The name of the famous Chelsea and ex-England captain has been oft-repeated in the past year, in relation to his alleged racial abuse of QPR defender Anton Ferdinand in October 2011. He was accused by Ferdinand of abusing him with racist remarks, including a reference to his skin colour. He was found not guilty of the charge in a court of law earlier this year; though the judge ascertained that he had uttered a heavily offensive phrase, it was not clear enough to prove beyond reasonable doubt that it was directed in anger at Ferdinand, and so he was acquitted. However, the FA charged him under a breach of their own regulations following his acquittal, and today the hearing culminated in a guilty verdict, a £220,000 fine and a four-match ban for the 31-year-old footballer.

He was originally stripped of the England captaincy by the FA pending the results of the hearing, causing then manager Fabio Capello to resign in protest, but prior to receiving today’s results Terry quit international football altogether over the issue, claiming his position in the team has become “untenable”. He denies that he made any such comments, asserting that his words were a repetition of Ferdinand’s as the other footballer misheard what he said. However, the FA insists that its policy on racism is hard-edged and any words which could be construed as racist are frowned upon, regardless of the intention behind them, making Terry guilty of breaching FA conduct one way or the other.

While Terry argues that he was found not guilty by law, and thus the FA hearing should never have gone through in the first place, the organisation remains firm in its decision. The four-match ban is actually far less severe than the eight-match ban imposed on Liverpool’s Luis Suarez when he was found guilty of the same breach of conduct against United defender Patrice Evra last year. One finds it hard to believe Anton Ferdinand would lie about such an occurrence, and Terry’s less than perfect past speaks out against him; but he continues to insist that he never meant anything maliciously.

Whatever the situation behind the hearing, Terry’s presence in the England team will be missed. There is no denying that he is an excellent defender and an excellent captain, having been the most successful Chelsea captain in history, and without his experience and expertise among them England’s young squad will struggle. The only logical man to replace him in the line-up is Anton’s brother Rio Ferdinand, but it is no secret that he and Roy Hodgson are not on the best terms and it is unclear whether the manager will include him in England’s next international matches.

Terry’s international career lasted nine years and a total of 78 caps. He was the first player to score an international goal at the new Wembley Stadium, and succeeded David Beckham as captain of the team in 2006 by Steve McClaren, lasting in the role until 2010 when Capello removed him from the post due to allegations about his personal life, replacing him with Rio Ferdinand. He was reinstated when Ferdinand suffered a knee injury in 2011 and led the team through Euro 2012. He has scored six international goals, all but one of which were on home turf, and helped England to 50 victories when he featured in the team.

The bump in the road came in 2010 when allegations concerning Terry and fellow footballer Wayne Bridge’s girlfriend came to light, forcing Capello to strip him of the captaincy until the matter was cleared up. An injunction was taken out preventing rumours about an extramarital affair between Terry and the woman, Vanessa Perroncel, but was removed a week later and the tabloid press circulated the news. Nothing was ever proved, though, and both parties deny the affair.

His domestic career began at Chelsea in 2001 and he is still with the club 11 years on. He became captain in 2004 and has since guided the team to three Premier league titles, four FA Cup titles and a UEFA Champions League win. He was also the first captain to win the FA Cup at the new Wembley Stadium in 2007. He has had a surprisingly clean sheet for such a long career, as well, receiving only two domestic red cards, one of which was later rescinded on appeal. He has scored more goals than any other defender at Chelsea and is one of the club’s most successful players ever. There is no doubt that Chelsea will suffer in the next four games without their captain.

Though Terry is a fantastic footballer, a great captain and defender, and one which has had very few incidents of aggression or physical violence on the pitch (an attribute few enjoy in this age of the game), he has always been dodgy when it comes to the press, parts of his life very shady. If he took out an injunction concerning an affair that apparently didn’t even happen, one can only speculate what else he has hidden behind closed doors. The recent cases of racial abuse have also tarnished his reputation considerably, and were topped off with Anton Ferdinand’s refusal to shake his hand during the Chelsea-QPR match earlier this season.

Terry will continue to play domestic football for Chelsea for a few years yet, but there is no doubt that his presence in the England squad will be missed, especially if Hodgson refuses to include Rio Ferdinand in the team over his brother’s involvement in the Terry situation. However, though Terry clearly has the ability and the experience to captain the team, it seems that he never really grasped the full responsibility of the role. He is an excellent player, but off the pitch he is not the best role model, particularly in light of the FA’s recent decision over his alleged racism, and so although he has had a long and rewarding England career, perhaps it is for the best that he resigned his position; Some people will say good riddance, Terry has shown his true colours on a number of occasions with his off field antics. No matter what anyone says, the England captain has a responsibility to act as a positive role model. Clearly he is not! Roy Hodgson had the perfect opportunity to lay down a marker and set clear standards that he expects from international players. Ashley Cole, Terry and even Wayne Rooney should have been dropped. The way these high profile footballers conduct themselves off the pitch, should directly impact on whether they are picked to play for their country. What a message that would have sent to the next generation aspiring to play for England, but as always the win at all costs mentality that is driven by money will always come first.

