Packers to Lambeau Leap-frog Minnesota in NFC North

Ah the NFC North. Divisional matchups in shit weather and constant bickering about No.4. Whether or not Brett Favre does return for 2010, I can forsee the balance of power shifting in the division, now that his replacement at Lambeau is beginning to really find his feet. Here is the breakdown of the teams' chances:

Minnesota Vikings - there is no doubting that the Vikings have a very good all-round game. A quick glance at their roster reveals stars in most positions. Shining above all of this is, no not Favre, but Adrian Peterson - the fumble-happy RB who often requires an entire defense to stop him - many teams last year managed to halt him but took their eye off Favre's deep suicide passes and were unable to pick him off as often as he should be! Peterson may no longer be the premier rusher in the league, after CJ2K's achievements last year, but he still boasts phenomenal numbers after 3 years as a pro. Unlike Tennessee, the Vikings also have a decent receiving corps, with Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin particularly strong (much like Harvin's migraine medication) and a mean offensive line to protect the fragile Favre, although it didn't work out so well in the championship game against New Orleans when their kamikazee pass rushing near killed him! G Steve Hutchinson et al will feel they have a point to prove, although may well have their work cut out if they have Tarvaris Jackson to protect! All of this strength shows a team who know how to get points on the board (it also helps that Harvin is one of the best KR's in the game as well). When you add in an evil defensive line, you can understand why the Vikings are perennially fancied for a deep playoff run these days. Kevin and Pat Williams are the DTs, Ray Edwards and Jared Allen the DEs. All of them should frighten the life out of any man, particularly Allen, who has been brilliant since moving from Kansas City, leading the NFL in sacks since being drafted in 2004. Much as I hate to buy into the hype, their form will depend on the decision made by Favre. Without him they go 9-7 and miss the playoffs. With him (which let's face it is going to happen) they go 11-5 and pick up a wild card spot.

Green Bay Packers - Aaron Rodgers will have nightmares about his first ever playoff appearence. Stripped by Karlos Dansby in overtime for a touchdown after mounting an amazing comeback in the wildcard round, the Packers were one and done after an encouraging improvement on their first year without Favre. QB Rodgers has improved to such a degree that he is ranked as the No.1 fantasy QB and is regarded as throwing the "nicest passes" in the league. Whatever the hell that means. The offense is bolstered by WRs Greg Jennings and veteran Donald Driver and TE Jermichael Finley, who many are tipping for a breakout season, where he could advance his reputation beyond that of Tony Gonzalez of Atlanta. But particularly impressive in 2009 was the improved defence, having switched to a 3-4 and drafted Clay Matthews at OLB. The rookie managed double-digit sacks (OK, ten) as well as 51 tackles, earning himself a Pro-Bowl selection. He narrowly missed out on Defensive Rookie of the Year to a drugged-up Brian Cushing of Houston. The LB position in general is very strong, with the pass rush being provided by AJ Hawk and Nick Barnett in the MLB positions - the switch last year paid dividends as they were able to play the same role. Of course, the secondary possesses a major playmaker in CB Charles Woodson, who surely will follow cousin Rod into the Hall of Fame one day. I reckon the Packers go 12-4 this year - in fact I have them in the Championship game with the Cowboys (oh, how it pains me to say that)

Chicago Bears - another one of the NFL's also-ran teams, who I don't reckon will be seriously pushing for the playoffs but aren't so awful so as to be funny (watch out for the Bills in that respect). I see them akin to the Broncos, or a Steelers side shorn of Ben Roethlisberger's services for six games. However, there have been some exciting changes in Illinois. Mike Martz has arrived as the new offensive co-ordinator, architect of St Louis' "Greatest Show on Turf" at the turn of the century. The 1970 Brazil side which won the World Cup might dispute that claim, but we'll run with it. The problem that Martz has with Chicago is the ringleader - Jay Cutler is no Kurt Warner. Cutler throws far too many interceptions with a simple playbook, so the complex system that Martz is known to be implemnting may be a step too far for a QB who has seriously underachieved during his time in the NFL. That, or he simply is not as good at pro level as we all thought he was. 2010 could be his last chance to salvage his reputation as a starting NFL QB. He's just lucky that there is no real challenge to his role currently, although rookie Dan LeFevour may be a long-term project, albeit not the new Tom Brady. Another issue is an uninspiring receiver corps. Devin Hester and TE Greg Olsen are the only ones really worth writing home about. It will be interesting to see if Martz can lift the levels of mediocrity. We can predict greater things in the defense though. Julius Peppers has signed for big money from Carolina. The DE is one of the scariest men walking on this planet, now that Michael Jackson and Raoul Moat are both dead. MLB Brian Urlacher also returns from injury. He'll want to prove a point having slagged off the team in his absence, or he may well be out on his arse. 7-9.

Detroit Lions - in a departure from my traditions, I will start by predicting a 5-11 record for Detroit this season. Normally, that sort of prediction comes after much slating of the team or nothing written at all out of sheer boredom. But, after 2-14 in 2009 and 0-16 in 2008, I probably should point out the improvements that I am expecting the Lions to make in 2010. Firstly, there is QB Matthew Stafford. He did OK in his first season as the face of the franchise, particularly impressing against the Browns when he threw the winning TD with a separated shoulder (made all the more entertaining by the fact he was miked up, so the screams of agony were audible). He took a lot of knocks last season, not helped by his O-Line admittedly, but is now used to the physicality of the NFL and so can use his natural talent to stay/run away from trouble. He would do well to take a leaf out of Matt Schaub's book and form a close relationship with your star WR named Johnson. This is Calvin, not Andre, but the idea should be the same. Calvin Johnson is the only man with serious playmaking ability in the offense and will want to improve his numbers and go over 1000 yards in 2010. The Lions picked up some very nice first round draft picks in DT Ndamukong Suh and RB Jahvid Best, both of whom should make instant impact. Best is a genuine No.1 RB and gives Stafford options to vary the plays a bit more. Suh is capable of displaying inhuman physical strength, much needed in a woeful D-Line. If I was in county cricket mode, I'd say he was a LAD. As it's the NFL "He the man" will suffice. Kyle VandenBosch has also been brought in at DE from Tennessee, a useful acquisition. Although to be honest, I could have made a positive difference to this D-Line, so awful has it been in recent times.

RM

Podcast: European Athletics Championships

So here goes, my first ever proper podcast. This day will live long in my memory. Hopefully it's easy to listen to, and isn't too boring. If so, then please feel free to tell me so; this is a learning experience for both Ryan and myself, and the sooner we get good at things like this the better for you all.

The theme of this podcast is hats, judging by the amount of times I mention them in some way!



N.B. Michael Bingham is a 400m runner, not 800m as I implied.

GM

PDV Pawned

A quick piece on the Tri Nations coming up. After the first round of ties, it is fairly obviously New Zealand's competition to lose. Australia are still not good enough to win consistently away from Oz, and thus will not be winning the tournament this year, or any year soon in my opinion.

Thus, the only team standing in the All Black's way, until the Argentineans turn up, is South Africa. Ordinarily, they would win all of their home encounters and beat the Aussie's away. This would set up a situation which a New Zealand screw up would give the Saffers the bragging rights.

This year has not been ordinary. While Australia have looked improved, of that there is no doubt, the main deviation from the norm has been the abject South African showing. Whatever their gameplan was for the two New Zealand games, it was proved ineffective and impotent pretty quickly, and the Saffers looked slow and ponderous, like a drunken oaf from the Highveld squaring up to a professional MMA fighter outside a Carisbrook bar. Only one outcome.

New Zealand got to the ball first

And the Australia game last Saturday proved it was no fluke, no 'jet lag' as annoying midget coach Peter De Villiers tried to wave it away as. The simple fact is that the South African style of play has remained unchanged for too long, and the other Southern Hemisphere sides have sussed it out. De Villiers, it seems, has been either complacent or blind to the issue.

Does this man, with his ridiculous histrionics during the Lions tour about ballet dancers and dancing in tutus, and with his constant whinging about refereeing bias and conspiracy, really deserve to manage such as prestigious side as the Springboks?

The political correctness of his appointment is one thing, but his 'moving on from the racist past act' cannot disguise his lack of skill at actually doing the job. He has been parachuted into the job and now sits there smugly, convinced that his mandate is his ethnicity and not his ability.

