Australian pace legend Glenn McGrath was on Friday inducted into the International Cricket Council's Hall of Fame, making him its 68th male member. McGrath was formally inducted during the lunch interval of the ongoing third Test between Australia and Sri Lanka here.
McGrath joins fellow 2012-13 inductees West Indian Brian Lara and England's Enid Bakewell in being recognised by the ICC and the living members of the Hall of Fame. While Lara and Bakewell were inducted in September at the ICC Awards, McGrath was inducted at his home ground of the SCG by ICC President Alan Isaac, along with Cricket Australia chairman Wally Edwards in front of a large and appreciative crowd.
"I am delighted to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame and to be considered among the greats of the game. To be honoured alongside the likes of Don Bradman, Dennis Lillee and Michael Holding who were all my heroes when I was growing up is something I could never have dreamed of when I first started playing cricket," McGrath said. "I have to thank my family, my team-mates, my coaches and all those who have supported me throughout the years to help mold me into the cricketer that I became. I took great pride every time I donned the Baggy Green and I now take great pride in being inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame," he added. A fourth and final inductee of 2012-13 will be announced later this year.
McGrath, who was born in in Dubbo, New South Wales in 1970, represented Australia in 124 Test matches between 1993 and 2007 claiming 563 Test wickets at an average of 21.64. He has taken more Test wickets than any other seam bowler currently in the game or retired.
Australia won 22 of the 30 Ashes Test matches that he played, with the side losing just four matches when McGrath was part of the bowling attack. McGrath was part of the Australian side that won three successive World Cups -- 1999, 2003 and 2007. He still holds the record for most wickets in World Cup competitions with 71 scalps and his figures of 7-15 against Namibia are the best in the competition's history.
When McGrath retired from the game in 2007 he had represented Australia in 250 ODIs, claiming 381 wickets at an average of 22.02 while he took over 800 first-class wickets in his career.
Wow, take a few days off for a holiday and all sorts of things happen in the news. It wasn’t that long ago that Christmas was a really slow news time and the only ones left in the newsroom were cub reporters who covered obituaries and sports scores. This year, thanks to the ongoing soap opera that we call the federal government, the news was chock full of drama.
At the top of the TV channel line-up this holiday season was Fiscal Cliff, the unreal reality show that played out like a whole season of Revenge meets The Walking Dead. The scriptwriters get most of the credit for the success of Fiscal Cliff, but several actors are likely to be nominated for awards. Barack Obama, playing “the Prez,” was thoroughly convincing as the cool, self-assured and over-achieving community organizer who would stop at nothing to demonize and crush his opponents.
John Boehner, portraying a House Speaker, convinced us he was a sad and tragic figure. The special effects crew gets credit for making him look like a bloodhound on the verge of tears as he tried in vain to save his failing party. Supporting actor Harry Reid added to the eerie atmosphere of Congress with a brief appearance as a modern-day Renfield.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell provided some comic relief and had the funniest line with “Duh, which way did he go boss, which way did he go?” Many of the characterizations were worthy of a Charles Dickens novel and we can’t wait for the mid-season sequel due this summer, At the Bottom of the Cliff.
Scriptwriters were also busy at work over this holiday to capitalize on the growing debate over gun control. This resulted in the launch of not just one, but two animated comedies that will delight viewers everywhere. Misfire is about an Elmer Fudd type of character, with the voice of NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre, who tries to convince woodland animals to take up arms and help protect the carrot patch from “wascally wabbits.”
The other show still in production is a remake of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice entitled Three Ring Clown. It features the ever-popular Joe “they’re gonna put ya’ll back in chains” Biden as the voice of a befuddled clown who finds himself in charge of the circus when the ringmaster leaves to play golf.
The season premiere is about how the clown struggles to control some guns that magically come to life and dance about shooting up the circus tent. The preview showed an elephant stampede and braying donkeys just to add to the fun and confusion.
Of course the big New Year’s TV event was dropping the ball, not only at Times Square but also in Congress, and not one news program mentioned that 2013 marks the 100th year since the 16th Amendment was ratified. It was this amendment that gave the federal government its first truly legitimate authority to tax citizens:
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
That kind of sounds like the whole Democratic Party platform doesn’t it?
The most interesting parts of the fiscal cliff drama were the bits that weren’t televised or even discussed in the one-sided negotiations. Let’s take a peek behind the scenes and see went into making this holiday entertainment extravaganza:
Whatever his faults as a leader or manager, and they are plentiful, President Obama is a shrewd and single-minded politician. Not only did he manage to finally split the Republican Party in the House, the last obstacle to his spending programs, he also managed to keep the entire dialogue focused on taxes and away from the deficit.
At one point Boehner offered the same amount of revenue from cleaning up the tax code as could be gained from raising tax percentages, but Obama rejected that. If raising revenue was truly the President’s only goal as he claimed, then he could have easily accepted the deal and moved things along.
However, by insisting that tax rates needed to increase, and by campaigning for populist support by demonizing the rich, Obama forced the House GOP into a corner and the party split in the final vote.
The Republican congressmen who supported the fiscal cliff deal will, in the next election, have to explain to some angry voters why they broke their promises of no tax increases. If they get bumped out of office, that could open seats to the Democrats and give Obama the mandate he thinks he should have for his social equality programs. In other words, there will be few limits on federal spending and the debt will continue its meteoric rise.
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