Click here to view the embedded video.

I have to say this saturday just gone was primed for some interesting TV – David Haye ticks all the boxes with his age, look and chat – Valuev was there for the taking in a way – he seemed too mellow for the fight – a man mountain at 7 foot 2 who may just have been thinking that it was time for his poetry writing and animal bonding to take priority. in fact I couldn’t help but feel tinges of sadness when watching the celebrations at the end of the fight – with Valuev just standing quietly and alone in the background. it was an odd occasion all round really – first of all the location, Nuremberg – why? not exactly Las vegas but apparently the Russian has been more at home in germany during his champions reign – the actual stadium they fought was built on top of the actual place the infamous nazi Nuremberg rallies took place – a strange choice considering it was the eve of remembrance Sunday, but also Valuev’s entrance to  really bad live rock  would have disturbed anyone, fortunately not Haye who was still lip sinking the words to ‘ain’t no stopping us now’ through his iPod.

Now to the fight – how does a speedy Millwall fan combat a man 7 stones heavier and a full head taller? by ducking and diving and just being damn quick – this wasn’t helped by the fact that Haye apparently broke his right hand in the third round leading to extra emphasis from his left and more patience needed to wait till the very last round before unleashing a few combinations that almost had the giant Russian on the floor.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I’m sure it was this final round that swung the judges votes – it had been a pretty even until then. so there you have it – a new champion of the world in the blue ribbon weight category – Haye will go far. his trainer’s chilled chat in between the rounds was inspired and Klitschko better be ready.

Don King’s found his new payday !!!

The time is here ! as I glide through passport control at Singapore’s Changi airport for the umpteenth time I finally decide that on my next passage through these shores I’ll either have or will be in the process of completing my first Marathon. I was in this headspace around the same time last year mind you, but following the overuse of my right thigh muscle, (whilst wearing the wrong shoes may I add) I ended up spending far too much time in recovery followed by a couple of false dawns during which I simply reignited the troubles by coming  (back) a little too soon

- but 12 months on with specially moulded insoles in a pair of K-Swiss misoul techs I once again feel the need to finally overcome my demons and attempt to better my life, save my health and possibly make myself look a little less like a DJ cliche ! it shall start on arrival in Tokyo – for starters I’ll attempt to cancel drink during the ‘non gig’ days – this will certainly help in the ‘just a quick fag before I play stakes’ and I’ll make full use of the pool/gym in the Cerulean Towers where I’m sleeping.

I should add at this point that I’m extremely prone to extreme behaviour – which of course is a good thing – specially when my sights target an Ironman at some stage! so onwards and upwards with Murakami books for company – my first stage will be
to complete a half marathon by Easter followed by at least one of the major city big ones in 2010 – New York looks like a sensible target November 2010 – exactly 1 year away – I know it seems distant but with my schedule I think its reasonable. The key thing here is not to re injure – plenty of stretching and warming up.

I do find that jogging is a really good way to discover a city, a little in the same way as David Byrne’s ‘bicycle diaries’ book that just came out in which he carries his fold up to all the towns and cities he finds himself  – Personally, I ran Havana, Melbourne, Geneva, New York, Milan, Kyoto, Bastia and Paris in between leg wounds this year and boy did I love it !! you can get straight into the nitty gritty of a place – specially
when you do it at the crack of dawn.

I don’t listen to music when running though! I like the sound of distant conversations and breaking waves as I tread the streets ! so enough moaning and excuse making from me … this is it – the time is here – I start to run !!

Gilles Peterson presents Havana Cultura – New Cuba Sound out Oct 26

As much as FIFA do their utmost to protect the superpowers its good to see that a Switzerland or a Slovenia can still find a route to the biggest single sporting event on the planet, I get depressed if there isn’t a super tournament some summers, the Olympics, European football champs and World Cup take up 3 out of 4 summers but I’m sorry,as much asI love them, the world athletics just aren’t strong enough on their own for me to avoid a dose of sporting prozac.

