Win the toss and bowl. Predictable bowlers. Average fielding. Power batting line up stacked to ensure at least two come off so they can win any game shown up when none of them come off. And a New Zealand team that was well prepared and wanted to win.

Australia's hope of defending their title on home turf is almost over at the first hurdle after an abysmal outing at the Sydney Cricket Ground last night. And all of the gambles that the tam went in with in the belief it was their best chance of winning all blew up in their face.

On today's episode we discuss - or actually just vent - the outcome of the match, and look forward to see if there is any way back for men in canary yellow.

On today's episode of The Almanack Report, we have a casual discussion about the perfect time of year we find ourselves in when it comes to watching sport on TV.

The rugby league World Cup has begun in the UK, and while the usual contenders have put their stamp on the tournament immediately, a couple of the contenders who we thought may have been pushing the glamour teams have discovered that international league is a different breed of the game than club league. We talk about the first games of the tournament and their implications here.

The T20 World Cup has begun, with the initial qualifying for the main round, and once again teams have discovered that winning the toss and fielding first, which most of the teams in the competition seem to want to do, is not the ideal way to win a game of cricket. I vent my thoughts for the thousandth time here.

And the WBBL has also begun its season, with a couple of teams out of the gates early and showing that they are hell bent on putting away their opponents early, while a couple of teams look like they are in for a long season. we discuss the early exchanges.

All of that coming up on today's episode of the podcast where too much sport is never enough, Thoughts from the Metal Cavern.

On today's episode of the Almanack Report, we take a look at three major incidents in the world of sport over the last 24 hours.

The AFL Grand Final was another wipeout, with the game's "showpiece" again unable to live up to the finals series before it and becoming a blow out on the scoreboard and a game where one team confidently dominated while the other could barely raise a clean possession in anger. We look back at the carnage and discuss where it all went right, and wrong.

Overnight in the women's ODI between India and England, the final match for Jhulan Goswami the Indian legend has been overshadowed by the final wicket of the match, where the so-called dreaded Mankad raised its so-called ugly head once again, sparking another outcry of discussion over how it looks and why it should be allowed. Once again, I come out swinging in defence of the tactic, and discuss how a change in its placement in the Laws of Cricket doesn't seem to have changed people's derision of it.

Then we discuss the end of the match between Victoria and New South Wales in the first match of the domestic one day tournament from Friday, and wonder how it is that the captain of the batting team can somehow be in charge of who the captain of the bowling team can bowl when it doesn't suit his purposes.

That's the agenda on today's edition of The Almanack Report, brought to you by the podcast that always seems to be playing devils advocate, Thoughts from the Metal Cavern.

50 years ago today in the US, the series M*A*S*H first aired. It is a series that became one of the most beloved and watched television series of all time. It is also one that defied its own critics. Over the course of 11 seasons and 256 episodes, it managed to be considered a comedy, a sitcom, and a drama, sometimes all within one episode. It became essential viewing in its timeslot and in repeats. It created characters that are still quoted today, and its finale became the most watched television episode of all time.

On today's episode, I waffle on about what I know of the show, and what it meant to me in my childhood, and try to dredge up a few memories, in a poorly executed and completely unproduced episode that may at least give you cause to remember the show and perhaps inspire conversation amongst those you know.

That's the basis of today's discussion on the podcast that still claims ScoMo stole its idea for posting photos of curries, Thoughts from the Metal Cavern.

It's taken me 192 episodes to realise that no one actually cares or listens to my podcast episodes, or what they are about. So I've gone freeform, just talking off the top of my head about random subjects that will be the complete opposite opinion of everyone else.

Interested? No, of course you aren't, or else you would have tuned in before. But just on the off chance, I ramble on here about the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the ODI series between Australia and New Zealand, the AFL finals series so far, and the schemozzle of the first week of the NRL finals.

All of that, and of course much less, on today's signature episode of Thoughts from the Metal Cavern.

In recent times there has been a section of the cricketing media suggesting that the one day international is on borrowed time, and that it will be only Test cricket and T20 cricket that will remain down the track. From an Australian perspective, our national cricket team are playing like they have forgotten how to play the 50 over form of the game, that it requires a different set of skills from the other formats, and that sometimes different personnel are required to play it.

Over the last week and a half we have seen a worrying trend. Having completely overpowered Zimbabwe in the first two matches of this six match series in the Top End, Australia then collapsed improbably in their batting in the third match, which allowed Zimbabwe to register their first ever victory over Australia in this country, and then in the first match against New Zealand the top order batting was once again completely undone by the swinging ball, and the team only registered a narrow victory thanks to their impressive middle order coming to the fore once again.

Now we all know that I am wrong at least as often as I am right when it comes to cricketing matters, and that my opinions can often be full of bullet holes within moments of uttering them. But if you’d like to hear my thoughts on where the team may have gone right or wrong, and where we may go down the track when it comes to building towards the ODI World Cup in India next year, then feel free to tune in to this episode and find out just how mistaken I can be. All of that is for discussion on this episode of The Casual Mankadder, here on the podcast that has less regular listeners than the times Aaron Finch must change his front pad, Thoughts from the Metal Cavern.