The Diary of a British Sports Fan
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by user Alex Holowczak
I decided it might be a good idea to take you through a day of sport that a typical British sports fan has to enjoy on a Saturday. I shall blog what is going on as the day progresses.
Here are some of the sports British sports fans can enjoy today:
- 10:15 - Cricket, Second One-Day International - England v Pakistan at Lords
- 11:45 - British Superbike Championship Highlights - Round 11 from Cadwell Park
- 13:00 - Snooker - Pot Black (with Cricket updates) (2006 Pot Black)
- 16:30 - Red Bull Air Race World Series - from Longleat
- 16:50 - Football - Euro 2008 Qualifier - England v Andorra (with cricket update at half-time)
There is less football today due to the internationals, so there is not too much top flight football, but there is a lot of variety.
10:10 - The start of the cricket looks like being delayed at Lords as it's raining...
10:16 - So we can't enjoy the England match just yet, but we can always look on cricinfo at the battle for Cricket's County Championship. Sussex and Lancashire are fighting for the title. With Day 3 of 4 about to start, Sussex look like getting into a lead of almost 100 ahead Hampshire. Meanwhile, Lancashire are playing Warwickshire. Lancashire are 225 ahead after the 1st Innings! This is the final day of that game though, so Warwickshire can still hold on for a draw. I support Warwickshire, but I'd rather Lancashire win the Championship. A desktop scoreboard will keep me aware of what's going on on the cricket front when it starts shortly.
10:22 - It's grey and overcast at Lord's. But it's stopped raining! Hurrah! The groundstaff are mopping the covers. This could mean play starts at 11:00ish, but the light is an issue, and also who knows whether it'll start raining again.
10:27 - Okay, so it's a boring start to the day. I'll explain what the "Pot Black" snooker tournament is, and why it's so special. It was the tournament that made snooker the game it is today, and the best-of-1 frame matches are in stark contrast to other tournaments. It is always a good watch, as only the top 8 players in the world play in it. The whole tournament will be done in a few hours, so it maintains interest. It used to be shown in a half-hour telecast once per week in the 70s and 80s, but the new version is done all on one day. In reality, the original Pot Black was done in the same way, but it was recorded. Now it is shown live.
10:33 - Play at the cricket will start at 11:15 - one hour late. This means that it is likely that the 50 over game (an over is a group of 6 balls, or pitches for baseball fans out there) will be reduced to 42 overs to make up for lost time. It also means I have around half an hour to update some wiki stuff on here while I wait!
10:49 - It's raining in Blackpool for Lancashire's match against Warwickshire. It looks like it could be only a draw for them, which could swing the Championship race in Sussex' direction.
11:05 - Pakistan won the toss and elected to field. So England are batting first. I can now stop wikifying, and concentrate on the cricket. It was interesting to see how the Formula One track at Magny-Cours developed, from its' original layout to its' present one. Or at least, I thought so... So England will bat in ten minutes.
11:07 - The pitch report is that it looks "more like a May pitch than a September one". In other words, it could be a low scoring game.
11:10 - As the England opening batsmen prepare to follow the Pakistan team and umpires on the pitch, it's time to briefly check the County Championship scores. It is interesting to note that Sussex have a player called Yasir Arafat. I thought he was a leader of something, somewhere, once... Oh well, he seems to be clubbing Shane Warne, the best leg-spinner in the world, so who's complaining.
11:19 - Just as everybody was about to start to play some cricket, it started to rain again. It looks like being another one of those frustrating days where the weather spoils games of cricket. The covers are on, so it could be another half hour. Play probably won't restart until 12:00 now, assuming the rain stops within the next half an hour. Back to wikifying I suppose.
11:35 - It has stopped raining and the covers are off, play can restart soon. Good job - I just realised that the Superbikes have been pushed back an hour later than billed for some reason. At least they are showing highlights of last weekend's brilliant GP2 race straight after. Play will begin at 11:45.
11:37 - I didn't know they put back an hour for rain, but they have so that's brilliant. It means the match will only be reduced to 46 overs per side, instead of 50. In the County Championship, Sussex have been bowled out with a 101 run lead after the 1st Innings. It is still raining in Blackpool, stopping Lancashire from pursuing their chances of a victory.
11:41 - I'm listening to the cricket on "Test Match Special" on Radio 4. This is because TV in Britain has lost the rights to show England cricket matches, instead Sky has it. It has been bad for cricket in this country in my opinion. Radio 4 have done a great job in terms of keeping the entertainment high during rain delays. I've not been bored in the last hour and a half of waiting.
