Australia Just Too Good

Australia put to bed their 2005 Ashes demons cruising to a comfortable Third Test win at the WACA yesterday to regain the prized urn. Shane Warne spun the ball through Monty Panesar to claim his 699 Test victim and give Australia a comprehensive 209-run victory. Kevin Pietersen remained unbeaten on 60 and has been the hardest man for Australia to dismiss, averaging nearly 80 for the series.

Once a well-flighted dipping, spinning ball from Warne got through English captain Andrew Flintoff Australia quickly ran through the tail. England showed glimpses of good form in each Test match and were in a very strong position in Adelaide, but wilted in each Test to succumb to Australia’s relentless pressure.

After waiting well over a decade and working so hard to regain the Ashes it’s ironic that England managed to hold them for the shortest span in the contest’s history. Australia will look to demoralise the English further by winning the last two matches in Melbourne and Sydney.

Australia today named an unchanged team for the Boxing Day Test, providing all-rounder Andrew Symonds with another chance to cement his spot. England has been comprehensively out-play thus far and will be playing for pride when the contest resumes in Melbourne.

Andrew Symonds Back in Test Contention

DAMIEN Martyn's shock retirement may have paved the way for Queensland's dread-locked cult icon Andy Symonds to sneak back into the Test team.

The career of Shane Watson continues to be plagued by injury and the unlucky all-rounder has already been ruled out of the Perth Test starting next week.

Ready-made replacement Brad Hodge is also out injured and Phil Jaques is recognised only as an opening batsman.

Looking at the options Symonds looks to be a real possibility. Dropped after the South African series earlier this year, he has compiled a solid if not spectacular season for the Queensland Bulls and would dearly love to once again pull on the baggy green.

The bouncy Perth pitch would suit his handy medium-pacers and provide plenty of bite for his off-spinners.

With the bat Symonds is a rare package, able to bludgeon attacks and swing a match in minutes or dig in and grind out valuable innings' when his team is in trouble.

The in-form Michael Clarke could move up to the coveted number four spot and Symonds could slot in as the all-rounder at number six.

One of the world's most complete one-day players Symonds would relish a chance at Test redemption and will be hoping the selectors give him the nod.

A Captivating Year of Tennis

Marat Safin's deciding rubber victory over Argentina's Jose Acasuso ensured Russia regained the Davis Cup and brought the curtain down on another captivating year of tennis.

It was again Roger Federer's year with the Swiss magician furthering his legendary status by helping himself to three grand-slams, 92 match-wins and over eight million dollars in prizemoney. However, it was year in which a number of other players took their games to new levels and emerged as possible challengers to Federer's dominance.

Spain's Rafael Nadal was again seen flexing his muscular guns as he added five titles to take his career tally to 17. Nadal finished the year with a superior four-two head-to-head record against Federer to easily secure the world-number-two ranking.

The shaven-headed James Blake also wrapped up five titles during a break-through year in which he climbed from outside the top-20 to finish as one of the top-four players in the world. The American claimed many key scalps during the year and his runners-up showing in the season-ending Masters Cup, with victories over Nadal and Nikolay Davydenko ensured he will enter 2007 on a high.

Germany's Tommy Haas this year overcame a career-threatening shoulder injury and the horrifying motorbike crash of his parents to capture three titles. Haas finished the year at world-number-11 and proved his powerful game can stand up to anyone. This was evidenced in his nail-biting five-set loss to Federer at this year's Australian Open.

Davydenko, Ivan Ljubicic and Andy Roddick looked rejuvenated in 2006 and all recorded memorable years finishing inside the top-10. Looking forward to next year it will be interesting to see if Federer can continue his dominance or if others will rise to the occasion and challenge for the grand-slams and world-number-one. There isn't long to wait for the tennis enthusiasts as season-2007 gets under-way in less than month.

The Future of Australian Tennis

What on earth has happened to the depth of Australian tennis? You don't have to be a tennis expert to realise Australian singles stocks in particular seem to be dwindling.

In fact take out one or two of Australia's consistent performers like Lleyton Hewitt and Alicia Molik and there are less than a handful of both male and female Australian singles players inside the world top-100.

Enter Craig Tiley who joined Tennis Australia as the Director of Player Development in mid-2005 and immediately set about implementing changes and putting in place structures with the primary long-term goal of delivering Australia's next generation of tennis stars.

A new crop of potential tennis singles stars will not emerge overnight and the only way to ensure Australia has future success is to ensure coaches are providing young players with a platform for success. The most important stage in the life of a tennis player is their years of initial development. These are the years coaches should be instilling the technical and tactical fundamentals of tennis.

The most widespread changes to Australian tennis have come at the development coaching level with over 80 aspiring coaches across the country participating in the revamped Tennis Australia coaching course. The development level coaching course aimed primarily at coaching four to 12-year-old tennis players is just one of the structural changes initiated by Tiley.

Tiley has overseen a national overhaul of tennis coaching, with an increased focus on ensuring coaches have a grasp of both the technical and tactical fundamentals of tennis. The development level course was competency-based, replacing the pass or fail method of past coaching courses. Under the competency format there is opportunity for coaches progressing more slowly to gain additional guidance and assistance in a friendly learning environment.

Tennis Australia coaching instructors Travis Atkinson and Geoff Quinlin, along with a number of other experienced coaches have been racking up the frequent-flyer kilometres flying to cites around Australia to present the coaching course to the prospective coaches.

After completing six units, comprising six theoretical assessments, three practical on-court assessments, a written test, 40 hours of on-court coaching and attaining first aid competency, the coaches are just a certificate away from becoming Tennis Australia coaches and the first step in Tiley's plan towards Australian tennis success.