, because you can be damn sure that managers are making their plans for the black card now.

Brolly was over the top, sure - but let's use it as a catalyst for change rather than an excuse for a fatwa.

Howya Fionn/ Hardy - Jaysis Sonny is a blast from the past! It's well overdue that we get a sequel to "Out of Africa". I know, I'll mention Whelo's "fracas" with Nigel Crawford at the throw in in 2005 - that'll have him coming in off the savannah.

Cheers Muppet - hope to be around a bit more now the work schedule suits it.

Didn't get to see the game live and the highlights didn't really reflect the performance - and far be it from me to disagree with Hardy. But it put me in mind of one of the great "lost" performances at midfield - Ciaran Whelan v Donegal in the quarter final replay 2002. He scored 7 points from play and completely devastated a side that had really put it up to us in the drawn game and had a fairly decent forward line with Sweeney, Devenney and Roper. Whelo was absolutely class that day and i think it was one of the last really swashbuckling performances from him - 2003 and 2004 were poor years and under Pillar he was far more disciplined and tended to stay between the 45s. that day though he scored off left and right and one, in particular under the shadow of the Cusack shooting into the Hill was as good a score as I'd ever seen - racing past the wing back and hanging it up miles out. Good days.