The ludicrous decision by FIFA to award Qatar the rights to host the 2022 World Cup is looking dafter and dafter with every passing FIFA meeting, think-tank or committee charged with making this World Cup happen. It appears to be one problem after another since the Arab state was charged with hosting the largest sporting…
As Ireland cruised in their chase of 305 to beat the West Indies in Nelson yesterday, I wasn’t in the least bit surprised. And judging by the tweets and comments I was seeing from other viewers, not many people were. Herein lies the conundrum of the Cricket World Cup and cricket at large. Although the…
In a year in which New Zealand have found a new place amongst the game’s elite in ODI cricket, their captain has endured a remarkably lean year in the format. Brendon McCullum has been scoring runs for fun in the Test arena and led his side to their most successful year in their Test history.…
As Ben Stokes pummelled his way to a blistering 37-ball 77 on his debut for the Melbourne Renegades, the Channel Ten commentators worked themselves into fervour of unparalleled proportions. ‘Why isn’t he in the England World Cup squad, they’ll be hoping someone gets injured to let him in’ whined Damien Fleming. Of course Stokes’ innings…
Pushed for time today, so for Day 5 I offer a few brief thoughts on Ireland’s World Cup campaign… With just a smidge over a month to go until the start of the Cricket World Cup, most teams are now beginning to focus on the tournament in Australia and New Zealand. But some teams have…
Test Cricket has been prone in the past to periods of great dominance from individual teams. The West Indies steamrolled their way through the 1980’s and then Australia barged their way to the top; all brash arrogance and bristling intensity in the 1990’s. The Australian legacy began to crumble in 2005 and was fully dismantled…
So here we go. I’ve set myself the challenge of blogging everyday of 2015 – 365 posts! Some days they may be short and sweet; others long and rambling, but hopefully I can stick with it for the entire 12 months. Obviously, it would make it a lot better for me if people actually read…
“We have 24 very good teams, so this tournament can be a success…24 teams will be as good as 16 teams.” These are the thoughts of UEFA president and deputy laughing stock (to Sepp Blatter of course!) Michel Platini, unfortunately it is a view almost universally rejected by fans and administrators across Europe. Sure, an…
Jack Vittles 