What’s Wrong with British Tennis
Just when you think it had sunk to its lowest level, British tennis sinks even lower.
So Murray wasn’t playing, but then who’d want to be part of this shambles. We were talking about it down the real tennis club yesterday and kept asking the same question. Why do we not produce more good players?
But the ones we have produced in recent years have all come from special circumstances. Murray and Henman came from tennis families, Rusedski was Canadian. Even some of our women haven’t taken the traditional route.
So perhaps the traditional route is wrong? British coaching and facilities may just not be what is right for the modern game. After all, the other country that is most like us, Australia, doesn’t seem to have a lot of new talent coming through.
As a man who is small in stature, I’ll throw in a heightist comment. Because of modern rackets, you need to be a giant to play lawn tennis well. There are few good men players under six foot and some are nearly seven. But in the UK, sports like rugby, football, cricket, rowing and athletics also like players in larger sizes, so there is a lot of competition. And there isn’t that many of them about.
So perhaps good junior tennis players are either too short or they are good at other sports, where they are part of a team. The athlete, Julian Golding, was a very good tennis player and in an interview on the BBC, he said that he took up athletics because of the camaraderie. I believe he still works with the LTA helping to promote tennis.
So will we ever produce more than the odd good player?
No!
Not until we identify good tall juniors and probably pay for them to go to one of the academies that have a proven record of success. We don’t seem to be able to do it in the UK, despite pouring millions down the drain.
Incidentally, one of those who suffered defeat in Vilnius, Dan Evans, is only 1.75m. He’s just too short to be good in this sport of giants.
I’ll stick to real tennis, where height is never an issue and we play with proper wooden rackets. Those hi-tech large-headed monsters have already ruined lawn tennis and they will never be allowed in the real version of the game.
Café de la Paix, Paris
The Cafe de la Paix is one of the most famous cafes in Paris. So much so, that the French declared it to be an historic site in 1975.
Cafe de la Paix, Paris
My late wife and I went there by accident. It was the only time we did too, but then it was also on the only day, that one of the horses we had bred, Diamond White, had won The Prix de l’Opera at the Arc meeting at Longchamp. We had hurried away from the racecourse and the crowds made it difficult to get anywhere, but by reason of some luck, we were able to get a bus to the Place de l’Opera.
So we just stumbled into this famous cafe and as we had little time to catch the Eurostar back to Ashford, we asked the waiter what could be served quickly.
Everybody in the cafe surpassed themselves and within an hour, we were on the Metro towards the Gare du Nord.
If there is a postscript to this trip it happened on the train home. The day had been disastrous for English punters and come the last race, The Prix de l’Opera, most had lost heavily. So they put what they had left on Diamond White at 12-1. And the rest as they say is history.
On the trip back, my late wife had needed a coffee and went to the buffet. When she interrupted the party and told them that she had bred the horse that had got them out of trouble, everybody wanted to buy her champagne.
But she didn’t drink bubbles!
So on this trip to Paris, when the guy I was to meet on business suggested that we meet in the Cafe de la Paix, I accepted.
I had a very good gluten meal too!
Smoked Salmon and Poached Egg
The picture shows the first course!
Incidentally, the wife of one of the waiters was a coeliac, so this made them even more careful.
Would I go again?
Yes!
Even if it is very expensive, but then the decor, the ambience, the food and the wine are worth it.
Ceiling of the Cafe de La Paix, Paris
Bangladesh England at Cricket
Just been watching the cricket, where England are playing against Bangladesh in Dhaka.
It’s good that Bangladesh are now holding their own and that they now have some of the best players. The opening bat, Tamim Iqbal looked more than handy. I can remember when Sri Lanka were admitted to the family of Test playing nations and some said that they’d never win anything. But they have, so I expect Bangladesh will be force in cricket in the next ten years.
That’s the way it seems to happen in cricket.
It is interesting that Bangladesh are sponsored by Grameen Phone, which is an offshoot of the Grameen Bank, which revolutionised finance and earned its founder, Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Prize.
Portsmouth Go Bust
Well actually they are going into administration, but I suspect in their case it will mean the same thing. As I said earlier, who would buy a club, that doesn’t own the ground, the land around the ground, doesn’t have enough capacity and hasn’t really got any decent players or even a youth policy.
Where clubs have been bought without the ground, they have rarely succeeded.
So this looks to me like another stay of execution for a once proud club.
Fulham in the Ukraine
One of the Shakhtar Donetsk players is called Rat. He is numbered 26.
