Afridi says aggression, ending ‘mental hang up’ critical for Pak success against Oz

May 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Karachi, May 20 (ANI): Flamboyant Pakistan T20 skipper Shahid Afridi believes that his team suffers from a ‘mental hang up’ when it comes to competing with the World Champions Australia, and he wants to help players break that ‘jinx’ concerning the Kangaroos.

In the recent years, Pakistan have had a nightmarish record against Australia, with the latest being the January-February tour where Pakistan failed to register even a single win against the hosts.

It came close to defeating Australia in the semifinal of the just concluded ICC T20 World Championship in the West Indies, but faltered at the last moment.

Afridi said the loss almost shattered his heart, but he pointed towards the positive aspect of the loss that at least Pakistan played some tough and competitive cricket.

“I would have been left completely shattered but what gave me hope was the fact that we played aggressive cricket and a victory against Australia was within our reach,” The News quoted Afridi, as saying.

“It would have been great had we go on to win that match but once again the Australians proved that they are still the best in the world,” he added.

The hard hitting all-rounder pointed out that defeating Australia has never been easy, but the teams competing against the world champions would have to match the aggression of the Kangaroos to stand any chance.

“I must make it clear that beating Australia will never be easy. But I’m also confident that we can do it. What we need is to overcome our mental hang up and just play brave cricket. The thing is that the Aussies are mentally very tough and the only way to beat them is by going out there and giving it our best shot. You have to be really aggressive against that team because there is no other way to tackle them,” Afridi said.

Afridi said he is eagerly waiting for the two T20 encounters against Australia during the upcoming series in England, as the best chance of ending the team’s poor run against Australia is to defeat them in the game in which they are considered to be the best.

“It would take a gigantic effort to beat Australia in the Test series but Twenty20 cricket is a different story. We have a very good team for the shortest format and can beat any opposition on our day,” he said. (ANI)

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Afridi says aggression, ending ‘mental hang up’ critical for Pak success against Oz

May 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Karachi, May 20 (ANI): Flamboyant Pakistan T20 skipper Shahid Afridi believes that his team suffers from a ‘mental hang up’ when it comes to competing with the World Champions Australia, and he wants to help players break that ‘jinx’ concerning the Kangaroos.

In the recent years, Pakistan have had a nightmarish record against Australia, with the latest being the January-February tour where Pakistan failed to register even a single win against the hosts.

It came close to defeating Australia in the semifinal of the just concluded ICC T20 World Championship in the West Indies, but faltered at the last moment.

Afridi said the loss almost shattered his heart, but he pointed towards the positive aspect of the loss that at least Pakistan played some tough and competitive cricket.

“I would have been left completely shattered but what gave me hope was the fact that we played aggressive cricket and a victory against Australia was within our reach,” The News quoted Afridi, as saying.

“It would have been great had we go on to win that match but once again the Australians proved that they are still the best in the world,” he added.

The hard hitting all-rounder pointed out that defeating Australia has never been easy, but the teams competing against the world champions would have to match the aggression of the Kangaroos to stand any chance.

“I must make it clear that beating Australia will never be easy. But I’m also confident that we can do it. What we need is to overcome our mental hang up and just play brave cricket. The thing is that the Aussies are mentally very tough and the only way to beat them is by going out there and giving it our best shot. You have to be really aggressive against that team because there is no other way to tackle them,” Afridi said.

Afridi said he is eagerly waiting for the two T20 encounters against Australia during the upcoming series in England, as the best chance of ending the team’s poor run against Australia is to defeat them in the game in which they are considered to be the best.

“It would take a gigantic effort to beat Australia in the Test series but Twenty20 cricket is a different story. We have a very good team for the shortest format and can beat any opposition on our day,” he said. (ANI)

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Flintoff likely to play for Queensland in Australia’s T20 Big Bash

May 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 18 (ANI): Injured all rounder Andrew Flintoff, who has still not given up hope of returning to England’s limited-overs team, is all set to play in an Australian domestic Twenty20 tournament.

Flintoff, 32, who watched England secure a historic win over the Aussies in the World Twenty20 final, is scheduled to play for Lancashire in late July.

He has been approached by three Australian states to play in the Big Bash tournament, with Queensland being his likely destination, The Sun reports.

The tournament clashes with the one-day series versus Australia in January, which builds up to the 2011 World Cup in Indian subcontinent.