Tyson Gay. Aries Merritt. Shelley-Ann Fraser-Pryce. Yohan Blake. Mo Farah.

Names that are firmly fixed in our minds, thanks to the fanfare that has accompanied the Olympics in London 2012. Gold medal winners, world champions, and national record holders, all competing on the track to show the world what they can do, and running faster, jumping higher and leaping farther than we have ever seen before. Track events have now become the domain of predominantly black athletes in the modern Games; but this wasn’t always the case.

Indeed, before 1936, there had been very little black success on the world stage, and what there was was scorned by the majority. That all changed with the arrival of the Berlin Olympics, and the introduction of Jesse Owens to the track. In this historic Games, built to show the world the grandeur of Nazi Germany and its fully-Aryan team of athletes, Owens proved to everyone that the twisted logic of Adolf Hitler was founded on flawed principles.

His presence at the Games themselves was controversial, as the political unrest in the country at the time had most of the Germans decided firmly against black people in any capacity. Hitler eagerly anticipated Owens’ ruin on the track and the victory of the Aryans, with which he could convince the rest of the world of his maniacal ideas. Unfortunately, though, the inclusion of the American athlete was to be the trump card which shot his theory to pieces in front of the world.

Owens won his first gold in an historic 100m sprint, taking the world record down in the same race. He was officially the fastest human that had ever lived, and had blown the German competition completely out of the water. He then continued his winning streak, taking the gold in the long jump, the relay and – most importantly – the 200m, showing everyone that even over a longer distance on the sprint, he could outrun any competition with ease.

Hitler was infuriated with Owens’ success, and refused to award him the medals, storming off in a fit of temper after his grand plan had unravelled. Though the Germans came top of the overall medal table, it was Owens’ achievements that would define these Olympics, and in fact, he became a trailblazer for a long succession of black athletes to follow.

Owens’ achievements have already been monumental to black sports history. Of course, the oppressive and particular nature of the political atmosphere in 1936 has added to the impact he had, but there is no denying that his two gold medals in both the 100 and 200 metre events has only been matched by a handful of athletes since.

Indeed, it is hotly contested that until very recently, the only athlete to match Owens was the American Carl Lewis, who in 1984 made it his quest to match the achievements of the legend. Having been a successful sprinter and long jumper for much of his life, it was time for him to try and win the same four gold medals that Owens himself had taken nearly fifty years previously; and he did so, becoming only the second athlete in history to achieve that feat.

Evidently, then, Jesse Owens had already become a major sporting influence on the next generation of runners. However, even as Carl Lewis matched his achievements, he bettered them – in 1988, he successfully defended his 100m title, and became a household name all over the world. In addition to his already monumental wins, he had come back four years later and managed to do it again, in the most competitive race of them all, and become the first athlete in recorded Olympic history to do it. Now, not only had he equalled Owens, but overtaken him.

Carl Lewis, then, has been popularly regarded as the most successful sprinter of all time, having been the only two-time winner ever. The torch had been passed from Jesse Owens to Lewis, and there was nobody to take it from him. Until now.

A new player came on the scene, from the small island of Jamaica. Previously, most of the winners of the 100m sprint had been African-American athletes; but nobody could have foreseen what was to rise from the Caribbean. The fastest man in history. The Lightning Bolt.

Usain Bolt shocked the world in 2008 when he won the gold medal in Beijing by a massive .20 seconds, taking the world record in the process with a groundbreaking 9.69 seconds. The image of Bolt, wrapped up in a Jamaican flag and assuming his famous pose, spread worldwide and he became a celebrated and renowned talent. There was no doubt in anybody’s mind that Bolt was the fastest man who had ever lived.

However, though he was the undisputed champion of both the 100m and, later in the competition, the 200m, he had not yet matched the achievements of the athletes before him. He was not ready to take the torch from Carl Lewis yet – not until 2012, when he could attempt to defend his title and match Lewis’s record.

In the run-up to London 2012, there was dissension over Bolt’s teammate, Yohan Blake, who was reportedly going to take Bolt’s Olympic title and remove the possibility of him becoming the most successful sprinter in history. But, on August 5^th 2012, in front of 80,000 people in London’s Olympic Park, Bolt proved to everyone that he was, in fact, worthy of Lewis’s legacy, retaining his title with another decisive victory.

