Aussie sporting contests getting too hot for comfort
OPINION: Hey Aussie, it’s getting too hot in the sporting kitchen, so bring your fare over here.
Could New Zealand’s comparatively temperate climate be the answer?
The risks of competing in 40-plus temperatures have been exposed in recent days, with England cricket skipper Joe Root battling dehydration to try to gain Ashes respect and fifth seed Kristina Mladenovic retiring during her opening match at the Sydney International tennis tournament.
And it’s only early January – the real heat is yet to come.
Thank goodness the Australian Open in furnace-like Victoria has a covered centre court, but pity the lesser stars on the outside courts.
OK, these are summer sports but players shouldn’t sizzle like a prawn on the barbie. When is enough enough and hot too hot?
Tennis officials have already activated their ‘‘heat policy’’ in Sydney, offering players 15-minute
Australia leap NZ in test rankings
breaks between the second and third sets in women’s play.
Shunt them across the Tasman and we will take care of them. Just tell them to bring an umbrella – not for the sun, for the rain as the women at Auckland’s justcompleted international tennis tournament found out!
We mightn’t have your megastadiums but we’re still cool over this way because ... we are cooler.
Yet New Zealand sports seem to be in a mad dash to join the big leagues in Australia with calls for a Kiwi side in the Big Bash
League.
Thanks goodness most of that is played in the evening, away from the blazing sun.
In all seriousness, Australia needs to consider the consequences of continuing to operate in a furnace.
Medical officials continue to offer warnings and they need to be taken into account.
Despite the questionable theories of US president Donald Trump, scientists warn that this sort of thing will only get worse.
The simple solutions would be to look at increasing the amount of night sport. One of the five Ashes tests was a day-night affair and, as usual, was a roaring success. Australia have jumped ahead of the Black Caps, up two places and into third on the International Cricket Council’s test match team rankings, following their Ashes domination of England.
The Aussies wrapped up a 4-0 series rout with an innings and 123-run victory in Sydney on Monday, and with it the teams have traded places in the rankings, either side of New Zealand.
The Black Caps’ 2-0 win over the West Indies in December had kept them ahead of their trans-Tasman
By the time the English arrive for the next Ashes series in Australia, don’t be surprised if there’s more than just one, though the callous cricketers wearing the green caps would argue that’s taking away a home advantage.
But you probably won’t hear too many complaints from the Barmy Army about a radical move like that – a day at the beach before neighbours, on 100 ranking points, but now it’s Australia in front of them, moving from 97 to 104, with New Zealand remaining in fourth, and England falling behind, from 105 to 99.
South Africa are currently in second place, on 111, with India atop the standings, on 124.
However, South Africa are on their way to narrowing that gap, with the sides in the midst of a three-test series and the hosts in Cape Town securing a 72-run victory in the first test.
an evening at the cricket sounds like an ideal way to tour the sunburnt continent.
Because it’s not just the players who suffer, think of the trials of a day under the elements watching your favourite sport.
So Kiwis, next time you shake your head in frustration at a rain delay at the tennis, spare a thought for those across the ditch.