But Flintoff admitted that he faces a battle to get into the England’s side following their recent success. (ANI)

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The best I have ever played: Hussey

May 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Michael Hussey still cannot believe that he has guided Australia to the Twenty20 World Cup finals with his hurricane knock against Pakistan but he is quite sure that the 24-ball 60 is the best innings of his career so far.

Chasing an intimidating 191 for six, Australia were on the rack at 105 for five in the 13th over and needed 70 runs from five overs at one stage.

Going into the final over of the innings, the Aussies needed 18 runs to win. But Hussey turned the match on its head with unalloyed pyrotechnics, putting the issue across Pakistan with one ball to spare.

“That is probably the best I have ever played. I earlier considered the Ashes Test in Adelaide where I hit the last ball for a six as my best ever cricket innings. But this was the semis and a very crucial match for us. It is the best innings I have ever played,” he said.

Hussey said he wasn’t confident that Australia could achieve the target and still can’t believe that his team has actually made the finals, where it will take on England tomorrow.

“Even I had plenty of doubts on whether we could score the runs. I can’t believe it myself.”

Looking back at the incredible knock, Hussey said he took time to get his eye in before he started hitting the ball all over the park.

“Initially, I take a few balls to get in. That is what I was trying to do, to get the strike. By the end of the innings I was trying to hit every ball. It happened to go my way. I am very, very happy,” said the beaming middle-order batsman.

Asked about his thoughts going into the last over, Hussey said he just wanted to hit every ball out of the stadium.

“I just wanted to try and hit every ball for a shot. If he had bowled yorkers and they were perfect, there wasn’t much you can do about it. But he (Saeed Ajmal) missed his length just by little bit.

“I told myself, God please hit the last ball with the middle of the bat. I didn’t know what it felt like till I did it. I was delighted to see the elation on my teammates faces when they ran in. I am so excited to be in the final,” said Hussey.

Hussey said he enjoys playing Twenty20 cricket.

“I have always enjoyed playing Twenty 20 cricket. My first love is Test cricket, first and foremost. But Twenty20 is a great format for the kids to enjoy and take to it. “Hopefully, they take the game up. It is an awesome concept. The players are getting better by the day at it. Batting and bowling skills continue to improve. I reckon it will keep getting better,” he said.

Meanwhile, skipper Michael Clarke commended his trusted match-winner.

“I willed myself not to watch the final over. But when I saw one six come after another, I got into the game. It would have been hard to believe at one stage. It was an amazing day today. It is a freakish performance, unbelievable to achieve by a cricketer in any form of the game. Thanks to Hussey, we are in the final,” said the Australian captain.

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Women follow men, out of T20

May 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Stuck in the same groove, the Indian women’s cricket team failed to make it to the final of the World T20.

Not the first time the team have lost in the semi-finals of a tournament, the women sporting the erstwhile blue uniform of the men’s team, experienced a shutdown with the bat, ball and in the field against Australia here on Thursday.

For Australia, skipper Alex Blackwell led the chase of 119 in a clinical fashion, scoring her first international T20 half-century and booking her team’s first final berth with a seven-wicket victory and eight balls to spare.

Australia lost an early wicket, like India, in the very first over but hit a flurry of boundaries in the powerplay — unlike India — to negate the possibilities of an opposition fightback with the softer ball on slower pitch. The Aussies hit 14 boundaries, with Blackwell alone hitting eight — equal to what the entire Indian line-up could manage.

Skipper Jhulan Goswami opted for the left-arm spin of Gouhar Sultana to share the new ball with her, but Sultana was welcomed with two hits through the covers by Shelley Nitschke. Leg-spinner Priyanka Roy marked her introduction with four consecutive full tosses, with the first three clearing the on-side rope, and ended the over conceding 15 runs.

Goswami tried seven bowlers but could not create a breakthrough as Nitschke and Blackwell added 74 runs for the second wicket — Blackwell reached her first international T20 half-century in 37 balls.

Roy dismissed both but it was too late by then.

Early setback

Earlier, Sulakshana Naik fell in the third delivery of the innings when her wild slash ended in the hands of Jess Cameron at point. Mithali Raj started with a couple of sublime drives but was stumped while dragging herself out to play another to a Lisa Sthalekar delivery that held its line.

