Your left leg out, you do the Bell & Cooky and...............erm.......make the Aussies cry like little girls!!

Okay that’s possibly the worst chant ever invented, but I don’t care, Alistair Cook take a bow son...........to think before this series he was considered the weak link in our batting line up by the oppo, yet he has gone on to amass 766 runs, and during this innings he has become the 2^nd youngest player ever to reach 5,000 test runs, after a certain Sachin Tendulkar (who??), which is made even more impressive when you think Sachin made his debut at the tender age of 16 compared to Cooks 21!

He has batted for 35 hours in this series, which is probably more than time than I’ve spent at the crease in my entire life..........and his teammate Jimmy Anderson has stated that he is more talented than Pietersen.........high praise indeed, although I’d watch out for KP in the car park as he won’t like being outshone, and might try and run him over in his blinged out Rooney mobile (I’m guessing he has one, I can’t exactly see KP driving around in an Vauxhall Astra can you?).

Bell too finally scored his first ton against the Aussies, it was a master class in strokeplay, and he should get even more credit for winding the oppo up to breaking point! He was involved in the biggest controversial incident of the day with his edge behind that wasn’t. The fact that it was reviewed and given not out, despite there being an audible “nick” drove the Aussies mad but the fact is if it doesn’t show up on hotspot, if it is not an obvious edge, the 3^rd Umpire can not give it out, and this caused a few of the fans and players to throw their toys out the pram in a big way, in fact when he reached his milestone many of them booed and only two Aussie players appeared to clap.......another great example of sportsmanship from the worst losers in the world.

Let’s remind ourselves who introduced the public team policy of not walking and waiting upon an umpires decision first, oh yeah, that would be the Australians (definition of irony anyone?), oh and also let us not forget the incident of the claimed catch by Phil Hughes when it had clearly bounced about 4 feet in front of him. There is simply no way he would not have known that that didn’t carry, in fact I’m pretty sure it was a one hand one bounce attempt, but yet he still appealed and swore blind he caught it which surely is worse than simply waiting for an umpires decision, as he was trying to sway opinion!

So yeah, the fact that after an umpire in real time had given it out, the player didn’t think he had hit it, and so used  the official review system (which is perfectly legit), and the third umpire couldn’t prove that Bell had made contact ,means the player had every right to stand his ground. If you don’t like the heat, get the hell out of the kitchen (and take your snags with you) you Aussie whingers!! It’s just a shame Punter isn’t playing or we could have all once more have seen his “Sad Face”, here it is below for you to make up for this fact!

It feels so good to say that, in fact I think the best part of this series has been watching the normally aloof and all conquering Australians being reduced to spoilt little school girls, who when they don’t get their way, simply stamp their feet, throw a tantrum, turn around and say, it’s my ball, it’s my bat I’m going home!

If it wasn’t so funny for everyone else to see in the world of cricket, you would get upset, but let’s be honest, is there any better feeling than watching an Aussie throw a strop? I think not

Anyhoo, tonight I shall be watching once more, as hopefully we can add another 60-100 runs, and then bowl them out for under 200, and hopefully we will see more “controversial incidents” like Cooks, simply because it is going to give me so much ammo against my Aussie mates when the club cricket season rolls around, tee hee!

Banter and Aussie bashing aside, I’d like to praise everyone in the crowd that wore pink in memory of Jane McGrath (Glen’s wife), who sadly passed away two years ago after a brave battle with cancer, it was poignant memory of that fact that cricket, as much as we love it, is only a game, and there are far more important things in life and a special mention to the greatest sports supporters of all time in my eyes, the Barmy Army (who were all wearing various shades of pink), which raised over £35,000 alone........nice work boys, nice work.

Right I am off to watch Arsenal hopefully beat Man City in an al important 6 pointer!

Until next time muchachos!

Not even 3 whole days into 2011, and already the sport has been phenomenal!!

My beloved Leicester tigers won a war of attrition against Exeter to go top of the Aviva Premiership, wins for Arsenal, Man City, Man U and Tottenham, and that 3-3 draw for Chelsea means that we have 5 teams separated by 6 points at the top of the Premier league, for the first time in years at this stage of the season, England managed to reduce the Aussies to 134-4 in the final Ashes test to continue their incredible form, and lo and behold, both Phil “the Power” Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld have bowed out of the PDC darts championship, to leave it an England vs. Scotland final with Gary Anderson (my fave to win) against the 25 year Adrian “Jackpot” Lewis............what a start to the sporting year!

