Normally cricket, as a sport, holds little interest for me.

There is no doubting it is a gentleman’s game and one that is followed passionately in certain countries. But, as a rule, it tends to be a little too laid back to be considered truly exciting.

However, there is one major exception to this – the Ashes. The competition that sees England and Australia competing for the charred contents of a tiny urn is somehow hugely compelling.

The latest round of this contest gets underway in Australia tomorrow where the home side will be attempting to win back the trophy they lost in such spectacular fashion the summer before last.

Anticipation levels over this five-match tournament are, as usual, at fever pitch and experts are pretty much torn on deciding which way it will go. While Australia have home advantage, they also have an ageing team, a factor that could count for them as well as against them.

England, on the other hand, are full of youth and energy but may lack a little in terms of experience. But they do have the trophy which should act as a psychological advantage.

The one thing the experts do agree on though, is that this will not be a walkover in either direction and could be one of the closest contests in decades.

The only sad thing? The timing. Thanks to the extreme time difference between us and down under, play will take place during our nights. Oh well, at least it’s a reason to wake up in the morning.

No humiliation

Defeated but not humiliated.

That’s my verdict on Sheffield United’s 2-1 loss to Manchester United at the weekend.

True, we only mustered two or three attempts on goal compared to their 50. True we were only saved from a much more comprehensive defeat by some good goalkeeping and the fact that Ronaldo’s cockiness outweighs his ability to finish.

But, even so, I think we can hold our heads up high and approach the rest of the season with a little more confidence that we would have done if it was a 10-0 hammering.

Some Blades saw this game as the highlight of the season. The truth is that it was little more than a distraction from the real business of staying in the Premier League.

As Neil Warnock himself admitted, the forthcoming games against Watford, West Ham and Charlton are far, far more important for the lowly likes of Sheffield United.

And, if they put in as much effort against those clubs as they did against Man U, we might be all right after all.

Some quotes

Quite a few quotes tickled my fancy over the past few days.

Firstly, we have Ferenc Puskas, the Hungarian football legend who died last week at the age of 79.

The little footballing genius was almost single-handedly responsible for the 6-3 demolition of England at Wembley back in 1953 but, before the match, he was having doubts.

“I would be a liar if I said we were not pretty nervous on the day of the match. I was in my kit, hanging about in the corridor, when I saw the England inside-right Taylor, who wasn’t very tall. I popped back into the dressing room and said to the others: ‘Listen, we’re going to be all right, they’ve got someone even smaller than me’. ”

Pure class.

At the opposite end of the football evolutionary scale, Neil Warnock was in fine form yet again when talking about the nightclub brawl which saw Sheffield United’s goalkeeper end up having his eyebrow bitten off.

“I don’t think we’ve got a disciplinary problem. It’s the players who are thick who are causing the problems,” he said, pulling no punches.

Finally we have Graham Taylor, one-time England manager now turned commentator.

When asked by his co-host if he had had any lucky charms during his time as manager – in reference to Stuart Pearce’s stuffed toy mascot – the former Watford and Villa boss replied:

“Yes, my wife. But I never laid her on the touchline.”

Thank God for that, Mr Taylor, thank God for that.

Unknown gang

Football prank of the season has to go to the unknown gang who, from outside the ground, kicked 20 or so footballs over the stand and on to the pitch during the recent FA Cup match between Macclesfield and Walsall.

The incident took place as the game was under way and the match had to be halted while the balls were cleared from the pitch.

The pranksters were aided by the fact that Macclesfield only have a tiny ground making it easy for just about anybody with a decent pair of shoes to kick a ball clear over the stand behind the goal.

Macclesfield’s chief executive was not best amused by the joke.

“It might bring a wry smile to people’s faces, but we had TV cameras here for the game and we wanted to put our best face on,” Patrick Nelson moaned.

Okay, so it was a bit silly and immature. But you still have to give the perpetrators credit for creativity.

Now I would like to see them try the same trick at Old Trafford…

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