11:42 - Ok, the umpires are in the middle, and Pakistan are in the huddle on the outfield before the start of play. The England openers look set to walk out to the middle for the second time today.
11:44 - The openers walk out with Jerusalem ringing in their ears from the PA. We're all set to go. Shoaib Akhtar will bowl the first over, and Marcus Trescothick will take the first ball.
11:46 - Inzamam, Pakistan's captain has set quite a defensive field. Having put England in to bat, you'd think he'd try to take wickets early on.
11:49 - Nervy start. Trescothick edged the fourth ball, but it bounced short of the Pakistani wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal. The single was a nervy one too.
11:50 - WICKET! Akhtar bowled a good ball, and Strauss nicked it through to Kamran Akmal, England have made a bad start - brilliant for Pakistan - the score is 1 for 1 (which I'll write as 1/1 for ease from now on). Ian Bell is next in for England. But Strauss, England's captain, out for 0 off the first ball... Mohammed Asif is going to bowl the second over - he's no mug either. This could be a hard day.
11:55 - Asif's over ends, and it's 3/1. The England batsmen still look nervous though.
12:00 - First boundary goes to Bell, great shot through the covers and it's 7/1 off 3 overs. A bad start for England. And guess what. It's raining again! Not bad enough to come off yet though. Play continues.
12:07 - Radio 4 listeners return from the Shipping Forecast to discover the umpires have taken the players off the field because of the rain. England are 7/1 off 3.5 overs. It's a bad start for England, but a good one for Pakistan. The skies at Lords are gloomy, so let's hope for an improvement. Pakistan were denied victory by the weather in the first game of the series earlier in the week. It's dull, black and horrible in London though. Cricket requires such patience...
12:10 - Bad weather is sweeping the country. Not one cricket match is going on in the County Championship due to rain, but one is going to resume at New Road in Worcestershire shortly. Where I live, the sun is trying to break through, and after hours of rain, it is now the brightest it's been all day.
12:15 - First dilemma of the day. Shall I take lunch now ready for the Superbike highlights, or shall I watch a preview of the England-Andorra game? England will beat Andorra, and even if they don't, that is all that is going to be said. I think the time for lunch is now, and then settle down to some snooker this afternoon.
12:22 - Lunch is cooking (cheese on toast), so whilst I wait, I return to see that Sussex and Hampshire have resumed play. Hampshire are fighting back. While Sussex are playing and Lancashire are not, it is good for them. The Lancashire match seems destined to be a draw, so Sussex are in the driving seat considering they have tomorrow to finish the game off if needed. They haven't took a Hampshire wicket yet though, but they still lead by more than 80 runs. Still raining at Lords.
12:23 - As I say that, Hampshire lost their first wicket! So Sussex are definitely in the box seat.
12:29 - The only other game going on is Worcestershire v Essex. Essex need 475 to win. They won't have enough time to score that many runs, so Worcestershire ought not lose. Essex are 35/2 now, so Worcestershire are still favourites.
12:47 - Lunch over and the British Superbike Championship has started. It's not highlights either - it's live! The top three are all in with a great chance, and there was a great race at Croft last time. It'll play second fiddle to the snooker this afternoon. Cadwell Park is a good circuit apparently - very curvy and hilly.
12:52 - Okay, backtrack - it's highlights. Still raining though.
12:54 - Scary news - In the British Supersport Series held at Cadwell Park, one of the riders died. And now it's raining on the same track, with more powerful bikes. Scary. Elsewhere, the cricket will restart at 1pm! No major news in the County Championship, still raining in Blackpool, and Sussex haven't taken another wicket since.
12:57 - The match has been reduced again, this time to 40 overs. A mathematical formula will be used to determine the number of runs Pakistan need to win (to take in the effect of England starting their innings thinking they had more overs to face... it gets complicated).
13:01 - Hurrah! Snooker and Cricket starting!
13:03 - Ok, I'll ignore the cricket and BSB until the breaks between the snooker for horse racing. Haydock (where the racing is going on) appears to be in the middle of a monsoon.
13:05 - It appears that we have racing first, so we'll watch BSB and cricket first.
13:07 - Okay, I have no idea who is winning the race - it is changing by the lap - and England have moved on to 10/1 after 5 overs. England need to score quicker - 200 may be enough to win the game.
13:12 - Confronatation between Trescothick and Asif on the cricket - all in good humour. The leader of the BSB race is also the Championship leader, he's Japanese so I can't dictate his name... However, Leon Haslam is catching him quickly - only seven laps left in Race 1.
