ENGLAND CRASH AGAIN; COOK HAS TO GO.

Following yet another crushing defeat for the England cricket team in Australia, the future of Alastair Cook is suddenly the topic of debate.

 

Cook was groomed for the captaincy for some time before he was eventually given it, after Andrew Strauss retired, despite him having no real experience at the job. In days gone by, an England captain was almost always either an amateur gentleman, trained in the public school system, or an existing County captain with several years of experience; no longer. In fact, a good few of the recent England captains have had little or no captaincy experience prior to being given the England job and their success has been varied. Sadly, the almost total separation that now exists between County and International cricket means that players are prevented from honing their skills with a county and are whisked off to be ensconced in the England camp, being moulded into whatever the current style of play is while also being protected from failure and disappointment. Many of them hardly ever seem to play and have little chance of ever getting into a real run of form; batsmen play a couple of innings a month and bowlers send down 300 or 400 overs in a year, nowhere near enough to find their true rhythm.   

 

Cook has been a fine batsman though his form has suffered greatly of late, presumably due to the added burden of captaining a dysfunctional team. That he has been unable to encourage his side to improve and that he appears to do little more than stand around with his head in his hands, or stroking his chin, is a sure sign that he is a man out of his depth. Cook has none of the dynamism of some of his more successful predecessors and his team is the poorer for it.

 

When I was a lad, the captain of our junior school team was chosen because he was the best player; while this system may be good enough for school teams, it is hardly the way to pick the best man to lead a national side and so it has proved. Cook is no more a captain than were Kevin Pietersen and Ian Botham; all were appointed because they were good players, with little real thought as to their captaincy abilities. The trouble now is, should Cook be deprived of the job, who would replace him ?

 

First in line would normally be the vice-captain, Matt Prior, but he too has suffered a collapse in form and has even lost his place in the team. Additionally, his captaincy experience is even less than Cook's. Stuart Broad has captained the '20-20' side but it is rare for a bowler to be given the main job; the last pure bowler to be handed the poisoned chalice was Bob Willis , and that was more than 30 years ago. A few all-rounders have had a go but none has been particularly successful since Ray Illingworth, in the early 1970s. Of the others in the current side, Pietersen's already had a go and failed, and his overall attitude is far from what is needed in a captain; Ian Bell has never appeared to be in the running for the job while Carberry, Root, Stokes and Bairstow are newcomers, young and inexperienced. Graeme Swann has gone and Tim Bresnan is on the fringes of the team as is Monty Panesar. Jimmy Anderson is, perhaps, the only one who could, possibly, take the job, but he's another bowler; would he even want it ?

 

For me, Cook is simply not up to it. The only immediate replacement would be Jimmy Anderson, who has matured into a fine bowler, an excellent fielder and, while having no pretensions as a batsman, can often keep one end up for protracted periods of time. Beyond Anderson, the selectors would have to look outside of the current squad, but there are few candidates even there. Several county captains are overseas players while several others are on the wrong side of 30 and with no international experience.

 

Effectively, the system is to blame for the current mess in which the England team finds itself, though others may blame the coach, Andy Flower. In truth, the blame lies with those who designed the system and appointed Flower but there is little chance that they will see it this way. Instead, they'll sack Flower and Cook and appoint another inappropriate captain. "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose".

SWANN'S EXIT RINGS ALARM BELLS !

Graeme Swann's sudden and unexpected retirement from all forms of cricket comes as another blow to the beleaguered England cricket team. It follows on the heels of Jonathan Trott's departure from the side for reasons of mental health and not that long after Andrew Strauss made an equally sudden and unexpected exit.

Swann has cited problem's with his arm as one of the main reasons for his decision but he is only 34 and surely had a year or 2 left in him. He has been one of England's most successful bowlers, taking 255 wickets in 60 Test matches, a strike rate which compares favourably with most. With England struggling to make any impression on the rampant Australians, his departure from the team seems most odd.

One is left wondering whether we have been told the whole story. The continuous round of international matches of all sorts, with associated media coverage and constant demands for special appearances, may well be a subsidiary reason, but one that cannot be mentioned; sponsors wouldn't like it. Indeed, some of the players probably wouldn't like it either as it could lead to a reduction in their bloated incomes.

For men like Swann, Trott, Strauss and, a few years ago, Trescothick, to suddenly walk away from the game that they've devoted their lives to must surely ring alarm bells in the minds of all sensible sports administrators. Clearly, something is wrong..

BBC LACKS OBJECTIVITY OVER COLEMAN.

The BBC has a knack of treating anything which affects itself or its personalities as being of paramount importance and the death of David Coleman was no exception. Yesterday, the demise of this second rate broadcaster was the top news story, taking up much of successive news programmes and causing all genuine news to be squashed into whatever few seconds remained.

 

Coleman has been presented as the epitome of broadcasting genius, a man of immense sporting knowledge and understanding when he was, in fact, a man prone to making statements of the bleedin' obvious, regular gaffs, and getting his commentaries so ridiculously wrong that it was painful. One always knew that when Coleman shouted out "And now 'X' is moving into position to make his challenge", 'X' was actually beginning to run out of steam and would soon be overtaken by most of the field. Far from being a man of great understanding, he seemed to know very little and be almost totally unable to read sporting situations.

 

Coleman loved being associated with major sporting names and was a perpetual name-dropper. His chairmanship of 'A Question of Sport' was awful and his ability to make the most stupid remarks legendary, as was noted on numerous occasions by 'Spitting Image' and 'Private Eye'.

 

Once again, the BBC has shown how inward looking it is, how much it sees itself and its people as being of the greatest importance. It has no objectivity and, as a news broadcaster, it is now of no use whatsoever. It should be broken up.

ENGLISH CRICKET DIES IN AUSTRALIA.

The spectacular decline of the England cricket team has been quite a story.

 

A few months ago, loud-mouthed pundits, such as Ian Botham, were predicting that England would win the 2 Ashes series 10-0. Admittedly, they did win 3-0 in the summer but, even, then, there was evidence that things would not be quite the same in the return series. Now we know.

 

England have been comprehensively thumped in the first 3 tests of the series and there have been few bright spots. The batting has, with only 2 or 3 isolated exceptions, been abysmal, while the bowling has simply proved to be not up to the job. Even the fielding has been, at best, lacklustre. What has gone wrong ?

 

Firstly, captain Cook is no captain. His leadership appears to consist mostly of pulling anguished faces or covering his head with his hands; there is little in the way of contact with his players, little obvious and real encouragement or advice. Pietersen remains a law unto himself, occasionally a brilliant match winner but as much use as a chocolate teapot when the heat's on. Michael Carberry has shown some ability and Ian Bell has been more reliable than others, but Matt Prior, the vice -captain, has been as much use as his boss, scoring few runs while missing catches and stumpings. When it comes to the bowling, the much vaunted attack of Anderson, Broad and Swann has had little bite. The absence of a genuinely fast bowler has been a huge disadvantage and one wonders what's happened to Steven Finn.

 

This England team appears old, tired and disjointed. It lacks leadership and passion. It may well be that its players lack real match practice, as they rarely have any chance to play regularly. A constant round of a few Test Matches interlaced with assorted limited overs slogs is no way to develop top class players; the frequent suggestion that they need a rest after a few games is laughable.

 

Jonathan Trott's mental problems may be an indicator of even deeper problems in the overall set-up but whatever the truth, something is wrong and something needs to be done about it. This is yet another example of money and vested interests taking precedence over all else, and the end result is the demise of our national summer game. 

AVB HAS GONE: NOW TIME TO DUMP LEVY.

So Tottenham have finally bitten half of the bullet and sacked Andre Villas-Boas. Now we just have to see the back of Daniel Levy.

 

Supporters of AVB have produced a variety of statistics that purport to show how successful he really was and how wrong it was to sack him. However, what they ignore is the simple reality of his team's appalling recent performances. They may well have had a good year last year but that was with a team put together by his predecessor and that included Gareth Bale. Having brought in a raft of new blood, AVB was simply unable to blend them into an effective side, at least when they were expected to follow his tactics. While they've won the majority of their matches this season, these have been predominantly against lower-grade opposition; whenever they've come up against a decent side, they've been beaten, culminating in the miserable showing against Liverpool last Sunday.

 

Obviously, there is now much speculation about who will be the new boss, but first up is the Capital One Cup match against West Ham.  A few weeks ago, the Hammers came to White Hart Lane and won 3-0, a match which really started the alarm bells ringing at Tottenham. Whether caretaker manager Tim Sherwood can revitalise his side for this confrontation will be the first test of his credentials and we'll soon know whether or not the problem was with AVB's approach. I can see a resounding win for the home side tonight, perhaps 3 or 4 - 1, which could be a precursor to a real revival.

