Edmund Lester

Sri Lankan test cricketeer Muttiah Muralitharan has retired. He played in his final test match today and fitting took the very final Indian wicket to bring his personal tally to 800 wickets in 133 tests. 800 wickets!! Now that's something I judge as worthy of a second, totally superfluous exclamation mark. That mark will take some beating. I feel privileged to have seen him bowl on a number of occasions. I might not be Sri Lankan, and a number of the wickets he took in his career may have belonged ot English cricketeers but the man was something special. I don't think I've ever mentioned cycling in my blog. Anyone who knows me would probably think there is a really good reason for it - let's face facts, I'm not known for my fanatical devotion to keeping fit. But I like watching the big Tours - Italy, Spain and of course the Tour de France. For all that it is effective a bunch of guys riding bicycles along deserted roads, which on the face of it does sound a little d...

I am a long time fan of rugby. I support Leicester Tigers and I'm English. So as you can probably guess I'm not overly happy with the games today. First off England lost. And not just lost, they lost to a team that I didn't think played all that well. England were just not good enough. Now, compared to the match two weeks ago when they played Italy (and just about scrapped a win) they were a lot better. But when you consider the talents of the players they have on the pitch they really should be able to do more than that. Anyway that finished I turned over to watch the Northampton vs Leicester match. And yes I realise that the conditions were pretty awful. The pitch was boggy and it rained for most of the match. But despite Leicester having the majority of the possession throughout the game they just didn't look like scoring. Result 19-3 to Northampton. So two matches watched and two defeats. Darn!!!

The Tigers are not the team they once were. I've been a mad fan of rugby union for nearly three decades and since taking my degree at Leicester University I've been a mad fan of Leicester Tigers. Back when I started they were a good team, although they were not the best. I had to cope with years of the sport being dominated in England by Bath - a problem when one of my Uni friends was from near Swindon and a big Bath fan. Then things changed. Leicester became the team in the English game and all was good. More than good I have to admit I was over the moon all through this period. Multiple Premiership titles and a brace of European Cup victories to add to the collection. However they're not alone at the top of the pile anymore. There are about half a dozen teams in England who are all up there. So having watched them today I fear that they are going to be out of the European Cup by the end of the group phase. They're currently level on points with Clermont Auverne but if...

I am a big rugby fan. And I am a fan of Leicester Tigers - always have been. And on Friday night they beat the World Champions South Africa. I might be happy at the moment - even if England lost to Australia yesterday

I've been an cricket fan for years and, being English, an England fan. Now I've happily watched them beat the Australian team this summer 2-1 in the Ashes test series and then unhappily watched them get soundly beat 6-1 in the one-day international series between the same two teams. So I had little if any hopes for the team in the Champions Trophy this week in South Africa. Well two matches in they've won them both - and this is against Sri , one of the most explosive run-scoring teams in the game, and South Africa, the tournament favourites who are now out. This is the same team that earlier in the year were beaten by Holland in the Twenty-20. Unbelievable! I can smile for a bit. They probably won't go any further but they've made it to the semis.

When I was a kid I used to watch a lot of Grand Prix. About ten years ago I gave it up, feeling it had become a little formulaic. Well a little over a year ago I changed jobs and a number of the guys in the new company are Formula One fans. I listened to their conversations after the races in the 2008 season, and then in the run up to the 2009 series. So I decided to give the sport a go again. Well, much as I am told that the 2009 season is a bit dull in comparison to earlier years I am hooked. Okay this might be down to the fact that ten years away has made it fresh for me. And also the fact that the technology has moved on so much, both in terms of the cars and the TV coverage. But when it comes down to it I am enjoying this. I try to watch the qualifying when I can - as it can often be the most exciting part of the racing weekend. I watch the whole of the race and even stick with it through the interviews, post-race analysis national anthems - even the dull British one just played. ...

I watched some of the Belgian Grand Prix this afternoon. I'm not the gratest of fans of the sport but I do watch the occasional race. The two Brits crashed out early so I didn't have any special interest in the result. However an event of the end of the race made me think. The race was won by a Finn, with an Italian second and a German third. Nothing too unusual there. But in the post race press conference all three drivers (Raikkonen, Fisichella and Vettel) spoke near perfect English. From my travels in Europe I know that a good knowledge of English is not all that uncommon. I've had conversations in English with people I've met in Italy, Austria, France, Belgium, the Netherlands etc. In Britain though you'd not find this the case. Okay there are a number of second generation immigrants in Britain who can speak the languages of their parents' homelands. But you find Brits without this linguistic advantage and more than half will have no real knowledge of a seco...

