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Much has been written but who is actually to blame for the England’s current form?  Selectors or Players?  Well here’s a thought.  Maybe it’s the media.

Not only in cricket but in all sports we heap untold expectation on the players and coaches.  With cricket, whoever is selected as wicket keeper is under immediate pressure to score runs.  Reid, Prior, Jones and now Ambrose have all come in and been hounded out by the media (who now interestingly want Reid, Jones or Prior back!), and are expecting excellent glove work, coupled with an average of 40 plus with the bat.  Not every country can produce an Adam Gilchrist so let the selectors decide who is the best prospect long term and then the media should get off his back.  Playing in the intensity of a Test match must be hard but when you know that 99% of the people reporting on the game are practically willing you to fail to give them copy makes it 100 times harder.

The same argument holds with Collingwood.  He hasn’t suddenly become a bad player.  His summer average is poor admittedly, but it was only 12 months ago he was made One Day captain, so he must be a decent player just out of form.  Dropping him, then bringing him back with the entire media writing that he shouldn’t even be in the side just makes it even harder for him to find form.  He was clearly short of confidence yesterday, and it was hardly surprising that he didn’t score.  However, he and all batsmen have been there before and as the saying goes “form is temporary but class is permanent”.  It was only a few Tests ago, that people in the media were questioning the inclusion of Bell, but now he is scoring again its not mentioned.

The bottom line is that it is unlikely that all players in ANY team will all perform well in a Test match.  The problem is that the media make such a song and dance about the slightest under performance that it unsettles not only the out of form player(s) but the entire team.  Perfection is always worth striving for but there has to be an acceptance that it can rarely, if ever be achieved, and we are not masters of all sports as we once were.  Our expectations are perhaps too high.

To all intents and purposes the England cricket team suffered an innings defeat at Headingly in the second Test at Headingly yesterday.  This off the back of drawing a game, which they should have won at Lords.

Many have said that the pitch at Lords was flat and there was nothing in it for the bowlers.  Question though.  If the positions have been reversed, do you think England would have been able to bat for 2 days solid and lose just 4 wickets?  I certainly don’t.

For years, pundits complained about the lack of depth to England’s batting, saying we need bowlers that can bat and wicket keepers that can bat. Enter Broad, Sidebottom, Anderson to some degree, any one of Reid, Jones and Ambrose, and we now bat down to  8 or 9.  In fact there is a case to be argued that Broad will develop into a fine all rounder after recent performances.

However, whatever the quality (or supposed quaility) of our batting line up, and whatever order you put them in, they will never be a top side until and unless they get their heads right.

In the first innings at Headingly almost to a man they threw away their wickets, slashing at balls that were moving around all over the place.  I think 9 were caught in the slips or by Boucher.  There is a time and a place for that sort of cricket, and its One Day Internationals and Twenty20.  Interestingly when it gets to these games, we seem content to nudge it around and score at less that 4 an over.  Go figure???  For example, Bell scored at nearly a run a ball at the beginning of innings at Lords, yet put him in a ODI and he takes 10 overs to score 25, then gets out.

Ok.  Back to Headingly.  Top class batsmen are able to concentrate for inordinate amounts of time, and in particular in the critical moments just before the end of a session.

The first two sessions of our second innings ended with wickets falling in the last couple of overs.  This took it from a solid start to a shambles, giving South Africa the momentum and putting pressure on the middle order, and we all know that the middle order cannot handle pressure in that way.  And so it proved.  It comes to something when the “tail” of Anderson, Broad and Ambrose all out score Vaughan, Bell, Pietersen and Strauss.  What’s missing is a combination of concentration and application and that will to win, or as the South Africans showed at Lords, a will not to lose.  I get the distinct impression that the English team were more looking forward to a day off.

Padraig Harrington joined an elite group becoming one of only a handful of golfers to win The Open twice in successive years.  Only 4 days earlier he was an injury doubt and the speculation was high that he wouldn’t even compete.  However, compete he did and eventually ran out a winner by 4 strokes on a day when the other big names other than Ian Poulter failed to make any impression.