So, now, Bolt will be the next person to carry the status of ‘legend’. He, just like Lewis before him, has matched the achievement set down for him – and now, he has also surpassed it with the successful defence of his 200m title as well, becoming the first athlete in history to ever defend two sprinting titles in successive Olympic games.

There is no doubt that black athleticism has increased exponentially over the last century, and now most of the competitors that feature on the track are dark-skinned; in fact, not one white athlete has realistically contested the 100m for 32 years. Certainly, this was a future that was never envisioned by the white supremacists of the early 1900s – but Jesse Owens proved them wrong, and ever since his groundbreaking medals back in 1936, the world stage has been set. He paved the way for everyone else to come through, and his legacy has been passed down. Now, it is Bolt’s turn to take the torch and lead Jamaica to becoming a new world power on the Olympic stage. Let’s all hope he’s up to the task.

What is it?

 Twenty20 is the most recent form of cricket to be introduced to the international stage. It consists of just one innings per team, with a limit of twenty overs bowled. The aim is simply to score as many runs as possible within the over limit, not worrying too much about wickets falling. Every person in the team has to be able to score runs quickly, even the tail-enders, to make the highest total possible. The job of the bowling team is to limit the run rate, bowling bouncers, yorkers and straight deliveries to try and control the batsman’s shots. Wickets are a bonus but are not the most important part of the game.

How is it different from ODIs and Test matches?

 Twenty20 cricket and ODI cricket are related, but ODIs are much closer to Test matches in format. With fifty overs allowed per team, they have more freedom for dot balls, and more creativity is required from the bowlers to try and take wickets, since there is a good possibility of bowling most or all of the team out in fifty overs. Twenty20, on the other hand, is very much more limited in terms of what the bowlers and batsmen can do – there is only one real way to win.

Twenty20 is very different from Test cricket, so much so it is almost like a different sport altogether. Test cricket lasts five days, and is about denying the other team while slowly accumulating runs. There are also two innings per team in Test matches, allowing more room for error, and it is much more about the bowlers. The only way to win a Test match is to bowl the other team out twice. In Twenty20, simply lasting your overs and getting a higher total than the other team will assure victory, so the batsmen tend to take more of a leading role.

Who plays it?

Unlike Test cricket, many nations are qualified to play Twenty20. The Test nations are automatically entered to the World Cup, with the other hopefuls having to go through a qualifying round. This year, the competition will be held in Sri Lanka. The format sees four groups of three, with the Test nations divided equally in order to generate better competition – therefore, England, Australia, South Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the West Indies, New Zealand, Pakistan and Zimbabwe will feature, and the two teams who qualified alongside them this year were Ireland and Afghanistan.

Group A:                     Group B:                     Group C:                    Group D:

England                       Australia                     Sri Lanka                     Pakistan

India                            West Indies                 South Africa                New Zealand

Afghanistan                 Ireland                         Zimbabwe                   Bangladesh

 How will the competition play out?

 In the beginning stages, the teams will play the others in their group. The top two in the group will go through to the ‘Super Eights’ round, with the team at the bottom eliminated from the competition. In Super Eights, the qualifiers are sorted into two groups, and will all play each other. Afterwards, the winner of Group 1 will play the runner-up of Group 2 and vice versa for a place in the final. The two teams that qualify for the final will then play for the Cup.

Where and when can I watch it?

 The matches will be aired on Sky Sports. As the games will usually be floodlit, starting at 7:30PM Sri Lanka time, they will be live at 2PM GMT. The competition begins on 18^th September and the final will be held on the 7^th October.

England’s first two fixtures are at 2PM GMT on Friday 21^st and Sunday 23^rd September to determine the outcome of the group stages.

Ireland’s fixtures are Wednesday 19^th September at 10AM, and Monday 24^th September at 2PM.

Kerri Meyerhoff

This match was to be the deciding game of the one-day series between the top two teams in the world. England, though, would remain at the head of the rankings regardless of the result; the match would only determine the outcome of the series, which stood 2-1 to England after the match at the SWALEC Stadium was rained off.

It was also an opportunity for young Jonny Bairstow, since Jonathan Trott was injured in the previous match and unable to play. Bairstow is a bright young hope for England in the continuing absence of Kevin Pietersen, and though he scored a 95 in the Test match at Lord’s, until yesterday he had not had the chance to prove himself in one-day cricket.

England won the toss for the first time in this one-day series and chose to bat. Unfortunately for the English, the wicket was unsteady at best for a batsman and it soon proved too much, England collapsing to 24-2 with the loss of Ian Bell to an lbw and Ravi Bopara to an outside edge to AB de Villiers (in exactly the same place as he has lost his wicket this whole tour, the ‘Corridor of Uncertainty’ outside off-stump which seems to tempt him so much).