13:14 - Kiyonari, the Japanese guy is losing time to Haslam - he has now lost the lead too, and third place to Gregorio Lavilla. The track is too dry for his wet tyres.
13:15 - Lavilla takes the lead! Three laps left.
13:17 - Lavilla won - closes him right in in the Championship. The first Pot Black Quarter Final is starting soon. It's a rematch of the World Championship Final from this year - Graeme Dott against Peter Ebdon. That match finished at ten to one in the morning - but the one frame format means that this game could be closer. The BSB could be anyone's. England are 18/1 in the 8th over - they need to score much faster if they want to win. Still raining in Blackpool, and Sussex are taking lunch needing to take 9 Hampshire wickets in their second innings and still leading by 60.
13:23 - England have collapsed! It is now 18/3! Trescothick is out, and Bell joined him in the pavilion a few balls later. England are really struggling. Let's turn our attention to the snooker... Quarter Final 1 about to start...
13:26 - But first we have to endure an interview with Graeme Dott, the World Champion. Can we just get on with it!
13:29 - Ebdon missed an awkward green, and now the frame has gone all scrappy. We could be here a while... The balls are awkwardly placed. Ebdon leads 18-16.
13:31 - Ebdon was snookered and fouled, but Dott missed a tough pot - great chance for Ebdon.
13:35 - We could be here for a while... England are 24/3 in the 11th over. Let's hope it rains in London later on.
13:41 - Ebdon took his time to prevail 61-20. Dott was continually snookered towards the end. Ebdon advances to the Semi Final later on. Now to put that on our wiki. A horse race is about to interupt proceedings...
13:45 - Then again - there's a really bare patch of ground with surface water. So they're throwing sand onto it, and bucketing water away. The brilliance of modern technology. England are 32/3 after about a third of the innings. They are surviving, but they aren't scoring enough runs. Arguably being 60/4 would be a stronger position. Back to the BSB...
13:47 - Leon Laslam won Race Two, so now he leads the Championship from Lavilla and the Japanese guy who DNF'd in Race Two. Lancashire and Warwickshire were unable to restart their game, so the match is drawn. Still lunch at Hove where Sussex are playing Hampshire. Sussex have a chance to go ahead in the Championship race.
13:50 - Naved-ul-Hasan is on and England are attacking! About time.
13:55 - Pietersen is out! 44/4 now... Pot Black Quarter Final 2 about to start - John Higgins against Matthew Stevens - should be a good frame. Higgins has a new cue too.
14:00 - Higgins played a great shot with the spider, stretching over the balls. He should win the frame at this visit.
14:04 - Higgins made a 62 break, and missed a great opportunity to win the frame. Higgins was never perfect - he always seemed to be struggling. Higgins is still slight favourite.
14:09 - Stevens potted to the black to lead by 1 point, but both need the black. Stevens missed the black in the top right pocket, and left a sitter black. Higgins beat the defending champion and will face Ebdon in the Semis. Great frame of snooker! Higgins won 70-64.
14:13 - Horse racing again - so it's now time to watch the GP2 highlights from Istanbul. There's a Brit - Lewis Hamilton - he just spun and lies last. Still - more than 20 laps left. Big crash at Turn 1 - they were racing five abreast at one point.
14:16 - Great race! They're overtaking on almost every corner. Ad break now though... But Hamilton is fighting through the field. England are now 70/4 after half their innings - an improvement but still poor. And it's very slow progress in Hove with Sussex. At least Yasir Arafat is back! He's now bowling for Sussex.
14:20 - Drinks break in the cricket. England are 76/4 and Dalrymple and Collingwood are fighting back well. GP2 is back on! (The feeder series to F1)
14:22 - Nelson Piquet Jr. and Hamilton are fighting at the top of the Championship, and Piquet Jr. is fourth and Hamilton is way back, but fighting through. 15 laps left.
14:24 - This is great! Hamilton is right behind Piquet! I'm sticking with this, snooker can wait...
14:27 - Amazing! Glock, Hamilton and Piquet were side by side for the whole lap!
14:30 - Greatest race ever! Hamilton is 10 ahead with only 20 points left at Monza in three weeks! Should be great fun to watch. Now, after that excitement - snooker.
14:31 - Mark Williams v Shaun Murphy in Quarter Final 3.
14:36 - I've just realised that Ronnie O'Sullivan is not in it - he probably declined the invitation. Murphy made a 45 break, but after a scrappy period, Williams cleared up to the pink. He missed the pink after an incredible blue. Frame still alive.
