Slight difference of opinion
"We want to win the series 5-0 and we will be doing everything we can in each game to win." - James Anderson, July 23, cricinfo.com
"There is no talk about whitewashes in the dressing room. If there is one thing we learned from our brief period as the No1-ranked team, it is that we can never take anything for granted." - Ian Bell, July 24, cricinfo.com
Beer facts
At Dodger Stadium, you can now order a beer, Kirin, with frozen foam that will keep your beverage cold for 30 minutes. The most bizarre thing about this is not the foam but the concept that stadium operators would consider the comfort of its patrons, in stark contrast with Eden Park's stated policy of selling slightly chilled plastic bottles of beer in the middle of summer, which quickly change to lukewarm.
Brechin 1 (pause) Queen's Park 0
James Alexander Gordon, perhaps the most recognisable voice in British broadcasting, has retired from reading soccer results on BBC radio. "It's with great sorrow that I have to give up the most exciting part of my career, the classified football results. They have been my life," he said. Gordon, 77, admitted he knew little about soccer other than the results. He recently had surgery to remove his larynx after being diagnosed with cancer and his voice is no longer strong enough to broadcast.
Magic what she does
As Irene van Dyk takes her Magic to Wellington next season, it's hard to imagine New Zealand netball will ever see a player of her ilk again. Van Dyk has scored more than 10,000 goals since she came to these shores and remember, she was already 27 when she arrived. She has shot 4802 goals for the Magic since 2003 and 4652 for the Silver Ferns since her debut in 2000. She even chipped in with 1065 goals during her three seasons with the Capital Shakers. It's a total of 10,519... at an average of 92 per cent.
Mum's the word
According to one of our once-fearless correspondents, there's an intimidating new demographic making a nuisance of themselves in Auckland this week - the BMX mums.
Wristy business
An 11-year-old fan felt the power of a Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick when the Real Madrid star accidentally broke the youngster's wrist. Charlie Silverwood was sitting behind the goal in a weekend friendly between Bournemouth and the Spanish giants at Goldsands Stadium when he parried the ball. "It was Ronaldo's first free-kick of the game. It went straight for me so I blocked the ball with the palm of my left hand and the force, I suppose, reverberated up my arm and broke my wrist," Charlie told the BBC. "Real Madrid is a once in a lifetime opportunity - seeing them play your local club - so I watched the rest of the match, mostly in pain... If I hadn't blocked it with the palm of my hand I would have no front teeth." Oh well, he gets a signed shirt out of it.
A three-week inquest in Hamilton is investigating the Olympian's death in 2021 aged 24.