Plenty to see in India

       There is plenty of sport to see in India at the moment the Commonwealth games got under way yesterday with the first gold going to a 17 year old Nigerian weight lifter.  But away from Delhi there was also a another sport trying to steal the limelight.  In Mohali, there was an absolutely thrilling game of cricket being played.  It came down to the 5th day of play with India requiring 216 to win on a pitch which was turning into a batters nightmare after it was kept perfectly by the ground staff so it just faded away on the final days of play.  VVS Laxman struck a superb unbeaten 73 as India fought back from the brink of defeat to beat Australia by one wicket in this thrilling first Test.

Onwards and Downwards?

      The farce is over.  Now time to move on to one the greatest sporting rivalries, forget Liverpool versus Manchester United and England versus Germany in Football, forget any other sporting rivals.  England are getting ready to travel to Australia to compete for 'The Ashes',  Played since 1882 the series is named after a satirical obituary published in 1882 after a match at The Oval, in which Australia beat England on an English ground for the first time. The obituary stated that English cricket had died, and the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.  The trophy urn is reputed to be the ashes of an item of cricket equipment, possibly a bail, ball or stump.  Today England annouced their squad and the lucky players who have won much-coveted places in the Ashes squad to tour Australia this winter.

The Final ODI

      Today is the date of the final ODI match between England and Pakistan and after this match what will be known as an infamous tour will come to and end.  Pakistan arrived in England on the 5 July and in just 80 days this tour has possible damaged the sport of cricket irreversibly.  With the allegations, of the Pakistani players, of Spot fixing, deliberately bowling no-balls to set up betting coups, in the fourth Test match and the irregular scoring patterns in the thrid ODI.  It would be hard to say that Pakistani cricket, as we know it, will survive and they may have shot themselves in the a foot after Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Butt said he had heard from bookmakers that England had been paid to lose Friday's third one-day game at The Oval. 

For me I am amazed at the England players continues to play the series and here is why.

The Sunday Sport Round-Up

Another fantastic weekend of sport for our viewing.   A very entertaining derby will let Ferguson forget about Liverpool and look towards Man City and Chelsea, more controversy in cricket as coach and captain speak out, a Brit wins a sprinting jersey in the Vuelta, the Great North provides plenty of shocks and performances and snooker unleashes one of it new speed formats. But on a slightly more disappointing note another shooting in Delhi puts more doubts and questions about the Commonwealth Game.

Always the Bridesmaid Never the Bride

      That proverb is used to describe someone who is good but not the best, but who is sporting greatest runner-up? 

      When asked this question it really does test the sporting knowledge of a person.  By looking at a persons answer you can also see what they claim as greatness.

      When I said the greatest runner-up I do not mean the best performance in a single sporting event that ended up coming second.  What I am looking for is the over all time what person or team over time has finished 2nd so many times it doesn't even matter if they won on the odd occasion?

Tabloids - The Downfall of Cricket

       Today the International Cricket Council annouced the launching of an investigation into Friday's third one-day international between England and Pakistan at The Oval.  The game's world governing body says the probe is based on information passed on by The Sun newspaper.  ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat says the match, won by Pakistan by 23 runs, featured "a certain scoring pattern" that warranted further investigation.  The ECB has been told that no England player is involved in the allegations. 

      The big question for me is how on enough do these tabloids continue to get these stories.  After the stories in football, snooker and cricket recently I just can't believe people are still having this conversations with people they don't know about their sport and making arrangements wiht them.

The iCC Move One Step Closer to Madness

       I came home drunk in the early hours of this morning after a night out, I had quick look at the BBC Sport home page then went to sleep.  I awoke thinking that I had read something in cricket about a new ICC Test League, I then thought to myself that is daft, told myself I must of misread something due to my drunken state.  But I was correct the ICC are looking to introduce a Test League and play-off system. Results will determine an official table, with the top four teams going head-to-head to decide a Test champion.  Are the ICC trying to destroy the last pure form of cricket?

Technology in Sport

       I was already to finish up my review of the US Open when the rain came down and force Nadal versus Djokovic till this Monday evening at 2100 BST.  So I have a gap in my schedule to write about something else, something I was waiting for the next major controversy so I could share my opinion with you.  Of course by the title of this post you know I am talking about technology in sport.  I am going to talk about technology in sport history, this current use of instant replays in sports and finally, in my opinion, what the future holds in some sports.

The Sunday Sport Round-up

       Wow!  Where do I start?  This weekend was jam packed full of sporting events full of potential excitement and boy did they deliver, the Ferguson's had a weekend they would like to forget, Monza had a fascinating qualifying and race, the Pakistan team have shown some genuine performances, the US Open has blown me and some of the players away, Sky showed the way in Stoke, the second week of Aviva Premiership was close everywhere, another English side lost on penalties and the always confusing Super League Play-offs began.  If you have no idea about what just said then

A Small Amount of Cricket History

       Cricket is going through a rough patch at the moment, the current situation with spot betting is indeed a terrible situation but compared to past events the threat of life bans seems without precedent especially due to the fact that match fixers Saleem Malik and Ata-ur-Rehman both had there life bans over turned in 2008 and 2006 respectivly.  Cricket has gone throught many different controversies including bodyline bowling, ball tampering, throwing, match fixing, spot fixing and even underarm bowling. But the controversy I would like to talk about today is the 1982 England South Afican Rebel Tour and the English cricketers that played for South African cricket clubs .