Next year, the Southern Hemisphere's Super rugby competition expands to 15 teams with the introduction 5th Australian team, the Melbourne Rebels. Of course, the biggest talking point surrounding the Rebels will be how successfully they can infiltrate the Aussie Rules heartland that is Victoria (and all of Southern Australia for that matter). Therefore, the most effective measurem of success will not be how successful the newest franchise can be on the field- it is folly to consider them as title...

Ever since debuting in January last year against the touring South Africans, Doug Bollinger has become something of a cult hero among fans. So much so, in fact, that he's beginning to remind me of another solid, popular paceman of the 1980's and 90's ilk: the great Mervyn Gregory Hughes.

Ah, Merv. Who can forget the great moustachioed paceman who became Bill Lawry's second favourite Victorian of all-time? Unfortunately I was too young to watch Merv play Test cricket (or at least remember...

When the Australian Test squad for the tour of New Zealand was announced last week, one reasonably surprising inclusion was 20-year-old New South Wales leggie Steve Smith. On first glance, it may seem his inclusion is only ceremonial, but I believe that he will play in the first Test against New Zealand starting on Friday, and these are the five reasons why.

1. The Kid's In Form
Smith was recently named the Steve Waugh medallist for the 2009/10 season (NSW player of the year),...

Just when you think Pakistan cricket's internal problems couldn't get any worse, this happens; the obviously jaded and fed up Pakistan Cricket Board has come out and handed down punishments to 7 of its key players in the aftermath of the recently unsuccessful tour of Australia.

Of the 7 players in question, former captain Younis Khan and (until recently) current captain Mohammad Yousuf have been given what seems to be a life ban for representing their country after their infighting...

As a tournament, the Under-19 Cricket World Cup is amazing. For a relatively narrow sport, it somehow manages to be the biggest age-restricted tournament in the world, and each World Cup still manages to unearth future stars that have big futures for their country. This year's tournament in New Zealand was no exception.

Even though the tournament's main purpose is to showcase these future stars, you cannot say that the tournament wasn't exciting. Honestly, my only problem with the...