David Warner's focus on Friday was squarely on Australia's World Cup quarter-final in Adelaide but on Saturday his attention will turn to Sydney, and specifically Rosehill, where he has a runner on Golden Slipper Day. Warner is a part-owner of Oriental Lady, which is going around in the 1900-metre race for mares with Chad Schofield on board. The opener enjoyed a couple of good wins with the now five-year-old last winter but she hasn't won since and listed as a $41 outsider on Friday.
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Basic mistakes
Given we're up to the quarter-final stage of the tournament you'd think organisers may have their heads around the basics, such as the spelling of players' names. Not so. Viewers who caught the sweep of the cameras through the Australian dressing room at Adelaide Oval on Friday would have noticed that there were a couple of new players listed in block letters on the front of the lockers: Stark and Cummings.
Blues keep busy
Their Sheffield Shield season is over but the NSW Blues are not quite in post-season mode yet. Eight of them will be in action this weekend in the Sydney grade cricket finals: Stephen O'Keefe for Manly-Warringah against Sydney University's Scott Henry, Ryan Carters and Nicholas Larkin; Trent Copeland and Moises Henriques for St George against Bankstown; and Peter Nevill and Nic Maddinson for Easts against Sutherland. Meanwhile, it's contracting season and after a summer in which he made his Australian debut, Gurinder Sandhu has signed a new two-year deal with NSW.
Voges presses claims
A player whose shield campaign is not over is Adam Voges and Western Australia's captain will hope his standout season can lead to a call-up to higher honours. The 35-year-old was named the competition's player of the season after scoring 1215 runs at more than 100 leading into the final against Victoria in Hobart. The Australian squad for the winter Test tours of the Caribbean and England is set to be announced in the week after the World Cup and while Voges' age might count against him, other numbers are so compelling they will be difficult for selectors to ignore.
War and Pietersen
Speaking of the Ashes, the soap opera around Kevin Pietersen's desire to make a comeback for England in it rolls on but the man himself says he is yet to take the first step towards that, linking with a county team instead of playing in the IPL. "Nothing is signed with Surrey as of yet," Pietersen said on the BBC commentary of Friday's quarter-final. "That is still a work in progress. I've got it to sort out. I won't be rushing into anything."