PDV is rapidly running out of people to point the finger at...

To clarify, as, sadly, it still seems necessary to do when talking about South Africa, there is of course no racism in my motivation for thinking this. I simply feel that De Villiers has now failed to properly safeguard the traditions of South African rugby that were laudable; namely being at the head of the pack with regards tactical innovation, succeeding at blending speed, skill and muscle, and never ever lying down and dying.

The Saffers have done precisely that of late, and with the talent available to them this is nothing if not a crying shame. De Villiers needs to take his head out of the sand, introduce tactical variety and innovation, and stop his sometimes ridiculous personal preferences with regards player selections, and focus less on coming up with external sources to blame for anything and everything.

GM

New Developments

First came the videos, then came the chalkboards. Now we present podcasts! Yes, in an attempt to reach out to the wider world, we have dicovered a little website that allows us to record audio clips of fairly high quality. This material can be obtained on iTunes so there is no excuse in not subscribing once we get going with it properly in September. We intend to host a radio-style show every week, discussing the sporting issues that we enjoy. We initially had hoped to bring this to student radio but realised that our language could be a lot more risque through this medium. Here are two trial clips I recorded earlier - see what you think!





RM

The County Scene - Week 18: Bowlers looking to put England in Dire Straits

Right, as I mentioned last week, Week 18 of this surprisingly long-running series was never going to be a classic. True, if I'd actually bothered to cover Pakistan vs Australia, I'd have had some seriously exciting stuff to comment on. But I didn't. More on Pakistan in a minute. Let's tie up the loose ends from Bangladesh and Australia's tours of England in 2010. Bangladesh finished off with a whimper in Glasgow:

Scotland vs Bangladesh - Match abandoned due to rain

Netherlands 200-4 (28.5 overs) (Szwarczynski 67 off 54, Barresi 64* off 43) beat Bangladesh 199-7 (30 overs) (Imrul Kayes 52 off 50) by 6 wickets with 7 balls remaining.

Losing to Holland at cricket is pretty bad, as England's T20 squad of 2009 will tell you. True, they do have some big hitters and tidy medium pacers, but come on - a full international side should have more than enough nous to win, even in a shortened ODI. The Tigers remain a side who go one step forward and then two back. It must be frustrating for coach Jamie Siddons. Their fielding has improved immeasurably and is probably the best on the subcontinent, but the domestic system and the selection does not give the young players a chance to prove themselves worthy of a place in the side - they are called up too young and then discarded. While this carousel effect remains, they will go nowhere fast, which is a shame because the talent is there.

Tour highlight - it has to be the win in Bristol, their first ever against England. They may not have got enough runs on the board, but it didn't matter as every single bowler contributed in the defence. It's a shame they didn't show their mettle more regularly.

Lowlight - like I said, losing to Holland is bad. But being obliterated by a Sussex side fielding 4 debutants is even worse.

The Australians look in decent shape for the Ashes and the World Cup, but are nowhere near the team they were 5-10 years ago. Star names (Ponting aside) have been replaced with hard-working and resourceful men such as Simon Katich, Marcus North and Doug Bollinger. A team of Paul Collingwoods if you like. They won't let you down but they won't set your pulses racing either. The only unreliable man in the squad, Shaun Tait, is the exception and goodness knows what his availability for both tournaments will be!

Highlight - The Tait show at Lord's. It may have been a consolation win, but what a win. A real team performance, but it was Tait who stood tallest with an amazing burst of 95mph+ bowling to rip through England's batting. They didn't really read his slower ball either!

Lowlight - Having come back from the brink at Old Trafford through Bollinger and Tait, to be denied by Tim Bresnan's last wicket heroics and concede an irreparable 3-0 series deficit must have been a bit of a choker for Ponting et al. He really hates captaining in England.

So now we come to Pakistan. Having impressed in the 2nd test against the Aussies (OK, so I had one eye on it) with high-class swing bowling, the seam attack should find conditions at Trent Bridge to their liking. The Mohammads Aamer and Asif will be the modern day answer to Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis (now head coach), known as the Sultans of Reverse Swing, hence the cute title of this entry, and the batting remains flamboyant and unpredictable. They'll be exciting to watch no matter what happens. Unless it rains. Or if they go off in a huff after being accused of cheating like they did last time they toured. Jimmy Anderson will hold the key for England. Full report next week.

Finally, back to the county matches - I have two winners this week in light of the poor weather, which washed out most of the Championship action:

Stuart Broad (Notts) - OK, I concede, the time spent away from international cricket on strengthening programmes may have done him some good after all. A career-best 8-52 blew Warwickshire away for 100 in the 2nd innings at Edgbaston, leaving a simple run chase, achieved without loss for a 10 wicket win. The weather has been pretty poor in the last couple of weeks, meaning overcast conditions are always likely to favour the bowler. At 133-5 in the 1st innings, Notts will have concurred! A ton from Mark Wagh and 83 from skipper Chris Read rescued the innings, as they grabbed a healthy lead. Broad did the rest, although will be less than thankful for Andre Adams, who nabbed the wicket of Neil Carter (top scorer in both innings with an agonising 99* and 27) and Steven Mullaney, who ran out last man Imran Tahir, after Broad reduced the Bear to 33-7 all by himself! LAD

Mark Ramprakash (Surrey) - Rejoice, for Surrey have won a game at home for the first time in ages! An innings and 175 runs is a margin which reflects the one-sided nature of their contest with Northants. An the original Twinkletoes (or was that Darren Gough?) was the chief wrecker of the Steelbacks with 248 of the finest runs, putting him back as leading run scorer on the circuit past Adam Lyth of Yorkshire. Rory Hamilton-Brown and Matthew Spriegel also notched tons, with Gareth Batty and Chris Tremlett running through the Northants batting lineup twice to bring the crushing victory. It is amazing though how Ramps can still make so many runs so stylishly at the age of nearly 41. LAD.

RM

The Premier Attractions of Summer

I will have seemed a bit quiet of late. I'll be honest, it's been hard for myself and every other fan in the world who has painfully weaned themselves off World Cup addiction only to now find themselves sitting on their hands waiting for the real sports to come back. I simply can't write enough about the Open, or the Tour, or any other sport currently being played to justify an interesting article. Ryan can happily watch any and all the cricket on Sky Sports for weeks on end without inducing a coma. I instead find myself begging for the new football, rugby and NFL seasons to start, with nothing but that ugly Northern bastard-child rugby league to provide any sort of action that finishes in under a week.

God I miss football. Hopefully this short piece will get all you readers just a little bit more excited about next month.

I may end up doing a full Premier League Preview at some point, which will cover every team (unlike the World Cup Previews...). Today, I'm just going to give a flavour of how the top teams in "Europe's biggest league TM Richard Scudamore" are faring. Because lets face it, that's all idiot part-time fans care about. See, I cater for everyone in this blog. Even that pitiful lot of twats.

The Big Four concept has well and truly been put to sleep after last season, and thank god for that. Sadly, the four Champions League spots remain more attractive than an FA Cup win, but at least there is now a genuine competition for them.

Spurs are at that awkward stage that Everton were at a couple of years back. They have a very strong squad, but further investment will not bring improvement unless it is in world class talent such as Luis Fabiano, their perennial tabloid transfer target. Spurs are under a lot of pressure this year, and probably won't finish higher than 5th.

For one, Man City will take some beating. They still need midfield and back four strengthening, and to do so they must man up and just go and spend their fabulous vaults of money instead of spouting their 'we won't be screwed around just because we're rich' crap. YOU are supposed to be the one screwing everyone over. As Team Arab Play Thing, that is your one and only role. You do that by simply paying more than anyone would consider sensible for any and every player you feel like. Deplorable though it is, at least the sellers get wads and wads of cash in return for merely decent players like James Milner, who is apparently the sole key to winning the title, as evidenced by his spells at previous clubs Villa, Newcastle and Leeds.

The Blue half of Manchester are still not strong enough to challenge for the title. The success of their run for fourth place will be influenced by Sir Roy's new charges in Liverpool, proud new centrepiece of Call Me Dave Cameron's Big Society bollocks; a wierd choice of venue seeing as nothing can make the turgid city of Liverpool functional. Whether Hodgson can do so to their turgid football club is another matter. Something tells me he's sacked in 2 years tops. For this season though, his Reds should be sufficiently galvanised to try and regain 4th, namely because without the Champs League money they'll be doing their shopping in the Championship for the foreseeable future.

