Lara Bingle's engagement ring apparently cost $200,000. This is just not cricket.
When I first heard that I thought I would quite like a $200,000 engagement ring myself. But then I realised I'd probably be quite angry if someone proposing to me thought that, in the great scheme of things, I was worth that much. No one is.
30,000 children die every day in the world from preventable causes.
Let's put this into perspective, assuming he actually did spend that sort of sum.
He could have sponsored 388 children for a year.
Or, he could have purchased 77 rainwater tanks for irrigation in Ecuador.
Or, he could have supported environmental protection and sustainable agricultural development for poor communities on three continents.
Or, he could have provided immunisations that we all take for granted to 7407 children in Sudan.
Or, he could have purchased 14,814 mosquito nets to help prevent malaria, a disease that kills 3,000 children below the age of five every day.
Here's the cracker... he could have paid for the purchase and construction of 1,400 homes for war widows and their children in the Congo. 1,400 homes!
There are thousands of ways this money would have been better spent.
Does it mean he loves her more? Does it means their marriage will be more happy? No. All it means is that Michael Clarke earns too much money and maybe a visit to Udayan is in order for him, next time he's in India. Steve Waugh is a great supporter of Udayan, I'm sure he would show him around.
The people who have nothing have no voice, and I believe those people in the worldwide community who are in the position to be heard, such as Michael Clarke, do have a responsibility to do their bit for the global village, whether it's on a national or international level.
Not for the kudos, but because people will listen to him, and although the difference may only be small, it would still make a difference to someone, somewhere.
If this example of shallow, self-serving behaviour becomes a pattern among our cricketers, I'm off to New Zealand.
Festy. Lads, is she actually attractive? Or is it only because she looks good in bathers? Not that it's really relevant of course, I'm sure it was her intellect, wit and sparkling personality which was what instantly attracted him.
