Chris Tremlett: Ashes series in Australia are the stuff of dreams for England cricketers December 5, 2021 Playing for England in the Ashes – and especially in Australia, where the action begins this week – is what I dreamt about when I was growing up. I remember watching the likes of Merv Hughes and Glenn McGrath, and learning about the history of the series and the whole culture of playing Down Under, [...]
Women’s football was once banned but now it is a beacon of possibility December 5, 2021 Though 40,000 plus fans will celebrate Women’s sport at today’s FA Cup final between Arsenal and Chelsea, there’s a darker occasion being marked at the weekend – the 100-year anniversary of women’s football being banned in England. “Essentially, the Football Association (FA) said that the game of football was ‘quite unsuitable for women’,” said Charlotte [...]
Davis Cup: Novak Djokovic fails to steer Serbia into final as Croatia progress December 4, 2021 Novak Djokovic failed to steer Serbia into the Davis Cup final as world number one pair Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic clinched the decisive doubles rubber to seal victory for Croatia in Madrid. Djokovic had given his side hope of reaching the final after winning the second singles rubber against Marin Cilic 6-4 6-2. World [...]
Barmy Army: The cricket supporters known the world over finding their own way to watch the Ashes December 3, 2021 At around 11pm next Tuesday, more than 150 people will be packing into a bar near London’s Victoria railway station. Tuesday night isn’t always the night for making late plans in the capital. But this is no normal Tuesday. At the stroke of midnight, heads will turn to one of the many screens as the [...]
The Hand of God review: Childhood memories and Maradona obsessions December 3, 2021 Awards season can often be a time when great directors get reflective. Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma became an Oscar contender two years ago, while Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird and Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari have both won acclaim in recent years as films based partly on the filmmaker’s experiences. It’s a tricky path to take, however, sometimes [...]
Novel coronavirus: Meet the writers who penned a book during lockdown December 3, 2021 They say everyone has a book in them, but usually that’s where it stays. Writing a novel is a time-consuming business, a months- or years-long project, often undertaken with little guarantee anyone will ever read it. Every successful author has their ‘origin story’, from JK Rowling scribbling away in an Edinburgh cafe to Dostoyevsky bashing out The [...]
Ollie Phillips: Chiefs vs Saracens could be the match of the season… so far December 2, 2021 The international players are back at their clubs and so is the Premiership, and in this blockbuster weekend of games we have the hottest match-up of the season so far. Chiefs vs Saracens There is no love lost between Exeter Chiefs and Saracens. Tony Rowe was shouting from the rooftops about Sarries deserving relegation after [...]
Saudi Arabia: What can we expect from Formula 1’s newest addition? December 2, 2021 When the lights go out on Sunday evening and racing gets underway at the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, we’ll be thrown into the unknown of both a new track and an uncertain title result. Championship leader Max Verstappen sits eight points ahead of his last remaining rival Lewis Hamilton. And come the end of [...]
Academics find fairer format for penalty shootouts, but will football accept it? December 2, 2021 Football took a chance on the ABBA format in the hope of minimising the inherent unfairness of penalty shootouts, but that experiment swiftly met its Waterloo. Now, though, economists at Durham University have devised a new way of ordering penalty kicks that they believe could change the name of the game. They tested a score-dependent [...]
The wine diaries: Living the roaring 20s with Ramon Bilbao December 2, 2021 What a night was had at the celebratory launch of Ramon Bilbao’s The Journey Collection at glamorous Hispania. Throwing back to the joie de vivre of the 1920s, guests in varying degrees of vintage dress clinked crystal martini glasses in front of jazz singers before being swept up the turning staircase to a sumptuous candle-lit [...]