PM Abbott reveals he was a good sledger

Friday, 2 January 2015 00:14 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

As tensions between the Australian and Indian cricket teams reach boiling point, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has revealed sledging was his only strength as a cricketer. Speaking at an afternoon tea for the teams at Kirribilli House in Sydney on Thursday, Abbott spoke of his time as a cricketer during his student days at Oxford University.

The India players pose for a photograph with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Sydney, 1 January 2015 “I couldn’t bat, I couldn’t bowl, I couldn’t field, but I could sledge, and I think I held my place in the team on this basis and I promise there’ll be none of that today,” said the former captain of Oxford’s Middle Common Room team of the Queen’s College. Emotions are riding high between the Australian and Indian sides following an explosive series that has featured plenty of sledging. It’s feared things could get worse during next week’s fourth and final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Abbott weighed into the debate over Australian captain Steve Smith’s decision to delay the declaration in the third Test at the MCG as the hosts failed to take the remaining four wickets to win the match and take a 3-0 series lead. The home side had to settle for a draw, but still reclaimed the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series. “When I told people last night that I was lucky enough to be hosting the Australian and the Indian cricket teams here today, the only question that they assailed me with was `What did you think of the declaration?’,” Abbott said. “My initial thought was it was none of my business. My further thought was that Steven Smith did absolutely his duty, because it is his duty to put Australia in the strongest possible position because, as India’s batsmen have repeatedly demonstrated this summer, you can never take India for granted.”

SCG plaque to honour Phil Hughes

A plaque to honour the memory of Phillip Hughes will be unveiled at the SCG on Monday on the eve of the fourth Test between Australia and India. In one of a number of planned tributes to Hughes, whose death five weeks ago after being struck by a bouncer at the ground shocked the cricketing world, the Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust will place a plaque featuring a small bust of Hughes on the wall of the Member’s Pavilion outside the home dressing round. Cricket Australia are yet to announce their tribute plans ahead of what is sure to be an emotional Sydney Test which starts on Tuesday. The plaque will feature highlights from Hughes’ career at the famous ground, where he made his first-class debut for NSW in 2007 and played his first home Test against Pakistan in 2010.