Sports mad

I took the train to Bristol last Saturday afternoon as I was speaking at the Jon Lewis Testimonial dinner at Ashton Gate, the home of Bristol City Football Club. I was the guest speaker, and Ian Bell, Liam Plunkett and Jon Lewis were on the panel for a Q&A session. Ian Bell told me during dinner that any of the top 8 nations could win the World Cup and although he has great respoect for Australia, he rated Pakistan and of course the home team, the West Indies. He went on to tell me that he'd had a few days off, but had been in the nets that morning and was hitting the ball sweetly. Good luck to the team.

I'd caught an early afternoon train so that I could sit in my hotel room and watch England play Ireland at Dublin's Croke Park. I have little to add to the obituaries on most of the sports pages this week, other than to say that the Irish are the last nation on earth who still have the courtesy to remain silent during a penalty kick - even when it's the visiting team's. It's hard to believe the English will be able to defend the cup, and I suspect now that only the French or the Irish will be a real challenge to the All Blacks.