At the other end, Poonam Raut was slow to get off the blocks as India managed only 23 in the powerplay against the disciplined Aussie attack. Raut took most of the strike early on, first to find her timing and then placement, before she looked for elevation to clear the in-field. The opener hit only three boundaries in her 51-ball 44 but was involved in two useful partnerships: 29 runs with Mithali for the second wicket, and 57 runs with Harmanpreet Kaur, which lent stability to the innings.

Having got a life on 7 after Blackwell’s brilliant effort running backwards saw the ball roll over off her fingers, Kaur, along with Raut, took the total to 81 for 2 in 15 overs. Both lost their wickets while trying to add quick runs.

Raut fell six short of a well-deserved half-century — taking the aerial route, she was caught at long-on. Kaur and skipper Jhulan Goswami, who pushed herself up the batting order, were run out. Amita Sharma hit the only six of the innings when she cleared Clea Smith over long-off as India set a below-par score on a slow Beausejour wicket.

“Our spinners had an off-day,” Goswami said afterwards. “They had been dong really well till now — we have always opened the bowling with spinners but unfortunately they couldn’t do much today.”

She said it was especially disappointing since the country’s expectations rested on them after the men’s team failed to get into the World T20 semi-finals.

Her Australian counterpart, Blackwell, meanwhile hoped for a double at the tournament. “I think it would be a first to have teams from the same country winning the men’s and women’s titles,” she said.

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Defending champions Pak raring to go against Oz in T20 WC semi-final

May 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, May 14 (ANI): Ahead of their semi-final clash with Australia in the World T20 Championship, Pakistani cricketers are fancying their chances of making it into the final of the tournament for the second consecutive time in a row, and are eagerly waiting for the match to be played today (Friday, May 14).

Speaking over telephone from St.Lucia, Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed said the mood in the dressing room is upbeat and players have vowed not to repeat their past mistakes.

“They (players) needed a bit of confidence and they got that with their victory against South Africa. Now the team has attained a level where it would not be easy for any side to beat us,” The News quoted Saeed, as saying.

“How we have reached the semis and how Australia has made it to the pre-final is immaterial now. Australia faces same challenges that we face. The better team would come out victorious,” he added.

Saeed said the Pakistan team have been closely watching videos of the match played against the Kangaroos earlier in the tournament, and have noted their mistakes.

“Players have watched the TV footage of the earlier match against the Aussies and realised where they were wrong. Every player has vowed not to repeat the same mistakes and play the match to the best of their abilities,” he said.

Another team official, who chose not to be named, said the defending champions have been busy chalking out strategies for the game from the last two days, and apart from some small issues everything has been finalized.

“There is only one place where there is a chance of making adjustments. Misbah-ul-Haq has not been able to get his hundred percent so far. Should he be dropped or there is a need for his readjustment is questions that needed an answer,” the official said. (ANI)

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Pak must aim at wickets, not containment to win T20 title: Imran Khan

May 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, May 13 (ANI): Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan has said that the Shahid Afridi led team should adopt a ‘wicket taking’ policy rather than just focussing on preventing other teams from scoring runs, if it has to move further in the ICC World T20 World Championship.

He said Afridi should adopt the same strategy which was adopted by the 1992 World Cup winning Pakistan squad, which was to look for wickets.

“This is what the Aussies have been doing and this has made them a great team,” The Nation quoted Imran, as saying.

Pakistan would be taking on Australia in the second semi-final of the T20 championship at St.Lucia tomorrow (Friday, May 14).

He also suggested that Pakistan should use fast bowler Mohammed Asif as an attacking bowler, and not as a ‘run stopper’.

Imran, one of Pakistan’s most successful captains, said that batting was Pakistan’s main problem in the on going tournament, as apart from opener Salman Butt none of the other batsmen have fired so far.

He said that since Pakistan’s batting has not been upto the mark, Afridi should always look to bat first rather than chasing.

He also suggested some changes in the batting order, saying Afridi should bring himself and Misbah-ul-Haq up the order so that they can accumulate maximum runs when the ball is new and hard. (ANI)

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Gayle says he”ll sledge Watto and other Aussies in 20-20 decider

May 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

St. Lucia (West Indies), May 11 (ANI): West Indian cricket captain Chris Gayle has said that he intends to sledge Australian opener Shane Watson and other members of his team when the two sides engage in a Super Eight World Twenty20 encounter at the Beausejour Cricket Ground tomorrow.

“I”m definitely looking forward to a victory, but I”m not going to get personal with anyone. I”ll stick to what I can do and try to get my team up and ready against Australia and get the guys confident. I”m not going to target anyone. But I might well just be doing some sledging of them,” Gayle said.

