The Genius of QI

Chelsea, Chelsea, Chelsea...

Racism seems to be sticking to Chelsea Football Club like faeces sticks to a blanket:

• The club captain is currently banned for 4 matches (unbelievably short ban for the offense committed) for calling Anton Ferdinand a "black c**t".
• Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has accused referee Mark Clattenburg of calling him a monkey, with Juan Mata alleging that the referee called him a "Spanish t**t".
• A Chelsea supporter was pictured making monkey gestures to Manchester United's young striker Danny Welbeck.

If Chelsea were disliked before all of these allegations, they are even less popular now. Racism is something that really needs to be stamped out of the game, but unfortunately the game's authorities seem to have their heads buried in the sand, and let's face it, footballers and supporters in the main don't have the intelligence to realise the difference between right and wrong. This is not an excuse, but the culture of a game that believes it is above the law due to the ridiculous amounts of money it pays its participants and generates in general.

Football is a game in crisis due to the seemingly endless scandals, which has also led to members of the England under 21 side being charged by the Serbian FA after their team-mate Danny Rose was racially abused.

Those at the top need to start handing out proper punishments to those who overstep the mark. Life bans for those players (fans already receive this) who are found guilty may actually be a deterrent.

Cricket Has Been Busy!

England have just embarked on their tour of India, drawing their first game against a strong India A side who included Yuvraj Singh. Tons for Alastair Cook and Samit Patel, and half-centuries from Matt Prior and Jonathan Trott. The bowlers did pretty well too, although the loss of Steven Finn could be an issue on the unresponsive tracks out there. The cricket was almost secondary to the return of Kevin Pietersen after his texting indiscretions of the summer. Personally I wouldn't have allowed him to ever play for England again, despite him being a good player. He is a disruptive influence in the dressing, and I have never got over the fact that he is actually not English, but South Africans seem to feature in most test nations around the world nowadays.

England will lose the series in India, but the selection of the side will be interesting, with a partner for skipper Cook the main priority. Nick Compton could be the man, but was out cheaply in the warm-up game. The choice of Stuart Broad as vice-captain is shocking though, as the hot-headed all-rounder showed his lack of tactical nous during the T20 World Cup, and was only in the side because he was the skipper by the end.

Other things have been happening though as I read that Surrey have signed Graeme Smith as their captain for the next three years. This looks a great move for the county, but is there really no young English skipper in the ranks? Actually I have no real problem with the announcement as Surrey need a strong character in charge of them after recent events, but I fear for Chris Adams as if this doesn't work out pretty quickly he will almost certainly be relieved of his position. He has spent a lot of money bringing in big name players and must deliver results. Smith's relationship with Kevin Pietersen will be of interest too, as the two have history shall we say. It may not be so much of an issue now that Pietersen is back with England.

Sussex have made some good signings, the biggest of which being former Surrey captain Rory Hamilton-Brown. The guy is potentially a superb signing as long as his mental state is sorted by April. The county have extended the contracts of leg spinner Will Beer and wicketkeeper Ben Brown. Brown is a good player and with the loss of Andrew Hodd to Yorkshire, his signature was a priority. Beer is an interesting one, as he looked to be out of the door when the county signed Michael Rippon, but the South African (another one!) with a Dutch passport has not taken the world by storm as coach Mark Robinson would have hoped. Ed Joyce has taken the captaincy from Michael Yardy who needs to concentrate on his batting, and Luke Wright has established himself as a genuinely world class T20 batsman. All-in-all things look good for Sussex!