Opinion
Matildas, Alcaraz, Ashes and the big school sports carnival ... it’s all happening
Peter FitzSimons
Columnist and authorAh, sing it, Roy & HG: “When too much sport is barely enough!”
For the second week running, there has been so much extraordinary sport going I have had to put another man on, just to keep up. If you, too, have been a little overwhelmed, here is your cheat sheet:
At Wimbledon, this kid, Carlos Alcaraz, who has just turned 20, found himself completely blown off the court in the first set of the men’s singles final by perhaps the greatest player the world has seen, Novak Djokovic, who has dominated this very court for a decade. Did the young man, blink? Did he, hell!
Remarkably, the young Spaniard came back to win in a five-set thriller.
In the Ashes, meanwhile, our blokes got away in the fourth Test to an only reasonable start, mostly because of the five batters who scored over 40 runs, only one – Mitchell Marsh again – got to a half-century, but none went on with it for the huge score needed. Did we blink? Yes, a bit.
England came back with three of their four first batters making half-centuries, with one, Zak Crawley, nearly nailing a double-century. Things are looking grim, with our best hope being a draw.
In the Women’s World Cup, the first big deal was that New Zealand beat Norway in the opening match – which set a soccer attendance record in the Land of the Long White Cloud for all Kiwi teams. This was followed by the Matildas beating Ireland at the Olympic Stadium, in front of 75,000 fans.
Both matches were emblematic of just how much the popularity of women’s sport has grown in both countries, and globally. Such scenes were inconceivable just a few years ago. As to the Matildas match itself, it was . . . pretty good. Personally, I missed what I love most in football of all stripes, which is endless penalties and lots of collapsed scrums, followed by the traditional Wallabies loss.
On this one, I found one penalty for the Matildas in 90 minutes of play just a tad on the underwhelming side, but that is probably just me – and the fact that Ireland is known for “parking the bus,” being very strong in defence. The main thing is, our women are away to a great start!
As to the other huge sports story of the week, Victoria pulling the pin on hosting the Commonwealth Games, read on . . .
Steph Catley celebrates after scoring the Matildas’ winning goal.Credit: Edwina Pickles
Andrews, and most of the rest of us, right to say NO
To reprise, the major sporting news of the week – at least in our parts – was the Victorian Government suddenly announcing that they had changed their mind about hosting the glorified school sports carnival that is the Commonwealth Games. The response from athletes and other stakeholders was sheer shock at such a sudden change of heart, less than eighteen months after agreeing to host it in the first place.
Beyond that, however, the broad response beyond the obvious – Victoria was meant to host the games in 2026 . . ? Who knew? – was more in line with my own reaction. That is, while it is sad for the athletes who were so suddenly blindsided by this, the use-by date of the concept - which is little more than a sports gathering for mostly remnants of the British Empire – has come. The wonder for many is not that this iteration is cancelled, it is that they have somehow lasted this long.
Back in the day, of course the Commonwealth Games delivered some great moments, and many of us can all remember fondly such things as Robert De Castella winning the marathon in Brisbane in 1982 – not to mention recounting the greatest race of all time, which was John Landy against Roger Bannister in the Miracle Mile in Vancouver in 1954.
But in recent times? What do you truly remember?
In sum, even if they cobble together some kind of replacement bid for 2026, the core dynamic which saw Victoria walk – they don’t want to spend billions on a sports carnival – will also apply to other nations and the whole thing will soon fade.
The remaining question is equally obvious: why the hell did the Vics go into it in the first place? Why was the Andrews government seemingly still on board, and on course regarding the budget, as late as last month – only to pull out now? What happened?
The rest of us will move on, while Victorian politics struggles with that question. But all up, the decision seems so popular with the Vics themselves, anyway, that it was a long way from being the “cancellation of Christmas” – and much closer to “The Government has decided to return to sane governance, and not burn billions on nonsense.”
Captain Smiley doing things the right way
Yup, I gather the cricket aficionados who truly understand the game – and don’t just watch it, like most of us – are a bit narky now and then over the tactics pursued by Australian captain Pat Cummins, most particularly when they don’t work, like on Thursday. I will take them at their word and not argue the toss.
Overall, though?
Overall, can we call out Cummins for what he is, a breath of fresh air in Australian sport? If Allan Border was famously Captain Grumpy in his own time, Cummins has to be Skipper Smiley. Win, lose or draw, rain, hail, or shine in the face of triumph or disaster, he treats those two impostors just the same, and always comes up smiling!
And it is being noticed, as you might have seen, with the London Daily Telegraph cricket writer Scyld Berry applauding the whole Australian approach under Cummins leadership this week, in glowing terms:
Pat Cummins congratulates Zak Crawley on his century.Credit: Getty
“From the moment Pat Cummins accepted his fourth consecutive lost toss with good grace, adding that he would not bother going to the casino, to the final hour when they blocked, these Australians appeared again to be the least Australian cricket team to visit England’s shores and shires.
