A Nice Bunch!

Poor Officiating - Are We Surprised?

Football officials are genuinely clueless, do you really blame the 'keeper?



This is the problem with not allowing referees to use common sense or be allowed to have played the game to a decent standard.

Zat Knight - It Could Only happen On FIFA10

Suarez Eight Match Ban

No-one can condone racism in any walk of life, even football, which often likes to think of itself as being above the law on occasion. If Luis Suarez was guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra he deserves everything he gets in the way of a ban and/or fine. Evra has admitted to insulting Suarez in Spanish just before the incident, although the Uruguayan told the FA he never heard it."

I have one worry about the whole incident and that is the fact that the only person who heard the comment, and it was apparently said ten times, was Patrice Evra. This despite the fact that there were other players around the incident. It then boils down to Evra's word against Suarez's word, and the FA chose to believe Evra. Why or how was the evidence in favour of a judgement against Suarez? As a PR exercise this is a potential disaster for the Football Association, as some members of the footballing community will feel aggrieved at the outcome since it appears that nothing has been proven.

Would the same judgement have been made had Suarez reported Evra for racist comments?

I get the impression that whatever the actual story, and let's face it the only people who really know what went on are Suarez and Evra, the FA were going to "send out a message" to deter other players from making the same error in judgement.

I thought Mario Balotelli made a poignant/amusing remark on twitter along the lines of "The FA believe Evra with no evidence whatsoever; the entire Manchester United squad racially abused me then - haha".

I await with interest the conclusion of the police enquiry into the John Terry/Anton Ferdinand case (the police are involved because it was reported by a member of the crowd), where there is TV evidence incriminating Terry, the current England captain.

Titus Bramble

It's not just me!

Sacking Your Manager

I sympathise, I really do Blackburn Rovers fans and Bolton Wanderers fans. Your teams are rubbish, and who can you have a go at?

1. The manager.
2. The board of directors.

The trouble is that both Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers are in financial trouble - nothing too major you understand, just a few tens of millions worth of debt (!). Sacking the manager, however bad they are, is an expensive business. Their contract needs to be paid up in full, and I believe that both men have a while to run on their individual deals. Not to mention their backroom staff. The costs mount!

Even if you can afford to sack the manager and pay him off, the new manager will demand a transfer kitty for January's transfer window in a desperate bid to stave off relegation, and if you struggled to pay off the last incumbent, where is the money going to come from for fresh transfer funds?

So you could get rid of the board of directors. These directors need to be quite well off as they will foot the bill if the club goes under, so Joe Average from 27 Acacia Road can't just turn up at the ground and demand a seat on the board, he'd need to buy his way in. And what with the current economic climate, the number of people who can afford to do this is getting increasingly smaller. Not just in Britain, but worldwide.

I'm sure that both will eventually be handed their P45s at some point this season, but don't be surprised if it's a last resort affair.

Wolverhampton Wanderers: you have no excuse with Mick McCarthy as you could well afford to get rid of him!

Manchesters United and City Out Of Champions League

Is this really a disaster for English football?

It's certainly a disaster for each club's accountant(s), with millions of pounds in revenue disappearing in 90 minutes. It's great for London with Arsenal and Chelsea having made it through, but ironically it will be the Manchester clubs battling it out for the Premier league title in April/May.

Personally I think that the two Manchester clubs' elimination from the Champions League is a good thing for English football - maybe the game wise up up and get over itself a little. Football in this country has got far to big for its boots in my opinion ans something like this could actually be of benefit in the long run. Less revenue could mean that young English players are preferred to expensive foreign imports as the money won't be there to pay for them, and they will get the opportunity to play alongside the quality of player already here.

I have to say that other than the financial benefits of the Champions League that are an attractive prospect to any club, I can't actually stand the competition, so having less of it on TV is an added bonus for me.

David Armand - You're So Vain

The bloke is an absolute genius:

Beckham Plays Blind Football

What a great video:

Every time I go to Frankie and Benny's

see more Funny Graphs

England International Football Friendlies!

England have beaten Spain and Sweden 1-0 - brilliant!

Does anyone really care about these overpaid prima donnas any more?

England will get to the quarter finals in the Euros and then bomb out upon Rooney's return. And the Shrek-ster himself will probably get sent off.

Pleased Zamora got a go though.

Can Cricket Recover?

Everyone seems pleased that the three Pakistan cricketers and their agent involved in the summer's spot-fixing row have been given jail sentences, although it has highlighted just how pathetic the ICC's attempts to curb this behaviour are. It has been very reminiscent of parliament when someone finally takes action over something that everyone knows is wrong, lots of people jump on the bandwagon and say how they'd have done the same thing given the opportunity, or that the ICC needs to have a long, hard look at itself. All very easy when you don't actually take any risks.

The real worry is the damage that these people (the guilty ones) have caused the game of cricket. Even at the time Michael Holding and the rest of the Sky commentary team thought something was awry, certainly with Amir's no balls, that were so far over it was ridiculous. And then the news broke that they were pre-arranged when the NOTW printed its story.

As plenty of media types have said one now starts to look back at games where extraordinary things have happened and wonder whether games were thrown, certainly ones involving Pakistan, who have always blown hot and cold during matches and series. Especially since other players' names are being bandied about as being involved, and not all Pakistani from what I can gather.

And will the prison sentences really deter others from spot-fixing? Asif was reputedly paid £65,000 for his no-ball, which is about three and a half years wages on a PCB contract - not bad for a fast(ish) bowler approaching 30 and with a limited shelf life. Apart from the fact that he was caught and has to spend a year in prison of course.

We have been in a similar situation before after Hansie Cronje was caught and banned at the same time as a couple of others, who if memory serves, were from Pakistan. Cricket recovered then and almost certainly will again. There is now increased pressure on players not to have a howler though, as they may well find themselves under investigation Spanish Inquisition style, which would be unfair.

Only time will tell I suppose, but I really hope the popularity of cricket isn't adversely affected by the greed of a few.

Cricket's Never Had It So Good, Or Has It?

Andy Flower has been quoted as bemoaning the apparent insistence of the ICC pushing ODIs ahead of Test series today. What would once be a stand-out series of South Africa versus Australia is limited to just 2 games. In this case there are no ODIs but during the last English summer England played 4 tests against the then number ones India, followed by 6 ODIs and a T20.

Test cricket called Test cricket for one reason: it is the ultimate test of a team and the players in that team. The best side will normally come out on top. ODIs are far more of a lottery - 10 poor overs and the game's lost. If you liken the games to football you'd say that Test cricket is the Premier League and ODIs the FA Cup, and ask any football fan or player which they'd rather win and it would be the Premier League every time.

The trouble is that the financial incentives are difficult to ignore for both ICC, Cricket Boards and players alike. What would you rather do? Spend a long time at work for your wages (Test cricket) or work less and earn more (T20/IPL)? It's a no-brainer unfortunately.

