Suggesting there may have been the occasional upside to the Nazi party's twelve year Thousand Year Reich is enough to cause your common and garden anti-fascist to foam at the mouth.
But to be fair, the Nazis had the odd nice road. The Airfix Tiger tank craps all over those wussy Churchills and Shermans. And let's cut right to the chase -- I mean, right to it -- they had by far the coolest uniforms.
Just as provocative -- well, it is... a bit ... sort of ... shut up -- even though I agree with what he's on about, in much the same way the mostly nasty Nazis could whip up some very high class clobber indeed, I fear Damien Fleming may be sailing rather close to the wind....
THE banning of Muthiah Muralidaran's dodgy doosra will not stop Australia from trying to arm its next generation of spinners with a legalised version of cricket's deadly weapon.
Certainly I approve of the experimentation in pursuit of excellence, but I'd want to see some extremely conclusive proof that it wasn't a sly chuck before it was approved for match usage.
We need a doosra
Sri Lanka's world record-holder Muralidaran has been ordered not to bowl the controversial ball, which turns from leg to off, because scientific tests taken by the University of West Australia proved he illegally straightens his arm while delivering it.
However, Australian Centre of Excellence coach Damien Fleming believes Australian youngsters must continue to experiment with the controversial delivery in the hope of finding a legalised form of it, which could unearth the quality finger spinner Australia has been craving since Colin Miller's retirement.
That India's Harbhajan Singh and Pakistan's Saqlain Mushtaq bowl versions of the ball, which have never been questioned by the game's umpires or match referees, has strengthened Fleming's belief it can be a desired option.
"There are not many off-spinners these days who just get through with normal off-spin," Fleming said.
"I reckon it is real challenge for off-spinners to work on the one which goes the other way. We have seen Jack Iverson and Johnny Gleeson play around with it. Why can't someone these days have a go at it?
"Murali, Harbhajan and Saqlain all bowl the top-spinner and the one which goes the other way.
"Our two most successful off-spin bowlers of the last few decades have been Colin Miller and Bruce Yardley, who were formerly outswing bowlers who curved the ball away.
"The old-fashioned off-spinner who throws the ball up just seems to be in real trouble these days.
"I don't think it is an Australian Centre of Excellence thing. We encourage cricketers everywhere to keep improving their skills."
Australia has never had an off-spinner who has taken more than 150 Test wickets and selector Allan Border said recently unearthing a young finger spinner was his top priority for Australia's cricketing future.
Selection chairman Trevor Hohns is also fascinated by Gleeson's flick-fingered style in which the ball spun the opposite way to what was expected to.
Just looking at your post titles; have you ever been a tabloid sub-editor?
Posted by: Dirk Thruster | 17 May 2004 at 19:49
No such luck, Dirk. But I'd like to be. If the London Sun rang up and offered me a job I'd be on the next plane. What can I say? A bloke's gotta have lofty ambitions.
Posted by: Tony.T | 19 May 2004 at 11:13