The selectors pick their touring party to Australia this week, a task made tougher by losses of fitness and form among key contendersThe selectors meet and decide their Ashes squad this week – the names of England’s tourists will be announced at 10am on Wednesday – and maybe they deserve some sympathy. Their task is tricky and familiar to anyone who has agonised for hours over a jigsaw puzzle only to discover that there are some key pieces missing.Those selectors have already been in the firing line from Durham’s chairman, Sir Ian Botham, who is enraged by the way so many of his county’s talented cricketers are heading south in pursuit of greener, First Division pastures. Botham has hinted that...
Our first power rankings since the 2015 World Cup mark two years to go until Japan 2019. England lead the chasing pack while Australia and Wales struggleBefore the All Blacks’ record 57-0 victory over South Africa, Steve Hansen felt the need to defend his side’s uneven performances in 2017. The response was emphatic. It used to be the case that the All Blacks peaked at this stage of the World Cup cycle but Hansen is adamant they will improve in the next two years. Twelve months ago they struggled to maintain their remarkable form through the autumn and as they have crammed five matches into their schedule this year, an upset is not out of the question. But if New...
A regime with one of the world’s worst human rights record is staging the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games and the IOC – like Australia, which will be represented – is silentThe city of Ashgabat in Turkmenistan is famous for two characteristics. It has the highest concentration of marble buildings in the world and is capital of one of the most repressive regimes in the world. The two are not unrelated: all-powerful central Asian dictators with natural resource wealth are able to construct ostentatious monuments to themselves with little concern for their citizens.But the current Turkmen leader, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, has grown tired of building with marble. On Sunday the 60-year-old dentist’s newest vanity project will be unveiled: the latest...
Selectors have plenty to ponder for Australia with batting issues, such as whether Joe Root will come in at No3, and a fast- bowling pack lacking varietyThe handbrake on Ashes speculation has been released with the conclusion of the Test series against West Indies. This may not be a good thing but it is inevitable. Even Trevor Bayliss, usually so wary about looking too far ahead, seems eager to enter the fray with observations about who he would prefer to bat at three and the likely provenance of the tour party. After the Lord’s Test he said the squad was likely to comprise only players chosen in the past 18 months, which is bad news for any blind-side runners around...
Disparity in income generated in Europe leaves southern hemisphere countries hoping for some form of shared revenue from internationalsIt has been another British summer when the jet stream has moved too far to the south and, as the European club seasons start, climate change is being felt with the southern hemisphere shivering in a chill wind.Australia’s capitulation in Sydney a week ago, when they conceded a record number of points to the All Blacks, would ordinarily have led to strident demands for Michael Cheika to be sacked as head coach. Even if there was little excuse for some abject defending, especially after how the Lions took on the World Cup holders in the summer, there is an appreciation that Australia’s...