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Forbes
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
The Ashes 2005 Was The Time When Cricket Became The New Football
England cricketers Andrew Flintoff with daughter Holly, Kevin Pietersen (C) and Michael Vaughan (R) ... More celebrates winning the Ashes on the team bus during the Ashes victory parade in London, 13 September, 2005. England regained the Ashes yesterday after drawing the final Test match and winning the series 2-1. AFP PHOTO/GARETH COPLEY/WPA POOL/PA (Photo by GARETH COPLEY / AFP) (Photo by GARETH COPLEY/AFP via Getty Images) The Ashes is one of the longest-running sports tussles in the world and will kick off for its 74th edition at Perth this November. The drama of the current series between India and England is stirring memories of the memorable 2005 Ashes when, after 18 years of humiliation at home and abroad, England finally reclaimed the famous urn from Australia with a 2-1 victory. For one golden English summer, cricket was the head of class in national sport. Michael Vaughan's winning team paraded through a 25,000-strong crowd in Trafalgar Square on top of a double-decker bus in a celebration usually reserved for all-conquering football teams or the World Cup rugby-winning heroes of 2003. In the deciding match of the 2005 Ashes at the Oval, tickets were selling for over £1,000 each while a penthouse flat with a view of the ground was taken on a five-day let for 20 times that price. Test cricket had never been this compelling since Ian Botham's 1981 heroics. He was the original 'rock star' that Ben Stokes wants England's Bazball squad to be now. On the pitch, there were A-list stars aplenty in the 2005 Ashes. The late, great Shane Warne took 40 wickets, the South African-born, skunk-haired Kevin Pietersen announced himself with a thrilling array of shots, and Andrew Flintoff performed magic with both bat and ball to help England over the line. 'Cricket, played like this, could stand on its own two feet. Indeed, it was variously the new football, the new rock'n'roll, the new everything,' said ESPNcricinfo. The market conditions for a glorious summer were there in England. There was no competition from an international or European soccer tournament or an Olympic year. The team had risen from the nadir of being bottom of the Test rankings in 1999 to second having won 14 of their previous 18 Tests. Fast bowler Simon Jones said that the team 'felt like Premier League footballers." When the EPL kicked off, it was in the middle of a brilliant third Test at Old Trafford, where 10,000 people were locked out on the final day to see a thrilling finish. Manchester United's "Theatre of Dreams could not have been more passionate. Crucially, Channel Four's free-to-air coverage, hosted by the ubiquitous Mark Nicholas allied with the expert delivery of Richie Benaud, Tony Greig, Michael Slater and Mike Atherton, cut through with a peak audience of 8.2 million. An estimated 22 million people in the United Kingdom watched at least 30 minutes of cricket during that summer. A year later, the 2006 series between England and Sri Lanka was the first episode of a new four-year, £220m Sky Sports deal with the ECB (English Cricket Board), giving the station exclusive live rights to all home Test matches and one-day internationals. The 2005 Ashes zeitgeist moment had passed. Live access was reduced to subscription although highlights were still available for free-to-air. 'On average, it is fair to say that Sky's audiences are running at around one sixth of those on Channel 4 - precisely what critics of the deal feared and the game's administrators ignored,' said the 2007 Wisden Cricketer's Almanack. LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 14: Harry Brook of England shakes hands with Mohammed Siraj of India after ... More Day Five of the 3rd Rothesay Test Match between England and India at Lord's Cricket Ground on July 14, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by) Yet when Test cricket had the general public in the palm of its hand 20 years ago, the ball was slipped to the highest bidder to futureproof the grassroots of the game. The Lord's Test match between England and India showed what a magical game the five-day format can be with two teams going at each other with bat, ball and words. It deserves a bigger audience, a bigger narrative and exposure of new stars. Then again, there was something about 2005's age of innocence that had a reach difficult to recapture, that sense of a new, bold team against a brilliant, but ageing side in a nascent digital age that was just gaining traction. The cricket Test match cake is shared unequally between partners, with only the Big Three of India, Australia and England attracting broadcasters, sponsorships and ticket sales when playing among themselves. For the rest, it's a loss-making business. World Test champions South Africa have no home Tests until October 2026. Cricket South Africa simply can't fill the stadiums, and it's a similar story with the West Indies who were just shot out for 27 in front of a sparse crowd in Sabina Park. The ICC is now reportedly looking into a tw0-tier system of promotion and relegation in the next cycle of the World Test Championship. The glory of playing for a country is being challenged by the new money that T20 cricket brings. The IPL is cricket's richest franchise league, worth a cool $12 billion. Cricketers are globetrotters now with over 20 such leagues like the BBL, PSL, and Major League Cricket in the States offering the kind of remuneration that is beyond national cricket boards. The Hundred, English cricket's spin on the IPL, has now taken over the whole of August, a month where Pietersen, Strauss, Flintoff and company once wore the whites in front of a captivated households. Nothing ever stays the same, but the Ashes 2005 will forever be 'the greatest series' to many who saw what a box set drama Test cricket can still be.
