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Sport

French Inquiry

Today in Paris, the France Football Federation (FFF) were busy conducting an inquiry into the French players strike at the recent FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Afterwards, it emerged that the FFF (winners in 1998 and Runners-Up in 2006) had suspended Chelsea’s Nicolas Anelka for 18 games, and Captain Patrice Evra (Manchester United) had received […]

Grace Retires

On this day, August 8th (1914), WG Grace, ‘The Great Cricketer’, finally retired from playing cricket at the age of 66. His last match was played on this day in 1914 for Eltham v Northbrook. Ironically, Grace did not bat or bowl, in the match – in complete contrast to his remarkable playing career where his […]

Age Is No Barrier to Top Performance

When 59 year-old Tom Watson narrowly failed to win The Open Championship at Turnberry last year, many people disbelieved that a man of his age could achieve such sporting greatness. The subject of ageism has dominated some employment tribunals recently, and there have also been some high profile journalistic cases where famous newsreaders like Moira […]

Sachin Reaches 169 Caps

Today, in the 3rd Test between Sri Lanka and India, at the P Sara Oval in Colombo, Sachin Tendulkar became the most-capped Test cricketer of all-time. His 169th Test cap takes him past the legendary Australian Captain Steve Waugh. In his record-equalling Test last week, Sachin made a double century against Sri Lanka, proving that age […]

Murali the 800 Wicket Man

On 22nd July, at Galle International Stadium, Muttiah Muraliduran took the final Indian wicket, with his final delivery in Test Cricket, to ensure a Sri Lanka victory in the 1st Test, and in the process, become the first (and probably the only) man to take 800 Test wickets. When Pragyan Ojha was caught at slip by […]

A Graceful Departure

Tom Watson birdied the 18th hole on The Old Course at St Andrews yesterday to sign off in style at the Home of Golf, having failed to make the cut at this, the 150th Anniversary Open Championship. Golfing greats, including Tiger Woods, stood aside as Tom Watson played to the 18th green in his last […]

Transformational Leadership

After a month of competition and drama, European Champions Spain won the 2010 FIFA World Cup for the first time. Amid joyous scenes at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday night, their victory was a triumph for quality and expression as well as reward for investment in people, process, leadership and philosophy. Barcelona […]

Creative Performance

The need for creativity in top sport is essential if consistently good results are to be experienced against quality opposition. Germany’s performance at the current FIFA World Cup in South Africa has been a joy to watch. Their zestfulness of youth, and the encouragement of dynamic, inter-changing play at high pace, allied to a strong commitment to […]

Systemic Failure

Whenever a professional sporting team experiences failure on a grand scale, an inquest begins, and the finger of blame gets pointed. Rarely do the key protagonists point the finger inwards in such situations, and a mass-scale process of self-protection kicks in. When things go wrong, who is to blame? Is it the Players, or is the Coach […]

Come on England!

Is England an elite sporting nation, or is it a well-funded, bloated professional sporting environment, unable to produce consistent excellence in major sporting events? Are we becoming a nation of sports-observers with ‘world-class’ facilities and hospitality, as opposed to enjoying a hard-earned reputation as ‘world-class’ performers? Recently England lost an Ashes Test Series in Australia 5-0 (2006-7), […]