I was at Lord's yesterday and was rather less than surprised that most of the conversation around the ground centred on a single topic, Kevin Pietersen. Now whilst I have not been a fly on the wall in the England dressing room since 2005, it is pretty clear that Pietersen has always played primarily for himself and his presence in the England team was a purely practical decision, you pick the best batsman in the land. He has performed heroics with the bat on innumerable occasions and let's face it his last day innings at the Oval in 2005 was the final reason we won back the Ashes after nigh on two decades of Australian dominance. His last century at Headingley was a majestic knock, one of his finest in an England shirt. Therein lies the crux of the problem, sadly it appears that KP likes, no actually that should be needs, to be the centre of attention. Sadly for him a certain global sporting event had started in London a few days earlier and he was knocked off the back pages and, allegedly, he was none too impressed by that.
Pietersen announced his retirement from limited overs international cricket on 31st May, citing that he could not continue in all forms of the game at the age of almost 32. The vast majority of critics saw it differently and he was accused of throwing various things from the pram as what he really wanted was to continue to play Twenty20, play in the IPL and get his big pay day. However, the ECB has a selection policy that means you are either available for all formats of international limited overs or you are not considered. Fast forward to the 11th August and KP decides to inform the world of his decision to reverse his retirement from limited overs cricket. He chooses to do this not via the ECB (his employers) but via YouTube! Now the ECB may have handled him very badly before, particularly when stripping him of the England captaincy, but this will not go down in history as a clever move. He commented "I can't wait to play in Straussy's 100th Test next week", the following day the ECB greeted his decision by dropping him from the Lord's test that started on Thursday. At the time this was largely praised as a brave decision. I wholeheartedly agreed with it, feeling that it was about time that the ego needed to be grounded. As the day went on it became clear that there was something more to the decision than giving him a slap on the wrist. If the reports that are widely circulating the media today of the exact wording of the texts he sent to South African players are true, you can understand why Andrew Strauss was "annoyed" by the saga and why he believes it will "take a long time" to rebuild trust amongst his teammates. Errr? Understatement of the century!
I am lucky to know a former England left arm spinner and despite being rather busy in between commentating for TMS and book signing yesterday was good enough to take me and one of my godsons and his father up to the media centre so Max could see the TMS box. Tuffers and I talked about the KP situation and it sounds pretty likely that Pietersen has played his last game for England.
A crying shame but then again the old adage that no one is bigger than the game is poignantly made again.
Sunday 19 August 2012
Tuesday 14 August 2012
The Greatest Show on Earth
Well London did it. The Games of the 30th Olympiad will go down in history as the greatest ever.
In practical terms, logistically they got it right, OK there was some major delays on the roads on the first couple of days then everyone steered clear of the main arterial roads into town and London's mean streets had tumbleweed blowing down them. The tubes were busy but manageable and it was fun speaking with a small Frenchman whose head was lodged beneath my chin on the Jubilee line last Monday evening heading for Stratford. The Javelin train was fab once you got to the front of the queue. Talking of queues we had been led to believe that getting into the venues was going to make the carnage at T3 five weeks ago look like a stroll in the park. My experience, and that of everyone else I have spoken to, was the polar opposite. The longest wait I experienced was under two minutes to get through the scanners run by our brilliant Armed Forces.
People-wise London got it right. Lord Coe and his team delivered more than we could have hoped and his emotional closing ceremony speech reflected what the nation felt. The volunteers were brilliant, no wonder they got the loudest cheer on Sunday; tireless, endlessly cheerful and always engaging with the crowds.
So who got it wrong? Well the doom merchants top the list here! I have no issue with someone who says "I have no interest in sport, I'm out of here", I happen to think they are certifiable but then again I would. No, the one thing that grated with me the most was that oily rag of a publication - the Daily Mail. Two weeks before the Games they were lambasting the BBC for employing 750 to cover the Olympics. HOW IN GOD'S NAME DO THE DAILY MAIL HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE NEEDED? From the coverage I watched (every second when I wasn't actually at an event), Auntie (an institution that regular readers know I am not above laying into heavily) needed a few more! There were screens showing venue after venue with things about to start without any commentators. The main presenters seemed to spend half their time charging around London's transport system in order to present first Equestrian, then Beach Volleyball and finally Water Polo all in the space of two hours. My favourite moment, however, of the Mail's insidious attempts to stir up the chattering suburban middle class wretches into a froth of indignation was the inside back page on Wednesday 1st August. They produced a chart showing what funding had been given to various sports and the returns on that investment. Among others they laid into both canoeing and judo. The following day GB won a gold and silver in the canoe slalom and Gemma Gibbons won judo silver. The Mail no doubt will claim it was down to them, but in reality all it appears to do is lay into Britain and then claim glory when we win, it really is a pretty odious publication.
We are now just under two weeks away from the Paralympics, which has already smashed all records for ticket sales. It will, one hopes, be another remarkable triumph for London and the country as a whole and will, I am sure, prove again that this nation has an amazing appetite for great sporting drama.
So as a personal round up of the finest 17 days of sporting drama ever, a few of my own highlights and additional observations:
Best celebration: Jade Jones winning Taekwondo gold.
Most emotional moment: Katherine Grainger finally shaking the silver monkey off her back and getting gold in the double sculls.
Biggest cheer: Gemma Gibbons when she defeated the French world champion in her semi in the Judo.
Dullest gold medal winner interviewee: Accountant Ed Mckeever, but boy can he make a canoe travel fast!
Biggest cheer for a non-Brit (who wasn't called Bolt): Cheering Phelps on to his final individual gold in the 100m fly in the Aquatic Centre, it was truly deafening.
Top lump in throat moment: Sir Chris Hoy, no wait, Mo. No, no, no it's Katherine, ooohhh perhaps it's Laura? I give up, it felt like there was one every 20 minutes.
Person least likely to be invited to dinner: the cycling Commissaire.
Best facial expression: Katherine Copeland having won the lightweight double sculls.
Best smile: Easiest one of the lot this - Boxing's Nicola Adams.
Biggest shock: Was tempted to say Greg Rutherford, but actually it was big Roger not really appearing in the tennis final, even if Andy Murray did play brilliantly.
Latest crush: Charlotte Dujardin.
All the girls' latest crush: Tom Daley (again!).
Coolest Brit: Bradley Wiggins, just over Ben Ainslie.
Coolest non-Brit: Usain Bolt, obviously....
Best quote: Bradley Wiggins commenting on the shape of endurance cyclists "I think one of the great things about being a sprinter like Chris Hoy is that you have got an amazing body to show off. I just look like Rodney Trotter."
Favourite non-athlete quote (as provided by one of you): "Until Sunday they thought we were shit at sport and good at music!"
Favourite image of the Games: Difficult to say anything other than Usain and Mo sharing a podium and mimicking the other's celebration.
My favourite bit: All of it! But as you all know I have a weakness when it comes to a girl from Sheffield, so if there has to be JUST one, then it has to be Jess coming off the final bend in the 800m, knowing she had won the gold already but she just had to win that final race too....
Good luck to Rio and Pele rather trumped the Spice Girls.
Thank you London, thank you Seb, thank you to all the athletes from all the countries, thank you to all the people who came to Britain to watch, thank you again to the brilliant volunteers and to our Armed Forces who made us all feel safe. Thanks also to all the people around the country for supporting the games in such numbers, we all made ourselves proud of our nation.
Finally the biggest thank you goes to the IOC delegate who apparently hit the wrong voting button on 6th July 2005 and gave London the Games by a single vote over Paris, you gave me the best two and a bit weeks of my life and it is difficult being grumpy when you are enjoying yourself.
In practical terms, logistically they got it right, OK there was some major delays on the roads on the first couple of days then everyone steered clear of the main arterial roads into town and London's mean streets had tumbleweed blowing down them. The tubes were busy but manageable and it was fun speaking with a small Frenchman whose head was lodged beneath my chin on the Jubilee line last Monday evening heading for Stratford. The Javelin train was fab once you got to the front of the queue. Talking of queues we had been led to believe that getting into the venues was going to make the carnage at T3 five weeks ago look like a stroll in the park. My experience, and that of everyone else I have spoken to, was the polar opposite. The longest wait I experienced was under two minutes to get through the scanners run by our brilliant Armed Forces.
People-wise London got it right. Lord Coe and his team delivered more than we could have hoped and his emotional closing ceremony speech reflected what the nation felt. The volunteers were brilliant, no wonder they got the loudest cheer on Sunday; tireless, endlessly cheerful and always engaging with the crowds.
So who got it wrong? Well the doom merchants top the list here! I have no issue with someone who says "I have no interest in sport, I'm out of here", I happen to think they are certifiable but then again I would. No, the one thing that grated with me the most was that oily rag of a publication - the Daily Mail. Two weeks before the Games they were lambasting the BBC for employing 750 to cover the Olympics. HOW IN GOD'S NAME DO THE DAILY MAIL HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE NEEDED? From the coverage I watched (every second when I wasn't actually at an event), Auntie (an institution that regular readers know I am not above laying into heavily) needed a few more! There were screens showing venue after venue with things about to start without any commentators. The main presenters seemed to spend half their time charging around London's transport system in order to present first Equestrian, then Beach Volleyball and finally Water Polo all in the space of two hours. My favourite moment, however, of the Mail's insidious attempts to stir up the chattering suburban middle class wretches into a froth of indignation was the inside back page on Wednesday 1st August. They produced a chart showing what funding had been given to various sports and the returns on that investment. Among others they laid into both canoeing and judo. The following day GB won a gold and silver in the canoe slalom and Gemma Gibbons won judo silver. The Mail no doubt will claim it was down to them, but in reality all it appears to do is lay into Britain and then claim glory when we win, it really is a pretty odious publication.
We are now just under two weeks away from the Paralympics, which has already smashed all records for ticket sales. It will, one hopes, be another remarkable triumph for London and the country as a whole and will, I am sure, prove again that this nation has an amazing appetite for great sporting drama.
So as a personal round up of the finest 17 days of sporting drama ever, a few of my own highlights and additional observations:
Best celebration: Jade Jones winning Taekwondo gold.
Most emotional moment: Katherine Grainger finally shaking the silver monkey off her back and getting gold in the double sculls.
Biggest cheer: Gemma Gibbons when she defeated the French world champion in her semi in the Judo.
Dullest gold medal winner interviewee: Accountant Ed Mckeever, but boy can he make a canoe travel fast!
Biggest cheer for a non-Brit (who wasn't called Bolt): Cheering Phelps on to his final individual gold in the 100m fly in the Aquatic Centre, it was truly deafening.
Top lump in throat moment: Sir Chris Hoy, no wait, Mo. No, no, no it's Katherine, ooohhh perhaps it's Laura? I give up, it felt like there was one every 20 minutes.
Person least likely to be invited to dinner: the cycling Commissaire.
Best facial expression: Katherine Copeland having won the lightweight double sculls.
Best smile: Easiest one of the lot this - Boxing's Nicola Adams.
Biggest shock: Was tempted to say Greg Rutherford, but actually it was big Roger not really appearing in the tennis final, even if Andy Murray did play brilliantly.
Latest crush: Charlotte Dujardin.
All the girls' latest crush: Tom Daley (again!).
Coolest Brit: Bradley Wiggins, just over Ben Ainslie.
Coolest non-Brit: Usain Bolt, obviously....
Best quote: Bradley Wiggins commenting on the shape of endurance cyclists "I think one of the great things about being a sprinter like Chris Hoy is that you have got an amazing body to show off. I just look like Rodney Trotter."
Favourite non-athlete quote (as provided by one of you): "Until Sunday they thought we were shit at sport and good at music!"
Favourite image of the Games: Difficult to say anything other than Usain and Mo sharing a podium and mimicking the other's celebration.
My favourite bit: All of it! But as you all know I have a weakness when it comes to a girl from Sheffield, so if there has to be JUST one, then it has to be Jess coming off the final bend in the 800m, knowing she had won the gold already but she just had to win that final race too....
Good luck to Rio and Pele rather trumped the Spice Girls.
Thank you London, thank you Seb, thank you to all the athletes from all the countries, thank you to all the people who came to Britain to watch, thank you again to the brilliant volunteers and to our Armed Forces who made us all feel safe. Thanks also to all the people around the country for supporting the games in such numbers, we all made ourselves proud of our nation.
Finally the biggest thank you goes to the IOC delegate who apparently hit the wrong voting button on 6th July 2005 and gave London the Games by a single vote over Paris, you gave me the best two and a bit weeks of my life and it is difficult being grumpy when you are enjoying yourself.
Sunday 5 August 2012
Gold Rush
I had the greatest day of my sporting life on Friday. In the Olympic stadium to watch Jess run the fastest ever 100m hurdles in heptathlon history was inspiring and very damaging to the vocal chords. The atmosphere was unlike anything I have ever experienced, yes the aquatic centre was probably more ear shattering, but for an outdoor arena it beats anything I have ever heard. Unsurprisingly it being us Brits we cheered on Jess' opponents in the High Jump as well (well some did, anyway - there are limits). When she cleared 1.93 the stadium shook.
During the afternoon we found one of the very rare spaces in front of one of the mega screens in the East Park and watched the cyclists do what they do best - win. And boy did they win! Gold medals? Pah! We've got a few world records to set as well and some Aussies to crush. Around us thousands, probably tens of thousands, of fellow Brits roared their approval. Earlier some Swiss spectators had got a little tetchy when the screen swapped from Big Roger at 12 all against Del Potro to the Velodrome, but hey we're not in Zurich are we?
We then scooted round to the aforementioned aquatic centre to be deafened by roars for Michael Phelps and, above all, Becky Adlington, sadly no gold for GB here but the impressive US team notched up victory after victory. Heading home feeling utterly emotionally drained we were again bowled over by the volunteers and military personnel's friendly, cheerful, helpful and in many cases highly amusing demeanour. Every one smiles the whole time and says in a non McDonalds way "how are you?" and "have great day!" and they mean it. Interestingly the only very few people we have found to be anything other than charming are those being paid to usher people about, people from the crowd control and security companies like G4S.
Up early yesterday morning to head to Paris for a wedding. We arrived at St Pancras to find a queue for security that would have meant we would be lucky to get to Paris by 3.30 let alone Poitiers where the wedding was being held, so we turned around and headed to the sofa. Now as sorry as I was to miss the wedding every cloud has etc...
Well I am not sure anything I say can add to what we experienced yesterday, it rained golds down on us and I had shouted myself hoarse by the time Kat and Sophie crossed the line at Eton Dorney. We watched as a certain female athlete I have a bit of a soft spot for moved herself into a position that made a gold all but certain before her final event. Then the girls tore the Yanks apart in the Cycling Team Pursuit. Finally the miracle hour was upon us, Jess decided that she was buggered if anyone was going to cross the line before her and the "poster girl" of the games delivered what for me was the gold I wanted more than any other. Blow me down if Greg Rutherford went and did the same thing, OK he went into the final ranked as world no 1 this year, but every other competitor in the final had a better personal best than him. Huge cheer when the American Will Clay did the honourable thing and strolled into the pit rather than leap.
Mo Farah has experienced more disappointments than most other British athletes, mainly down to nasty Ethiopians and Kenyans ganging up on him and snatching the medals like thieves in the night after dear old Mo had done all the hard work. This time thanks to a Cuban coach and the "special relationship" with his coaching partner Galen Rupp (surely a name that deserves to be a character in a Looney Tunes cartoon?), he refused to be bullied and Mo delivered. SIX GOLDS IN ONE DAY!
On Tuesday there was gloom - when were we going to win gold? Today Team Britain stands on a precipice, teetering on the edge of obliterating all our expectations and getting so much gold that we could replace the lot that Gordon effing Brown sold off for coppers in the late Nineties!
We are seeing the best of Britain and Britain at its best, long may it continue.
Oh, and one final note. On Wednesday last week some of my Australian friends were crowing on Facebook that we were trailing behind "sporting powerhouses Slovenia, Lithuania, Georgia, Ukraine, Hungary and Romania" in the medal table. Well my dear Aussie friends, where are you? Come on, lets be having you!
During the afternoon we found one of the very rare spaces in front of one of the mega screens in the East Park and watched the cyclists do what they do best - win. And boy did they win! Gold medals? Pah! We've got a few world records to set as well and some Aussies to crush. Around us thousands, probably tens of thousands, of fellow Brits roared their approval. Earlier some Swiss spectators had got a little tetchy when the screen swapped from Big Roger at 12 all against Del Potro to the Velodrome, but hey we're not in Zurich are we?
We then scooted round to the aforementioned aquatic centre to be deafened by roars for Michael Phelps and, above all, Becky Adlington, sadly no gold for GB here but the impressive US team notched up victory after victory. Heading home feeling utterly emotionally drained we were again bowled over by the volunteers and military personnel's friendly, cheerful, helpful and in many cases highly amusing demeanour. Every one smiles the whole time and says in a non McDonalds way "how are you?" and "have great day!" and they mean it. Interestingly the only very few people we have found to be anything other than charming are those being paid to usher people about, people from the crowd control and security companies like G4S.
