Rob Smyth's Blog, page 67
November 19, 2022
Australia v England: second one-day international – live
Out come the sides onto the SCG oval. England in their 50-over uniform of navy blue with sky blue accents. Australia clavicle to toe in canary yellow, a monochrome palate offset only by green helmets.
Smith is currently being interviewed on the host broadcaster about that cover drive. It is excellent #content but the chumminess of it all is hard to connect with. I think I’m a little dead inside. Maybe more than a little.
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November 17, 2022
Football Daily | James Maddison and a breath of the air-conditioned fresh stuff
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James Maddison may have got the call from Gareth Southgate last week, but he still hasn’t got the memo. While 110% of footballers go into interviews looking to say as little as possible – at the end of the day, Geoff, that’s the name of the game – Maddison sees them as a blank canvas to have fun and express his personality. Just like he does on the field. Of course, there’s been a lot of talk about air-conditioned stadiums at the egregious farce that is the Human Rights World Cup, but the England squad have benefitted similarly from Maddison’s inclusion. He’s a breath of the fresh stuff in a team who, in the past year, have been criticised for their perceived malodorousness.
Continue reading...November 13, 2022
England crowned T20 World Cup champions after final win over Pakistan – as it happened
England beat Pakistan by five wickets, with Sam Curran shining with the ball before Ben Stokes hit the winning runs
Read Simon Burton’s match report from the MCGI can’t quite believe that we are half an hour away from a World Cup final. All the signs were that it would be rained off, or at the very least have a delayed start.
Pakistan Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Haris, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi
Continue reading...Pakistan v England: T20 World Cup final – live
I can’t quite believe that we are half an hour away from a World Cup final. All the signs were that it would be rained off, or at the very least have a delayed start.
Pakistan Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Haris, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi
Continue reading...November 11, 2022
England 4-0 Japan: women’s international football friendly – as it happened
The debutant Jess Park scored within two minutes of coming on as England continued their brilliant form by hammering Japan
8 min Daly’s speculative long-range shot is blocked; then Walsh, imaginative as ever, tries an eye-of-a-needle pass to Mead that is cut out. Mead was offside anyway.
7 min Bright is robbed by Iwabuchi, who moves down the left and drags a low cross towards Sugita (I think). Bright gets back to intercept.
Continue reading...The Fiver | The last round of Premier League games before Santa tours the country
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Christmas is in the air. The John Lewis advert has arrived, tugging on the nation’s heartstrings and overdraft facilities with a cover of Blink 182; the Guardian Sport Xmas do was on Thursday night, which is why this Fiver reads as if written by a rampantly hungover tea-time email guiltily phoning it in, in the hope The Man is still depositing unmetabolised crème de menthe into a wastepaper basket; and various Premier League managers have been asked about what it would mean to be top/third/16th/bottom on 25 December.
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Continue reading...November 10, 2022
Manchester United 4-2 Aston Villa: Carabao Cup third round – as it happened
The substitute Alejandro Garnacho made two goals as United came from behind to beat Villa in a pulsating second half
“What has Donny done to deserve a place in this team?” writes Awais Alam. “Must be doing something right in training but then not on the pitch!”
I’ve given up trying to solve that mystery. Maybe he’s the Jordi Cruyff de nos jours – Dutch, classy and wasting his mid-20s in Manchester.
Continue reading...England crush India by 10 wickets to reach T20 World Cup final – as it happened
Jos Buttler and Alex Hales produced a devastating display of hitting to power England into the final with four overs to spare
I’m off to grab a coffee. See you in a bit for – gulp – India v England in the World Cup semi-final.
“Rob,” says Yog Wadhwa, “Indians are without their first-choice fast bowler and spinning allrounder - Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja.”
Continue reading...India v England: T20 World Cup semi-final – live
I’m off to grab a coffee. See you in a bit for – gulp – India v England in the World Cup semi-final.
“Rob,” says Yog Wadhwa, “Indians are without their first-choice fast bowler and spinning allrounder - Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja.”
Continue reading...November 6, 2022
Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Liverpool: Premier League – as it happened
Two ruthless finishes from Mo Salah gave Liverpool their first away win of the Premier League season in a game of two halves
“Newcastle had an empathic win, did they?” says Peter Dawes. “Arm-round-the-shoulder kinda thing? ‘We understand how you feel, we have often felt the same way ourselves y’know.’”
It’s my favourite typo since I criticised a cricketer for playing a useless cut stroke in 2010.
Continue reading...Rob Smyth's Blog
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