Honestly, I have hardly had time to draw breath in between watching all of this immense sporting action and trying to get some work in, and I don’t care, because when things are as unpredictable and as exciting as this, it doesn’t get any better!!

In the Ashes, it is great to see our boys continuing where they left off in the last test, and how Anderson didn’t get a wicket on the 1^st day I don’t know, but once again, Tremlett, Bresnan and Swann did the damage, not bad considering that the former two weren’t exactly at the forefront of the selectors or fans minds 3 weeks ago. Just goes to show how much work has been done to develop this England squad and setup, and also how poor the Aussie selection policy has been, as Khawaja looks like he should have been in the side from the start..........still Swanny managed to bag him!

All we need to do is make sure Hussey doesn’t do a “Chanderpaul” and carry the innings once more, and we should have them out for 250, and then we are a quarter of the way to winning the series.................and we all know what that means, more “Sprinkler” dances from the lads!

In the footy, Chelsea’s draw was a great game, and it was good to see Villa battling once more in what has been an awful season for them so far, although you do wonder how many of their players have decided to get their act in gear now the transfer window has opened, but surely even Ancelotti must be having doubts about his squad lifting the title now? Also having Tottenham and Man City in the top four is so refreshing, okay I’m an Arsenal fan so I’m happy for my boys, but even if they weren’t in the mix, I am simply delighted to finally see the end of the so called Big Four, and believe it or not, I’m even more happy that one of the teams is the evil Spurs J simply because they haven’t bought their way there! ‘Arry for England manager anyone? Surely it’s on the cards, hell the way he is getting his squad to perform, I’d vote for him to be Prime Minister!

Oh and of course, I haven’t even mentioned the transfer window opening, even if all of the talk once more is about a certain Mr Beckham........which I do find laughable considering he would only be available for 8 weeks anyway before he has to return to the MLS.....still as always, Beckham will grab the limelight, and it would be great to see him back in the Premiership again, even if it is with Spurs, as that includes the mouth-watering prospect of a Champions League tie against his old loanee club Milan. Unfortunately I somehow doubt he will be looking to add Newcastle to his CV, no matter how much Alan Pardew talks it up, while Blackburn seem too close to United (the reason he gave for not joining Everton is that it would be too near to his former club), and lest we forget he started his career training at Spurs, and if Redknapp does take over as England manager, what better way to impress him than by helping him out and getting to know some of the cockney lingo at the same time, hell he could even go to a Chaz and Dave concert with ‘Arry, and develop a penchant for jellied eels before his time is up!

The darts have been amazing, and stop it, you know I love darts, so stop sniggering, and to see surely the best player in the world at the moment, Gary “Bravedart” Anderson, finally take his place in the final, against the most exciting British player since Taylor burst onto the scene, Adrian Lewis, is going to be electric. Both players have a bit of a nasty dodgy streak about them (you don’t exactly learn sportsmanship when you grow up playing darts in a pub, it’s not exactly the playing fields of Eton is it?), so expect it to go right to the wire and be incredibly tense. In fact, if I was a darts player, and wanted to take a massive leap ahead of my opponents, I would simply hire a sports psychologist, as the sport has moved on so much since the beer swilling days of Bristow and Lowe, but the biggest let down for all players it seems is their mental frailties, yet these guys still do not apply any sports science to their game, which baffles belief when the winner tonight will walk away with a whopping £200k!

Anyway, I am continuing to work in the Rising Sun pub tonight in Epsom, so I will miss the final, but not to worry, my Sky Plus box has been working overtime, and I can’t wait to come home and get my Ally Pally fix for the day!

Talking of which, I can’t wait for tomorrow, as it is time for everyone to return to work, and that means time for all of my big meetings regarding radio, TV and biking work to commence, and I hoping to confirm some very exciting news, although the big meeting for me is on the 19^th.........say no more Rodney........say no more!

