England can’t have any complaints, Australia have been the better side from day one and thoroughly deserve to win the Ashes September 8, 2019 It’s a shame that England are ending an incredible summer on a disappointing note but there can’t be any debate that Australia 100 per cent deserve to win this Ashes series. They have been the best side from day one. Having won at Edgbaston, they dominated the second Test at Lord’s, where they would have [...]
Jadon Sancho can relieve England’s reliance on Raheem Sterling if given chance ahead of Marcus Rashford September 8, 2019 It sounds pernickety to demand more from a football team that has just won 4-0, taking their record in the current competition to: played three; won three; goals for: 14; goals against: one. But such is the nature of major tournament qualifying matches that England did not need to conjure an abundance of chances to [...]
It Chapter 2 film review: Stephen King adaptation limps over the line September 6, 2019 Pennywise the dreadful clown is brilliant as a twisted metaphor for our childhood fears. He is less brilliant as a literal space alien who can only be defeated through some arcane Native American ritual. Alas, that’s where Stephen King’s bulging 1,200-page novel ends up. It proved to be the undoing of the 1990 TV mini-series, [...]
Hansard at the National Theatre play review: Political drama is a blistering debut September 6, 2019 George Osborne was in the audience for this blistering political drama by debut playwright Simon Woods, no doubt taking some credit for lines such as: “It’s so easy to mistake an expensive education for a genuine understanding of the world”. Hansard – the title taken from the verbatim record of everything said in Parliament – [...]
Ollie Phillips: Still places to play for in England’s final World Cup warm-up against Italy September 5, 2019 England head to Newcastle United’s St James’ Park for their final warm-up game against Italy tomorrow before they fly to Japan for the World Cup — and what an occasion it will be. Newcastle seems to be turning into a real hotbed of rugby after hosting the Challenge Cup and Champions Cup in May, so [...]
Women’s Super League season preview: New-look division confident of building on World Cup platform September 5, 2019 The Women’s Super League kicks off a new season on Saturday looking to build on the success of the summer’s World Cup and there is every indication it is on the right path. Even before a ball has been kicked the signs are good. The 2019-20 campaign is the first with Barclays as the title [...]
Home affairs: All five British Isles teams can still reach Euro 2020 and lend tournament a distinctly British flavour September 5, 2019 For a tournament that is supposed to be pan-continental there is already a distinctly British flavour to next summer’s European Championship. Of 51 matches, 10 will be staged in London or Glasgow, with Wembley hosting both semi-finals and the final. But the Britishness could yet go up several notches, with all five British Isles teams [...]
Control game review: Alan Wake developer perfects its formula with this sci-fi blockbuster September 5, 2019 When David Lynch and Mark Frost came up with the pitch for Twin Peaks, they ignored the prevailing wisdom for creating a TV show. First they mapped out the town itself – the sheriff’s station, the high school, the woods – then they imagined the kind of people who might live there. The murder mystery [...]
Unorthodox but effective: Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne punish wayward England on day one at Old Trafford September 4, 2019 After their Ashes campaign finally set sail with Ben Stokes standing proudly on the helm at Headingley, England were blown off course on the first day of the fourth Test at Old Trafford. The cold, wet and squally conditions might have been to no one’s taste – neither team, nor spectators, who witnessed just 44 [...]
The great Premier League giveaway: Why Sky Sports are handing over free highlights on YouTube September 4, 2019 Premier League football is an expensive commodity and to extract every ounce of its value broadcasters need to innovate. In February last year Sky Sports pledged £3.6bn to buy 128 live matches per season in the 2019-22 rights cycle. That might have worked out as a reduction from its previous deal – £4.2bn for 126 [...]