Looking elsewhere in the World Cup qualifications there’s a possible big story in South America where Argentina find themselves in a perilous place – the game against Peru on Saturday is a must win for Diego Maradona and in Africa, Nigeria look lost. meanwhile the USA keep proving that football isn’t just a girls game by looking home and dry in the ’safer’ central American qualifying zone – I’ll miss Bruce Arena on the touchline in Johannesburg though!

On a slightly obscure one I have to admit to having checked a few of the under 20 World Cup matches in Egypt right now – I know, I’m sure there are other things I could be doing with my time but  there you go! and even though most of the European teams have sent their second or third string sides (due to most clubs not letting their quality youth out during the season) its Ghana that look hot to win the tournament – watch them!

but to finish off this blog, if you’re thinking of moving to a new land in the future and want to learn a new language then there’s only one choice – Brazil – wow! they’ve got the World Cup after South Africa and the Olympics after – don’t know about you but Rio seems like a good place to invest right now!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ever so slightly a new generation is quietly challenging the forces of power. I wish we didn’t have so long to wait till the slam next year in Melbourne, but then again a break will do them all some good – specially Murray and Nadal who both have some re positioning in their heads to do. I think Murray will be okay as he can still improve in a Federer type of way, but Nadal may need some brand new body parts if he is to retain his high power game.

The US open was a great climax to an exciting tennis season this year – and the Clijsters win brought a little fairy tale action to the women’s game – and what about Serena – good stuff! she let off some proper ‘hairdryer’ heat on that poor lines woman! and eventually she
made her apology – wonder whether she’ll still have game motivation next year

Click here to view the embedded video.

- there are certainly a couple of English lasses coming through in the juniors which makes a change – both Heather Watson and Laura Robson won slams and will take some pressure off each other to be the first British lady winners at Wimbledon since Virginia Wade, which if I remember rightly took place during the Queen’s silver jubilee, and that was a long time ago!

Tonight sees the opening group stage of the Champions League.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Overall this competition is beginning to look quite predictable up until the second round. Was it meant to be like this in UEFA’s original imprint? somehow, like the big 4 in England there’s also a set of Euro teams who dominate the competition – in Spain its Barcelona and Real Madrid, Bayern Munich in Germany, Inter and AC Milan as well as Juventus in Italy plus the odd threat from teams like Lyon or Porto – but basically you get a good idea who’s gonna make it to the knock out stages … this year looks very straight forward for all the English clubs – they’ve got very straight forward groups – Man Utd may suffer a little from the distances they have to travel to places like Besiktas in Istanbul or CSKA Moscow, but all in all I don’t see any of them being knocked out this side of 2010. there is one group though worth following … group C which features AC MIlan and Real Madrid (interesting for Kaka’s family) alongside Marseilles and FC Zurich – you can forget the swiss who’ll just be about goal difference, but
Marseilles have invested hard this summer and could prove difficult to beat for the 2 super powers.

My predictions of qualifiers is as follows:
A : Bayern Munich / Juventus
B : Man U / Moscow
C : Real / Marseilles
D : Chelsea / Athletico Madrid
E : Liverpool / Lyon
F : Barcelona / Inter Milan
G : Sevilla / Stuttgart
H : Arsenal / AZ Alkmaar

so the rains coming down on Flushing Meadows – funny how Wimbledon now seems the most modern yet traditional of all the Grand Slams. The roof was a strong look this year even if, quite ironically, it was hardly used. I always regard the US Open as the closing of the summer – it comes closely after Notting hill Carnival and is often comparable in its sound clash – the New York audience loves to ‘have a go’ and as such it’s sad that Andy Murray slipped out  so feebly following his heroics and special bonding with the crowd last year. He just seemed to run out of ideas against Marin Cillic – I was surprised – but maybe the pressure of Andre Agassi making him favorite and his number 2 seeding got to him

- well, whatever, I’d have been straight down to Cielo in Manhattan and taken in a Louie Vega set to clear my sadness! looks like another Federer championship to me, although Djokovich could surprise – he seems to have got over his depression after that knock about with John McEnroe the other day … and I think the New York crowd have chosen him as their new Murray!

