By Adam Cooper
December 22nd 2009 @ 2:10am
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Hughes in as standby, but worry over Hilfenhaus
Australia could be forced into a significant shuffle of their batting order if Ricky Ponting’s elbow injury keeps him out of the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan.
By drafting young opener Phillip Hughes instead of a specialist No.3 as cover for Ponting, Australia must contemplate breaking the successful union between Shane Watson and Simon Katich if [...]
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![It’s cold here in England and occasionally windy as well. Perfect weather for cricket. The Poms love wearing an anorak to Lords or The Oval, a thermos of tea and a cheese sandwich tucked under the arm on the Bakerloo Line or Northern Line.
When they arrive at the grounds, they can buy a plastic bucket [...] Geoff Lawson: Twenty20 has set the cricket world alight](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/twenty20-west-indies-th.jpg)
![Twitter training might just become part of media skill development for the modern athlete, if it isn’t already. Once you get past the “I had toast for breakfast” tweets, athletes tend to open up online, and sports administrators don’t necessarily like it.
It’s different when a microphone is shoved in one’s face after sporting triumph or [...] Benjamin Conkey: Sports adminstrators Twittery about players using the Internet](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/sports-admin-th.jpg)
![1993 was a good time to be an Australian in Britain, especially if you were the sort of Aussie who likes sport. Which, really, is the only sort of Aussie who ends up in Britain.
The Wallabies had just backed up the Rugby World Cup win with a successful tour of Ireland and Wales, marred only [...] Matthew Horan: How I missed cricket’s Ball of the Century](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/how-i-missed-cricket-shane-warne-th.jpg)
![Willie Mason’s long search for a club has won the ‘drawn out saga of the off-season’ award pretty comfortably. But it seems to be pretty unique by modern sporting standards.
We all like to talk about about clubs having a ‘No Dickhead’ policy, but when a dickhead with particular talent is out there, there is usually [...] Steve Kaless: Mason finally signs, but will it just bring more sighs](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/big-willie-soft-mason-th.jpg)
![It’s not often that the Carling Cup semi-finals take on major significance in England, but then it’s not often that the world’s richest club takes on the world’s most indebted with a place in a knock-out final at stake.
That the two teams hail from one of world football’s traditional hotbeds makes tonight’s Carling Cup showdown [...] Mike Tuckerman: English football is awash with stars – and debt](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/balance-power-epl-jay-spearing-th.jpg)
![As we wait on edge to see what the Socceroos will achieve in South Africa, the only guarantee we have is that they won’t look good doing it. That’s the overwhelming consensus following the release of the away kit the Socceroos will wear at the World Cup and beyond that has left many Australian fans [...] Adrian Musolino: Socceroos to be the ugly ducklings at World Cup](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/vince-grella-socceroos-shirt-th.jpg)
![The success of football teams wearing red shirts – including Manchester United, Liverpool, and Arsenal – is no coincidence according to academics.
Their findings suggest that simply wearing a red shirt has given football teams an advantage – thanks to our deep-rooted biological response to the colour.
The research, by the University of Plymouth and Durham University, [...] Chris Court: A red shirt is the key to sporting success](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/manchester-united-th.jpg)
![Just to prove that journalist can multi-task with the best of them, I watched the NSW Waratahs defeat the gutsy Queensland Reds in an unconvincing fashion at the Sydney Football Stadium while plugged in to ABC 702 to listen to Phillip Hughes smashing the much-vaunted South African bowling attack to all parts on and [...] Spiro Zavos: Phillip Hughes is bound for glory](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/phillip-hughes-bound-for-glory-th.jpg)
![What to make of another tumultuous round of A-League action? There’ll be plenty of column inches devoted to dwindling attendance figures, while the thorny of issue of refereeing has once again hit the headlines.
It seems we can’t go long in the A-League without refereeing standards coming into question.
Last season’s Grand Final was marred by an [...] Mike Tuckerman: A-League referees are only human](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/a-league-referees-only-human-th.jpg)
![Despite individual brilliance, Pakistan has not reached its full potential in Test cricket. They have made headlines of the wrong sort in their 57 years as a Test nation. Internal dissensions, captaincy disputes and accusations of ball-tampering, bribery, and match-throwing are often associated with their national teams.
One might say, when Pakistanis play a match, can [...] Kersi Meher-Homji: Are the Pakistan cricket controversies really justified?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/are-pakistan-cricketers-shoaib-malik-th.jpg)
![I’ve been amazed by the football noise that’s been coming out of New Zealand over recent weeks. While I suppose it all started with that fateful match against Bahrain in November, since almost 20,000 fans stumped up in Christchurch to see the Phoenix defeat Adelaide United 1-0 almost four weeks ago, I’ve started to believe.
Not [...] Davidde Corran: The Phoenix can help the game rise up](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/wellington-phoenix-tim-brown-th.jpg)
![I’ve been in New York for over a week now and I haven’t heard the Big Apples’ Major League Soccer team, the New York Red Bulls, mentioned once, despite being one of the few local franchises currently in season.
Yet, like in Australia, there are signs the world game is thriving.
Last week, pubs [...] Adrian Musolino: Despite the indifference, football is thriving in America](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/despite-indifference-soccer-beckham-th.jpg)