Gayle and Watson clashed heatedly when the Australia all-rounder comically celebrated after taking the prized wicket of the Windies skipper in the Perth Test in the summer.

Gayle later said: “I didn”t expect anything better. That”s typically Shane Watson.”

Both opening batsmen will play crucial hands in a match that looms as the best of the tournament to date.

Australia must win to ensure a semi-final berth – potentially against England – even though they remain undefeated after their 81-run win against Sri Lanka at Kensington Oval. (ANI)

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Australia beat England in women”s Twenty20 clash

May 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Basseterre (West Indies), May 6 (ANI): The Australian women”s cricket team have beaten defending champions England in a dramatic opening World Twenty20 match in Basseterre in St Kitts and Nevis.

The Aussies won the game on a count back thanks to the only six of the game from Jess Cameron after the scores were tied with the subsequent super over unable to separate the sides.

Both teams were dismissed for 104 and scored 2-6 in their super overs, before the Aussies were declared the winners thanks to Cameron”s six earlier in the match. (ANI)

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Aussie pair through in Portugal

May 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Adopted Aussies Jarmila Groth and Anastasia Rodionova have both won their first-round women’s matches at the Estoril Open in Portugal.

Groth upset sixth seed and former Slovakian compatriot Magdalena Rybarikova 6-4, 6-3, while Russian-born Rodionova defeated Austrian Yvonne Meusburger 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.

Groth takes on Kristina Barrois in the next round with Radionova to meet Stefanie Voegele.

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New Barbie collection inspired by Aussie beauties

May 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Sydney, May 5 (ANI): Australian models including Miranda Kerr, Abbey Lee Kershaw and Catherine McNeil have so far inspired leading designers, magazine editors, makeup artists. Now, these catwalk babes have inspired Mattel – the makers of Barbie, the world”s most famous doll.

Barbie”s new collection has a distinctively Aussie look, with some of the 12 new mini models inspired by Australian beauties.

The Barbie Basics Collection was launched at Australian Fashion Week.

It has 12 dolls styled in the timeless little black dress, each featuring faces inspired by supermodels, including Aussies.

“You need to have that little bit something extra even in something like Barbie and this line delivers that,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Robert Best, Barbie principal designer, as saying.

“It is aimed at a fashion consumer and a consumer who”s going to be aware of the kind of girls like Miranda Kerr, Abbey Lee Kershaw and Catherine McNeil who are working and dominating the pages of fashion magazines,” he added. (ANI)

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India, Australia are Sobers favourites to lift Twenty20 World Cup title

April 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Barbados (West Indies), Apr.21 (ANI): Former West Indies star Gary Sobers has said that India and Australia are his favourites for wresting this year’s Twenty20 World Cup title, but adds that England and the West Indies also possess the wares to deliver.

“India will have a head start on most because of their experience in the IPL and they could push the rebuilt Aussies hard, even without my big friend Sachin Tendulkar. As for the Aussies – as soon as one lot retire, in come more world-class players,” Sobers told The Sun in an interview here.

In an interview to The Sun, Sobers, who played 93 Tests for the West Indies from 1954 to 1974 and scored over 8,000 runs and claimed 235 wickets, said England’s South African imports Kevin Pietersen and hard-hitting wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter could make the difference for England. He also said that the team’s spinners, especially the impressive Graham Swann, would be suited to the slow Caribbean wickets.

“England and my own West Indies could spring a surprise or two, but my favourites remain Australia and India, even though nothing is certain in this form of cricket,” Sober said.

Sobers said that currently he was concentrating on the Sir Garfield Sobers Festival of Golf at Sandy Lane, Royal Westmoreland and Barbados Golf Club from April 23-25, but was looking forward to the Twenty20 World Cup that begins in the Caribbean from April 30. (ANI)

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Firebirds finally take flight against Mystics

April 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Rivalry round honours have gone to Australia in the trans-Tasman netball league, as the Romelda Aiken-inspired Queensland Firebirds broke through for their first win of the season.

Preseason fancy Queensland got its groove back, as it outmuscled the Auckland-based Northern Mystics 71-54 at the Brisbane Convention Centre.

The Rivalry Round Trophy was all but decided before the Firebirds ran out against the Mystics after the unbeaten Melbourne Vixens thumped the Tactix 64-49 at Christchurch earlier in the night.

Domination in the round matching up the five Australian and five New Zealand teams is decided by goal aggregate.