As a result some of the best players in the world are turning their back on Test cricket for the financial rewards of T20 cricket, therefore making Test cricket less desirable to the paying public as the quality of cricket on offer isn't necessarily as high.

Cricket has been through this before and come out the other side during the Kerry Packer World series era during the 1970s and 80s, but the longer T20's popularity remains, the more difficult it will be for cricket to recover at the top level of Test matches.

Andy Flower has a vested interest of course, in that he doesn't want his achievement as England coach and reaching the number spot in Test cricket with England to be belittled by the best players not playing, but he's definitely has a point. The ICC are looking very short term at the situation.

Gutted For Them

Movember 2011

It’s Movember, the month formerly known as November, now dedicated to growing moustaches and raising awareness and funds for men’s health; specifically prostate and testicular cancer. I’m donating my top lip to the cause for 30 days in an effort to help change the face of men’s health. My Mo will spark conversations, and no doubt generate some laughs; all in the name of raising vital awareness and funds for cancer’s affecting men.

Why am I concerned about men’s health?
*1 in 9 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime
*This year 37,000 new cases of the disease will be diagnosed
*1 in 2 men will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime
*26% of men are less likely to go the doctor compared to women

I invite you to join me by registering to grow or by donating to my support of the Mo http://mobro.co/lutters

If you want to go old school you can write a cheque payable to “Movember”, reference my name and Registration Number 1388336 and send it to: Movember Europe, PO Box 68600, London, EC1P 1EF

Funds raised will help make a tangible difference to the lives of others. Through the Movember Foundation and our men’s health partners, The Prostate Cancer Charity and The Institute of Cancer Research, Movember is funding world class awareness, research, educational and support programs which would otherwise not be possible.

For more details on how the funds raised from previous campaigns have been used and the impact Movember is having please click on the links below:
About Movember
Prostate cancer genome mapping
Prostate Cancer Foundation research
Global Action Plan

Thank you in advance for helping me change the face of men's health.

Referee Strikes Back

They must be an awful side since they can't even catch an overweight ref:



Pathetic dive by the player too.

Dynamo - truly amazing

Watch to the end:

Great Team Tantrum!

England Selection Policy

A healthy loss for England in the first ODI in India, but the side was bizarre.

Three seamers picked (plus a couple in reserve) in conditions that are renowned for suiting spin. Genius!

A wicketkeeper-batsman who seems to be able to fail to get runs on a regular basis but maintains a place in the side. His 'keeping isn't even that good. What has Matt Prior done?

Bopara continues to get in the side with endless poor returns, but Ian Bell, one of the best and most in-form batsmen on the planet is consigned to running on the drinks.

Kevin Pietersen is living off past glories, but needs to be pensioned off now.

My England side for the ODIs in India:
Cook
Bell
Trott
Taylor (look to the future instead of South African history)
Bairstow
Prior (should be in the party instead of Bed, sorry Kieswetter)
S. Patel
Bresnan
Swann
Dernbach
Borthwick

Footballers are such pansies

Notice how many times David Beckham appears whilst in Major League action! Presumably something to do with the fact that he gets paid a lot more than the rest of them:


Proof that Roy Keane is a ......... (fill in the blank) - he was trying to injure Haaland in the first tackle:

Poetic Cricket Sledging

Brighton v Liverpool

Ray Wilkins summed it up when he said near the end "Some of the Brighton players are getting annoyed because the game is being refereed differently to a normal Championship game".

Brighton did well, certainly in the second half, but had it been Suarez instead of Will Buckley who'd gone down at the slightest push in the first half the referee would have given a penalty. I'm not saying that it was a penalty, but...

Referees need to be ex-players, and the current system doesn't allow for that. In cricket you can't now become a professional umpire unless you've been a professional player - they know all the tricks of the trade and get fooled less easily. Why can't the same happen in football.

It seems that football thinks that it's so big and clever that they don't have to do anything that might actually improve the game. Not only am I citing referees here but the use of technology. The fear is that it will slow the game down, but in actual fact, all sports that have embraced technology (rugby, cricket etc) have just made it part of the game.

Football has become too big for its own boots and needs to rapidly get with the sporting script before it's too late. There will be a time when football will rue the day they didn't embrace TV replays to help the officials.

Australian News - Brilliant!

And he takes requests!

Graeme Swann Answers Some Questions From Fans - Funny

Ahhh, The Memories...

When Ricky Ponting was good:

Weel Burkley! Genius

And the previous scorer at a proper home ground:


Great commentary.

Gutted for Harbhajan

Couldn't have happened to a nicer bloke.

Out of Retirement

Don't panic football fans/players, I won't be kicking more balls out of the park.

I've written a new Lutters' Lines, that's all:

Click here to read it!

Stuff in the news

The mindless slaughter, by what appears to be a mad man in Norway was and is shocking. There appears to be no rhyme or reason for it happening other than the beliefs of a deluded, irrational and quite possibly ill individual. It has quite rightly been at the top of the news broadcasts in the UK for a number of days.

The death of Amy Winehouse has been on an equal news footing as the Norway story - how pathetic does that make the UK, or perhaps, the UK press. Winehouse was clearly a unique talent who may have had issues, but essentially killed herself through a mixture of ill-advised acquaintances/friends, drugs and alcohol. Yes, it is sad that she died at such a young age, and I'm sure that her friends and relatives are devastated, but ultimately she killed herself, knowingly or not.

Those who died in Norway had no choice. I'm waiting for the death of Pete Doherty and the pathetic crocodile tears of the tabloids/celebrities with faltering careers.

The press (and the public who buy that press) make me sad, not the death of a "celebrity", whoever that may be.

Mitchell Johnson is a...

Muppet:

Best Penalty Ever?

I know that this is quite a good penalty, but the 'keeper's had a stinker. He could have thrown his cap on it and saved it. In fact, the funniest bit is that the Lebanese team felt insulted by the kick, and felt that the taker (I'm not going to try and spell his name) was taking the mickey out of them. I think the Lebanese were successful in doing that to themselves by getting smashed 7-2! Enjoy!

England's Limited Overs Cricket

A new era has begun, although apart from the men with the arm bands, looks remarkably similar to the old regime. We are still not great at the 50 over game and Twenty20 cricket is a total lottery.

The trouble is that very little has changed in real terms. Strauss has been replaced in the side by Cook, as well as Cook taking the former's captaincy of the side. Arguably neither should be in the side for limited overs cricket. There's no debate as far as test cricket goes, they are the best two we have, but there are many other options in the shorter form of the game.

Trott is a good player and worth his place, whereas his compatriot (and I chose those words carefully) Kevin Pietersen is certainly not worth a place. His form is terrible and he plays the wrong shots at the wrong times. I could understand his selection more if he bowled more often, but he doesn't. Get someone else in, someone the right side of 30 who doesn't have an ego the size of Greater London.