In the women’s its good to see the return of Kim Clijsters – you can tell how refreshed she is following her time out of the game – I wonder if the other more seasoned ladies are slightly jealous about her leading a relatively normal life out of the game and then slipping back in when she feels like it to take the glory! apparently having 2 children is the perfect way to build your physical and psychological strengths to the max – well thats what the ’super scientific’ East German coaches had worked out in the 70’s – but then again they were also at the forefront of drug induced shot putters – well whatever, I always liked Kim’s approach – more than Henin’s, so wish her the best in her semi against the other Williams later – lets hope it reaches the fireworks of the match against Venus.

Talking of ladies, I watched the final of the Women’s European cup in Helsinki last night – England v the Germans – just like 66 all over again – except for the score! 6 – 2 to Germany who once they’d gone 4 – 2 did a good job of humiliating a good English team. Since the last time I properly studied ladies ’soccer’ I really felt that the  standard has risen – I’d love to see how far the US or German national sides would get on against a men’s professional outfit. I wonder if that experiment’s been done?

The men are back from an important 10 days of international action - well ’sort of’ important – I suppose qualifying for the World Cup in South Africa next year does have a certain degree of priority in most of our future planning but I just wish it wasn’t Arsenal who always suffered from players coming back injured after playing for their countries. I mean today i learn that Andrei Arshavin is gonna miss 3 matches with a groin strain that he’d picked up against Man U but still got made to play by his plonker Russian coach, meanwhile Cesc Fabregas for Spain after not getting on the pitch against United ended up playing against Estonia and now he’s out for his club as is Thomas Rosicky who’s not played for close to 2 years at Arsenal yet gets the shirt for the Czech Rep’s game vs San Marino and suffers a recurrence of his hamstring/dodgy knee / blah blah blah…

I mean its all good and everything, what with national pride etc but it’s the clubs playing the wages but without the freedom to control what the national teams do – if I was Arsene Wenger I’d be well peeved today – specially with Man City coming up on Saturday – I’ll be in Madrid then and hope to find a TV for that  game – I bet Adebayor’s gonna be fit, healthy and hungry for his revenge however the internationals did work in giving some  confidence to Niklaus Bendtner – did you see the goal he scored for Denmark against Portugal the other day – pow!! pure Adebayor style – interesting!

“….. this may have been the best week of my sporting year watching from the sofa !! being a record breaking fan of Athletics getting both morning and evening doses in front of the telly has simply been too much sugar – and with the final (and crucial deciding) final test of the Ashes taking place down the road from me at the Oval here in London … AND the start of both the Premiership and the Champions League (preliminary round), then how could anyone expect me to do any work at all … it’s impossible

I just about wiggled out of my seat and got a radio show or 2 together, but apart from that all life in my house has centred around a 2 metre square area around the TV – luckily I stocked up on fresh salads and canned sardines, and luckily my family’s been away, far away in Japan, allowing me to stew and ponder on the stats coming at me from Berlin, Glasgow and South London – media wise its been a clash of wifi, BBC 5live sports extra and BBC HD versus Eurosport HD

- but I have to say that at the end of the day I get major withdrawal symptoms if I have to endure a big tournament without the wisdom and class of BBC sport – they just know how to do these things … of course one has to try best to avoid  Richard Keys on Sky but apart from that most pundits and presenters do a fine job here in the UK – but you have to say even I would have managed to spread some enthusiasm about Usain Bolt these last 5 days or so – the man is a miracle – and I can’t believe his feat with ever be equalled – to be olympic and world champion in both 100 and 200 metres whist breaking the world record in each final won’t ever happen again – unless of course its by him…we’ll see!

Thumbs up to Usin Bolt and his spectacular world records !

I get my biggest buzz from seeing the athletes being interviewed afterwards…they’re so different from regular over trained sports people – they don’t have the nonchalant attitude of footballers or well paid sports stars – they still sound young and excited most of the time. I fell in love with Jessica Ennis this week – so cool and so fit !  and when she described her nightmare injury plagued last 12 months in that Brummy accent you couldn’t  help from getting all tearful - that’s the thing I get more from athletics than any other sport – I get so emotional – even the raising up of the Slovakian flag gets me all wobbly with pride.