Anyway, I best go iron my shirt for tonight’s shift, and no it’s not a darts shirt (I told you it was a posh pub) and get pouring pints and waiting tables, because the sooner I’m done, the sooner I can get back to watching sport!

Oh one other thing, operation playing rugby once more after smashing up my neck, got into full swing today with the start of my first full week of full time training although it was kind of depressing as I weighed in at 85.2 kg, (down from 100kg from when I was playing last) so there is a lot of muscle to build up, and I won’t even be thinking about doing any contact training or playing for 3 weeks until I can get my fitness levels back up and build up the strength in my dodgy old neck. It is great thought to be getting that buzz again, especially because in the gym I train in, we have one Gloucester player and another from Esher, both recovering from serious injuries like mine, to help spur me on! One thing is though, at 31, I’m definitely feeling a bit older, although I think the biggest shock has been for my mum (who is putting me up for a while) as I’ve obviously started to intake a training diet........and well let’s just say I’m eating her out of house and home............what’s that mum? Dinner time..........best get my troth out!!

So 2011 is upon us, and thank God!!

While 2010 brought some incredible sporting memories for me, not only England retaining the Ashes, THAT rugby match against Australia, Amir Kahn, David Haye and Carl Froch in the world of boxing with some awesome fights, the closest Premier league title race (so far) for ages, and of course our boys heading out to Germany and finally proving their worth by lifting the football World Cup............oh hang on........!

I was going to do this big review of all the sporting action from 2010, but you were there, you saw it, and everyone else has done just that! So instead, I’ll simply focus on bringing you more sporting blogs than ever before this year, and hoepfully keeping you entertained with my version of sporting events from around the world!

Personally though, it was a year I was very glad to put behind me, and I simply can’t tell you how much I am looking forward to 2011, so much so that I was actually in bed by 10.30pm last night, and up and at the gym for 9am this morning!

Although I didn’t realise the gym was shut, so now I feel a tad foolish! Anyway, I am more excited about 2011 than about any other year in my history, I have some very exciting meetings planned for this month, and of course hopefully 2011 will finally see my TV show being made, now that I have time to dedicate fully to it! I also hope to be spending a hell of a lot more time on motorbikes, doing some racing, and for the first time in 3 years, I will have my Saturdays free to play rugby once more (if anyone will have me), and be able to play on both the Saturday and Sunday of the cricket season for the first time since I was about 18..................If selected of course!!

Personal stuff aside, what a way to start 2011, with possibly one of the best line ups I have ever seen in the Darts World Championship, with Taylor, Barneveld, Anderson, Adrian Lewis and Terry Jenkins still all in the mix! I love my darts, and although the BDO championship also starts on the BBC today, let’s be honest, you’re kidding yourself if you think that is a better standard...............apart from maybe Wolfy, who I truly admire for his loyalty to his organisation, although a part of me feels he is only still in that tournament because he knows he can win it every year.

We also have rugby on today, and of course the next rollercoaster round of matches in the Premier League, which keeps throwing up so many surprises, I simply can’t take my eyes off it!

Oh and my hopes for the New Year?? Arsenal to win the League (they won’t), England to win the Rugby World Cup (they probably won’t), the cricket team to build on last years amazing work (they probably will) and Leicester Tigers to win the Heineken Cup (perhaps) and the Playoffs (more likely!). Oh and England's football team to play with some pride (I’m really pushing the boat out now!).

So then, here is to 2011, may it truly deliver you all that you wish, and “LET’S PLAY DARRRRRRTTTSSSS!”

I said it, so I did it! Much to the Chagrin to my neighbour’s cat who was the only one to witness it thank god, but I was indeed doing cartwheels in the street, naked, at 3am this morning as England retained the ashes in Aus for the first time since..............since..............well to be honest, it feels like forever!

For all of those wondering too, yes, in my naked dance of pneumonia riddled joy, I did indeed bust out the “Sprinkler”, the classic dance move that thanks to Graeme Swann’s video Diaries have been sweeping the nation! Just put “Sprinkler Dance” into YouTube to see what I mean!

This kind of Euphoric outpouring of a nations happiness may normally be saved for winning a World War, or lifting a certain World Cup, but when you are an English cricket fan, honestly there can be no better feeling than watching the boys do what they have done on the other side of the world these past few weeks!

