SPORT/BET: Summer is here!

As the rain and hail smashes into the windows, it's a little surreal to realise summer officially arrives today in the Southern Hemisphere, as a bruised and battered Australian team takes on the might of the rest of the world.

Rather unusually for me, I have no friggin' idea how these two teams are going to match up. Not because there is no prior form to judge, rather the key question is the Rest Of The World's motivation for these matches. They may say publicly they're up for it, and they will be keen to get one over the Aussies, but personally I question whether they have the burning desire needed to beat what is still a very good cricket side.

If it wasn't for that issue, the ROW should win in a canter. But (as the All Blacks found out at the last Rugby World Cup), an Aussie side going into a match as underdogs is a dangerous opponent. I have a sneaky feeling that the Aussies will want to win these matches more, and anyone expecting a 3-0 cakewalk for the ROW may be in for a bit of a surprise.

Of course, the other major factor to take into account will be the toss. Thanks to the recently introduced idiotic substitute rule, teams winning the toss do have an advantage. I can't pick a winner, so I'm taking the cheats way out - I'll back whoever wins the toss!