Man U are right where they have been for the past few years. Personally, I hate them because they defy logical analysis. I am loath to spout the cliche view of "As long as they have Sir Alex they'll be fine", but, to be honest, that's seemingly about all there is in their favour any more. Besides Rooney and Nani of course. Creaky, injury-prone defence, old and/or overrated midfielders and Wayne playing Lee Harvey Oswald as the ultimately doomed lone attacker (yes lone. Bollocks to the conspiracies). And with no obvious plans to strengthen, and no transfer buzz beyond Balotelli, bad news and probably 3rd place await.

Which leaves us with the original billionaires plaything and that lot from Ashburton Grove. I see this year's title race as being a London dichotomy. Chelsea have the obvious edge in experience and confidence, but one hand giveth and the other taketh away, and they are at the same time becoming a team full of injured soon-to-be oldies that thankfully have no African Cup Of Nations to get crocked at this year. Another central midfielder, and at least two attackers, one a striker the other a wide man, are needed. But Ancelotti gives an extra edge.

Arsenal infuriate with their reluctance to sign anyone sensible. Goalkeepers and sensible centre back targets came and went; instead they made do with "Turns out he's a bit rubbish" Thomas Vermualen and the "Oh my, he's actually rubbish" Almunia. This season, Schwarzer will eventually end up signing up to mind the sticks, so no problems there. They need, reiterate NEED, a new centre back to cover William Gallas' deficiencies, and also another striker (because Chamakh isn't going to cut the mustard, and Eduardo's crippled husk of a leg has now departed). But Fabregas is still there. For that, they must thank every deity they can think of.

Who's going to win then? Well, who's going to improve most over the next month; that'll probably be Chelsea.

GM

Two old faithfuls moving with the times

In the last couple of weeks, we have seen two classic annual British sporting events, outwith the glitz and glamour of tournament football. Both golf and Formula 1 may appeal solely to a minority in this country, but most of us are in no doubt as to where both sports have their spiritual homes - at St Andrews for The (British) Open and at Silverstone, for the British Grand Prix.

Now, St Andrews is not the permanent home of The Open, at best it hosts the event once every five years. But the Old Course is universally known as the home of golf and rightly so, such is the tradition, prestige and difficulty associated with it. As a student at Edinburgh University, I believe that it is the only thing noteworthy about the town and the people who walk about in robes on a Sunday are merely Oxbridge wannabes. But that's me. In contrast, Silverstone was not even supposed to host the British GP this year - that honour fell to Donington after Bernie Ecclestone realised that they could pay more money. What he didn't factor in was the fact that Donington could not complete the necessary redevelopments in time. Ecclestone and his cronies were forced into and embarrassing U-turn and Silverstone has now kept the race for the next 17 years, after much unsettled negotiation in recent times. Both have made changes to the facilities for this year's events and both were subject to criticism. When you scratch under the surface, where it appears that the decisions have been made for very different reasons, you realise that in both cases, the maintainence of prestige is a major driving force for change.

With St Andrews, they decided to lengthen the famous 17th Road Hole by knocking the tee back 30 yards. Those pro golfers without a massive drive were in uproar. A Par 4 at 495 yards is a big challenge and means that many are unlikely to take a chance and will simply lay it up onto the green in 2. Some felt this would take the entertainment away from this famous hole if golfers were less inclined to take risks, particularly with the 18th being such a birdie-filled zone. In reality, the necessity of using a longer iron for the second shot means that the road might actually come into play more frequently. It's undeniably more funny when this is the case! At the end of the day, even when playing it safe, the conditions at St Andrews can be so blustery, that anything can happen! He who conquers the conditions and the course best (or gets the most gentle tee times) wins The Open. Congratulations by the way to Louis Oosthuizen, who did just that this week. It's all very well saying you want to increase the challenge for the golfers, but by bringing the most famous landmark in all of golf back into more frequent play, you're sending out a statement. St Andrews knows that it is the best and will make the necessary improvements to maintain its reputation as the finest and most difficult course in the world.

Now consider Silverstone. With the F1 calendar ever-expanding east into the Emirates and other affluent states, there is little sentimentality left - with Spa, Monte Carlo, Monza and Montreal the only truly great circuits remaining (although Melbourne's Albert Park has proved a great addition in more recent times). Silverstone, though not quite the only British F1 circuit ever used, sits comfortably amongst those names. And, once again, Britain is where Formula 1 originates - what would it be without its Grand Prix? However, the evil powers that be have decreed it unsuitable to support the current scale of F1's ambitions, with the pit facilities in particular below the required standard. Is this the standard required to host Ecclestone's sizeable entourage or to host the many low-budget teams currently making it more dangerous for the faster drivers to compete (as Mark Webber at Valencia will testify, such was the difference in speed between his car and that of Lotus' Heikki Kovalainen)? It's distressing to see a sport move away from it's foundations for financial reasons but Silverstone had no choice if it wanted to retain the race - and it kept it because there was less work to be done than at Donington. So it, like St Andrews, expanded. Half a mile and around four seconds were added to each lap between Abbey and Brooklands, not the most exciting section of the track - meaning that the excitement at Stowe, Maggots and Club Corner can be maintained, whilst letting fans closer to the track in the new "Arena" section. The drivers had complaints - the new surface affected the grip and aerodynamics, meaning that some cars, including the British McLaren, underperformed, as they were not set up correctly for the new track. Of course, both Lewis and Jenson performed better on race day after disappointing qualifying performances and the team will be more used to the new track for 2011. A short-term loss is much better than losing the home of premier British motorsport or indeed the British GP altogether.

The morale of the story? Although different circumstances surrounded both extensions, both the British golf and motorsport authorities will do anything to ensure that British remains best - even breaking with tradition. It's something the FA could do with emulating...
RM

The County Scene - Week 17: A chance to draw breath

OK, so there may not be a lot going on this week in the cricketing world, but last week was certainly exciting enough to warrant a good-length entry! Especially as it finally seems to be having some impact on Graeme, who managed to recognise Michael Yardy of all people in an issue of All Out Cricket he just "happened to pick up". So, with a renewed sense of vigour, let's start with Bangladesh:

3rd ODI (Edgbaston) - England 347-7 (50 overs) (Strauss 154 off 140, Trott 110 off 121) beat Bangladesh 203 (45 overs) (Bopara 10-1-38-4) by 144 runs. After all their hard fight in Bristol, this was a real let-down from the Tigers and gave further ammunition to the argument that they cannot sustain high-level performances at international level. The bowlers, having pinned England back previously, were all over the place, bowling to the strengths of both Strauss and Trott, who looked so comfortable at the crease, boosting their batting averages and recording career best scores. To see Andrew Strauss wallop five big sixes in an innings is testament to the way that he has adapted his conservative first-class style to the shorter forms, changing nothing more than the power with which he hits the strokes. He was allowed to pull and cut far too frequently, as only Mashrafe Mortaza showed any control in friendly bowling conditions (10-2-31-3). Uninhibited by a target and falling wickets, Trott also looked in the form that saw him hit a double ton in May. After an agonising 94 in Bristol he got to his first ODI ton in style, celebrating a la Nasser Hussain at the Oval with a raised fist to the selectors (although stopped short of the V-Sign and "Fuck You" message that Hussain brought out). He clearly feels aggreived at having made the team via the back door but will need to continue scoring fluently and appear less wrapped up in his own world while at the crease if he is to nail down a long-term spot. The surprise star for me was Ravi Bopara, who benefitted from Ian Bell's injury and the platform provided by Strauss and Trott to hit a breathtaking 45* off 16, taking 28 off the last over from the hapless Shafiul Islam. It's obvious that Bopara performs best when the pressure is off, much like the early days of Bell himself, but he is still young and his time will come again. He impressed with the ball, putting the ball in good areas at medium pace, allowing the batsmen to get themselves out. Which they did. Ajmal Shahzad again looked good in a fiery new ball burst (4-1-24-2) and Broad continued to show dominance over Bangladesh (10-1-27-1). Broad has looked a more mature bowler since his "strengthening programme" earlier in the summer and will be a crucial part of the Ashes defence. Not a lot to say about Bangladesh's batting - they never looked like they thought they were going to chase 348 down. Only Mahmudullah got runs (42 off 81) although the rate suggests a man playing for his average rather than the target.