 

Unfortunately, the really deep-seated problem at White Hart Lane is still there. Since Daniel Levy became Chairman in 2001, the club has seen 11 managers come and go - George Graham, Glen Hoddle, David Pleat (twice as a caretaker), Jacques Santini, Martin Jol, Clive Allen (caretaker), Juande Ramos, Harry Redknapp, Andres Villas-Boas and now Tim Sherwood. If Sherwood doesn't keep the job, it'll soon be 12. No team can perform successfully with such regular disruption and the man responsible for all of this mayhem is Levy. While there can be no doubt that some of his choices were better than others, it is also abundantly clear that several should never have been appointed; some simply fell out of favour or with him.

 

Levy is an incompetent meddler. As long as he stays, Spurs will continue to underperform, whoever the manager is.

WHEN WILL TOTTENHAM RID THEMSELVES OF LEVY & AVB ?

Since Tottenham were soundly thrashed by Manchester City, they've had a very easy time of it. Two matches against third rate European opposition, both of which they won, 2 league matches against teams in the lower reaches of the Premier League, Fulham and Sunderland, which they also won, and a game against a misfiring Manchester United which they managed to draw. The media and assorted footballing experts have pronounced that the crisis is over and 'Spurs are back on track'.

 

Watching their efforts against Liverpool this afternoon, it is very clear that the 'experts' don't know their collective arses from their collective elbows. In the first half, Tottenham were every bit as hopeless as they have been all season against decent opposition - no bite at the front, midfield far too slow and outplayed, and defence at 6s and 7s and frequently non-existent. The second half saw Tottenham press much more, but by then, Liverpool were sitting on a 2 goal lead and content to protect it. Tottenham had more of the match and made a few chances but were still unable to convert possession and territory into goals; at the other end, Liverpool continued to run rings round an inept defence and took their chances. To add insult to injury, the usually brilliant Paulinho was sent off for a late challenge on Luis Suarez which was probably more worthy of a simple yellow card. In the end, Tottenham were completely overrun by a far better team and lost at home, again, this time by 5-0, but the worst thing is that they never looked remotely as good as the opposition. In fact, they were pathetic.

 

This team has oodles of talent and yet is performing woefully when up against proper opposition. Once Manchester United get their act together, which they will, and with Newcastle showing real form, Tottenham will slide backwards into the middle of the table. There is nowhere else for a team of their obvious talent but with no real plan; they will enter the next season with no European matches to worry about and few hopes of achieving anything other than another mid-table result..

 

While talent is owned by players, the plan is something evolved by the manager and his staff. If we accept that the players *do* have talent, the failure must be with the manager and this has now gone on for too long. Additionally, the manager was appointed by chairman Daniel Levy, whose record at appointing managers is about as poor as that of any chairman of any club in history.

 

GET RID OF BOTH OF THEM - NOW ! 

TIME TO BE RID OF POINTLESS FEMALE SPORTS' REPORTERS.

Very often, the sports' news on BBC television is presented by a woman; why, is a mystery.

 

It seems that BBC news has now devolved almost all of its sports reporting to women regardless of their knowledge of the games they're reporting on or their relevance to them. This is a clear example of BBC political correctness gone mad.

 

I have no problem with women reporting on female sports, unisex sports or indeed any sport if they are knowledgeable and relevant. However, top class football is an almost entirely male preserve, so why do we have a woman reporting the results when she clearly knows nothing about them ? In fact, the longest item in the bulletin was something to do with Beckham, who no longer plays, and a few of his mates who are similarly unemployed; what has this to do with sports' news ?

 

Sue Barker was a fine tennis player and is a good presenter for tennis, as is Sue Smith; Hazel Irvine is similarly well placed having been an international player and so are the likes of Denise Lewis in athletics and others in golf, cycling, rowing and gymnastics, but why do we have irrelevant and unnecessary women commentating or reporting on male rugby, football or cricket matches ? They don't belong there; it's a ridiculous sop to political correctness.

 

Why do we have to have female nonentities in the studio reading out reams of prepared scripts of which they have no understanding ? It's time that the BBC, and the rest, dispensed with 'PC' and returned to employing knowledgeable people to report on sports, just as they do with every other subject. Gender has nothing to do with it and a misguided attempt to introduce an utterly specious gender balance is farcical.

 

It's time for men to reassert themselves.

TOTTENHAM IN MELT-DOWN : VILLAS-BOAS AND LEVY HAVE TO GO.

A couple of weeks ago, I asked what was wrong with Tottenham Hotspur. After their abysmal display yesterday, there can only be one answer.

 

Having spent a fortune on new signings in the summer, most pundits had them pencilled in for at least a 'top-4' finish, some even tipping them as real contenders for the Premier League title. After their 6-0 thrashing at the Etihad stadium in Manchester, I suspect that some may now be wondering whether they will even finish in the top half of the table. Their defence was non-existent, the midfield 'prissy' and their attack totally impotent.

 

No one can doubt that they have a huge amount of talent in the club, the trouble is that it's not being used to best, or even any, effect. This failure has to be laid fairly and squarely at the door of the manager, Andre Villas-Boas. Already kicked out by Chelsea after a miserable spell there, he must now be on his way out of White Hart Lane in the very near future.

 

The only remaining questions are "Who will replace him ?" and "Will Chairman Daniel Levy be on his bike too ?"

 

The answer to the first is "Anyone, please !"  The answer to the second, as the club surely embarks on the search for its 18th manager in the last 40 years and 8th in the last 15, has to be that he most certainly should follow Villas-Boas out of the door. Despite spending vast amounts, he has failed to bring in a manager who can mould the available talent into any sort of cohesive unit; he has to go.

 

With the team now in total melt-down, the sooner these changes happen, the better. Until they do, things can only get even worse and supporters will desert in droves.

TROTT AND ENGLAND FALL PREY TO PRESSURE.

The pathetic performance of the England cricket team in the first Ashes test in Brisbane tells us just how over-rated this lot are. The subsequent departure of Jonathan Trott from the touring party for what has been described as a long-standing stress related illness possibly indicates the extent of the effect of unrealistic expectations on mediocre performers.

 

A few years ago, Marcus Trescothick departed the Test Match arena on similar grounds, never to be seen wearing an England shirt again; Trott's departure has been accompanied with comments that he will now take a break 'for the foreseeable future' and that his return to the game 'will be decided in due course'. This doesn't bode well for the ex-pat South African.

 

The simple truth is that our media makes so much of sporting success and expectations that the players can't cope with it. Being told, day after day, that you're the best in the world or that you'll win whatever it is easily, cannot be comfortable, particularly when you're not as good as the press continually says you are. As soon as the conditions are not in your favour, you fail; then you fail again and the analysts are on your back. You fail again and the press is on your back; the pressure mounts and you crack.

 

Trott is a good solid batsman but he's not Bradman and he's not infallible; Trescothick was the same. On the manicured, home-grown  pitches on which they normally play, making runs can be relatively easy but when it is the opposition's turf, things can be different. The great players prosper in all conditions, the more fallible do not, but the media do not care about such distinctions. One good swallow, for them, makes many summers, at least in the minds of their headline writers and pundits.

 

We can only hope that Trott recovers well enough to at least be restored to county cricket but whether he will ever again appear for England must be questionable. As for the Ashes, I think this team can forget them; a fired-up bunch of Aussies looks like eating them alive.

FORMULA 1 SEASON ENDS : NOW FOR 2014 !

The end of the 2013 Formula 1 Championship saw yet another utterly dominant display from the 'driver of the moment', Sebastian Vettel. Leading almost from start to finish, even a problematic pit-stop couldn't prevent him from winning easily, and for the 9th race in a row; only Alberto Ascari before him has ever achieved such a run.

 

Mark Webber, in his farewell to Formula 1, did what he's done for so much of the last few years and finished second to his team mate, while Fernando Alonso came home a creditable third in a car which was not really up to the job, and claimed the runner-up spot in the driver's championship. Penalties for both Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton somewhat cancelled each other out and Hamilton's Mercedes team clung on to second place in the Constructor's championship, while the challenge from Lotus faded away with Romain Grosjean's early blown engine.

 

The surprise package of the race was undoubtedly Jenson Button. After a really miserable time in qualifying, the 2009 champion started 14th on the grid but made rapid progress through the field. A storming drive saw him achieve his team's best finish of the season; even though this was a modest 4th, it was quite a result for the beleaguered McLaren firm.

 

Next year will see a raft of changes to cars and teams. New engines, limited fuel, narrower front wings and unlimited use of 'Kers', no Mark Webber and new driver line-ups for several teams. How will Alonso and Raikonnen get on ? Will Ricciardo prove much of a challenge to Vettel ? How will new boys Kevin Magnussen and Danil Kvyat do ? Will Paul DiResta have a drive at all ? So many questions to be answered and we have to wait until March to even start finding out most of the answers.

 

Roll on March.