Bairstow came in to bat fourth with captain Alastair Cook, who also seemed to be batting better than he has all season. The runs began to rack up and England looked good for a while, Cook even getting a fifty, but a sudden flurry of soft dismissals brought them crashing down to 99-5. At the very best, it was a poor batting performance from the top order as a whole, all of the wickets besides Bell’s being pretty much given away. Alastair Cook was the pick of the England batsmen with 51 runs, and Bairstow not far behind with 29, having been out from an unlucky catch at the boundary.

It was left to England’s middle-order, as it so often is, and Samit Patel and Craig Kieswetter gave it their all, but it wasn’t enough. Patel was out soon after, and Kieswetter could only rack up 33 before he too was dismissed. Dale Steyn was the pick of the South African bowlers in this match, finishing with two wickets and an economy of just over two and a half, but they used seven different part-time bowlers in the match, including JP Duminy and leg-spinner Francois du Plessis.

 England collapsed to 175-8 and things looked dire, particularly with Jade Dernbach at number eleven. Sadly, Jimmy Anderson did not bring his batting head with him as he skied the very first delivery to deep mid-on and was caught comfortably by Morne Morkel. Dernbach lasted longer, but not long enough for Chris Woakes at the other end to push the score up; he fell prey to Steyn’s fearsome speed and left England at 182 all out, having batted only 45.2 overs.

England’s only hope with such a low total was to run through the South African order quickly. In the beginning, it looked possible; Jimmy Anderson and Jade Dernbach both struck quickly, and RSA lost Smith, du Plessis and Elgar in a hopeless batting collapse to fall to 14-3. When their captain AB de Villiers strode to the crease to join opener Hashim Amla, there were high hopes for another English victory, despite the poor batting performance.

Amla, though, is the number one batsman in the world, and de Villiers is number three. Yesterday they showed what they could do, pulling their team forward from 14-3 to win the match by seven wickets in an unbroken partnership of nearly 200. Amla himself finished on 97*. It was superb batting on a very difficult surface, and credit to these two amazing players who showed the world why they deserve their individual rankings. They eased comfortably to a victory, not even hitting the third powerplay. RSA took the match, inciting a 2-2 series draw.

It will certainly be interesting to see how these players fare in the Twenty20 series which starts on Saturday, in the run-up to the ICC World Cup this month in Sri Lanka. Bairstow may yet get another chance to prove his worth to England, and with the Indian tour coming up, under a new captain, the stakes are very high. Ravi Bopara certainly needs to pull himself together before the Test series starts, having failed to score any runs in this series, and it will be a tough test of English batting on the dusty Indian wickets where a ball can spin miles.

For the South Africans, it is down under to Australia this winter to face a young and fresh side. Even on the Aussies’ home turf, with the likes of Amla, Kallis, de Villiers and new talent Dean Elgar, as well as powerhouse bowling from Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Dale Steyn, the Pretorians should have nothing to worry about. Of course, only time will tell.

The Twenty20 series begins this Saturday at 14:30 BST on Sky Sports 1.

2^nd NatWest ODI, England v South Africa, 28/08/2012

Having been unfortunately rained out at Cardiff’s SWALEC Stadium on Friday, both teams at Southampton yesterday walked onto the pitch with something to prove. England needed to show that they deserved to be top of the ODI rankings, and win their eleventh match in a row. South Africa, if they won this match, would become the world number one team in Tests, Twenty20 and ODI cricket simultaneously.

Luckily there was no sign of rain, the clouds overhead white and innocent. England had a last-minute switch, replacing Chris Woakes with Samit Patel less than half an hour before the start of play, preferring to take a second spinner on the dry pitch. RSA won the toss and chose to bat, with Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla opening.

Sadly for England, though, the early wickets didn’t appear. Anderson and Finn bowled the opening few overs, looking strong, but failed to break through and Smith and Amla got their eye in and managed to make a massive opening partnership of 89. Graeme Smith had just celebrated his 46^th fifty in first-class limited-over cricket before he top-edged one and skied it to Craig Kieswetter behind the wicket, and was forced to walk at 52.

Amla still looked strong, though, and JP Dunimy started out well. However, soon, a “mix-up” between the wickets led to a batsman being run out by England, and it was Duminy who had to take the fall. Hashim Amla has an extraordinary record with run-outs; much like ex-England captain Nasser Hussain, he seems to witness many of them but never ends up being the man sent back to the pavilion. JP Duminy took one for the team and Dean Elgar succeeded him, playing his debut innings for his country.

Elgar didn’t last long, bowled out by Graeme Swann on the spinner-friendly wicket. He left the crease for just 15; but not before Hashim Amla celebrated his fifty. That was the big wicket England really needed to get back into this game; Amla had to go, especially since experienced captain-wicketkeeper AB de Villiers was now striding into the crease alongside him.