Bangladesh then moved onto Belfast for a 2-match series against Ireland. Reports that riots broke out as many locals attempted to get a glimpse of the stars at the airport remain unconfirmed. It could have just been the Orange marches...

1st ODI - Ireland 235-3 (45 overs) (Porterfield 108 off 116, Stirling 52 off 57) beat Bangladesh 234-9 (50 overs) (Junaid Siddique 100 off 123, Shakib Al Hasan 50 off 78) by 7 wickets with 30 balls remaining

2nd ODI - Bangladesh 191-4 (Tamim Iqbal 74 off 91) beat Ireland 189-9 (46 overs) (Wilson 60 off 64, Shafiul Islam 10-0-59-4) by 6 wickets with 50 balls remaining (D/L method)

With a disappointing 1-1 series draw, the Tigers now move onto Glasgow for matches against Scotland and the Netherlands. Given the weather reports I have received from the West coast, I can't see a lot of action taking place!

So now, we move onto the FP t20, which has finally reached the end of the group stages, after 16 matches each! The ECB have been puzzled by the dwindling crowds this year, as usual failing to spot the blindingly obvious. There have simply been too many matches - if people can't get to one game, there will be another one just around the corner. An evening at the t20 is no longer as special as it was. As a football fan, you can look forward to a home league game every fortnight. It wouldn't be quite as fun if you had one every few days (although this is a reality in the Scottish lower leagues in March when catching up on the weather affected matches from Christmas). They have tried competing with the IPL whilst forgetting one key fact - the IPL has 8 teams (soon to be 10), the county circuit has 18. There is no need to play home and away - keep the group stage to 8 games each and spread them out over the same time period so that all matches can be played at a time suitable for all i.e. weeknights at 7pm or weekends. Rant over, let's look at the best performers from the group stages:

Highest run scorer - Jimmy Adams (Hampshire) - 582 runs @ 41.57 SR 133.18

Most wickets - Alfonso Thomas (Somerset) - 31 wickets @ 12.67 Economy 6.35

Highest score - Matt Prior (Sussex) - 117 off 55 vs Glamorgan

Most consistent striker - Kieron Pollard (Somerset) SR 174.57 Qualifying - minimum 10 innings including at least 1 50. Pollard also holds the record for most sixes with 27

Best bowling figures - Andrew McDonald (Leicestershire) - 4-0-13-5 vs Notts

Most economical bowler - Michael Yardy (Sussex) - Economy 5.48 rpo. Minimum 25 overs bowled to qualify.

I think all of these guys deserve LAD status. The quarter-finals draw is as follows: Warwickshire vs Hampshire, Notts vs Sussex, Somerset vs Northants, Essex vs Lancashire
RM

AFC South: Colts coming back to the pack but standing strongest

Apologies for the lack of posts over the last few days - the writing team have been on tour. We are now back and focused on the jobs in hand. Which today involves previewing another division of the NFL - the AFC South. It's clear that as Peyton Manning gets older, the division is going to get tighter, especially as both Houston and Tennessee are finding ways to make things work more regularly. However, the divisional matchups are where things have been defined recently, and the Colts have tended to dominate. This will have to change if we are to see any difference in the overall outcomes:

Indianapolis Colts - Team Peyton Manning. Full stop. Rookie coach Jim Caldwell was barely needed last year as Manning called the shots all the way to the Superbowl where they stalled against the Saints. In all probablity, the Colts win that game if DE Dwight Freeney is fully fit, such is his dominance in disrupting the opposition offense in tandem with Robert Mathis. The secondary could do with a little bit of work but the return of SS Bob Sanders after a year on the IR will hopefully change things. There is no doubt that this team has a ridiculously strong receiving corps - proven performers like Dallas Clark and Reggie Wayne have been backed up by the emergence of both Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie last year. The Colts will hope to tie up Wayne's contract, so that this strength can remain. It generally helps when you have a QB who can find his receivers at will, and Manning is generally reckoned to be the best in the business. Being outshone by Drew Brees in the Superbowl will have hurt and he will want to bounce back. There will always be a question of how long he can keep performing for, but he is fully healthy for the first time in a while, so the decline won't begin in 2010. There are concerns that the offense is too predictable, so perhaps Caldwell will look to utilise Joseph Addai and Donald Brown in the backfield more frequently, although they are not the human wrecking balls you find elsewhere in this division. 12-4 but no Vince Lombardi.

Houston Texans - 2009 was a groundbreaking season for the Texans - their first ever winning record. Unfortunately they missed out on their first ever postseason on account of their relatively poor divisional record. Like the Colts, they are at their most comfortable when throwing the ball, hardly surprising when you have the best WR in the league at your disposal. Andre Johnson threw a little huff over contract negotiations and skipped the start of OTAs but has since returned and will remain Matt Schaub's principle weapon. QB Schaub had a great year, throwing over 4,500 yards for the season and breaking all sorts of records but will need to start finding other options as the coverage on Johnson intensifies. The return of TE Owen Daniels should help. Again, similar to the Colts, they lack a running game, not helped by a poor year by Steve Slaton's standards. Second round draft pick Ben Tate is rated fairly highly and should see some decent game time in 2010. The defense is solid and contains a few real starts, notably Mario Williams and DeMeco Ryans but they really conceded far too many points at key times last season. These fine margins are what cost the Texans last year. Many tip them to fade this year but I say they do make that step into the postseason via the wildcard slots. 10-6.

Tennessee Titans - Another team with a star offensive player, this time at the running back position. No.28 is the sign of a backfield star after Chris Johnson eclipsed Minnesota's Adrian Peterson, breaking the yards from scrimmage record in the process. After a disastrous start, the Titans fell to 0-6 in 2009 in the hands of veteran QB Kerry Collins and never really had enough time to launch a recovery, although 8-2 thereafter looks pretty good. Vince Young was brought back after the horrific 59-0 loss to the Patriots and sparked the recovery with Johnson. Young's career had been on a slide ever since the Madden video game series featured him on the cover of their 2008 version, a fate that Drew Brees will do well to avoid this year. He still looked flaky at times but the stability provided by CJ's seering pace saw the offense do a pretty good job in the latter part of the season. Young can go into 2010 with renewed confidence, although they would do well to re-sign veteran C Kevin Mawae to provide protection - even at 39 he still has the legs for the job and leads from the front. Defensively, they're pretty poor. Kyle VandenBosch has gone to Detroit, leaving rookie Derrick Morgan (the man divisonal rivals Jacksonville should have drafted - more on that in a minute) to carry out the dirty work at DE. They gave up so many yards last year and have failed to change anything for the better and so will only struggle again this year. 9-7.

Jacksonville Jaguars - No thanks, we'll pass on local hero Tim Tebow and superior defensive ends Brandon Graham and Derrick Morgan and select the unknown Tyson Alualu as the 10th overall pick in the draft. Therein lie the problems in Jacksonville - they lack the financial clout to compete regularly in the NFL. They are essentially the unloved third team in Florida, after the Dolphins and the Bucs. I think some of the college teams get more regular support. After investing so much money in QB David Garrard, he has let them down with some sub-standard performances. Tebow may well have been a better long-term prospect, even though doubts about his mechanics remain and it certainly would have got bums on seats. But, as usual, all hopes will be pinned on Pocket Hercules RB Maurice Jones-Drew. If he fires, so does the rest of the team, such is his explosive strength, which at 5'7'' is where I presume the nickname came from! That's about it really, comfortably the weakest side in the division and a record of 6-10 will testify to that

While we're here, it was brought to my attention that Mr "Will-He-Won't-He" Brett Favre of the Vikings looks a little like American bad boy golfer Jon Daly. What do you think?

RM

The Alternative World Cup awards

Regular readers of this blog (if you do exist, please make yourself known and follow us!) will be aware of my bizarre sense of humour and the fact that my mind works in a strange way. For this, I make no apologies. It does, after all, come in handy when it comes to this sort of thing - forget about the Golden Boot or Goal of the Tournament - here are some slightly different ideas on who caught my attention over the tournament. With a few classics thrown in:

Biggest disappointment - that Germany didn't put 5 past England, thus wiping out both 1966 and 2001 in one go. The English would then only have two world wars to fall back on.

