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intense but it is hard to find anyone else at the present time to challenge them over five sets. Del Potro, Tsonga, Soderling, Cilic and America’s John Isner and Andy Roddick have the big serve game that suit’s the Wimbledon grass but are unlikely to prevail against the ‘big four’. However, let’s hope we get good weather and a good exciting tournament. CRICKET England have started their three match Test series against Sri Lanka and recorded an astonishing victory in the first Test at Cardiff. After a rain affected match and each team scoring over four hundred runs in each of their first innings, England, with only a few hours of play left in the match, miraculously bowled Sri Lanka out in their second innings in under two and a half hours for a meagre eighty two runs and won the match by an innings and fourteen runs. Unbelievable! Unfortunately, the second Test at Lord’s petered out in a tame draw and, at the time of writing, the third Test at the Rose Bowl has yet to commence. England’s target and ambition is to be the number one ranked international cricket team by the end of the year. To achieve this, England must defeat the current number one team, India, in the four Test series beginning at Lord’s on 21 July. These should be excellent Test matches between two excellent sides. Much mirth was recently created by the wonderful radio commentary team that presents Test Match Special. Jonathan Agnew reduced ex-England captain Michael Vaughan to uncontrolled giggling when he noted, during the second Sri Lanka Test match, that England batsman Kevin Pietersen was repairing his cricket bat and was “putting a rubber” on it; he followed that up by saying to Vaughan “It’s not easy putting a rubber on, is it Michael?” to which Vaughan replied “No it’s not. I was never good at that”; but then Vaughan was reduced to uncontrolled giggles over the airways. This is not the first time that such hilarity has been caused by unintentional cricket commentary. Richie Benaud, an ex-Australian captain, once said of one batsman’s technique: “He’s usually a good puller but he couldn’t get it up that time”. Then there was the great Brian Johnston’s bloomer when he said during a West Indies/England Test match: “The bowler’s Holding. The batsman’s Willey”. Finally, there was the famous occasion when Brian Johnston was trying to read out the end of day score card and, when referring to Ian Botham losing his wicket by
stepping on to it, was reduced to uncontrollable laughter that lasted for several minutes over the radio when Johnathan Agnew (again!) observed that Botham “couldn’t quite get his leg over” (the wicket, of course). That last incident was eventually voted the greatest sporting commentary of all time! BOXING It was with much sadness that we learnt in early May of the death of Britain’s most famous and well loved boxer, heavyweight Sir Henry Cooper. ‘Our ‘Enry’ was not only a great fighter – he was a true role model. He became the nation’s working class hero; a man who stood for decency and modesty. Whilst Henry never won a world title he held the British, European and Commonwealth heavyweight titles over many years. But Henry will always be most
remembered for his fight with the then Cassius Clay, their non-title fight at Wembley in 1963 when the famed “Enry’s ‘ammer” (Cooper’s famous left hook) flattened the unbeaten Clay towards the end of the fourth round. Clay would undoubtedly have been counted out but he was saved by the bell. During the interround break, Clay’s manager, Angello Dundee, gave him smelling salts (not legal!) and tore a small hole in Clay’s boxing glove which then needed a replacement. All this gave Clay time to recover from Henry’s hammer blow and he duly defeated Henry after a massive attack in the next round, Henry retiring with a cut eye, a weakness he suffered from for most of his boxing career. Sir Henry Cooper will be much missed by the British people but forever remembered as a great sportsman and a great man.
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