Monday
So, it is the 5th of August and the Ashes have been retained. It does feel slightly anti-climatic, almost like a team who win a first leg 5-0 away from home only to lose the return at home 2-0 with the tie already concluded. Still, that didn't stop the England boys from celebrating well as these pictures show http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket/article-2384993/Ashes-2013-Graeme-Swann-beer-England-fans-Old-Trafford.html?ITO=socialnet-twitter-dmailsports&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=socialnet-twitter-dmailsports
It was a shame about the weather but the Australians can't complain too much. The forecast had been dodgy for a while like it had been at Adelaide in 2010 where England got the match wrapped up early on the 5th day. And you only have to remember the last time an Ashes Test was staged at Old Trafford where rain badly hit proceedings and Australia were nine wickets down at the end.
The transfer window carousel shows no signs of letting up. Again we are back towards Wayne Rooney moving to Chelsea having quickly moved on from Bale and Suarez. If at least two don't move then I will feel short-changed after this incessant speculation.
Tuesday
Managed to squeeze in one Forest match before heading away. With money now something of a slight issue it was to be a £12 ticket for Hartlepool in the first round of the League Cup. With the League Two side bringing about a 100 fans who sat in silence the atmosphere suffered, although the home fans did their best to make up for that in what felt like a pre-season romp of 3-1.
Things kicked off a bit on Twitter with the publication of an interview with Luis Suarez in two national newspapers. Now I like to think I'm very talented at making false excuses to justify something I'm done, e.g. claim I need BT Sport for research. But Suarez is clearly a master. This is a man, let us remember, who signed a new contract last summer and said before the end of last season that he would stay with the club even if they did not make the top four. Then he said he wanted to leave because of the English media reporting his racism, biting and diving. So, in this interview, he played the innocent card, claiming he was the one being punished and not the club. Even worse, he had banked everything on a clause in his contract which turned out to be wrong.
Let us not forget that Liverpool made themselves look ridiculous by publicly defending him after every misdemeanour. Of course this was because he was so important to them (they never would have done the same for Stewart Downing aka Left Wing Jesus) but to then get the lawyers in is a petty response.
However, I'm glad Suarez spoke out. Too many managers deny there is a problem with their star player wanting to leave. But when they make their problems public then they can't keep denying it, so Brentan Rodgers finally sent him to train alone. Why he waited this long I do not know.
Wednesday
Accusations today made by Channel 9 in Australia which suggested that Kevin Pietersen was using vaseline to stop edges showing up on HotSpot. Now, out of all the uses of vaseline this would not be in my top five.
Regardless, these accusations rival Suarez in the pettiness stakes. Unless there is proof then just keep quiet.
Some good cricket action in the third quarter-final of the Twenty20s. Michael Carberry made his maiden ton in this format, with the final two runs coming off the last ball of the innings. Carberry is so quick he made it back for the second despite the ball going only a few yards away. He goes alongside Graham Napier and Alex Hales as three players who always seem to turn it on when the Sky cameras turn up.
Thursday
Trying desperately to ignore all the transfer rumours which are doing my head in. Except for Kelvin Wilson to Forest which I like.
Went to my final sporting action in Nottingham with the quarter-final against Essex. Despite the result it was definitely a most enjoyable occasion with lots of people I had not seen in a while showing up. As for the cricket, it seemed crazy at the time that Notts didn't bat first after winning the toss. Did they not see Essex collapse chasing during their last match against Surrey? As it was, despite good starts in both innings it was a comfortable loss, once again in a quarter-final. If Tim Henman was the man who could never get past a semi, then Notts are fast becoming a team who can't even get it to that stage. Maybe they should start using some of KP's vaseline.
At the Rogers Cup Andy Murray lost to Ernests Gulbis. Cue lots of online trolls claiming he's never going to be good enough to win that tournament.
Even better, the final golf major of the year is underway. Having seen my tips for the first three flounder, I have a sneaking feeling Paul Casey would mount a challenge and that Rory McIlroy will have a much better week having hit rock bottom at The Open and shown some form at the World Golf Championship last week.
One quick thought. Will golf organisers one day put Luke Donald, Boo Weekley and Matt Kuchar in the same group one week? Think about it...
