Is Beckham's injury a blessing in disguise?

A mundane Sunday was brought to life with news that former England captain David Beckham had torn his Achilles tendon whilst kicking a ball unchallenged for AC Milan against Chievo.




But whilst some in the media are saying it’s a huge loss and the facebook groups springing up in the wake of the news, you have to question how much of a loss he is to England and whether he would have been on the plane at all going to South Africa.

It also appears that he will now not add to his previous 115 caps as an England player or achieve another landmark is a glittering career of becoming the first England player to play in four world cups.




Beckham (above) has worn his heart on his sleeve for England for the past thirteen years scoring important goals such as his free-kick to help take England to the 2002 World Cup against Greece, the penalty to defeat Argentina in that world-cup and another free-kick to beat Ecuador in the 2006 World Cup. His tears when resigning the captaincy for England showed how much he loved playing for England and leading his country, something which all England fans admire.

Whilst many will say his experience would have been invaluable and his set-pieces could have changed games even former England internationals like Gary Lineker are saying Beckham isn’t a huge loss and some football pundits saying it's no loss at all. You also have to question whether experience and set-pieces would have been enough to take him to South Africa as England have a wealth of competition for the right and left wing positions, especially since Beckham seems to have lost that little bit of pace he did have.

If Beckham had gone to the world cup where would Capello play him? Gerrard, Lampard and Barry seem certainties in the middle and Michael Carrick impressed against Egypt. Lennon and Walcott have played a lot under Capello down the right and Milner has impressed this season and don’t forget Shaun Wright-Phillips or David Bentley.




Now Capello must turn his attention to that once taken right-wing slot with players injured, coming back from injury and some just not performing. Aaron Lennon may miss the rest of the season with injury, Theo Walcott (above) has started only seven games for Arsenal this season, Joe Cole is returning from injury and struggling to get in the Chelsea team and Shaun Wright-Phillips hasn’t been in best of form. Two players who have impressed are David Bentley who has played well since coming in for the injured Lennon and the other James Milner. Add to that other wingers in Ashley Young, Stewart Downing and Adam Johnson and you have to question how big a loss Beckham is.



James Milner (above) may be the man to finally nail down that right-wing position that has been vacant ever since Beckham’s imposed international exile by Steve McLaren. The young Aston Villa winger has impressed this season playing out of position in the centre of midfield and whilst playing for England has appeared on the left wing and at right-back. He just may be the versatile player that England need in a small squad of twenty-three.

Beckham injury probably means the end of a marvellous England career spanning thirteen years. Whilst personally he wouldn’t have been on the plane to South Africa for me, he did inspire many and led his country by example and always gave his best.

However, England and Capello can now move on and leave the shadow of David Beckham behind them.

Bangladesh v England 1st Test Preview: Rock Hard Beds and Injuries Galore

England’s two match test series start tomorrow against Bangladesh and it hasn’t been the easiest of lead ups to a test series.




Kevin Pietersen (above) seems very much out of form and is struggling to cope with Bangladesh’s left-arm spinners, one department where they are not lacking. England are also without three of their frontline bowlers with James Anderson at home resting after injury, Ryan Sidebottom again is back home injured and Graham Onions unavailable after a back injury and on his way home. Stuart Broad also remains a doubt after suffer back spasms.




Broad’s injury hasn’t been helped by the beds used in the hotel where the England team are staying. Broad (above) described them as being as hard as advertising boards and if it wasn’t for a hotel worker suggesting to England ‘keeper Matt Prior some foam for a more comfortable night’s sleep. Broad and his fellow team-mates have followed suit and now Broad is edging toward full fitness though he still remains doubtful and told Sky he wouldn’t play unless he was 100% fit.

If Broad doesn’t play it will most likely leave Tim Bresnan (below) as England’s senior fast bowler. The Yorkshire all-rounder, who has impressed in the one-dayers against South Africa and Bangladesh, was promoted to number four in the batting order in the warm-up match suggesting that he may take the number 7 role against Bangladesh.




It also seems like England will go into the first test with 5 bowlers, although many don’t know what the line up will be. Definite starters will be Graeme Swann and James Tredwell on the turning Bangladeshi pitches and most likely Broad and Bresnan with one of Steve Finn and Ajmal Shahzad and if Broad doesn’t make the first test it seems like both Finn and Shahzad will start with Liam Plunkett missing out all together.

If Bresnan and Finn (below) both start it will be very tough on Plunkett and Luke Wright, as both Finn and Bresnan weren’t in the original test squad. Sadly, Plunkett has failed to impress in either his sole appearance in the one-day series or the warm-up game, whilst Wright hasn’t really been looked at by England for the five day format. Finn is also seen as a future star after he made his debut for Middlesex aged 16 and last season took 53 wickets.



