Smith"s unbeaten 72 puts Australia at 259-5

MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s Steve Smith played another captain’s knock and Chris Rogers and Shane Watson hit fifties on the opening day of the third Test against India in Melbourne yesterday.

Before a Boxing Day crowd of almost 70,000, Smith joined teammate David Warner in reaching 1,000 Test runs for the calendar year with his unbeaten 72.

At the close, Australia were 259 for five after winning the toss, with Brad Haddin seeking a confidence-boosting innings on 23.

Smith passed 50 for the fourth time in five innings in this series, among them an unconquered 162 in Adelaide and 133 in Brisbane. So far he has amassed 447 runs at 223.5 for the series.

Smith, who won his first Test as skipper in four days in Brisbane last weekend, was well positioned for his third ton of the series after Rogers and Watson missed out on cashing in on solid starts.

“It’s phenomenal to watch and great to be a part of. He is just growing day by day and it’s scary to think how good he can be,” Rogers said of Smith.

“Someone threw a ball back at him today and he had the confidence to say a few words back at him so it looks as if he knows he belongs and he knows he’s one of the better players in the world at the moment.”

Rogers hit his third straight half-century of the series and Watson made 52 in a 115-run stand before they were dismissed five minutes apart in the hour after lunch.

The pair had put on 59 runs off 131 balls for the fourth wicket.

Rogers, who scored 116 in last season’s corresponding Boxing Day Test against England, pushed at paceman Mohammed Shami and was snapped up behind by MS Dhoni for 57.

“I think three scores in the 50s is good in some respects but it’s also very disappointing,” Rogers said.

“As an opener you do the hard work and put yourself in a position where you can get a big score, so to get out like that was disappointing because I felt good today, I felt my feet were going and I had a real desire to get a big score.”

Watson followed six balls later in off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s seventh over with an ill-judged sweep shot and was out leg before wicket for 52 in 89 balls.

Watson had a let-off on 37 nearing lunch when Shikhar Dhawan fumbled him at second slip at the third attempt off Shami.

It was Watson’s 23rd half-century in

Tests with just a below-par conversion rate of four centuries in his 55th Test for the senior top-order batsman.

It was the 27th time in 102 Test innings Watson had been dismissed leg before wicket.

Shaun Marsh again failed to go on after a solid start and was caught behind by Dhoni off Shami with no addition to his tea score of 32 off 83 balls.

Debutant Joe Burns was given a rousing welcome as he came out to bat at four wickets down and got a roar with his first scoring shot off Shami for three.

Burns hoisted Ashwin over mid-wicket for four in a positive show of confidence at Test level.

But he lasted 27 balls before he attempted a pull shot on 13 and bottom-edged through to Dhoni off Yadav.

Warner, who scored twin tons in the opening Adelaide Test, was out in the second over of the innings.

He only lasted six balls before he played across Umesh Yadav and edged to Dhawan at third slip for a duck.

Shami and Yadav finished with two wickets each.

India made two changes from the team that lost the second Brisbane Test, with debutant Lokesh Rahul and Mohammed Shami coming into the side.

Rahul, who replaced Rohit Sharma, was selected to bat at number six, while speedster Varun Aaron made way for Shami, who was off the field for injury treatment late in the day.

Team officials said Aaron was flying home for his grandfather’s funeral and would be returning to Australia by the end of the Melbourne Test.

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Smith"s unbeaten 72 puts Australia at 259-5

Spence triples creative sector spend for Ja then heads to Australia

BY STEVEN JACKSON

Friday, February 14, 2014    

FORMER JAMPRO film commissioner Kim Marie Spence has secured a prestigious doctoral research position in Australia which involves some undisclosed research on Jamaica.

She resigned from JAMPRO — the Government’s marketing agency — after tripling expenditure to the creative sector to just over $1 billion. She also reflected on shifting the once Hollywood-centric film commission to one centred on developing local films.

“It is a whole new world. I am in Australia on an Australian Award, doing post-graduate/doctoral research. Of course, it will involve research on Jamaica. I was interested in this opportunity as it gave me time to step back from the daily ‘fire-fighting’ and implementation that my former position required and look at wider best practices, principles and issues involved in designating the creative industries as a key part of Jamaica’s growth strategy,” she said in a mailed response to Caribbean Business Report queries. Follow-up queries on the precise nature of this research were unavailable up to press time.

Spence, whose scholarship and fellowships are funded by the Australian Government, studied at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and also Wesleyan University. A little over a decade ago, she reportedly left a high-paying job on Wall Street to follow her convictions. Shortly after she became executive director at the think tank Capri (Caribbean Policy Research Institute) before venturing to JAMPRO as film commissioner.

