Issue cover date 03 September 2010
THIS WEEK IN THE WEEK

Here’s a quick overview on what’s inside this week’s The Week. You’ll find the best stories, opinions and commentary on everything from news and business to culture
and sport.

News

Match-fixing scandal

Cricket is embroiled in allegations of match fixing after British police arrested a man on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers. The controversy was initiated by a News of the World article alleging members of the Pakistan team were involved in a betting scam in a Test match against England at Lord’s. The newspaper claimed several blatant no-balls had been delivered by Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, and said it had paid £150,000 to a middle man who correctly told them in advance when those illegal deliveries would be bowled. Police seized the mobile phones of Amir, Asif and Pakistan captain Salman Butt, and arrested the alleged middleman, Mazhar Majeed.

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Business

To stimulate or not?

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said just enough to give comfort to the markets after the annual assembly of world bankers at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, said Lex in the Financial Times. But many investors were “less reassured than rattled” by the overall tone, which saw most policy makers “still on red alert”. Bernanke’s confidence is seen as “delusional” by many, said Anthony Hughes in The Australian Financial Review. By giving hope about the economy he “threw them a bone”, but failed to make a big policy announcement. And it’s big policy that’s desperately needed, said Paul Krugman in The New York Times. With economic growth of 2.5% needed just to keep unemployment from rising (and economic growth currently running between 1% to 2%), it’s time for the Fed to get real. 

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Sport

NRL: doing the penalty plunge

Rugby league officials have launched an investigation into betting irregularities involving the Cowboys/Bulldogs match, said Greg Pritchard in The Sydney Morning Herald. Punters placed, or attempted to place, bets to win almost $250,000 with six bookmakers on the “seemingly unlikely option” of a Cowboys penalty goal being the first scoring play. The plunge didn’t pay off because the Cowboys opened the scoring with a try, but the Cowboys did have the option of taking two points when Bulldogs forward Ryan Tandy was penalised in the second minute for not getting off a tackled player. Well, Tandy was banned for life from a NSW Central Coast leagues club a decade ago for allegedly placing an illegal bet with the club’s TAB outlet that “netted him” more than $1,000, said Barry Toomey in The Sunday Telegraph.

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Culture

Theatre: The Graduate

The Graduate is showing its age, said John Kinsella in The Australian, but as a show it still succeeds. Jerry Hall’s Mrs Robinson is suitably drained of empathy and compassion for a world that has left her lonely and bitter. But despite her vengeful anger at Benjamin falling in love with her daughter Elaine, she tells a few home truths, overheard by her daughter, that facilitate the young couple’s rebellion. If there’s a reprieve in the play’s misogyny it’s in this “harsh stimulant to youthful idealism”. Hall captures the transition perfectly. For this stage production to work as anything more than farce, Benjamin must embody the conflicting values he articulates. Rider Strong’s performance achieves this only in part. It’s a “perfectly competent” exhibition, but not one that reveals anything existentially divided about the young man.


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