Ashes 2013/14 – 1st Test, Day 1: The Phantom Menace

Stuart Broad - The Phantom Menace © thesportreview.com

It would appear that the Australian players and media have made Stuart Broad angry, and they won’t like him when he’s angry. (They don’t like him all that much anyway…)

The England fast-bowler (take note Aussie media types, he was quick enough to unsettle your captain) took five of the eight wickets to fall on day 1 as England took charge at the Gabba.

273/8 hardly represents a disaster for Australia, but it took half centuries from Mitchell Johnson and Brad Haddin to keep things presentable, and on a flat batting pitch, the score is below par.

The day started brightly for England as Stuart Broad, selected as public enemy number one following an incident in the previous Ashes series, dismissed Chris Rogers in the fourth over.

As the first session progressed, David Warner and Shane Watson began to lay a platform for a good first innings total, until Broad struck again on the stroke of lunch. With Watson out and the score 71/2 at the break, the first session was England’s.

If the first 25 overs were edged by the tourists, the period after lunch was a much more clear-cut success.

Two more wickets for Broad, including the prize scalp of Michael Clarke the Australian captain, and one each for Anderson and Tremlett saw the home side six down and in a really dire situation.

The Haddin and Johnson inspired retaliation began before the interval, but at tea Australia were 153/6. Another session in England’s favour.

As the quick bowlers began to be rotated and rested, and Graeme Swann led England’s bowling efforts with a softened and tired ball, the counterattack began.

Brad Haddin was the first to 50, but Mitchell Johnson wasn’t far behind, and his innings that included two 6s was the more eye-catching of the two.

Haddin, unbeaten overnight, will once again take the majority of plaudits in an Australian batting effort in the first match of an Ashes series.

For a player that has often underwhelmed in the context of his legendary predecessor Adam Gilchrist, his Ashes record is particularly remarkable.

In the first test in 2009 in Cardiff, Haddin scored 121 as Australia posted a huge total, but his 136 at this ground in 2010 was in a much tighter game situation, and put his side in control.

It was his effort at Trent Bridge this summer that was probably the most impressive of his Ashes-opening innings, however.

On a slow and difficult batting pitch, with teammates crumbling around him, Haddin took his side to within 15 runs of victory.

Whilst only scoring 71 on that occasion, the wicketkeeper managed to display all of his well-documented fighting qualities.

With the Australian press on his back, Stuart Broad certainly stole the limelight on day 1, but Haddin’s innings made sure the final session was Australia’s despite two late wickets, and leaves him 22 runs shy of another Ashes hundred.

Session score: 2-1 to England

Verdict: Tourists on top despite having a phantom in the team and a ‘boring’ captain.

Rafael Nadal: Missing Pieces and Remaining Targets

Nadal In 'World Tour Finals Blue' - © Vita Fu

As Rafael Nadal collected balls to serve, knowing that he could be as little as six points from defeat, an unfamiliar expression adorned his face, resignation.

His play didn’t portray the same beaten man that his face revealed, and he saved two more break points in typically flamboyant fashion to delay the inevitable.

But this flicker of frustration and understanding his fate was an insight into the strength of feeling the World No.1 has for a tournament he is still yet to win.

A glittering CV, including wins at all four grand slams, and a plethora of Masters series events, does not make up for this empty space, the missing World Tour Finals trophy.

Before the final, the lefthander was repeatedly questioned about his failure to win the event, and his frustrations were clear to see.

Whilst remaining polite and praiseworthy towards the ATP tour, Nadal is as good a loser as he is a champion; he made sure to highlight his dismay at the tournament always being played indoors.

“I feel like I am unlucky. During these nine years the Masters Cup was on indoor, a surface that was not the best for me. I think this is unfair.”

Nadal, who played in what could be described as ‘World Tour Finals blue’, made no effort to hide how much winning the tournament would have meant, but as Djokovic celebrated back to back wins at the O2 arena, the Spaniard missed out again.

Before the final, Nadal said to the BBC, winning the event would be: “The perfect way to close probably the best year in my career.”

While it was not to be, the transformation from injured and absent, to being reinstated as World No.1, has been a remarkable one.

As well as the best year of his career, the Mallorcan has also described it as the most emotional one.