ENGLAND TAKE ALL BLACKS TO THE WIRE !

Yesterday, England's Rugby Union team faced the ultimate test, playing the All Blacks at Twickenham. Last year, they achieved a remarkable victory over the World Champions and inflicted their only defeat since they lifted the trophy in 2011. However, over the last year the All Blacks had swept everyone aside and looked pretty invincible, so how did England measure up ?

 

After 2 very 'in-out' performances against Australia and Argentina, England had to do better and things started badly. Within 2 minutes the visitors had a try and were 7-0 ahead. Although England cut the deficit with an Owen Farrell penalty, the All Blacks played at a ferocious pace and threatened to overwhelm the home side; after less than 20 minutes, it was 17-3 to the visitors and it looked like being a very bad day for England.

 

From then on things were different. England began to get into the game and a hard won try reduced the deficit to 17-10; although the All Blacks scored with a penalty, 2 penalties by Farrell meant that England went in at half time only 4 points adrift, at 16-20. For significant periods, they had pushed the All Blacks back and really looked on a par with their illustrious opponents.

 

In the second half, England continued to press although the All Blacks remained very dangerous on the break. The pace of the match was awesome and both sides were playing at full tilt. One great improvement from the England of last year was the dearth of penalties conceded, while the visitors gave away too many; Farrell converted his first of the half after 53 minutes and, miraculously, put England ahead with another on the hour. Was it possible that England could repeat last year's momentous victory ?

 

Sadly, it was not. A converted try and penalty put the All Blacks back in control and, despite their best efforts, England could not score again. In fact, as the match drew to a close, it was the All Blacks who looked more dangerous. The final score of 22-30 was fair but didn't really tell the story of a terrific match. Playing against the team acknowledged to be the best in the world, England came close to causing a huge upset and can certainly hold their heads high. They weren't perfect and there are areas of their play that need serious attention, not least the open play of the backs, but this was a performance full of guts, determination and marvellous forward play. They gave the All Blacks an almighty fright and can look forward to the Six Nations in February with considerable confidence.

 

The All Blacks played like the champions that they are but England did very well indeed and can be real challengers come the World Cup in England and Wales in 2015. Here's hoping !

WHAT IS WRONG WITH TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR ?

As a long-suffering Tottenham fan, in fact I've been following them since 1962, I'm more than used to being disappointed. However, this year I expected better.

 

After the excitement of Gareth Bale's performances last year Spurs' fans looked forward to either a side built around him which became even better or, God forbid, a side built from the proceeds of his sale. In the event, Bale chose to leave the Spurs' management brought in a gaggle of new players at great expense; supposed experts and pundits lauded their choices and supporters looked for a year of great things, minus Bale. So far, so good.

 

Sadly, reality has now intervened. The new-look Spurs team has enormous talent and enormous potential, or say all the 'experts', and all at great cost. The actual truth is that they appear to be a group of players who simply don't work together and have great difficulty penetrating the defence of any half-decent team, and their defence is dodgy. Yes, they haven't conceded many goals but then they haven't played anyone of real note, except Arsenal to whom they lost and Chelsea with whom they gained a slightly lucky draw; God help them when they play anyone really good.

 

Today, they contrived to lose at home to Newcastle. It was only 1-0 but the manner of the defeat was enough to make any Spurs fan weep. In the first half, they were inept and impotent; Dembele, who seems to have more bad days than good, seemed to be half asleep, and poor old Soldado at the front was given no opportunity whatsoever. Instead, a simple through-ball found an unmarked Remy who placed the ball into the Spurs goal.

 

The second half was a slightly different story as Spurs replaced Dembele with Sandro and AVB had clearly read the Riot Act; Tottenham actually looked as though they wanted to compete. However, their multitudinous attacks ended with no result. Spurs' management will no doubt claim that they were denied by the Newcastle goalkeeper, who did have a good day, but the truth is that Spurs are simply not good enough. They failed to create real opportunities, failing miserably to breach their opponents defences while Newcastle still presented a threat on the few occasions when they were able to break out.

 

Tottenham are still a team in the making and one can only hope that they will eventually make it. However, at the moment they are second rate at best and their inability to score goals is becoming highly embarrassing; the ludicrous claims that they are title contenders have been well and truly shown to be nonsense. On today's showing, it will be a miracle if they make the top 4 and a huge surprise if they even get into the top 6 at the end of the season; winning cups is just a joke. It will even be a surprise if AVB is still the manager come the end of March.

 

Oh for the days of Billy Nick !

ENGLAND HANG ON TO BEAT PUMAS.

The second match of England's autumn campaign, against Argentina at Twickenham, was a mirror image of the first game against Australia.

 

Last week, England were a disjointed team in the first half but played much more solidly and cohesively in the second. Today's match saw them play controlled and dominant rugby in the first half, but almost fall apart in the second. After dominating possession and territory for 40 minutes and gaining an advantage of 24-6 at the break, they completely lost their way and allowed the Argentines to dominate the second half. Two penalties reduced the deficit to 24-12 and a little luck could easily have seen it reduced to vanishing point as England really looked second rate. In the end, Ben Morgan took his chance to break through the Argentinian line with just a couple of minutes to go and the final score was 31-12; to say that this flattered England, especially after their miserable second half performance, is a huge understatement.

 

Next week it's the turn of the All Blacks and there can be little doubt that England will have to play much better for a full 80 minutes if they're to stand any chance of even staying close to the World Champions.

ENGLAND OVERCOME WALLABIES AT TWICKERS !

As we build up towards the Rugby Union World Cup in 2015, the progress of Stuart Lancaster's developing England team is becoming more significant. After the last 6-Nations' tournament, when they were roundly slaughtered by Wales, England suddenly realised that they were not, perhaps, developing as quickly as they'd believed; a summer tour of Argentina restored some belief but the real measure had to be the autumn series.

 

Yesterday, that autumn series got under way with the Australians visiting Twickenham. After a stuttering first half in which Owen Farrell managed to miss 3 penalty kicks and England failed to make any real impression on the visitors, the half-time score of 6-13 looked pretty gloomy. However, the second half produced a much more coherent performance from the home side with 2 converted tries and eventual victory by 20-13.

 

Although this was a decent result and, in the end, a strong performance at least from the forwards, no one should be carried away. Australia have not been a great power this year; although they haven't exactly played badly, their results have been disappointing, so an English victory cannot be seen as a pointer to World Cup success - yet. Next week, they take on Argentina and the week after that it's the real test, against New Zealand. The 'All Blacks' are undoubtedly the best team around at the moment and how well we do against them will tell us much more than did yesterday's match. Let's hope we at least give them a run for their money.

 

 

VETTEL & RED BULL UNBEATABLE AGAIN.

There can be no doubt that Sebastian Vettel is a very good driver but just how good is difficult to determine.

 

Vettel's fourth Formula One world championship, won in India on Sunday, puts him into an elite group; only Juan Fangio, Alain Prost and Michael Schumacher have previously won 4 titles and none of them was anywhere as young as Vettel who is still only 26. However, while Fangio drove in a bygone era of derring-do and Prost was active well before the modern 'safety first' era, Vettel has the benefit of all manner of computer generated design and analysis which even Schumacher only partly experienced, and it can be very difficult to determine where the real excellence lies - in the car, the driver or a bit of both.

 

Vettel's 'Red Bull' car is the best of its day and Vettel is easily the better of the 2 drivers in the team. His team mate, Mark Webber, with the same car and support, simply hasn't been able to keep up with his younger partner so it's clear that Vettel is better than him, but is he really better than the other top drivers such as Alonso, Raikonnen and Hamilton ? Unfortunately, we're not likely to find out any time soon, as Vettel's team mate for 2014 will be the relatively unknown Daniel Ricciardo rather than one of the big names.

 

However, putting all of this aside, Sebastian Vettel is undoubtedly the World Champion driver and 'Red Bull' have won the 'Constructor's' championship again as well; both driver and car have left their competition far behind. Well done to both.

SPURS CRASH TO WEST HAM AND GO BACK TO NORMAL.

Today's result from White Hart Lane surely bursts the Spurs' bubble.

 

After spending huge amounts of money in the summer and bringing in numerous supposedly very good players, today they lost 3-0 at home to lowly West Ham. Last year, Spurs had 2 problems; firstly they leaked goals whenever the opposition got around their rather static defence, and secondly, they had trouble finding the net themselves. This term, they appeared to have resolved the leaky defence issue but still find it almost impossible to score goals against any but the poorest opposition; today's result shows that the defence is every bit as dodgy as before.

 

Oh Dear, Oh Dear, Oh Dear :-(  The premature talk of a top 4 finish and Champions' League spot now seems very, very fanciful indeed; the madness of them being title challengers can be forgotten for at least another year. They may have several better players but they still lack the penetration necessary to score more than the occasional goal against top sides. Come the January transfer window expect some more frantic activity as they search desperately for someone who can create those missing goal scoring opportunities on a regular basis. Oh, and a decent left full back, cover for Walker and a winger or 2 might be useful as well.