My hero of the week though was the British 110 hurdler William Sharman - he only just made the GB squad but managed to get to 4th place in the final, breaking his PB on the way – but it wasn’t necessarily his running that got me, it was his post race interviews – he just took the mic and gave us these brilliant 3 minute freeflowing rants about his life and thoughts – I was desperate for him to get through each round just to be assured of the next Sharman saga! the guy’s a natural and MUST be monitered! try and check him on youtube…

wish these world champs happened more often but then again only 3 years to the Olympics here in Londinium ….. can’t wait!

1. France – Marseilles
2. Italy – Inter
3. Spain – Barca
4. Germany – Bayern
5. England – Arsenal

Yes, it all looks safe until Arsenal pop up, but I need the odds to be interesting don’t I? Otherwise, I suppose I can put Chelsea in on that bet and just do a  separate bet for just the Premiership where Arsenal are at around 8 or 9/1. Maybe its sad that I’m having to splash a bit of cash on the football to excite myself these days. In previous years there’s been no need to add to the excitement so what’s changed?

Well, the football has become a touch more predictable I suppose, and the overexposure probably hasn’t helped. From an Arsenal point of view I only went to one game last season - that was a Carling cup game where season ticket holders don’t get to go unless they buy separate tickets and I have to say the atmos was far better than on normal games. In fact, last season I rented out my season ticket as I wanted to experience a season without my walk to the Emirates.

The thing is I didn’t really miss it! I would never have predicted that but its the truth – I needed a break… but I’ll be back this season – and I’ll try and catch myself a few away ties too – they’re the best – the real atmosphere’s in the back of places like Everton or Aston Villa.. Yeh, I’m in the mood – bring it on!

meanwhile in sunny old England Mark Hughes and City are the ones free to spend spend spend this year … at least it’s not our neighbors from south London and at least City are winding up Alex Ferguson with posters of Carlos Tevez in blue and the strapline ‘welcome to Manchester!!! Mark Hughes has actually assembled a pretty good squad so far but I still think he’ll find it hard breaking into the top 4 – you never know though …

I’m pretty pleased as a gooner – I mean 25 million for Adebayor is good business – good riddance is what I say – to be honest I’d rather be mid table than cheer people like him on – that’s why Wenger will always have my support – he doesn’t tolerate assholes and they’re asshole agents – bring on the youth players is what I say!! watch out for Wilshire this season…as long as we don’t lose Fabregas its all good at the Emirates – Toure can go if he wants – he’ll get injured in the Africa Nations anyway so we might as well get 10 or 12 million for him now – anyhow Thomas Vermaelen looks a good buy and Johan Djourou is coming into his prime – I’d say all we need is someone fresh in the middle to boost and support Denilson and Cesc and maybe another full back, but if we can avoid heavy injuries and can rely on the likes of Rosicky and Eduardo we’ve got an outside chance of doing something this season coming. I know everyone’s putting Arsenal down but let me recommend a bet on them at 9/1 to pick up the  crown next May !

I don’t often bet but this year could be the turning point for Arsene’s men – I’ve got a sneaky feeling that the league is coming to Arsenal this year with or without Viera !

so the thought of catching anywhere showing the second day of the second test at Lords is the digital version of finding a needle in a haystack – I’ve got my computer though and will have to stay updated via Five Live sports extra. It’s also the second day at the British Open golf where 2 oldies are showing themselves up a bit – Sandy Lyle aged 50 something and Colin Montgomery (not much younger)…its all about captaining the Rider Cup team and throwing balls too far forward, ie cheating! just funny to listen to 2 highly respected old pros acting like spoilt kids!

