All hell broke loose at what became known as the SCG when a couple of thousand people, including a teenage Banjo Paterson, stormed the pitch Test cricket gets described as a gentleman’s game, but this is a lie. Rashes of gentility break out here and there, but it’s still a game birthed by rascals, popularised by crooks, and sustained by the patronage of louts. This story is one of the finest examples, just after the third Test ever played. It was Melbourne 1879 when Fred Spofforth lived up to his nickname of “The Demon”: he rissoled England with 6 for 48 in the first innings and 7 for 62 in the second, taking the first Test hat-trick along the way. In a timeless match, Australia won in three days. Notionally amateurs, the tourists were there to make bank from gate receipts at as many games as possible. In true English everyman style they were led by a captain named Lord Harris. After Melbourne, they headed to Sydney to play twice against New South Wales. The state team also had Spofforth and won the first game easily, so before the second match the punters backed them off the map. The old Association Ground, which would later become the SCG, packed in 10,000 people. Continue reading...

The public stoush is really about whether the party will drop the charade or maintain it while shuffling some words * Want to get this in your inbox when it publishes? Sign up for the Clear Air Australia newsletter here The best thing that can be said about the Coalition’s internal brawl over whether to abandon its support for reaching net zero emissions by 2050 is that it has some honesty in it. Not much honesty, but if you look closely you may see some light breaking through. The federal Liberals and Nationals have never supported the idea of reaching net zero by 2050. Some individual MPs have, but not the parties. We know this because they have not backed a policy to help meet it since Scott Morrison adopted the target in 2021 to try to deflect rising pressure at home and abroad. Continue reading...

* Two in five coaches report having witnessed verbal abuse * Bullying, racism and inappropriate sexual advances also reported Facing abuse, bullying, racism and even inappropriate sexual advances, the plight of Australia’s coaches has shocked even the researchers behind the first major national survey into positive sporting behaviours. More than one in six coaches have directly experienced verbal abuse in the past 12 months, and two in five have witnessed it, according to the first annual results from the Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) Positive Behaviours in Sport Study, and parents were responsible almost half the time (47%). Continue reading...

Medicines watchdog says criminals are designing packaging and branding to look like legitimate product Organised crime gangs have begun manufacturing their own branded weight-loss drugs, designed to look like legitimate medicines, in what authorities warn is a significant threat. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said the trend had only just emerged, leading them to conduct the largest single seizure of trafficked weight-loss drugs ever recorded by any global law enforcement agency. Continue reading...

Forthcoming from Abrams in October, Tim Flach's new book, Feline, celebrates our unending love for cats of all varieties.

Rightwing lobby group’s email blitz targets party ahead of Liberal shadow ministry meeting at 9am on Thursday * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The right-wing lobby group Advance has launched a last-minute lobbying campaign to pressure Liberal MPs to dump a net zero emissions target at a special meeting in Canberra on Wednesday. The campaign group emailed supporters on Tuesday afternoon urging them to flood the inboxes of Liberal MPs with a generic anti-net zero message in the hours leading up to the crunch talks. Continue reading...