Even as the tennis season grips Melbourne, the spirit of cricket lives on. January in Melbourne is all about The Australian Open. Billboards and hoardings everywhere; the city busier than any other time of the year. Restaurants are running full; getting a reservation at a Farmer’s Daughter and Supernormal is as tedious as securing last-minute tickets for the Grand Slam. Directives to reach the Melbourne Park are laid out at every corner of the streets and the locals are braving the heat to find the perfect spot at the Fed Square to watch Coco Gauff face Marta Kostyuk on the big screen.
But even as the tennis season grips Melbourne, the spirit of cricket lives on. The sports bulletin of the prime-time hour was led by Josh Brown’s joint second-fastest century in BBL history that took Brisbane Heat into the final, while Glenn Maxwell’s hospitalisation following a reported ‘incident’ in Adelaide and Pat Cummins’ red-hot take on the same has really taken Melbourne, the sporting capital of the world, by storm.(HT)