Letter: Reporting on sport?

The current reporting of sport seems understandably compelled to ignore the actual playing of the game.

The England Cricket Test XI is named but the concentration is on who has been left out, with little comment on those selected.

The England football squad and the coverage leans towards who shouldn’t have been included and whether we should ‘take the knee’.

Roger Federer enters the French Tennis Open to selfishly assess his match fitness and subsequently ‘retires’ from the tournament. He puts his ‘comeback’ before the player who has missed out on the tournament due to his inclusion as well as insulting those he has beaten, to say nothing of the spectators, viewers and the tournament organisers and sponsors.

A gesture of donating any prize money to charity might have appeased his critics.

Andy Murray has a ‘wild-card’ into Wimbledon as a part of his come-back. Once again, a ‘getting-back-to-fitness’ former champion denying another younger prospect from entering a Grand Slam tournament by using it as a training session. I suspect sponsors have a ‘say’ in these matters

Although sympathising with the Grand Slam winner, Naomi Osaka, I feel that she too might have thought twice about entering ‘the French’ in the first place. At least she had declined Wimbledon prior to the event.

And then we have the tweet (or twit?) of the day when unwise comments have been dredged up by some saddo, from the distant past and aimed at suspending the career of international cricketers, leaving us to wonder ‘who’s next?’

If Twitter had been around in the days of some of sports real characters (1970s and way back) we would have had a job in putting a team together! I dare not name them, but I guess anyone reading this could think of a few.

And, oh yes… England already have one hand on the UEFA Euros 2020 Trophy, can’t see why the others bother to turn up.

Has anyone seen England skipper Harry Kane smile yet? His transfer from Spurs seems to dominate his thoughts and Marcus Rashford’s recent performances are uncharacteristically poor.

Test Matches against New Zealand and India this summer are purely warm-ups for our Ashes winter down under – wishful thinking? What an insult to New Zealand and India to be using them as trial Tests for the Big-One against the Ozzies!

Resting England’s best players, on contract and full pay, seems to be a cracking idea, doesn’t it? I’m fed up of hearing that ‘We are building for the future’.

If you are feeling guilty about being too happy just watch England Men’s soccer and cricket teams, that’ll bring you down to earth.

The Olympics loom large. A large tranche of this sporting programme involves athletics, an area of sport continually disgraced by cheats.

Nowadays whoever finishes first across the line, jumps highest or longest or throws longest is subject to suspicion due to our knowledge of previous ‘afters’. But at least our athletes look good, kit, hair, tattoos, nails!

The same could be said for other Olympic sports.

To me as an aged sports enthusiast, playing several at a very moderate level but admiring the best as a spectator, viewer and listener.

I have been privileged to live through a golden age of sport but more and more I feel that the spelling is moving closer to spoilt.