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There is a lot going on in the world of football at the moment as the January transfer market entered its final week.
While not as busy as the summer (northern hemisphere) transfer period, this January has thrown up some interesting purchases.
One in particular stands out for me.
Real Madrid, the world’s richest club, paid three million pounds ($5.7 million AUD) for 16 year old Norwegian Martin Odegaard.
While the transfer fee itself pales compared to some of the big fees clubs spend these days (such as the 80-odd million pounds Real Madrid paid for Gareth Bale), for a 16 year old it is a large amount.
Odegaard will live quite comfortably as he is going to be paid 80,000 pounds ($152,000 AUD) per week for his time in the Spanish capital, playing in the second team.
Obviously Real Madrid see him as an investment in the future and hope that he develops into the world class midfielder he is showing the potential to be.
Odegaard made his debut for the Norway national team last August as a 15 year old.
It is an amazing feat for a teenage boy to play in a mens national team.
Still, it is hard to think he is worth the wages he is on at such a young age.
To put it in perspective, Odegaard will be paid three times the equivalent of an entire A-League squad.
His weekly wage is three times what the minimum salary for the A-League was in 2014.
All for a 16 year old who is yet to prove himself at a top level.
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I was told by a number of local cricketers that Spicer Oval was unsafe to play on last Saturday.
One batsmen played forward to a ball on a good length and got hit in the helmet.
From reports, the ball was jumping off a good length for all bowlers.
At first I thought the story was being blown out of proportion as the batsman telling me made a duck.
His story was backed up by a number of players though.
I hope it was just the rain the previous day and the pitch settles down this weekend.
In light of the Phillip Hughes tragedy, we have to be very careful when it comes to the state of a pitch and if it is fit for play.
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I went up to Northparkes Oval and watched a B grade T20 match under lights last Saturday evening.
It was a lot of fun and I suggest anyone who likes cricket to give it a go.
It is a great initiative by Parkes District Cricket Association to implement the T20 part of the draw.
There are not many associations whose B grade players get the chance to play under lights.
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Congratulations to all the Sports Awards recipients at the Australia Day ceremony on Monday.
With the quality of the finalists, everyone who won should be very proud.
Parkes has a wonderful sporting culture and it was proudly on display at the awards.