Award for showing Zinedine Zidane how to assault a man subtly in a World Cup final - Nigel de Jong for going all Cantona on Xabi Alonso and only getting booked

Best confusing name - Jonathan Mensah of Ghana, referred to simply as "Jonathan" because of his similarity to John Mensah of the same team.

Too little, too late award - Fabio Quagliarella of Italy. A really fantastic long range chip against Slovakia to pull it back to 3-2. But it still wasn't enough to keep them in the tournament and the reigning champions were deposed.

The "Hey, weren't you shit once?" award - Diego Forlan of Uruguay proved all his doubters at Man United wrong with some superb displays, consistently scoring great goals and providing for his team mates. Honourable mentions to Richard Kingson, Ghana's keeper who is Wigan's backup and Vladimir Weiss of Slovakia and Man City.

The Samson award - Fernando Torres of Spain. Cut off the girly locks and play shit. His one contribution to the final was to pull a hamstring and waste a bit of time.

Miss of the tournament - Ayegbini Yakubu for Nigeria against South Korea. Just awful and ultimately cost the team a place in the knockout stages.

Imposter of the tournament - in an Argentina side brimming with talent, there stood Newcastle's left midfielder Jonas Guttierez at right-back. He actually didn't disgrace himself, although things looked a lot more settled once Nicolas Burdisso took his place.

Most biased pundit - Marcel Desailly. Mate, you can't support two teams. Having turned his back on his homeland of Ghana to win trophies with France, Marcel took a rapid U-turn when the French started their hissy fits. Celebrating their penalty against Serbia with a cry of "All the chickens and goats will be celebrating", Desailly betrayed the fact that he probably hasn't been to Ghana in a very long time. He made Ian Wright look pretty neutral.

Much maligned commentator who I actually quite liked - Mick McCarthy. He may have a thick accent, but McCarthy is intelligent, insightful and witty when summarising for the BBC. He also has a column for the Guardian and is therefore a lad.

Most pointless cameo - in general, the opening ceremony was very enjoyable. I was particularly impressed by the children spelling out the names of all the competing nations with black and white balls. But why was R Kelly necessary? His outfit was so ostentatious that even I found it a bit tasteless.

Best impression - the pitch of the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth did a startlingly accurate impression of the surface of the moon.

Funniest moment - Unquestionably the Rob Green howler against the US. It is for moments like this that the rewind function on Sky+ was invented.

Best dance - Although Archbishop Desmond Tutu tried, he failed. This award goes to Siphiwe Tshabalala and co after the opening goal of the tournament. When Ghana and Slovenia tried to repeat the trick, it didn't feel quite so special.

The Halley's Comet Award - Miroslav Klose. He performs so rarely at club level but when he does show up it's pretty spectacular and a big occasion. It's now three World Cups in a row.

That'll do
RM

The County Scene - Week 16: For whom the Bell tolls

Ah, yes folks! There is still much to discuss in the cricketing world, even while the world catches it's collective breath from the World Cup. From my point of view, it's only a fortnight until Livingston's new season kicks off, so I won't be suffering from much of a footballing hangover. Until then, we still have bits and pieces of cricket going on. We start with the surprises of the Bangladesh tour:

Bangladesh 301-7 (50 overs) (Jahurul Islam 88 off 93, Imrul Kayes 77 off 92) beat Middlesex 160 (39.3 overs) (Shah 61 off 72) by 141 runs

1st ODI (Trent Bridge) - England 251-4 (45.1 overs) (Bell 84* off 101, Strauss 50 off 37) beat Bangladesh 250-9 (50 overs) (Raqibul Hasan 76 off 95, Junaid Siddique 51 off 70) by 6 wickets with 29 balls remaining. It was very comfortable for England, but it does not really disguise the fact that they are not bowling well as a unit at the moment and need to knit together if they are going to challenge in the World Cup. They did pull things back towards the end with some very decent death bowling but suffered an onsluaght from Tamim Iqbal (28 off 22) at the start. Bangladesh were sort of the architects of their own downfall as they failed to push the pace of the innings when required, allowing the bowlers, in particular Stuart Broad (10-1-43-2), to get on top. Only Mushfiqur Rahim showed any real intent with two lusty blows off the perpetually expensive James Anderson. However, Rahim will miss the rest of the series after getting smashed in the face while keeping wicket. Junaid Siddique overcame early problems against the short ball - England have struggled to get him out this year, to play a neat innings, although played an irresponsible shot to get out lbw to Mike Yardy. Raqibul is another interesting case - he retired at 22 having been left out of the Test squad in the winter but is now back and does look like a good solid batsman. He is also out after getting his foot broken by an Anderson yorker - the runner situation that ensued was hilarious. England's batting effort was never under threat and we didn't seem to learn anything new. Strauss looks in great touch and his fast scoring rate will ensure that he is the man to lead the side in the World Cup. Collingwood and Morgan will also remian useful contributors, although both played rank shots to be dismissed. Kieswetter is an exciting talent, but must work on his technique. It was Ian Bell who showed us something different today. In for Kevin Pietersen, he used his feet beautifully to Bangladesh's battery of spinners and also hit over cover beautifully, a shot he confessed to having recently introduced. It's good to see substance added to his aesthetically pleasing game. As for Bangladesh, their bowling has a chronic lack of penetration something the captain Mashrafe Mortaza must look to remedy.

2nd ODI (Bristol) - Bangladesh 236-7 (50 overs) (Imrul Kayes 76 off 111) beat England 231 (49.3 overs) (Trott 94 off 130) by 5 runs. It had to happen eventually. After 20 failed attempts, Bangladesh have beaten England. After 24 failed attempts, Bangladesh have won a match in 2010. Moreover, they did it with a team performance even when their talisman Tamim failed to go big once again. England, for their part, were distinctly average. It made me realise that they actually haven't fired as a team all summer and have been carried to victory by individual performances, be it Eoin Morgan's hundred at the Rose Bowl, Graeme Swann's bowling at Old Trafford or Bell's runs at Trent Bridge. Here, the individual excellence of Jonathan Trott was not enough to make up for the failings of others. Is there an issue with balance in the side? The introduction of Ajmal Shahzad was an interesting one, although his fielding cost his side at least 3 possible wickets, which would have seriously minimised the run chase. His bowling, however, was excellent, finding skiddy bounce, as opposed to the lift that someone like Broad would find, making the batsmen feel uncomfortable. He also found useful reverse swing late on as Bangladesh failed to gather momentum once again, as he finished with 10-0-41-3. Kayes played a good innings - he will never score quickly but is a useful foil for Tamim's aggression if he gets in and stays in, as he did here. I was more impressed by Jahurul Islam (40 off 53), who gave the ball a good wallop but still maintained a good technique. England started well but then faded to irresponsibility. Strauss looked great again for 33 off 36, with an amazing dance down the wicket to drive Rubel Hossain through the covers but got out soon after. Kieswetter, Yardy and Shahzad should feel particularly ashamed of the shots they played. It was positive to see Broad sticking around with Trott at the end for 21 off 25 - he has been out of touch with the bat for far too long. Trott's knock was not characterised by power but by manouvering the ball and running hard between the wickets. He deserved better today. Bangladesh's bowling was wonderful. They were persistent with their areas and didn't drop their heads after a boundary. Mortaza won Man of the Match for 10-0-42-2 but for me Abdur Razzak was more impressive with 10-0-43-2. His left-arm spin baffled England, some turning past the outside edge, others going on with the arm, such as that which trapped Morgan lbw. Every time they win a game, they promise they will start winning more regularly and never do. As always, this will probably prove a false dawn, but they know now that they can do it.

Ian Bell wins my Victoria Sponge Lad of the Week Award for his runs at Trent Bridge but also for walking out to bat with a broken foot at Bristol having injured himself in the field. This could have been at great personal cost but shows national pride and a real will to win. LAD

Now to have a quick look at the county warm-ups of Australia and Pakistan after their T20 series finished 2-0 Pakistan, suggesting that England may have more on their hands than they bargained for later in the summer:

Australia 436 (Hussey 132, Ponting 116, Paine 52) drew with Derbyshire 235-5 (Rogers 93, Madsen 58)

Leicestershire 296-7d (Smith 87, White 79) drew with Pakistan 280-7 (Yasir Hameed 58, Salman Butt 57, Umar Amin 51)

For the record, two-day games are completely pointless. If there is no competition in a warm-up, how can you genuinely expect a team to be ready for the intensity levels of Test match cricket?