The Guardian
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Chess: Rachel Reeves announces £1.5m fund as London ChessFest attracts 20,000 visitors
ChessFest in Trafalgar Square attracted more than 20,000 visitors last Sunday, slightly below last year's record 23,000 but still indicating strong public interest. England's grandmasters gave simuls and met amateurs at blitz, living chess was played with professional actors and there was a blindfold exhibition plus a transatlantic prodigy match. Additional ChessFests took place in Portishead and Hull, with a further one scheduled for Liverpool on Sunday. ChessFest was again sponsored by XTX Markets. The occasion was marked by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, announcing the renewal of government support for chess which was briefly axed as part of departmental cuts earlier in the year. The previous backing of £500,000, launched by Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives in 2023, was for elite chess generally, and supported the English men's and women's teams at the 2024 Budapest Olympiad. However, there has been widespread and justified criticism of an additional £250,000 allocated for stone chess tables in public parks, which have been little used and often vandalised. The new support, announced along with a £500m grant for youth service projects, is more precisely targeted to the best talents, and will act as a spur to players like England's youngest grandmaster, Shreyas Royal, 16, and England's youngest Olympiad player, Bodhana Sivanandan, 10, both of whom met the chancellor a few weeks ago at 11 Downing Street. Currently the best prospect relative to age is Supratit Banerjee, 11, who played on top board for the Surrey team which retained the inter-counties championship earlier this month and made a creditable draw with England's No 2, David Howell, in a clock simultaneous match last week. The Scot, Frederick Gordon, 15, has also impressed. There are several successful precedents for targeting elite talents. In the former Soviet Union, the Mikhail Botvinnik school identified the future world champions Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov very early, and the USSR dominated chess for half a century. In England, Jim Slater's grandmaster awards in 1972 and Lloyds Bank sponsorship for nearly 20 years from 1977 created the conditions for England's rise in a few years from also-rans to Olympiad silver medallists in 1986 and 1988. In the US, the Sanford Fellowships have helped keep the Americans among the top chess nations for several decades. They are open to all US players aged under 25 and provide $70,000 for grandmaster coaching and tournament play. There are generally two awards a year. The list of previous Samford winners reads like a who's who of American chess, as the award managers continually single out the best talents. Meanwhile, the English Championship is taking place this weekend at Kenilworth, Warwickshire, with the first of seven rounds on Friday and the final round on Monday. There is an entry of 85 players, although the top three seeds are the clear favourites: Gawain Jones, 37, is the defending champion, Michael Adams, 53, is the world senior champion, while Nikita Vitiugov, 38, is a former Russian champion who changed federations to England in response to the invasion of Ukraine. One week later, the British Championship starts in Liverpool and continues for a week. The field will be stronger, and the prizes larger, but the same grandmaster trio will again be the favourites. The championship is being played at St George's Hall, a prime location in central Liverpool, where the congress, including junior and senior championships, has attracted a record entry of nearly 1,400 players and still counting. English chess, though, is becoming significantly more insular. Long ago in the 1920s and 30s Sir George Thomas and Fred Yates were regulars at major world events, as were Harry Golombek and Bob Wade in the 40s and 50s. During the golden era of the 70s, 80s and 90s, there were countless international successes for England, highlighted by two Olympiad silver medals, plus Nigel Short and Jon Speelman becoming world title finalists and semi-finalists. Then there was a 20-year retrenchment, and although England dominates over-65 and over-50 senior chess, Vitiugov is the only English entry for the important Fide Grand Swiss in September which acts as a qualifier for the 2026 world title Candidates. Adams, Howell, Jones and Luke McShane were also entitled to play due to their 2615+ Fide ratings, but apparently all of them declined. The same pattern is evident, on a larger scale, in prestigious Titled Tuesday (TT), an 11-round free entry weekly international online tournament open to all players with Fide titles, right down to Candidate Master (Fide 2000). Even some players with just national titles are included and it is easy to miss some rounds and start late or finish early if necessary. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion The top 20 of TT are world class, often including Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and other international heavyweights. Jones and Howell have appeared there, but in general there is a dearth of any English-titled entrants from CM upwards. For this week's TT three days ago, a count of the entrants with UK or English flags revealed just 12 in the early TT out of a total entry of 541, and only three, plus one from Wales, in the late TT out of a total entry of 368. This means that probably fewer than 5% of the eligible English or UK players took part from their homes in this free-to-enter competition graced by most of the world elite. It is arguable that the English Chess Federation could and should do much more to promote TT. Even £50 as a prize for the highest-placed English player in the top 100 finishers would be helpful to encourage entries, and should be an eligible use of the new Reeves fund. The next event where we can expect to see England's top GMs in action together abroad is likely to be the European Team Championship, scheduled for Batumi, Georgia, from 4-15 October. Carlsen has been knocked out of the competition on the first day of the ongoing Las Vegas Freestyle Grand Slam, which will be covered in next week's column. 3981: 1 Ba6! Rxa6 2 Rg8+! Kxg8 3 b8=Q+ Kg7 4 Qb2+ and 5 Qxf2 wins.
