Mario Balotelli joins AC Milan, continues to confuse

Many teams
have improved themselves this transfer window. 
There have been short-term additions like Sporting KC forward Kei
Kamara’s six-month audition with Norwich City, bargains,
as well as deals with a view to a long term future (see Zaha,
Wilfried and Shea,
Brek). 



There has
even been the odd case of addition by subtraction.



The most prominent
deal of this type involves Mario

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Short pitch: Unexpected consequences of rotation

There are many sequelae to Cricket Australia's revolving door selection policy, but one that has gone unnoticed until now is the volume of run-outs seen in all formats of cricket.

It stands to reason: every player has their own style of running.  They might call early or late, be hesitant or direct or pigheaded.  Seeing as batting practice occurs mostly in the nets where partnership running is

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Cricket Australia sits and rotates

Cricket Australia and their coaching staff have come in for
criticism regarding the policy formerly known as rotation, Strategic Player Management
(SPM).   With precocious – but premature
- talents like Steve Smith shunted into the canary yellow as Usman Khawaja is
given his leave, rotation has become another rod with which to beat the
national body.



David Mutton wrote recently that the

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Wesley Sneijder joins Galatasaray from Inter Milan

Holland star Wesley
Sneijder has permanently joined Turkish Super Lig giants Galatasaray.  The deal, reportedly for a fee of around €10
million, should be a snip for a player who at 28 years of age isn’t just still
in his prime, but eminently capable of being one of the top five footballers in
the world.



Sneijder’s time at Inter Milan had run its course.  His lavish wages – and perhaps his

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Rafael Benítez, Hired Goon

Chelsea manager Rafael
Benítez is in a tough spot.  In fact,
he’d probably be the first to admit it, though it would come with a caveat: often
trial is accompanied by opportunity.



Benítez arrived at
Chelsea in November, tasked with renewing a project with its genesis in former
boss Andre Villas-Boas: the refreshment and gentrification of a team with roots
reaching back to the Claudio Ranieri

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Shane Watson sells himself short

The news
that Shane Watson will be self-limiting his bowling should come as no great
surprise.  He has done so before, many
times, with the first occurrence dating back nearly a decade to the year before
the infamous haunted-mansion Ashes Tour of 2005.



Watson, despite
his bulging physique and American Dad!-style
chin, just isn’t made for bowling long spells. 
He sends the ball down well and

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Short Pitch: Blatter's subconscious bigotry

On
Saturday, Kevin-Prince Boateng did a remarkable thing.  We like remarkable things, especially in the
face of bigotry.  During the first half
of a friendly match against Pro Patria, the Ghanaian forward led his AC Milan teammates in a
walk-off after
being subjected to racist abuse from a section of the crowd.



The hope
is that this could be a major blow in the fight against racism in

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Is Luis Suárez a cheat?

In
English football, one of the most debated players is Liverpool and Uruguay forward
Luis Suárez.  Rumours – and even some visuals – of alleged misdeeds arrived
on British soil before he did in early 2011; since then, his list of perceived
sins is ... notable.



Luis Suárez
far more than a Black Hat bad guy or simple cheat.  He is the single best example of the
dichotomy that exists between

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Commentary conundra

featuring the very welcome return of Ben Roberts, cricket connoisseur.



The recent passing
of both Tony Greig and Christopher Martin-Jenkins, along with that of PeterRoebuck a little over 12 months ago has forced a reflection on the poor state
of cricket commentary in Australia. Where the sound of cricket musings used to
form an addictively pleasant and informative background to the summer, I

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New goalkeeper stats available

After literally an two and a half hours of data collection and limited analysis, we've manage to update Balanced Sports' European Goalkeeper Stats page.  It now includes all of 2011-12 and stats from the first half of 2012-13.

Thanks must go to Blogger, whose algorithms for some reason stopped screwing up the spreadsheet inserts.

Debate away!

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