I'd also have Prior in as a batsman, well to be honest I would have Prior in ahead of Kieswetter all day long. Somerset's South African, sorry English 'keeper is too hit-and-miss with the bat for me. Prior hits it just as well (if not better) and far more correctly so therefore shouldn't be as easy to dismiss. What about Steven Davies from Surrey? Discarded it seems.

In the bowling department there is only one problem, but they can't get rid of it, and that's Stuart Broad. He's in awful form with the ball and has just been fined 50% of his match fee for abusing Billy Bowden as they left the field between innings in the 2nd ODI against Sri Lanka. They can't get rid of him because he's captain of the T20 side, for whatever reason. Not exactly a captain's example.

Stuart Broad's Captaincy

I can't have been the only one who was fairly pleased that Stuart Broad's first game in charge of the England Twenty20 side resulted in a thumping defeat can I?

In my view he was an odd choice for the following reasons:

1. He's very young and English cricket doesn't tend to push young players as much as other nations, although i suppose that this can be seen as a positive that England are trying to groom (that word has different connotations nowadays, but I mean it in the innocent sense) a player in their early twenties to become captain of the whole shebang eventually - that is what they are doing with Alastair Cook after all.
2. He's been injured for much of the last year.
3. He's in dreadful form, particularly with his supposed strong suit, the ball.
4. He's petulant and is often seen shouting at his team-mates for a misfield or whatever, which is not what is expected of a captain.
5. Paul Collingwood was cast aside as the reigning World Cup holding captain, and I agree that he's playing badly now but it's a little harsh just to ditch him totally.

I think that this is a major gamble for the England management and one that could well come back to bite them on the backside. It's only one game against the World Cup Runners-Up, but leopards don't change their spots and I really can't see a future in Broad's captaincy. I hope I'm wrong, but fear that I'm not.

Sri Lanka's Tour

Sri Lanka came a fairly distance second in the 3 match test series, losing the series 1 nil. It could have been more had it not been for the awful weather and a superb innings from Kumar Sangakara in Southampton.

Let's be honest their bowling is average, but their batting is very good, although struggled to adjust to English conditions. They miss Murali's javelins terribly and barely look like getting England out despite having favourable bowling conditions. Points for trying though. Talking of Murali, he was on Cricket AM last Saturday and was asked how he held the ball and spun it. Interesting that he couldn't straighten his arm as he demonstrated it. World record holder and nice bloke, but I still feel cheated as a cricket fan!

We now have the seemingly endless one dayers - 7 in all, plus a T20. It's a chance to see England's new captains in action: Alastair Cook for the 50 overs side and Stuart Broad for the T20s.

Both men are under a bit of pressure. Cook couldn't even get in the 50 over side for the recent World Cup and Broad is bowling really badly.

I will probably watch the games, but I struggle to get excited about 50 over cricket, especially when Sri Lanka really don't appear to want to be playing in England, or at least they didn't during parts of the test series.

England for World number 1? Not yet, but number 2 is definitely doable.

How stupid is Amir?

When you get banned from something, you aren't allowed to do it as I understand. Not in talented fast bowler Mohammad Amir's mind clearly, as he turned out for Kent League side Addington 1743 CC, taking 4 for 9 off 7 fairly rapid overs, plus opening the batting and getting 60. He certainly got his money's worth, or they did, whichever way around it is.

He got a shorter ban than the other players (Butt and Asif) due to his tender years and therefore naivety, but one has to wonder whether he's just prodding the ICC until they snap. To be honest, what were the club doing allowing him to play, and with all league cricket players have to be registered, so what are the Kent League doing by accepting his registration?

One does have to hope that he gets an extended ban or a hefty fine for this, despite claiming that he thought it was a friendly on a private ground. It is a shame that someone with such a huge amount of talent can have an apparent career death wish, but if he doesn't get suitably punished, he will no doubt slip again, as the ICC have found with Mohammad Asif, who has a record as long as his arm (all quashed by the PCB), but has only just been suitably punished.

Bizarre...

A Draw vs Switzerland

Is a 2-2 draw against Switzerland really such a disaster?

Let's face it we haven't won anything since 1966. We were awful at the World Cup in South Africa.

But we do have the self proclaimed "Best League In The World", filled with players who aren't English and therefore don't qualify for the England team. If you named the best eleven from English football, how many would be English? Not that many actually.

We invented the game, but we invented lots of games that we're not the best in the world at.

England football fans and the press really ought to smell the coffee and not expect the England team to win tournaments no matter how much money we throw at a manager.

This is precisely why I couldn't care less about international football - it's riddled with delusions of grandeur in England.

Face the facts people, we are just an average side.

A Sepp In The Right Direction?

Good old Sepp Blatter has managed to win an election where he was the only candidate - congratulations Sepp!

He apparently expressed surprise that the FA, the original one, tried to block the election. It could have something to do with the following:

• Mr Blatter is now in for a fourth term, the previous three of which have seen controversy and scandal grow within football. Allegations of bribery, match-fixing etc.
• Mr Blatter's total refusal to embrace technology, now used in most top class sport, except the richest one. To be fair, Michel Platini also has an issue with it, having stated that it would only be used once every 40 years. To be honest, you don't need to invent new technology, just use the cameras that are there, like they do in cricket, rugby etc. Luddites (look it it people!).
• Mr Blatter has awarded the World Cups of 2018 and 2022 to two of the largest oil producers on the planet - coincidence? Especially as there are some grave doubts as to the validity of the 2022 vote, but our Sepp seems oblivious to the allegations.

New Fifa vice-president has called for the FA to get in new people and build bridges over this - why? The FA haven't done anything wrong other than ask for an election, where there's only one candidate, to be postponed. If a similar thing happened in a developing world country there'd be a massive outcry about democracy and economic sanction put in place. Fifa however, just bumble onwards and seemingly downwards.

They described the FA a pompous and arrogant (and it undoubtedly is), but I think they probably need to have a long, hard look at themselves too.

England v Sri Lanka

Somehow England managed to win the first test at Cardiff. An awful display of batting led to the visitors achieving just 82 runs in their second innings.

Jonathan Trott got a double hundred (he's South African, and no matter how much he goes on about being proud to put on an England shirt, he's still South African), Alastair Cook and Ian Bell both got hundreds. A great batting performance against a poor attack. In fact, the Sri Lankans barely look interested in this series. I get the impression that limited overs cricket, be it 20 or 50 overs, is far more important to them.

Pietersen failed again - at some point he will get dropped, it's inevitable. For a top order batsman he is not scoring the amount of runs that he should. Australia got their fingers burnt with Ponting, Hussey, Katich etc. Let's not England go the same way. They have all been good players, but when they're past it, drop them. There's no room for sentiment in top class sport.

England have a chance to win the series comfortably now, and let's face it, the series was never going to be a massive crowd puller.

