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It’s probably not helpful to one’s cardiac health to watch any more of the Ashes.  However, there’s a generation of twentysomethings who don’t remember England emerging victorious in a home series or an away tour – in fact, the past two years have been the only times we’ve seen England be any good at cricket at all.  Whereas older folk have always loved to say in a mournful tone that cricket now isn’t like it was in the old days of their youth, we are happy to say the exact same thing – but with modulations of pure joy. 

My tip for this week’s Test match was for Matthew Hoggard to score more runs in the first innings than Ian Bell, which was entirely accurate but sadly I couldn’t find anyone to take the bet – possibly it was a foregone conclusion, after the Hog’s batting heroics at Trent Bridge.  As the fourth day’s play wears on, it looks more and more likely that the rain and the light will assist England to a draw in this fifth and final match. 

England’s footballers could only think wistfully of the promised land of a draw after Wednesday’s woeful performance against Northern Ireland.  As expected, the men with three lions on their chest were given a tougher test than Wales presented, and had no idea how to combat their Irish opponents, who secured a thoroughly deserved single-goal victory.

On the domestic front, the dismally unexciting Premiership turned out the expected set of results, with the one exception perhaps being Middlesbrough’s 2-1 win over Arsenal.  The Championship is looking more interesting for the casual viewer or the more discerning football fan, with Sheffield United opening up a four-point gap at the top of the table, but with five points separating second and 15th, it’s definitely not going to be the walkover for the newly-relegated sides that many expected.

League One threw up the result of the day – Swansea’s 7-1 thrashing of Bristol City, which pushed the Swans up to fourth and leaves the Robins third from bottom (one below ex-European champions Nottingham Forest). Entertainingly for all those with an interest in the future of football in this country, the MK franchise is languishing second from bottom. 

It’s tight at the top of League Two, still, with Notts County sitting pretty, albeit on goal difference from Grimsby.  Wycombe’s highly rated Nathan Tyson notched a hat-trick in his side’s 3-3 draw with Stockport.  And Torquay are glued to the foot of the table – not the start that manager Leroy Rosenior would have wanted following their relegation last year.

That’s all for this week.  Now, where did I put my songsheet for Jerusalem?