14:38 - Williams cleared up though to win the frame on the black, 60-46. Quarter Final 4 puts World Numbers 1 and 2 against each other - Stephen Hendry and Ken Doherty.
14:52 - Magical break from Doherty to see him into the Semi Final. He made a break of 82. He fouled, but they let him carry on anyway! Never happened before. He made 100 but it doesn't count. Ended in an exhibition style format. Officially it was 83-5. Ah well... Doherty won whatever. Hendry played no bad shots, but only potted one ball...
14:55 - England are 120/6 after 31 overs. So they're likely to lose quite quickly... sadly. But, oh well.
14:58 - After another interview, we have the first Semi Final, John Higgins against Peter Ebdon. Both are World Champions so it'll be good.
15:07 - Reckless shot from Ebdon left Higgins in, and he made a break of 80 to win the match and advance to the Final. Next match is Williams v Doherty - a great match.
15:10 - England are 141/6 with four overs left in their innings - a bit poor. If we can get to between 160 and 175 it might be competitive.
15:11 - Semi Final 2 is underway...
15:22 - After a decent break by Williams, Doherty made a break of 50, and put the yellow safe - an "insurance policy".
15:27 - Williams made a great break of 72, to take the frame. Doherty's decision to not lay a snooker, and to put the yellow safe backfired. The final will be Higgins-Doherty in a bit.
15:31 - England made 166 all out, and we could have a chance. In some early matches in the football, Scotland are 3-0 up after half an hour against the Faroe Islands. Northern Ireland are 2-0 down to Iceland.
15:34 - Sussex are going to struggle - they have only taken one wicket so far, and now it's raining. Again.
15:40 - Scotland are now 5-0 up against the Faroe Islands. Not even half time yet.
15:43 - Pakistan are now out to bat. Darren Gough is bowling for England. Iceland now lead 3-0 against Northern Ireland...
15:48 - The Pot Black Final is about to begin - John Higgins v Mark Williams.
15:52 - Higgins can only make 13 from a guilt-edged chance brought about by a poor safety from Williams.
16:02 - Williams played a poor safety shot, but got away with a fluked snooker. Higgins struggled with his safety, and left Williams to make a break of 119. He played a great shot on the yellow to get onto a choice of reds to guarantee the frame and century break. It was only the third century break in the history of Pot Black, after Eddie Charlton and Shaun Murphy. It was the highest break ever - Charlton made a 110 break, Murphy made 111, and Williams made 119. He won the frame 119-13.
16:06 - Attention turns to other pastures - and England have taken a wicket against Pakistan! It's 20/1 - Jon Lewis took the wicket. For the record, Williams won £10,000 for winning (not bad for three frames), and a further £2,000 for making the highest break. Now, the TV can turn attention to the Red Bull Air Race World Series from Longleat.
16:13 - Pakistan have started off galloping ahead of England's run rate, and now England are struggling. They need to take wickets soon. Or it needs to rain. Preferably the former.
16:18 - Congratulations to Channel 4 for explaining the people to watch. Good as I don't know a thing about Air Racing. It seems that the top two are US (there was a US race in San Francisco), and there is a Brit that is quite good. The Longleet race looks really dangerous... they have to weave in and out of trees as well as coping with the course. Mike Mangold is good, and so is Peter Beseneyi. I can't remember other names as of yet.
16:20 - England have a second wicket! We're still in this game!
16:24 - Kirsty Chambliss is the Championship leader - he's American.
16:28 - Steve Jones, a Brit, was disqualified for missing a gate by a long way. Interesting point made before they started - "If you hit the ground flat, you might live. If you land nose first, you've got no chance." To people who will be aware of the drops in Air Races, that's not reassuring news.
16:32 - The viewers are told that it is not live racing, just highlights of the previous day's qualifying. This means that the weather put pay to today's race, and as a result, the qualifying result is the final result. If you get me... That's why you shouldn't host British sporting events in September... Pakistan have slowed down, it's very close now in the cricket. It's about dead even at the moment.
16:41 - Okay, it was Kirby, not Kirsty Chambliss, and he is second.
16:42 - A Brit, Paul Bonhomme was so fast on his run, he was four seconds clear. You could say, he was flying!! Sorry, everybody.
16:48 - Ok, as of now, the race may not be on, but oh well. A Brit will win, probably. There will be a race in San Francisco next. A bit of an anti-climax really. Pakistan are slowing, they're 43/2 after a third of their innings. Ahead of England though.
