Matthew Hayden the big left handed opener has racked up 100 tests in the second test against New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval. Matt had a slow start to his test career with being dropped from the test side on one or two occasions early on. He is now the Australian Test and One-Day side's premier opener with his distinct style of intimidation of the opposition's bowlers.

His eight and a half year stint in the Australian side may be coming to an end as his age starts to raise concerns for the selectors looking to re-establish the Australian side after big name retirements last season but certainly this summer and hopefully the next we should still see him in full flight with the Australian colours.
"My commitment to the game hasn't changed, and more than anything if I can say what I'm proud of that would be it, Matthew Hayden in 1991 worked as hard as he works in 2008. And that guarantees you at least the best result in terms of how you prepare yourself, but it doesn't guarantee success."

This CricInfo article has more.

Unfortunately the great name of the Olympics have been dealt a major blow thanks to China. We'll start off with, how can a communist country with a terrible Human Rights record be allowed to host the greatest sporting event in the world?

Due to that overbearing communist impression, spectators are barely even allowed to look at the venues let alone view an event. A prime example is the men's road race... 95% of the course was deserted... not a sole except for the competitors and the officials.

Now we move onto the Opening Ceremony, which personally was entertaining in parts... when Channel Seven inserted some of it in between the TV ads... poor form Channel Seven, it should have been commercial free.
Due to some bizzare line of thinking, Australia came out 3rd last of 200 odd competing countries, which sucked majorly. Next on the list is again the cold feeling of communism flowing through the ceremony, like the kids saluting the Chinese flag during the national anthem, sent chills down my spine.

The first major deception to occur during the ceremony was when the young girl started to sing solo, this was fake. The little girl with the very beautiful voice was actually deemed to be not cute enough for TV, so Chinese officials pre-recorded her singing and got a cuter girl to fake the singing. The second, was the use of CGI incorporated into the final fireworks display and then beamed it worldwide and locally, as if it was actually happening in real time. Another deplorable act that the IOC should investigate further on is the restricting of foreign media's internet access.

Now Eazyp.com doesn't usually go to this extreme of bitching but I'm a major Olympics supporter, both Summer and Winter and seeing the games being treated like this is just plain wrong and disappointing. Other countries need to look at Sydney and the 2000 Olympics, the greatest of all time by a country mile.

Shane Warne has announced his retirement from first-class cricket while ending his eight-year association with the county side Hampshire. Warne, 38, had been a regular with Hampshire since 2000 and led them from 2004. Dimitri Mascarenhas will succeed Warne as captain.

This will bring to a close the often turbulent but magical career of the greatest spinner of all time, he will still be appearing in the IPL 20Twenty league in April for the Jaipur team as capitan and coach. Read more here.

Australia has blasted their way to a third successive ICC World Cup on the back of Adam Gilchrist's fastest world cup century in a final. Gilchrist saved his best to last with a trademark swashbuckeling knock with the inform Matty Hayden in the supporting role. Australia screamed to 281 in their maximum of 38 overs.

Sri Lanka's only hope of a successful run chase rested on the shoulders of their veteran batsmen Sanath Jayasuriya and Kuma Sangakkra, who to their credit edged the Lankans slightly infront of the Aussies until they fell, which signaled the impending doom the little Sri Lankans faced. With the rain closing in and finally falling, the D/L equation grew too much for them to handle.

Then the umpiring decision from hell reared it's head, which resulted in the game finishing in complete darkness. Even with this monumental blunder the Australian side deserved their victory. They were too skilled, smart, fit and mentally tougher than any other side in the competition, going through the entire comp un-defeated and never really challenged at any stage even during the final.

This final also signalled the retirement of Glen McGrath and John Buchannan from the Australian Side.

Review the Score Card here.