Those Nasty People At FIFA

The trouble is that it looks like sour grapes, the fact that England didn’t win in their bid to host the football World Cup, losing heavily to both Russia and Qatar. Lord Triesman claims that at least 4 FIFA representatives wanted a “bribe” in return for their vote, and a couple of representatives have already been caught and suspended for taking bribes.

Is it really any surprise that the whole thing could be bought? Russia and Qatar are major oil producers and up-and-coming world economies with big budgets and apparently few scruples. There’s even talk of English football breaking away from FIFA altogether due to the allegations of bribery and the apparent lack of interest from FIFA to investigate the claims.

I’ve been saying for a while that both FIFA and UEFA are dinosaurs in the world of football, refusing to move with the times as the sums of money involve spiral out of all proportion. Football will implode at some point for two reasons:

• The sums of money, both wages and transfer fees are unsustainable meaning that a lot of clubs will eventually collapse financially.
• The footballing authorities refuse to listen to what the people (the people who ultimately generate all the money for the game) actually want.

If I’m totally honest I have lost interest in most football. I follow “my” team, Brighton & Hove Albion, but that’s it. I actually prefer the lower league football to the Premier League due to the fact that the players actually still play the game rather than trying to con the referee or get an opponent punished, inter-mingled with moments of genius with a ball at their feet.

Why England felt that they could win the hosting of the World Cup without bribes only goes to show their naivety about how these things work. It’s all well and good to moan after the event but it looks a little pathetic since the bid, although strong (by all accounts), was blown out of the water. The better thing to do would have been to win the bid and then claim that bribes were required, or persuade someone involved in the Russian or Qatari bids to spill the beans.

Football is reputedly the sport of the people – if only the powers that be would remember that occasionally.

English Cricket and the England Team

I don't know about you but I do find it increasingly frustrating that England are recruiting players from other nations, mainly in cricket, but not exclusively. Remember the Mikel Arteta is being courted by England manager Fabio Capello, as has Manuel Almunia in the past.

I'm not saying that these people that were born in another country don't try very hard or don't deserve to play for England but I do worry as to why English youngsters aren't coming through the ranks.

The likes of Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen have openly admitted to coming to England to increase their chances of playing internationally, blaming the "quota system" in South Africa where a certain number of non-white players must be selected. They have to play for 5 years in England before they qualify but the financial rewards at the end of it are worth the wait.

The real worry is why young players born in this country are not making it.

Could it be that English youngsters don't have the dedication to succeed at the highest level in general?

Does England simply not have the talent?

I doubt it on both counts. What I think is happening is that sport is a results driven business and coaches/managers can't afford the time it takes to develop a young player so choose the quicker and easier option of a non-English player whose already got to the required standard. If the coach/manager waits, they could face the sack before all their hard work comes to fruition.

It's a real shame, but patience is not common in sport nowadays. Sport is a business that can't afford a couple of bad seasons whilst young players acclimatise.

I would also like to add that England are not the only country to do this!

Say What You See Sir Alex

Is he serious? He admits that Vidic handballed it but said that no-one could see it, but they should have got a a penalty for Owen falling over. He then says, and this is the bit that's unbelievable, he says that they don't get those sort of decisions in big games! I can only presume that age is getting the better of Sir Alex as they nearly always seem to get those decisions in big games, they just missed this one.

Football managers are a funny breed, but ultimately all the same. they see what they want to see.

Brilliant!

A Big Hit!

Paul Scholes would be proud of this one!

Hope for me yet!

This guy is 64th in the world!



I can do that! There's a window of opportunity for me as a pro golfer me thinks.

"Epic Fail" Apparently

For all you non Arsenal fans out there, with a great soundtrack:



And one for you non-Liverpool fans - I love the claiming of an injury as well:

Penalty Takers

Show Off!


Genius - what's the 'keeper complaining about?


Great finish!

The Story of Wayne and the Nasty Football Association

We all know that Wayne Rooney is a good footballer. We also know that he's not going to be the first pick on your Trivial Pursuit team. His foul language into the TV camera last weekend was pretty inexcusable, but a ban for 2 games - is it really fair? I'll be the first to admit that Iam not a Manchester United fan, but in all honesty they are the best team in England and are going to win the Premier League at a canter. Rooney's ban smacks of the FA trying to make the run-in to the 2010-11 season moreinteresting. Manchester United are 7 points clear and in little danger of not winning the championship, but TV revenue rules in football nowadays, so the race has to go to the final day in order to keep the public's insatiable appetite for the game fueled.

Had Glenn Murray, Brighton and Hove Albion's top-scorer done the same thing as Rooney, would he have received a two match ban? Ther FA will claim that he would, but I dount that they would have batted an eyelid. Much as I hate to say it but the FA are targetting the Red Devils because of their utter dominance of English football this season. The club haven't helped themselves by having a manager who slates every referee of a game that United don't win, but he's always done that, although perhaps not to the extreme that he has done this season.

The FA are a pathetic organisation whose sole aim is to make as much money from the game as is humanly possible. And they are not alone, with UEFA and FIFA equally as money-driven, but to try to keep public interest in a competition by banning a player is a new low. Don't get me wrong, Rooney shouldn't have done what he did, but the way it's been dealt with is nothing short of corrupt.

The Return of David Armand - Enjoy!

Thank God For That!

It's finally over for England, and not before time to be honest.

The selectors got it wrong for most of the tournament and should have picked more spinners (like the all the semi-finalists), although I suppose one could argue that there aren't too many in the country that would have made a difference.

The fielding was generally awful, although got better as the tournament wore on - to be fair, the only way was up, as Yazz and the Plastic Population once said.

The batting was poor too, with only Eoin Morgan prepared to take calculated risks. Jonanthan Trott ought to be praised for the way he played, even if he did appear to bat slowly, his strike rate was in the 80s.

The England management ought to be chastised for the winter's programme, where some of the players have spent almost 6 months on tour, which is too long for anyone. It doesn't matter whether it's their job, very few can handle that sort of schedule.

We won the Ashes in Australia though, we'll just forget about everything else!

Who said footballers were thick?

England Cricket Fans: remember the good times

And one with a bit of naughty language:

Ridiculous

Some referees really do ask for the abuse they get. With the steward being as useful as chocolate tea cups, what are you supposed to do? I hear from source at the game that Havant & Waterlooville even tried to take a man off to level up the numbers, but the man in black refused to allow them to do so. The politest way I can describe the referee would be: WHAT A PLUM!

Lutters' World Cup Lines Part 3

I wrote this before the Ireland game - there will be something on that in the near future:

Click here!

David Armand Again - he is a genius!

Bryan Carrasco - cynical challenge!

India v England

What a great advert for cricket this game was. It went from India stuffing England, to England keeping themselves in ti, to India should be winning to a tie.

You can't ask for more from one game of cricket, and this has restored my faith in the 50 over game!

England won't win the competition, but at least with this result they've made a decent fist of things.

Ireland will probably stuff them now!