Friday
A difficult day for me to keep up with things but the obvious story came at Durham where England collapsed again in their first innings and gave Australia a clear advantage. Special mentions must go to the following for their efforts: Alastair Cook - strike-rate 31.09, Joe Root - strike-rate 30.76, Ian Bell - strike-rate 35.29, Jonny Bairstow - strike-rate 18.18, Matt Prior - strike-rate 29.31, Tim Bresnan - strike-rate 24.48, Stuart Broad - strike-rate 25.00. Terrific effort boys, some real, hard, Test match cricket going on there. Bairstow in particular deserves special mention. His 14 runs off 77 balls is the equivalent of 14 runs from 13 overs (minus one delivery) and took exactly 1 hour and 45 minutes to make. That is exactly what we like to see. And to think Nick 'Compdog' Compton was dropped because they didn't think he scored quick enough.
Only thing to say about the golf is I'm very disappointed by Casey and Lee Westwood. But good to see Justin Rose back there and a decent effort from Jason Dufner who was just one shot off becoming the first person to shoot 62 in a major. Meanwhile, it looks as if Tiger Woods will have to wait until Augusta to target major number 15.
Saturday
This might seem bizarre, but as much as I celebrated Forest's last minute winner at Blackburn, this performance has made me think there is no chance of a top two finish this season (as unlikely as it always was). The reason I say this is the negativity shown by Billy Davies makes it seem unlikely Forest will get enough wins away from home to compete at the very top.
Let me give you some stats from Davies' two full seasons in charge at Forest:
2009-10: Forest - final position: 3rd, away wins: 4, away goals scored: 20, away goals conceded: 27
2010-11: Forest - final position: 6th, away wins: 7, away goals scored: 26, away goals conceded: 28
In that first season, Forest had less away wins then every other side going down to Derby in 14th and only five teams scored less on their travels. In contrast, top of the table Newcastle had 12 away wins and second place West Brom had 10, as did 4th place Cardiff.
In the second season, Forest had the worst away record inside the top six. QPR and Norwich who earned automatic promotion had 10 wins, Swansea in third had nine and Cardiff in fourth had 11. Interestingly, Forest's points tally was only four less in 2010/11 than it was the previous season when they came third.
The point I'm making is that by often playing one up front, packing the midfield and trying to hit on the break, Forest would draw or lose too many matches as they were not prepared to gamble whilst the sides who ended up in the automatic places would get enough wins. In the latter season, only Swansea in the top six had a negative away goal difference (apart from Forest) as their nine wins came at a cost of eleven defeats.
Bring it forward to 2011/2 and you see Reading top - 13 away wins, Southampton 2nd - 10 away wins, West Ham 3rd - 13 away wins. Even last season, the top three managed double figures in away wins.
What worries me is Forest can go to an average side like Blackburn Rovers and set up not to lose when they are a team who were knocked out the League Cup by Carlisle during the week and are heavily reliant on one player. Yes, it came off this time, but that hadn't looked likely at all during the second half. Let's hope with such a good team that Davies will look to press for more away wins this season and not rely solely on clean sheets which are so hard to come by.
Ok, rant over. Now, being in a place with slow internet it will mean I cannot give as rounded an update as usual, but I will do my best. Away from Forest, the cricket once again did not go England's way. It's fair to say they have not won a single day of the Ashes since the 4th and final day at Lord's. What should be remembered is that some of the batsmen appear to be struggling for form, Alastair Cook and Matt Prior especially. I wouldn't put Jonathan Trott in there as apart from Old Trafford he has looked in good touch but just not converted his starts. The difference between the two sides is, last time Down Under the opposite appeared to be true and England were good enough to take advantage whilst Australia have missed their chance.
Today was probably the one spell where Stuart Broad looked ready to win England the match. Like Pietersen with the bat, he tends to put in one match defining performance each series but this time he was unlucky not to get Chris Rogers out despite being all over him like a cheap suit (as Shane Warne would say). Rogers duly tonned up, reminding people that he averages 50 in first-class cricket for a reason.
For the first time this year there does not appear to be a British challenge for one of golf's biggest prizes which is disappointing. The leaders are Dufner and Furyk with a couple of Swedes close in. Still, after a year dominated by the big guns delivering under pressure, it can be interesting to see a group of less well-known players dealing with pressure they're not used to so roll on the final day,
Sunday
The end of the week which so often signals the final acts of a grand sporting occasion. That was certainly the case in the PGA Championship where Jason did not Duff it up as he closed things out. After blowing a five-shot lead with four to play in the same tournament two years before losing in a play-off to Keegan Bradley, it was good to see him triumph. Not that I saw him triumph, with my internet being as reliable as Luis Suarez's contract writer.
