Matt Banting, D-bah, Australia

And another lay-day for the Quiksilver Pro. And more rain. And another killer photo from one of the only surfable places in in the Coolangatta area – Duranbah. But the wind has changed to southerly, and arrival of swell now looks a little more likely. And contest wildcard Matt Banting (pictured here) is preparing to surf the first heat back in the water, a round two match-up against Bede Durbidge,

When Matt surfed in the first round of competition on Saturday, he faced Kelly Slater. Kelly managed to beat Matt by 2.59 points, but Matt took down tour veteran Kai Otton. Not bad for a 16-year-old in his first-ever ASP WT heat.

This photograph of Matt gripping a high lien, shot by Ed Sloane through a car window (thanks to pouring rain), is a good indicator of why Matt managed to beat a surfer very nearly twice his age with four years more experience in WT events, and was less than three points away from beating the greatest contest surfer of all time.