Heartland

They could if he was untested at the highest level. They certainly could after he failed at the highest level. If it helps there are some Pakistani kids down my street who play a lot of cricket in their back garden. I'd guess I could average 297 against them, providing we play with a tennis ball on ...

The only thing which will stop our fans being arrogant is an end to the depressing hype which engulfs the English game. We're told we have the best league in the world, and draw our national team from (some of) the star players involved in that. The only 'outsiders' come from Real Madrid and Bayern ...

To be fair to Bell... All well and good ... but did any of you - or me, for that matter - say this when Bell had a Test average of 297 in mid-July? No. Next. By mid-July had he played test cricket against anyone other than Bangladesh? I'm not entirely buying that .... he's failed to prove himself a...

The English would be disgusted with themselves if the drew with the Pharoh Islands or whatever that result was... see the reaction to the NI game for evidence. We, on the other hand, would just go "Ah, well, we didn't expect to win really, sh!tey old Scotland but we love you. And by the way aren't ...

RicheyJames wrote:can someone please explain what the point of ian bell is?

To 'ring' the changes. Of course.

/gets coat/

At least Collingwood is in decent form and has some test experience.

This doesn't seem like the ideal game to throw in an untried Tremlett or a low-confidence Anderson, IMHO.

Bat through today and pray for rain. Good enough for me

Hurrah. Will look out for this one. It all sounds eeriely familiar. Any chance of them touring?

Although the QB's long passing in the first half was picking out Wright-Phillips, who in turn was giving Tony Capaldi problems on the England right. That might have cut Gerrard and Lampard out of some of the play, but these guys play in central midfield. It's not like they are stuck out on the flank...

Sorry, I have to gloat while I can... :oops: Why? This is the one thing I really don't understand about the Scots. Obnoxious as the English can be on occasion, nine times out of ten when our own team is out of contention we'll lend a bit of friendly support to our immediate neighbours (except the F...

Premiership in 'not actually all that good' shocker? It's easy to have a go at Sven (he is foreign, after all) but as usual we're guilty of assuming that playing in the Premiership gives players a divine right to win things. Rio 'World's most expensive defender' Ferdinand standing a yard behind his ...

I'm not sure they are any less European than Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia and arguably even Russia. I wouldn't say any of those (with the exception of the far west of Russia) are European. Is Turkey not officially in Asia anyway?... to the east of the Bosphorus (sp?). Which is most of it. I have hea...

Kazakhstan play football in the European Qualifying groups for the World Cup (they're at home to Greece tonight looking for their first win; the under-21s lost 2-1 last night). Their club teams play in the early stages of the UEFA Cup and Champions League. Presumably they will enter the qualifying s...

And now I've found the Belarus entry for 2005. Things are looking up.

It's not as funny as I'd hoped, but never mind. There will be others

Was looking for Belarus's Eurovision entries via the ever-reliable (for crap slavic pop) Esckaz websites.

You didn't expect a sensible answer, did you?

No, really. Set up on-line by a bunch of mad Kazakhs. http://esc.ruz.net/2005/metal.htm for the competition; http://esc.ruz.net/2005/metalpics2.htm for pictures of the competitors. I'm not sure Bulgaria have quite grasped the idea, judging by the outfits. Denmark think it's a Michael Bolton video co...

Parents can be funny like that. When I was at school they were happy for me to go on exchange visits and stay with families in Russia on the strength of a few semi-coherent hand-written letters and a faded polaroid or two. They had few problems with reciprocating for Russian visitors to us. If I go ...

This new Chairman BOX character.

Not based anywhere on the NW fringes of London, perchance?

One of the best things about music was being in the County Youth Orchestra (Durham, in my case). Every summer we'd go to play at the Edinburgh Festival (it's true: I first played the fringe aged 14). At school people thought I was mad to give up part of my summer for 'swotty stuff', without realisin...

Alternatively, it could be a side-effect of unusually high interest in music coupled with Emma Johnson winning Young Musician of the Year in 1984 when many of us were at impressionable ages.

Possibly so. Does that make clarinettists the gothest part of any given orchestra?

By rights we should have gone for the organ, I suppose.

Well, I stuck at the clarinet a bit longer than Boudicca and ended up doing a music degree. Then concluded that musicians are basically arseholes and switched direction. If I really try I can play the Mozart concerto :P My most useless 'qualification' would have to be an ice-dancing certificate. To ...

Newcastle United I've been going since I were a nipper, and through all the averageness of the last few years I still hold out for a bit of excitement. Please, lets have some. Maybe St Michael can give it to us? What's average about a team whose players throw in a spot of bare-knuckle boxing at hom...

Think of the way in which, despite planning for the possibility of a chemical/biological terror attack on London, our police arrived at the 7/7 bomb sites not knowing whether chemical weapons had been used. Suppose that I have written a number between 1 and 10 on the inside of my front door. If, be...

Of course, the famous snow storm that closed the M11 with its inch of slush demonstrated how well prepared we are for natural disasters. Think of the way in which, despite planning for the possibility of a chemical/biological terror attack on London, our police arrived at the 7/7 bomb sites not know...

Why are we suddenly confident that a police force which manages to shoot an innocent man while he doesn't actually hurdle a ticket barrier and dash on to a train, ignoring armed police along the way, wouldn't indulge in a spot of casual looting if the chance arose?