Spence’s remit at JAMPRO encompassed the creative industries which includes film, photography, music, and dance. Total expenditure from that sector facilitated by JAMPRO more than tripled year-over-year to $1.16 billion up from $313 million, according to data from the Economic and Social Survey 2013 published by the Planning Institute of Jamaica. Government has hailed the 2012 results, while critics have describe 2011 as a down year.

Spence, however, oversaw the waves of expenditure since assuming the position in 2010. “As for numbers; I doubled the numbers in the first year and it was upward bound from there… However, there is lots more that it is hard to count,” she said.

Spence resigned and left JAMPRO about a month ago and quickly entered her programme in Australia. JAMPRO has yet to announce a new film commissioner.

“The highlight of my tenure at JAMPRO was the change in direction,” she said. “When I came in, there was a focus on Hollywood. However, given Jamaica’s fiscal situation, we could not realise the work from there, which was quite incentives-driven. We started looking at the audio-visual industry as a whole. This refocus was one that had been done in the industry itself — with the rise in the importance of television series, reality series and animation.

“Out of this refocus came the present animation initiative within which we facilitated ToonBoom. Also came the focus on reality television — ANTM — among many others,” she said.

Animation was the latest thrust by the commission seen as the new outsourcing frontier by Government. However, that was only half the story, “as there was little focus on the work Jamaicans were doing”. Under her watch, a barrage of local films entered cinemas and established directors and actors as stars.

“This is the sustainable aspect of the strategy — Jamaica as a (film and television) content generator. This is key from an economic and also a cultural perspective. I reached out to the distribution side of the business to facilitate greater knowledge of the kind of work Jamaica was producing,” she said, pointing films Better Mus Come, Ghetta Life, Songs of Redemption, One People, and television shows Mi an Mi Kru, Island Rockers, Beenie Man, etc.

“We were preparing Jamaica as a place to come and invest in content,” she reasoned.

The commission also looked beyond the USA and strengthened ties with the diaspora in a bid to ink distribution deals. “There is scope for some amount of Caribbean distribution and the African market, which continues to unfold; and the European market, particularly Germany with Hill an’ Gully Ride.

But financing and more rigorous data remain a perennial challenge for the industry, she reasoned.

“Jamaica is at a crossroads where we need to invest in growth areas — the new and the old. In addition, the world is changing and the new growth areas now are not very familiar — creative industries/entertainment, technology, logistics. The creative industries is an area that many do not understand… and do not take seriously, she said.

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Spence triples creative sector spend for Ja then heads to Australia

Australia "under new management"

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Conservative challenger Tony Abbott declared Australia “under new management” yesterday as voters ended six years of tumultuous Labour rule, with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd conceding election defeat and vacating his party’s leadership.

