Geoff Lemon's Blog

Australia, 221-9, beat Sri Lanka, 114, by 107 runs

Left-hander hits 109 as defending champions survive a scare in Colombo

1st over: Australia 5-0 (Healy 1, Litchfield 4)

I’m so pleased to see Colombo in the sunshine – it looks like a cracking day for cricket out there. Diana is bowling the first over for Pakistan and she starts with a good line and length and Healy is forced to defend the first couple of balls, before a wider one down the leg side appeals to Healy and she flicks it to deep backward square for a single, to give Litchfield her first look at Diana’s bowling. She also plays defensively for the first two balls she faces, then gets her footwork going and drives the last ball of the over to the boundary for four.

Updates from the ODI at R. Premadasa Stadium
Play starts in Colombo at 10.30am BST/8.30pm AEDT
Any thoughts? Get in touch with an email

1st over: Australia 5-0 (Healy 1, Litchfield 4)

I’m so pleased to see Colombo in the sunshine – it looks like a cracking day for cricket out there. Diana is bowling the first over for Pakistan and she starts with a good line and length and Healy is forced to defend the first couple of balls, before a wider one down the leg side appeals to Healy and she flicks it to deep backward square for a single, to give Litchfield her first look at Diana’s bowling. She also plays defensively for the first two balls she faces, then gets her footwork going and drives the last ball of the over to the boundary for four.

Lions defeat Cats by 47 points in flag decider at the MCG

Will Ashcroft wins back-to-back Norm Smith medals

Charlie Cameron and Hugh McCluggage boot four goals each

It is being reported that Brisbane’s Lachie Neale will start the 2025 AFL grand final as the sub.

The dual Brownlow medallist is on the comeback trail from a calf injury sustained late in the qualifying final defeat to Geelong. That was 21 days ago and he has been named in the Lions’ 23, but Neale was initially ruled out for the rest of the season and it remains to be seen just how much he can offer – and play – today at the MCG.

Dangerfield could easily have seen out his final years mainly as a forward, as a bit of a pinch hitter, a player reliant on craft and guile. But he’s become more of a power athlete, and more of a manic player, if that was possible. If you compare him to the tapes of his Brownlow year, he’s bigger through the chest and glutes. He generates as much torque as he ever has. It’s just that he’s utilised a bit more judiciously.

Geelong followers’ sustained hunger for success is really about wanting a club that has been this good for this long to get its adequate reward

All your questions answered in our guide to the AFL grand final

In the week leading up to the AFL grand final, official footy media has been united in polite admiration. Geelong may not be the finalist that most excites the narrative, but there is mutually agreed praise for the fact that they are here again, contending again, another year defying the AFL cycle driven by salary caps and draft picks that sifts teams down to the bottom half of the competition after a season or five near the top. Deeper into the crevices of the internet, politeness fades, with diehards of other footy allegiance more likely to say that they are sick of the bloody Cats who should piss off and give someone else a turn.

On pure statistics, this is fair. As a fully disclosed Geelong person claiming no objectivity while anxious for another win, I might be accused of gluttony at the buffet. In truth, though, in 2025 I want this one bad. It doesn’t feel like one more inevitable year in an era of unbridled success. Let me explain before you put a foot through your screen. The numbers are admittedly awesome in the last 22 seasons: 19 finals series, 14 prelims, seven grand finals, four premierships and hunting a fifth. Rich pickings, especially to supporters of teams that have finished most of those seasons outside the top eight.

Brisbane remain kings of Queensland with 53-point victory

Reigning premiers to face Collingwood at MCG next Saturday

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Q1: 15 mins remaining: Brisbane 1.1.7 – Gold Coast 2.0.12

Haphazard in the forward line from Brisbane, but they’re on the board. Zorko’s pinpoint pass from half back into the centre sets it up, then follows up with the one-two. Kick inside 50 is spoiled, Cameron gets ironed out in the contest, the ball is knocked around via Ashcroft, little kick inboard isn’t marked on the full, Logan Morris gets the snap away as he’s tackled, but he gets enough purchase and it sails through.

Winning a premiership would not heal the hurt felt after the death of Phil Walsh 10 years ago but it would mean something to some

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Given how appealing humans find metric milestones and closure, there exists a nice thought about an awful story. Adelaide finished this year on top of the ladder, with a second shot at a preliminary final if they can get past Hawthorn this Friday night. Ten years since former coach Phil Walsh died in 2015, the Crows are a chance of a flag. It would not heal any principal hurts, but it would mean something to some.

The mid-season death of a coach would have shaken the club whatever the circumstances, especially after losing assistant coach Dean Bailey to cancer the year before, but Walsh’s case was even harder to fathom given it came from a domestic tragedy: a father fatally injured while his son suffered a psychotic episode. Given that any coaching role has a parental aspect, such a tragedy within a family felt obscenely unfair on all involved.

Australia piled up the runs in Mackay, reaching 431-2 before skittling South Africa for 155 to earn victory despite losing the series

5th over: Australia 45-0 (Head 22, Marsh 21) Maharaj gets the ball to spin off the straight, Marsh lofts for two into the leg side and collects a couple more past mid on. Maharaj slows things down though, just four off his first

4th over: Australia 41-0 (Head 22, Marsh 17) Marsh takes a couple of steps out of his ground and larrups Mulder for SIX over mid off! Maharaj is being summoned already as the Proteas look to get some control in this match. Australia will look to smash him out of the attack.

The hosts were beaten by 84 runs as South Africa took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the one-day series

3rd over: South Africa 7-1 (Rickelton 5, de Zorzi 2) To the surprise of nobody, Hazlewood is banging the ball in on a good length for the most part. When he tries to pitch it fuller he strays onto Rickleton’s pads and the left-hander benefits from a Carey misfield to run three. De Zorzi then opens his account with a couple behind square off his hip.

2nd over: South Africa 2-1 (Rickelton 2, de Zorzi 0) A second slip comes in for the new batter, de Zorzi, and they’re both very happy when the number three plays and misses at his opening delivery. Excellent start for Bartlett who begins with a wicket maiden.

The hosts clinched victory in the in the T20I series decider at Cazalys Stadium in Cairns

4th over: South Africa 32-1 (Rickelton 7, Pretorius 24) Another productive over for the Proteas with Pretorius leading the way. The South Africa No 3 hammers Ben Dwarshuis for three boundaries – the first goes straight over the bowler’s head, the next is a glance to a vacant fine leg, and the last is the pick of the bunch with a crunching straight drive.

3rd over: South Africa 19-1 (Rickelton 7, Pretorius 11) A better over for South Africa as both batters find a boundary. Australia have had success with Glenn Maxwell opening the bowling in the first two matches in the series but seem to think there is a bit of life in this deck in Cairns.

Updates from the T20I series decider in Cairns

Any thoughts? Get in touch with Geoff on email

4th over: South Africa 32-1 (Rickelton 7, Pretorius 24) Another productive over for the Proteas with Pretorius leading the way. The South Africa No 3 hammers Ben Dwarshuis for three boundaries – the first goes straight over the bowler’s head, the next is a glance to a vacant fine leg, and the last is the pick of the bunch with a crunching straight drive.

3rd over: South Africa 19-1 (Rickelton 7, Pretorius 11) A better over for South Africa as both batters find a boundary. Australia have had success with Glenn Maxwell opening the bowling in the first two matches in the series but seem to think there is a bit of life in this deck in Cairns.