Sandy Lyle - competing in the British Open

Similar runnings in the cycling where Marc Cavendish who keeps winning the sprints is really beginning to get up the nose of the French organizers – l’equipe’s now got in the act accusing Cavendish of dissing France at the airport !!! love that pointless stuff – I suppose they need to keep those column inches filled while the football’s still in pre season.

but its the cricket and the Ashes that’s got me the most right now. 5 days of patience, drama, weather changes, psychology, history and a bit of sport – I’ve written about this before but when it comes to poetry in sport it has to be 5 day tests. England looked like they were gonna make Australia look like England usually do after the first 2 sessions – Strauss and Cook putting on almost 200 for no wicket but then the bails started tumbling. England have a genuine chance of regaining the Ashes this year. It’s the poorest Oz team that I’ve seen for a long while, but the 3 Lions can’t keep throwing away the kind of openings they had yesterday.  Listen, if you have a few hours go find a screen and sit yourself in front of the cricket – you may very likely be seduced by a game that goes against every other lowest common denominator sport.

that’s it until next time and for my GP Worldwide runnings check here

GP back from Wide Style in Paris, via Tour de France and back to fitness !

One day I’d love to follow the Tour de France on my 12 gear racer! you know, just after the madness following the Peleton typhoon that just flattened a quaint Normandy village – out of the dust I appear desperately trying to stay within the whoosh! yeh, even at almost 45 I have dreams of sporting prowess! it’ll prob. never happen of course as I  chose a slightly different trajectory to get my kicks but at least I should try and keep reasonably fit…

it all went wrong around the time of my Australia tour at the beginning of the year. I’d spent the previous 6 months kicking the nicotine and running around the Emirates a few times a day – in fact I was comfortably knocking out 10ks every couple – really beginning to buzz – feeling new, fresh, revitalized – music sounding great, sex was better and life was altogether on a new level – but then it came… the dreaded thigh strain! ok, 2 weeks off maybe…3? so 2 months later and by the time I’d resoled, fixed up and masseured myself back to the clockwatch, I’d suffered a Christmas DJ season, smoked a few fags and was well on my way to falling back down that slippery slope to denial, paranoia and broken promises … and here I am 7 months later coming back from a Paris gig feeling like I have on too many previous occasions – dissapointed! I’ll surely get it together again as I’m off to Corsica in a couple of weeks for a proper chill out and no DJ traps.. but maybe I should start now rather than pushing it back – I always do that
…I should remember Martin Luther King when he said ‘tomorrow is today…’ in fact switching the onus from DJ to sportsman !

I get a feeling that if Bradley Wiggins, (the British cyclist pictured above, currently in 5th place in le tour) was a DJ he’d be a bit like me – I know he loves his more radical tunes and his love for a ’shandy!’ I hope he proves the French cycling hierarchy wrong and gets a shot at the yellow jersey – it looks a long shot as Cantador will probably win it now, but you never know Bradley may break the rules and surprise a few…I’d love that!

Another sportsman who’d be comfortable in my world I think is footballer John Hartson.

John Hartson undergoes a vey touch new challenge - our wishes are with you !

He joined Arsenal from Luton as a 19 year old, and even though he never quite got the breaks under Arsene Wenger, he’s always been a well respected ’skillful but hard and aggressive number 10′ – he didn’t quite fit the classic Wenger profile but I can assure you that all true Gooner fans loved him – he went on to play with passion for clubs like Celtic and West Ham and, after having to retire early from injury has always been worth checking in his pundit role – a loveable Welshman with whom a few pints would be a few hours well spent I’d guess.so it was really sad to hear the news yesterday that he’s developed brain cancer – my thoughts go out to him – he’s still very young so I hope his fighting qualities won’t desert him in his most important match ever…