And the Vixens’ victory gave the Aussies a massive 41-strong advantage heading into the Firebirds’ crunch clash.

Yet Queensland still had plenty to play for after surprisingly dropping its first three games despite dominating the preseason with tournament wins in both Queenstown and Sydney.

Indeed the Mystics would have backed themselves to notch their first win on Australian soil and reclaim fourth spot after arriving with a 2-1 record – their only loss coming against heavyweights Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic last round.

However, following great service from Sarah Wall and Lauren Nourse, Queensland’s maligned scoring duo of Aiken and Natalie Medhurst finally clicked – much to rookie Firebirds coach Roselee Jencke’s relief.

After struggling in the early rounds to cope with increased attention from opposition defenders, Jamaican sensation Aiken detonated on Monday night, shooting 42 from 50 at 84 per cent.

World championship-winning goal attack Medhurst was just as damaging, shooting 29 from 32 at 91.

Catherine Latu (29 from 34 at 85) and Maria Tutaia (25 from 29 at 86) tried to keep the visitors in contention as Queensland kept its nose in front to lead 15-12 at the first break and 32-27 at half-time.

But it was all over after Queensland outscored the visitors 20-11 in a third-term blitz to enjoy a 52-38 advantage at the final break.

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If only Aussies could putt

April 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Geoff Ogilvy and Adam Scott would be in contention at the Masters if they did not have to putt.

They do not hand out green jackets for hitting greens in regulation, however, which is why another Masters will pass without an Australian victory.

Ogilvy and Scott could only lament similar tales of woe after struggling on the greens in the third round at Augusta National.

Ogilvy did not drop a shot, but squandered several golden birdie chances for an ultimately unsatisfying 3-under-par 69 that left the Victorian 11 strokes behind leader Lee Westwood, in equal 16th place.

And Scott, who described his second round putting performance as the worst of his life, was not much better as he carded 72 to trail by 12 shots.

“It’s been an incredibly frustrating week with the putter,” Ogilvy said.

“I holed three birdie putts and the longest was four feet maybe.

“I missed at least five or six that were less than 10 feet, so it was a day that could have been really, really special.

“I made a couple of good (par) saves, so that makes up for a couple (of the misses but) you can’t get it done around here putting like that.”

Ogilvy is usually an excellent putter and it is true that several of his shortish birdie chances were most difficult downhill putts that he had to tap defensively.

“Putting is unexplainable,” he said, preferring not to over-analyse.

“If you try hard to fix something it usually goes the wrong way.

“Some weeks you hole them, some weeks you don’t. I’m doing all the same things I do when I do make them. They’re just not going in.”

Meanwhile, nobody who made the cut has had more putts than Scott, who admitted he putted like an amateur.

He was 3-under for the round after 13 holes, until he missed a short par putt at the 14th that took the wind right out of his sails.

He missed another short one from 1.5 metres at 15, barely touching the hole, and yet another dropped shot at the last completed a miserable hour.

“It’s really smoke and mirrors, just false hope,” said Scott.

“It’s just so frustrating to play this well and putt so poorly, especially here, because it’s magnified.

“It’s hard to read (the break) when you don’t know how hard you’re going to hit it. My rhythm is off in my stroke and my confidence is down.

“I’ve missed so many putts now that I’m finding it hard to see them going in.

“I thought I was playing good enough to be in contention and I certainly am.”

“Thirty-five putts yesterday and probably a few less today – that’s pitiful.”

As Scott left the scoring hut, he almost bumped into leader Lee Westwood, who was walking from the ninth green to the 10th tee.

Westwood has had eight fewer putts than Scott.

As the saying goes, you drive for show and putt for dough, not to mention a green jacket.

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Actors terrified by Pacific boot camp

April 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Australian actor Joshua Helman was put through a gruelling boot camp prior to playing a marine in the upcoming World War II miniseries The Pacific.

Along with other actors, Helman lived off two small rationed meals a day and trained with real weapons.

The actors were also stripped of their real names, answering only to their character names in the Daintree rainforest in far north Queensland.

Training nearby, unbeknown to the group, were Japanese actors. They attacked the marines in the early hours one morning, firing blank rounds.

Helman says the experience was “terrifying”.

“They throw you into [that] world,” he said.

“I was speaking in an American accent the whole time. They didn’t refer to us once as actors. They trained us as marines. We were constantly on the move.

