365 Sporting Days
Sharing a passion for Sport!
I’m going to try to keep this to the rugby! Well do my best anyway, although I’m not loving the pre-amble on BT Sport, I was at the game but I’m watching back if I can bear to. My own day started with lunch with two of my Harlequins friends, Sue and Henry, some good chat and a Costa, what’s […]
I started writing about rugby for the site In The Loose, before setting up my own thing. I’ve always considered myself to be fair, impartial and unbiased, in fact I try my hardest to think about the game first then my team. Being a Saracens fan has tested that resolve since the news of their Salary Cap transgressions broke in […]
In November Saracens were given a £5.4 ish fine and a 35 point deduction, having been found to have breached the salary cap for 3 seasons. As a Saracens fan that’s felt pretty awful, but more was yet to come! There’s been a sense of glee around any negative news around Saracens from some quarters, I was loathe to believe […]
With 2020 here, this is a good time to look back on a great summer for Essex, one that ended with them lifting the County Champions Trophy! This is my 2019 Wickets, Shots and Joy post! The season started with a loss at Hampshire for Essex, with Hampshire scoring a huge 525 for 8, I wasn’t there to see one […]
Round 4 of the Champions Cup saw Munster arriving at Allianz Park; my first experience of Munster was at the impressive Thomond Park in Limerick in December 2012, followed up by their visit to the gloomy Vicarage Road. This was another double header and with the first match finishing Munster 15 Saracens 9 and the second Saracens 19 Munster 13 […]
I started out the World Cup with tickets to 15 matches, that meant I’d be watching and taking photos of every team at least once. Weather in Bristol meant I didn’t get to see Sri Lanka, both their matches there, against Pakistan and Bangladesh were rained off. However I did get to see the Top 10 Batsmen runs wise in […]
Where were we? Well, I’m going to take a step back to build more of a picture of how it was in the Upper Compton Stand on Sunday. I was sat next to Jonny, a Doctor, from Birmingham, now living in Wimbledon; he was with 3 or 4 friends and their tickets had been sorted for them by a friend […]
It’s been a torrid few weeks to be an England and Saracens fan, a time that started with such hope saw a crowd of us rock up at Allianz Park at 8am on a Saturday morning to watch England win the World Cup. That don’t quite go to plan as South Africa pretty much did to us what we did to the All Blacks, perhaps Warren Gatland was right and England had put in their all in that astonishing semi-final. Losing Kyle Sinckler after 2 minutes didn’t help. But the match literally personified the rugby saying – The forwards decide who’s going to win the match, the backs by how much – England were out muscled from minute one. Although […]
This was one I couldn’t write while I was watching, the long awaited match between Pakistan and India. I drove up from Taunton through torrential rain, heading to Manchester a place renowned for rain at the best of times! Saturday evening was spent with some of my Stani Army friends at a restaurant in Wilmslow, Lal Qila followed by ice […]
I heard someone talking about the media early on in the Covid Lockdown – it went along the lines of – It’s all about being first, facts aren’t important. Let’s hold that thought as I look back at the match between Saracens and Wasps last weekend. I realise I’m late to this subject but I wanted to be in possession […]
Lots has happened cricket wise since Round 4 of this summer’s red ball County Cricket competition. Not least the arrival of the Australians for a white ball only tour. Australia somehow managed to lose the first T20 from an unassailable position. They didn’t hit a boundary from the 14th over until the 3rd ball of the 20th! Dawid Malan had […]
A quick round up of England’s final test of the summer; Having had quite amazing weather virtually as soon as Lockdown started, the British weather decided to assert itself on England’s series against Pakistan. At least we had two complete innings in this third test. Zak Crawley well and truly introduced himself to the wider cricketing world with a truly […]
A refresh of the rules for this Summer’s competition A reduction to a minimum of 90 overs in a day’s play. Each county’s first innings of a match can last no longer than 120 overs. The follow-on will increase from 150 to 200 runs. The new ball will be available after 90 overs rather than 80 overs. Points awarded for […]
A reminder of the rules of the 2020 Bob Willis Trophy before a look at the happenings in Round 2. A reduction to a minimum of 90 overs in a day’s play. Each county’s first innings of a match can last no longer than 120 overs. The follow-on will increase from 150 to 200 runs. The new ball will be […]
After the disappointment of sitting through the most glorious Spring with absolutely no cricket, Saturday 1st August saw the return of County Cricket. It had been my intention to attend all but one of Essex’s County games and that only because I was due to be watching England play Pakistan. But that wasn’t to be this summer, I was however […]
With Joe Root away for the birth of his daughter Ben Stokes took the reins in Southampton in the first test if the summer and in fact the first test worldwide since New Zealand beat India in early March. Stokes took the decision to bat first and we saw England bowled out for just 204. The main stat I’m looking […]
I wrote this article in 2019 and thought an update might be interesting. There are plenty of places to find out about Central Contracts but here’s an attempt to put the information into one place. Central Contracts were introduced in 1999, the amount of international cricket was increased and the ECB wanted greater control of the England players. As far […]
This country and most of the rest of the World came to a kind of a halt in Mid March. Luckily for those of us in England the weather throughout March, April, May and June was pretty much perfect. That meant for me a new found obsession with gardening, rather than lots of time watching my beloved cricket. Sod’s Law […]
Rugby Union feels a long way in the past at the moment, what was a fairly unpleasant season as a Saracens fan came to an abrupt halt on the weekend of March 7/8th. Two teams had won 9 games from the 13th played, one sits at the top of the table, the other at the bottom. So, it wasn’t the […]
I’m going to lay out where I stand before I write about Surrey. I’m an Essex member and fan, but I’m also a Surrey member and have been for around 7 years. I originally bought membership so I could access international tickets; but I’ve enjoyed watching Surrey and the Oval is a great place to watch the game. I’ve always […]
This was my 3rd World Cup Match, but I must write this up before the Bangladesh v South Africa match, which in itself was a special result. (photos to follow) I got to Trent Bridge via the Clifton Park and Tram, it’s a great way to get to the ground, but having chatted for too long at my Airbnb I […]
Looking back to the final test of a great series between England and Pakistan. I wrote this at a time when I was adding in photos galore, they don’t necessarily tie up with the words, apologies for that. This series really saw my fondness for Pakistan cricket start, I was very late to that show. I saw them win the […]
Match 28 – Karachi Kings v Islamabad United Islamabad 136 for 6 Rizwan Hussain – 17 from 14 balls Philip Salt(wk) – 25 from 19 Hussain Talat – 37 from 30 Shadab Khan(c) – 12 from 14 Colin Ingram – 14 from 15 Asif Ali – 2 from 5 Faheem Ashraf – 12 from 14 Zafar Gohar – 13 from […]
Match 25 – Quetta Gladiators v Multan Sultans The weather ‘won’ this one, the match was abandoned without a ball being bowled. Match 26 – Karachi Kings v Lahore Qalanders Lahore – 150 for 5 Sohail Akhtar(c) – 68 from 49 Fakhar Zaman – 17 from 13 Chris Lynn – 5 from 5 Ben Dunk(wk) – 9 from 14 Mohammad […]
Headlines have been in abundance as per usual when it comes to Saracens, the Daily Mail, that well known rugby paper, told us there was to be an exodus of players. The only absolute news from the club at that point had been to confirm that Liam Williams is heading back to Wales after his 3 years at the club. […]
