Also featuring Australian Open memories, Sébastien Loeb at the Dakar Rally and the joy of drones in sport1) Cody Parkey was left feeling like the loneliest man in the world after watching his last-gasp potentially game-winning field goal bounce off the upright and crossbar in the Chicago Bears’ playoff defeat by the Philadelphia Eagles (keep an eye on the mascot in the background, too). Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised by Parkey’s supposed misfortune. He has a knack when it comes to finding the woodwork. Here he is clattering the goal-frame four times from four kicks in a match last November. And here are those doinks immortalised in Tecmo Super Bowl. Parkey still has some way to go before he matches...
Previous five WWT20 tournaments hung on the coat-tails of the men’s event but now it is going it alone and deservedly soA few years ago, I took some friends along to watch a women’s Twenty20 match at the Oval – the precursor to the men’s match which would follow some hours later. As we entered the ground the security guard on the gate asked us why we were there. “For the cricket,” I replied, confused. “What cricket?” he replied. “The women’s match?” we inquired. His blank expression told a thousand stories.Fast-forward to 2018 and in a few weeks’ time, starting 9 November, the Caribbean will host the first standalone Women’s World Twenty20. The previous five have all, in some form...
From England’s victorious youth football squads to cricket’s county championship underdogs, there are strong claims aplenty this yearThey did not beat the double world champions over three compelling Tests, but Warren Gatland’s Lions deserve a place on the list for their part in a thrilling series in New Zealand that will stand the test of time. Often under the cosh, there were times when it looked as if the Lions would be hopelessly outmatched against a team as brilliant and confident as the All Blacks, especially after losing 30-15 in the first Test. Instead of allowing their hosts to run away with it, Gatland’s tourists responded with a magnificent performance in the second Test, fighting hard to win 24-21. Their...
The six-team women’s Twenty20 tournament starts on Thursday with England’s World Cup winning heroes just some of the star names aiming to entice greater crowds and television audiencesBefore the first Kia Super League tournament last year, the custom was to look back for context, drawing on comparisons of what domestic women’s cricket had been to what it was about to potentially become. To reflect on Charlotte Edwards, for instance, having to pay for her own England blazer when her career started, to now playing in a semi-professional Twenty20 league.What a difference a year makes. Season two arrives with the women’s game bouncing out of a revolution in the space of a month during the World Cup. England’s champions return to...
Hours after England women’s World Cup cricket success people were asking what our pampered footballers could learn from it, while it was suggested Johanna Konta could teach José Mourinho’s players about playing through injuryForgive me if the following comes across as naively euphoric. But we’ll only know it’s a truly watershed summer for women’s sport if we get through it without being overwhelmed by commentary on what men’s football could learn from it all.They’re poorer but they’re a million times more dignified! They’re less watched but their crowds don’t have any hooligans in them! They may not have supercars but they have more nobility in their bus tickets than the entire Man City squad put together! They actually win stuff...