IT'S the season for thumping Australians, so Shola Ameobi has my sympathy, even if his manager made no attempt to defend him after his sending off against Everton.

Graeme Souness had plenty of whinges about the referee but knew very well that as the law stands he couldn't complain about Ameobi's dismissal.

The Australian, Everton's Player of the Year Tim Cahill, blatantly held back Ameobi by pulling his shirt. Such infantile cheating has become part of the game, so that in this case the instigator of the trouble escaped with a yellow card while the man who understandably retaliated saw red.

It wasn't even a proper punch, more of a shove delivered with an open palm. Perhaps if players who have their shirts pulled were allowed to set about their cheating opponents with fists and boots flailing it might help to rid the game of such gamesmanship. Similarly with diving, which is an even more pathetic example of footballers' unsporting instincts.

SUCH instincts, sadly, are increasingly creeping into cricket. Already this season there have been accusations of sledging in a county game involving Shane Warne, and now we have two cases of ball tampering.

One involves Surrey, whose attack included Mohammad Akram, who has been implicated in this kind of chicanery before. A former Pakistan Test bowler, he is on his third county and has been knocking around this country long enough not to be considered an overseas player.

For such a strong side as Surrey to see fit to sign him is indicative of the cock-eyed thinking which is seeing cricket go down the route of football and rugby in having too many imports. Surrey are investigating the ball tampering. If they find Akram guilty they should sack him immediately, although there are some in the game who say they have been cheating for years and would be wrong to single out anyone.

Warne's sledging is part of the Aussie culture, and the man doing the complaining, Sussex's Matt Prior, admitted he was rattled by it and gave his wicket away.

The England batsmen know what to expect in the Ashes series. They are all so battle-hardened at the top level that they can't currently be bothered to make runs in county cricket.

Even Kevin Pietersen, who withstood all kinds of stick while making his hundreds in South Africa, is struggling. Graham Thorpe has a back problem and Durham's Paul Collingwood has failed to push his claims recently when the bowling has been a cut above the average.

It's just as well there are two Tests against Bangladesh for the England batsmen to play themselves into some kind of form for the Ashes battle.

IT BEATS me how football fans survive without having a pacemaker fitted at this time of year. The excruciating tension has ended in ecstasy for Sunderland and Hartlepool, and agony for Darlington, while the nerve-shredding goes on until Sunday for Boro and the four teams at the foot of the Premiership.

The sobering thought for Sunderland, as ever, is that those four teams include the three promoted last season. Yet the fact that all are taking the fight to the death provides reassuring evidence that it is just about possible to bridge the gap without spending billions.

It has done Bryan Robson's tarnished image no harm to keep West Brom afloat thus far, something he never threatened to do at Bradford City. The Baggies are bottom, but can survive if they win at home to Portsmouth and their rivals fail to collect three points.

Back on the ground where he was known as Captain Marvel, it was a great point for Robbo's side to earn in the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford. He now needs Man Utd to do him a favour by winning at Southampton, but as they are doomed to finish third will they care?

The form team in Manchester are City and if they win at home to Boro on Sunday they will nick the last UEFA Cup place from their visitors. The pain of disappointment is bearable only in the knowledge that there is always next season, as Sunderland fans know.

IT TRANSPIRES that in helping to clinch automatic promotion to the Premiership Wigan striker Jason Roberts played for 53 minutes against Reading with a broken leg. So does that make the man who has made it all possible, Dave Whelan, a wimp?

I remember as a small boy feeling very sorry for Whelan when he was stretchered off at Wembley in the 1960 FA Cup final, when Wolves beat Blackburn. His leg was probably more badly broken than Roberts' but he has gone on to do quite well for himself as the boss of JJB Sports.

Elected to the Football League in 1978 in place of Southport, Wigan were heading towards oblivion when Whelan rode to their rescue ten years ago and £60m worth of investment later. A major trophy is all that remains to complete the fairytale.

Published: ??/??/2004