My favourites in the Baggy Green

Wine of the Week:
Balnaves Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 - While I do not profess to be an expert (far from it), there are two things that I know to be true. First is that you can very rarely go wrong with a Cab Sav from the Coonawarra. Second is that if you can, the perfect accompaniment to a Coonawarra Cab Sav is a steak cooked perfectly to how you desire it (for me that's medium rare). 

Trish and I were out in Melbourne last week and had the Balnaves along with some beautifully cooked steak. The Balnaves 2008 is still quite young so it doesn't have the big strong Cab kick that I usually look for in a Cab Sav. However, it is not that far away. It also has a great fruity bouquet which adds to it's enjoyment and befits it's age. The Balnaves is good drinking now, would be even better in a two to three years but if someone puts it in front of you with a nice piece of steak...don't argue. http://www.balnaves.com.au

The weather is getting warmer, the days longer and I can smell jasmine in the air. For me that means that cricket season is upon us. For some, competitions around the country have already started but for me, this season will be purely watching and supporting as Australia continues it's rebuilding, the Sydney Thunder makes their debut in the Big Bash League and NSW dread the day that Michael Clarke and Simon Katich share the Blues dressing room again.

This week, the Fairfax press have previewed an upcoming book where the living Australian cricketers were asked to vote on who they thought was the greatest Australian cricketer. While it is no surprise that Sir Donald Bradman was number one, the make up of the top 25 will certainly make for many a conversation this coming summer. http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/players-decide-the-greatest-to-wear-the-baggy-green-20111024-1mge6.html 

Of course, it got me thinking...not so much my opinion on who were the best but who were the five that at some point would have been my answer to the perennial question when you are growing up - "Who is your favourite player?" So, at risk of being controversial (Skull???)...here they are:

1. Allan Border:

In short for anyone who grew up in the 1980's, Allan Border epitomises Australian Cricket. The man who was given the Captaincy reluctantly and then started to rebuild the Australian Cricket team and set the foundations for their ascendancy to the number one spot in world cricket; starting in 1989 when he became the first captain to regain the Ashes in England since 1934. For me, meeting the great man on his 2002 charity walk from Sydney to Brisbane and getting to walk with him on his way to the Gabba was both memorable and inspirational...especially when he put his arm on my shoulder and asked if we (I) was ok to get to the Gabba. At that point, I could have been walking over broken glass, barefoot and it being fifty degrees in the shade - if Allan Border asked me to do it, I would have. And I'm just a nuffy - imagine the effect he had on his players???

2. Mark Taylor:

Mark Taylor was the cricketer I wanted to be apart from one thing - he was left handed. He opened the batting and captained NSW and Australia with distinction and took the baton from Allan Border and raised Australian Cricket to the next level; culminating in beating the West Indies in their backyard in 1995. While many would say his finest hour was his 334 in Pakistan, the Ashes century in 1997 to get him out of a form slump was one of the gustiest innings I have seen. While I haven't met him, I do remember my mate Jeff and I walking behind Taylor as he walked through the Members pavilion at the SCG to the NSW dressing room; not uttering a word - both of us in awe of 'the Captain'. We were both 24 years of age at the time...

3. Shane Warne:

Looking at this from purely a cricketing perspective, I couldn't go past S.K. Warne. He is a freak and truly a once in a lifetime cricketer. He had the ability to win games for Australia and while for many "the ball of the century" in 1993 marked his arrival on the scene, for me it was the return Ashes series at the Gabba where for the first time he had to bowl Australia to a win - and he delivered. His setup of Alec Stewart to get him out with the flipper still sticks in my memory. Look at the other end of his career and the final day of the Adelaide Test in 2006 where he took the ball at the start of play and was not giving it up until England were all out epitomised Warne's impact on Australian cricket. He bowled England out with both his talent and his aura. I have no doubt that he is the greatest Australian bowler that I will see in my lifetime. Off the field...one word comes to mind - suspect!