Publicly, Nadal has made a remarkable rise back to prominence, and in such a short space of time, he was returned to his serene best. Privately it has been less serene.

“What really produced these emotional moments was working hard in tough moments trying to be positive.

“A lot of people were with me during this period of time. When you go to the gym every day and you don’t see a positive result, then you lose energy.

“Having these people around me during this period of time was decisive.”

The Spaniard is so adept at making everything on a tennis court look so easy, there has been little indication of these struggles.

As well as having the right people around him Nadal has a meticulous nature.

This is visible when he’s on court as he carefully arranges his water bottles in formation; it is also visible when carefully considering the route and structure of his comeback.

His decision to return to tennis on a clay court was not a coincidence; the surface he is most comfortable on was always the one he would return on.

By the time he returned to a hard court, and the surface that most tests his game and his knees, he was ready.

His 22^nd consecutive hard court win of 2013 saw Nadal lift the US Open title, and even before this win over Novak Djokovic, the Serbian was forced to acknowledge the might of the man from Manacor.

Even before Nadal defeated him in the US Open final and then regained the number one ranking, the Serbian declared his Spanish counterpart the best player in the world this year.

Aside from his meticulous preparation and superstitions, and aside from the form that have seen him eclipse all this year there still remains questions for Nadal, and a Djokovic conundrum.

Looking beyond the Spaniard’s success in grand slams against the World No. 2, to the autumn meetings, and Djokovic seems to once again hold the upper hand. 

Having beaten Djokovic for the 22^nd time when they met at Flushing Meadows, Nadal has seen his Serbian rival roar back with a straight-set victory in Shanghai, and this more recent success in London.

Whilst remaining fit should guarantee a 9^th Roland Garros title in June 2014, the same cannot be said elsewhere.

The current World No. 1 will face stiff challenges in a long hard court season, and face uncertainty when he returns to Wimbledon.

A tournament that he says he loves, on a surface he describes as frustrating, unpredictable and funny, is sure to provide a defining moment in Rafael Nadal’s 2014 as he looks to follow a stunning 2013.

Whilst there was no fairy-tale ending to Rafael Nadal’s 2013, the journey was a spectacular one, and it only renews expectation and anticipation for next year.

With the World Tour Final’s trophy still yet to grace his mantelpiece, the World No. 1 still has more boxes to tick.

MA Sports Journalism: Week 1

Now that I’m officially enrolled and teaching has begun, I thought I would record a few thoughts about my first week as a Sports Journalism student at St Mary’s. 

Looking past the horror of rising at 5.30 AM four mornings a week, and the fight through the chaos of London’s public transport network, the start has been a very positive one. Each of the course units provide knowledge and insight into areas of journalism that will be vital to have an understanding of to succeed in the trade, and whilst Public Affairs has been earmarked as the one that’ll provide the most tedium by many, I think I’ll even enjoy that as a former History student with an interest in Politics.

One of the most important selling points of this course is the opportunity to work with, and learn from, former and current industry professionals. This not only allows us to pick up useful skills, but tricks of the trade that they had to learn the hard way. Without wishing to give too much away, as I’m paying a not-inconsiderable amount of money in tuition fees for this opportunity, I certainly learned more about conducting an interview in the two minutes spent discussing how to deal with interviewees, than I ever could watching hours and hours of polished interview footage on television.

The ultimate goal when undertaking post-graduate study is traditionally to pass exams, complete a dissertation, and walk away with a Masters in the subject of choice. Whilst all this is available, and the academic target, the style and design of this course is such that, it has been possible for students to walk away without a formal qualification and still consider their time at St Mary’s a success. Whilst I will certainly look to gain the Masters, even if only out of vanity, and to get the opportunity to moan my way through another dissertation project, I know that the course is adaptable, and that the final aim is really employment.

Aside from the make-up of the course, some interesting observations have been made. As one individual pointed out, there is a very wide mix of experiences and interests within the group, and this will not only make for interesting discussions in classes, but will also result in a wide range of topics covered on our online magazine, The Sports Gazette. Another observation shared by many of us was that it feels more like school than university. This is born out of the size of the group (19), and the fact we spend the whole timetabled day with the same group of people, rather than taking separate units, or dipping in and out of the university throughout the day.

The general consensus throughout the group has been one of excitement, and whilst this year promises to be hard work, at least it’s not accountancy.