For a high handicap golfer like myself it was good to see the professionals suffer in the teeth of 40-50mph gusts and struggle to hit fairway after fairway.  Add to that, the pressure of the final day of a major tournament and it became a fight not only of the conditions but also a mental struggle.

I fear for the likes of Sergio Garcia, who looked frail.  Going into the final day, any player 8 shots and under off the lead was in contention, and as David Howell proved posting 3 under par was possible with a little application and resolve.  However, Garcia for one looked mentally beaten after he missed a putt on the first hole.  His shoulders sagged and he shook his head, and then predictably went on to post 7 over par.  After last years close encounter he was a hot favourite this year, but on yesterdays performance I have doubts that he will ever get that close again.

Other performances worth a mention for different reasons were Ian Poulter, Greg Norman and Amateur Chris Wood.  Poulter put on a spurt in the back nine and but for a couple of missed putts and an inspired couple of holes from Harrington could have forced a play off at least.

Norman at 53 (as the commentators couldn’t mention enough) was leading going into the last day, but his decision making let him down on the final day and he dropped away.  However, he will have had every reason to be pleased with his performance, where he made a lot of younger players look poor.

And then Wood - winner of the Silver Medal as top amateur, pushed all the way and only fell at the last couple of holes when he missed a couple of crucial fairways and found a bad lie in a bunker.  However, no doubt he will turn pro soon and hopefully move from strength to strength.

Most interesting was the interview with Jack Nicklaus, who talked at length about the modern game and the financial rewards that players receive these days.  He said it wasn’t a case of “too much too soon” but maybe a case of “too much”.  A lot of players these days can make a good living and never win a tournament and “fly under the radar”.  His belief is that they lack the drive to win, being happy to take the cash.  Therefore when the going gets tough they simply withdraw - apparently there are 15-20 withdrawals from tournaments these days, which is an unheard of figure.

Compare this to Tiger Woods playing and winning the US Open with a bad knee and Harrington, who fought to recover from injury this week to go on and win.  Perhaps that’s the difference between the average pros and the Champions that really want to win - not for financial reasons, but because they just want and “need” to win.

Harry Kewell has signed for Turkish signed for Galatasary and sent hard core Leeds fans into a fury of indignation.  The reason is that 2 Leeds fans were killed by Galatasary fans back in 2000 prior to a UEFA Cup match.  They therefore see Kewell’s move as a slight on their club.

OK time for a few hard facts.

First of all the supporters that were killed were reportedly in the wrong part of town, drunk and apparently abusing a local girl.  Now this in no way condones what happened to them, but they have to accept a certain amount of responsibility. No doubt had the shoe been on the other foot and it been Turkish fans in Leeds city centre behaving in a similar fashion, then local justice would have been meted out.

Secondly Kewell owes Leeds United nothing.  Yes he came to prominence while playing for them and subsequently moved to Liverpool where he cashed in on his reputation.  However, the argument that Leeds made him the player he is, is rubbish.  If he had crashed and burned at Leeds, then these same die hard fans would have been calling for him to be sold on and giving him a hard time every time he set foot on the pitch.  They can’t have it both ways.  There is no loyalty from fans to managers or players, you only have to see the way ex-players and managers are treated if they ever return to a former club to understand that.  Therefore players owe nothing to the clubs that pay their wages.  They are paid to do a job and they do that job - and that’s what it is a job, albeit very well paid.

Thirdly, Leeds fans are not whiter than white. Over the years they have had more than there fair share of trouble.  One incident in particular saw them ripping up seats and throwing them, actually hitting their own disabled fans sitting at the front.  Hardly the behaviour of rational level headed human beings.
Fourthly Kewell is in the twilight of his career, and footballers only have a finite time to cash in on their ability.  No club in the UK will pay him anywhere near the £40-50000 per week that Galatasary are reported to be paying him.  He needs to earn as much as possible in the last few years as he can and nobody should blame him for that.