So my tip for Paul Casey did not come through (unsurprisingly) despite being in a good place during his second round before letting it slip away. However, I did predict a much better week for Rory McIlroy and a tie for eighth does signify that. A triple bogey ruined his round, but there is no reason he can't look at registering one win now this season.
Special mention must go to Henrik Stenson who registered his third straight top-three finish which includes The Open. If you have been going each-way on Stenson then you have been making a killing. Also, Jason Day's charge earlier in the day meant that once again he was not far away from the leaders during the final round. The Aussie reminds me a bit of Angel Cabrera, a man who seems to turn it on at the biggest events. He has been a pretty reliable each-way bet for some time.
Elsewhere, Robin van Persie duly won the Community Shield, meaning a little bit of pressure has gone off David Moyes. Just a little. For Wigan it means they now have three weeks to prepare mentally for the challenge of facing Forest who should put in a better effort than last year's League Cup humiliation (let's not go there).
In the cricket, finally we were able to celebrate England winning a day! Wickets in the morning, runs in the afternoon and arise Sir Ian Bell, Sherminator turned Terminator. Try saying that quickly. Like all great Test matches, this one has had suitable ebb and flow and is poised to go right down to the wire with rain also ready to intervene. Let's see what we have in store.
Finally, as I'm in a ranting mood this week, I believe we have seen why the DRS has to stay. In a shameless yet relevant plug, I typed up an article on why the system is important to cricket (http://www.alloutcricket.com/ashes/blogs/lay-off-drs-its-the-third-umpire). The number of overturned decisions in this Test match has shown why the system, for its faults, is needed. Most of the controversies this series have been because of the third umpire and not the technology and you only have to look at Chris Rogers' innings to see why we must stick with the system which should hopefully be boosted by 'Snicko' soon. Given wrongly caught out, he was able to overturn the decision but when given not out this morning, England were able to review and hot spot showed he was indeed out. I don't care what the ICC say, there is no way 90%+ of decisions before the technology came in were correct, and I don't want to see a match ruined because of a mistake when it is so difficult being an umpire. Just imagine a scenario like day 5 at Trent Bridge where Brad Haddin edges one behind with 15 runs needed to win but is given not out and there is nothing anyone can do.
Meanwhile...
US baseball hit by doping scandal. On a headline scale of: 'Didier Drogba scores against Arsenal again' to 'Tahiti win World Cup... again', this must go down alongside 'Italian football hit by match-fixing scandal' in terms of its shock. The Drogba headline can be switched with Usain Bolt after he won the World Championships 100m. Or even 'Team GB drop baton.'
Story of the Week: Monty Panesar supposedly pissing on bouncers. Just so completely unexpected from Monty who is said to have gone off the rails and is expected to leave Sussex at the end of the season
Performance of the Week: Glenn Maxwell was on 38 off 40 balls for Australia A against India A. 39 balls later and he was on 145
Tweets of the Week: David Lynn made the big mistake of putting the wrong fuel in his car this week for his trip to Niagara Falls, allowing his mate Ian Poulter to inform the world and ask his Twitter followers to send in their best photos. If you go on his profile and look through his photos you will see quite a few but this one is most probably my favourite https://twitter.com/jeffdance1/status/365464229450502144/photo/1
I know I'm a bit late... but why have Tottenham let Clint Dempsey leave?
Geoffrey Boycott cutting an interview short to go watch CSI was excellent, but in case you haven't heard it, having Katy Perry read him a message just about tops it. Geoffrey's response to the message is worth listening to as well the sly dog - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01dz5mh
The Bundesliga was back with a bang this weekend with goals, goals and more goals. I fully recommend catching hour long highlights at 10pm Monday on ITV4
Hull City change their name to Hull City Tigers to generate more appeal oversees. Have the owners seen Hull play recently? I don't care what they're called nobody wants to watch them
Rafa Nadal wins in Toronto. The US Open has just become more interesting
Some interesting words from Stephen Fry who wants to see the 2014 Winter Olympics taken away from Russia because of their new anti-gay laws. I'm all with Fry, but there is one problem for me and that is who do you offer major sporting events to if you starting getting all political? How many countries are established democracies and liberal enough for an Olympics or a World Cup? I can think of very few who I'd like to see get these big events although admittedly Russia is very low down on the list of deserving countries
Sport this week...
It may or may not be the return of the Premier League
Seriously...
I'm still trying to work out how Nathan Lyon got four-fer on the first day at Durham
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