Do you fancy owning your own swanky, shiny franchise cricket team? It’s only three years old with limited miles on the clock. Have a whip-round and get yourself in charge of Welsh Fire. Names like Tom Brady and the good people of Silicon Valley are all rumoured to be finalising bids to take ownership of The Hundred ‘franchises’ as the ECB prepares to sell off its fun-loving, toy-town cricket tournament. Was this all part of the plan? Google and Microsoft executives already claimed 49% of London Spirit for £144m.

It looks like that much-needed cash injection from America and South Asia could be hitting Britain’s grey and gloomy shores in the coming days, with IPL owners circling like sharks. If there's one thing we’ve learnt in this country, it’s that owners with alternate interests always go well...Little to know local knowledge is preferred. Who needs a fit and proper ownership test when you’ve got 400 million quid? We’re looking forward to the new owners arriving, though. It's going to be tough explaining that this sport is mainly a vessel for drinking—while we watch the rain fall all summer.

It’s a difficult one to write about as an Anglo myself. But that, was a fucking thumping. No two ways about it. So, unfortunately, it’s time to give this Aussie side the flowers they deserve. With Alana King playing like a Shane Warne re-gen, runs falling from the sky more consistently than rain in Manchester, and a success-soaked Australian population ravenous for more, it makes you wonder—what’s the point in it all? We should have just called it after the first couple of matches and brought the girls home. Outplayed in every aspect, unfortunately, you have to give the Aussie women credit. 

Still, I think we’d have them on our decks. Despite the “cultural differences”. Bet you can’t do it on an overcast morning at Lord’s. That new cherry nipping about. You don’t get that on Bondi Beach, let me tell you.

It's always nice to get a nibble. Sometimes, you have to pretend you're still in the school common room, winding up the lad who's just come out of his anger management classes. Well, Guardian journalist Barney Ronay has managed to rattle the anger-management sixth-former that is the whole of Australia—the big, scary alpha-dons now ready to lob the nearest bin at you as you sprint for the exit.

Ronay had written a piece comparing Australia’s shiny new hero, Sam Konstas, to breakdancing and comedic sensation ‘Ray Gun’ from last year’s Olympics. It’s fair to say this parallel, clearly intended for comedic effect, did not go down well—sparking outrage among Australia’s media and elite cricketers. Channel Seven TV News even aired a sensational bulletin, warning of a "pre-Ashes assault on Sam Konstas by the English media, who have dubbed him the Raygun of cricket."

Ronay, of course, had the perfect response:

“Australia: an apology. Earlier this week, I wrote an article that compared one of that nation’s brightest sporting stars to a comedic figure with a short-lived pop celebrity lifespan, causing outrage among Australia’s media and elite cricketers. It was cheap, disrespectful, and unfair. It is now time to make amends. Raygun, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I compared you to Sam Konstas."

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Issue: Weekly Picks - The Hundred Just Got Interesting
Publisher: J. LaLonde
Editor-At-Large: Angus Wilson
Contributing Writer: Ollie Goodwin