Finally, Leeds fans should concentrate on getting behind their team and hoping they get back to top flight football, where they can enjoy more European nights.  From what I’ve seen they are fickle beyond belief  - I will never forget the year they played Pompey at Elland Road.  They were outsung by 2000 travelling fans and many were jeering the players and leaving 10 minutes before the end, even though they were only trailing 2-1, in a game they needed to win to try and avoid relegation.  That’s not the behaviour of loyal fans who want to see their team do  well.  It’s easy to support a side that’s winning - the sign of a true fan is one who will try and lift the players when things are not going so well.
So let the past go and concentrate on the future, and getting into the Championship next season.

The Wimbledon Men’s final yesterday looked to be done and dusted when Nadal won the first two sets relatively comfortably despite having been broken once.  But we should have known better than to write off Federer the World Number one and  5 times Champion.  He came back, surviving 2 Championship points to take the next 2 sets and take the match into a 5th set decider.
The quality of the tennis was superb and showed just how far our own Andy Murray has to go to compete at this level.  It looked like the only person capable of beating either of these guys was the one at the other end.  Nadal eventually won the final set 8-6 to prevent Federer beating Bjon Borg’s record and claim his first Wimbledon title.  On this performance you would have to say it will be the first of many and it looks as if he will go on to dominate men’s tennis for the next decade, as he is only 22 now.

For excitement quality, physical and mental strength of the players, you would have to say this was one of the best ever if not THE best ever men’s final.  It had everything, including rain stoppages and an injury scare, and with both players using Hawk Eye to the maximum that only added to the tension and drama.

On Saturday the British fans had something to shout about as well, when Laura Robson won the Junior Girls title aged just 14.  A packed No 1 court saw her beat Lertcheewakarn 2 sets to 1 to become the youngest winner since Martina Hingis and the first Brit in 24 years to win it.  Who knows in a couple of years we could have a male and female in the top 10, whatever next.

Laura has a long long way to go, but already has the foundations in place and a good team around her. Interstingly she was serving at around 96 mph - I remember Rosco Tanner hitting the first 100mph serve using an old wooden racket - now even the junior girls are doing it.  Just goes to show how much the game has changed in 20 years.

With Lewis Hamilton winning the British Grand Prix it was a pretty good weekend for British sport, although not as good a time as it has been for Spanish sport of course!

Much has been written about the moody, temperamental and surly Scott Andy Murray.  Some of it by me.  Despite trying really hard I’ve found it really difficult to get behind him 100% - can’t quite put my finger on it but there is just something about him that makes him difficult to warm to.

However, for the first time this Wimbledon I sat down to watch him play last night.  And what a match.  He looked down and out when I turned the TV on and I almost turned it off again as I expected him to follow in the footsteps of Tiger Tim and go out with a whimper.

But miraculously he turned it around as I’m sure you know by now, eventually running out a winner in a 5 set 4 hour thriller.

In doing so, he not only turned around my opinion of him, but also that of many others watching on TV and everybody that was present on centre court.  As the comeback took shape, the noise levels rose, not only from the crowd but from Murray himself as the adrenalin started to flow properly.

His little outbursts have upset a minority, who don’t think it’s very “British” or very “Wimbledon” to rant and rave and look a little grumpy.  Most, if not all of these people have clearly never played sport at any level and don’t know what an adrenalin rush is.

Now personally, if he has to rant, rave, swear and look as dour as a dour thing, I don’t care if that’s what it takes to make him win.  We have had years of Brits, who have had personality, but lacked the stubborn bloody mindedness and mental strength to win a Grand Slam.  McEnroe, Connors were not saints, but they were winners.  Andy Murray is of that ilk.
So let’s stop being so “British” about the whole thing and get behind him for the rest of his career.