Pure FM: My Time enjoying the Portsmouth University Radio Experience.

I uploaded the last of my radio shows from my time at Pure FM a couple of weeks ago, and as I listened in briefly to their Breakfast Show, live from The Freshers Fayre this morning, I realised that I had intended to write something for my blog about my first few months with the station, but never got round to it. I’ll try and put this oversight down to business rather than forgetfulness, but I’m not sure if anyone is being fooled.

Pure FM is the student led radio station at the University of Portsmouth, and my only regret about my experience is not joining sooner. In the course of my third year I was able to present two shows, host quizzes, compile stories and reviews for the news programme and report on sporting fixtures as part of the large-scale coverage of the Portsmouth v Southampton Varsity match. As well as the clichéd positive of allowing me to make (and in some cases invent) new friends, I also walked away with experiences that have helped shape career ambitions and a couple of awards.

My first attempt at broadcasting, The Pure Sport Show, saw me combining with another keen sports fan, and existing presenter at Pure, Curtis, and whilst at times we allowed strange tangents to develop during the show, we quickly developed a format for a show that was repeatable and increasingly professional. Even with limited and fluctuating listener numbers, the opportunity for a platform to discuss and analyse sporting incident was an enjoyable one, and along with guests, we enjoyed well-reasoned and often humorous debates. As well as a huge enjoyment factor, we also attempted to focus on the serious area of promoting and discussing minority sports at the University, including Tchoukball, a handball sport, and Roller Hockey, whose president joined us in the studio to promote and discuss the sport she loved.

This experience made us perfectly positioned to take part in Pure’s coverage of Varsity later in the academic year. Here, through match reporting, I was able to focus on more traditional journalistic skills in terms of recording scores and key match details before creating a precise report, that allowed me to be part of a very professional coverage, something that everyone at the station was proud of.

In the second semester of the year, Pure’s broadcasting schedule was restricted by events outside of the stations control, and this meant finding a slot for The Pure Sports Show was not possible, so Curtis and I moved into the world of breakfast radio to make sure we had the opportunity to broadcast. Beginning as the second best scenario to continuing our sports show, Wake Up With Richard & Curtis quickly became great fun, and the ideal opportunity to mix great passion for radio, with the urge to be as random and silly as possible. You can listen to all of these shows by following the link to my MixCloud page below, and if you do you will note our extravagant range of characters, features and the reoccurring organised chaos that were our extensively prepared for shows.

I like to think that these shows highlight the full range of opportunities available through student radio. It offers a platform to work hard at presenting skills and to experiment with creating professional and clever production. Through Pure, there was also the opportunity to broadcast on local commercial radio, allowing experience in a different setting and in broadcasting to a larger audience. The other thing student radio offers, is the opportunity to have a lot of fun, and ultimately that was what myself and Curtis were doing every time we planned another game or feature or sat in the studio for hours at a time recording strange ‘adverts’ or songs. This chaos won our show the award for Best Branded Show at the Pure FM awards, so we were clearly doing something right.

The message is clear… Whether you see a serious career ahead in broadcasting, or just want to do something fun and experimental I’d wholeheartedly recommend student radio, and Portsmouth’s Pure FM. 

Listen to my Pure FM and Express FM shows here: http://www.mixcloud.com/richardjude17/

England 3-0 Australia: Some Reflections

For the first time since 1977 Australia have failed to win an Ashes test, and whilst the ICCs regulations, and cricket in general, has invited ridicule and criticism in the manor that England were denied a forth win of the series, 3-0 is still an emphatic result. An emphatic 3-0 Ashes victory is always a positive, and the way England’s players celebrated as the 5^th Test draw was confirmed only goes to show that they are proud of the result and enjoyed the series victory.

I fully intended to analyses the series as it progressed on my blog, but having discussed the role of reporting, analysis and opinion with the director of the Sports Journalism course I start in September, I later decided it might be prudent to debate, discuss and learn more first. What I will do though is make some clear observations about this series, and the impacts it may have on the one that follows in 3 months down-under.