16:53 - And now the main event of the British sporting day. England v Andorra. Or "pick a number", as we like to call it. Andorra will be physical, and England should win. 5-0? Probably. England have some problems. Still no Beckham, but never fear! Phil Neville is replacing his brother at Right Back. Ergh... Still we should win easily. No Owen or Rooney, but Crouch and Defoe are fine up-front. Also, Wes Brown comes in for Rio Ferdinand who has a bruised toe. Oh the agony... Still, we should win easily. Let's see.
16:54 - Great statistic. If Andorra sent everybody in their country to watch, there would still be empty seats inside Old Trafford, we are playing today. One record - Andorra has the highest life-expectancy. So even if they lose, they can look forward to a healthy retirement. Andorra's national sport is Skiing, and even Rugby is more popular amongst the Andorrans.
16:55 - National Anthems. Andorra's sounds like a mix of Spanish and French, as you'd expect, I guess.
16:58 - Now, we await kick-off. Darren Gough is getting smacked around the park in the cricket... We need to change the bowling - Pakistan may have just gone slight favourites. Anyway, back to the football - and the Professionals against the Amateurs. Should be good fun.
17:00 - Andorra forgot their kit - they left it in Barcelona. Takes some doing. But we're under way - Andorra in red, and England in their traditional white.
17:01 - England nearly scored after 45 seconds. Andorra's odds are 100-1 to win, 10-1 just to score.
17:04 - Crouch scored! 4 and a half minutes in. A bit of a scrappy goal, but a goal nonetheless. Defoe was strong to set it up. 9 goals in 9 games for England for Crouch. England lead 1-0.
17:06 - Defoe missed a sitter. We've played 6 minutes and already you're stretching for the abacus.
17:07 - Results for other British teams - Scotland beat Faroe Islands 6-0. But Northern Ireland lost 3-0 to Iceland. England are already carving Andorra apart.
17:08 - Terry probably should have just scored from a corner.
17:13 - "I'm not trying to be too disrespectful, but Andorra are hopeless." - Mark Lawrenson - BBC Commentator. Oh, and Steven Gerrard just made it 2-0. 13 minutes played.
17:16 - Andorra seem to be pioneering the 6-4-0, with the four in midfielders playing in defensive positions. Andorra appear to have mastered the art of cheating (i.e. diving).
17:20 - Andorra have just pioneered the offside-trap for beginners - rather than just stepping up to catch them offside, sprint forwards - as a team - in an effort to play them offside. That way, if they aren't offside, there are six players all waiting to tap the ball in. This is comedy.
17:22 - There are precisely three people from Andorra in the stands. And there is one flag.
17:24 - The crowd is vocal for the first time other than the goals. It has been so quiet. It is one of the quietist games I've ever seen. A quick glimpse of the cricket shows that Paksitan are 90/2 in the 24th over. Come on rain! England need wickets. Our bowling in One Day Internationals is a bit awful.
17:31 - Hargreaves hit the post with a curling free kick. England are going to win this, easily.
17:35 - Fernando Silva - cheat (or at least, diver).
17:38 - Jermain Defoe scores! 3-0 England. Gerrard with the assist. The defense was shocking. Who needs Beckham... It's only Andorra.
17:41 - Rikki Clarke has taken a third Pakistani wicket. England could be back in with a sniff. Younis Khan is out for 55.
17:43 - Poor defensive header, and England nearly scored with Defoe. Good save - corner.
17:45 - Short corner, the result of which was a cross. Andorra implied their charging off-side trap, and England had 5 men queuing up to score it. (Side point - "queuing has four consecutive vowels in it I think...) But Terry took it away from his team-mate, it wasn't off-side as the ball was passed backwards. Also, there was still one defender.
17:47 - Half-time. 3-0 England lead. Easy.
17:48 - England need quick wickets. Pakistan are coasting. If we can get Yousuf or Inzamam out, we may have a chance. They need nearly five an over to win the game. They should win, but England could have a chance if they can get the two at the crease out.
17:51 - 4.8 an over for the next 10 overs... Pakistan are favourites as England tend to bowl badly, but we need wickets!!
17:54 - Inzamam-ul-Haq is having a slog that could take the game away from England.
17:55 - Stuart Broad is getting smacked. We need to take him out of the attack.
18:00 - Gough is back in the attack.
18:03 - Andorra substitution to start the second half - Sanchez Off - Sanchez On. Pakistan are coasting to victory. Not even the rain can save us now.