“No snarling, no sledging, no gum-chewing, no throwing the ball at the batsman, no pressurising the umpires, no overt signs of aggression – and even Alex Carey under-armed the ball at Jonny Bairstow’s stumps rather apologetically, as well he might. These Australians are citizens of the world, instead of fighting, swearing and spitting as though the world was against them.”
Bravo. More please.
Hardly plain sailing for Tim
Finally, the story of the long-distance sailor, Tim Shaddock, plucked from the waters off Mexico this week, after three months adrift. Nine News’s Lauren Tomasi did a fascinating interview on his return, where Shaddock mentioned that while out there, “I’d do a check-in with my sister, [texting] every sunset and sunrise. I’ve been in good communication with the family ... while I was out there.” Good on him. But, between us, surely you can either be the hero of an amazing survival/rescue saga, or you can be texting your sister twice a day, but not both. What am I missing?
What they said.
Stand-in skipper Steph Catley on hearing Sam Kerr would miss the match through injury: “Heartbreak to be honest. It is one of the most difficult things you can go through as a team, one day out from the biggest tournament in our lives, probably the best player in the tournament going down. Other teams are probably frothing – it is great for them. We got a lot of relief from the way she reacted, and we put ourselves out there tonight and made sure we got the win for her.” Catley herself nailed the winning penalty goal with aplomb.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on the Commonwealth Games: “I’ve made a lot of difficult calls, a lot of very difficult decisions in this job. This is not one of them. That is all cost and no benefit. What’s become clear is that the cost of hosting these Games in 2026 is not the $2.6bn which was budgeted and allocated. It is in fact at least $6bn and could be as high as $7bn.”
@TonyHWindsor: “Those who think Victoria pulling out of the Commonwealth Games will cause Australia ‘reputational damage’ internationally should consider what would occur if a No vote gets up on the Voice.”
Johnathan Thurston, on the Voice: “Our young people deserve the chance to be their best. I work closely with school kids in the Yarrabah community in Queensland. I’ve seen the obstacles they face. Nobody understands that better than their local community. Giving them a say will mean more of our kids reach their potential. That’s what the Voice is about.”
Former Matilda Tracie McGovern on what her family thinks of that 1999 calendar: “My kids just say ‘oh no, not your bum again mum’.”
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge after hitting a whiteboard so hard while giving a halftime rev-up against Sydney, that he broke his hand: “If you’re worried about me emotionally, no need. I’m totally in control.”
Marketa Vondrousova after becoming the first unseeded woman to win Wimbledon: “After everything I’ve been through, it’s amazing I can stand here and hold this. Tennis is crazy.”
Alex Carey if he would repeat his famous stumping should he get the chance: “If there was an opportunity, I definitely would. To see how much has played out since then, it’s been a little bit surprising. There’s been some nasty stuff said, but it is the Ashes. There was nasty stuff said before that as well.”
Wallabies flanker Fraser McReight taking advice from Ted Lasso, after the Wallabies were beaten by Argentina: “We have to scrap the past two games and learn from our mistakes but move on quickly. As Ted Lasso says, be a goldfish.”
Wallaby coach Eddie Jones: “There was probably no one more despondent than me. I probably ruined three radios in the coach’s box.”
Hamish McLennan on Eddie: “The level of professionalism and work ethic Eddie brought to us is next level and I think he is brilliant. But it will take time. He has a 1000 per cent support from myself, [Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh] Waughy and the RA board.”
Ange Postecoglou: “I think if you’re talking miracles, me sitting here right now is probably the biggest miracle you’ll ever come across. Because if somebody can chart a journey [of] how a boy from the suburbs of Melbourne, growing up in Prahran, ends up as a Premier League manager ... if that can happen, that kind of suggests to me that there’s no limits on what you can achieve.”
Carlos Alcaraz on defeating Novak Djokovic to win Wimbledon: “I did it for myself, not for the tennis generation, honestly. Beating Novak at his best, in this stage, making history, being the guy to beat him after 10 years unbeaten on that court, is amazing for me. But it’s great for the new generation, as well, I think to see me beating him and making them think that they are capable to do it.”
Wests Tigers forward John Bateman: “It is shit losing.”
Team of the Week
Carlos Alcaraz. The first person not named Roger, Rafael, Novak or Andy to win Wimbledon since 2002. And the person who won it before the streak? Well, his name was Lleyton.
Roger Federer. The fact that Djokovic lost means that Federer’s record of winning eight Wimbledon men’s singles titles remains intact.
Gold Coast Suns. Sacked the coach and – as nearly always happens – win the next week.
Novak Djokovic. Was broken more times in the Wimbledon final than the rest of the tournament combined.
Daniel Andrews. Called out that the Empire [Games] is wearing no clothes.
Women’s Ashes. Australia retained them but bravo to England for making a real contest of it and taking it down to the wire.
Leo Borg. The son of Bjorn Borg won his first ATP tour match.
Twitter: @Peter_Fitz
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