“Everyone lost weight. I think I lost about five kilograms or maybe six in 10 days.”

This type of training has been used in movies such as Saving Private Ryan and the miniseries Band Of Brothers, which was also produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.

Helman believes it gives the latest Spielberg/Hanks production, based on the memoirs of two marines during World War II, the edge.

Isabel Lucas, Gary Sweet, Zoe Carides and Bill Hunter are among other Aussies in the cast.

The Pacific premieres with a movie-length episode on April 14 on Channel Seven. In the US it airs on HBO.

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Johnson strikes as Kiwis get to work

March 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Zealand has to obliterate the record books if it is to pull off an unlikely win in the second Test after Australia left the home side with plenty of work to do on day four.

The Aussies, resuming on 4 for 333, blasted 178 in the morning session and declared during the lunch break at 8 for 511 – setting the Black Caps a monstrous victory target of 479.

At tea, New Zealand had pared that run chase down to 390 runs but lost the wickets of opening pair BJ Watling and Tim McIntosh to reach 2 for 89.

The highest fourth-innings total in Hamilton is the 6 for 344 Sri Lanka compiled to force a draw in 1991, a record that would take some beating.

And with a further 135 runs required on top of that, Australian captain Ricky Ponting will feel confident of wrapping up a 2-0 series win and completing an unbeaten Test summer.

Mitchell Johnson started in fine fettle with the wickets of both batsmen, first rocking McIntosh’s stumps before coaxing a neat edge from Watling through to Brad Haddin.

That gave Australia’s foremost paceman 2 for 18 from six overs, backing up from his impressive first-innings spell that yielded 4 for 59.

More to follow shortly.

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Internet-obsessed Aussies at ”infostress” risk

March 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Melbourne, March 24 (ANI): Australian”s habit of constantly spending time online could lead to “infostress” resulting in shorter attention spans and less sleep time, experts have cautioned.

Globally, Australia figures in the list of the top 20 most well-connected Internet using countries, and stands among the top 10 when it comes to the use of social-networking sites.

However, this Internet obsession can be dangerous and experts stress on the necessity of disconnecting the Internet occasionally.

The Nielsen 2010 Internet and Technology Report clearly shows that the real life of Australians has taken a backseat to their virtual life.

It revealed that Twitter”s Aussie users surged 400 per cent last year, three quarters of the country”s internet users now visit Facebook and over 9.8 million use social media sites.

“The time Aussies spend on social-networking sites has just been huge,” News.com.au quoted report author and Nielsen Online research director Melanie Ingrey, as saying.

She added: “Figures from another study show Australians are spending the most time on sites such as Facebook and across the social media category, compared with the US, UK and other western European countries.”

Another Nielsen survey found Australians spend nearly two working days (17.6 hours) online each week, with some younger users sitting over the net for up to 22 hours a week.

The increased web use is coupled with emails, instant messages, text messages and phone calls, and experts fear it is creating a new type of stress.

According to RMIT information technology lecturer John Lenarcic, many Australians show signs of obsessive-compulsive behaviour when it comes to Internet use. Some of these signs are: frequently checking email, spending long periods online and accessing the internet even when away from computers.

He added: “The first iteration of the internet was just published information so people looked things up and read them. But now, because of social networking, you”re expected to talk to people and share things like photos and videos.”

Queensland University of Technology business senior lecturer Dr Neville Meyers also blames smartphones and portable computers for information overload.

He said: “The mere fact you”ve got a laptop or a smartphone with you means you”re taking information on the run.

“Whether you have time to process it adequately is another thing.

“In a recent survey on mobility, 15 per cent of participants told us that even on holidays they felt like their mobile phone might ring and it could be a colleague trying to track them down.”

He added: “You can Facebook yourself to utter fatigue.” (ANI)

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Black Caps frustrate Aussies

March 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Australia is set to bat again in the first Test against New Zealand in Wellington following a morning session of stubborn resistance on day four at Basin Reserve.

The Black Caps, who were forced to follow on, reached the lunch interval on 5 for 266 in their second innings, trailing Australia by 36 runs.

Black Caps captain Daniel Vettori was unbeaten on 60 and Brendon McCullum was not out on 39.

The hosts had started day four on 5 for 187 and needing 115 runs to make Australia bat again, and after a delayed start because of rain and wind, they set about frustrating the tourists’ bowling attack.