18:05 - Start of the 47th minute - Jermain Defoe scores again! 4-0 to England. Coasting.
18:07 - Inzamam's slogging has won them the game... Pakistan need only 16 off 6 overs with plenty of wickets left. He's not got 31 runs off 21 balls. (3 and a half overs).
18:09 - Nearly 5-0... And it has stopped raining at Old Trafford for the first time in the game.
18:12 - Video evidence has shown an Andorran dive. And he gets up. Oh, and Hargreaves was booked.
18:15 - Two swings and misses by Andorran defenders, and Defoe nearly got a hat-trick, but he hit his shot straight at the goalie. Pakistan are almost home...
18:18 - England have lost to Pakistan by 7 wickets. Inzamam finished up with 42 off 26 balls, compared to Mohammed Yousuf's 49 off 81 balls. So Pakistan lead 1-0 in the series.
18:20 - All other cricket has ended for the day. All the County Championship games today ended in draws due to the rain. Sussex still lead Hampshire by 31, but need to take 9 more wickets and then they bat again. There is only oneday left. Odds are, that will be a draw too.
18:22 - Hargreaves just hit the post again with a thunderbolt from way out. Still 4-0.
18:23 - England subsitutions - Neville and Downing off, Lennon and Richardson on. So England move to a 3-5-2 formation, a plan B. Which is fine, because England are 4-0 up, and there is no attacking threat from Andorra.
18:24 - GOAL! 5-0 to England. Peter Crouch's second goal, good header. Aaron Lennon with the cross having been on for seconds. Still over twenty minutes left. Crouch now has 10 goals in his last 9 internationals.
18:27 - Andorra player booked (the injured diver earlier), because the referee didn't stop the game. He took his frustration out on England's left winger. And England have a great chance from the free-kick. There have been a lot of Andorra "injuries." At least a few of them have been genuine.
18:29 - Andorran tempers are freying... (sp?) Jermain Defoe off, and Andrew Johnson on up front for England. Two goals for Defoe, puts his name in the hat for future games when Owen and Rooney recover from their injuries.
18:31 - Johnson really ought to have scored...
18:35 - Hargreaves just forced another save from the goalie. The resulting corner saw no chance to add to England's lead. Final Andorran substitute, and it's the diver that's coming off.
18:39 - Crouch just missed a great chance for his hat-trick. Andrew Johnson supplied the ball in unselfishly. Ten minutes left - thoughts are turning to a more difficult England game on Wednesday - away to Macedonia.
18:42 - Great runs from Crouch and Lennon a moment ago that came to nothing. The game is petering out now...
18:47 - Interesting Man of the Match Award - there was a list of four players, with seemingly no specific player winning it on his own...
18:49 - End of the 90 minutes, into the four minutes of injury time.
18:53 - Hurrah! England win 5-0. Easy. End of game. Time to prepare for Wednesday away to Macedonia.
Summary
- England lost to Pakistan in the Second One Day International by seven wickets. They trail 1-0 in the series. Inzamam-ul-Haq was Man of the Match.
- England beat Andorra 5-0 in their first Euro 2008 qualifier. Peter Crouch and Jermaine Defoe scored twice each, with Gerrard scoring the other goal.
- Mark Williams won Pot Black, at the Royal Automobile Club in London today.
- Brit, Paul Bonhomme won the British round of the Red Bull Air Race World Series, in Longleat, Somerset.
- Lancashire could only draw against Warwickshire in the County Championship, and title rivals Somerset look like succombing to the same fate.
- In the British Superbike Championship, Gregorio Lavilla and Leon Haslam won races at Cadwell Park. Haslam leads the championship.
- In GP2, Lewis Hamilton went from the back of the grid to finish second in a great race.
- There was some good horse racing (probably) at Haydock in monsoon conditions.
- Scotland beat the Faroe Islands 6-0, and Northern Ireland lost 3-0 to Iceland in their Euro 2008 qualification.
And there's more to come...
- Germany v Ireland and Czech Republic v Wales is coming up in a while as more Euro 2008 qualifiers are played.
- There are TV highlights of the cricket starting in 15 minutes.
- At 22:00 over here, there is boxing, a title fight of some kind, and Amir Khan is in the ring too.
19:00 - Time to go for me, I've exhausted my schedule I initially stated, and done more besides. I hope you enjoyed this run down of a day in the life of a British sports fan. If you've written articles, I'm off to scrutinise them.
Date
Sat 09/02/06, 1:09 am EST
