Top Sheep Shearers on Health Kick

The image of one of Australias toughest jobs is changing.

He occasionally wears a blue singlet and does one of the hardest jobs in the country, but the 32-year-old father of four has little else in common with the roistering, booze-swilling, bare-knuckle brawlers of outback legend such as Jack Foley, the shearer played by Jack Thompson in Sunday Too Far Away.

Mr Ferguson, who has spent the past two weeks shearing at Habnarey station, near Lightning Ridge in northern NSW, belongs to a new breed of Australian shearers who are well-paid, professional in their attitude and more interested in keeping fit than tying one on every Friday and Saturday night.

"The old generations have given the young generation a bad name in a way, because a lot of people think shearers are nothin' but alcoholics," the third-generation shearer from Surat in southern Queensland tells The Australian.

Watching these guys at the country shows, I am full of admiration. Tough hot work.

Boof Picks Beach Cricket and a Beer over Lame Redbacks

Darren Lehmann, South Australia's finest contemporary cricketer, former State Captain, Test Cricketer, Captain of Yorkshire....... has finally given in to temptation and chosen to participate in the XXXX Beach Cricket in January rather than hanging in their to play the real stuff. Great sportsmen know when to stop and this is obviously the right time.

Talking during his farewell news conference at the Adelaide Oval yesterday, Lehmann reflected on how much the game had changed.

When he started in 1987, state team training was no more strenuous than a jog along the Torrens River bank then back to the oval for a beer.

Now the players sweated and strained for hours before being immersed in ice baths. "When I started it was beers on ice - now it's players on ice," he said.

I could imagine that the rigours of training and ice baths would do anybody in towards the end of their career. Pass a XXXX Darren (or rather something else please).

Update: Having decided to retire, Darren hit centuries in his final matches, both victories against Western Australia. Not bad for an old geezer, sponsored by a crap beer with plans for a career in beach cricket and family life.