Stop The Boats

England 391-6 beat PM's XI (331 all out) by 60 runs

Manuka Oval

Wednesday 14 January 2015

Twitter @ball_sup

Not enough Beer Blogging recently. So lets start with that. So, cricket rant at the bottom.

Zierholz
Unit 7/19-25 Kembla St
FYSHWICK ACT 2609

Monday - Closed
Tuesday - Closed
Wednesday - 11:30 am - 3:30 pm (or later)
Thursday - 11:30 am - 3:30 pm (or later)
Friday - 11:30 am - 10.00 pm (or later)
Saturday - 11:30 am - 10.00 pm (or later)
Sunday and Public Holidays - Closed

On an industrial unit estate. I walked it from the Canberra Outlet Centre which is the last stop on the 200 Red Rapid bus line. That runs North/South through the 'burbs & City.

Seven of their core range on keg. One special & a cider. The claim & every indication is that they are brewed next door. You can peep into the Brewery through a glass window.

I kicked off with Hopmeister at 5%. Their tasting notes have it as an English style Pale Ale. Nice, easy drinking. Hop flavour leans (just) to citrus. A simple bitter finish, which has a tangy quality. The bitterness is very mouth coating, without being cloying. You can feel the malt rather than taste it full on. Well balanced. A little bit of icing sugar comes on the lips.

The further I get down it, the more it does develop towards a more traditional English bitter style. The bitterness feels richer, even leans towards Orange & Marmalade.

Next up.  Bro Humus Ruby Ale at 6%. First hit has sweetness & spiciness. It's not unpleasant. But, it seems to be all in the mix. Strong flavours all going to war with one another. There's a sort of sugared tinned fruit salad thing going on. There is a nice bitterness there. Which is growing on me. But it comes off this too sickly sweetness for me.

I had a taste of the Porter. But, there didn't seem anything there to grab me. So, ducked over to German Ale at 5%. Got a Kolsch thing going on I suspect. Very thin mouthfeel. Slight bubble gum on the palate. Easy drinking & refreshing. Just not to my taste.

Beer of the day was Zierholz Hopmeister.

Should England be changing their Captain so close to the ICC World Cup. Well, yes, if he can't buy a run, other players are worth his place & he wouldn't really get into the top 6 on merit.

It's far from ideal. But I think the rule is - if you need to act, act.

I'm not a great aficionado of 50 over cricket. But, It is increasingly difficult to "carry" a player.

In those circumstances, I take a simple & pragmatic view. If he hasn't got the right stats (weight of runs, strike rate, etc) & others are better than him, jettison. With only a little, but not much, room for sentiment.

I'll hear the argument that he should have been dropped earlier. But, I won't hear the argument it's a problem dropping him so close to the World Cup. You can't set your watch by these things. I have a sneaking admiration for the Selectors/Management. They've dealt with it decisively. Time will tell.

I find the dynamic interesting though. Can do no wrong, ageing ex-wonderkid, looked set to break all records, starts struggling in the minor form of the game.

Does he carry the setback into his Test game. Or, does it release the pressure valve & let him really kick on and dominate Test stats for years.

Everything in my head says - if you're struggling, you're struggling. A dent to the confidence in a game played so much in the head - got to be difficult to recover from that. I'm thinking Cook has still got a rocky road ahead.

And lo behold. His replacement at the top of the order makes 187 off 145 balls (Ian Bell). England will be pleased with how they batted. But will be disappointed they couldn't reign the Abbott XI in.

72/176