MURRAY BROUGHT CRASHING DOWN !

Following his heroics of the last 12 months, with wins at the Olympics, US Open and Wimbledon, Andy Murray's world collapsed around him yesterday as the Swiss number 2, Stanislas Wawrinka, simply destroyed him.

 

Murray has played Wawrinka before and usually had the better of him but yesterday was different. The Scot had no answers to the powerful play of his opponent and was blown away in straight sets; perhaps it was an overdue reaction to the events of the last year. Whatever the reasons, Murray was never settled in the match and seemed horribly ill at ease with himself; his post-match interview was a twitchy affair as he moved constantly in his seat while fielding questions. All-in-all, the impression given was that he was close to breaking point.

 

As for Stan Wawrinka, the perennial Swiss number 2 behind Roger Federer may be on the point of overtaking his compatriot in the rankings. As Federer's star appears to be waning rapidly, Stan's chance may have come; one or two more good performances could see him outshining the Great Man. How ready he is to assume such a mantle may be revealed by his next match, against the world number 1, Novak Djokovic, in tomorrow's semi-final.

BALE TRANSFER SHOWS FOOTBALL HAS GONE MAD.

The conclusion of months of gossip about the possible move of Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid must come as a huge relief to many people. It's been clear for several weeks that Bale was on his way out of White Hart Lane, with Tottenham anticipating the sale by spending enormous amounts in the transfer market; now that Bale's gone, this outlay has been recouped and their accountants must be happy once more.

 

The real question is whether anyone who kicks a football around can be worth paying £85.3m for, and whether they can be worth paying £15.6m per year in wages. In my view, the answer is an emphatic "NO".

 

We hear and read much about greedy bankers and other business leaders who receive large salaries and bonuses, though few of these came close to the numbers now routinely bandied about in the world of football. Those who run major multinational corporations are often responsible for many thousands of employees and company budgets of many billions of pounds; whole economies may depend on their success or failure, as we discovered when banks began to fail 5 or 6 years ago. The people who have ultimate responsibility within such vast entities need to be the best and that means highly paid, but even they are not paid the staggering sums received by some sports 'stars'.

 

When it comes to sport, matters should be rather different. Those who choose to follow this largely selfish and egotistical path do very little to manage anything, create employment or enhance the world in any other tangible way; in fact, it seems that their primary purpose is to fleece the poor supporter out of as much money as possible while becoming enormously rich for doing what they themselves most enjoy, be it playing football, tennis, golf, basketball or a myriad of other essentially pointless games. They are the true parasites, not the bankers.

 

Gareth Bale is a great footballer but is he worth paying £85.3m for ? Certainly not. Is he worth paying £300,000 per week as has been reported ? Of course not, it's a ludicrous amount of money to pay someone for playing a game, no matter how good they are.

 

The world has gone mad.

RIP CRICKET - WE NEED A NEW SET OF ASHES.

Watching the final moments of the fifth Ashes test match, one has to bemoan the death of cricket.

 

When I was a lad, it was perfectly normal for 100 and more overs to be bowled in a 6 hour day; today, this rarely, if ever, happens. In test matches, the rule is that there have to be 90 overs in a day that now extends to a maximum of 6½ hours, but there appears to be no penalty for missing this target and no way of making up the deficit unless it was caused by bad weather or bad light. Even then, umpires seem to be beset by a plethora of rules and regulations that require them to react in particular ways, usually without the slightest consideration of the paying public. The public are expected to accept a confection that crawls along at a snail's pace and is stopped at a moment's notice for the most bureaucratic of reasons.

 

The premature end to the final test, albeit at 7:40 pm, was stupid and certainly did not please the paying public; how was it that David Hughes once won a Gillette Cup match at something around 9:00 pm and no one complained about the light ?

 

Today's cricket is a pale shadow of the wonderful game played by the likes of Grace, Hobbs, Hammond, Bradman, Headley, Compton, Hutton, Gregory and MacDonald, Lindwall and Miller, Trueman and Statham, Hall and Griffiths and the like. Today they play on manicured pitches with so much in the way of helmets and padding, not to mention worries about a few drops of rain or a bit of dodgy light, that it's a wonder that the game has survived at all. How any of today's players can be compared with the greats of the past is a mystery - one or two perhaps but generally speaking any comparison is laughable.

 

England retained the Ashes by beating one of the worst Australian teams ever to tour this country. They may well repeat this feat by winning again in Australia in the coming winter, but it will be a hollow victory. Cricket, as anyone over the age of 45 ever knew it, is dead; the money men have finally got their claws into it and the future is the crash-bang-wallop rubbish of 20-20, with its accompanying paraphernalia of noise and hype. One of the major consequences of this is the death of real cricket; county, state and test matches that last for more than a day.

 

Cricket is no longer a game played to entertain the paying public, it's simply a money machine; as such, it has an enormous bureaucracy that determines how it works and that develops rules and regulations for every possible eventuality. As such, it does nothing but serve itself and drive real supporters away while constantly congratulating itself on how well it's doing.

 

Let's not be fooled. Real cricket is dead but not quite buried yet; I hope to see a bit of the real game in the coming week though I wonder for how many more years it will continue. With luck, it will last longer than I, though I have my doubts.

MO FARAH, SUPERSTAR !

Every now and then a special performer appears and, right now, it's Mo Farah.

 

A few minutes ago, Farah put himself into genuine superstardom with a stunning performance in the World Championship 5,000 metre final. Following his win in the 10,000 meters last weekend, he bided his time and only seemed to take the race seriously in the last 2 or 3 laps. With less than 800 meters left, he finally moved to the front and, despite the best efforts of his opponents, he refused to be passed, eventually storming to victory and even going away from the others over the last 50 metres.

 

Farah has now become holder of both the Olympic and World 5,000 and 10,000 metre titles at the same time, something only previously achieved by the great Ethiopian, Kenenisa Bekele. Of course, others may have achieved the same had the opportunity arisen, but the World Championships have only been held since 1983 so many great athletes never had the chance; whether or not Paavo Nurmi, Emil Zatopek or Lasse Viren could have achieved the same will never be known but even to mention Farah's name in the same breath as these athletic greats tells how exceptional is his performance.

 

Farah's achievement must rank with the very greatest in athletics history and must certainly make him the greatest distance runner ever to represent the UK.

 

Well done, Mo, and more power to your elbow !

PHIL MICKELSON - CHAMPION GOLFER !

And so it was not to be Westwood's year.

 

After going into the final round of the Open Championship with a 2 shot lead, which was extended to 3 at one point, Lee Westwood's bid for immortality eventually faded away with a string of wayward blows. Tiger Woods challenge never materialised though Ian Poulter made a determined bid from several strokes back, though he also faltered towards the end. Others came and went at the front, including my own choice for the title, Adam Scott, who looked a near certainty before either the course or his nerves, or both, produced several dropped shots in quick succession.

 

At the death it was the American Phil Mickelson who burst out of the pack with a magnificent round of 66 and claimed a title he's always coveted. Mickelson's eventual winning margin of 3 shots was a true reflection of his dominance on a day when few others made a real challenge and most of the round 3 leaders simply fell away. It was his 5th major triumph and he also became the first golfer to win the Scottish Open and The Open in successive weeks. Westwood finished third, alongside Ian Poulter and Adam Scott, 4 shots behind, while the runner-up was the hardly-mentioned Henrik Stenson.

 

Mickelson is one of those sportsmen about whom it's very hard to find anything bad to say. He is always courteous and polite, he smiles a lot with no effort and he truly loves his sport. He also loves his family and is effusive in his thanks to and praise for others; in short Phil Mickelson is a truly great sportsman. If he has one slight drawback, it's that he's American and not British, but he's also such a great gentleman I'm even prepared to forgive him that and cheer him on.

 

Well done, Phil Mickelson, "Winner of the Gold Medal and Champion Golfer for the Year" !

WESTWOOD FLIES THE FLAG AS ROSE, McILROY AND DONALD DISAPPOINT.

As usual, the media built up British expectations to fever pitch prior to the start of the Open Golf Championship, this year being played at the Muirfield course in North Berwick.

 

Would McIlroy regain his form ? Could Rose add 'The Open' to his US Open title ? Might it be time for Donald to win his first major ? In the event, none of these three vaunted players has even survived to play the last 2 rounds, having failed to make the half-way cut. Yet again, the great British media built them up only to see them fall flat.