I feel like crap! Sorry to be blunt and sorry to foist this upon you. Mind you, saying that, I am under no illusions that people actually read these blog entries. I write them for little more than cathartic purposes - a way to get things off my chest. Okay maybe I am being a bit of aman complaining about a little cold, but to be honest it's not the cold that's getting to me. I'm just tired. I'm working too much. I need to do it and I want to do it. I enjoy the job I have now and I believe in it. But I am hoping that the long hours are only short term. It feels too long since I've had a serious break, a chance to recharge. I know things just went this way. My wife lost her job and so the summer holiday had to be cancelled. Plain and simple - happens to a lot of people. So I worked long hours in the last weeks at my previous job - including weekends to make some extra money. And then I cashed in my holiday days remaining to help the family finances. End result by year...

I've never been a fan of football (soccer to any Americans reading this). When it comes to sports I like rugby and cricket - and I will admit American Football. But for some reason soccer never got me. When I was a kid I never minded it all that much - although any attraction I had for it melted away as my childhood ended. But in recent years I've grown in despair more and more about it as a sport. And the reason for this is nothing to do with it as a sport. It's the fact that football seems to have become a glamour sport. From the outside it gives the appearance of being more about hairdos, tattoos and image. Oh, and money. And today I saw something that appalled me - and before anyone criticises what I am about to type I realise that the following is just a rumour. The BBC website is reporting that Manchester City's new owner will make an offer for their neighbour Manchester United's star player Cristiano Ronaldo said to be in the region of GBP 135 MILLION. This i...

I admit it. It's true. I am. I must be. I've just sat down to watch the closing ceremony of the Olympics. The fireworks were nice - pretty even. Then the dancers came in, the drummers and the men riding large wheels. I lost it when that happened. The commentators started talking symbolism. That's the usual point when I leave the room - and I'm not talking metaphorically - I actually leave. I have to. If I stay beyond that moment my natural sarcastic self has nothing stopping it surfacing and my family would probably kill me (and yes I mean this is figuratively). It's like ballet and interpretive dance. My brain simply isn't wired that way. Abstract art I can do - and like greatly. Whacked out weirdo music also good. But choreography? Not for me. Thankfully my family called me down to see the London bit. For eight minutes there was a presentation of what London will be like. And it had Jimmy Page and Leona Lewis playing "Whole Lotta Love". I am so hopef...

Kevin Pietersen made his debut as England Cricket captain in a match which really doesn't matter. Ah well, it was good to see England on top for once - and Steve Harmison back bowling well - even if the result doesn't really matter with south Africa 2-0 to the good with just this match left. We've been enjoyed the latest Francesco da Mosto series - a voyage across the Mediterranean following the old Venetian trading routes. I've just watched last 's two episodes - a day late because I'd gone to a now-ex-colleague's leaving do. Wonderful show as always - Francesco is very charismatic and enthusiastic. He brings real feeling to his shows. I just wish he did one every year rather than one every other year. Mind you perhaps the wait contributes to my enjoyment...

I've watched three rugby matches in three weeks (of teams I support) - and each one has been terrible. England in two of them were atrocious, and now Leicester Tigers have played far far below the level they are capable of, and lost to London Irish. Irish didn't play all that well themselves, it's just that Leicester made mistake after mistake after mistake. Frustrating.

I've been a cricket fan as long as I can remember. I have watched so many good players, never mind their team or nationality (although I would prefer more of the better ones to have been English), and always feel a pang when one of the best retires. Shane Warne has gone, Chris Cairns, Brian Lara, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist all too. And now New Zealander Stephen Fleming has announced he will retire after the upcoming Test series against England. It's been a pleasure to watch him over the years, a good batsman but, in my opinion, a truly great captain.

I'm English. I am a rugby fan. So I watched England play their latest six nations match against Italy in Rome. All I can say is what the hell is wrong with England. For the second time in two weeks I have watched England play okay in the first half, establishing a lead in the game by the half-time break, only to come out in the second half and completely forget how to play. Last week Wales beat them, this week they barely held on against Italy. They didn't deserve to. If Italy had just managed to win a couple of line-outs at crucial times then the result would be reversed, and Italy would have won a victory no one could have denied them. At last the Leicester Tigers won, beating Premiership leaders Gloucester away.

Things are not going well for the team I support - Leicester Tigers (rugby union for the uninitiated). Yesterday they lost to Edinburgh 17-12 and are now out of the Heineken (European) Cup this year. Last year they won the Guinness (English) Premiership Title, the Anglo-Welsh Cup and were the losing finalists in the Heineken Cup. This year they are losing games far too often for my liking. Okay maybe I have had it too easy over the last few years but this doesn't feel like the Tigers of old. Mind you it is a bit of a team in transition, the new manager has only recently arrived and so I should give him time. They are still third in the Guinness Premiership and if they stay there will make the final stages... I am still going to support them - I'm not that fickle.