Vettori and McCullum scored at a steady run rate to compile a 83-run stand for the sixth wicket with the Black Caps skipper reaching his 22nd half-century during the session.

It was an admirable performance from the pair, considering the meek display produced by the Black Caps in their first innings when they were dismissed for a disappointing 157 in reply to Australia’s 5 for 459 (declared).

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McCullum, Vettori help New Zealand live another day against Aussies at Wellington

March 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Wellington, Mar 22 (ANI): Brendon McCullum’s unbeaten 94 and skipper Daniel Vettori’s 77 helped pull New Zealand off the mat and take a 67 runs lead against Australia at end of fourth day play in Wellington”s Basin Reserve.

New Zealand were 369 for six in their second innings at stumps on a rain-shortened fourth day.

McCullum is six runs short of his fifth test century after a heroic rescue act left New Zealand to fight another day in the first cricket test against Australia.

New Zealand with just a 67 runs lead needs to bat nearly two sessions tomorrow to head to the second test in Hamilton with an unlikely draw.

“There was some good fight shown, it was great to see. We’re giving ourselves a good chance of saving the test and maybe even get into a position where we can put them under pressure to possibly even win the test,” said opener Tim McIntosh.

Playing his 50th test, McCullum frustrated the Australian attack for 215 minutes and 178 deliveries before bad light and showers forced an early end, Stuff.co.nz reports.

It could be McCullum’s best test innings yet if New Zealand saves the match after they followed on 302 behind.

McCullum and Vettori posted a record sixth-wicket stand against Australia of 126, before Tuffey helped add an unbroken 60 in 71 minutes.

Vettori took charge early, breezing to 50 off 64 balls as he cut, drove, hooked and shuffled.

His only life was on 60 when he chipped a ball through Johnson’s fingers on his follow through, and he and McCullum soon passed Stephen Fleming and Chris Cairns’ sixth wicket record of 110 on the same ground 10 years ago.

Hauritz finally removed Vettori when he played a sweep on to leg stump after a vital three-hour vigil. (ANI)

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Gallagher clinches slalom bronze

March 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Downhill skier Jessica Gallagher has made Australian Paralympics history, becoming the country’s first woman to win a medal at the Winter Games.

Gallagher took out bronze in the visually impaired women’s skiing at Whistler on Monday morning (AEDT), Australia’s first medal of the Games.

She posted a time of 0:57.77 to finish third behind Austrian Sabine Gasteiger and Canada’s Viviane Forest after the first run.

Their positions did not change after the second run, and the 53-year-old Austrian claimed the second gold and fifth medal of her Paralympic career.

“It is very satisfying because we have not been skiing long compared to a lot of the other competitors, and we have made a lot of sacrifices to be here,” said Gallagher, who is guided on the course by Queenslander Eric Bickerton.

“We have been dreaming about this for a long time.”

She said she was wound up before her second run.

“I am always nervous and all the excitement and adrenaline was building up inside of me,” she said.

“And I was bursting to go to the bathroom like always.”

Gallagher said her next target is track and field events at the summer Games in two years’ time, before a return to the slopes.

“I am going to start focusing on London in 2012 to compete in the shot put and the discus, and I definitely want to come back to Sochi in 2014,” she said.

“I think it [Sochi] will be a great [Paralympic Winter Games]. There is no limit to where Eric and I can get to.”

Birthday present

It was a sweet achievement for the 24-year-old on her birthday although the result came over a week earlier than expected.

The event was brought forward after heavy fog over the weekend postponing several events on the hill.

Gallagher said her celebrations will be low-key.

“After the medal ceremony I will catch up with my family and friends,” she said.

“Only my mum could make it from Australia but we have a good contingent of Aussies here and our team is really tight-knit.”

Gallagher has remarkably never competed at a Paralympic Games.

She intended to participate in long jump and shot put in Beijing in 2008 but was disqualified when tests showed she was not sufficiently vision impaired.

Instead, Gallagher attended as a medical administrator for the Australian team.

Australian Paralympic team head coach Steve Graham said Gallagher’s training regime held her in good stead for the dramatic rescheduling.

“When we train, I’m a huge believer in that you need to train every day as if the next day you might have to compete in any discipline,” he said.

“And it came to the fore today without a doubt.”

Graham said he was keen to have Gallagher, who is yet to decide between summer and winter sports, in the team for the 2014 winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia.

“Without a doubt. She can be a superstar of the technical events in our sport within another 12 months,” he said.

- ABC/AAP

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