 

Muirfield has proved to be a very hard test, even though the weather has been beautiful. Warm and sunny, no rain and just a bit of wind, and yet the world's finest golfers have struggled to break par. With 2 rounds completed, Spain's 'old man', Miguel Angel Jimenez, has the lead at three under par, but he's hotly pursued by another 9 players within 3 strokes, including the ominously placed Tiger Woods. Jimenez's immediate pursuers are a mixed bunch, though, including 4 from the US, another Spaniard, a Swede, an Argentinian, a Scot and an Englishman.

 

The Englishman who's emerged as the current leading contender is Lee Westwood, now getting a bit long in the tooth but playing some lovely golf before losing his way a bit over the last 6 holes of round 2. Martin Laird of Scotland is there and looking good while the 2011 winner, Darren Clarke from Northern Ireland, and England's Ian Poulter are only another shot behind. Also close at hand is my tip for the title, Adam Scott, the Australian who missed out narrowly last year and is on one over par.

 

Who will win ?

DRUG CHEATS CAUGHT BY THE DOZEN.

Tyson Gay, Asafa Powell, Sherone Simpson and 3 other Jamaican athletes have been caught using banned substances. A few weeks ago, another Jamaican, Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown, was caught.

 

As usual, there will be protestations of innocence or ignorance; there will be suggestions that "it weren't me, guv, I was let down". As usual, the athletes will be banned for a period of time, probably 2 years, and the ones who are young enough will be back in competition in time for the next Olympic games.

 

How many athletes have to be caught cheating in this way before there is some real action ? Marion Jones, one of the greatest of all female athletes, was a cheat as was her onetime husband, C J Hunter; so were 1988 Olympic 100 metre winner Ben Johnson, our own Dwain Chambers, the 2012 women's shot putt winner, Ostapchuk, our shot putter Carl Myerscough, and dozens, if not hundreds or even thousands, of others. Of course, athletics is not alone and competitors in other sports have been found cheating, notably cycling which has produced the most appalling cheat in sporting history, Lance Armstrong. The testing conducted in football, cricket, rugby, tennis and so on seems to be limited or even non-existent, so how many of the 'great' players in these and other sports are also cheats is unknown; the odds must be that many are.

 

Ever since sport became big business, with competitors being able to accrue vast fortunes from their participation, cheating has prospered. Those who pay stupid amounts of money to watch sporting events are regularly let down by their idols, but they never get their money back; instead, the cheats receive a slap on the wrist and a brief ban from competition before returning to carry on where they left off.

 

Gay, Powell and the others who've been caught recently have disgraced themselves and brought their sport into disrepute. Ban them for good, strip them of all of their medals and awards and erase their performances from the record books; that's the only way to deal with them.

STUART BROAD DID NOTHING WRONG, THOUGH IT STINKS.

The controversy over whether or not Stuart Broad should have 'walked' yesterday really is an argument between old morals and new. In days gone by, cricket was a game played for pleasure and entertainment with money playing little part. Indeed, until the early 1960s, English cricket maintained a distinction between amateurs and professionals, those who played for fun and those who played for cash.

 

No amateur would have been likely to have stood his ground waiting for the umpire's decision, as Broad did; if he had so obviously hit the ball and been caught, he would have 'walked'. Professionals, on the other hand, may not have been quite so quick to surrender their wickets, a move which could well have affected their earnings. There is no doubt that the great W G Grace, who was nominally an amateur but also made substantial money from cricket, probably never volunteered his wicket and, if I remember correctly, Sir Donald Bradman always left it to the umpire to decide his fate. More recently, Geoffrey Boycott was very clear that he would abide by the umpire's decisions, good or bad and was not in the habit of helping them out in times of doubt.

 

In an age when the main sport of this country, football, is riddled with cheating of every possible sort, it is hypocritical to criticise Broad for his actions. 'Yes', he clearly edged the ball and 'yes' it was caught, but the umpire made a mistake and said 'not out'; Broad was wholly within his rights to stand his ground and if anyone is to be criticised, it is the umpire.

 

I don't like this scenario but it is the one we have to accept; the world in which gentlemen played sports in an honourable way and within the 'spirit of the game' is long gone, at least in football and cricket. There is so much money involved in these sports that honour can no longer exist. Given this state of affairs, I'm at a loss to understand why cricket umpires are not empowered, as are the officials in rugby union, to call for a televisual review whenever there is doubt about a decision, rather than being restrained by the system of allowing a small number of 'reviews' to each side. Rugby officials are not reduced in power by their system, in fact their positions are substantially enhanced; why does not cricket do the same ?

 

Stuart Broad's action leaves a bit of a sour taste but he did nothing wrong, given the ways of today. If cricket authorities or supporters don't like it, then they must look to change the rules and introduce more help for umpires; until they do, things are as they are.

BRILLIANT LIONS ROAR - WALLABIES ARE EATEN ALIVE !

The third and deciding test of the Lions' series against Australia was so different from the first two as to be almost unrecognizable as part of the same series.

 

In the earlier encounters, the Lions had been unable to exert any real dominance and it was the Wallabies who proved to be the stronger side in both, though still managing to lose the first match most narrowly. Tries were at a premium and these 2 games were closely fought but not full of free-flowing rugby.

 

The third test, on the other hand, was more open and showed the Lions to be a side of much greater ability. The early exchanges saw a try for Corbisiero, almost before the game had started, and a few kicks for Halfpenny which allowed the visitors to build up an impressive 16-3 lead while the Wallabies seemed to be at a loss as to how to deal with a rampaging Lions' scrum. The Lions then stumbled and let the home side back in to the extent that the gap was reduced to 19-16; for a few minutes, things were in the balance.

 

Halfpenny, again, came to the rescue with another penalty kick, and then it was over to the backs. Suddenly, Sexton was over for a try, then North and finally Roberts, and it was 41-16 as the Lions broke free and ran riot. The Wallabies simply had no answer and, although they never gave up, this final match of the series was a revelation; the Lions' victory was not only comprehensive, it was the result of an all-round dominance that was not even thought possible after the first 2 games. Man of the Match, Series and everything else was the irrepressible Leigh Halfpenny, who seemed to be everywhere all of the time and contributed just over half of the Lions' points with his almost faultless kicking while also making Sexton's try for him.

 

Despite controversy over his selection for the match, coach Warren Gatland came up with the goods and the first Lions' series victory since 1997. He's already said that he'd consider leading the next tour, to New Zealand, in 2017; if it was up to me, I'd have him signed up already !

ANDY MURRAY - WIMBLEDON CHAMPION !!

This may not have been the best Wimbledon final ever, but it was surely the most brutal. It may not have been the most dramatic, but it certainly was the most historic. After 77 years, Andy Murray won a title last won by a Briton in 1936 and in sensational style.

 

Seeded to meet in the final, Novak Djokovic and Murray duly obliged. Djokovic, the world number 1 and generally acknowledged to be the best male player around today, was probably a very narrow favourite but, when it comes to such occasions, being the bookies favourite often counts for nothing.

 

Experts seemed unanimous in their view that the match would go the distance and a point here and there would decide it. In the end, the match lasted only 3 sets but almost 3¼ hours as these two titans of tennis slugged it out. Sometimes the tennis reached previously unexplored heights and sometimes it was almost down to earth; sometimes the momentum swung one way and sometimes it swung the other. Even when Murray had 3 match points on his final service game, Djokovic refused to surrender, brought the score back to deuce and threatened to spoil the party by getting close to breaking serve. In the end, the gracious and noble Serb simply couldn't withstand Murray and the tidal wave of support behind him.

 

No one thought this would end with such an apparently comfortable score, but 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 simply doesn't tell the story. For once, the British summer arrived at the right time and temperatures on court soared into the 80s and beyond. The expectation on Murray was immense and must have added enormously to the pressure, but Djokovic had to cope with a hugely partisan crowd, so perhaps these factors cancelled out. The result was a gruelling match of long points and long games, won by the man who turned out to be the best on the day and who had the inspirational assistance of Ivan Lendl behind him.

 

Andy Murray, Wimbledon Champion !!

 

ROBSON OUT; MURRAY CAN STILL WIN TITLE.

As Wimbledon draws to its dramatic conclusion, British interest in the main events has been reduced to just the one hope - Andy Murray - again.

 

On Monday, Laura Robson tried hard but really wasn't at her best against a good and much more experienced opponent, Kaia Kanepi. Kanepi is a superstar in her homeland, Estonia, and was good value for the win, which brought her up against a much tougher nut in Sabine Lisicki who'd achieved the unthinkable in knocking the champion, No 1 seed and hot favourite out. If anyone had suggested that Serena Williams wouldn't be in the final, they'd have been laughed off court, but Lisicki just got on with her job and won the day. Against Kanepi, it was an easier story as the hard hitting German had little trouble in setting up a semi-final meeting with  last year's beaten finalist Agnieska Radwanska. Radwanska came through a gruelling match against China's Na Li and the semi will be a fascinating match between players of wholly contrasting styles.