A few missed chances followed; a dropped catch from Kieswetter, an lbw shout from Patel; but it was to no avail, as Amla proudly raised his bat, having made his 10^th century in ODI cricket. This, if anything, was to be England’s downfall – the inability to take Hashim Amla’s wicket, the man who caused them so much trouble at the Oval and at Lord’s earlier in the summer.

AB de Villiers followed Elgar soon enough, with a clean bowl from Graeme Swann taking his off-stump. He made a respectable score of 28 and brought the team total to 230-4. RSA were still looking very strong at this point, despite the dwindling overs, due to a very strong batting performance from Amla.

Indeed, he continued batting with his next partner, du Plessis, until the third-last delivery, when on a score of 150 runs he edged a catch to gully. It was not much consolation for England to remove him so late in the innings, but the whole crowd was on its feet to applaud Amla back to the pavilion on a first-class batting performance. His replacement Wayne Parnell never saw a delivery, and du Plessis scored two off the last ball to make RSA’s total score 287-5.

The score would not be easy to chase for England, but not impossible. They needed a hero, someone like Amla to come forward and put out an exemplary innings to bring their team to victory. As captain Alistair Cook walked to the crease with fellow opener Ian Bell, English hopes were high that perhaps they could match the South African batting.

Sadly, though, it was not to be, as the captain was out for a duck on the second ball from Tsotsobe, practically tripping over his own pads as the ball swung behind him and took out his leg-stump. England were 0-1 and Cook looked decidedly dejected.

Ian Bell looked on good form, though, and the South African-born Jonathan Trott batted solidly alongside him for a while, managing to bring the England score to 64-1 before tragedy struck again and Trott was out to a fantastic catch from Dean Elgar at the boundary, the fielder barely managing to keep it off the ground as he fell forward. Ravi Bopara succeeded Trott.

Bopara was voluntarily excluded from the Test side due to personal issues, and this was his first re-entry into the team since then. He started playing well, but disaster struck once more in the form of Ian Bell’s wicket falling for 45 runs, bowled by an excellent delivery from Robin Peterson. At 77-3, England’s hopes of winning were looking decidedly bleak.

Bopara and Eoin Morgan held a partnership for a few overs, but that too ended when after a spectacular display of batting, Ravi decided to smash possibly the worst delivery of the whole match for a catch to short extra cover. He was gone for 16.

Craig Kieswetter was soon to follow, failing to make an impact, and England’s Samit Patel, a last-minute substitute for Woakes, marched out to try and right the wrongs. The partnership struggled forward from 118-5 to 156-5, and for a time England looked like they might just be able to win, if the pair held out and managed to knock a few runs out of the last few overs.

Then Morgan handed a catch to Elgar at deep midwicket. The next three wickets tumbled shortly after that, Parnell’s excellent bowling causing Bresnan to edge it behind for a golden duck and Swann to survive just two balls. England collapsed to 159-8, and Jimmy Anderson only managed to add five to the board before being run out.

At 170-9, everyone now knew the match was lost for England, but it was a case of simply trying to bat out the overs. The last-wicket partnership added 37 runs to the board, bringing the team total to 207, but it was all over when Patel, on 45 runs, edged a catch to AB de Villiers. England were all out for 207 from 40.3 overs, and South Africa had now taken their ODI crown from them as well. One can only hope that Alistair Cook’s men are better prepared on Friday when they face their opponents again at the Kia Oval.

Friday’s match will start at 13:00 BST on Sky Sports 1.

SG:Hi Danny – have you always been sporty
DC:Hi, yes whilst at school I played a lot of sports, with athletics and rugby being my favourite.

SG id you eventually have to choose a sport?
DC:Yes, I began to be more interested in Rugby and that became my preferred sports.

SG:How far did you get?
DC:I played for Thurrock, Essex and Eastern Counties.

SG:Did you ever want to play for England?
DC:I had natural talent but didn’t have that ‘extra’; the drive to do more than practise sessions and games. If you’re ever going to get anywhere in professional sports you have to have motivation and focus to add endurance and strength to a skill base. In the end those that are ‘naturally talented’ can be superseded by those who work at it. Anyway, I saw it as fun and enjoyed it, but was far from making it my career.

SG:So, if your career was not in sports what did you want to do?
DC:I did an apprenticeship in engineering and still played rugby for Thurrock, I was happy at that level.

SG:You went to Australia, did you affiliate yourself with a club there and play for them?
DC:Going to Australia was a last minute thing, my contract was coming to an end and my cousin was out there – she raved about it. There wasn’t much for me here – job wise so I thought I would go and take a look. I went there for time out and to enjoy not really to play rugby.