Another uncapped player likely to miss out is Michael Carberry. The Hampshire opener who has been selected in place of the resting Andrew Strauss didn’t impress too much in the warm-up match and with it looking like England will play 5 bowlers Jonathan Trott looks set to open the batting alongside stand-in skipper Alastair Cook and Ian Bell coming in at three.

Kevin Pietersen though needs to score runs after failing in South Africa and in the one-dayers in Bangladesh. It seems that the Bangladeshis have found a flaw in his batting especially against left arm spinners and it is key that he along with the rest of England’s batting line up score if England are to play five bowlers.

Certain key England player’s lack of form and an inexperienced bowling line-up makes for interesting reading for this test series. It all kicks off on Friday at 3am (available on Sky Sports)

Probable Line Up: Alastair Cook (c), Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Matt Prior (wk), Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Tredwell, Steve Finn.

A Team Full Of Englishmen... Kind Of

Last Friday England’s one day side completed an expected series whitewash over Bangladesh in the three match series thanks to Craig Kieswetter (below). However, some are criticising the amount of non English born players, such as Kieswetter, in the current test and one day teams.

The criticism first started after England’s triumph in the 2005 ashes with Australian’s claiming South Africa had won the Ashes and not England after Kevin Pietersen’s century at the oval. Pietersen though has been criticised more due to his criticism South Africa’s non-white player quota which led him to come to England to look to play cricket. However, Andrew Strauss and Matt Prior, both South Africa born, have cemented their places in the England squad over the past 6 years and they haven’t been as largely criticised until now due to both growing up in England.

Now the issue has been brought back into the limelight with the debut of Jonathan Trott (below) in the 2009 Ashes series and last week Craig Kieswetter who was drafted into the one day side to open alongside Cook after Joe Denly failed to score big runs in the warm-up games in Abu Dhabi. Both players have played for South Africa Under-19’s and Trott for South Africa A and this has left some England fans angry.

One former captain in particular has criticised the use of players who have made the switch from South Africa to England. Michael Vaughan last summer accused Trott of having celebrated with his native South Africa side after their victory at Headingley when he was supposed to be 12^th man for England. Even though he denied the argument it does show the issue with playing for an adopted country.

Vaughan (below) amongst others have also criticised the current England team after the selection of Craig Kieswetter. The Somerset Wicket-Keeper had been groomed by England ever since he declared he wanted to play in England and not for South Africa and was immediately in the England Lions squad as soon as he was eligible to play. However, some former players have questioned this along with the Kolpak ruling which allows foreign players to stunt young English player’s development. Vaughan again has backed this calling for England to put out a “pure” English eleven.

Although not classed as English by many fans all those South Africans are technically English. Kevin Pietersen’s mother is English, England Captain Andrew Strauss’ mother is also English and he moved to England at the age of six, Matt Prior’s father is English and he moved to England aged 11 and Craig Kieswitter’s mother is Scottish and he lived here 3 months of the year before moving to England to do his A-levels. Jonathan Trott on the other hand has no close relation with England which many fans and critics of England have taken issue with.

Queries have also been raised about Eoin Morgan (above). The Irish born batsman chose to play for England as he is unable to play at the top level for his native country. However, the point to make is that England has used players not born in Britain before as have other nations and the fuss is only about the amount of non-English players in the squad. Former England players Allan Lamb, Tony Grieg and Basil D’Olivera all were from South Africa and Andy Caddick was a New Zealander.

Whilst other nations may complain about England using players born in different nations some nations in particular forget they also do this. A prime example is Andrew Symonds the Australian all-rounder who was born in Birmingham.

Questions do need to be asked about why England needs to turn to Trott and Kieswetter. Is there not enough talent within English cricket? Are the selectors missing out an giving good young batsmen the opportunity to play? It seems the former although many will ask why players such as Michael Carberry and Joe Denly aren’t given more of an opportunity.

Although the ECB seem to have won the battle with Kolpak players it seems that it is neglecting to take the same standards when selecting England squads. It seems that until this is rectified young English talent may be neglected.

Goodbye Winter Olympics, Hello Media Criticism

After 17 days of competition in Vancouver Britain have yet again come away with just one medal, albeit a gold medal. However, there has been criticism in the media about the medal tally and performances especially after 3 medals were targeted before the games.

Shelly Rudman, ranked number two in the world, was Britain’s main hope for a medal in Vancouver after her silver medal display in Turin four years ago but sadly after a first poor run she was out of contention in the Skeleton Bob on a track that she had problems with. Amy Williams (below) on the other hand, an outsider for a medal in Skeleton produced a course record in her first run and never look back as she won by nearly half a second, a large gap in Skeleton terms.

