Going downhill fast
As we digest another Ashes thrashing for England’s cricketers in Australia, and wonder whether the 1966 World Cup victory will…
The BBC is killing cricket
Full homage to the nail-biting cricketing miracle in Sydney, while bearing in mind that miracles, like lightning, rarely strike twice…
Another year of brickbats and bouquets
Sport and politics have always been intertwined, but this was the year they became joined at the hip. Yorkshire racism;…
The final showdown
The good citizens of Stevenage would be well advised to prepare extensively for the likely open-top bus parade of their…
Poor Ole wasn’t cut out for Man U
Manchester United have ended up with a temporary coach before they look for an interim manager. Haven’t we heard that…
Yorkshire cricket: the long view
The new chairman of Yorkshire County Cricket Club played a blinder in his first innings, consistently hitting the boundary and…
Why the Reds have got the blues
Not so much the hair dryer: more a gentle home perm. Contemplating the increasingly less youthful visage of Ole Gunnar…
This grotesque failure to market rugby
Could rugby union get any better? The entertainment in the Premiership is breathtaking and the overall product as good as…
England’s shameful betrayal of Pakistan
Any English person with a love of cricket knows life has its ups and downs. But until now we have…
Two class acts
Not many people would have seen that coming. I’m talking of course of last Saturday evening and the women’s final…
Busted flush
Forgive the personal question, but how long does it take you to, you know, go to the gents, ladies, non-binary?…
Cricket – but not as we know it
‘Fifty years from now Britain will still be the country of long shadows on county grounds, warm beer, invincible green…
What a Games
Avery Brundage was known to his enemies as Avery Ice Age — and to quite a few of his friends…
Can the Lions prise open the strong Boks?
You would need a digger to explore the levels of irony in a Springbok chief slagging off an opponent’s dirty…
Riding high
Think of a punishing distance for a bike race. Double it, multiply by ten, throw in two of the world’s…
A lot of bottle
The question is surely destined to become a pub quiz staple: ‘Who moved a bottle 18 inches across a table…
Ollie Robinson’s ritual humiliation
One of the more egregious innovations of Chairman Mao’s cultural revolution was something called the ‘struggle sessions’. This involved the…
Athletics is running on empty
Whatever became of athletics? It’s fallen nearly as far as show jumping and that is a long way. But the…
Foreign clash of the English titans
Thank heavens the Champions League final is being played in Portugal, now Turkey’s off the menu (sorry). It will certainly…
The problem with football
Anything been happening in football in the past couple of weeks? No? Moving on then… Hang about though. The doomed…
A strange and beautiful language
So wickets are out and outs are in for the new Hundred competition. But why? The language of sport is…
A glimpse into cricket’s future
After the thrills and spills and last-gasp excitements of England’s triple-headed series in India, the attention of the cricket fan…
Breaking the cycle
For those with neither the time nor inclination to plough through a PhD in the intricacies of the scandals surrounding…
Cut the poor ref some slack
Rugby has enough problems — from baffling rule changes to concussion — without the referees muddying the pitch even more.…
How to tackle rugby’s doldrums
French rugby has always been well stocked with boeuf but now it has added lashings of exceptionally tangy moutarde and…
