The Sporting Hack

Happy Easter folks and welcome to this week's edition of TFF, remember you can get involved through a variety of media channels. Either leave a comment here, or follow us on Twitter and interact that way. We’ve all been there haven’t we? Whether it’s down at the local snooker club or at major international tournaments, we’ve all rattled the jaws of the pocket with the black ball when needing it to drop for a 147 break. But, seriously, spare a thought for poor old Mark Selby who was a hairs breadth away from snooker’s maximum, and a cheque for over £20,000, in his China Open first round match against Mark King. The self-proclaimed ‘Jester from Leicester’, who is the reigning UK and Masters champion, tried his best to laugh it off but will be hoping for no repeats when he enters the quarter final stage against Mark Williams this weekend. Watch Selby's miss on the final black here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_752908&feature=iv&src_vid=...

The Formula One season is only a couple of weeks old and already there are more than enough talking points from events in Australia and, in particular, Malaysia. "Well, this is awkward." Mark Webber (far left) was more raging bull than Red Bull having been overtaken by his teammate Sebastian Vettel, who snatched the win in the closing stages of the Sepang Grand Prix, contrary to team orders. Whether team orders should be allowed or not, seems to be at the crux of this matter. With their omission, it is likely that Webber would have driven flat-out and not been gazumped by a German upstart. The man who holds all the aces in this sport, Bernie Ecclestone, has said that there “was not enough at stake (this early in the season) to justify team orders.” Why justify team orders at all if they lead to mixed messages and the petering out of the last 20 laps? Nonetheless, this is not to condone the actions of Vettel who risked a guaranteed 43 points for the team...

New Zealand 443 & 241/6d England 204 & 315/9 Match drawn (series drawn 0-0) Day 5, Third Test Auckland England defied the odds, courtesy of wicketkeeper Matt Prior (right), to draw the game and the series, in Auckland. Prior’s stunning 110 not out proved the platform for the unlikeliest of escapes by the tourists in what was a thrilling encounter on New Zealand’s north island. The series, which finished 0-0, was still in the balance with the final ball of the final day of the final test.   Alastair Cook’s men probably didn’t deserve the draw; they were below par in most departments, including arguably captaincy too, with Cook’s decision to field on the opening day, which lead New Zealand making over 200 for the loss of just one wicket, requiring justification. Entering the final day, the hosts needed just six wickets, their opponents a miracle. Step forward the best wicketkeeper/batsman in world cricket at the moment, Prior. It’s a ...

We've had plenty of interest and hits on the blog this last couple of weeks, which has been great to see and bodes well for the future, as we want to continue to grow and share with you the wonderful and sometimes wacky world of sport. Remember you can get involved any time of day @TheSportingHack on Twitter. Jump in! I'm so glad we're sponsored by Rexona The Sporting Hack was at Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit for the Formula One season opener on Sunday, which was won by Lotus’ Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen. The sport is so dangerous and loud that it should contain a health warning, and that’s just for the spectators. Most fans have to wear ear plugs to make it bearable. All this results in a great big ‘thumbs up’ from us on our first ever appearance at a Grand Prix. We had the benefit of two qualifying sessions also being ran on race day due to Saturday’s weather and it was a privilege to feel the ground shake as thousands of horsepower and millions of po...