Death by Multimedia

We've reached (finally) the third round of the Choc Challenge, and there are some surprising results, as the choc that was expected to be the number one popular choice surprisingly defeated on the day! Tune in for all the action.

The decision by the ECB to abandon their tour of Pakistan this week, on top of India’s decision to abandon the 5th Test of their series against India two weeks ago, along with New Zealand’s decision to abandon their tour of Pakistan last week, not only leaves the cricket world in a state of flux, but also acts as a warning to Cricket Australia in their decision making over the next 12 months regar...

Australia’s Test captain Tim Paine has just gone in for surgery on an injury to his neck which has apparently been causing him problems in training for almost two months. Although the prognosis is good and he currently claims he will be fine to lead his country onto the ground for the start of the 1st Test against England, it raises a few questions in regard to why it took so long to have the surg...

Week 3 of the Chip Challenge, and the judges are really beginning to get into their roles, indeed beginning to even taking into account the health factor and sodium content of the chip. Madness. Anyway, five new chip varieties fight it out to make it to the next round in this episode of the Chip Challenge.

It has been just over a week now since the 5th Test between England and India was 'abandoned' due to a positive covid outbreak in the Indian backroom staff. Since then, the back and forth between what the result of that match should be, and what the real reason for the 'abandonment' occurring was, has been a source of discussion. Which is just what we'll do here today on this episode of The Casual...

Controversy erupts on this week's edition of the Choc Challenge, as the four judges almost come to blows over the choices for the Ultimate Loser chocolate and then the winning chocolate that progresses through to the next round. Tension abounds as one of this weeks' chocalte actually fights it out for BOTH awards! Tune in to hear how it all unfolds!

After the raging success of the 1st round of the Chip Challenge, we're back this week with seven new varieties of chips for our contestants to try, in the race to decide what is the best chip in this part of the multiverse. Tune in for all the excitement as the votes come down to the wire!

If the inaugural Test between Australia and Afghanistan, set down for late November in Hobart, is cancelled due to the Taliban’s stance on women playing sport, which seems increasingly likely, then we can only hope that someone at Cricket Australia already has their thinking cap on and is ready to run with the best way to prepare our Test team for the upcoming Ashes series. Well as it turns out, t...

It's been on hiatus for awhile, but with the finals upon us, it's time to ramble on endlessly about the footy, and see just how many people I can disagree with on the subject at hand. We take a look at the final round shenanigans, discuss the pros and cons of the teams in the bottom eight, and then look ahead to this weekend's first finals - all here on In League With the NRL.

After the amazing success of the introduction of the Chip Challenge - mainly from the members of the family that got to consume the chips - we've decided to take it a step further, and introduce... the Choc Challenge! Here then is the first round of the Choc Challenge, where hungry and sugar starved family members grab a cup of tea and charge in on five different chocolate bars to decide which one...

How bored are you getting with the Australian East Coast Lockdown? No doubt, after ten weeks of it, you, like us, are starting to get to a point where you need to find new ways of keeping yourself amused. So what do we do? We decide that what we need to do is start a competition that involves eating salty flavourful snacks, and then record it for posterity. So that’s how this came about – the Chip...

Over the past couple of weeks there has been a very public and brutal bringing down of the Australia head cricket coach, not only from leaks to the media from within the playing group and the back room staff employed by the national team, but from further stories being aired every day from many news organisations. Exactly what the supposed problems within the closed walls of the Australian cricket...

Three playing squads from two different countries for several different forms of the game for three different series were announced last week, and while all contained their surprises the men’s squads went in a similar direction – back to the future, consolidating experience against those that in recent times have been asked to cover for their absence. Australia’s squad for the T20 World Cup is loo...

In the space of 24 hours we have seen the conclusion of two fantastic Test matches, games that have once again provided all the proof you need that Test cricket is the ultimate form of the game, and must continue to be allowed to be the number one spectacle when it comes to cricket, and defy any attempts to tinker with its format. Today on The Casual Mankadder we will have a look at two different...

Perhaps you, like me, have spent the past couple of weeks watching the Olympic Games from Tokyo, and no matter what your thoughts going into were in regards to whether or not it should have gone ahead, I think most of us would agree that it has been an amazing success given the hardships that have occurred over the past 18 months to get it off the ground. On today’s episode, while discussing the p...

This week on THE CASUAL MANKADDER, we discuss Australia's collapse to a 4-1 defeat in the T20 series in Bangladesh and try to look forward  as to what this result will mean for the players and the team's chances in the upcoming T20 World Cup. Then we take a look at the washup - or washout - of the 1st Test between England and India and why Joe Root has gone from mediocre to sudden saviour in...

Everyone loves a superhero, right? I mean, when you were growing up, most of us out there wanted to be Superman or Batman, or possibly just Captain America or Iron Man. In many ways arguments could arise at the drop of a hat over which was the best superhero franchise – DC or Marvel. Hang on, that happened just yesterday with that 55-year-old nerdy geek down the street. Anyway... when it came to s...

With just four rounds left until the final series starts, it's time to forget about the Olympics and start thinking about the NRL again. This week we'll discuss the latest round of the game that is bunkered down in south east Queensland, and also look at next week's fixtures. Today's Talking Point looks at the possibility of the Grand Final being located to New Zealand and whether that is a good l...

Australia’s tour of the West Indies has concluded with the completion of the three match ODI series this week. And given the squad that Australia had to choose from for those three matches, the opposition they had to play against, and the covid scare that could have thrown everything into chaos, we probably learned more about the direction Australia is heading than may have been expected. In today...

When it comes to successful comedy shows from the UK, the list is an endless one. Given the short length of each series they tend to remain more memorable that way. Through the years there have been several that have dealt with the subject of war. And especially that of WWII, shows such as Dad’s Army and It Ain’t Half Hot, Mum, comedies that didn’t poke fun at the war itself but more the situation...

Even as parts of the world attempt to open back up to their pre-2020 masses, and other parts of the world shut down once again due to the Covid19 outbreak, the questions of what should and should not occur in the world of sports still seem to be finding several answers and no one knowing which is the right one. In amongst this uncertainty, today we will look at Rugby League and the decision of Aus...

No doubt you are all looking for new shows to watch on TV as we are headed for a lengthy term in Covid lockdown again. So being the top bloke I am, I've gone back and found a beauty for you. The award-winning Kingswood Country, which was not only the funniest show on TV for several years it won many Logie Awards. It was politically incorrect humour, the like which would be difficult to air in the...

With the T20 series now over in the West Indies, it's time to have a look at just where Australia's team is at, and where they are likely to head in regards to selection as they approach the T20 World Cup in October. The results will be discussed, and the possibilities will also get an airing on this week's episode.

Australia's white ball tour of the West Indies is three matches old, and so far it is the home team that has dominated the series winning all three T20 matches so far. On today's episode we'll discuss what has been the reasons behind the poor showing so far, and what those performances tell about Australia's preparation for the upcoming World T20 championship at the end of the year.

Is there any month on the calendar that is more joyous when it comes to the world of sport? Each and every year it is filled to the brim with brilliant sports action, all for our viewing pleasure. It still amazes me every year that I don’t just take all of July off, park myself in front of the TV and make sure the remote control batteries are working. However, once again I have not done this, and...