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Andy Pages' diving catch
McLaren's Lando Norris battling from dream championship McLaren's Lando Norris says that if he could swap his 7 previous race wins to finish first at Silverstone, he would. World Sport's Amanda Davies caught up with him earlier this week at the McLaren racing event in Trafalgar Square. 4:09 Now Playing Paused Ad Playing
Daily Mail
10-07-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE London's most dangerous tourist attractions: Interactive map reveals areas around capital's landmarks where visitors are most likely to get mugged or attacked
London 's most dangerous areas for tourists were revealed today, as a MailOnline investigation found the scale of crimes being committed near popular attractions. The area outside the National Portrait Gallery off Trafalgar Square came top of the list after seeing 3,060 crimes over the past year including 1,200 thefts from people. The Royal Academy of Arts about half a mile away on Piccadilly was in second place after 1,652 crimes were reported in a year including more than 550 thefts. The Royal Ballet and Opera and the London Transport Museum, both in the Covent Garden area, were third with 1,548 crimes and fourth with 1,227 respectively. The British Museum near Holborn - the UK's most-visited attraction - was fifth with 1,173 crimes, while the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square came sixth with 1,004. Also in the top ten were The Monument (828 crimes), British Library (824), Southbank Centre (773), Cutty Sark (753), Big Ben (667) and Westminster Abbey (577). Other areas outside attractions with high crime rates included outside the Young V&A (555), Wellcome Collection (527), St Paul's Cathedral (514) and the trio of the London Dungeon, Sea Life London Aquarium and Shrek's Adventure (all 426). Also seeing a significant number in the year were Banqueting House (394), Courtauld Gallery (323), Natural History Museum (288) and Buckingham Palace (249). Safer areas were found to be outside Central London - including the London Wetland Centre in Barnes (six), National Maritime Museum (17) and Old Royal Naval College (18) which are both in Greenwich, Kensington Palace (19) and Eltham Palace (23). zone straddling Oxford Street and parts of Soho which does not feature any of the attractions is London's worst area for thefts. HOW DANGEROUS ARE THE AREAS OUTSIDE LONDON TOURIST ATTRACTIONS? Rank Closest tourist attraction Total crimes 1 National Portrait Gallery 3,060 2 Royal Academy of Arts 1,652 3 Royal Ballet and Opera 1,548 4 London Transport Museum 1,227 5 The British Museum 1,173 6 The National Gallery 1,004 7 The Monument 828 8 British Library 824 9 Southbank Centre 773 10 Cutty Sark 753 11 Big Ben 667 12 Westminster Abbey 577 13 Young V&A 555 14 Wellcome Collection 527 15 St Paul's Cathedral 514 16 London Dungeon 426 17 Banqueting House 394 18 The Courtauld Gallery 323 19 Natural History Museum 288 20 Buckingham Palace 249 21 London Eye 220 22 Guildhall Art Gallery 217 23 Tate Modern 212 24 Somerset House 199 25 Royal Albert Hall 180 26 London Museum Docklands 175 27 Tower of London 171 28 Madame Tussauds 162 29 The Barbican Centre 160 30 The National Theatre 150 31 Shakespeare's Globe 126 32 Churchill War Rooms 124 33 Science Museum 122 34 V&A South Kensington 115 35 Tate Britain 104 36 IWM London 97 37 Design Museum 90 38 HMS Belfast 79 39 Horniman Museum and Gardens 52 39 London Zoo 52 39 National Army Museum 52 42 Kew Gardens 36 43 Eltham Palace 23 44 Kensington Palace 19 45 Old Royal Naval College 18 46 National Maritime Museum 17 47 London Wetland Centre 6 MailOnline analysis, • Reported crimes recorded 250m of tourist attractions(or the closest if near several); police anonymisation of crime locations may lead to some margin of error MailOnline began its latest research by compiling popular attractions in London which are members of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions - plus Merlin Entertainments attractions which are not, such as the London Eye and Dungeon. Crime data was collated within 250m (800ft) of the centre of each venue using Metropolitan Police and City of London Police figures for the 12 months between May 2024 to April 2025. If more than two attractions were within 250m of a crime, that crime was added to the total of the closest attraction - to ensure no crimes were duplicated. This provided a quantitative view of safety outside the attractions – with recorded crime types including anti-social behaviour, bicycle theft, robbery and theft from the person. Others were vehicle