Another strong medal hope was women’s Bobsleigh duo Nicola Minichello and Gillian Cooke after winning the 2009 world championships. Even though the pair suffered a tough build up with driver Minichello having sight problems they were still confident of a medal. Sadly, on their second run they crashed just like the men’s duo and men’s four man team had done on a tough track, meaning they did not finish the competition.

The inclusion of ski and snowboard cross has excited many and in the latter we had high hopes for Zoey Gillings. On her Olympic debut in Turin she came 15th and had impressed in events before Vancouver. However, she failed to reach the final and in the medal round races failed at the start to come 8th. Jon Eley was another outshot as a medal after finishing 5th in Turin in Short Track Speed Skating. He again reached the semi-finals but only managed to finish 6th overall.

What was most disappointing during these Winter Games was the failure of both the men’s and women’s curling teams more so the men’s. Skip David Murdoch (above) had been doing well beating now Olympic Champions Canada as well as forming a formidable partnership with Ewan MacDonald. However, Britain had a mixed campaign but towards the end of the round robin they looked like a good shout to get through but failed to beat Norway and then in the play-off match to reatch the medals games lost to Sweden. The women’s team were as equally disappointing under young skip Eve Muirhead (below). After a good start the women’s team winning three of their first four games they lost the last five as Eve Muirhead’s performance seemed to dip in the pressure situation. However, she is only 19 and although Jackie Lockhart seems to have curled her last stone the next four years will be exciting for the young skip and her team especially as she can build her own team. It wouldn’t suprise me if Eve also recieved more media attention especially after developing a large male fanbase.

Although some areas of the media have criticised the performance it must be said or just as a reminder to those who have written about that Britain isn’t a winter sports country, we usually complain about the snow.

What really needs to be carried out by organisations in charge is a look at sports we can develop in this country to ensure medal success. Sir Steve Redgrave has already stated his aim to build an indoor long track speed skating venue in Great Britain which would hopefully house other indoor winter events. However, although UK Sport said they could run such a programme investment capital needs to be found to build such a place.

Events such as Long and Short Track Skating along with Figure skating, Curling and Ice Hockey could all be housed indoors across Britain and with the right guidance and coaching could see Britain become more competitive in the Winter Olympics. It is disappointing though that even though Britain has an Ice Hockey league it failed to reach the Winter Olympics and there is a distinct lack of British players in the league.

Medals these days take investment and Skeleton Bob has proved this. The event was introduced back into the Winter Olympics in 2002 and UK Sport invested heavily in it with a training facility in Bath and scouting possible athletes to take place from other sports. It is also no coincidence that Britain are the most successful Skeleton Bob nation since it’s return with 3 medals. (Amy Williams - 2010 Gold, Shelley Rudman - 2006 Silver, Alex Coomber - 2002 Bronze)

Lets hope the proper investment and structures from the governing bodies take place over the next four to eight years ensuring future success for Great Britain.

Why Jonathan Agnew is the best sports journalist writing today

Ex-Cricketers and the media seem to be a match made in heaven thesedays. Sky Sports' cricket coverage provides you with the opinions of ex-captains in Michael Atherton, Nasser Hussain, Ian Botham and David Gower, with The BBC and the Test Match Special team having ex-captain Michael Vaughan and ex-players such as Geoffrey Boycott. Although they provide a weatlh of knowledge all are very opinionated, something which Agnew has stayed away from in his blogs for the BBC website and even on air for Test Match Special.

It is this fair judgement from "Aggers" which helped him become the BBC Cricket Correspondent and then after Brian Johnstons death he became the lead commentator on Test Match Special. His realationship on-air with Geoffrey Boycott has also led to admiration from listeners and even the cricketing bible Wisden who described the pair as the "Lennon and McCartney of cricket broadcasting."

What does seperate Aggers from other cricket broadcasters and writers though is his analysing of situations especially when it comes to England. Although a mild mannered commentator he has been very critical of previous England captains and coaches and it always seems to be right at the time when the decision is made for resignations or sackings. An example of this is Agnews writing and opinons after England's ashes failure in 2007 calling for the head of Duncan Fletcher. Although Fletcher reamined in charge for the 2007 Cricket World Cup after a dismal performance in that he resigned. Although pressure from the media isn't as high in cricket in football it still forces the ECB's hand and Agnews criticism of Fletcher's coaching and Michael Vaughan's role as England One Day captain was certainly backed up by many print journalists.

Although best sports journalist leaves many other great choices such as David Conn and Henry Winter, it is Aggers mild mannered approach and thoughtful views in the cricket world that makes him the best at his job.