Touted as the worst Australia side ever to tour England, this touring side was supposed to rollover without challenging, and whilst a 3-0 score line may suggest this prediction came true, but it most certainly did not. Inconsistency of individual performance, most notably amongst batsman, and the losing of key sessions led to defeats in this series from a position of ascendency. A more accurate prediction was the one given by myself an many others that there would be a battle between bowling attacks, and that it would be the batting line-up who contended best that would lead their team to victory. Whilst Australia twice posted scores near or over 500 that led to declarations, they also folded at Trent Bridge, Lords and in the second innings at Durham. An Ian Bell led England batting line-up did not manage to post any huge totals, but was able, through contributions at different stages of the series by all, to find a level of consistency beyond Australia.

All of this took place on pitches forged from a hot and dry summer, and designed to aid Graeme Swann, and this led batting to be difficult at times, and the fast bowlers left frustrated by a lack of bounce and carry. In Australia this won’t be the case as the Sky punditry team were at pains to point out, and this should lead to batsman being able to score quickly when playing well, and bowlers being able to cause them problems when they find rhythm themselves.

Going forward, England know that they will have to score more runs to repeat their victory in Australia, and that will require Cook and Trott rediscovering their form from the last away Ashes series. Known as batsmen who score big runs when they are in, they were both uncharacteristically struggling to convert starts this summer, and this led to the reliance on Bell. However, the man labelled the Sherminator by Shane Warne has gone on to be the scourge of the Aussies, and he’ll also relish the opportunity to bat in more friendly conditions this winter, against an attack he’s got to know very well over the last 6 weeks.  

United v Real... Considered Conclusions

I do not wish to be, to quote Jose Mourinho, “one of the bottle”. This evening’s football match, and particularly one decision, has of course sent Pundits, Broadcasters, Twitter and the world into a frenzy. I don’t wish to be yet another person castigating the decision and the punditry, but for what it is worth, here is my reasoned response, unrestricted by 140 character limits.

At the time of the red card incident, United were 1-0 up on the night, and therefore led 2-1 on aggregate. Whilst Real Madrid were pressing, they had not scored, and they were not creating clear-cut opening at the rate they were able to after the sending off. United were defending deep, getting 10 men behind the ball and closing down as a team, this proved impossible with a player short against world class opposition. Therefore conclusion 1 is this: The game was changed by the decision, and whilst United were by no means home and dry at 1-0, by the time they were down to 10 men with over half an hour to go, the game was over as a contest. Those watching the game were deprived of an even contest, and United were deprived of a chance to progress.

The challenge itself wasn’t even something I would describe as a challenge. As Nani watched the ball drop over his shoulder he naively raised his foot to control the ball, not once looking at his opponent. The foul was made as Arbeloa got to the ball first, leaving Nani’s trailing leg to catch him in the chest. As a challenge in the truest sense was not made, this rules out excessive force. Therefore, the referee, or whichever official led in the decision making process, has chosen to deem Nani’s high foot as being dangerous to Arbeloa’s safety. Several things lead me to believe this was not the case. On a regular basis, very similar challenges are punished with yellow cards in which the officials deem the foul to be serious, but not dangerous. During the same game, challenges by Arbeloa and Ramos could equally have been deemed dangerous by the same officials, Arbeloa for leading with his studs in a challenge on Evra’s thigh, and Ramos who was penalised for a foul with his forearm against Van Persie. I must also make it clear that I don’t think either of these were dangerous enough to receive red cards, but the nature of the challenges, Arbeloa leading with studs, and Ramous catching Van Persie on the head, could be deemed equally as dangerous as Nani hanging a leg out in an attempt to control the ball. Furthermore, the rules should always be applied with common sense. Whilst Roy Keane refused to accept this point, Nani was not attempting to challenge Arbeloa, it was simply a reckless attempt to control the ball. From this evidence I make conclusion number 2, the red card was incorrectly given as the collision was accidental and not forceful enough to seriously threaten the opponent.

Combining these 2 conclusions together I feel this is a reasonable conclusion to come to: This evening’s football match was ruined by the referee’s decision to wrongly send off Nani. This decision led to Real Madrid running away with victory despite a great effort from United’s 10 men and a cracking response from the crowd who have every right to feel an official’s decision has seen them waste the time, money and effort they spent going to the game tonight.

Football is a contact sport. It is a competitive sport. And it is a spectator sport. It’s also about the footballers and not the referee, if only he’d considered that at the time.