Sport
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…
Barça’s golden age and its ruling triumvirate
Even against our better judgment we tend to imbue our sporting heroes with characteristics they may not possess. This can…
The absurdity of tennis players’ toilet breaks
Forgive the personal question, but how long does it take you to, you know, go to the gents, ladies, non-binary?…
I took my wife to a Millwall match – and it didn’t go well
The fighting started just as Caroline turned right on to the Uxbridge Road after emerging from QPR’s stadium on Loftus…
The Olympics have become a celebration of human frailty
Coronis Embracing one’s vulnerability seems to have replaced the higher, faster, stronger ethos of the Olympics. The very frailty that…
Why Russia’s Olympic punishment backfired
The Tokyo Olympics are over and fifth place in the medals table went to the ‘ROC’, the Russian Olympic Committee.…
Should Simone Biles listen to Novak Djokovic?
I’ve always been a Spectator reader, so I’m delighted to be writing a diary about the Olympics from Tokyo. My…
Why do anglers get so hooked?
The other day a friend asked me what a lascar was. Fair enough: it’s not a word you come across…
The hateful Hundred is putting cash before cricket
This slick new tournament will ruin cricket
Yes, they're deplorable – but those football tweets don't prove Britain is racist
There are two certainties whenever England’s football team plays; one that is long-established and the other a recent phenomenon. Players…
Do the England team play football, footer, footie – or soccer?
I have never been a soccer mom, described in the Washington Post as ‘the overburdened, middle-income working mother who ferries…
The real sporting star of this summer
Think of a punishing distance for a bike race. Double it, multiply by ten, throw in two of the world’s…
Why everyone should try streaking
Streaking is a great British tradition
My problem with the Euros
I’m struggling to work up much enthusiasm about England’s progress in the Euros. I know, I know, Tuesday night’s victory…
Staged: a handful of VIP events is no substitute for normality
Uncertainty is crippling our cultural life
The true cost of theatre closures
It turns out that if there’s one thing more expensive than making theatre, it’s not making it. Empty buildings haemorrhage…
Thoughts on a 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…
Why all the outrage over the European Super League?
Anything been happening in football in the past couple of weeks? No? Moving on then… Hang about though. The doomed…
Why did Britain fall out of love with speedway?
How speedway became Britain’s left-behind sport
The unsavoury truth about American sport
New York What follows has been covered ad nauseam, but I wonder why people were surprised at the planned breakaway…
What cricket will look like in 50 years
After the thrills and spills and last-gasp excitements of England’s triple-headed series in India, the attention of the cricket fan…
My plan to kick off life after lockdown
The last time I went to a football game was on Saturday 7 March last year when my 12-year-old son…
The Richard Freeman affair casts a cloud over British cycling
For those with neither the time nor inclination to plough through a PhD in the intricacies of the scandals surrounding…
How to breathe life back into European rugby
French rugby has always been well stocked with boeuf but now it has added lashings of exceptionally tangy moutarde and…
Sailing’s coming home: the stunning Ben Ainslie comeback
Alan Bond was a rogue and a rich man, in every way your typical Aussie larrikin. In 1983 he bankrolled…