4. Ricky Ponting:

When Ricky Ponting started in the Australian team, I found him to be a smart alec - always chipping at the opposition. Then of course you tend to forget that he made his debut at nineteen and still yet to grow up. Ponting, while not a captain of the ilk of Ian Chappell and Mark Taylor he was certainly a better captain than his predecessor Steve Waugh - and a job he did with a less talented side. I did meet Ricky Ponting after the 2006/07 Ashes series...but enough said about that encounter the better. 

5. Michael Whitney:
The Whit - Michael Roy Whitney was a legend in my eyes. He gave his all; whether he played for Randwick, NSW or Australia. The sight of Whitney walking back to his mark, tugging at the knee brace he always wore. Then at the start of his mark, the slight skip and stutter as he ran in to deliver the ball and hit the deck hard. While Australia won the Ashes in 1989, it was a travesty that he wasn't selected on the tour - a decision that still remains unexplained. I still remember the ball he bowled Brian Lara during a one dayer in Sydney which took the top of Lara's off stump. The Hill (and I) went nuts! I also remember the night Jeff and I met the Whit at a Calypso night for the West Indies team of 1992...he may have been taken back by our enthusiasm but it WAS Michael Whitney!

So...who are your favourite Australian cricketers? Feel free to join the conversation.

Geeks rule the world!

Wine of the Week:
Ninth Island Pinot Noir 2010 - For an everyday Pinot Noir, this one is hard to go past. It has the beautiful Pinot nose that you get plus the clean palete as opposed to the really bad Pinot Noirs that have that dirty, gritty feel. Generally, you look for cold climates to give you a good Pinot - start at Victoria and work your way down from there. Ninth Island is from Tasmania and delivers on that general rule. Trish and I look towards a Pinot at those times when we feel like red but the weather is warm or we don't want too heavy a red. As we are getting closer to summer, Pinots will be high on the agenda...especially if duck or turkey is on the menu. Check out more on the Ninth Island here Ninth Island Pinot Noir

Last week, the news came through that Steve Jobs passed away from pancreatic cancer. He will go down in history as one of the legends of Silicon Valley; up there with the likes of Bill Hewlett and David Packard. In fact, one article this week told of how a young Jobs approached Bill Hewlett for spare parts to help him with a school project; which in turn led to a summer job at Hewlett-Packard. It was at HP that he met Steve Wozinak and well...you know the rest.

Whatever your opinion of Jobs, his vision and drive to execute on that vision changed the way people not only use but view technology. He not only made Apple a successful, paradigm changing business but one that evoked that all encompassing, magic word...cool. As I twittered on the day, look at a crowded train carriage and you see the impact that Jobs' second coming at Apple has made. The majority of people carrying a device (irrespective of the manufacturer) either checking their email, listening to music or doing both at the same time - not to mention taking phone calls as well.

Working in the industry, his death was always going to be big news. What has absolutely astounded me was the reaction across the board. Twitter provided a platform for politicians, celebrities and your everyday man or woman to stop and pay tribute to a man that they hadn't met but they felt changed their lives for ever. It was both astonishing and weird all at the same time. 

What was even more bizarre was the need that many, many people felt to hold vigils the night that Jobs died. That in itself wasn't the bizarre part. What was bizarre was the need to download an app which had a single candlestick burning brightly to their iPad or iPhone and wave in tribute amongst the masses in the darkness. That app is now the 5th most popular free app from the App Store (I checked that on my iPad this evening....)

Which leads us to a question that has been debated, written and talked about for the days since Jobs' death. What is his legacy? Many believe it is those devices which have transformed our listening and communication habits. 

Some also believe that it is his drive and determination to execute on his vision and do so with unwavering and at times, offending determination; in other words don't let anything stand in the way of your vision because YOU can make it a reality. 

For me, it could be way more simpler than that. Seek to embrace your inner geek. They get the money, fame and gorgeous men or women by their sides...sometimes both.

In short; geeks are cool...or so my iPad tells me anyway.