Finally, a quick story from the domestic T20 at Taunton. With the previously mentioned local news having heralded the arrival of Aussie Cameron White as an overseas player, Somerset promptly didn't select him for their game against Hampshire. Which looked very silly when they had to chase 217 to win. However, 78 off 27 from skipper Marcus Trescothick and 72* off 42 from the previously out-of-form Peter Trego saw Somerset canter home with 2 overs to spare, one of the fastest run rates ever seen in a T20 run chase.

LADS
RM

Some Explanation Would Be Helpful...

I would like to think that not an awful lot puzzles me in life, but then again I am a male student in my twenties - stereotypically we're not renowned for our modesty. However, the World Cup has brought to light a concept that has completely baffled me as to how it came about. I am, of course, talking about Paul the Psychic Octopus.

Living in the South-West of England, my local news bulletin is often lacking in any actual newsworthy story. Someone who used to live in Paignton said hello to Raoul Moat in the street once - that tenuous link is generally enough to make the lead story of an evening. Paul was born in Weymouth, therefore we have claimed him as one of our own. He doesn't even have nine tentacles or associated features that would identify him as such. Paul moved to Germany in search of fame and fortune and promptly found it. But how?

First of all, the original claim to his "psychic powers" was made after Euro 2008, where he apparently correctly predicted 70% of Germany's results correctly. Which equates to 4 out of 6 over a tournament - all of which are two horse races. Equivalent to calling correctly on a coin toss four times out of 6. If Andrew Strauss does that during the Ashes, he will not be proclaimed as the new Mystic Meg. But because it's an animal, the media go crazy. Fair play to Paul, he actually has got a 100% record this time round. He received death threats when he picked out a mussel in the box bearing the Spanish flag before the semi-final. Let's assume for a moment that Paul actually is psychic - it wouldn't be his fault that Germany were out-thought by Vicente del Bosque. If it was written in the stars, then so be it. Don't shoot the messenger. Or rather don't take the messenger out of its tank to asphyxiate him and serve him in a warm Mediterranean stew.

And how was Paul's psychic ability discovered? Did he move the little diver statue in his tank using only his mind? (It's telekinesis, I know, get over yourself). Or did a German aquarium keeper suddenly think "Ich hab' ein Idee" and get a relatively normal looking octopus to try and predict the football as some sort of cruel trick. Only for the octopus to turn out to be actually quite good. My question is simple - what came first - the psychic tendencies, or predicting the football scores? What possible inclination did his owners have to make him go down this particular route in his life? Did they spot a niche and think "Hmmm, this one seems a lot smarter than your average octopus, the octopus world really is missing it's Andy Gray equivalent"?

Answers on a postcard please. And, as Andy might say - Paul take a bow son!

RM

Graeme's World Cup Team Of The Tournament

Pretty self explanatory article this. I do have to stress that this team is based soley on my own opinions. I haven't really analysed stats or anything fancy like that; I simply watched every game, and picked out the players that stood out to me.

I'm writing this before the Final to keep that occasion special. Better to acknowledge the outstanding individual contributions that took Spain and the Netherlands to the final now than second guess what is going to happen tomorrow.

Any opinions, or players you disagree with, please feel free to comment. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but abuse is always funny.

In no particular formation:


Goalkeeper: Eduardo (Portugal). Consistent, reliable and Portugese? Has world class ability.



Right Back: Philip Lahm (Germany). Back to his top form. Was never beaten.



Centre Back: Arne Friedrich (Germany). Stepped up to the plate. Shook off domestic form with gusto.


Centre Back: Juan (Brazil). Highly athletic and uncompromising. Saved Brazil many times.


Left Back: Fabio Contraeo (Portugal). Defended sensibly and attacked whenever possible.



Midfield: Andres Iniesta (Spain). A superb passer, he has the movement and directness that Xavi lacks.



Midfield: Bastien Schwiensteiger (Germany). A central midfield revelation. Simply outstanding.



Midfield: Anthony Annan (Ghana). Mature performance beyond his years and experience. Ghana's key.



Midfield: Wesley Snjieder (Netherlands). The reason the Dutch reached the final. An irreplacable dynamo.



Striker: Diego Forlan (Uruguay). The hitman excelled. Truly awe-inspiring at times.



Striker: David Villa (Spain). Dragged Spain through their darkest moments with flashes of pure brilliance.

Coaching Team: Oscar Tabarez (Uruguay), Joachim Loew (Germany), Milovan Rajevic (Ghana).

Honourable Mentions:

Goalkeeper: Richard Kingson (Ghana), Fabio Muslera (Uruguay), Boubacar Barry (Ivory Coast)

Right Back: Maxi Pereira (Uruguay), Maicon (Brazil), Sergio Ramos (Spain)

Centre Back: Tulio Tanaka (Japan), Lucio (Brazil), Francisco Rodriguez (Mexico)

Centre Back: Joris Mathijsen (Netherlands), Denis Godin (Uruguay), Vangelis Moras (Greece)

Left Back: Carlos Salcido (Mexico), Ashley Cole (England), Claudio Morel (Paraguay)

Midfield: Mesut Oezil (Germany), Gervinho (Ivory Coast), Jean Beausejour (Chile)

Midfield: Mark Van Bommel (Netherlands), Egidio Arevalo (Uruguay), Xavi (Spain)

Midfield: Sami Khedira (Germany), Kevin-Prince Boateng (Ghana), Javier Mascherano (Argentina)

Midfield: Arjen Robben (Netherlands), Thomas Mueller (Germany), Elano (Brazil)

Striker: Miroslav Klose (Germany), Alexis Sanchez (Chile), Robert Vittek (Slovakia),

Striker: Gonzalo Higuian (Argentina), Asmaoah Gyan (Ghana), Dirk Kuyt (Netherlands)


Coaching Team: Bert Van Maarwjik (Netherlands), Marcelo Bielsa (Chile), Takeshi Okada (Japan).

Plus guest motivational coach Ricki Herbert (New Zealand).


GM

Defending German Heritage

Before we begin, I would like to clarify that I am defending German heritage in a way very different to the way that it was defended in the 1930s and 40s. Mine involves a little bit more wit and observation and a little bit less ritual torture and bombing. A heritage need not be deemed a "Master Race".

There has been much criticism of the German national team over the past few weeks. For the first time ever it is not about the style with which they play - their counter-attacking and deadly finishing has captured imaginations globally. However, with names like Lukas Podolski, Piotr Trochowski and Cacau, it didn't feel like the halcyon days of German football with Der Kaiser and Der Bomber amongst other. Namely, the team wasn't German enough.

Well now, I have found evidence to the contrary. Browsing on YouTube as one does, I came across a figure from the BBC's historical documentary "Blackadder II". This particular image that I have procured (with all the necessary permissions I can assure you) depicts a German prison guard with a resemblance to one of Germany's allegedly imported stars, Mesut Ozil. After hours of painstaking consulting with geneologists, I can confirm that this man who held the Lords Blackadder and Melchett captive for a short period is in fact a distant relation of Ozil's, making him as German as leather shorts:

Further evidence has also linked Ozil to the English aristocracy. This distant cousin was identified as a likeness when flicking through a copy of Britain's finest newspaper. Of course, we know that all English aristocrats are actually German anyway, so what more evidence do you need?

RM

World Cup Musings: Semi-Mental. Just One (More) Small Step

Flying Back in First Class, With Complementary Wine and Pretty Air Hostesses to Distract Them From Their Failure

Germany:

This new generation will have to wait a little longer for its moment. The most impressive team at the World Cup, their attacking verve added real colour to the tournament. Sadly for them, Spain were savvy enough to triumph in the Semi; they just played so slowly that the Germans never got a chance to employ their lethal counterattacking style. With maturity will come an ability to adapt to challenges, and when that happens the world had better watch their backs.

Best Performers: Youngsters Oezil and Mueller got deserved recognition; Sami Khedira should have been praised more as he was superb considering what he was asked to do; anchor the entire team. Lahm was back to his consistent best, and Arne Friedrich had a surprise standout tournament. One can only marvel at Klose's World Cup performances; a man who must now feature in any future debates about All Time World Cup XI's.