 

In the other half of the draw, Marion Bartoli came through relatively comfortably against the young American, Sloane Stephens, and will now play the real surprise package of the Ladies' tournament, Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium. Flipkens, after losing the first set against the 2011 champion, Petra Kvitova, won the next 2 in dramatic style to reach her first Grand Slam semi-final at the age of 27. Not only is Flipkens tiny compared with most of the other leading players, but she also suffered life threatening illness last year and wasn't even ranked highly enough to enter the qualifying tournament for Wimbledon in 2012. For what it's worth, my money would be on a Lisicki-Flipkens final, but I'm not exactly confident !

 

In the men's event, the 4th round and quarter final results were much as expected. The top half of the draw has boiled down to Djokovic against Del Potro, the latter having defeated both injury and David Ferrer to get there. Although Ferrer was the higher ranked player, Del Potro's size, power and greater  suitability to a grass court must have made him favourite in this match anyway. In the other half most of the seeds had already gone and it was left to Murray to overcome Mikhail Youzhny, while Jerzy Janowicz had no seeds left to defeat but did take 5 sets to beat Jurgen Melzer.

 

Yesterday's quarter finals were between Murray and Fernando Verdasco, and an all-Polish match between Janowicz and Lukas Kubot. While Janowicz despatched his compatriot in straight sets, Murray had an almighty struggle, going 2 sets down before clawing his way back to win in 5. Rather like Flipkens, Verdasco has had a bad time over the last year or so, but he was once a top-10 ranked player, and it showed; Murray may have been a bit 'out-of-sorts' but Verdasco was well worth his 2 set lead and, in the end, it probably came down to a matter of nerve as Murray served out for the match at 7-5 in the 5th set.

 

As in the Ladies' tournament, the semi-finals will be fascinating. World no. 1 Djokovic against the huge Argentinian Del Potro - Djokovic has to be favourite but Del Potro did win when they met in the Olympics and on the same court. Murray should beat Janowicz but he had a very hard match yesterday. A Murray-Djokovic final has to be favourite, but who knows ?

MURRAY AND ROBSON RAISE BRITISH TENNIS SPIRITS.

For the first time in 15 years, Britain has both a man and a woman through to the 4th round of Wimbledon. Back in the dim and distant days of 1998, it was Tim Henman and Sam Smith; this year it's Andy Murray and Laura Robson.

 

In 1998, Henman was our regular Wimbledon hope and often progressed to the latter stages of the competition but Sam Smith, while being our top female player of the time, made her one and only 4th round appearance in that year. Sadly, ever fulfilled their early promise.

 

Today, Andy Murray has become the 'Great White Hope' of British mens' tennis and has looked to be in imperious form in this year's tournament. If he carries on as he's played so far, he must be odds on to reach the final and he could well win that, too, adding the Wimbledon title to that of the USA which he won last year.

 

In the womens' event this year we had several starters but it is the precocious Laura Robson who has survived to round 4. After winning the junior event 5 years ago, Robson has become the darling of British tennis and has proved good enough to defeat several of the world's top players, though has also shown a depressing ability to lose matches against much lower-ranked opponents whom she should have walked all over.

 

"So far,  so good," is the story of this year's Wimbledon for Laura. A brilliant first round performance to beat the 10th seed, Kirilenko, and a workman-like showing in the second to dispose of Duque-Marino, brought her up against Erakovic in the third. For a set and a half, it looked as though this would be the end of the road for Laura as she failed completely to cope with the New Zealander's game, but then it all changed. From serving for the match, Erakovic lost 8 games in a row and, despite a blip when herself serving for the win, Laura still got home in style. If the first round was brilliant and the second workman-like, the third was full of character and determination. This girl may well go far in the next few years and her 4th round opponent, Kaia Kanepi, had better watch out.

LIONS NARROWLY BEATEN; ALL NOW RESTS ON SYDNEY.

Round 2 of the British & Irish Lions versus the Wallabies produced a dramatic match dominated by the forwards but ultimately won by one moment of freedom for the Australian backs.

 

The Lions were significantly better than in the first match and all that either side could manage in the first half was a few penalties; the Lions led 12-9 at that point and looked to be on course for a historic victory. Unfortunately for the Lions, the second half saw the Wallabies begin to take control and they forced the tourists back into their own half for much of the time. Despite this, it was the Lions who gained the first score of the half with another penalty kicked by Halfpenny, but the Wallabies kept pressing and eventually the pressure told as Adam Ashley-Cooper finally breached the Lions defences for the only try of the match. Lealiifano duly converted to give the home side the narrowest of leads with only 2 or 3 minutes remaining.

 

Last week, it was a missed kick by Beale which deprived the Wallabies of victory and this week the boot was on the other foot. With the hooter already sounded, the Lions gained a final penalty on the halfway line; up stepped Halfpenny but the distance proved a few yards too much even for his mighty ability. The Wallabies celebrated victory by 16-15 and everything now rests on the third and final match next week.

 

This was an improved performance by the Lions in some areas but they hardly managed to involve their backs in the action at all; North, O'Driscoll, Davies and Bowe simply had no service and never got going. At the same time, the forwards mainly out-scrimmaged their opponents though the line-out was a bit wobbly. Putting these things right shouldn't be impossible, as long as injuries to the likes of captain Warburton don't interfere; 2 very tight matches probably mean that the third will be tight also, but there's no reason why the Lions shouldn't be victorious in Sydney. Fingers crossed.

WIMBLEDON CARNAGE !

Following on from Rafa Nadal's Wimbledon exit on Monday, yesterday proved to be a disastrous day for the tournament as seeds departed in all directions.

 

Top of the list was 7-time champion Roger Federer who, having won the first set, promptly lost the next 3 against an unheralded Ukrainian, Serhiy Stakhovsky. At 31, Federer is already getting pretty long in the tooth to be playing at the highest level and this must surely be the end of the road for him as a genuine challenger for major titles. Indeed, we may well have seen the last of both Federer and Nadal, two of the greatest players in tennis history.

 

Federer was joined on the side-lines by Jo-Wilfred Tsonga and Marin Cilic as well as by Nadal's conqueror, Steve Darcis and John Isner who all withdrew through injury; Julian Benneteau and Lleyton Hewitt also found their campaigns ended and the bottom half of the draw now looks like a cakewalk for Andy Murray, who's the only significant name left. 

 

The Ladies' tournament was hardly any less decimated, with Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Lucie Safarova and Sorana Cirstea all beaten while number 2 seed Victoria Azarenka was forced to withdraw after injuring herself in the first round. Petra Kvitova, the 2011 champion, must now fancy her chances of at least reaching another final as there's almost no opposition left in her half of the draw.

 

Some of the players have been complaining that the playing surface is poor and has caused them to either lose or be injured, though others such as Murray, Djokovic and Serena Williams don't seem to have experienced any problems and the likes of Federer and Nadal haven't made any comments. It would seem that Wimbledon, the only real traditional tournament left, is sorting out the men and women from the boys and girls, just as it should.

HAS WIMBLEDON SEEN THE LAST OF RAFA NADAL ?

What a shocker !

 

After all the fuss about Rafa Nadal being seeded only at number 5 for Wimbledon, he's gone and got himself knocked out on the first day. Apparently, he's never failed to go beyond the first round in a Grand Slam event before and this has happened just a couple of weeks after he made a bit of history by winning his eighth French Open .

 

On the day, Nadal was beaten fairly and squarely by his opponent, the Belgian Steve Darcis, who played extremely well. However, as the match progressed, it became clear that Rafa was carrying an injury and this undoubtedly contributed to his defeat. Typically, he made no excuses but one has to wonder if this may be a defining moment in his career; having spent more than 8 months on the side-lines through injury after the last Wimbledon, might it be that his exertions in France were too much for his troublesome knees and he will now consider retirement ? Might we have seen the last of this amazing player ?

 

Whatever Nadal's future holds, his departure from the tournament makes a Murray-Federer semi-final a real prospect, with the winner taking on Djokovic for the title; who will win ?

 

LUCKY, LUCKY LIONS JUST BEAT WALLABIES.

Somehow, the British and Irish Lions managed to beat the Australians in Brisbane today, but how they did it may well give the home team huge encouragement for the rest of the 3 match series.

 

At no time did the Lions look to be in control and they had clearly failed to do their research on the referee's likes and dislikes. Had the Wallabies taken the numerous kicking opportunities handed to them, they'd have been comfortable, and well-deserved, winners even though they suffered a string of injuries and ended up with several players forced to play out of position. A final piece of cruel luck when Kurtley Beale slipped as he took what could have been a winning penalty kick added insult to injury for the Wallabies as the Lions breathed a huge sigh of relief and won 23-21.

