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Australia beat India in Melbourne Test

The Melbourne Test Match, played before a record crowd, proved to be an eventful and absorbing match as well as instructive as England will play both India and Australia in 2025. Australia won comfortably in a ding-dong battle after India collapsed after tea 0n the final day. India can add Reddy, [...]

December 31, 2024 // 0 Comments

(Big Game 16): Harlequins 34 Leicester Tigers 34

It was business as usual for the Big Game before 82,000 at a sold-out Twickenham Alliance. Marcus Smith was back to his jinking running game and Caden Murley’s pace and power created 2 tries. However, with Quins leading by 7 points, in the dying embers Dan Cole went over for Leicester and [...]

December 29, 2024 // 0 Comments

The Tanner Report: Chelsea 1 Fulham 2

In 1963 – on Boxing Day – Fulham beat Ipswich, who were the champions the previous year, by 10-1. 63 goals were scored in the old First Division that day, one other result being West Ham 2 Blackburn 8. Fast-forward to 1979 when Fulham last beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge (2-1). I was at [...]

December 27, 2024 // 0 Comments

The Atlas of Art Crime/Laura Evans

Laura Evans subdivides her engaging review of art crime into three categories: 1) Theft 2) Vandalism 3) Forgery In regard to theft you have to have quite a lot of chutzpah to steal a painting to enter a gallery, church or museum and appropriate a picture. The motivation is normally financial but [...]

December 26, 2024 // 0 Comments

(WW2) Arctic convoys & opening a Second Front.

It did not take Hitler long to repudiate the Molotov/Ribbentrop pact and invade the Soviet Union. It was also not that long after – with Stalin’s ‘not one step back’ and ‘scorched earth’ strategy – that the Wehrmacht was in trouble. Stalin implored the Allies to open a [...]

December 25, 2024 // 0 Comments

The Critic (2023 movie)

I missed out on this film on general release and watched it yesterday on Amazon Prime. It’s based upon the Anthony Quinn novel Curtain Call but fell short of the book. It featured Ian McKellen as the acerbic Daily Chronicle theatre critic Jimmy Erskine modelled on James Agate. Set in the 1930s, [...]

December 24, 2024 // 0 Comments

George Eastham (RIP)

I was truly saddened to hear of the death of George Eastham, chiefly for two reasons. Firstly, he belonged to a genre of player that no longer exists: the inside forward. They were technically very skilful, slight and did not score that many goals. Secondly, aged 18, I was watching  from behind [...]

December 23, 2024 // 0 Comments

Gloucester Rugby 14 Harlequins 0 (Rugby Premiership)

This was one of the most inept performances I have seen from Quins. Their big players – Marcus Smith, Fin Baxter, Chandler Cunningham South and Caden Murkey – failed to perform. In the first half they were comprehensively overwhelmed by the physicality of  the Cherry Reds. We expected [...]

December 21, 2024 // 0 Comments

Fall/John Preston

This is the story of Robert Maxwell and what a life story it is. Born as Jan Ludvik Hoch in 1923 into an impoverished Czechoslovakian Jewish family who were largely exterminated in the Holocaust, he joined up with the British army liberating Europe, reinvented himself as Captain Robert Maxwell and [...]

December 19, 2024 // 0 Comments

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