Spectator sport
Knighting Bradley Wiggins so early was just asking for trouble
The incomparable Roger Bannister, whose passing marks the end of our links with a vanished age of sporting innocence, could…
Hate the Winter Olympics? Here’s why you’re wrong
Despite the best efforts of this column (and the BBC), too many Brits regard the Winter Olympics with the same…
This Six Nations could be anyone’s – and it couldn’t be more exciting
‘It’s never easy going to Rome,’ observed Anthony Watson after the traditional mauling of a hard-working but outgunned Italian side…
This Winter Olympics, don’t knock our fearless Fridge Kids
At this time of the year, well-meaning folk of otherwise sound mind start to get very sniffy about the impending…
More Ashes tours like this and long-form cricket will be in trouble
So will the sight of poor Joe Root at Sydney, pale as a ghost and barely able to stand, heroically…
Less women’s sport might sometimes be more
The credit sequence for the tennis flick Battle of the Sexes has this very British warning: ‘Contains occasional scenes of…
Why Ben Stokes should be picked for Perth
And so to a cloudy, chilly Adelaide, more like London in October than Australia in the early days of high…
Let’s give young Ben Foakes a chance to sweep out the Ashes
So the Ashes has finally got over the line, and not a minute too soon. At the time of writing…
As West Ham go for dull David Moyes, football badly needs more Pep talks
So West Ham took the least surprising option and sent for David Moyes. Same old same old. I have a…
Death hovers over the scrum
Rugby’s autumn internationals are almost upon us and dark thoughts hover over lovers of the sport. One day soon a…
Why the England team is so unexciting
During a riveting session at the Cheltenham Literary Festival with sporting brainboxes Mike Brearley and Matthew Syed, discussion touched on…
All power to the NFL knee protest
The history of sport and political protest in this country would be a slim old volume. It would feature quite…
Why did you do it, Roy?
Poor old Roy Hodgson, why did he take on Crystal Palace? He was having lunch at a Côte in a…
Which way will Lord’s leap?
In the rarefied circles of the sporting establishment a decision will soon be made affecting not just the future of…
What has the Premier League ever done for us?
Football’s back, I’m afraid, and, in the imperishable words of David Mitchell, every kick in every game matters to someone,…
England’s new heroes were real Test Match specials
The weather forecast last Saturday promised 100 per cent likelihood of rain. I like that formulation: it doesn’t leave much…
Rog apart, Wimbledon 2017 was a disgrace
For obvious reasons this column always welcomes ‘King Roger Rules The World’ headlines on the back pages. And the front…
The keys to the kingdom await
Give them all peerages as far as I’m concerned: if you can pick up a gong for bunging a few…
Pakistan and the power of redemption
The Pakistan supporter was festooned in cream and green, and carried a chalkboard round his neck with the legend: ‘My…
Hacked off with the haka
Kingsley Amis said the most depressing words in the English language were ‘Shall we go straight in?’ — meaning no…
Metal fatigue in the golden generation
Not a bad week for Roger Federer then: first pootling along being cool and rich in a morning suit at…
Two hours down the track
Of the great sporting imponderables that have come into clearer view over the past few days — will The Archers’…
The age of Joshua
Every so often comes a moment that can set the history of sport on a different trajectory. I believe we…
What makes players popular?
What a treat to be Sergio Garcia. Not only have you just won your first major and trousered a small…
Liverpool’s press mess
The comedian Jimmy Carr is not necessarily a guy you would trust on much, but he was spot on the…
