A few months ago we explored the subject of cricket computer games, and bemoaned the general lack of authentic, engaging and realistic electronic versions of our favourite sport. Our investigator-in-chief was my colleague James Morgan, who is rather better versed than me in the world of consoles and gadgets. I had never owned such a device, or really played computer games at all – until Christmas, when my other half presented me with a Nintendo Wii. My first response, as you can imagine...
Sports Personality Of The Year
Blimey, hasn’t the year gone quickly – the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year Award has come around once again. I’ve long been a little cynical about this rather self-congratulatory event. Every year the BBC turn the hubris and hoopla up another notch, in a desperate attempt to convince us that in terms of significance, SPOTY is right up there with the moon landings or the day man discovered fire. In reality, the whole thing is essentially a big PR puff for the BBC, while the...
The breaks may be off, but the writing can’t find second gear
Graeme Swann is a joy – a junior national treasure. His ebullience and irrepressibility have been a breath of fresh air for the England side, not to mention his match-winning spin bowling. Such is our affection for him, we’re loath to criticise any of his endeavours, from the sprinkler dance to his tour diaries or attempts to be a rock singer. But that said, we can only report that his new autobiography distinctly fails to satisfy. There is a simple reason for the book’s...
Testing Times: Join the campaign to help test cricket
Regular readers of TFT will know that we’re rather keen on test cricket, but somewhat indifferent to the shorter forms of the game – particularly ODIs, which dominate the international calendar like the BCCI seems to dominate the ICC. It’s not that we’ve got anything against 50 over cricket in particular – the World Cup is always a great showpiece – but we’re worried that test cricket is being overshadowed, and not enough is being done to promote the purist, and most challenging, form of the...
In their own write
Christmas is coming, which in cricketing terms generally means one thing alone: autobiographies. Because it’s the time of year when any player who’s just about famous enough – and looking to augment their pension – will serve up their memoirs to a consumer public avidly searching for stocking-fillers. The psychology behind this is pretty canny. Men are both hard to buy presents for, and not very imaginative at choosing them for others. So if you have a cricket-loving...