 

Although there was plenty of effort from the Lions and a few spectacular pieces of play, they spent most of the match struggling to contain the home side.  They really didn't look very coherent as a side and they have a lot of work to do before next Saturday if they're to avoid defeat. As for the Wallabies, they'll be straining at the bit for a chance to gain revenge and they must be firm favourites to achieve it.

JUSTIN ROSE COMES GOOD !

In 2005, an 18 year old Andy Murray burst upon the tennis world as a somewhat skinny but obviously talented player; his early promise was finally fulfilled in 2012 when, as a much more muscular specimen, he became the first Briton for 76 years to win one of the 'Grand Slam' tournaments of tennis, the US Open.

 

Yesterday, another former teenage prodigy achieved a similar feat.

 

Justin Rose first came to notice as far back as the 1998 Open championship at Royal Birkdale when, as a not-quite 18 year-old, he tied for 4th place being beaten only by Mark, O'Meara and Brian Watts who tied for first place and Tiger Woods. On that memorable occasion, Rose beat his then fellow amateur Sergio Garcia by no less than 10 shots, but their careers followed very different courses thereafter.

 

Rose turned professional immediately after his Open performance and Garcia joined him in the following spring but while Garcia enjoyed considerable early success, Rose had a miserable time and missed the cut in all of his first 21 professional events. It seemed that his career might be over almost before it had begun but he persevered and gradually began to prosper, at least a little. Garcia, meanwhile, became one of the world's leading players and was frequently touted as a likely winner of one of the four 'Majors'. 

 

Over time, Garcia has had his ups and downs but he's still to win that elusive 'Major'. Rose, on the other hand, has kept going and slowly but surely overhauled his more illustrious rival, rising to the giddy heights of number 3 in the world. Yesterday, the boy from 1998 finally came to full manhood by becoming the first Englishman since Tony Jacklin in 1970 to win the US Open Golf Championship and the first Englishman to win any 'Major' since Nick Faldo lifted his third 'Masters' title in 1996.

 

One of the 'Sky' commentators referred to Rose as a 'plodder', a somewhat derogatory term on the face of things but probably meant rather differently. Rose actually played the best golf of any of the leading contenders in the final round, being cautious and ensuring that he avoided trouble. On a difficult course, it was the best way and, if that's 'plodding', give me a plodder every time.

 

The original 'Open Championship' will get underway at Muirfield on 14th July with the main event starting on 18th. Rose must now be considered as one of the favourites to win that event but, whoever wins, it will hard to match the tension and excitement of yesterday's last round as he, Mickelson, Mahan and Stricker fought it out to the last.

 

And finally, a word for poor old Phil Mickelson who came up one place short yet again at the US Open, the sixth time he's suffered that agony. Mickelson is one of the real gentlemen of world sport and it was very sad to see his obvious distress at the end; most unusually for him, he didn't even have a public word of congratulation for the winner when interviewed after the tournament, though I think we can forgive him that lapse given his previous immaculate record in such matters and his obvious heartbreak at yesterday's outcome. He will, of course, be back and will be a front-runner at Muirfield; perhaps he'll even 'return the favour' to Rose and win our Championship for the first time !

FERGUSON GOES AT LAST.

Oh My God ! He's going, at last !

 

Given the amount of news coverage, anyone would think that the Queen had abdicated though it's actually just a football manager retiring. Admittedly Alex Ferguson has been a hugely successful manager over a period of many years but he's still just a football club manager; in the real world, he's nobody.

 

Ferguson is responsible for manufacturing a single product, his team, and even that has been assembled through the availability of vast amounts of money from others; Ferguson hasn't had to spend any of his own substantial wealth on this project. That his retirement should be accompanied by the type of eulogising normally reserved for people of genuine standing demonstrates just how much football has become so ridiculously overvalued in our society.

 

Ferguson has his supporters but, from what I've seen, heard and read about his frequent outbursts, I'm not one of them. His behaviour towards others in the game and his sometimes appalling treatment of match officials have no place within any sport. Many may mourn his departure, but I'll be cheering all the way.

 

FA UNFAIR TO SUAREZ, SAYS HIS BOSS.

The appalling and disgusting behaviour of Liverpool's Luis Suarez has been matched by the utterly self-serving responses from a number of other footballng figures.

 

Among others, the Liverpool manager, Brendan Rodgers, has expressed his unhappiness with the punishment handed out by the FA for Suarez's actions. A 10-match ban, says Rodgers, is punishment "against the man rather than the incident". He's gone on to add the "We have a punishment with no intention of helping behaviour". What planet this moron lives on is open to debate but I suggest it's one inhabited by those whose entire world is ruled by football and footballers, rather than one in which the rest of society lives.

 

Suarez was not guilty of making a bad tackle and nor was he provoked into throwing a punch; he very deliberately and wholly gratuitously took hold of an opponent's arm and bit it. Shockingly, this was not the first time he's done such a thing and his previous punishment was a 7-match ban. Subsequent to that incident, he was found guilty of 'racially abusing' an opponent, an offence for which he received an 8-match ban. Along the way, he seems to have been more than happy to cheat, Maradonna-style, by using his hands in the penalty area.

 

For Rodgers and others to claim that the FA is now being 'unfair' is risible. Suarez has more than enough 'previous' to demonstrate that fines and talkings-to have no effect; of course the FA is punishing him, it was, after all, he who perpetrated his disgusting action and to suggest that the offender and the offence can somehow be separated and treated differently is incomprehensible. It is also a natural course for second and subsequent offences to be punished more harshly than the first and this is what the FA has done.

 

The behaviour of Suarez was a shocking disgrace and, in my view, he should be banned for good. The behaviour of those such as his manager in claiming that his actions were pretty minor and not worthy of serious punishment sends a message to younger supporters that this type of violence is acceptable; how long will it be before little Jimmy takes a lump out of the arm of young Bobby in the local park ? When Jimmy tells his dad that he only did what Suarez did and it wasn't really serious, what will his dad say ? What will Bobby's dad say when Jimmy's dad tells him it wasn't serious and he should forget it ?

 

Football may be our principal national sport but it's not beyond the laws of the country nor the morality of society, even if many of its players and representatives believe it to be so. It is time for proper action to be taken to correct this flawed view.

ANIMAL SUAREZ MUST BE BANNED

Fottball reached a new low point yesterday when the Liverpool player, Luis Suarez, tokk a bite out of the arm of one of his Chelsea opponents, Branislav Ivanovic. That this is not the first time Suarez has acted in this way makes it all the more shocking.

 

After the incident, the reaction from TV pundits was mixed with one, the former Liverpool player Alan Hansen, effectively saying that while Suarez behaviour was wrong, no one had really been hurt and doing anything serious about it would be excessive. How he could suggest 'brushing the act under the carpet' in such cavalier fashion escapes me.

 

Suarez behaviour was disgusting and bestial. He may be a very clever player but behaviour such as his cannot be excused or ignored and it certainly needs much greater sanction than an apology broadcast over 'Twitter'. If Liverpool FC have any claims to run a decent club, Suarez should never play for them again. If football as a whole wishes to be seen as anything but organised warfare, Suarez should also be ostracized by clubs worldwide and FIFA should ban him from all competition for a substantial period of time.

 

That none of this will happen is my only expectation. Football, and players like Suarez, are considered far too important for any normal standards of human behaviour to apply. While referees 'book' players for 'diving', acts like those of Suarez are well beyond the ability of anyone in the footballing hierarchy to deal with. No wonder that our children, many of whom worship animals such as Suarez, are so out of control.

TIGER WOODS IS A LUCKY MAN.

In the past, sport was something enjoyed by young men, and rarely by young women, of means; it was an amateur pastime and was played for enojoyment and prestige.

 

Today is very different. Most sports have been 'professionalised' and are now played with money in mind. The way in which they are played, the rules and the the prizes are all determined by financial considerations. Consequently some sports, though certainly not all, have been corrupted and are no longer played in a sportsmanlike manner; cheating has become a normal part of the 'game' in some instances. The prime example has to be football in which the rules seem to be ignored most of the time, particularly those relating to the direct interactions between players. Cricket, too, is no longer played in the gentlemanly manner that it was in my youth and players will happily get away with anything they can.

 

Today, we've seen two instances of rule breaches in different sports which seem to have been treated very differently. In the Formula 1 Grand Prix qualifying round in China, the Red Bull driver Mark Webber, recognized as being one of the top drivers around, ran out of fuel; as the adjudicators monitor the fuel to ensure it is within prescribed standards, Webber failed to provide a sample and suffered the full penalty for his offence. He will start from last place in the race tomorrow. In the 'Masters' golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia, Tiger Woods not only played a shot from an incorrect position but also returned an incorrect score; both of these are offences, the first having a standard penalty of 2 shots and the second of mandatory disqualification. At the discretion of the stewards, only the first has been applied, though the full story may not yet have been told.

