Under siege captain of the Australian Cricket team, Picky Ronting seemed to have all the answers when interviewed on the eve of the tour of South Africa.
A journalist opened the inquisition with a question regarding the Australian’s team poor performance and how Picky felt going up against a resurgent South African Team on their home soil
“Are we worried? Not at all”, Ronting replied, clearly bemused by the question.
“Sure, we lost both the test series and one-day series to South Africa, but really we were on top of the South Africans for 99% of the time. It was just those pesky sessions when our batting collapsed like granddad’s old tent and our bowlers couldn’t hit the pitch, let alone the wicket that let us down, but really we were the better team. Remember we did win the Twenty20’s”
Asked about the pressure he was under, Picky clearly felt the shoe was on the other foot.
“While we are about to lose the No 1 test ranking for the first time in 15 years, I’m not under pressure, its Graeme Smith. He and his young team who no one thought would get close to us in Australia let along the pitches of South Africa are surely feeling the pressure now. When we release our 5 debutants on them they will feel our wrath!”
When asked about how he was going to deal with the young batsman J.P Duminy who made our bowling attack look like North Sydney Under 12’s, Picky felt the need to outline a new strategy.
“We can deal with him this time. We have had a good look at him, mainly when he was batting for hours and sending Brett Lee’s deliveries through the covers for four. He seems to have a few weaknesses, like his inability to hit ones and twos. So I’m thinking we go with the underarm delivery again. Hey it worked against the kiwis”
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Signal Fire
The Bush fires in Victoria that cost the lives of over 128 people so far can only be called an absolute tragedy. Here at Goat Central, we pass on our condolences to those who have lost loved ones in the fires.
But what amazes me is how over 100 people can lose their lives through bush fire in today’s world of advanced fire prevention, modern firefighting equipment and sophisticated fire tracking?
What the hell happened? Surely there was enough notice given by fire fighters for people to evacuate. I know this was country Victoria, but it isn’t the third world. The last time serious numbers of fatalities were recorded was 25 years ago (the Ash Wednesday Fires in 1983), when firefighting training was primitive compared to the quality now enjoyed by the Regional Bush Fire Service.
All the press coverage so far has (understandably) focused on the terrible toll of those who have lost lives and property, but we definitely need to understand the break down in protocols that led to this disaster.
One of the reasons for the large body count could be that so many people stayed to fight the fires. Apparently in regional Victoria, there are no compulsory evacuations from a fire zone. Residents are given the choice to leave or stay and try to protect their homes (using “fire plans”, what ever they are). Clearly this has to change in the future. The State or Federal Government should have the power to order residents to vacate their homes if there is potential for loss of life. Only Residents with proper fire fighting training/equipment should be allowed to stay in a fire zone. Everyone else should get the hell out.
Also Home Fire insurance should be compulsory for Home Owners so people have less incentive to stay.
I noticed also that Clive Hamilton, writing in Crikey today is using the fires as a call to arms to do something about climate change. As if bush fires have not been part of Australia’s history for the past 200 years. And using such a tragedy to back up his personal views is a disgrace.
But what amazes me is how over 100 people can lose their lives through bush fire in today’s world of advanced fire prevention, modern firefighting equipment and sophisticated fire tracking?
What the hell happened? Surely there was enough notice given by fire fighters for people to evacuate. I know this was country Victoria, but it isn’t the third world. The last time serious numbers of fatalities were recorded was 25 years ago (the Ash Wednesday Fires in 1983), when firefighting training was primitive compared to the quality now enjoyed by the Regional Bush Fire Service.
All the press coverage so far has (understandably) focused on the terrible toll of those who have lost lives and property, but we definitely need to understand the break down in protocols that led to this disaster.
One of the reasons for the large body count could be that so many people stayed to fight the fires. Apparently in regional Victoria, there are no compulsory evacuations from a fire zone. Residents are given the choice to leave or stay and try to protect their homes (using “fire plans”, what ever they are). Clearly this has to change in the future. The State or Federal Government should have the power to order residents to vacate their homes if there is potential for loss of life. Only Residents with proper fire fighting training/equipment should be allowed to stay in a fire zone. Everyone else should get the hell out.
Also Home Fire insurance should be compulsory for Home Owners so people have less incentive to stay.
I noticed also that Clive Hamilton, writing in Crikey today is using the fires as a call to arms to do something about climate change. As if bush fires have not been part of Australia’s history for the past 200 years. And using such a tragedy to back up his personal views is a disgrace.
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