New York mayor Michael Bloomberg is on the pork barrel trail in the lead-up to the November 8 city elections.

Bloomberg kicked off a busy meet-the-people Saturday with a photo op at St Alban's Park, Queens, which he announced would receive $1.5 million of city funding for the building of a dedicated cricket ground. It will only be the second specialist cricket venue in contemporary New York.

Thursday's Christian Science Monitor has a rather confused article by Mark Rice-Oxley titled Cricket makes a comeback in Britain.

Rice-Oxley talks about the increased interest in Test cricket as a result of the excitement of the Second and Third Tests between England and Australia, yet the sub-editors appear to be more interested in playing up the Twenty20 elements of the article. Possibly because they've noticed the word "baseball" used in close proximity to Twenty20 quite frequently.

The astounding cricket played by England and Australia has not only rejuvenated the 123 year old Ashes competition, it’s also demonstrated that the five Test series is one of the supreme forms of spectator sport available on earth today.

New column by Mike Marqusee in Wednesday's Guardian, and reproduced on his own blog, praising the current Ashes series.

I'm talking, of course, about Pat Robertson.

Donald Rumsfeld's response to Robertson's suggestion of assassinating Hugo Chavez says it all:

Certainly, it's against the law. Our department doesn't do that type of thing.

Belford Parrott has an outstanding record of achievement as a man of letters. From his days as speechwriter to Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, to his current role as breakfast DJ on Sydney AM radio (that's AM the waveband, not AM the gong after his name), Parrott has regaled the nation's 55-plus demogaphic with his eloquence, his compassion and his Liberalism.

Parrott posts his daily op-eds to the Radio 2GB website every day, and indeed they are even podcast now. But who writes his transcripts? Presumably the text that appears on the website is taken directly from Belford's own notes...

Geraint Jones, Blessing Mahwire and Tapash Baisya are among the shock omissions from the thirteen-man ICC World XI chosen to play Australia in a six-day exhibition game at the Sydney Cricket Ground in October.

The prospect of a new-ball pairing of Shabbir Ahmed and Jermaine Lawson will be denied to the five or six thousand spectators expected to pack the SCG for the match, a fundraiser to support the noble cause of the winning team's wallets.

ODIs do not need fixing - Smith
(News 24 via UCBSA website, 15.8.05)

Another reason why Graeme Smith will never be the captain Hansie Cronje was...

Deja vu all over again? Maybe. But England's two-run victory over Australia in the women's one-day international at Stratford-upon-Avon on Sunday was a quite historic occasion.

1Xtra, the BBC's digital black music radio channel, aired a documentary last Monday entitled "Men in White", which was essentially asking the question: "Is England a white sport dominated by class?" Considering that there are currently no players of Afro-Caribbean or Asian heritage in the England Test team, it's a salient point.

It happens every time the Prince of Wales gets married. In 1981, within weeks of Charles’ wedding to Diana, a young tearaway called Ian Botham marked the occasion by leading England to a stunning set of victories over Australia at cricket.

- Matthew Engel, Financial Times, 19.8.05

Proof that even Matthew Engel can talk bollocks sometimes. Or does he?

I've done some research: Prince of Wales' weddings - impact on Ashes series 1882-1979: