Mark Cosgrove (pictured above) has the talent to be a great Australian cricketer, but he can't get in the side because he refuses to lose weight. But are we missing the upsides of being a fat sportsman, asks Jon Hotten... One of the marks of cricket's ineffable genius is its scale. ... Read More...
Sport
To Mossley, Greater Manchester, a tiny town atop a mountain at the crossroads of Lancashire, Cheshire and the West Ridings. Must we brave the M6, the M52, the M60, where a three hour drive always ends up as five? We must, for a tour of the in-laws. Last week Gaw noted ... Read More...
Does anyone else think that the opening ceremony for the Paralympic Games far surpassed the main Olympics launch? At the first event there were too many stand-out stars. The Queen was undoubtedly the most star-worthy of these. But the real star was the stadium.The LED lights completely stole the show – ... Read More...
Are Prince Harry’s recent antics in Las Vegas part of an elaborate PR stunt? After all, we’re in the middle of the Olympics, and games are still very much on our minds - especially after the excitement of the beach volleyball. And Prince Harry is a well-heeled young man, for ... Read More...
Tuesday, 10am. Clacket Lane motorway services, on the anti-clockwise M25. I purchased from the Costa coffee shop my ‘small’ (i.e. least gigantic) americano-with-milk and settled at the unoccupied table amidst other unoccupied tables that was at the optimum equidistant point from the few occupied tables. Thus the exciting life of ... Read More...
Slang loves sport, but Mr Slang does not. As he prepares to flee the Olympic-blighted capital, Jonathon fires a parting shot... ‘The Country Squire New Mounted’ The Country Squire to London came, And left behind his dogs and game; Yet finer sport he has in view, And hunts the hare and coney too. T. Rowlandson Pretty ... Read More...
To Hereford, on business. I’d never been before and was looking forward to it. It rained very heavily throughout my visit and the cathedral was closed. *** Oh goody, we have a pandemic of inactivity. The 10 o'clock Beeb news got into a fine logical tangle with a piece asking “what has ... Read More...
I’ve been wondering how best to pass the time during the London 2012 Olympics. With the torch relay in a few days time, followed by a number of Olympic events in the surrounding area, there will be road closures and, potentially, gridlock. We will probably be better off staying indoors ... Read More...
Following Frank Key’s post earlier this week, you may be interested to hear about Tom Hicks, the Olympic Marathon champion of the 1904 St Louis Olympic Games. Having been helped by his trainers into the stadium (see above), Hicks collapsed on the finishing line and the medal ceremony was delayed ... Read More...
Jon Hotten reveals cricket's dirty little secret: nobody likes fielding... In a game at the start of the season, we fielded for 47 overs in the bone-deep cold. The distant pavilion glowed like a cottage in the paintings of that old fraud Thomas Kinkade. The grass on the outfield was thick ... Read More...
