Cricketers are a superstitious lot. Steve Waugh had his red handkerchief, Steve Smith did not eat duck the night before a game, and now we have this from coach Justin Langer.
Langer had the two teams swap change rooms at Optus Stadium so that the Australians could be based in the same rooms used by his beloved West Coast in their preliminary final romp over Melbourne.
Toss up: Justin Langer looks to captain Tim Paine after Australia elected to bat – and change dressing sheds – in Perth.Credit:AAP
The Australian team had been in the other set of sheds for the one-day international against South Africa, which the Proteas won comfortably.
The late change caught the flag carriers on the hop. Both teams entered the field of play on Friday with the opposing nation's flag next to their race.
Langer loves his Eagles, where he is on the club's board, to the point where he watched the club's thrilling grand final win over Collingwood instead of the first session of Australia's tour game in the UAE.
Australian cricket's new leadership team
It's only just over two months into Kevin Roberts' reign at Cricket Australia but insiders are already noticing some differences in the way he runs the show.
Slammed by the Longstaff review for, among many things, their treatment of the game's major stakeholders, Jolimont is working hard to rebuild bridges.
One of the key relationships they are looking to improve is with the states and territories.
The Tonk understands the chief executives of the eight state and territory associations will now be known as the Australian cricket leadership team.
Our operatives tell us Roberts' meeting with the states this week in Perth was one of the best they had been part of. The less formal setting for the meeting has been noted. It was not conducted in a boardroom and there were no tables. Instead of being given 100 pages of notes, The Tonk heard, there were only six.
And as part of CA's more consultative approach, the CEOs were given more opportunities to share their views instead of being spoken to.
As reported by The Tonk's colleague Paul Sakkal, Reverend Tim Costello was invited to speak, telling the administrators the sport needed to rethink its approach to gambling advertising at cricket grounds.
King Paine
We know Tim Paine is an avid AFL fan – he describes himself on his Twitter profile as an "in and under on-baller who had to choose cricket over footy due to constant leather poisoning" – but it seems he has a soft spot for the hoops.
The Test captain took up an invitation from former NBA star Andrew Bogut to attend the Sydney Kings' clash with the Perth Wildcats on Friday night.
Paine even adorned the Kings' singlet for a photo with star recruit Bogut and club coach Andrew Gaze. Peter Siddle, however, did not get in on the action. He's a Melbourne United tragic.
IPL auctioneer gets marching orders
There's a changing of the guard in the Indian Premier League, and it has caused a bit of a stink.
Auctioneer Richard Madley, who has been bringing down the hammer since the lucrative event started in 2008, has been sent packing by tournament organisers.
Madley was told that the Board of Control for Cricket in India were looking to "change up" the auction and assumed they would hire a "newer, younger auctioneer" or perhaps even a local.
So he was bemused when he learned who was replacing him: Hugh Edmeades, who specialises in the auctioning of independent fine art, classic cars and charities.
"Therefore I was surprised when my replacement is a British auctioneer, older than me, more grey hairs, heavier," Madley told CricketNext.
"He's a good friend of mine, I’ve known Hugh for many years. But he’s a first-class art auctioneer who has no experience of IPL. Therefore, it is illogical to me to replace me with somebody who is almost my mirror image. That, to me, is the one area that hurts."
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