For all those that are wondering why we are so happy to have gone 2-1 up with still a game to play, when the Aussies can still tie the series, well it’s all to do with the specific rules that surround the Little Urn that contains the Ashes, quite simply, you have to win them back from the team that possesses them. In other words, as we are the holders, Australia had to beat us to regain them, and now they can’t!!!

Obviously I would love England to win 3-1, but all that matters, is that the urn is safe in our hands for another 2 years! The best part of this, is people of my generation grew up watching us getting trounced year in year out by the Aussies, having just missed out on Botham’s Ashes on the account that I was only 2 years old, although I had already started playing cricket at that point and my back garden average was creeping into double figures against my brothers (trust me, runs in the back garden count still), and although we victory in the 2005 unforgettable series, and the last one at home, the idea of going out to Australia and winning, AND retaining the Ashes has been ludicrous.

During this time, the English Cricket setup has changed massively, with a national Academy setup, the two tier County league system etc all coming into place so we could try and compete with the Aussies, and finally we are seeing all that hard work, upheaval and planning paying off, and my God it is amazing!!

So finally, we as a generation now know what it is like to be a winning Ashes side, home and away, and I can tell you, I don’t want this feeling to end. One thing I must say, is the good grace the Aussie players have taken the manner of defeat, obviously apart from “Throw my toys out the Pram” Punter, let’s hope the Aussie fans can muster some of that grace though, as their support of their team has been laughable during this series. Some of the players have been saying, “Well we haven’t given them anything to cheer”, so? The Barmy army started in 1994, they have been travelling to Aus, spending thousands and thousands of pounds, and risking jobs etc, to support their team, and until today they hadn’t even had a single drop of joy series wise out there, yet their numbers grow each year and they have become ever more fervent and passionate no matter  has been going on cricket wise, imagine if they decided not to turn up because England might lose??

Aussie fans, welcome to the rest of your cricket watching lifes, you are now feeling what it is like for the rest of the world, now live with it, and stop being so rubbish, your team needs you more than ever!

The joy I feel at winning is only slightly usurped by the guttedness (I’m aware that’s not a proper word, one of my Wilkin-ism’s)  I feel that I only got my Sky box installed today, but at least I can watch the Final match, and hey, highlights in HD........rock on!

So with the Boxing day test done and dusted, I suppose I shall turn my attention to the Darts, footy and rugby for a few days, and hopefully I can give you an insight into the annual goings on at Ally Pally that you may not have realised, because yes, I make no secret of my passion for arrows..............oh hang on though..................you already know I love all sport, even toe wrestling, so no need for me to persuade you!

Right I’m off to work on my “Sprinkler” for the final test!

Wow!

So being on the verge of a win in the MCG Boxing day test match and retaining the Ashes out in Oz, should be enough to keep me happy, and it is………hell I’m dancing in the street………….but then add to that my beloved Arsenal managing finally to actually beat Chelsea...............then as you can imagine, I am now dancing naked in the street doing cartwheels!

For so often when my boys play Chelsea, we dominate the game passing it around beautifully, and quite unselfishly realising that we don’t actually need to score, we just need to look pretty, only for the man mountain that is Didier Drogba to ruin everything by scoring a goal!

Then the team normally retreat into their shells like a child at school who just had his Haribo nicked by “Bigger boys”, so imagine my surprise when we actually took the lead, then went not just 2-0 up, but 3-0? It must be Xmas............oh hang it is.........!

Even when they pulled one back, they never looked like getting back in the game, and as much as I love to say it was our great play, and our ability for Theo and Cesc to run between the bigger boys legs with the ball, you have to say it is Chelsea who let us win!

Ancelotti says that his players need to “wake up”............something I find quite remarkable, I mean for £200k a week you’d think the players would be able to afford an alarm clock.........although knowing footballers, theirs are probably still on order as they are waiting for a specialist to fit them with a yellow leather paint scheme, a diamond encrusted display, and God himself to announce the breaking of the morn!

Anyway, it does make the title race seem all that more interesting, and I for one am an even happier bunny today, now just 3 more precious wickets to go till I dance naked in the street, doing cartwheels while singing “We are the Champions!”

