The death of cricket?
l was an interested onlooker at the recent Bradman Letter cricket match played at the Albert Park recently, where the towns of Bowral and Cootamundra met and played a game of cricket involving junior players (16 years and under).
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The match was somewhat residuary and deserved ‘post match’ comment — hence this letter.
From the outset, the level of cricket expertise between the two teams became painfully apparent.
From information I garnered from some visiting parents, the Bowral team consisted of players from around the Bowral district; Mittagong, Robertson, Bowral, Moss Vale and Wingello, who play in the Southern Highlands competition.
It appeared the Bowral team had plenty of young players to choose from.
On the other hand, the Cootamundra team had the ad hoc appearance of having only those who were available to play.
I was totally gobsmacked to see a couple of 12-year-old boys seconded to make up the numbers for the Cootamundra team.
Unlike the senior competition, there is no Under 16 cricket competition played in this town each weekend.
The question then is; how is the Bradman Letter team chosen?
In hindsight, perhaps it may have been better to have included some players from the surrounding towns of Cootamundra; such as Temora, Young, Gundagai et al.
The Bowral team included players from around their district.
Maybe this fact was lost in translation.
This noble game of cricket is purely patrician and I fear if it is n respect it deserves, then it will be gone forever.
It would appear the 12 years and under players now assume sole proprietary rights of ‘junior’ cricket in Cootamundra.
The fast approaching death knell tolls for the future of junior cricket.
It can be heard, each Saturday morning, at the various empty cricket fields across this town.
Brendan Smith
Cootamundra
Superbug’s meaty link
The New Scientist has warned that 2017 will be a “terrible tipping point" for human health.
In the past 90 years since the identification of penicillin, horrendous diseases such as tuberculosis, gonorrhoea, malaria and urinary tract infections have been controlled or in some cases eradicated by medical science.
But in 2017, many more people will begin dying from common bacterial infections.
By 2050, according to a UK government report, antibiotic resistant "superbugs" could kill ten million people a year, more than currently die of cancer.
The World Health Organisation calls this a "global health security threat".
This is largely because more antibiotics are consumed by farmed animals than by humans, partly to keep them from dying in their cramped, faeces-filled cages, crates, and sheds.
But also because for the past 60 years the meat industries have been using antibiotics as growth promoters.
Diseases that had become rare are now evolving new forms, transmissible to humans, in these horrific conditions.
As long as humans eat meat, this threat will intensify. So will the rates of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and other life-threatening diseases as the cholesterol and saturated fat in meat and other animal-based foods increases the risk of developing these ailments.
The healthiest option is to choose tasty vegan foods, which are cholesterol-free, generally low in fat and calories, and which don’t naturally harbour harmful bacteria.
For more information and free vegan recipes, see PETA.org.au.