Punter Run Out

You've got to feel sorry for Ricky:



Or maybe not!

New Lutters' World Cup Lines

Read my take on England's opening game at the cricket World Cup.

Click here!

The fine line between success and failure in sport

Jason Puncheon, on loan to Blackpool and playing in the Premier League on a weekly basis at the moment played at Lewes in the Conference South just 4 years ago. So what has changed in that time? I imagine not a lot. He may have knuckled down and matured as a player, but surely this can’t have improved his game by 5 divisions to enable him to play in what has been described as “the best league in the world”.

He’s not the only one either. Take Jermaine Beckford, Everton’s summer capture from Leeds United. He was plying his trade at Ryman League Wealdstone 5 years ago, scoring 35 goals in 40 games, although he didn’t stand out particularly when we played him at Worthing.

DJ Campbell is a another one, seemingly rejected by the professional game, in 2005 was playing at Ryman League Yeading, who had a decent FA Cup run and all of a sudden league clubs are scrambling all over each other for his signature, a race that Brentford won. He did stand out when we played him, and his stats of 65 goals in 88 games for Yeading can’t be argued with. He always scored when I marked him for Worthing, as I remind everyone when he’s on TV.

So what changed? One season they are regarded as not being good enough, and the next they are hot property. It’s funny how quickly things change in sport. You just have to be seen by a manager who likes the look of you and your luck can change immeasurably. It’s the same with managers, with Roy Hodgson recently being given the West Bromwich Albion job when he was an apparent disaster at Liverpool only a month previously.

Sport is fickle, and the reason it’s so popular is that it divides opinions, which is the reason that all these seemingly weird things happen, like Campbell going from warehouse manager to Premier League footballer in the space of 18 short months. I can only assume that an ambitious lower league player looks forward to when the cameras are at their game so that they have a chance to impress and move up through the leagues. And who can blame them?

It’s a funny old game Saint.

A young Lutters?

Presumably that £50 million for Torres in is a high interest account.

"Brave" Gattuso vs Joe Jordan (aged 59)

The most interesting bit of the game but he ought to remember that Joe Jordan didn't lose his teeth by eating too many sweeties! Although it was a bit like James "Bonecrusher" Smith vs Joe Bugner.



Anyone else thinking "It's my ball and I'm taking it home"?

The Cricket World Cup 2011

The waiting is almost over as the Cricket World Cup is about to get underway. But is there really the anticipation out there that there should be? The tournament is being played in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and goes on for about 2 months, with the prospect of plenty of “dead rubbers”. It is going to be the dullest competition in living memory, which is a real shame because it could be a fantastic spectacle.

So why is it going to be awful? Here are just a few of the reasons:

·           It’s going on for an eternity. There really is no need for a competition to last 2 months, especially as cricket isn’t the most strenuous activity in many opinions. Is anyone going to be bothered to watch all the games? No is the simple answer.

·           The grounds aren’t ready and are essentially sub-standard. Not all of them, obviously, but some games have had to be moved already due to problems with the grounds being ready which ahs infuriated fans who had made travel plans and are now desperately trying to alter them.

·           The pitches are very batsman friendly, so most games are not going to be a contest. Endless overs of medium dob and spin aren’t going to excite anyone.

·           The crowds are going to be pathetic in most cases, unless India, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka are playing in their own country. Although the Indians are reputedly passionate about cricket, they are only really interested in their own team, so Holland and Ireland can expect to be playing in front of empty stands.

The whole debacle is down to a greedy ICC who are trying to eek as much money out of the tournament as possible, cramming outfields with sponsors and getting as much advertising in during games so that they can charge TV companies enormous sums to show the footage. It will backfire in the end, as the sponsors will pull out when they realise nobody can be bothered to watch. The 50 over game is already under threat from Twenty20 cricket and this will only add fuel to the flames about to envelop the game.

I have to admit that I will not be watching, I can’t justify spending that much time watching games I really have no interest in. I imagine I won’t be the only one.

Sledging of the cricketing kind

“Merciless they are, and out of order. There’s no room in the game for that sort of thing.”

The Australians are reputedly the originators of what is commonly known as “sledging” in cricket. If you are unaware, “sledging” is talking to a batsman, with the goal to take their mind off the game and ultimately take their wicket. It can be merciless, in a number of ways, and it can be counterproductive, as different people react in different ways to a verbal battering.

There are three types of sledging in my experience:

1.       Abusive – calling the batter every name under the sun, insulting their family, and generally being unpleasant. Not intelligent, or likely to win you too many friends.

2.       Factual – this can be very amusing if you’re not on the end of it. This generally entails picking out a few choice facts about a batter’s current form. There’s a great clip of Mark Boucher asking then Zimbabwean skipper Tatenda Taibu about his batting average, which was between 9 and 10 – “What is it, about 9.5? I’ll tell you what, we’ll round it up to 10 for you”.

3.       Amusing – this can be funny for all parties, if they are in the right mood. There’s a famous incident where Shane Warne tells South African batsman Daryll Cullinan that he’s been looking forward to bowling at him for about 2 years (Warne got Cullinan out rather a lot in the previous series), and the batsman retorted with “It looks like you spent most of it eating”. Even though it may seem a bit harsh to comment on the great spinner’s weight, it is a great comeback.

When done in a friendly, banter-based way, sledging most certainly has a place in the game of cricket. The game is not the quickest and offers players plenty of time for reflection. A cricketer’s success is 50% talent and 50% psychological. There’s nothing much you can do about the talent, but the psychological state of a player could be a weakness if played correctly.

There are some people however where sledging works the opposite way in which it was intended by the fielding side. England batsman Kevin Pietersen is renowned for reacting in a positive way to sledging by getting more runs than he might otherwise have accrued.

The factual sledging is part and parcel of the game and can be avoided by simply getting some runs, so in a sense, you only have yourself to blame if you are sledged on the basis of your recent performances.

What needs to be stamped out, but is almost impossible to police, is the abusive type. This is not big or clever and no-one really enjoys it, even the perpetrator. Cricket is supposed to be a game for intelligent people, and the ability to recall as many insults as possible could be regarded as sub-intelligent.

In general then, long live sledging. It’s funny on the whole and makes the time pass far quicker and more enjoyably.

More Miming!

Like Stieg Larsson? Try Jo Nesbo

I really enjoyed the Stieg Larsson books - gripping stuff, couldn't put them down etc. The films are pretty good too. But there aren't going to be anymore. I read a review in The Sunday Times "Culture" section about another Scandanavian writer who was very like Larsson. His name: Jo Nesbo.

Fantastic! His series about detective Harry Hole (an alcoholic sociopath) is great. Although the first third of the first book is a little chewy, once you're through that it's terrific from then on in! It is worth reading them in order I hasten to add:

The Redbreast
Nemesis
The Devil Star
The Redeemer
The Snowman
The Leopard



Dark and a real page turner - I'd recommend them to anyone!