SG:It was there you had your car crash, when did it happen?
DC:I was out there for a year (1993 – 1994) on a working visa and I realised quite late, that I had missed my flight home (a year is a long time to remember the exact date and I was backpacking so I wasn’t focusing on coming home date). Anyway, I had to rebook and was on my last job delivering leaflets for a hostel, earning enough money for the return ticket when I had my crash.

SG:What happened?
DC:I was taken to Mackay Hospital where I spent 10 days and found out I had lost my arm. I was able to return home 1 month later.

SG:When you returned home, you must have realised that you couldn’t play rugby as you did before you left?
DC:It was important for me to play again. I wanted to know that the accident was not going to change my life. Tough things happen to people all the time but it doesn’t have to change your life entirely!

SG:How did you get involved with the Paralympic athletics team
DC:Well, as I said I carried on playing rugby and I was spotted by the Paralympic team. They noticed my speed and as such approached me, they wanted me to train with the team – see how far I could get. Initially I refused, I did not see myself as disabled and felt wrongly that this was a ‘give it a go organisation’.

SG:What changed?
DC:I went to take a look, speak to the athletes and discovered they were just like any able-bodied athletes with the same drive, ambition and need to be at the top of their game. This changed my mind not only of the organisation, but for me achieving in sports professionally. I joined the athletics team in 1998.

SG:How long before you got your shot at professional sports?
DC:In the same year I got to the final of the World Championship 400m.

SG:Where did you come?
DC:I was in 8th position, it was at this point I realised I wanted more. I was driven, excited and motivated I wanted to win!

SG:Who are you inspired by?
DC:I don’t try to emulate anyone, but I did want the accolades the Ivory Coast athlete was getting.

SG:To be competitive should be in an athletes nature. How do you rate your competitiveness?
DC:I’m highly competitive I want to win, but the downside of that is when I do achieve I don’t acknowledge it as I am on the look out for the next win! Although, I’m learning to take time out and appreciate my achievements as I mature.

SG:In the Sydney 2000 games you were narrowly beaten to bronze position? How did that make you feel? Did you want to give up? Did you want to change coach?
DC:I got a bronze medal so should have been happy, but was gutted as I nearly had the silver. But sports is tough gig, it is not for the faint-hearted you can’t give up at the first hint at failure or you will never see success. I trusted my coach (Ayo Falola), I have seen other athletes give up their coaches as though it is some quick fix, after doing so they still don’t achieve. I had a good relationship with Ayo and respected his judgement. I knew we would get there in the end.

SG:You had a tough few years?
DC:Yes in 2002 I didn’t win any medals and was loosing funding, it was then I changed from 400m to 800m.

SG:Success came?
DC:The move from 400m – 800m paid off I won the gold at the 2003 European Championship and also my ultimate goal achieving a gold at the Athens 2004 Paralympian Games. In that same year I also set the world record for the 800m of 1:53.27.

SG: What was your training regime?
DC: You have to look at this as a job, therefore you do this everyday. You are being sponsored and so this is your job. I would train 2-3 times per day, 6 days per week, 11 months a year.

SG: And….. your nutritional regime?
DC: I enjoy food and it’s known that I have a sweet tooth, I also do normal things like have takeaways and so on. So my approach to diet has been one of sensible eating as opposed to putting myself on a strict regime.

SG: What about pre-race?
DC: I had quite a bland diet – eg chicken, rice, veg. Nothing oily, or heavy as it will make you sick.

SG:Lots of sports professional tend to be superstitious – were you? any other preparation pre-race?
DC:No, I didn’t have a lucky sock or any form of talisman but I always used to listen to ‘Anxiety’ by Black Eye Peas before a race, would call that superstition? I also used to lock myself away and watch DVD’s. Everyone behaves differently some exude confidence and others intimidate, mine was listen to Anxiety and watch DVD’s. I was also wary of other athletes this was good as I never underestimated their ability.

SG:Top 3 tips:

1. Enjoy your sports or else you will never be able to go through the tough times.
2. Don’t rely on natural talent this will not take you the distance, hard work and years of preparation are needed to have a chance at success.
3. You also need a good supportive network, listen to others input and also your own body.

SG:What have you been doing since retirement in 2009 and what does the future hold?
DC:I do motivational speaking for schools, colleges and corporates.

SG:Future? Coaching?
DC:Broadcasting, coaching maybe that will come from my kids when – we will see. I have also been busy writing a book which was out earlier this year.

Thank you for your time.

Migmag sports is excited to introduce a new addition to the sports team…… Kerri Meyerhoff

Kerri is 19 and is studying English Literature at university. She is a keen cricketer and has been playing since she was 12 years old and has represented her county. She is a leg-spin bowler and middle-order batsman.

Quick fire questions

Apart from cricket what other sports do you like?

K – I love watching all kinds of sport from cycling to golf.

