James Barclay – fantasy author

I am already sick and tired of the pious bleating accompanying the far-too-public shaming of Andrew Flintoff. OK, he had a few too many and did something daft. But not ‘got into a scrap and broke his bowling hand daft’. No. he fell off a pedalo. All sounds pretty funny to me. Thing is this. Yes, he broke team rules and he probably should have known better. He’s a senior member of the team and all that. But I’ve heard calls for him to be sent home. WHAT? And while we’re at it, why don’t we have Panesar shot for that misfield in the warm up, have Pietersen garroted for dropping a catch and perhaps bring home Collingwood for being too damn consistent. We do want to progress in this tournament don’t we? Flintoff hasn’t shamed his nation. Such talk is bollocks, frankly. He’s been a bit of a burke is all. Hands up who hasn’t been in their lives? Thought not.

Why do we insist that our sports stars wear concrete cloaks following a defeat, the better to bear their loss? What I want is for them to get over a bad game the best way they can so they’re up for slaughtering the next oppo. If that means getting pissed and falling off pedalos, so be it. So long as whatever they do doesn’t affect their performance, I couldn’t care less.

Leave Freddie alone, he’s already blushing. Give him back the vice-captaincy and let’s try and win this tournament if we possibly can.

FOOTNOTE: Cricket lost a great man yesterday. Bob Woolmer’s death was untimely and premature. Every fan of cricket knows what he brought to the game as player and then coach. the sport will feel his loss.

I really didn’t think I’d be speculating on this. Not so long ago, with the Aussies pulping England in the Ashes series and then destroying both England and New Zealand in the tri-nations one day series league games, it would have been a ridiculous question to ask. But now, with the World Cup just around the corner, there are serious cracks appearing in the armour of the invincibles.

First, from nowhere, England beat them three times; and did so reasonably comfortably to win the tri-nations tournament. And in the last six days, New Zealand have pulled off a quite stunning 3-0 whitewash. They condemned the Aussies to their first ten wicket defeat in a one day international and followed that up by chasing down 336 and then 346. Extraordinary stuff. And those last two defeats must really damage morale. Any side that scores 300+ must surely expect to win.

Perhaps that is the problem. Perhaps Australia’s unshakeable belief in their ability has led them into complacency. I won’t accept injuries and players resting as reasons either. Every team suffers injuries. England were not at full strength their whole tour and in the last ODI, New Zealand had no Vettori, Oram or Bond. Key players. The team that takes the field must be the best available and be expected to perform. Anything else is unprofessional.

Here’s a match report of the last ODI NZ vs Aus

So will the Aussies still win the World Cup? They are a formidable team. At full strength a fantastic side. But they are coming off a run where no one was injured and no one out of form and are discovering they do not have the strength in depth they might have imagined. I’m not sure I’d make them out and out favourites now. For so long, their assumption that they would win was infectious and oppositions had beaten themselves before a ball was bowled. But now England and New Zealand have punctured the balloon.

Don’t get me wrong. Any side taking it easy against the Aussies will get slapped badly. But teams can now go against them knowing they are prone to pressure and are beatable. That blunts their most powerful weapon. I think the great thing is, it leaves the World Cup wide open. South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Pakistan. All can win it. England, West Indies and India? Not so sure but a run of form can take you a long way. They are dangerous sides with match winning players. And never discount Sri Lanka.

The Australian captain, Ricky Ponting has been talking big about his side scoring 400 in a one day international. He may get his wish. My question to him is: But will that be enough to win you the match, Ricky?

Welcome!

Here it is, the first post in a new blog. And it’s just to tell you what’s coming up because if you want to know why I’ve popped up here, then you need to click on ‘About This Blog’.

Football

Christmas and early new year is a perennially busy time in sport. For footie fans, the Christmas and New Year programme is swiftly followed by the FA Cup 3rd Round… surely the best day in the English football calendar (unless you’re Bury and have just been chuckled out, of course. Don’t get me started about excessive punishments for minor administration issues).

Football, though, is in danger of eating itself. Never mind the wages and all that mullarky (though they are plainly obscene) worry much more about the on and off field behaviour of players and managers and begin to wonder when people will start saying ‘enough’ in big numbers and turn away. It would be a tragedy.

Football is a peerless spectacle when played with skill and spirit. But it is nauseating when played with no respect for players or officials; and where the most common sight is an incandescent player practically vomiting his rage at an official despite being guilty, and very often when in no position to have an opinion. Grow up. Be men (in men’s football). Have some dignity. Some pride in your performance. Take responsibility for your actions and those of your team mates.

Cricket

This year we’ve been treated to why the Aussies are still the world’s number one cricket team and why it is that the job only just begins when you win something big. Like the Ashes.

Still, two tests to come and despite the fact that the urn is lost, pride and revenge are massive motivators. This time, there will be no such thing as a dead rubber, I can assure you. But is it time to be able to appeal desicions as a batsman in the same way you can in some tennis events? Now this wouldn’t necessarily have saved England losing the ashes but Andrew Strauss’s last three dismissals were all not out. I think we’d be looking at 2-0, not 3-0 if he hadn’t been out so early on the last day of the second test.

Darts

The PDC World Championship of Darts kicked off this week and it is simply marvellous to watch from the players walking through the crowd to the final dart that is sunk in double top. And to all those who think it merely a pub game. Try it. Really try it. From the right distance away too. See how small that treble twenty bed looks? Now get all three of your darts in it. Regularly. And even if you don’t, get them very, very close. Still laughing?

Tennis

Early next year we have the start of the tennis season from Australia. Henman is still there and still dangerous (and let me get one thing straight, anyone who gets to number 4 in the world and stays in the top ten for five years plus is a player of extraordinary talent who should be respected utterly) but I do expect great things from Andy Murray. He has the game, the aggression and the coach. It’ll be his head that determines his place among the greats should he attain such status.

Rugby

Six nations rugby union is coming early in 2007. What can England hope for? Well, with Brian Ashton in charge, perhaps the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned on. He has spoken of the need to get the enjoyment back into the players and that is a laudable if challenging goal. If he can do it, England are up there with the best. And if he can maintain it in the face of top class opposition, if the players still play with freedom and lack of fear, we can yet come close to retaining the world cup. But it’s hard. Remember Sven Goran Eriksson talked about much the same things when he took over England football. Didn’t last did it? We can hope, though, and that is the essence of supporting any sport.

Well, plenty of issues raised there. I’ll tackle them all in the coming weeks. If you want something discussed sooner rather than later, post a comment and I’ll get on to it. But bear with me… baby Barclay is due on 14th January. Let chaos reign.