July 2010 Archives

It takes you three days to get over a game of cricket..........3 days???????

Well I suppose that’s what I should have expected now I’m the big 30, and more importantly this was the first season where I haven’t been playing rugby beforehand.........but still...............wtf??

I used to be the uber fit guy who would rip into everyone else when they moaned about being sore from playing a bit of cricket, don’t get me wrong I have always played hard, but come on...compared to rugby it’s not exactly “Hardcore” but yet, it has taken me till today to be able to move enough to actually enjoy taking my dog for a walk!

Ah well, could be worse, we could have lost! I am glad to say all the pain was worth it as in my first full league cricket game for almost two years, not only did we managed to win, but I grabbed 3-32, a catch, and was a part of the winning batting partnership as we chased down 166 to win against Olton and WW, not bad for an old man! I must admit as well how much I genuinely enjoyed playing on Sunday too, roll on the next game this weekend, and perhaps, just perhaps it’s time I got back in the gym........either that or get a wheelchair and a full time masseuses!

It was such a good win, we managed to get showered and changed in time to watch the World Cup final................and wow do I almost wish I hadn’t, what an awful game, the only pleasure I took was in predicting the result and score perfectly by saying that Spain would win 1-0............but unluckily I don’t bet, so even that wasn’t much consolation!

The World Cup has been an odd one, I am starting to think that the media pressure and incredible hype around the sporting world’s biggest tournament in this day of the magical interweb, has meant that teams now approach each game with so much fear, as they daren’t make a mistake and lose, that they simply can’t go out and play.

The hosts South Africa deserve immense credit for the tournament, after all, it is not their fault the world’s best players didn’t turn up, but it will genuinely go down as one of the worst ever world cups for me in terms of football played, only really Germany, and some magical moments from teams like Japan even attempted to light the blue touch paper, and I reckon we need a major rethink, or a huge amount invested in sports psychology for the players, before 2014 rolls around.

Better news was the English winning the One Day series against Bangladesh, especially in the way they simply destroyed the Tigers in the deciding one day. It was good for Bangladesh to grab their first win against England, but you have to say that unless they can improve their pitches back home to breed better seam bowlers, they will never be able to truly compete on the world stage, which is a shame as I think they have some amazingly talented batsmen!

I was very happy with the way all of the players brought in during this series, including Bopara, Shazad, Trott and Bell all stepped up to the plate, along with established players like Swann and Broad outdoing themselves, and with Swanny and KP to come back, England really do have an embarrassment of riches coming through the ranks now, maybe it’s the Academy and lions systems already repaying dividends!!

Either way, bring on the Ashes man!

The F1 wasn’t bad either, with Webber’s win bringing about some rather unsubtle taunting of his teams bosses, and after nicking his nose cone to put on Vettel's car in qualifying, understandably so, but I thought the real story was Jenson Buttons drive from the back, and Hamilton’s excellent 2^nd place which keeps him top of the Championship. There is still a very long way to go, but I really fancy these McLaren boys to edge it over the superior cars of the Red Bulls, especially as there test drivers aren’t at each other’s throats and trying ot run each other off the course at every turn.

Silverstone was magnificent in the sunshine, and I hope that will be the case when I go down tomorrow with Michael Dunn, the competition winner on my show, who gets to come and attend the California Superbike school with myself................and I can’t wait!

Awesome news that I have just heard as well, is that all of the Birmingham & Solihull Bee’s home games next season are to be played on a Sunday, unfortunately the rumours that this has been organised to try and tempt me out of retirement and back into a Bee’s shirt (as I do my Offside show on a Saturday and so can’t play) can’t be confirmed right now, but no matter what you can bet I will be there to watch every week at the very least!

Right I best get to bed, and rest my weary old bones, as I have to be up at 5am tomorrow to get to Silverstone, and as I have found out to my peril, my body just isn’t what it used to be J!

So yeah, it’s been ages since I last blogged, for the simple reason that I have been uber manic, but once again, I shall declare my intentions to blog a bit more like Rafa Nadal after 5 coffees, rather than Wayne Rooney after some horse tranquiliser.....................

Yes the World Cup, I have watched every game, and what can I say, I’ve loved it! As a passionate and fervent England fan, of course I was dreadfully disappointed, in fact I actually am almost beyond caring, simply because watching England’s supposed “Golden Generation” was like watching petulant children arguing over who gets what toy in kindergarten.

Yes, there may have been issues in the camp, but I don’t care, they are all grown adults, and they should take responsibility for their actions as men. No excuses, it’s as simple as that, no amount of tension in the camp, or confusion over a 4-4-2 system we have been playing since dinosaurs ruled the earth are excuses, in fact, I hate excuses.

It’s simple, as men, and I don’t mean as footballers, but as men who should show pride in everything they do, we simply don’t have any. Honestly, while England were limping through a World Cup they had enough talent to win, I watched the England rugby team beat an Aussie side they had no right to beat. Know how they did it? Passion and desire, something which our football players seem to know nothing about.

I’m sorry to be so condemning of my national team, but I’m being serious when I say I genuinely feel a bunch of passionate amateurs would have shown more heart than our lads did. I love football, but unfortunately, with the amount of diving, and dishonesty that is now core within the game, what do you expect? If you raise people to play with no pride in themselves, how will they have pride in their country?

People keep saying that they play well every week for their club, why can’t they do it for their country.......simples, they get paid playing for their club and it’s their careers on the line, while with England, they can play as badly as they want, and they still go back to their jobs. Pride, something you can’t buy, but that comes from within......think I’m being harsh, well how about when we were playing badly, why didn’t one of these so called superstars go looking for the ball, trying to turn the game around? I’m sorry, when you are that good, you can have an effect on a game, hell I’m a good Sunday morning footballer, nothing more, but I could have made a bigger difference than Rooney did, simply by chasing every ball down and trying my best..............nuff said.

There are a million and one things I could go on and talk about from the sports psychology side of things, through to the preparation, to the idea that they were simply too tired (try being a rugby player, a top class game is equivalent to a category 3 car crash, yet we play every week too!), but I’m simply going to move on, before my head explodes from frustration.

So as I write this, life is good, I’m loving my show on Kerrang, Spain are about to play Germany to see who will face the Netherlands in the World Cup final, England have beaten the Aussies in a One Day series at the cricket, and I have 4 amazing motorbikes outside my flat for some riding fun, if you want to see what I get up to on them, simply check out my Motorcycle Diaries! In fact the Diaries have been my main focus recently, along with getting nice trips to the MotoGP and Isle of Man, but I am glad to day I am back playing cricket with Harborne, and after two games, both rained off in the end, I can tell you..........I’m back!! Well I got a wicket....................let’s move on swiftly!

So yeah, in other words, from here on in, I will try and blog a whole lot more, even if it’s only a few lines, to keep you updated on what I’m up to and my thoughts on the goings on in the world of sport!

First up tonight’s game, well I reckon Germany are the team to beat in this World Cup, and as good Spain are I can see it being 3-1 to our vanquishers, the Germans, and I for one will be cheering them on, as at least they are playing with pride, and that Ozil is world class........!

So I’ll let you know what I think of the game tomorrow, oh and I’ll also update you on some new and exciting developments in the world of Wilkins!

Magnana