 

In Formula 1, the stewards chose to be very hard on Webber, a man for whom little seems to go right; the rules are the rules. In Golf, a sport in which adherence to the rules is usually paramount, the stewards have chosen to be somewhat picky about which rules to follow. In fact, as more details are revealed, it seems that they may even have done their damnest to avoid doing anything in support of 'their man'. Woods clearly played from the wrong place and yet the rules official on the course said nothing; Woods reportedly told officials in the scoring hut what he had done and they did nothing. It was not until he told the press and public that the officials took any notice. Now they have done as little as they can; a 2 shot penalty but no disqualification.

 

There can be no doubt that what Woods did was wrong but it seems that he actually did all that he reasonably could have done to ensure that the officials knew exactly what had happened; it appears that he is not to blame for this debacle. Nonetheless, and I acknowledge that I do not like the man one little bit, he should have sought proper advice on the course and should have been disqualified for returning an inaccurate card. That he is happily playing the third round as I write tells me that the officials in Augusta have bowed to the financial and nationalistic pressures on them by allowing Woods to continue, albeit with a stroke penalty.

 

I had thought that golf was one of sports that was immune to corruption but now I begin to wonder. When money and, in the particular case of the USA, national pride are considered of over-riding importance, how can we be sure that adjudications on the application of the rules will be fair and just ? The simple answer is that we cannot.

MURRAY WINS BATTLE OF ERRORS.

Yesterday saw Andy Murray rise to number 2 in the world tennis rankings after his win over David Ferrer in Florida. At one point during the match a commentator remarked that Murray would become the second best player in the world as a consequence of a victory, something which is, of course, nothing to do with official rankings.

 

Murray's win was, at best, messy and lucky. The match was horribly scrappy with both players perpetrating huge numbers of unforced errors; it was anything but a match between 2 of the supposedly best players in the world. That the points gained from his win move him above Roger Federer in the official ATP rankings means only that he has gained more points over the last 12 months than the Swiss; it does not mean that he is a better player.

 

In fact, Murray continues to be a serious disappointment. His pained demeanour throughout yesterday's match contrasted hugely with that of his opponent and it also contrasts vastly with the usual positive and upbeat demeanours of Djokovic, Federer and Nadal. Murray may be the number 2 ranked player in the world but he is far from being the second best. Djokovic is the best and Nadal probably number 2; on his day, Federer is still number 3 and Murray is vying for 4th spot with the likes of Ferrer and Del Potro.

 

Neither ranking points nor the excessive enthusiasm of commentators can change this.

SIX NATIONS' GOES DOWN TO THE WIRE.

The penultimate round of matches in the 2013 Six Nations' Championship produced results which left the ultimate destination of the Championship, Triple Crown, Grand Slam and wooden spoon all in the balance.

 

Match 1 was Scotland v Wales. This turned out to be a horribly messy game, punctuated by a vast number of penalty kicks, apparently a record for any international match. Wales were the better side and deserved winners, mainly courtesy of the one try of the match. Their 28-18 victory was a third win in a row and gave them plenty of reason to believe that they could still win the Championship with a sufficient victory over England at the Millennium Stadium in their final match.

Up next was Ireland v France; this was another untidy game but played in awful weather. In the first half, France looking generally unhappy and were unable to apply much real pressure to their opponents; Ireland had most of the game but didn't often threaten the French line. In the second half, France were a different team although still not on top of their game. Ireland suffered several injuries which must have affected their ultimate performance, and they failed to score any points in the second half. France brought the scores level with a deserved try and that was the final result, 13 all. In the end, the main difference between the sides was that, while Ireland converted their penalties, France missed theirs. Neither could claim to have been at their best.

 

Finally, England entertained Italy on Sunday at a very cold Twickenham. Early pressure brought a penalty and quick lead for England who were totally dominant for first 15 minutes; they nearly had a try for Brown after a charge down. However, after this initial period, England found it impossible to make any real progress against a determined Italian defence, until a second penalty kicked by Flood.

Italy hit back with a penalty of their own, though England still dominated and came close to a try after 25 minutes when Flood was held up on the line. Italy lost a man to the bin after 30 minutes but England failed to capitalise; 2 more penalties were all they achieved to reach half-time at 12-3.

 

Italy started 2nd half brightly but England soon had another penalty converted by Flood. Italy quickly cancelled this out and followed it up with the only try of the match after a horrible miskick by Care; this made it 15-11 and 'game on'. Italy now dominated possession and caused England great problems. Orquera missed both his conversion attempt and a further penalty, otherwise Italy would have had the lead within the hour. Assorted substitutions were followed by English pressure which brought another penalty kicked by Flood. Italy continued to give as good as they got; sustained pressure almost brought another try but ended with a knock on, adjudged by the referee but disputed by the linesman. England ended defiantly rather than anything else with an 18-11 victory that was barely deserved.

The weekend's matches ended with the previously dominant England very much on the back foot while the Welsh had their tails very much up. Scotland and Ireland appeared to be going backwards, though the French appeared to be on an upward path, at least in the second half of their match. The real winners of the weekend were, though, the Italians, whose performance at Twickenham deserved more than another defeat. The last round of matches could yet throw up some real surprises; England can still seal a first 'Grand Slam' for 10 years, though Wales may be a tough nut to crack and can still win the Championship. Any of Ireland, France and Italy can still pick up the wooden spoon and, with Italy entertaining the Irish in Rome and France probably desperate for a win over Scotland in Paris, that particular 'prize' may well go down to the last kick of the last match at arround 21:45 on Saturday.

COMPTON CENTURY EMULATES GRANDFATHER

A few years ago I had the joyful experience of being able to watch Hutton and Compton batting together. Not, sadly, the original Len and Denis, but their grandsons, Ben and Nick who were both playing for Middlesex at the time. Both lads seemed full of promise but Ben's career never took off and he eventually suffered a terminal decline in form which led to an early retirement from the game. However, Nick prospered and I was fortunate enough to see him score a century at Lord's, the scene of so much of his grandfather's great career.

 

As happens rather too often, Compton then expereicned injury and a loss of form. He left Middlesex and journeyed to Somerset where he has re-established himself as a fine player; not just that, but he has become one of the very best batsmen in county cricket. His reward for perseverance has been a place in the England team and, today, he's become one of the very few players to emulate a forebear by scoring a test match century. At 29, Nick Compton is much older than Denis when he scored his first international century, indeed, he's been far behind Denis all of the way through his career. Denis made his debut for Middlesex when barely 18 years old and scored his first century a matter of a few weeks later; he played his first test match, against New Zealand, when 19, scoring 65, and hit his first test match century, 102 against Australia at Trent Bridge, when just 20. But Denis was a phenomenon, a player of the most extrraordinary abilities with whom it is unfair to compare anyone.

 

Nick Compton has had to carry the weight of dynastic expectations on his shoulders and has got there the hard way. He's come through the ranks, survived injury and poor form and today he has joined his grandfather as a Test Match Centurion. One of the greatest names in English sport is again making headlines and it's not just coincidence. Here's to Denis and Nick, grandfather and grandson, and let's not forget that there was a third Compton, Denis's brother Les who, though never quite making the England team, did sterling work for Middlesex over many years.

 

Jolly well done Nick Compton !!

NANI FOUL DESTROYS UNITED'S DREAMS.

I do love to see Alex Ferguson get into a bit of a 'paddy'.

 

Last night's match between his team, Manchester United, and the Spanish superstars of Real Madrid was a good encounter. Both sides had their moments and it was a pretty even game; there were several near misses at both ends and the result was, quite possibly, determined by the sending off of United's Nani.

 

At this point, of course, opinions diverge. The ITV studio crowd began their discussions with presenter Adrian Chiles referring repeatedly to the referee's shockingly bad decision; Lee Dixon backed him up and Gareth Southgate sat firmly on the fence. Thankfully, Roy Keane brought some sanity to the debate by stating, quite unequivocally, that Nani's ultra-high boot was 'dangerous play' and the referee had no choice but to send him off. Watching the replay from all of the angles available from the multitude of cameras in use, one has to agree; the tackle was dangerous, the referee was right and so was Keane.

 

The trouble is that Manchester United are 'our side' and they'd lost; most of the studio group felt obliged to find an excuse for the defeat and someone to blame. The referee was it. Alex Ferguson, for once, declined to be present for the usual post-match interview and sent his deputy along. Ferguson was reported to be too distraught after the events of the night; one suspects he was actually in such a tizz at what he would undoubtedly have seen as outrageously bad refereeing that he didn't trust himself, or his colleagues didn't trust him, not to create yet more disgraceful headlines by opening his mouth.

 

United may have been a little unlucky on the night but they can't blame the referee for their misfortune. Nani was in the wrong, disastrously so as it turned out, and 2 moments of brilliance from Real's stars turned the tie and sent United crashing out of the competition. Come on Alex, accept it and move on.