And they are dead cheap on Amazon too...

What Happened Next?

Lutters' World Cup Lines - Part 1

Click Here!

Pakistan's "Corrupt" Cricketers

Finally, after almost 6 months, the ICC has judged the 3 Pakistan cricketers at the centre of the spot-fixing scandal guilty and handed out what has been described as “lengthy bans” to all three. Salman Butt (26), Mohammad Asif (28) and Mohammad Amir (18) were all guilty of corruption and given 10 years (5 suspended), 7 years (2 suspended) and 5 years ban from the game respectively.

At least we’ve finally got a response from the ICC, who have dragged their heels on this matter hugely, and arguably have not gone far enough in punishing these three. Rumours were that Butt and Asif were facing lifetime bans, whereas Amir would get a reduced sentence on account of his age and therefore being impressionable. British police have also announced that they are charging the three players with corruption along with a London-based agent Mazhar Majeed.

The whole episode has seen the sport of cricket undoubtedly tainted as it was clear to anyone who’s seen the footage that Amir no-balls were frankly ridiculous, although Amir’s no-ball was close I seem to remember was his first in any form of first-class cricket. Coupled with the fact that Majeed had announced the very balls upon which the bowlers would overstep to the News of the World (arguably the one thing the paper has positively contributed to sport in general), surely their pleas of innocence would seem futile at best, and should, as they do in law, lead to longer sentences.

The fact that the three men pleaded “not guilty” only goes to show that they are essentially pathological liars, prepared to do what they can to get what they want, no matter what or who they trample over in the process.

In case you were wondering, Butt was the captain and set the whole deal up. As captain he made sure that the bowlers were actually bowling at the correct time.

It is fairly typical of the ICC to be lenient, or one could say, toothless. All three will be free to resume their careers in the five years (assuming that they don’t get off on appeal, which presumably all three will do), and only Asif’s career will be as-good-as over, as at 33 his pace will be dropping, not that pace has ever really been his weapon of choice. Butt and Amir will have years ahead of them in which to make money out of a game they have shown zero respect for. Asif has been in trouble before for performance enhancing substances where he has been banned by ICC only to have the charges dropped by the PCB on appeal – odd that the Pakistan Cricket Board overturn their best bowler’s ban don’t you think?

Asif and Butt should have been given life bans, and Amir 10 years. I can’t see these sentences putting too many people off, considering that the financial rewards for spot fixing can be enormous. Maybe the British legal system might dole out a punishment that really will put professional sportsmen off going down the same road. We’ll see as it will take a reasonably long time to get to court I imagine.

Who do Premiership footballers think they are?

Football is the people’s game, entertainment for the working man, a chance for the average Brit to let his or her hair down. But is it really?

The price of a season ticket in the Premier League ranges from £224 (Blackburn’s cheapest available) to £1825 (Arsenal’s most expensive). Although Blackburn’s ticket price is actually quite reasonable (about £12 per home league game), and there is probably a league cup ticket thrown in for good measure, it is their cheapest so you could be sat behind a concrete pillar. Arsenal’s most expensive is a whopping £96 per home league game. One would assume that the view is pretty good, but even so, that’s a lot of money for the average football fan to fork out in one hit. So can the people actually afford to watch their own game? In Blackburn, probably, but in North London it could be a struggle.

And what of their heroes: the players. Wayne Rooney, idolised by many a Manchester United or England fan owns approximately twenty cars, valued at around £1.4 million. As far as automobiles go, one may struggle to argue that young Wayne has remained in touch with his Liverpudlian roots.

The Rooney’s don’t live in a three bed semi-detached either, it’s more a country mansion surrounded with hi-tech burglar alarms and CCTV. Would that be considered “grounded”? Probably not in Croxteth. So are these people really deserved of the hero worship of the public in general?

A story in this weekend’s Sunday Times seemed to suggest that some of these footballers only pay around 2% tax on some of their earnings. When you consider that most of us pay around 30% including National Insurance contributions, then one wonders how these footballing stars sleep at night. It also makes you wonder whether the country would be going through financial hardship if these guys actually paid full whack to HM Revenue & Customs.

Let’s face it, 30% of Rooney’s £250,000 per week (he turned down a reputed £288,000 per week at local rivals Manchester City – the sacrifices one makes) would put something of a dent in the national debt.

He’s not alone. Other players named include Gareth Barry (£100,000 per week), Ashley Cole (£120,000 per week), Rio Ferdinand (£100,000+ per week) and Michael Owen (slumming it on £30,000 per week plus large appearance fees), to name but a few. I suppose on their wages they can afford top accountants to find these loopholes in tax law, but that doesn’t really rid one of the bitter taste.

Football and the money involved has become obscene, and in my view the sport can no longer be considered the people’s game as a result of the gargantuan sums of money sloshing sround. Can you really blame these players though? If someone offers you £250,000 per week, even the most stoic of us would struggle to reply with something along the lines of “Just give me enough to pay the mortgage and reserve me a parking space”, unless the mortgage on your mansion is around £250,000 per week I suppose.

The bubble will burst at some point, and quite a few clubs will struggle financially, even go under. It’s at that point that clubs will find out who their real fans are, and at the same time discover which players really are still men of the people. My bet: very few.

Transfer Fees

I have spent most of the evening watching BBC Sport's live text of Transfer Deadline Day. The BBC really offer a brilliant service here, but what's amazing is the amount of money being spent on players. Torres for £50m, Carroll for £35m, Suarez for £23m and they are only the big ones. Can football, or more importantly, the clubs, afford to maintain this level of spending on individuals like this. And we haven't even mentioned the wages!

Torres: class player but exceptionally injury prone.
Carroll: been in trouble with the law back home in Newcastle and currently injured, meaning that presumably the medical has been waived.
Suarez: unproven in English football.

I have a real fear that English football will collapse financially if clubs continue spending at this rate, and to think that Chelsea are tightening their belt. They can tighten it a whole lot more now that they are £50m lighter!

As many have siad on various social networking sites - if Carroll is worth £35m, how much would people pay for Messi?

The mind boggles!

Kevin Muscat Tackling School

A true loss to English football. The claim that he got the ball is brilliant and one can only assume that his Equity Card is in the post! You won't be surprised to hear that he was banned for 8 games for the offence. A Sussex boy - born in Crawley.

Poor old Andy Murray

I would never claim to like tennis, in fact I have been known to be positively anti-tennis, but I have to admit that I watch Andy Murray's destruction at Melbourne by Novak Djokovic. You could argue that the Scot (he'd have been described as a Brit had he won!) tried his best, but the Serb was frankly too good. Tennis is not a game I watch very often, with Wimbledon fortnight leading to unplugged televisions at our house, but since it was a Brit (fair play to the lad) who was in with a chance of winning a "slam" one had to offer one's support. Fat lot of good it was though. To see our Andy so totally stuffed was not a pleasant experience for anyone, and I'm sure that his chances of winning a "slam" will be discussed immensely in the press over the next few days. Not only has Djokovic hit his straps but there are others such as Nadal and Federer for Murray to contend with.

