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The Private Hell of Jonathan Trott
Much has been said about stress related illness in sport lately, in particular cricket and without sounding self-righteous, when I saw the state of Jonathan Trott batting in the second innings against Australia, I kind of guessed that another victim was about to be announced. Let me tell you, as someone who has tried, with mixed results, just about every sport going, none is more stressful and deflating than cricket can be. It is a great game ...
To Guildford and Back!
One thing I always look forward to, is the annual all day booze up with my oldest group of friends. It normally falls in November with my birthday being the excuse to meander in and out of pubs before going on to watch a band or indulge in a hot curry. The Traditional Annual Boys Booze Up This year took us to the town of Guildford in Surrey, with the day culminating with a nostalgic trip down memory lane in the form of 'From The ...
Lesson One – Never Feel Sympathy for an Aussie
When I retired to bed last night England had dismissed Australia for 297 and were going along steadily at 74-2 on a pitch that was supposed to offer 500 runs to a half sensible batting team. At around 4.00 am, I woke up and nearly had a peek on my phone but I thought I would leave the excitement until the morning. Avoiding being like a kid at Christmas who opened his presents to early and had nothing to relish in the morning, I decided to ...
Baughurst Boys and Why England Don’t Win World Cups
When I was a kid in the 1970's, I was approached by Margaret Withey to see if I could gather up a group of kids from the school playground to form a football team to represent Baughurst Boys at Under 10's level. This came as something to a relief to my mother, who was frantically trying to keep me away from Cubs and Scout groups that were led by unregulated single men who suffered from sweat gland issues, drove three wheeled cars and still ...
Paul Smith – Fashion Designer
I watched a documentary the other day on the banking industry and for someone who as a child, struggled through tears of rage as my father told me how obvious it was that y=log 2 x, it was bloody difficult to follow, no matter how simplistic the narrator tried to make it. It turns out that if my father (mathematical genius and nuclear scientist) had worked in today's environment, he may well have, if he was morally corrupt enough, given up ...