No jokes about boat people please, but this is really just silly:
THREE of their cricketers abandoned the Ashes tour and now three senior English cricket reporters must follow them home because of bizarre Australian immigration regulations
While it might be assumed the trio would be relieved to leave a tour during which England has failed to notch up a single win over Australia, they insist they are frustrated and annoyed at not being able to finish the job they came to do.
John Etheridge of The Sun, Paul Newman of the Daily Mail and Dean Wilson of The Mirror have battled with bureaucracy since arriving on the 100-day Australian tour.
They were issued with 90-day visas and have tried ever since to get an extension to cover the remaining one-day and T20 games, but with no luck.
Yesterday, the trio were told that they would have to leave.
Cricket Australia lobbied on behalf of the reporters but to no avail.