I hope he does win one eventually, I really do, but on his showing today, that elusive "slam" seems a long way away!

Not bad - should have kept it on the floor really - technique questionable

Genius Mime Aritst 2

Genius Mime Artist

What's the problem with female officials?

Sky Sports commentators Andy Gray and Richard Keys were caught on microphone debating the merits (or lack thereof) of female officials at the Wolves versus Liverpool game at the weekend. They clearly didn’t realise the microphones were on because their comments were not the kindest.

So what’s the problem with female officials in any sport? Nothing in my view, the problem is that games such as football and cricket have been male dominated for so long that some find it difficult to accept that a female official could be competent or even better than a male official – some would perish the thought.

I have played in both football and cricket matches with both female and male officials, and regardless of gender they have made good decisions and poor decisions. In fact, one of the best refereeing displays I’ve seen was by a woman, and one of the worst was by a man being mentored by an ex-Premier League referee with the idea being to fast-track him into the football league.

What the likes of Gray and Keys have forgotten is that football (and other sports) are now far more widely played, and therefore understood by women. Cricket has also seen a huge injection of money and resources recently and girls/ladies teams are far more commonplace. Ironically Gray and Keys were debating whether the assistant in question, Sian Massey knew “the offside rule”. This immediately highlight’s their own ignorance of the game in that football doesn’t actually have rules but laws. Only competitions have rules. The same applies in cricket, and I was once booked for pointing this out to a referee. He never registered the booking with the FA, surprisingly enough.

What people need to focus on in all sports is not the gender of participants or officials, but their competence and ability to perform the function they have been asked to do. Week in, week out there are contentious decisions made by officials in both football and cricket, generally made by men. The fact that cricket is trying to minimise human error by using Hawk Eye and other technology and football is desperate to resist it only goes to show that football is unwilling to move with the times.

It will be interesting to see what happens, if anything, about the two Sky men, but they very quickly offered apologies, clearly realising that they had at the very least dipped a toes into some extremely hot water.

The actual Farage barrage!

Pure Poppycock - Autotune the news - genius!

Which type of cricket is best?

There are three different types of international cricket to watch nowadays:

1.       Test Match

2.       One Day Internationals (ODIs)

3.       Twenty20 Internationals

Now, like most people my other half won’t allow me to watch all of the stuff that’s televised, so I have to choose very carefully so I can claim the maximum quota available without having to sit through stuff I’m not really that bothered by. It’s a tough choice and one I’m sure many people empathise with.

The reason there are 3 different types is surely because there’s a market for all three, and I reckon these are the markets:

·         Test Matches – aimed at the cricketing purest and the fan who either still plays or used to play regularly. They understand the intricacies of the game and have hours of time on their hands in which to watch the game.

·         Twenty20 Internationals – aimed at the cricket fan who likes a fast game, with something happening at all times. Played a lot under floodlights, it’s a good night out for a few drinks with friends. The bowler bowls, the batsmen hit, nothing more complicated than that.

·         One Day Internationals – this is a halfway house between the two previous incarnations of the game, where there’s a bit of intricacy and a bit of wham and/or bam. For people who would like to watch a Test Match but have a job to go to.

The choice is, of course, down to each individual. I like them all, but would put them in this order of preference: Test Match, Twenty20, ODI. The reason behind putting ODI as my least favourite is that it never quite makes up its mind whether to play the long, set a batsman up over a number for overs before dealing the killer blow, game or whether the players just go for it with both ball and bat. Parts of the game drift and seem endless. If you cut out the 30 overs in the middle, it would be great, but they already do that and call it Twenty20. Innovations such as powerplays for both batting and fielding sides have helped a little, but I get the impression that the public’s love affair with it is on the wane a little, certainly in Britain.

The biggest market for cricket is the sub-continent (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) and they love ODIs and Twenty20s, mainly because the pitches they produce lead to boring draws for Test Matches, but produce loads of runs in limited overs cricket.

I suppose that the simple fact that cricket has different versions of the games that appeal to as many people as possible can only be seen as a good thing. The more people who watch it, the more money is generated and the better it gets.

In which case, all forms of the game are brilliant. Carry on as usual.

The World Cup Squad - Lutters' Lines!

My shared wisdom about Messrs Strauss and Flowers squad:

Click here!

Lutters' Ashes Lines Part 11

Click Here!

The Worst Premiership Team of 2010/11 so far...

This is a tough one, but having watched Match of the day week in, week out, I reckon this is it:
                                                           Scott Carson

Julien Faubert          Titus Bramble             Zat Knight          Nicky Shorey

Luis Boa Morte      Christian Poulson       Giles Barnes          Joe Cole

                              Benni McCarthy                  David Ngog

Subs:

Paul Robinson (Bolton Wanderers’ left back, not Blackburn’s ‘keeper)

James Tomkins

Nikolas Bentner

Frederic Piquionne

Wayne Bridge

Chris Baird

Richard Kingson (GK)

They’ve all been selected because they have played a number of games, and very little improvement had been noted.

Any differences of opinion? Write me a comment!

Reminds me of me in my heyday... a little bit.

Was surfing YouTube and found this - not bad!

What's gone wrong with Australian test cricket?

Australian cricket has been through a tough time of late. They have lost series both home and away in all forms of the game, most gut-wrenchingly, losing an Ashes series at home by a distance.

So what’s gone wrong?

Is domestic cricket Down Under failing to prepare would-be international cricketers for the step up to the international arena?

Is Australia in general just lacking talent?

The answer to all those questions is “No”. Australia are suffering from two things:

1.       Being very successful for a long period of time.

2.       Having so many great players retire at roughly the same time.

The problem with having such a successful side is that people become accustomed to success. This is not necessarily a bad thing as one must always have high expectations, but it’s almost impossible to maintain such success indefinitely. At some point there are going to be lows, and that’s when journalists start writing about a crisis in the sport. There is no crisis of course, but it’s very easy to sit on one’s laurels when success has been an expectation for such a long time, and so the other teams improve and catch up.

Australia has also had half their side retire at about the same time, and those players have to be replaced by those who are clearly not as good or better. Had they been as good or better than their predecessors, they’d have been selected. People like Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath cannot be replaced – England spent years searching for the “new Ian Botham”, a futile search as there will only ever be one.

Australian cricket fans clearly have short memories. Back in the late Eighties Australia were just as weak as they are now, but had a plan under Allan Border and ultimately it led to their world domination of the game in the Nineties and Noughties. They may have to go through the same process again.

Australia isn’t the only side who have fallen on hard times. Just look at the West Indies team nowadays compared to the teams they had in the Seventies and Eighties, teams that were almost untouchable with the likes of Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards at the helm. Now they struggle to give England a good game.

