24 NEWS
THE WEEK 10 August 2019
Sport
Formula OneLewis Hamilton
won the Hungarian Grand
Prix after overtaking Max
Verstappen with just three
laps to go. He now has a
62-point lead in the world
championship, ahead of
Valtteri Bottas. In the
Hungarian Formula Two
race, Mick Schumacher –
Michael’s son–took his
maiden F2 win.
GolfPlaying in her first major,
Japanese golfer Hinako
Shibuno won the Women’s
British Open byasingle shot.
TennisAustralia’s Nick
Kyrgios beat Daniil Medvedev
in straight sets to win the
Washington Open.
They call Edgbaston “the Fortress”, said Paul
Hayward in The Daily Telegraph–oratleast
they used to. Before the Ashes began last
week, England hadn’t lostaTest there in 11
years. But that record came toadespondent
end on Monday, when Australia won the first
Test byacrushing 251 runs. Still nursing a
hangover from their World Cup triumph, the
hosts were woefully flat. “It had all started so
well,” said Paul Newman in the Daily Mail.
On the first day, England had Australia on
122 for eight. By the end of their first innings,
they were 90 runs ahead. But things took a
turn for the worse on the fourth day. Having lost James Anderson
to injury, England’s bowlers “ran out of ideas and energy and
allowed Australia to dominate”. And then, on the final day,
England hit rock bottom. At 60 for one, it had looked as if
England might possibly pull through foradraw. But after
Jason Roy lost his wicket carelessly, the team collapsed: they were
bowled out for just 146. It wasathrowback to the worst days of
the last Ashes, in 2017-18, which England lost 4-0.
This collapse raises “uncomfortable questions” about England’s
batting, said Steve James in The Times. Joe Denly and Roy,
playing in their fourth and second Tests respectively, did nothing
to suggest they have the decision-making abilities to thrive in this
format. Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler looked rusty, while
Moeen Ali managed just four runs over his
two innings. How England must wish they
had someone like Steve Smith, said Gideon
Haigh in The Times. But nobody bats like
him –“nobody ever has”. He started this
Test with his reputation diminished: he only
returned to the Australia team in June, after
servingaone-year ban for his role in
Australia’s ball-tampering scandal. He wasn’t
quite at his destructive best at the World
Cup. But in the first Test, Smith wasted no
time in putting any doubts to rest. He scored
144 runs in the first innings, then followed
that up with 142 in the second–the first time in his career he
has scored two centuries in the same Test. He now averages a
staggering 139.5 over his last ten Ashes innings. This time, he “hit
shots rare and delectable”, even by his standards. “This was Steve
Smith’s world”–his opponents were just living in it.
It’s not merely Smith’s own batting that’s so dangerous, said Tim
Wigmore in The Daily Telegraph. It’s the effect he has on his
teammates. His presence “elevates his partners, enfeebles bowlers,
or both”: in Tests, his partners average 6% more runs when he’s
batting at the other end. And his influence in the second innings
was obvious–Australia’s batsmen borrowed from his “cocktail
of aggressive intent, judgement, discipline and ruthlessness”. Once
again, Smith “showed his team the way”.
The Ashes: another miserable England collapse
Three years ago, Harry Maguire went to Euro 2016
as afan, said Oliver Kay in The Times. The central
defender had just finishedaseason playing for Hull
City in the Championship; he was able to travel to
the tournament “with his mates”, recognised by few
of his fellow supporters. Since then, however, the
26-year-old has enjoyedadizzying rise. He joined
Leicester. He became an England lynchpin and
shone at the World Cup. And this week, Manchester
United signed him from Leicester for £80m–making
him the most expensive defender in football history.
That’s an “eye-watering amount of money”, said
James Ducker in The Daily Telegraph. But no one
can doubt that United had to shore upadefence that
conceded 54 league goals last season. That’s the only way they
can possibly catch up to Manchester City and Liverpool, who
gave usareminder of their strength on Sunday during City’s
Community Shield win. With Maguire and Aaron
Wan-Bissaka, the talented 21-year-old right-back
they recently signed from Crystal Palace, United
now boasta“robust, modern, exciting” back line.
Maguire does have the qualities ofa21st-century
defender, said Paul Doyle in The Guardian. With a
“dinky array” of passing skills and marauding runs,
he can play out from the back–which is what Ole
Gunnar Solskjær, the United manager, wants from
his players. But Maguire hasn’t forgotten the virtues
of old-school shot-stopping: he is “imperious in the
air, tenacious in the tackle, built likeaPortaloo”.
Crucially, he is also “of sound character”, and will
bring much-needed leadership to the dressing room.
Yet like Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James, the Welsh
winger who recently joined United from Swansea, he is still
unproven at the highest level. If United really are to challenge
this season, that trio will have to fulfil their potential.
Football: is Maguire worth £80m?
Maguire:alynchpin
How Egypt transformed croquet Sporting headlines
The British introduced croquet to
Egypt, said The Economist. And
today the Egyptians are world-
beaters. They play golf croquet,
aversion of the game taken there
by Egypt’s British occupiers in
the early 20th century, which
is simpler and faster than the
traditional form, Association
Croquet. You score points by
passing through each hoop first,
and you don’t get bonus shots
for hitting the opponent’s ball or
passing throughahoop. Fans of Association
Croquet scoff that golf croquet is “like
comparing chequers with chess”. But its
proponents say that it’s more exciting. “The
airborne Egyptian jump shot is particularly
audacious.” These days, it’s the world’s most
popular form of the game. And at the Golf
Croquet World Championship,
which concluded in Eastbourne,
on Sunday, there were more
Egyptian than English competi-
tors. Nine of the previous 12
champions came from Egypt.
In fact, although the English
dominate Association Croquet,
no English player has ever won
the world golf croquet title, said
Patrick Kidd in The Times. Some
thought that this year things might
be different. Hopes were pinned
on Stephen Mulliner, the 65-year-old former
mayor of Haslemere, and Richard Bilton, who is
just 22. Sadly, they both fell in the quarter-finals.
In the event, this year’s victor was actually an
American, Ben Rothman, withabig beard and
“toenails painted bright teal”. But the runner-
up, Mohammed Karem, was an Egyptian.
Karem: runner-up
Smith: back to his destructive best
©C
HRIS ROBERTS