Which football team do you support?

K- I support Manchester United.

Which athlete do you admire?

K -My favorite athlete is Michael Phelps.

If you were to represent Team GB at the 2016 Olympics which event would you do?

K – The one sport I would love to have done but didn’t have the aptitude is competitive swimming.

What are your future plans?

K – After I finish university here I’m intending to go to America and follow on from my degree with a Masters and a Ph.D, hopefully somewhere like UCLA.

While I’m studying I will hopefully be able to get a hand into journalism out there and become a sports correspondent for a newspaper of some kind.

Well that’s a little bit about Kerri, we hope you enjoy reading her articles in the coming months.

This was it. The big one. The one England had to win if they wanted to retain their position as No. 1 in the world. This was also a landmark test for both team captains; for Andrew Strauss, his 100^th test match, making him only the ninth Englishman ever to reach a hundred caps. For Graeme Smith, veteran batsman for South Africa, it was his 94^th test match as captain of his country, thus overtaking Allan Border’s previous record and establishing him as most-capped captain of all time. However, the beginning of this test, and the achievements brought with it, had been somewhat overshadowed by the “textgate” saga involving Kevin Pietersen, and some were worried that the England team would be affected by both the negative media attention and the absence of the experienced middle-order batsman that saved the game for them at Headingley.

The first day brought with it a warm, muggy atmosphere at Lord’s and plenty of cloud cover. RSA won the toss and chose to bat, putting England into the field. The boys didn’t seem disheartened by this at all, marching proudly out onto the pitch to a packed crowd. England had not lost a test match at this ground since Australia beat them at the Ashes in 2005, so it’s no wonder they looked confident. The absence of Pietersen didn’t seem to faze them at all, his replacement Jonny Bairstow walking out proudly with the team as if he had been doing it all his life.

Graeme Smith and Alviro Petersen opened the batting under a dangerously cloudy sky, facing the fearsome deliveries of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad. Indeed, it proved to be difficult for the batsmen under these conditions, as the runs were trickling in very slowly indeed at a rate of just over two runs per over. England kept a very close field, including three slips and a gully, in Strauss’s traditional attacking stance. Only Jonathan Trott, fielding at third man, was left on the boundary. 

This offensive field seemed to work, though, as soon, England were in a good position. South Africa slumped to 65-4 going into lunch, with their captain Smith and veteran player Jacques Kallis dismissed quickly, and everything looked pretty rosy for Strauss’s boys. However, this was to be England’s high point of the Test – everything began to slip after that. A brief spell of rain interrupted lunch, but was not too damaging as only fifteen minutes (the equivalent of about two overs) came off match time. RSA moved to 105-5, AB de Villiers making a brave 27 before he was caught behind. It was at this point, though, that RSA began to bring themselves back, clawing a first-innings total of 309 at lunch on day two, with their late middle-order batsman JP Duminy and bowler Vernon Philander both marking out totals of 61. Stephen Finn and Jimmy Anderson both picked up three wickets, and Broad and Swann took two each.

It was still a low score in modern Test cricket, and easily chaseable by England. Andrew Strauss and Alistair Cook came out to bat the last few overs before lunch, aiming to rack up a few runs and boost their team’s spirits. However, the cloud cover at Lord’s struck again, and just as the South African wickets had fallen to end their innings earlier that morning, Strauss’s wicket fell on the last ball before lunch as he was dismissed for just 20. Dejected, the England team looked to the rest of their top order to defend the work done by their bowlers.

Sadly, it was not to be. Cook was dismissed a little later for 7, and Jonathan Trott and James Taylor followed soon after. England were in the same position RSA had been in the day before; 54-4, and it was up to Ian Bell and Jonny Bairstow to save the England innings. Luckily, they did just that, Bell managing to make a careful and well-batted 58, and Bairstow, in only his fourth Test match for England, and his Lord’s debut, making 95 runs before being bowled by South African seamer Morne Morkel. Graeme Swann, too, put in a gutsy innings of 37 not out, with a last-wicket partnership of 32 runs with Stephen Finn bringing the team total to 315; just 6 runs above the Africans. This would turn into a one-innings Test as England’s batsmen were finally defeated at lunchtime on the third day, exactly halfway through the match.

The South Africans were most certainly in control at this point – it felt like England’s innings had been more desperate, and had taken more effort than theirs. South Africa’s fast bowlers, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn had all taken wickets and were looking much more dangerous than England’s, particularly without the presence of Tim Bresnan.