yeh, ‘tomorrow sure is today’ ….. until the next and more and upbeat Sportswide

I first went to Wimbledon as a thirteen year old searching for a bit of extra cash. I didn’t quite mug old ladies but I managed to flog them copies of the Daily Mail – 6am starts and ‘full order of play’ – it was a fun way to get some holiday extras even if I did have to sell a newspaper that
preaches the biggest load of turd imaginable, but believe me I’m pleased I wasn’t flogging the Guardian – the poor sod doing that would shift about 5 to my 500!!
I’d sometimes slip into the grounds after work and catch some games – this was a terrific era for tennis, what with McEnroe, Borg, Connors and even my boy Vitas Gerulaitis at their peaks. I was playing quite a lot then myself too – I’d done camps in France and thrown rackets at umpires – which is when my dad lost all hope! so back to selling the daily maily and buying imported disco records. I try and go every year if I’m in london – you have to – I’m not that fussed about getting tickets for the show courts – I actually prefer the early matches dotted around the place. I saw Paul Henri Matthieu beat Gil on Monday – it cost me a nights sleep as the sun I caught made life unlivable for the next 24 hours…can you believe it, 2 weeks in Cuba return pale and 4 sets on court 15 and I turn into a cricket ball … I’m better now though and hope to catch another session early next week before I go to my Worldwide festival in Sete. I’ve got a couple of ticket avenues if I need them – my cousin  trains a few of the French players (although they’ve all been knocked out now…) and deep global clubber Jonathan Overend does the commentary for BBC 5live – in fact that’s almost a better gig than running about spinning discs for people around the world – I mean, he gets to go everywhere and hang out for a couple of weeks – and its always sunny! so yeah, maybe another game next week – I’m a bit stuck in terms of loyalty though – my cousin knows all the Frenchies – I like Tsonga – my roots are Swiss though so you have to support the greatest of them all, Roger Fed but my home is London so Murray fits the bill there – and I have to say my heart says Andy…
just like in any sport, even if I don’t have a single drop of British blood I always support ‘em…Olympics, Tennis, Rugby, Football…and walking around the prestine Wimbledon grounds watching these dedicated Pimms drinking  tennis folk, I conclude that they finally
deserve their first men’s winner since Fred Perry!

I was still a bit in Bruges (my previous gig) when I strolled through the gates just after 2 but as soon as I took my seat in Court Suzanne Lenglen I was most certainly up for a few hours of head rocking of a different sort – a great order of play including Murray stepping comfortably into the quarters and then Ana Ivanovich getting rolled over good and proper by ‘future champ’ Victoria Azarenka who’s taken the role of vocal gymnastics to a new record high pitch – she sure can scream!

I was loving my day by the clay even if I did miss the game of the year taking place next door with the flailing Nadal unable to get past Swede Robin Soderling – but I did see the interviews later – Soderling was like the first time I heard 4 Hero’s remix of “Black Gold of the Sun” – beyond happy! and of course its opened up the whole top part of the draw – leaving Murray in a possible final type situation. I really hope he makes it this year – and this could be his year at Roland Garros – what with Federer beatable and Novak Djokavic out already. he’s still got to get past Gonzalez later and then possibly Davidenko but I can feel his time is coming.

Got to say that I was impressed by Jonathan Overend the BBC 5live commentator who was jamming with me at the club later that night but who still managed to sound exceptionally on it when live on the Nicky Campbell show at 9 the next morning – respect sir!

until the next time when I’l report on what’s hot in Cuban Sport right now!

Roland Garros continues until June 7

finding myself in the French Riviera for a gig in Nice last night I suddenly realized that if I did a bit of travel shuffling I could extend my trip and catch a train into Monaco tomorrow for the Grand Prix. Fortunately, having mixed at a Red Bull pre Silverstone party a couple of summers ago, I had a good contact in the book who’s got me a couple of tickets in the famous Energy Station moored on the water! I’ve been keeping a watchful eye out on recent goings on in the world of motor racing and I think I’ve chosen a good time to experience a live race for the first time. Ferrari and McLaren have been fuming at the recent rule changes and find themselves in the role of Middlesbro and West Brom whilst Brawn and Red Bull occupy the Barcelona and Man United ranks! Big changes agwaan…

its  all good and a shake up most certainly reawakening the neutral interest in a sport recently monopolized by the established teams..so whilst dropping a few tunes on the ‘Hi Hotel’ beach this afternoon I’ll be checking Button and Alonso’s final practice times in preparation for tomorrow afternoon’s race. I’m so excited to be going to Monte  Carlo – I’ve always dreamt of an afternoon smelling the fumes by the pit lane and luckily I’ve got my ear plugs just in case it gets a bit extreme on the high end!

Today also happens to be a big one for the ‘Championat’ as the French League closes in exciting style. My ’sort of’ faves Marseilles lost a crucial game at home to Lyon last week and find themselves pipped by Bordeaux with 2 matches to go. And if ‘les Girondins de Bordeaux’ beat Monaco in style today it may be all over as they have a superior goal difference. Meanwhile my birth place Caen play a crucial relegation match at home to Lyon with Marseilles being their final game… its gonna be tough to stay in the top flight for them but in Steve Savidan they have a player who could ‘Save’ them – lets see!