Oh and I loved Theo’s comment after the game................”That was simple!”...........yeah I wish being an Arsenal fan was so easy ;-)

Ahhhhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

I’m sorry, I really shouldn’t laugh, I mean it is truly sad to see such a great player, and such a competitive captain losing it all before our very eyes, but then again, there is a reason why I can’t stop laughing, and that is because, quite simply, when for the past two decades, we were getting trounced by the Aussies, all we ever heard was how we were the worst losers ever, that we were in fact “Whinging Poms!”, oh the irony.

Now that was after two decades of us being rubbish, and hell even then we really didn’t moan that much, we more lamented our own ability, and as always did so with the typical English humour of, ah well, we never expected to win anyway!

So imagine how much fun it is to see the Aussies, completely falling apart, after one series, in which it must be pointed out, they are still technically level at one match all. They aren’t even bad losers; they are bad drawers at the moment!

It’s so easy to accuse others of bad sportsmanship when your winning all the time, in fact my brother has a plaque in his toilet (goes to show how competitive my family is) that states “No one says it is only a game when their team is winning!”. In other words it’s rather easy to be magnanimous when your successful……ah but how the tables have turned!

England’s performance has been nothing short of exceptional at the MCG, but what has made it all the more special, is the disintegration of the Aussie teams mentality, highlighted beautifully by Punters rant at the umpires (Mate, if they give it not out, and then its reviewed and it’s not out, do you really think they are going to change their mind just because someone throws there toys out of the pram?), and it is this loss of discipline, I can guarantee you, that will spur the England players on more than any other aspect.

Also Aussie cricket fans should be ashamed of themselves too, for years your team has been the best, while all other nations have had to put up with being embarrassed by you, but we all still went and cheered our team on through thick and thin, even if we knew they were going to lose, because that’s what being a supporter is all about, not leaving halfway through a day because you don’t like where the match is going?

That is tantamount to saying “if I shut my eyes, and I don’t see us lose, it doesn’t count!” I had a great mate when I was younger, who whenever I was about to beat him at FIFA on the mega drive, which didn’t happen very often, as I didn’t own a copy of the game, and he lived on it, would simply hit the reset button. Every time, without fail. His reasoning, well I know I’m going to lose, so I don't need to actually go through it do I?”

I bet Punter wishes he had a reset button in this match!

Ponting is true great of the game, one of the best batsmen Australia has ever produced, and one of the most successful captains ever in the history of the game, but as I always say, it is not during the good times that we learn the most about ourselves, but during the bad, and it is how we deal with that adversity, that defines us as men, and unfortunately, Punter, you have still have some lessons to learn.

Awesome!

It has always been a bit of a tradition in our household to watch the Queen’s speech, mostly because we have a very strong armed forces background, but also due to the fact that by 3pm on Christmas day, we have all stuffed ourselves so full of turkey, sprouts and pigs in blankets, that none of us can be arsed to actually move a finger to change the TV channel…….my mum never let us watch ITV…….it’s too common don’t you know, I mean it has adverts!

Anyway, imagine my surprise this year, when instead of the usual non important stuff that Queen talks about, you know, the government, healthcare, family or social issues, or indeed the conflicts taking place in the world, she has said she is going to be basing her speech around sport!

Now I know a lot of you are probably expecting the Queen to focus on the Olympics, and other major sporting issues that affect this great nation, but I’ve managed to get a sneaky peek at the speech in question, and well I am glad to see that Her Majesty is actually going to be addressing the truly important factors that affect sport today.

First on her agenda is Snoods, you know, those god-awful scarf things that footballers wear. HRH is so upset by these, she has said any player spotting wearing one will be immediately locked up in the Tower, and by the end of the week will have their head on a spike.........although they will have the option to wear the snood once the head is placed on said metal protrusion, as you wouldn’t want them to catch a chill would you.

She also states that due to the lack of integrity of footballers now show, with all of the diving, cheating etc, that football is to be scrapped as our national sport, and indeed Darts will take its place, quite simply because 20 stone men who drink 20 pints a day, smoke like troopers and look like they haven't seen daylight in 40 years, are still better role models to our kids today than say, Joey Barton.

