ULTIMATE STIMULUS

Sports Online, in generously offering to relieve you of your hard-earned, is getting into the spirit of the stimulus:

Sports Online are proudly Australian owned and operated. As many Australians have recently received (or are about to receive) their economy stimulus payment, we would like to offer a selection of purely AUSTRALIAN sports memorabilia that is 100% Aussie through and through. You can be sure that every dollar spent on these sale items will be kept in our country!

What's more, they are doing it with a surprising piece of scamorabilia. Not merely your 500 ceramic caps or your 457 authentic replica Mobile Prepaid stumps, but with an actual one-off bat:

2007 The Ultimate Hat-Trick World Cup Champions bat
ONLY 1 AVAILABLE
Framed Price: $3,930.00 + $65.00 delivery

Who knew "one-off" was in the scamorabilia lexicon. Pity it's a generic bat and not a player's bat.

The timing of the release is serendipitous, too. I mean, Australia might have sagged in the world rankings, down to a gutter-grovelling No.3 for the first time, but the media cycle has a short memory. Australia have won the last three World Cups. Or as it is known round these parts: The Only Fifty/50 Tournament That Matters.

Comments

[Amy]

I get it. Struggling families use their stimulus payout to buy a one-off cricket bat. Can't think of a better use myself, really.

I think the payouts would cover the cost of delivery and that's about it.

[nick]

Bias reaches new heights! Saffa female - 'this opening partnership hasnt really worked for Aus'. Blewie - 'they did make 130 odd last game'. Saffette 'bit edgey'

[Tony T]

Ami: You should get a big TV then you can watch Mr Bottlemart over and over and over again.

Nick: Bugger me! The cricket's on. Yeah. 0/129, now 0/70. Dreadful.

[Tony T]

Merv might have been right about Botha, but he needs to stop raving when Gibbs & AB pull off regulation saves.

[Tony T]

I wondered about Klutz, too.

[Martin]

Not out. Can't see by what measure he could be run out. He is almost behind the stumps, maybe he is in the air but that doesn't matter as he had already taken two strides over the crease. Wasn't Inzi falsely given out under these circumstances?

[Tony T]

Do you mean the one where Inzi at the striker's end jumped over a throw from the bowler? Or the one where a bloke running to the non-striker's end (possibly Inzy) jumped over a return which hit the stumps?

[Russ]

The law is a little odd in this respect. You can jump vertically to avoid the ball, and not be runout, but otherwise need to remain grounded behind the line. The sensible thing, to me, would have been to judge it as in basketball, where your position is taken as the last point in which you had some part on the ground, but go figure. In this case, because Haddin wasn't avoiding the ball he would have been technically out.

[Tony T]

Russ, what's the official line on that?

I looked through the rules... sorry Laws, and nowhere could I find it set down that there is an exception to Law 29.1:

1. When out of his ground A batsman shall be considered to be out of his ground unless his bat or some part of his person is grounded behind the popping crease at that end.

[Russ]

Tony, law 38.2:

Batsman not Run out
Notwithstanding 1 above, a batsman is not out Run out if
(a) he has been within his ground and has subsequently left it to avoid injury, when the wicket is put down.

The extensive notes explain that this means both vertically (jumping the ball) and horizontally (stepping out of the crease to avoid the ball).

[Tony T]

Silly me.

I thought "left it [the ground] to avoid injury" meant that he actually went off the ground injured, not jumped to avoid getting hurt.