Up early yesterday morning to head to Paris for a wedding. We arrived at St Pancras to find a queue for security that would have meant we would be lucky to get to Paris by 3.30 let alone Poitiers where the wedding was being held, so we turned around and headed to the sofa. Now as sorry as I was to miss the wedding every cloud has etc...
Well I am not sure anything I say can add to what we experienced yesterday, it rained golds down on us and I had shouted myself hoarse by the time Kat and Sophie crossed the line at Eton Dorney. We watched as a certain female athlete I have a bit of a soft spot for moved herself into a position that made a gold all but certain before her final event. Then the girls tore the Yanks apart in the Cycling Team Pursuit. Finally the miracle hour was upon us, Jess decided that she was buggered if anyone was going to cross the line before her and the "poster girl" of the games delivered what for me was the gold I wanted more than any other. Blow me down if Greg Rutherford went and did the same thing, OK he went into the final ranked as world no 1 this year, but every other competitor in the final had a better personal best than him. Huge cheer when the American Will Clay did the honourable thing and strolled into the pit rather than leap.
Mo Farah has experienced more disappointments than most other British athletes, mainly down to nasty Ethiopians and Kenyans ganging up on him and snatching the medals like thieves in the night after dear old Mo had done all the hard work. This time thanks to a Cuban coach and the "special relationship" with his coaching partner Galen Rupp (surely a name that deserves to be a character in a Looney Tunes cartoon?), he refused to be bullied and Mo delivered. SIX GOLDS IN ONE DAY!
On Tuesday there was gloom - when were we going to win gold? Today Team Britain stands on a precipice, teetering on the edge of obliterating all our expectations and getting so much gold that we could replace the lot that Gordon effing Brown sold off for coppers in the late Nineties!
We are seeing the best of Britain and Britain at its best, long may it continue.
Oh, and one final note. On Wednesday last week some of my Australian friends were crowing on Facebook that we were trailing behind "sporting powerhouses Slovenia, Lithuania, Georgia, Ukraine, Hungary and Romania" in the medal table. Well my dear Aussie friends, where are you? Come on, lets be having you!
Wednesday 1 August 2012
Olympic highlights
So have done the beach volleyball in Horse Guards Parade. Even with a vast British crowd and no Brits to cheer on it was a complete riot. The behaviour of the crowd was encouraged by the organisers to be as boisterous as possible, although I have a sneaking suspicion that the fact that you are allowed to take alcohol to your seat kind of helped (the guys in front of us gave up all pretence and just bought a case of Heineken from the bar!). The blaring music and commentator only helped to whip up the crowd. To top it off voice-over man of Britain Peter Dickson (BGT, X Factor etc) had a comedy voice-over role in the time outs. Surreal. A truly brilliant evening that finished well past midnight, not sure if Horse Guard's neighbour Dave Cameron was at No 10 but I suspect he will be quite pleased when this particular Olympic event is done.....
Loved watching the road race coming over Putney Bridge on Sunday if not the deluge we experienced 30 minutes before they rushed past in about 3 seconds. A friend who was with us, who putting it mildly does not share my Olympic passion (they went on holiday to Mauritius to escape on Monday) declared that she was getting "quite excited" about 5 minutes before the cyclists appeared, which in my book is a huge result and reflects that even the most disinterested of Brits are finding it quite difficult not to get swept up a little bit in the fervour.
So next up is the icing on the cake for me personally. Friday morning I will be in the Olympic Stadium and watching my heroine in the first two events of the heptathlon. I am sure that Jess will make us proud. My heart is fluttering already.
Brilliant performance by Heather Stanning and Heather Glover this morning. Yet again I am left speechless by Bradley Wiggins. An absolute god.
Loved watching the road race coming over Putney Bridge on Sunday if not the deluge we experienced 30 minutes before they rushed past in about 3 seconds. A friend who was with us, who putting it mildly does not share my Olympic passion (they went on holiday to Mauritius to escape on Monday) declared that she was getting "quite excited" about 5 minutes before the cyclists appeared, which in my book is a huge result and reflects that even the most disinterested of Brits are finding it quite difficult not to get swept up a little bit in the fervour.
So next up is the icing on the cake for me personally. Friday morning I will be in the Olympic Stadium and watching my heroine in the first two events of the heptathlon. I am sure that Jess will make us proud. My heart is fluttering already.
Brilliant performance by Heather Stanning and Heather Glover this morning. Yet again I am left speechless by Bradley Wiggins. An absolute god.
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