Skysports.com's Joe Drabble runs the rule over a different type of beer in the news Down Under.
Skysports.com's Joe Drabble runs the rule over a different type of beer making the headlines Down Under
There are very few partnerships that can rival cricket and beer: Gin and tonic, rhythm and blues, William and Harry, bangers and mash, Richard and Judy, all fall a distant second to a refreshing cool ale in the summer sun with the sound of leather on willow echoing in the background.
Until now...
Cricket and beer appear to be on a crash course Down Under.
I'll get to the point: Australia's selection of left-arm spin bowler Michael Beer for the third Ashes Test has not gone down well here in Australia, not well at all.
The 26-year-old, who hails from Victoria but now plies his trade at Western Australia, boasts a cricket resume even Lord Sugar would not look twice at, so how has he earned a call up for the biggest cricket series going?! For the same reason Xavier Doherty earned his: The 'Kevin Pietersen effect'.
The fact that Pietersen has been dismissed 18 times in Test cricket by left-arm finger spinners has given the Aussie selectors a straw to clutch. That, and the fact Beer dismissed him at Perth when England played West Australia before the Ashes series started.
Fantasy
Indeed, Beer will be the 10th spinner to represent Australia since the legendary Shane Warne hung up his bowling boots at the start of 2007, if he plays at the WACA - messrs MacGill, Hogg, White, Krejza, Casson, McGain, Smith, Hauritz and Doherty taking off the baggy green no sooner than they had put it on.
Calls for Warne to return to save Australia were a fantasy, but a believable fantasy due to the predicament the once utterly dominant cricket nation now find themselves in.
The knives are well and truly out for chief selector Andrew Hilditch and if Beer fails to hit the spot in Perth, expect the top dog to jump before he is pushed!
Adelaide has been very kind to me since I arrived here almost two weeks ago, however I'm moving on to pastures new on Tuesday morning as I literally travel back in time to Perth in preparation for the third Test.
I've heard great things about Perth (the most isolated major city in the world), and the nearby beach resort of Freemantle - the place the city residents go to 'let their hair down' at night.
My one reservation is the cricket. Not least how England will cope without Stuart Broad - one of their key men in this burgeoning 'Flower-Strauss' era. On paper, the loss of Broad for the summer is not that significant because he has been the least prolific of the specialist bowlers, with his two Ashes wickets coming at an average of 80.50. However, he has been our most economical seamer and also has the ability to score big runs down the order.
I expect England to bring in Tim Bresnan as a 'like-for-like' replacement due to the Yorkshireman's ability with the bat, however there could be a temptation to push Graeme Swann up to No.8 and bring in the pace and bounce of Chris Tremlett.
Either way, I'll be there to update you every step of the way.
For more updates from the Ashes series, follow Joe on
Twitter @DrabsDownUnder.
