England 45-7 United States: George Ford stars as Red Rose click into gear in Kobe heat September 26, 2019 After their meek opener against Tonga, today’s World Cup game with the USA was an opportunity for all of England’s players, but none more so than George Ford. Named captain by Eddie Jones, the Leicester Tigers fly-half was handed responsibility for leading the side, directing traffic and implementing tactics. He grabbed the chance with both [...]
Carlton Cole interview: Former West Ham striker on his career, new life as a coach and strawberry Haribos September 19, 2019 Carlton Cole can recall the moment he knew his race had been run. After his football career had taken him to three different countries in three years, through brief stints with Celtic in Scotland, Sacramento Republic in the United States and Persib Bandung in Indonesia, he was back in London on trial with AFC Wimbledon [...]
England 2-2 Australia: Joe Root leads hosts to victory at The Oval to draw the Ashes September 15, 2019 England have produced two draws this summer, and while the first might ultimately be looked back on more fondly as it brought a trophy, the second carries plenty of meaning too. In July England won the World Cup without winning the final in normal time. Today they lost the Ashes despite not losing the series. [...]
England’s horror film batting makes a mockery of The Oval’s pleasant conditions to spurn fifth Test opportunity September 12, 2019 Many horror films begin with an opening period of calm serenity. A group of fresh-faced innocence teenagers go to a cabin by a lake. A family check into a remote, eerie, cobweb-filled mansion. A group of friends head off on a road trip across the barren countryside. Initially the characters go about their lives with [...]
Quique Sanchez Flores’ Watford return is fraught with complications after frosty exit in 2016 September 12, 2019 When Watford wrote in their parting statement with manager Quique Sanchez Flores in May 2016 that he “leaves with all our best wishes for the future and the knowledge he is always welcome at Vicarage Road” it appeared a generic gesture of good will. But three years and three months – and three managers – [...]
World Cup winner but Ashes failure: Trevor Bayliss leaves England with lopsided legacy September 11, 2019 Tomorrow’s final Ashes Test match at The Oval marks the end of Trevor Bayliss’s four-year tenure in charge of England and, naturally enough, the landmark has prompted an assessment of his body of work. The man himself rates his time in charge as a five out of 10 – a straight-down-the-middle judgement which is fairly [...]
England 5-3 Kosovo: Three Lions show all their colours in wide-open thriller at St Mary’s September 10, 2019 Fans often moan that international football is boring, that games are one-sided and that results are predictable. Those gripes were nowhere to be heard tonight as England and Kosovo served up an absurdly open, seesawing and incident-packed eight-goal thriller at St Mary’s. It was a crazy Euro 2020 qualifier which had it all, displaying all [...]
England must press the reset button and use their Ashes disappointment to drive a new era September 9, 2019 Not so long ago England were the best Test cricket side in the world. The story of how they went from world No7 in 2009 to the summit just over two years later has been retold recently, first through the gripping film The Edge and now with the release of former England captain Alastair Cook’s [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