Cycling to Football
In my teens I nearly always cycled to football at White Hart Lane. When I returned last night, I don’t think that would have been possible. Or at least I couldn’t find anything on the Spurs web site.
Wouldn’t cycling to football be a good idea? Clubs could also make a charge for a bit of security.
If you take Ipswich Town, they have a bit more space than most and I’m sure that they could provide parking for a couple of hundred or so bikes with ease.
I’ve just looked up Ajax in Amsterdam. They have sheds for 3,000 bikes. It would also appear that the Olympics in London will also encourage people to cycle to the games.
Return to White Hart Lane
The last time I went to White Hart Lane to see Spurs play was when my two eldest children were perhaps eight and seven. I spoke to the younger today and he didn’t remember, and as I can’t recall who Spurs played that day, it must have been a truly memorable match.
Last night, as I was in London, I decided to get a ticket for the FA Cup replay against Bolton. I deliberately chose to sit in Block D of the upper deck of the East Stand, as that was where my father used to take me as a child.
The View from Block D in the Upper East Stand
I can remember a few matches from those years in the mid-50s, but one in particular stands out. It was against Newcastle, for whom the formidable Jackie Milburn was playing up front. The first half was very one-sided with Spurs being completely outplayed and if it hadn’t been for the heroic goalkeeping of Ted Ditchburn, the match would have been all over. He was so dominant, that Milburn actually missed a penalty. Since then, I’ve seen a lot of good goalkeepers, but never a display to match. In the end Spurs got their act together and won 3-1.
Little has changed in that East Stand over those fifty and more years. The views are still good, as they would be because the stand was designed by Archibald Leitch. In fact, they have probably improved, as the roof has been remodelled. But the stairs are still the same as as this picture of the back of the stand shows, it’s still as it was built well before the Second World War.
White Hart Lane, East Stand
I can remember queueing behind that stand to get tickets for European matches in the early 1960s.
Those were the days for Spurs.
I probably went and stood in the bottom of the East Stand about fifty times.
I’d usually cycle from where I lived at Cockfosters and park my bike at a garage near by, for a charge of a shilling or so. I remember, I could usually get home quicker than someone who braved the horrendous jams in a car. Sometimes though I’d take a bus to Enfield Town and then take the train to White Hart Lane. That was great fun, in that to avoid the bus queues coming home you’d alight from the train at your fastest running speed, so that you overtook everyone as the train slowed. The joys of slam doors.
I saw the famous double side of 1960-61; Brown, Baker, Henry, Blanchflower, Norman, Mackay, Jones, White, Smith, Allen and Dyson, Jimmy Greaves in his pomp, the antics of Tommy Harmer, the emergence of Pat Jennings, as after that one performance of Ditchburn, the best and most consistent goalkeeper I’ve ever seen, Terry Venables, who we always slagged off for some reason, Ron Henry’s only goal against Manchester United and many other great players and incidents of the 1960s.
Those truly were the days for Spurs.
And to complete a good evening Spurs won by four goals to nil.
Anyone but England
So the Scots are supporting England by selling “Anyone but England” T-shirts for the World Cup.
I don’t care, as if the Scots could manage to inject some proper spirit into their team, rather than the local brew, they might do better. Just read about Allan McGregor in the Scotsman.
But I have a better idea.
As the Scots economy is not in the best of health and has just been propped up by the UK government bailing out two major banks with big Scottish connections, would it not be a good idea if England fans, who can’t afford the trip to South Africa, went and watched their team in Glasgow.
I’m sure that the local economy would benefit and that the English would be welcomed with open arms.
Winter Olympics
I haven’t actually watched anything live at all, despite the fact that I’ll sometimes watch things like Ski Sunday on BBC.
Perhaps the time difference to Vancouver is just too great.
Who’d Buy Portsmouth Football Club?
Portsmouth are over £50million in debt and they are seven points adrift of the bottom of the Premiership. They also have no training ground, a small dilapidated stadium surrounded by land owned by one of the major creditors.
And yet, according to reports on the BBC, there are four or five interested parties, who want to take over the club. One South African group will provide proof of funds by Monday.
Now let’s suppose you are rich as Croesus. You also like football and feel that buying a football club would be good for your image, business interests and ultimately your bank balances.
There are quite a few clubs with rickety finances and some of these have brand new stadia and very good training facilities. As an example, Southampton has just been bought by a sensible Swiss millionaire, who appears to be enjoying his new role.
So would you buy Portsmouth if you were sane and had no other business with the owners?
No! Especially as you’re be buying a Championship Club.
The Anonymous Widower 