With more than 90 per cent of the vote counted, the Australian Electoral Commission said Abbott’s Liberal/National coalition was heading for a landslide win, leading in 90 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, to Labour’s 55.Abbott, a former trainee Catholic priest, boxing enthusiast and monarchist, capitalised on the infighting that saw Rudd oust Julia Gillard as Labour leader in June, three years after she did the same to him.“I declare that Australia is under new management and is once again open for business,” the jubilant 55-year-old told cheering supporters at a luxury hotel in Sydney.“I now look forward to forming a Government that is competent, that is trustworthy, and which purposefully and steadfastly and methodically sets about delivering on our commitments to you, the Australian people.“I am both proud and humbled as I shoulder the duties of Government,” he added.Abbott is expected to be sworn in officially by Governor General Quentin Bryce this week.Best known as a political hard man of the Liberal Party, unafraid of speaking his mind and occasionally tripping up on a gaffe, he has rebuilt his image and ran what was widely seen as a disciplined election campaign.He made a paid parental leave scheme his “signature” policy, while pledging to scrap the carbon tax and make billions of dollars of savings to bring debt down.Rudd said Labour had “fought the good fight”, conceding defeat some 100 minutes after the polls closed.He mounted the stage in a function room at the Gabba cricket ground in Brisbane, to wish his rival well in the “high strain” lifestyle that comes with prime ministership.“As prime minister of Australia, I wish him well in the high office of prime minister of this country,” he said, adding that he will quit as party leader.“I will not be recontesting the leadership of the parliamentary Labour Party. The Australian people, I believe, deserve a fresh start with our leadership.”Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten is seen by the Australian media as favourite to take over.Others in the running could be Deputy Leader Anthony Albanese, Treasurer Chris Bowen and Immigration Minister Tony Burke.Rudd had struggled for traction after toppling Gillard, Australia’s first female prime minister, in a bitter party room coup just weeks before calling the election.Health Minister Tanya Plibersek said Labour had only itself to blame for defeat.“The clear take-out from this definitely is that disunity is death and we are not disciplined enough,” she said.Former Labour Prime Minister Bob Hawke, who won four successive elections in the 1980s and 90s, said personality politics had been allowed to overtake the party’s message and policies.“I really believe this was an election that was lost by the Government rather than one that was won by Tony Abbott,” he told Sky.Rudd earlier cast his ballot in a Brisbane church, where he was met by a group of noisy refugee advocates who accosted him on Labour’s punitive detention in the Pacific of refugees arriving in Australia by boat.A relaxed Abbott, running as Opposition leader in his second election, cast his vote at Freshwater Surf Club in Sydney, along with wife Margie and his three adult daughters.Rudd, also 55, campaigned on his administration’s success in keeping Australia out of a recession during the global financial crisis.He also promised to scrap the carbon tax brought in by Labour after the 2010 election and move to a carbon emissions trading scheme by July 2014.Other key policies included a plan to introduce a bill in Parliament to legalise gay marriage and the adoption of tough measures to halt asylum-seeker boats.Capitalising on Labour’s fragmenting base was eccentric billionaire Clive Palmer, best known for building a replica of the Titanic, who polled strongly in his native Queensland and was on track to win a seat and take more than five per cent of the vote nationwide.British Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted that he had phoned and congratulated Abbott, saying that it will “be great working with another centre right leader”.Australian-born media baron Rupert Murdoch also gave his approval of the result. “Aust election public sick of public sector workers and phony welfare scroungers sucking life out of economy,” he tweeted.SYDNEY, Australia — Opposition leader Tony Abbott addresses party supporters in Sydney, following his win in Australia’s national election yesterday. (PHOTOS: AP)BRISBANE, Australia — Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd embraces his wife Therese Rein, while their sons Marcus (left) and Nicholas (right) look on during an Australian Labour Party election night function in Brisbane, yesterday. Australia’s conservative opposition swept to power, ending six years of Labour Party rule and winning over a disenchanted public.SYDNEY, Australia — This man (left) intrudes as Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and his daughters Frances (second left), Louise (second right), and Bridget (far right), and his wife Margaret (third left) come to the stage to celebrate the Opposition’s election victory in Sydney, yesterday.SYDNEY, Australia — The intruder (third right) is forced off the stage by security, as Louise (left) and Bridget Abbott (second left) take the stage to support their father, Tony, following his win in Australia’s national election. (PHOTOS: AP)

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Australia "under new management"

England face Australia at World Cup

England will play co-hosts Australia on the opening day of the 2015 World Cup.

Pool A is completed by the other co-hosts New Zealand, 1996 winners Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and two associate nations from qualifying tournaments.

Holders India, South Africa, Pakistan, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Ireland and a qualifier are in Pool B.

The tournament starts on 14 February with the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground – where Pakistan beat England in the 1992 final – on 29 March.

1975 – West Indies

1979 – West Indies

1983 – India

1987 – Australia

1992 – Pakistan

1996 – Sri Lanka

1999 – Australia

2003 – Australia

2007 – Australia

2011 – India

After their opening match against Australia, which will also take place at the MCG, England head to Wellington to face New Zealand six days later.

Alastair Cook’s men stay in New Zealand for two more matches, against a qualifier in Christchurch – still rebuilding from an earthquake two years ago – and against Sri Lanka back in Wellington on 1 March.

They then head back to Australia for games against Bangladesh, on 9 March in Adelaide, and the other qualifier in their group, on 13 March in Sydney.

The tournament will follow the same format as the 2011 event with the top four teams from each pool progressing to the quarter-finals.

International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive David Richardson said the World Cup “is the flagship tournament of the 50-over game”.

He added: “I’m absolutely confident that the success of the Cricket World Cup 2015 will further strengthen the status of 50-over cricket as a successful and viable format alongside Tests and Twenty20 internationals.”

Australia Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said: “This is one of the biggest events in world sport.

“It will attract cricket fans from around the globe and also promote Australia and our close friend New Zealand internationally – especially in India and other parts of South Asia.”

Defending champions India, who beat Sri Lanka in the 2011 final, will begin their campaign against Pakistan in Adelaide on 15 February.

Click here for full fixtures schedule.

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England face Australia at World Cup