crime, violence and sexual offences, burglary, criminal damage and arson, drugs, public order, shoplifting and then 'other theft' or 'other crime'. The area around the Royal Academy coming second is notable, given it is just across the road on Piccadilly where veteran broadcaster Selina Scott was viciously attacked and robbed in broad daylight last month. The 74-year-old stalwart of British TV was leaving a Waterstones shop on June 17 when she was struck on the back of her right knee, leaving her feeling as if she had been 'stabbed'. She was set upon by a gang who attempted to grab her backpack. Fighting back, she kept hold of the bag – but one of the thieves unzipped it and took her purse before running off. Ms Scott lost her bank cards, driving licence and cash in the robbery. This week, more than 30 locations across London were identified as the worst for anti-social behaviour, theft and street crime as police patrols are stepped up. The Metropolitan Police is desperately trying to fight back against a crime epidemic gripping the capital from pickpocketing to violence and fare evasion to robbery. Some 20 town centre and high street areas now account for 10 per of knife crime, 24 per cent of theft person offences and 6 per cent of anti-social behaviour calls. London Mayor Sadiq Khan's office has now confirmed there will be increased police patrols and intelligence-led plain-clothed operations in these crime hotspots. Officials added that detectives will be targeting wanted and prolific offenders who commit multiple offences, particularly shoplifting and anti-social behaviour. But Susan Hall AM, leader of the City Hall Conservative Group, told MailOnline: 'Crime in London continues to get worse under Labour as Londoners are marauded by criminals across the capital. 'Despite this, Khan is happy to oversee huge police cuts, denying our officers the resources they need and the public the security required to keep them safe. It's a disgrace - he needs to get a grip on this.' The Mayor's office said the aim of its new drive was to 'put visible neighbourhood policing at the heart of fighting crime and rebuilding community confidence'. Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Matt Jukes said: 'Our intelligence and data-led approach to tackle the crimes that matter most to Londoners – such as shoplifting, robbery and anti-social behaviour – is already working. 'We're arresting 1,000 more criminals each month, neighbourhood crime is down 19 per cent and we've solved 163 per cent more shoplifting cases this year. 'In 32 of the hardest hit areas, we're working with the community, councils, businesses and partners, to focus our resources and bear down on prolific offenders and gangs who blight too many neighbourhoods across the capital.' Last month, London was revealed as the 15th most dangerous city for crime in Europe – and the 100th worst out of 385 locations around the world, according to Numbeo's Crime Index . And Matt Goodwin, senior visiting professor of politics at the University of Buckingham, wrote in the Daily Mail last month: 'London is over. It's so over.' He cited data showing that there were 90,000 shoplifting offences in the capital last year, up 54 per cent. Professor Goodwin added that there is now an alleged rape every hour in London – and reported sexual offences against women and girls has risen 14 per cent in five years, while homelessness and rough sleeping increased 26 per cent in one year. Meanwhile a policing expert told MailOnline that the incident involving Ms Scott showed London had become a 'crime-ridden cesspit'. Ex-New Scotland Yard detective Peter Bleksley said the force was now so stretched in the West End that private security companies were being deployed to help. He condemned the 'epidemic of crime' in London from pickpocketing to violence and fare evasion to robbery, adding that it was 'driving people away' from the capital. Separate research by MailOnline in March uncovered London's most crime-infested neighbourhoods – with Leicester Square, Covent Garden and the surrounding tourist-laden area now the capital's hotspot for violent and sex crime. The analysis, consisting of nearly 5,000 districts across London's 32 boroughs, also found a small zone straddling Oxford Street and parts of Soho was top for thefts.
CNN
04-07-2025
- Sport
- CNN
McLaren's Lando Norris battling from dream championship
McLaren's Lando Norris says that if he could swap his 7 previous race wins to finish first at Silverstone, he would. World Sport's Amanda Davies caught up with him earlier this week at the McLaren racing event in Trafalgar Square.
