It hasn't been the best of Tests for David Warner but the Australian vice-captain still has plenty of reason to smile.
One of the horses he owns, Man Of Distinction, saluted at Canterbury on Friday night in a $40,000 race, making it back-to-back wins. The Tonk is tipping he would have had a slice of the $5.50 on offer as well.
Earlier in the night, The Bull – a three-year-old he owns with the Marsh brothers – ran third on debut. Both horses are trained by Gai Waterhouse.
Cricket Australia looking at more day-night Tests
Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland has floated the prospect of two day-night Test matches next summer after declaring the first day of cricket's new age an overwhelming success.
Sutherland has confirmed CA isare looking to host a Test against Pakistan under lights next season and is also open to the idea of another day-night five-dayer against South Africa, he told ABC Grandstand.
Brisbane is shaping as a potential venue for the Proteas Test, while Adelaide is in the box seat to host the Pakistan fixture.
There will be six Tests next summer with three each against South Africa and Pakistan instead of the four and two as slated in the Future Tours Program.
The Pakistan Cricket Board's general manager of cricket operations, Zakir Khan, was in Adelaide on Friday.
"We're really keen on continuing this, right place, right time, right conditions of course but it's certainly something we'd like to see in the future," Sutherland said.
Australia will host the Proteas for the first half of the 2016-17 summer, which means it is likely there will be more Tests staged in November, which has been blamed for the poor attendances in Perth and Brisbane.
But a day-night fixture against the Proteas in Brisbane would help lift the box office appeal of the Gabba Test.
"I don't see why not," Sutherland said when asked about two day-night Tests next summer. "I think that it would be a good positive, I think the fans are calling for it.
"The Gabba is certainly a good option. I understand they've upgraded their lights during the course of this winter and I would have thought a balmy Queensland evening at this time of year would be a pretty nice place to be watching the cricket."
Young Cowdrey
There was a meeting that spanned a couple of generations when the patriarch of NSW cricket, Alan Davidson, had lunch with 22-year-old Fabian Cowdrey at the Western Suburbs Leagues Club.
Fabian is continuing his family's great cricketing tradition, his father Chris and grandfather Colin both captained England. The pair spoke about Davidson's battles with his grandfather during the 1950s and '60s.
Cowdrey, who plays for Kent, is playing for Western Suburbs under an agreement between Cricket Australia and the ECB to allow young players to experience life in one-another's country. Fabian also writes lyrics for his twin brother Julius, a talented singer who can be seen on YouTube.
Fabian credits his mother for he and his sibling's musical bent. She was a jazz singer and from age seven the boys were members of their school choir.
While he carries one of cricket's most famous names Cowdrey remains philosophical about it.
"The only pressure [the name brings] really is the pressure that I've created myself," he says. "Pressure can build up in your head but it's all in your hands."
Davidson was impressed by his old foe's grandson, describing him as a "quality" young bloke.
Showing talent
One of Australia's great female cricketers Lisa Sthalekar was in Auckland for a Women's International Cricket League talent camp with players from a number of South Pacific nations and Singapore.
The camp is part of the league's ongoing commitment to offering opportunity, education and performance for women in sport. Sthalekar, who'll play for the Sydney Sixers in the WBBL, was impressed by the skills and enthusiasm.
"We had three players from PNG, three from Vanuatu, three from Fiji, two from New Caledonia, and one from Singapore and they gelled really well," she said. "They have promise, there were girls bowling over 100 kilometres."
Something to write about
Two former Test greats, Mark Waugh and Simon Katich, dragged their cricket bats out of mothballs for the Sportsbet T20 media game at beautiful Birchgrove Oval.
Fairfax Media was well represented by Andrew Wu, Michael Carayannis, Daniel Lane and Tom Decent. Tom not only won man of the match on the back of his hat-trick and batting but he continued Fairfax's "wood" on Waugh by dismissing him when Katich took a screamer off his bowling.
Last summer another Fairfax scribe, Michael Chammas, ran Waugh out with a throw that would have left any Test player green with envy.\