And of course you’ve got the second grand slam of the year which begins tomorrow at Roland Garros ..minus Richard Gasguet who ‘partied’ a little too aggressively recently and finds  himself at the front of a possible 2 year ban – I’m playing at the Nouveau Casino in Paris next Sunday and will have to call up my cousin Nicolas who coaches some of the French players in search of more concession tickets!!

you’ve got to love Test Match Special on BBC Radio 4. its about as eccentric and extreme as any sports commentary can be anywhere on this globe. I mean to have a bunch of raconteurs just letting off verbal gas around a five day game of cricket is about as indulgent and beautiful as radio can be. And with BBC Five Live extra available on digital or online you get even longer doses…this is Olde England and even though many have complained that the commentary has been watered down in recent years there is nothing more comforting to me than listening to Henry Blofeld and Jonathan Agnew discussing their dinner preparations in between overs in Bombay…cricket is a classic game not to be messed with. To create a match that can last 5 days is unimaginable in 2009 and as such must be kept alive and sacred at this time of high speed mass consumption sport. I get so excited listening to my radio under the pillow during the depths of an English winter and listening to Tuffers and Geoffrey Boycott discussing ‘the wicket’ at Melbourne’s MCG…

I’ve enjoyed a fair few Baseball matches on my many trips to the States,I’m a secret Chicago Cubs fan following a day spent in Wrigley Field, but as far as the ultimate sporting chill out room, Cricket has to top the poll. However, playing the West Indies over 3 tests in England after having just returned from there having played 5 tests and about a hundred one dayers is pushing the idea of ‘a contest’ into the realm of ‘why’ but I suppose its all leading towards the much anticipated return of Australia and the oldest contest of all: ‘the Ashes’ which begins in Cardiff on  July 1 – I won’t be there but I’ll certainly try and get a ticket to the Second Test which takes place at the home of Cricket, the wonderful Lords Cricket Ground (picture above)

…the Football season may be almost over so the time has come to enjoy a rather more cultured and laid back sport this summer.

Of my most constant challenges is finding feeds all around the world  to watch my beloved Arsenal whilst on my DJ travels – this has been made easier in recent times through the web and its countless links to ‘unauthorised’ broadcasts of live matches – this is still a last resort as you never know whether ‘justintv’ will actually have the link or not! so capturing the match in Havana or Hanoi still demands a certain amount of detective work…my failures have included being stuck up a mountain in the Engadine region of Switzerland and during a recent stay in the depths of the Japanese Fukui region – in fact following last years quarter final champion league encounter between Liverpool and Arsenal I could be found in a kitchen at 4am following regular updates on the BBC Sports homepage – so when it looked like Theo Walcott had put us through with 2 minutes to go scenes of sheer abandon never previously seen (apart from during a particularly successful ‘creme brulee’ episode) were followed by suicidal depths of depression when on the next update Steven Gerrard  had scored the penalty that would knock us out!

so whilst in at the Sunsplash Antalya festival this past Tuesday I made sure everything was in place hours ahead of the kick off of the semi final second leg against the old enemy that is Manchester United. I’d given the team a 20% charge of success as it began the match 1 nil down from the first leg – I still had hope though as we were playing at home and ‘you never know!’ but within 10 minutes it was all over…
Gibbs slips, Park scores and then whilst still in recovery Ronaldo shoots from about a mile off and the ball screams into Almunia’s near post – unbelievable downer – close to tears – not even a contest…please don’t attack Wenger – he has to have such philosophies of developing his youth – but you simply have to admit that even if  Clichy, Gallas and Arshavin had been on the pitch ManU would still have been the victors – they’re just too strong right now – and  you have to make them favourites against a Barcelona team that will be missing Alves, Marques and Abidal in its defence, for the final in Rome on May 27.
So the season seems over for Arsenal – Sundays match against Chelsea will probably end in a draw and our second to last match against Man U will ironically end in us beating them having settled for fourth place and United already

