The Sporting Hack

Second Ashes Test Review Australia beat England by 218 runs. When Australia wrapped up the second Ashes test in Adelaide by securing England’s four remaining wickets within an hour of play on day five, it all seemed too easy for the hosts. It has been a breeze for Darren Lehmann’s side so far as they sit just one win away from reclaiming the coveted urn.  The head coach replaced the unpopular Mickey Arthur just 18 days before Australia began their campaign in England and, though his side lost 3-0; ‘Boof’ provided the down to earth and old school mantra which made the Baggy Greens competitive. Just six months down the line and it’s the English who are “facing a whitewash” according to former skipper Michael Vaughan who labelled the current crop’s attempts as “feeble”. From day one in Brisbane to day four in Adelaide, he wasn’t wrong. The tourists have been battered and bruised and look completely broken. Lehmann’s philosophy, opposed to Andy Flower’s scie...

Panesar: sitting tight Second Ashes Test preview. Amid the moralising, agreeing to disagree and general fall out from the Ashes first test in Brisbane, which was all overshadowed by excessive sledging and the departure, due to mental health concerns, of England’s Jonathan Trott, the most important question will start to be answered tomorrow morning: what next? England’s grip on the urn was significantly weakened by Michael Clarke’s men at the Gabba, who were as good as the tourists were poor. Johnson: terrifying, Warner: devastating, Clarke: imperious. The winning margin a hefty 381 runs. Captain Alistair Cook and head coach Andy Flower will know that England have an uphill struggle if they are to retain the urn, following the Brisbane defeat – their first in thirteen months. The last time England were beaten was by India in a first test drubbing in Ahmadabad, a catalyst for their first series win on the sub-continent for over 25 years. There can be no qu...

Sheffield Shield Victoria 118 South Australia 163/3 M.C.G. Stumps Day 1 South Australia opener Phillip Hughes gave Cricket Australia selectors a timely nudge in the ribs with an unbeaten 77 to put his side in command against a below par Victoria at the MCG. After skittling the hosts for a miserly first innings total of 118 - in which the effusive Dan Christian top scored with a determined 39 – Hughes set about proving his capabilities and went to task with typical diligence. His compact and unorthodox stance troubled what was, in truth, a mediocre pace attack and anything square of the wicket got ‘the treatment’. Hughes, who breezed past his half century off 96 balls, was ably helped by Tom Cooper to rattle off a devastating 107 run partnership for the third wicket. Most intriguing for Australian coach Darren Lehmann – himself a left hander who had to bide his time before donning the baggy green – will be Hughes’ adeptness at playing the short delivery....

It is unlikely that a 70-0 hammering at the hands of Wigan Warriors will singularly seal the fate of London Broncos, however the scoreline from Saturday’s Challenge Cup won’t have helped. The Rugby Football League arguably didn’t help the sole representatives of the capital by electing to stage the televised match at Leigh Sports Village, a stadium with a Wigan postcode. For a sport that prides itself on the pillars of fairness and competitiveness, it seemed to be a peculiar move, but in hindsight was rendered irrelevant. Soured: Aussie Jamie Soward (right) was brought to London just for the Cup What is relevant and real is the future of the Broncos as an entity hangs in the balance; a fact long known to the rugby league fraternity, but brought sharply in to focus for all to see following such public humiliation. You could, perhaps, even say that the RFL were quite clever to host the game so close to Wigan, so at least they could draw a crowd rather than hope f...

When seven players sign for a football club during the close season, there is often very little made of it. That particular club will more than likely have either replaced their manager with someone who wants their own side or have had a poor season previously and are looking at rebuilding. Not Watford. Gianfranco Zola has not been sacked and Watford didn’t have a bad season either, narrowly losing out on Championship promotion via the play-offs at Wembley in a 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace. The Hornets have indeed signed seven players; all in one go, all from one club and all for nothing.  Nada, zip, zilch. In what can be described as a ‘crafty’ or ‘creative’, Watford’s owners, the Pozzo family – who also own Italian side Udinese and Spanish outfit Granada – have allowed the Hornets to take the Udinese septuplet (Diego Fabbrini, Gabriel Angella, Almen Abdi, Christian Battocchio, Marco Cassetti, Davide Faraoni and Javier Acuna) plus Granada’s Daniel Pudil to...