My best performer, though, was the magnificent Bastien Schwiensteiger. His rapid metamorphosis into a world class central midfielder has been astounding, and his committment and drive unparalleled. True LAD. To honour his extraordinary achievements, here's a gratuitous pic of his extraordinary girlfriend. Lowering blog standards LAD.

World Cup in Five Words: Pretty counter-attacks don't win tournaments

Uruguay:

Their success came completely out of the blue to me, as I wrote them off as cloggers with no real skill. And I had reason to; I had watched them in qualifying matches and they were woeful. Things changed though. They benefited from a pretty easy ride to the Semi's, but nonetheless they were impressive and, particularly in the knockout stages, a very enjoyable watch. With 3 million people, Uruguay have done every small nation proud (and rendered most of Scotland's traditional excuses for failure redundant). How Terry Wogan lookalike coach Tabarez managed to completely change the attitude of his team I have no idea, but he should recieve some sort of medal for it.

Best Performers: Muslera in goals was generally pretty good, surprising considering Lazio's abominable form this season. Lugano was an inspirational leader at the back, and both Pereira's (Maxi and Alvaro) were excellent as 3-5-2 Wingbacks, storming forward whenever possible. Arevalo performed as any good holding midfielder should, and broke up many attacks. Obvious other standouts would be Luis Suarez and Sebastien Abreu for their varying contributions to Uruguay taking the Quarterfinal on penalties.

And, of course, Diego Forlan. Who is now without doubt World Class and is being chronically wasted at Athletic Madrid. He is one of football's supreme goalscorers. Someone save the man!

World Cup in Five Words: Recaptured vintage years from nowhere

GM and RM

The County Scene - Week 15: Wild Thing makes Aussie hearts sing

Well I said it'd be 3-2 England. It's amazing how many people would have been delighted with that a fortnight ago and are now bitterly disappointed after England took an unassailable 3-0 lead last week. Credit to the Aussies for bouncing back - here's how they did it.

4th ODI (The Oval) - Australia 290-5 (50 overs) (Clarke 99* off 106, Ponting 92 off 93) beat England 212 (42.4 overs) (Yardy 57 off 63, Harris 8.4-1-32-5) by 78 runs. England simply got outclassed here. It was about time the skipper stood up and Ponting duly delivered here with an imperious knock that was rarely troubled by an England attack that suffered on a flat pitch. Inserting the Aussies was a decision that Strauss made based on what had come before in the series, not on a pitch which deteriorated through the match. The attack acquitted themselves well early on but it was the middle overs where they are usually so strong that Ponting and Clarke made their counter attack. Clarke was dropped early on 5 by Anderson and had to take a few risks to play his way back into form but was soon using his feet as well as ever in a serene knock which was rarely troubled after this early chance. He will be gutted that Steve Smith (18* off 8) hogged the strike in the last over, meaning he couldn't make a deserved ton. Who knew that Smith was a useful batsman as well as a promising leggie? Well, watch the T20 World Cup preview and you'll see that I did! If he works on his control and variation in his bowling, he's a viable Test Match spinner and No.6 batsman. Ryan Harris is another cementing a place in the Test side. He doesn't move the ball too much but bowls at brisk pace in a good area doing just enough to induce a false stroke, which he managed 5 times here. Strauss looked good again before giving it away (37 off 45) and Yardy finally showed international batting class but had too much work to do and not enough sheer hitting power. The highlight of the batting was Eoin Morgan's 3 massive 6s off James Hopes. Finally, I'd like to say how stupid it was to class this match as a day/nighter and start it at 1pm. The game finished at 8, which rendered the floodights pretty obsolete!

5th ODI (Lord's) - Australia 277/7 (50 overs) (Hussey 79 off 60, Marsh 59 off 50, Paine 54 off 90, Broad 10-0-64-4) beat England 235 (46.5 overs) (Collingwood 95 off 121, Tait 8.3-0-48-4) by 42 runs. No complaints, Australia were simply excellent today. Despite looking on the rack early after Tim Paine's slow trudge to fifty, the recalled Shaun Marsh and Mike Hussey really lifted things in the batting powerplay. Having controlled the early proceedings, the pace bowlers disappeared to all parts, with only Graeme Swann returning respectably economical figures (8-0-32-3), although Broad did pick up some cheap victims at the death with the old bumper! To me, Shaun Marsh is a forgotten man in Australian cricket, only ever included where there are injuries, in this case to Michael Clarke. People forget how destructive he is - the best batsman in the inaugral IPL in 2008. His technique is solid and his fielding is outstanding, demonstrated here by two great catches on the ropes to send back Morgan and Wright for England. It was he who started the big hitting and Mike Hussey followed, doing what he does best at the end of an innings. Paine's innings was responsible right up until he attempted to reverse-sweep Swann and was bowled. If you're playing the anchor role, put that shot away! However, this game will be remembered for the bowling of Shaun Tait, apparently clocked over 100mph today, although looking back at Hawk-Eye it "only" seems up to 97 - maybe Channel Five's speed gun is as excitable as it's anchor. His pace was too much for England, leading to calls for him to come back to first-class cricket in time for the Ashes. Will he be Australia's answer to Larwood? He certainly has got them running scared! Only Collingwood resisted, in a typically "gritty, back-to-the-wall effort", although he did benefit from some buffet bowling from Hussey in the middle!

England now go on to play Bangladesh in 3 ODIs. The outcome seems pretty clear-cut after the first warm-up match on Saturday:

Sussex 253 (47.5 overs) (Brown 58 off 52, Thornely 56 off 73) beat Bangladesh 104 (28.4 overs) by 149 runs.

Now, we all know that Sussex are a good county side, particularly in limited overs. But they fielded an inexperienced side with four debutants and only Monty Panesar with international experience. 104 all out is simply unacceptable from an international side. England have rested Pietersen and Swann for this series but it shouldn't make a difference. Pietersen has looked in great touch without getting a score and now has a slight niggle and Swann has been performing non-stop miracles for 12 months so both are due a rest. Ian Bell and James Tredwell should deputise and look to boost their averages. 3-0 England.

Pakistan continued their tour of the counties before starting against Australia today (which I won't be covering - too much going on in my life!). They look to be a pretty decent side:

Pakistan 360 (Umar Akmal 153, Lawson 4-93) and 264-4 (Umar Amin 73, Fawad Alam 68) drew with Kent 259 (Denly 63, Goodman 59, Mohammad Aamer 5-54) and 150-3 (Denly 69)

Pakistan 204-4 (20 overs) (Shoaib Malik 38* off 17 3 x 4s 2 x 6s, Umar Akmal 38 off 18 4 x 4s 2 x 6s) beat Essex 138-9 (20 overs) (Phillips 57 off 44 7 x 4s 1 x 6s, Abdul Razzaq 3-0-19-3, Saeed Ajmal 3-0-18-2) by 66 runs

Pakistan 134-4 (15.3 overs) (Shahzaib Hasan 64 off 40 7 x 4s 3 x 6s, Shahid Afridi 42 off 14 6 x 4s 2 x 6s) beat Northamptonshire 133-3 (20 overs) (Chigumbura 58* off 45 2 x 4s 3 x 6s, Wakely 55 off 43 7 x 4s, Saeed Ajmal 4-0-15-1, Mohammad Aamer 3-1-10-0) by 6 wickets with 27 balls remaining.

Maybe they'll pose more of a threat than we all thought, both on this tour and in next year's World Cup.

Right, there's been so much going on this week - but who is our Victoria Sponge Lad of the Week? The County Championship returned after a short break, so I thought I'd pick out the one outstanding performance as my lad. For once I'm going to select someone who found himself on the losing side despite a tremendous performance. He is another South African import who has looked good opening the batting all season. Here against Surrey, his side were responding to 391, with Mark Ramprakash making 99 after celebrating his hundred due to a scoreboard error! With his side all out for 237, our man had made 109, with only Luke Goddard the keeper as company with 67 - no-one else got past 14! Everyone chipped in at Surrey to set the side 408 to win. Our man made 105 this time as they damn near got there, with an in-form Chris Tremlett (4-94) putting paid to their hopes in a 42 run win

Wayne Madsen of Derbyshire - you are an unlucky LAD.
RM

World Cup Musings: Close Quarters Combat

No disgrace, so an upgrade to economy plus. A selection of films and actual leg room.