Secondly, she is reportedly very upset by our cricketers down under at the moment, no not because of their lacklustre loss on the last test match, it has more to do with the lack of Moustaches on display, KP aside (although his does always look more like Baldricks slug balancing act in Blackadder than a proper tash), England have shown a veritable lack of facial hair, and one is not amused.

Everyone knows that to be great at cricket you need a few good tashes around, I mean hark back to the days of Gooch, Boon, Robin Smith, and of course the doyen of the handlebar, Merv Hughes. That was when men were men, and facial hair said something about who you were..........mostly that you liked to keep your upper lip warm to be fair......but also because it’s a sign of a real man...or just one without a girlfriend/razor.

She also shows dismay at the reports in the media of all this sledging, she addresses this by saying, sledging has always been around, you should see the stick I give Harry and Wills when they get caught out at Silly Short Leg in ones back garden.

Addressing the World of Pugilism, she hails David Haye, Amir Khan and Carl Froch as giants in the sport, and fighters we can be truly proud of and she gives a polite mention to Audley Harrison............well everyone needs a laugh at Christmas!

The Olympics should prove to be a real showcase of not only our great nation, but our sporting prowess too, especially because the world class athletes will struggle to adjust to the conditions of living in East London, not due to altitude, humidity, or even the pressure of the media, no, mostly because of the nonstop diet of jellied eels and Chas & Dave they will be served every ten minutes.

Finally in regards to rugby, my beloved fave sport, she simply says she is looking forward to the World Cup next year..................because she rather likes the sight of men in Lycra.............and Phillip just can’t pull it off any more, but if she spots anyone trying anything like the Bloodgate saga of last year, she will give them a whopping clip round the ear...................hopefully not drawing any blood.

Anyway, it’s Blooming Christmas Eve!! May you all have an awesome time, and bring on 2011!

The Rock has returned to............Epsom!! Back to my hometown roots!! Not to worry, the reason I have done this as I explained, was to allow me to have more time to focus on this blog, as well as allowing me to focus on the more important things in life.......like debating the virtues of the rotation of crops in small allotments, re-enacting the battle of the Somme with nothing but some matchboxes and some frozen peas, and of course, working out how many times my dog Murphy will chase his tail for 30 mins before he manages to catch it, only to bite it so hard, he has to let go in pain..........and therefore the whole process starts again….ad nauseum............most fun ever!

Anyway, I have my Sky TV on order, and it arrives in time for day two of the second test, but apart from that, what with a lack of sports channels, and a rather large amount of this white dusty stuff, I haven’t seen a huge amount of sport, but one thing that stands out is poor old Rafa Benitez, 6 months in, just won the World Club Championship, and he has been sacked on the eve of Christmas Eve by Inter. To be fair though, if Liverpool had done that with him, they might not be in the state they are now!!

So with the snow clearing, England looking to bounce back from the disastrous defeat in the last test, in which they put up about as much as a fight as Audley Harrison, and with the Festive season bringing a whole raft of fixtures in the world of sport, I reckon it’s time to get my blog back on!!

I’ve just managed to get a job in my local too, to fund my writing addiction, and I’m still going to be riding a whole world of bikes in my Motorcycle Diaries, plus I some rather exciting meetings lined up in the world of media for January, and I must admit, it is truly amazing to be back home amongst the greatest set of friends and family a guy could ever have.

Honestly, sometimes, I feel it’s so easy to forget just what’s really important in life, and coming home really makes you remember that, especially if the important things in life boil down to my mum’s awesome cooking!!

Anyway, time to be away and wrap my presents, unfortunately due to my work situation, my family wont bet getting Ferrari’s and Ponies this year, in fact even the price of coal has risen so much (ps. old people would probably actually love some coal for Xmas........it could keep them warm for hours) so that they will have to make do with a carrot.

Hey a Carrot is for life, not just for Xmas!! Anyway, I might returneth with another blog tomorrow, if not though, well can I just wish you all a very Happy, merry, and festive Christmas, this will be the first one in about 8 years I can spend the whole thing at home with my family...............unfortunately for them ;-)!