What the sporting public need to remember is that success is great whilst it lasts, but it is not a given that once your team is successful, that will last forever. If that were the case sport would be very boring, in fact it wouldn’t be a contest and no-one would go and watch it.

There is nothing wrong with Australian cricket other than they haven’t got the side that they had 5 or 10 years ago, and never will have again. They have to build from scratch once again, and there will be a few poor results for a while, but eventually it will all come good and people will once more forget the troubled times.

The longest week in the memory of humankind!

Thank God for that - I thought this week would never end! I suppose it's the weather, but this week didn't half drag. Have placed Super 6 bet with Sky - it's free people, and all you have to do it predict 6 results (hence the name). It's a free bet, so why not? They try to sell you bets on SkyBet, but one just have to have a lot of mental strength!

Here's the link: Sky Sports Super 6

There's even a bonus competition this week for the Spurs v United game.

Hours of fun - enjoy!

What's gone wrong with Australian cricket?

Australian cricket has been through a tough time of late. They have lost series both home and away in all forms of the game, most gut-wrenchingly, losing an Ashes series at home by a distance.

So what’s gone wrong?

Is domestic cricket Down Under failing to prepare would-be international cricketers for the step up to the international arena?

Is Australia in general just lacking talent?

The answer to all those questions is “No”. Australia are suffering from two things:

1.       Being very successful for a long period of time.

2.       Having so many great players retire at roughly the same time.

The problem with having such a successful side is that people become accustomed to success. This is not necessarily a bad thing as one must always have high expectations, but it’s almost impossible to maintain such success indefinitely. At some point there are going to be lows, and that’s when journalists start writing about a crisis in the sport. There is no crisis of course, but it’s very easy to sit on one’s laurels when success has been an expectation for such a long time, and so the other teams improve and catch up.

Australia has also had half their side retire at about the same time, and those players have to be replaced by those who are clearly not as good or better. Had they been as good or better than their predecessors, they’d have been selected. People like Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath cannot be replaced – England spent years searching for the “new Ian Botham”, a futile search as there will only ever be one.

Australian cricket fans clearly have short memories. Back in the late Eighties Australia were just as weak as they are now, but had a plan under Allan Border and ultimately it led to their world domination of the game in the Nineties and Noughties. They may have to go through the same process again.

Australia isn’t the only side who have fallen on hard times. Just look at the West Indies team nowadays compared to the teams they had in the Seventies and Eighties, teams that were almost untouchable with the likes of Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards at the helm. Now they struggle to give England a good game.

What the sporting public need to remember is that success is great whilst it lasts, but it is not a given that once your team is successful, that will last forever. If that were the case sport would be very boring, in fact it wouldn’t be a contest and no-one would go and watch it.

There is nothing wrong with Australian cricket other than they haven’t got the side that they had 5 or 10 years ago, and never will have again. They have to build from scratch once again, and there will be a few poor results for a while, but eventually it will all come good and people will once more forget the troubled times.

Radio Stations

I'm a BBC 6Music man normally, although a few of the weekend shows are quite chewy. In the evening (Monday to Wednesday) I listen to Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie on BBC Radio 2. Both 6Music and Radcliffe and Maconie offer a mixture of great songs and some new stuff. It costs me a lot of money keeping up on iTunes!

The other weekend I had to do some ironing, so I stuck on the radio but wasn't in the mood for 6Music's weekend fayre, so surfed the dial, as it were. I found Absolute 80s - superb!

Ok, so you have to put up with Bananarama or REO Speedwagon, but John Farnham and Fiction Factory make it all worthwhile. For people of a certain age there's little better, and I am most certainly of that age. Escapism rules!

Here's the link: http://absolute80s.com/

You won't regret it.

England win 8 T20s in a row!

Terrific effort from England despite Shane Watson's best efforts. A last ball win with some youngsters at the crease. It might be a bit early to say, but this tour of Australia is really going to plan. What are the odds on England winning all three series? Can't find them anywhere. Might be worth a flutter!

What are the odds on England winning the World Cup (cricket!)? 9/2 with Paddy Power. Not sure that's worth a flutter especially with it being in India and Sri Lanka's back yard. Pakistan at 8/1 might be worth a fiver.

Lutters' Ashes Lines Part 9

My assessment of England's Ashes success, with hundreds and thousands:

Click Here!

Reminds me of another wicketkeeper not a million miles from here!

This sort of finishing got me 1 goal in 156 games for The Rebels

If you're not sure about cricket, watch this:

Aussies Smashed!

England bring the Ashes back in style with their third thumping win over the Australians. Fantastic achievement, although a poor Aussie side.

Australia need to get rid of the following:
Ponting
Hussey
Haddin
Katich
Harris (made of biscuits)

In come (regularly):
Hughes
Khawaja
Paine
Ferguson
Beer/Hauritz
A bowler

Give them a go, or England will just keep smashing them for years to come!

Rex The Dog "Bubblicious" - Great Video and Song!

Back to work

First day back today - everyone pleased to see me of course, especially the students. Some still in holiday mood, unable to calculate what 2 numbers multiply to make 3. No doubt they'll warm up soon.

As far as I can make out we are expecting Ofsted to come this term - this is obviously guess-work, but as many of the other secondary schools in the area have been seen recently, it's not a bad bet.

Talking of Ofsted, I was staggered to find out, through the medium of the Google search ("How much does Ofsted cost?") that the quango costs the taxpayer around £200 million per year, or around 5000 (of the higher paid) teachers - approximately one extra teacher per school apparently. You could even pay Yaya Toure's weekly wage at Manchester City for 15 and a bit years with that. Are they worth it? The public have been brainwashed into believing that a good Ofsted report is the be-all-and-end-all of the merits of a school, that and the league tables (another worthy educational cause).

In this era of cutbacks, will the government feel that it's not a good use of resources?

Fingers crossed, but I'm not saying whether it's to keep or get rid of it!

EP versus Steyning Town - 3.1.11

A draw: 2-2

EP should have won really, but as they say, that's football!

My feet are just about returning to room temperature 2 hours after the final whistle.

Ditched or Injured Aussie Cricketers (Anagrams)

Play this game on the what2learn site

Guess the Aussie cricketers - anagrams (plus clues)

Play this game on the what2learn site

Moodle - Making Interactive Games For Free

Want to put (educational) games on your Moodle page?

There's a great, free site called http://www.what2learn.com/ where you can "Make A Game".
All you need is 8 "questions" and you can choose the game type and question type from:

• Hangman type game (guess the word).
• Multiple choice.
• Find the answer.

The games are easy to set up and then you need to play them so you can get the "Embed code" at the end. Once you've copied and pasted the "Embed code", and paste into a webpage on your Moodle page (make sure that you are in HTML mode, by clicking on the button that looks like this: <>.)

Job done! Another of the many gems from Mary Cooch's book:

Get this book - it's great!