When you look closely at the ritual, it begins to seem odd that cricket lets blind luck and ‘dynamical bias’ play such a large partWhen he was 14, Persi Diaconis packed a fresh deck of cards and a spare pair of socks into a knapsack and ran away from home to become a magician’s assistant. He spent the next few years as an apprentice with Dai Vernon, whose sleight of hand was so smart, so sharp, he even beat Harry Houdini, who famously claimed he could pick any magic trick on the third go, until Vernon fooled him seven times in a row.They used to call Vernon “the Professor”, and now they do Diaconis, too. Because that is what he...
Kyle Sinckler summed up the ruthless physicality which proved just too much for Australia to handle as Twickenham witnessed a return to traditional valuesBeneath all the mud and muck, you can just about make out the faded “England 2015” branding the RFU put up around Twickenham for the last World Cup. No doubt they have tried to scrub it out, along with almost everything else that happened in that tournament, but the shadows of the letters are still there along either side of the pitch, a stubborn reminder of how quickly things can fall apart when the heavy pressure comes down. The next tournament is exactly 300 days away. England have come on this autumn, but they look a way...
Bad luck and glimmers of brilliance could not disguise another abject performance at the end of a grim year for the WallabiesThese are grim times for Australia. Outfought and outthought at the fag-end of a trying season, their annus horribilis ended in dismal fashion. The numbers tell the story – six straight defeats by England, nine losses in 2018 and their worst calendar year for more than half a century. Michael Cheika had called for some Aussie swagger but the daggers will be out again after this. Related: Australia’s Michael Cheika fury over ‘ridiculous’ Owen Farrell tackle Related: England 37-18 Australia: how the players rated at Twickenham Continue reading...
Jack Fingleton’s delightful take on Don Bradman’s Invincibles details the escapist pleasure of the series for post-war EnglandThis past week, I bought something for nine pence. It felt something of an achievement, even in a charity shop. Perhaps the manager of this one didn’t see much value in sport or perhaps she cared about it so passionately that it inspired her to rare feats of generosity. Either way, the cricket books on the shelves were being offered at a price as nostalgic as their contents.Which is why I have finally read Brightly Fades the Don. My previous experiences with some of the so-called classics of cricket writing had put me off – I’d rather eat corrugated cardboard than read any...
Todd Reid won Junior Wimbledon in 2002 but illness, disillusionment and serial comebacks meant his name flickered across the tennis firmament too brieflyAs young Stefanos Tsitsipas whipped away the headphones that connected him to his father and coach in the stands during a break in his tough match against Jaume Munar in Milan this week, it was tempting to picture the young Greek’s career following a familiar path of entitlement and misunderstanding.Could he be the new Nick Kyrgios – or Bernard Tomic? All the ingredients were there: outrageous talent, impetuosity, single-mindedness, the brooding impatience of the favoured son. Related: Rafael Nadal pulls out of ATP Finals and to undergo ankle surgery Continue reading...