PS I love how the news is asking for people with 4x4 cars to make themselves available for elderly neighbours and relatives............I never knew old people were so into off-roading..............hang on was that a joke.............I think it was.........sorry.

Now let me first of all state, I actually like Audley Harrison as a person, he comes across as a really nice guy, with his heart in the right place, unfortunately for the big man, the last place that his heart should be is in a boxing ring!

Audley has announced today he will continue as a “boxer”, despite suffering one of the worse defeats in history, since I foolishly decided to take on my brother in the Rumble in the Suburbs...circa 1988......in my mum’s front room. Back then my brother boxed amateurly, I was only 7, and he was 18. Plus to make if even more one sided, we only had one set of gloves, which I foolishly persuaded my brother to let me wear (as I thought I would be a proper boxer) without realising that getting hit by an ungloved hand hurts a lot more than a gloved one!

Hell even in that fight, although it may have been as one sided as the supposed Battle of Britain, and trust me it lasted a lot shorter, at least I got more than one punch off, I mean Harrison threw on punch...........one punch................I mean if you take into account the money he made that must be the best £ to punch ratio ever managed by a fighter!

I genuinely found myself caught up in the hype for the Haye vs. Harrison fight, with Haye coming across as focussed, determined, successful (or as we Brit’s like to call it...arrogant) to Harrisons understated, nice guy, underdog persona, and at points, the boxing logic part of my brain (yes I have one.........and yes more surprisingly I do have a brain!) shut down to allow me to believe that maybe, just maybe, the gentle giant Harrison could win!

The sad fact is though, Harrison didn’t even deserve to be in the ring with the World Champion, and it seemed to just be a fitting and the final chapter in Audleys embarrassing career that promised so much, but delievered so little, after his Olympic success.

Is Audley that bad a boxer? Obviously not, I mean the guy was a superb young prospect, and seemed to have all of the tools, but making the step up to the big time, he just never seemed to have the right head on.

His career just seemed to go from one joke to another, and every time he stepped in the ring he looked about as energetic as Santa on Boxing Day, and seemed to have no cutting edge. Is it because he is such a nice guy, maybe he doesn’t have that selfish side to him? That ruthlessness that allows you to push yourself harder and faster than your opponent in training and in the ring, perhaps he truly believes all of his hype and feels he doesn’t need to make an effort, hell, maybe he is a pacifist, who knows, the fact is that he has failed to deliver the goods for over a decade now, and that he could even still get a fight with the World Champion should be alarming.

So what does Audley have left to achieve, surely at the age of 39, any matches now will be almost pantomime esque, as people are lured to watch a lame tiger try and justify the hype the industry built up around him? You have to ask, what is he trying to achieve now? Is he doing it for the money? Does he truly believe he can still win a world title? Should any of us care....probably not!

As a fighter, who had so much promise, it must drive him mad not to deliver on it, and he seems as equally non plussed about it as us, but like in life, if you keep letting people down by promising the moon on a stick and not delivering, people tend to get annoyed, and it will be interesting to see how much mileage his career has left. As a truly nice guy, and someone who I think means well, I do wish him luck in the future, but personally, I think it’s time we moved on, and focused on true boxing talents, like the aforementioned Haye, and Carl Froch who pretty much put on one of the best displays of the year, some might say faultless, against Arthur Abraham in Finland on Saturday, yet got hardly any press exposure!

Another nice guy, Froch is genuinely world class, and I personally would love to see him get the credit he deserves, because this guy is truly a talent who can deliver in the ring!

Maybe Harrison should do the right thing and join Henson on Strictly!

As for the snow, my dog Murphy is loving it, and for once, not working has its benefits as I get to spend most of the day playing with him in it, but it’s not exactly great for the sporting world! It seems as though the ice age has actually cometh, instead of developing ways of combating the freezing conditions (such as under soil heating, Snoods etc) maybe we should change our sports to be more compatible with the new weather? More on this tomorrow!

Be excellent to each other compadres!

So after 3 years, working with some of the most passionate and brilliant people ever at Kerrang, having spent 18 months on daytimes, and another 2 on In Demand, and 3 years presenting Offside, I decided it was time to move onto the next chapter in my life.