England began to look good again at the beginning of the second African innings, dismissing both openers for 50 runs, and leaving Graeme Smith with another disappointing total in this landmark Test, a cross both captains were forced to bear. Here, though, was where England’s big mistake occurred; a shocking dropped catch from Matt Prior behind the wicket gave Hashim Amla, then on two, a second chance, and he managed to make an unbeaten 121 before he was dismissed. Steyn, the nightwatchman, came in for the last few overs before stumps on day 3, but was out early in the morning to Broad’s fast bouncers. Jacques Kallis came in next, but dropped quickly to a second controversial review of the match – he was out lbw, but he claimed that he had hit the ball before it touched his pad. AB de Villiers, who succeeded him to the crease, was dropped by Jimmy Anderson at short midwicket for just eight, and he too went on to make 43 runs in a decisive partnership with Amla, eventually leading the South African batsmen to a massive total of 351. Those dropped catches were arguably a big problem for England, since despite excellent bowling and four wickets from new boy Finn, it looked like an ungettable total. England had only successfully chased over 300 three times in history.

Amla had had an extraordinary innings – a charmed innings, as he could have been caught for two, but very well batted indeed. England needed a miracle from one of their top-order batsmen – a feat to match Hashim Amla. A century or two, perhaps, from Cook or Strauss, both of whom had scored hundreds earlier in the series. Sadly, it was not to be – late on day four, with less than twenty overs to bowl, the English openers walked out to the crease. Cook was promptly dismissed by Philander, striking with the new ball, and Strauss not long afterwards, for three runs and one run respectively. Overnight, England were 16-2 and the country, watching them play, had pretty much given up.

The next morning, and the beginning of the last day, marked the end of a landmark Test for both teams, and one which meant the title of ‘best Test team in the world’ for the victor. Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell marched out to the crease intending to make RSA work for their win, but Bell sadly fell short after an excellent first innings, again to Philander, making it his third wicket of the innings. England were in dire straits at 34-3. James Taylor, too, didn’t make much of a difference, getting himself run out for five. All rested once more on the young shoulders of Jonny Bairstow, as he came to the crease with his country’s Test match title hanging by a thread.

And he put out results once more. Between them, Bairstow and Trott put in an excellent partnership, both reaching 50 runs and bringing the team total to 134 before Bairstow was bowled out by leg-spinner Imran Tahir, who until then had been very quiet in this match. Prior then marched out to join Trott at the crease.

Trott went soon afterwards for a valiant effort of 63, falling to Dale Steyn. Stuart Broad, commonly marked as an all-rounder and England’s last real batting hope, entered the middle, and thus began Matt Prior’s brave attempt to save his country’s title. Broad batted well, scoring 37 off 42 balls before he was caught at long leg, and Graeme Swann who succeeded him scored 41 runs off 34 balls before being run out in an excellent piece of fielding by Imran Tahir. It was tight, but most certainly out, and represented a massive blow for England, as it had looked for a moment like they could come back and win, with only 66 runs to obtain.

Sadly, though, with Swann gone and Anderson striding out to join Prior at the crease, those 66 runs were looking much further away due to the England number ten’s limited run-scoring ability. Jimmy Anderson tried hard to keep Prior on strike, and despite two heart-stopping moments, one where the England keeper was nearly stumped in the same manner as he himself had dismissed Morkel the previous evening, and another where he was caught by JP Duminy at mid-off before discovering it was a no-ball, the English hopes rose once more; Prior was having a charmed innings just like Amla had. Could his luck hold out?

Unfortunately for England, it didn’t. The new ball was taken with 12 overs to go, and Philander struck again, exactly the same way as he had taken Prior’s wicket in the first innings. Prior trudged back to the pavilion with 73 runs to his name, a brilliant effort, but not enough to bring his team home. Stephen Finn was out for a duck the next ball, becoming Philander’s fifth victim and thus marking the African bowler on the board at Lord’s, and English dreams were crushed as RSA celebrated their 2-0 series victory and new title as best in the world. They had won by just 51 runs.

Though the English team were disappointed to lose, Strauss admitted in interview that the South Africans had played better on the day, and he thought they very much deserved their new ranking. He congratulated Graeme Smith on leading a fantastic team, and lamented his own team’s dropped catches and failure to score runs, claiming it would ‘be something to work on’ in training for next summer’s Ashes series against Australia. Smith, the most capped captain of all time, was celebrating with Man of the Match Vernon Philander and the rest of the team, who, it has to be said, rightly deserve the honour. Strauss warned that England would be back to avenge the defeat – but we will have to wait until 2015 to see it, when these sides will next meet.

England’s next Test series will be in November in India, the same month as the South Africans travel down under to play the Australians. Until then, there are five ODI matches to be played against the Pretorians, and the Twenty20 World Cup to be held in Sri Lanka. Most English supporters’ eyes, though, will be turned to 2013 and hopes of retaining the Ashes. Losing to the South Africans is one thing – losing that coveted trophy to the Aussies would be quite another.

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