Can Woodgate survive London?

8:56am Friday 29th February 2008

WHAT with the Oscars, and Spurs winning the Carling Cup, it seems to have been quite a week for celebration. For everyone except Gazza, that is.

February 22nd, 2008

9:41am Friday 22nd February 2008

PAUL Collingwood's timing may have been magnificent in plundering the fastest half-century by an England player in a one-day international, but the timing of all the participants at Napier in producing a thrilling, highscoring tie could not have been bettered.

Money - the root of all cricket evil

8:50am Friday 15th February 2008

FOR those of us who see Twenty20 as the dumbing down of cricket, the globalisation of football is bad news. It means cricket is going to have to compete ever harder for popularity and TV revenue, with the main battleground in India already witnessing a deeply disturbing explosion of Twenty20.

February 8th, 2008

9:20am Friday 8th February 2008

SO THERE we were contemplating the global injustice of the Sedgefield Ball Game going ahead while pancake races fell foul of health and safety, and the Americans were oblivious to our quandary as they immersed themselves in Super Choose Day.

February 1st, 2008

9:28am Friday 1st February 2008

IT'S tempting to suggest that England rugby coach Brian Ashton is trying to curry favour with the royal family by selecting Zara Phillips' beefy boyfriend instead of the younger, more talented and better-looking Mathew Tait to face Wales on Saturday.

January 25th, 2008

9:32am Friday 25th January 2008

FOOTBALLERS always stand up to be counted and sit down to talk. Whether they stand or sit when taking a long, hard look at themselves in the mirror while rolling up their sleeves is not specified.

January 4th, 2008

10:23am Friday 4th January 2008

THE obituaries of English sport in 2007 are keen to stress the failure to qualify for Euro 2008, which has already ruined next summer for some people. Others will see it as a blessing, allowing cricket, golf and tennis a reasonable share of media coverage for two months before the next football season kicks off at roughly the same time as the Olympics.

Highs and lows of festive sport

8:58am Friday 28th December 2007

BEING full of the festive spirit, we always yearn to write headlines like "Feast of Steven" or "Plum Duff" on Boxing night. But Damien Duff's comeback merely inspired a headline about the Magpies plumbing new depths and Steven Taylor was reported to have coped admirably, without threatening a feast.

What a waste of money

9:07am Friday 21st December 2007

ONCE he began to fink straight and got over the frill of making up a freesome with Billy Connolly and Michael Caine, he who shall not be mentioned in this space made a very interesting and relevant point during Michael Parkinson's valedictory parade.

December 14th, 2007

9:32am Friday 14th December 2007

TWO things were shamefully predictable at the weekend. One was the booing of the American anthem by the rabble following Ricky Hatton, the other was the failure of the lamentably flawed two-month, £13m trial which was supposed to bring Kieren Fallon and six others involved in the racing business to justice.

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