Big weeks in football don’t come a lot bigger than this ! – its champions league semi’s time and as with last season there are 3 English clubs. Barcelona represent the continent with the most attractive team but the lack of high level adversaries in the last few months (they haven’t had to face an English or Italian side so far) could work against them in their game against Chelsea – and the arrival of Gus Hiddink for the Londoners has certainly raised their fitness levels – I see Chelsea coming through this tie over two legs – I want Barca but, particularly as Chelsea play the Nou camp first, Stamford Bridge is a fortress when they need it – Chelsea in the final – Drogba’s back on  it and the midfield of Essien (best in the world in the enforcer role), Ballack and Lampard will suffocate the Catalans when it matters…
onto Wenger vs Ferguson – it was funny to see Ferguson being politely led to his seat at the Emirates yesterday – apparently, according to Wenger, they have a good selection of wines in the exec boxes – a comment you’d never have heard 5 years ago – was it tongue in cheek or has the bad blood been replaced by a kind of deep reverence – since the ‘pizza gate’ affair the likes of Benitez and Mourinho have arrived to wind the Scotsman up – so maybe now Alex Ferguson feels more at home in the company of our boy from Alsace – I once saw them at a charity event
and I have to say they seemed to be getting on very well – its just been a media sham all these years!
well we’ll see about that this Wednesday (29 April) – what a match in store – I can’t wait! its got to be United’s tie really -look at how they dispatched of Spurs in the second half on saturday – although that ‘non penalty’ penalty would have killed me if I’d been a Liverpool fan – and Tottenham  capitulated after – would Arsenal allow such a bad decision to upset their game – maybe – they are young – but maybe united have had their share of luck and something may go arsenal’s way. I hope so but if you look at the teams on paper their should only be one winner – specially as Arsenal don’t have Gallas, Clichy, van Persie or Arshavin and United only have issues at right back – but then again this is football not rugby and the underdog can slip through the back door and United are frightened of us…this is for a  champions league final place… we need it, Arsene needs it…if only to vindicate his critics and to prove the money men wrong…go Arsenal

Tickets for Gilles’ Worldwide Festival in Sete on sale now – do not miss this Classic boutique Festival !

thank the lord the internationals are over
how longgggg was that 10 days ? back to the proper football ….. champions league next week

please Porto knock the stuffing out of United ! it won’t happen though – shame…
so perhaps an Arsenal Man U semi, Pires might think different
is Cygan still playing for Villareal?

watch him at corners – would be typical Arsenal if he suddenly popped one in. lets not be too confident
- it took a Seaman penalty save in the semi 3 years ago.

yeh the Chams league gets serious now…

luckilly I’ll be around on Tuesday night for the games
Wednesday night I fly to Dubai though – but hey Chelsea Liverpool’s boring so no probs but:
Bayern Munich v Barcelona could be a German shock – hope so…

Henry should never have left – don’t need him scoring against us in the final. make sure I’ve got the wednesday May 27 free for the final in Rome. Arsenal will def be in one final FA cup or Champions League….I hope
Cesc should be back tomorrow and if Diaby can play more than 3 games in a row without hurting his big toe we could have a chance to win something

- remember Adebayor owes us a few goals, Eduardo’s back and Theo can sneak something through – just a shame Arshavin is cup tied – he’s a bad boy!

here’s my  football predictions for the weekend:
blackburn 1 tottenham 1
arsenal 3 man city 1
bolton 0 middlesbrough 0
hull 1 portsmouth 2
newcastle 1 chelsea 1
west brom 2 stoke 1
west ham 2 sunderland 0
fulham 1 liverpool 2
everton 1 wigan 0
man utd 1 aston villa 1

check back with me next week

interesting stuff as ever in the TENNIS
Nadal out Murray in Federer back to close his best. I think Murray will win the US open this year but meanwhile when it comes to the Slams …

a golden age though…

tomorrow’s the Grand National at Aintree – not a big Horse fan but always love a tipple in April
I’m going for: my will at 8/1 and brooklyn brownie at 33/1 – put 20 quid on each one and see me when you’re offering the drinks out later!

until next time

Gilles Peterson