It is with a sad heart I leave, but it was time to move on, and pursue my next goal, within the field of sport. You can probably guess by the dwindling number of posts on here, I was getting less and less time to write and do work for 5 Live, so I thought, why not try and do that full time!

Anyway, watch this space!

One of the great benefits of being unemployed, apart from watching my dopey dog playing in the snow, has been the freeing up of my time for the important things, bear wrestling with my dog, drinking coffee, and watching rubbish films.................I mean.........erm to watch lots of sport!

Yes the last week saw England draw the first Ashes test at the Gabba, following what can only be described as a sensational, record breaking partnership for England by Cook and Trott. Honestly, watching them negotiate that tricky final mornings play was tenser than watching a fat person, who is on a crash diet, in a cake shop. The potential for collapse was always there, but the guys batted brilliantly, and how demoralising will it be for Australia to bowl all day for 0 wickets?? Especially on a fifth day Gabba pitch! Cooky and Trott, any doubts anyone ever had over your temperament couldn’t have been answered in any better way!

Anyhoo, it is definitely us Poms who will have the spring in their step come the 2^nd test, and I reckon this is turning into a bit of a special England team!

The rugby this autumn has been fascinating, first our loss to NZ, in which we showed massive signs of improvement, the simply scintillating display against Australia, a bruising match against the Samoans, and next up was the World Champions South Africa and wow, did England learnt just why a cornered Springbok is so dangerous. They had a real point to prove following their results on this tour, and England must have felt they were there for the taking, but it was not me to be for Johnsons men, and they learnt a very important lesson. After the precision of the Australia game, England were smashed about the park by the Saffers, and while they gave as good as they got (Big Ted and Thommo can hold their heads especially high!) the brute force of the South African game disrupted us.

Still, we may have gone down for the 7th time in a row against the South Africans, but I really think these Autumn tests have shown us the promise we have going forward to the World Cup in 2011. Firstly, players like Lawes and Croft (who unfortunately damaged his shoulder against SA) have shown that just because you are a big unit, it doesnt mean you can’t be exceptional athletes too! I also thought Young’s looked awesome, although he needs to pass from the base of ruck more, as he does that really annoying thing of taking a step with the ball first, which allows the oppo extra time to get up in defence, and until the last game I thought Flood had been on fire!

I’m still not convinced by Cueto, sure he has rediscovered his best form, but I still don’t feel he is a game breaker, and he is too similar a player to Ashton, I would like to see some real attacking talent on the wing, maybe Varndell, or another option like Vainikolo back. I would also like to see Banahan play at outside centre more, as after a shaky start, he showed real promise, and I feel that Tindall’s time has past, and Armitage has lost a shocking amount of form, but Foden has shown what attacking rugby at 15 is all about…….he has been immense in this series!

Anyway, after all of these games to get us in the mood, Scotland's resurgence, Wales stumbling and Irelands inconsistency, it should be one hell of a 6 nations!

Anyone else think Tottenham are looking a bit good at the moment? Yes Man Utd are back to the top with the 7-2 drubbing of Blackburn, which by the way has probably earned Berbatov a few more years at Old Trafford, but surely it is Tottenham, who with the midweek win in the Champions League, and their incredible comeback at the Emirates, managed to come from behind to beat Liverpool.

Now when you look at the league table, sure they may seem some way off, but Our ‘Arry definitely has a way of getting the best out of his players, and of course he does have Bale! I think this could be a much closer league than last year, not only could any of the bottom 10 go down, but at the top, Man City, Spurs and Bolton looked to have really upped their game. Anyway time will tell I suppose!

It has only just dawned on me, that by having my weekends free again, I can actually start playing a bit of rugby again...ohh and cricket on a Saturday!! Woo!

Yeah so really everything is a bit up in the air at the moment, I’m mostly going ot be focusing on the sports side of things, and maybe doing a few music shows somewhere down the line, but one thing is for certain, with all of this time on my hands, I will have lot more time to post here!

You lucky crazy cats! Oh and with the snow, the Bike front is nonexistent at the moment, although I might pop down to the bike show this week!

I shall blog back tomorrow, with my thoughts on the rotation of crops in small allotments, and why the BOC needs to employ Gnomes.................honest ;-)