Chris Tremlett: Alastair Cook was a fantastic opener and a brilliant professional – his retirement leaves a big hole to fill for England September 5, 2018 Friday’s final Test against India at The Oval marks the end of the career of England’s greatest ever run-scorer and Alastair Cook is fully deserving of all the accolades that come his way. Cook came into the side in 2006, scored a hundred on debut in Nagpur and hasn’t looked back since. He’s been the [...]
Q&A: What will Brexit’s impact be on the Premier League? September 5, 2018 Leading immigration lawyer Owen Jones assesses the possible consequences of Brexit on the Premier League. What's the issue? A key uncertainty around Brexit is to what extent, if any, EU nationals should be given immigration advantages. Read more: New poll says UK would vote against Brexit today It has been rumoured that the government favours [...]
KSI v Logan Paul: What traditional sport can learn from the online influencers’ boxing match September 5, 2018 Just over a week ago, 20,000 fans packed into Manchester Arena to watch one of the most talked about UK boxing events in recent history. Several million more watched online. This wasn’t a professional fight, however; rather a white-collar event involving two of the world’s biggest YouTubers and online influencers, KSI – real name Olajide [...]
Sam Torrance: Thomas Bjorn’s Ryder Cup decision over Matt Wallace rests on rookie factor September 4, 2018 I find it unbelievable that a player can win three times on the European Tour this year and still not earn an automatic place on the Ryder Cup team, but that’s the case for Englishman Matt Wallace. Wallace was magnificent at the weekend to win the final tournament of the qualifying process in Denmark – [...]
Alastair Cook’s retirement leaves England without their record-breaking workaholic opener September 3, 2018 Obdurate. Disciplined. Determined. Hardly words often used to bestow praise on an athlete, but then Alastair Cook is not your average sportsman. Over the last 18 months it’s been easy to forget the Cook of old, to overlook the 12,254 Test runs, the 26,086 balls faced, the 56 half-centuries and 32 hundreds. But today's announcement [...]
England v India: Moeen Ali’s match-winning performance provides familiar problem for hosts September 2, 2018 At the start of the summer Moeen Ali was out of the England Test side and relieved to be so. After a run of four years and 50 caps without being dropped, the all-rounder was jettisoned, told to take a break and regain his confidence at Worcestershire. He did so in some style, with an [...]
Five things we learned from the Premier League weekend: Arsenal win leaves Emery with conundrum; Spurs fall at fortress Vicarage Road; and Alisson gaffe masks Liverpool progress September 2, 2018 Unai Emery heeded calls to fit both Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang into his starting XI today at Cardiff and the move paid off in a breathless 3-2 win. Lacazette was deployed centrally and thrived on the greater degree of involvement, setting up Aubameyang’s goal and smashing the late winner. Aaron Ramsey also revelled through [...]
Up front: Former Arsenal and England star Alan Smith reveals uncomfortable relationship with Ian Wright in his new book August 30, 2018 Footballers have many habits that set people’s eyes rolling. One is their penchant for releasing ghost-written autobiographies at exceptionally young ages. Wayne Rooney’s “story”, for example, was first published when he was 20 years old. Alan Smith, however, was never the typical footballer, right back to his teenage years when he insisted on taking A-levels [...]
Ollie Phillips’ Premiership preview: Saracens still the side to beat but Gloucester and Leicester are on the rise August 30, 2018 The Premiership kicks off tomorrow evening when new boys Bristol take on west country rivals Bath and I’m excited as ever for a new campaign. While it’s Bristol getting things under way, it is likely to be Saracens and Exeter who duke it out at the top of the table again. Last season’s champions Saracens have [...]
Watford shed revolving-door policy and enjoy best ever start to a season August 30, 2018 In among the multiple English champions in the early Premier League pace-setters, one place above last season’s runaway title-winners Manchester City, is an incongruous name: Watford. With three wins from three fixtures so far, the unfashionable Hornets are enjoying their best start to a top-flight season. Not since 1982-83, when a teenage John Barnes was [...]