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2006 Claxton Shield

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Flintoff's comment about the "Finals Fiasco"

Our loyal Subscribers, who have heard SO MANY times what we think about the appalling situation that sees our cherished and famous Claxton Shield competition anchored in the state of NSW, would probably have expected this - and, while some will no doubt think that we "overdo" this negative comment, we refuse to disappoint those who expect us to tell the truth

This is a PERFECT opportunity to magnify just ONE of the many reasons why this situation is totally unacceptable!!

And, while we have made this quite clear previously, we'll say it again

Our frustration is in NO WAY directed at the NSW team, players or management who are probably not in any way responsible for the short-sighted decisions of others and they can only play under the conditions that are set down for them

This is not about NSW, or any other state - we would be saying the very same things if the Australian Provincials were playing the Claxton Shield in Darwin EVERY YEAR with their parochial crowd support fuelled by the sponsorship and free supply of Darwin Stubbies!!
Although it is an appealing thought!

We'll try to make this brief, because it should be all to obvious to any genuine baseball/sports fan

Here we have the TOP level baseball competition in Australia - it's flagship event - yet it provides a quite LUDICROUS advantage to one of the competing teams for what will soon be SEVERAL YEARS IN SUCCESSION!!

It all means that our National Champions are decided under circumstances that are, without argument, an uneven playing field! - in what other serious sport would such a circumstance be tolerated?

It puts an "asterisk" against everything that has been achieved by the NSW team during an era when they have been strong enough to have MAYBE achieved just as much anyway? - the major problem is the MAYBE!?

It hasn't really been magnified quite as much in past seasons when NSW have very easily qualified for the finals and deserved top billing, even though they have enjoyed the considerable luxury of player availability, a permanent home venue and the permanent nightcap scheduling of their fixtures etc. etc. etc

This year, however, we have a magnification of this NONSENSE when a peek at the semi-finals draw sees the third-placed NSW Patriots, who have a LOSING RECORD in the tournament, playing in the feature nightcap semi-final, once again, on their comfortably familiar Blacktown Olympic Park venue

It is a VERY scant "reward" for the Victorian Aces who managed to overcome the home-field advantage on opening night, but they will need to make "lightning strike twice" to advance to the final

The Aces will be delighted with the advantages they have earned from finishing second and with a superior record in this 2006 Claxton Shield competition - I don't think! - it would be a pretty good joke if only it wasn't so deadly serious!!

The outcome for NSW is essentially the same as if they'd finished undefeated on top of the table! - you just don't need to be a "rocket scientist" to know that there is something seriously wrong with the situation that allows this to happen!

Oh, and we'll leave for another time any attempt at explaining the always contentious separation of teams with equal records by somehow assessing their "HEAD TO HEAD" performances
Spare a thought for the Australian Provincial team who finished with an identical win-loss record as NSW and yet they actually BEAT the NSW team "head to head"

They will be watching the NSW Patriots playing (possibly as favourites) in what amounts to a HOME semi-final - go figure!!!!!!!!!??