Brazil:

Contradicting the title somewhat, the Brazilian's demise was anything but pretty. A team that seemed as well organised and effective as any suddenly fell to pieces. They were not outplayed by the Dutch; indeed, in the first half they were dominant. They suffered from a major defensive blunder, the kind that all teams will experience at some stage, but then promptly fell to pieces. Their defending for the second Dutch goal was farcical and completely out of character. And to top it all off, Melo getting himself sent off literally minutes after that goal erased their chances of coming back. A chance blown, much like in 2006. Serious analysis must be done if Brazil hopes to win the next World Cup as host.

Best Performers: Robinho displayed great form, I assume to make it easier for him to leave Eastlands for good. Lucio was solid, Juan was better. Fabiano was effective in the groups but floundered against the Dutch. Kaka's woes make the exclusion of Ronaldinho even more dubious.

World Cup in Five Words: Well organised but not samba.

Ghana:

Heartbreak would be the only word to describe how Ghana exited the tournament. Gyan's penalty miss at the death of extra time will haunt him; all credit to him for stepping up in the shootout and attempting to inspire his team. Ghana were not the best footballers, but their team spirit, organisation and individual effort did them proud. Ultimately, Uruguay were a better side, but Ghana had about as much right to be in the semis as they did.

Best Performers: Asmoah Gyan was outstanding, as was the unlikely figure of Kevin-Prince Boateng. John Pantsil played well, as did Anthony Annan and Richard Kingson, whose overall consistency was commendable considering his lack of gametime at club level.

World Cup in Five Words: Denied at death. Africa proud.

Paraguay:

Much like Ghana in that they were solid and a strong team, they seemed to be exceeding themselves by reaching the quarterfinals. Against Spain though, they gave an admirable display and could easily have won. Their lack of forward punch was just too much to overcome in the end. Taking nothing away from them, I don't belive they are anything more than a solid team who benefitted from Italy's failure to launch and a realatively easy round of 16 match.

Best Performers: Antonio Alcaraz and Carlos Bonet were solid. Haedo Valdez did well to give them more impetus up front. The whole team performed well, but no-one really went above and beyond.

World Cup in Five Words: Quietly effective under the radar.

Argentina:

Had their weaknesses clinically exposed by the Germans. A side that lacked any real connection between midfield and the front men, especially after Veron's injury. They simply did not attack with any impetus or urgency believing, like so many other teams, that simply slowly stroking the ball about the entire team equates putting the opponents under pressure. They got nothing against the Germans; their solution was to move the entire team forward in attack, which just invited the Germans to break on them. Messi also let them down badly throughout.

Best Performers: Gonzalo Higuain did his poachers role well. Di Maria started well but fizzled out. Otamendi performed well after replacing Gutierrez at right back. Walter Samuel continued his good form until injury hit.

World Cup in Five Words: Promised much, crashed out. Again.

GM and RM

NFC South: Who dey gonna beat dem Saints?

It's always hard to look past the current "world champions" when making predictions for the new NFL season. However, when you consider that the New Orleans Saints jumped from 4th to 1st in the NFC South en route to the Superbowl in 2009, you realise that anything could potentially happen. With an unknown quantity in the Panthers and improving Falcons and Bucs sides, there is a possibility that this division may just be one of the more interesting in the league in 2010. Then you remember the elite passer at the disposal of Sean Payton in N'orleans and you think again. Here's the lowdown:

New Orleans Saints - offensively untouchable last year. Really played an exciting game from the "We're gonna put up more points than you, no matter how many you get" school. At the centre of this masterful offense is of course No.9 himself, Drew Brees. Such expectations lie on his shoulders - he carried the hopes of not just the franchise last year, but of a community in desperate need of a boost after Hurricane Katrina. He provided. How do you possibly top that in 2010? More of the same will do. Perhaps, if Pierre Thomas carries on the form he showed in the post-season, the running game may be utilised further, allowing Brees more play action routes to throw. With Reggie Bush also lurking in the backfield, opposition defences will need to be on guard. Brees' targets remain the same - Devery Henderson, Marques Colston and TE Jeremy Shockey, provided he doesn't start fitting again. They are not a star-studded lineup but when Brees has such accuracy, you just need to be able to catch a football and hold on. Concerns lie in the defense, which was not what won a Superbowl. Yes, they do make plays, such as that of CB Tracy Porter picking Peyton to the house in the Superbowl. Legendary FS Darren Sharper has re-signed for one last hurrah, but with little else in the secondary, teams would do well to throw away from him to weaker areas. Of course, with pass rushers like Will Smith and Jonathan Vilma making the tackles, it can occasionally be difficult, but the defense still needs to make more consistent plays and prevent as many first downs as came last season. They will make the playoffs, probably as divisional champions. But, teams will get enough of a look at the defence to crack the code and they'll come unstuck one and done in the playoffs. 11-5.

Atlanta Falcons - Similar to the Saints in that they like to get as many points on the board as possible, with plenty of offensive weapons at their disposal. Unfortunately, many of these weapons found themselves injured during 2009 and so they weren't able to challenge the Saints at the top of the division and missed out on a wild card berth, although they did record the first back-to-back winning record in franchise history. And they'll go 3-in-a-row this year and possibly snatch a wild card spot because the offense is looking fit and ready again. QB Matt Ryan is now in his 3rd year as a pro and looks ready to post some serious numbers, although not quite ready to step up into that elite category, hence the chances of a Superbowl ring look slim for now. He'll want to cut down on the number of picks he throws or at least offset that with plenty of touchdowns. RB Michael Turner has slimmed back down and will hope to stay injury free - on his day he is one of the best rushers in the league but will want to use his weight to his advantage a la Frank Gore, so has been hitting the gym rather than KFC. Star receiver Roddy White and veteran TE Tony Gonzalez will want to improve on last year's numbers. The defense is OK, but lacks play making potential. Rookie LB Sean Weatherspoon is seen as "a bit of a character", so hopefully his vocal approach will buoy the men around him. 10-6.

Carolina Panthers - you can forget about Denver, forget about Arizona and you can certainly forget about Buffalo - this is where the most interesting QB situation in the league finds itself. After years of Jake Delhomme, the Panthers finally grew tired of being picked off in the redzone and cut him. They then told his backup Matt Moore that he would be the starter in training camp, despite Moore's career experience being modest. In a show of solidarity with their new man, they then picked up highly rated Jimmy Clausen in the draft 2nd round. Which won't have done wonders for Moore's confidence. He actually didn't do too badly when Delhomme got benched last season, starting in 5 games and recording a rating of 98.5, but the playbook was kept simple and you suspect that teams may work him out quickly. Clausen is used to running a pro-style offense at Notre Dame and has impressed in OTAs. It's Moore's job to lose but Clausen is a capable deputy. Either one will be well protected by Pro-Bowl C Ryan Kalil. The running game is more likely to be Carolina's forte, with both DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart capable of going long. Steve Smith will make most of the catches. The defense has been another strong suit for the Panthers for years now but gone is perennial All-Pro star DE Julius Peppers. A scary man and a great addition for Chicago, who are clearly more minted than the Panthers. This is a huge blow and could ruin any chances they had of making the playoffs. LB Jon Beason will now lead the defence. A decent side, but one which won't recover from losing two veterans in time to challenge. Transitional period = 6-10.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - the Bucs had a rank year in 2009, made even worse when their incompetence was brought to wider attention when they were thrashed by the in-form Patriots at Wembley. However, that day heralded the start of a new dawn, as Josh Johnson was shelved in favour of rookie QB Josh Freeman, via Byron Leftwich, who was signed in place of Jeff Garcia and was meant to be the starter. Freeman might actually turn out to be quite good. True, his numbers aren't great but its tough as a rookie in a failing offense. Raheem Morris had three teething problems in his first year as Bucs head coach. His offense, his defense and his special teams. 3-13 was the result. It's time for me to be a bit bold and make some risky predictions, because let's face it every one I've made so far in the NFL series has been pretty safe! I'm going to say that Freeman leads the offense to overcome the problems of 2009 and they start producing. Cadillac Williams and the running game will be important for this to happen. Gerald McCoy is the heir apparent to Warren Sapp as a DT and will be a popular and good fit in Morris' system. Old faithful CB Ronde Barber is still there to lead the defense. I don't know why, but I just have a feeling. 8-8. Or the Glazers could pull the plug and it'll all go horribly horribly wrong Lions 2008 style!

RM