Category: 
Cricket - The Ashes
Looking at the recent form of both sides, England could win the Ashes at a canter. That would have been unthinkable about a year ago, but Australia have finally crash-landed following the retirements of Warne, McGrath and Gilchrist. For a while, they got away without unearthing players of a similar calibre, but now the Aussies are discovering that you can’t replace the irreplaceable. It’s a time for rebuilding and England should start the series in confident mood after a strong performance in the Tests with India and what we can only presume will be a series victory in the Caribbean. Bringing Michael Vaughan into the team would be an extremely shred move. His form with the bat suffered almost immediately after taking the captaincy and without the pressure that comes with the role, he can rediscover the flamboyant form that marked him out as being so special earlier in his career. His input into Pietersen’s field placements will also cover up the mistakes of a captain learning his trade. As always, the English coaching team will do the meticulous research they do into batmen’s weaknesses and currently they are plentiful within the Australian ranks.
Motor Racing – F1
Lewis Hamilton should defend his title with little difficulty and Sebastian Vettel will truly announce his arrival – but nobody will really care. As Vettel will be driving an inferior car, it’s too soon to think he’ll claim the World Championship, a few wins are a possibility, particularly bearing in mind the changes made to the cars that should finally but the emphasis on drivers’ skill and not how quickly fours guys can change a set of tyres. You wouldn’t trust Felipe Massa to drive your trolley around Tesco and although he kept his car on the tarmac for the majority of last season, you would doubt his ability to mount a title challenge again. Kimi Raikkonen’s love of a drink and Huntesque attitude towards the sport may have been charming in the Hunt era, but these days it smacks of a wasted talent. Unless he cops himself on quick-smart, Hamilton will walk to the title.
Cycling – Tour De France
Is Lance Armstrong returning to the Tour De France because he actually thinks he can win it or there’s a hole in his heart that can only be filled by annoying the Frenchies? Armstrong was brilliant in his prime and it’s a mark of his talent that he can return to the game after four years and still be considered a genuine contender. Alberto Contador emerged as the winner in the farce that was the 2007 Tour and his credentials are obvious, but he looks to be a very short price. One to look out for is a young Luxembourgian by the name of Andy Schleck. He topped the Young Rider Classification in the 2008 Tour and at times looked so at ease that a serious challenge for the overall classification looked possible. It may be a bit early for him to be wearing the yellow jersey as he rides into Paris in late July, but it’s likely he’ll get the chance before too long.
GAA Football
Tyrone’s perfectly timed run to the Sam Maguire rejuvenated a football championship that had become based on Kerry’s sustained brilliance and Dublin’s sustained propensity to implode. Identifying just who will be holding the trophy aloft on the third Sunday in September is difficult, but obviously Kerry will come back strongly. Amongst other things, Tyrone showed that Kerry’s apparent supremacy exists mainly in the minds of their opponents and once you give them too much respect, you’ve lost. It will be interesting to see how teams approach the Kingdom in 2009. It should be a good championship, particularly if Galway, Monaghan and Wexford build on the progress of last summer. Dublin will have renewed hope under Pat Gilroy, but then again they’ve had hope for each of the last 14 years and that hasn’t exactly worked out well.
Hurling
Kilkenny. Enough said.
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January 6th, 2009 at 11:14 am
Please dont start the Dublin for Sam warcry its only January.Well have enough of this come June
January 6th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Its their year Sully they can feel it in their blood - until they come up against Kerry or Tyrone at which point their blood turns yellow again.
January 8th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Kevin Pietersen what an egomaniac.He should get on the phone to Sean og and Donal Og and set up a support group for sportsplayers with false visions of grandeur.Theres no I in team guys.
January 8th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
can’t really agree with you there sully. he may well have an ego (and rightly so - he’s a phenomenal talent!) - but as captain he needs to work totally in tandem with the coach - if they can’t work together then something has to give. therefore he’s totally right to resign if the ecb won’t dismiss the coach. it seems though that some of the team were behind the coach - hence his untenable position.
the slightly odd thing about the whole thing is that they’ve both ended up going. so i don’t really see how anything’s been solved.
i think strauss will do a good job, but KP looked promising as a captain - and it looked to be helping his game - will be interesting to see how he reacts now.
i’m already on the windies for the ODI series anyway!!