SuperSport's Good Week / Bad Week: WAGs at Aussie cricket pre-training

Good week for:

Paintball wizard

Cricket commentary is prone to hyperbole. But for once describing a pull shot as artistry is completely accurate. Former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan has been belting paint-soaked balls into canvases to produce works of art. The wobbly-chinned top order maestro has hired a warehouse near his Yorkshire home and smashed out more than 60 paintings since Christmas.

Playing his game

There's more of this arty-sporty crossover. Ex-professional soccer player Ahil Ratnamohan is starring in a one-man show in Sydney about his life in the beautiful game. "I've always had this soccer drive and a fascination for the beauty and philosophy of the game," he says of The Football Diaries.

The Luke Exception

At least Luke McAlister's return to these shores clarifies the hypocrisy of the New Zealand Rugby Union's policy on overseas exemptions.

WAGs at pre-training

Great news for Aussie cricketers. They're now much less likely to have their secret rooting and dirty texting appear in the tabloids. Cricket Australia is encouraging the players to bring their wives and girlfriends along to a pre-Ashes training camp. "It is uncharted territory," said CA operations manager Michael Brown. He's right you know, it's totally uncharted territory for a professional sportsman on tour to go to bed with a woman whose name he knows.

Secret ingredient

The former physio of Bolivian soccer team Blooming has revealed the secret to the team's success when playing at altitude in La Paz. "We used Sildenafil, better known as Viagra. In Bolivia, the best-known brand is Segurex. We prescribed it for several players, especially those who suffered most from altitude," says Rodrigo Figueroa, a Chilean. Given the tendency of sportsmen to get themselves into shagging-related difficulties, can this be altogether wise?

Bad week for:

Force be without them ...

Matt Giteau is off to the Brumbies, but not to worry, the Force still has star winger Drew Mitchell to provide the backline spark in 2010. Er, not any more. Mitchell is following his pal Giteau out the door, opting to play his way into the Waratahs rather than stick it out with John Mitchell's mob.

... and without him too

So whatever will John Mitchell and Force boss Greg Harris do to halt the exodus of key figures from the troubled western side? Harris has a solution: He's off! He has joined the flight, quitting Mitch's isolated cult and buggering off back to Sydney after just a year in the job.

Time to count his money

Naturally, with the IPL being played in South Africa, Kevin Pietersen gets booed throughout. His form is shot too - on Wednesday the England captain, who fetched $2.8 million in the players' auction, was stumped for 11 off a bowler bought for $54,000.

Gee, we've had enough

Why is it that whenever a bunch of people with vested interests get together they are called the G(insert number here)? Why must nine provincial union chiefs who send a moaning letter to the NZRU about the state of the game, the price of milk and the lack of respect from young people these days be termed the "G9"? SuperShorts (the G1) has had enough of this nonsense.

Timeout trouble

Queensland Firebirds coach Vicki Wilson spent most of last week firing shots at other ANZ Championship teams, but her own mob deserved a bit of a roasting after the weekend. Although they comfortably beat the lowly Central Pulse, the Firebirds looked like confused schoolgirls when it came to dealing with injury time substitutions. Captain Peta Stephens called a timeout, tore off her bib and walked dejected off the court, not bothering to give her team a chance to organise a replacement. The umpire then signalled play to resume, despite the Firebirds being left with only six players. Cue a comedy of errors as the Queenslanders scrambled to get their replacement player on court. Time to study up on the rulebook girls.