New Zealand hardly ever hosts a decent cricket test series.
But when the action against the Brendon McCullum-coached England begins in Mt Maunganui, one of our great fast bowlers will be just up the road watching it on TV (or maybe he’ll be at the ground, licking an ice cream).
The game has become so twisted by money and inept management that a key test cricketer will miss a mighty series because he’s been playing T20 in the UAE, which ranks alongside endeavours like playing tiddlywinks in Timbuktu.
I don’t know who to blame, but maybe cricket needs some hard and fast rules and international windows so someone like Boult isn’t ruled out by such a ridiculous clash of schedules.
The issue came up again at the end of a press conference in Pakistan, but Black Caps coach Gary Stead didn’t go into the ins and outs.
Stead cited “workload” as the reason, with Boult arriving back in New Zealand a couple of days before the first test.
But I can’t see why Boult — a free agent since last year — won’t at least be considered for the second test.
And there was no discussion around why Boult can’t be zoomed into test action this time, when it worked so well in England last year.
We the punters deserve a decent explanation at least.
Everyone is a loser here, including the New Zealand players who deserve to play in a full-strength team, and even England who will want to prove themselves against the best.
The blame can probably be spread around. But cricket needs its head read if it keeps going down this stupid road.
WINNER: Sporting romance… and a couple of Hollywood types
English football’s historic knockout football competition has lost glamour over the years, but it keeps on keeping on.
There’s nothing like the FA Cup for allowing minnows to have a moment of glory in classic David v Goliath battles.
Step up Wrexham, the fifth-tier club from Wales that is the subject of a fascinating fly-on-the-wall TV series.
‘Welcome to Wrexham’ is the brainchild of Hollywood’s Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, who bought the club.
Wrexham's defeat of Coventry is the club's most significant under actor Ryan Reynolds' ownership. Photo / Getty
And they’ve got a wonderful new centrepiece with Wrexham upsetting Championship side Coventry in the FA Cup third round over the weekend.
And then there’s Boreham Wood — a football non-entity playing in the same division as Wrexham — who have been an FA Cup fairytale side in recent years and achieved a surprise FA Cup draw in the latest round.
Chairman Danny Hunter — whose father is a former manager of the Boreham Wood side — remortgaged his house during the pandemic to keep the club going.
He wanted to keep the memories alive, and make some more.
It’s a far cry from a club like EPL giants Manchester United, who have reportedly introduced a rule capping player payments at a mere $380,000 a week each.
And yet these two clubs are in the same competition.
The FA Cup is unique.
LOSER: The New Zealand honours system
Question: A colleague asked why Hamish Bond and Eric Murray didn’t receive knighthoods in the latest list, getting a lesser prize instead.
Answer: There’s no good reason, except to say that the whole national honours business is a load of codswallop.
WINNER/LOSER: Wellington Phoenix
Great to see the Phoenix making headlines via a bizarre victory over Sydney FC in the A-league.
Sadly, they’ll go back to the fine print.
LOSERS: Climate change deniers
Some sports face difficult times due to radically changing weather patterns.
I hear climate change is a growing topic of conversation in cricket circles, for instance.
It will also be testing the mettle of groundkeepers.
Auckland’s international women’s tennis event had to survive repeated rain interventions.
At least rising American star Coco Gauff’s victory gave the ASB Classic some welcome credibility.
Meanwhile, the European heatwave is forcing ski fields to close and a World Cup event in Switzerland will take place on artificial snow.
A climate science professor told Sky News: “By the end of the century it’s just going to be over… skiing in the Alps as we know it… the snow will continue to melt as long as the climate warms.”
LOSER or WINNER… Pat Cummins
The Australian cricket captain is getting it in the neck from some quarters after declaring overnight with Usman Khawaja five runs short of a double century. But Cummins job is to win test matches. And as it turned out, Australia actually needed a lot more time to try and dismiss South Africa at the SCG. Cummins is paid the big bucks to make the tough decisions.
WINNER… social media, sometimes
It’s not all bad…
Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin is tweeting and sharing photos from his hospital bed, after needing life-saving treatment on the field during an NFL game last week.
It was horrifying to witness the incident, in which Hamlin rose after making a tackle then wobbled to the ground from cardiac arrest.
It’s such a relief, to see him sitting up in bed and communicating.
Back in the day, such a connection with a stricken star would have been impossible.
But as an old timer, it still seems weird seeing someone in his position hitting social media just days after a near-tragic event.
