gingerjon

Have you looked into doing the Couch to 5k programme? I've a friend who was knocking out half marathons for fun a couple of years but then Covid came along and completely knocked first their health and secondly their confidence. Once the health was gone they found they just weren't mentally there to cope with their new standard. Like you, they couldn't really get past being embarrassed when compared to how they had been before. I've not done it myself but they found Couch to 5k altered their focus a lot and helped them get back out running for fun. They're nowhere near half-marathons for fun but they are now doing 5-10k runs in a way that they enjoy and don't find embarrassing.

I think rugby union in Europe has three mandated international periods during the season in which players have to be released by their clubs?

Wow. Australia *and* New Zealand. Talk about seeing the world.

Their first win in any format in New Zealand. If you can find the Cricket on BT Sport twitter feed from yesterday morning there are some really good clips.

Aye, that’s all fair

Yes - was brilliant to see

They've gone Caramac like all the best people.

The Subbuteo base is a nice innovation. Really like that kit. Nicely done.

Because the governing body/ies don't have a pot to wee in and so can't do anything positive in this area, as a result, all risk and punishment will be transferred over to the clubs who also don't have any money and can't do anything to stop players leading their lives which include shopping and taking the kids to school.

World Cup Champions twice and T20 World Champions in 2012 and 2016. Teams move up and down the rankings quite a bit in cricket. But, probably better they don't bother. They are poor after all.

You're right. People only watch teams from big, rich countries. Like the West Indies in cricket.

Mrs Ginger's present from Tiny and Little Ginger will be an evening of stargazing courtesy of the good folk of the Observatory at Herstmonceux.

They really could. (The only counter being most sports fans not most people.)

We've lived here long enough, if she was using binoculars to spy on our cross the street neighbours I'd be somewhat worried for her sanity.

Thanks. I'll follow up on this - and the other links.

Mrs Ginger has a request for her birthday. She'd like a pair of astronomy binoculars. She will be a very casual user and anything requiring tripods or faff will not really be appreciated. Basically, good old stare at the moon, bit of spotting of the planets and the occasional wave to the international space station. Given our location, I suspect they will also get an outing to spot some of the more outlandish shipping that we see on the horizon from the seafront. Right now, my mind is leaning towards something like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Celestron-71008-SkyMaster-25-Binocular/dp/B003AM87Q4 But if anyone out there is able to offer any advice then it would be massively appreciated.

The only one where it might not be guaranteed is the IPL - as that's now the only one where international fixtures tend to be avoided playing during. But the temperature of cricket in India absolutely depends on a successful international team. Right now, the BBL is playing at the same time as the Ashes. Even though the Ashes is more than a tad one-sided, it is the one with the money.

Gridiron is not an international sport in any meaningful sense. But I'll accept it as another outlier. Baseball, basketball and hockey have a decent mix of club and international tournaments. Baseball has been played in Cuba, I found out this morning, for longer than MLB has existed. Baseball and basketball being in the Olympics - and players and viewers around the world (i.e. outside the club focused USA) - rather shows the value to those sports of international games. The biggest cricket competitions are international competitions. That's why they're rigged to keep India, England and Australia in for as long as possible (but, specifically, India). The biggest TV deals are for internationals. The most expensive tickets are for internationals. Don't know enough about ice hockey to comment but growth in the UK seems to be entirely focused on getting the national team into tournaments rather than making sure the Guildford Flames play in Europe. EDIT To add, soccer's most valuable tournaments and highest viewing figures are for internationals. I care and follow a lot more club games than international ones but far more people are interested in country v country. Again though, there is a mix and the international window means priority for international games over club ones.

AFL is an excellent example of a sport being absolutely insignificant to 99% of the world's population because it has no international scene whatsoever. If being better than the AFL is your benchmark then it's a sad indication of some woefully insular, small pond thinking.

This would make rugby league unique in world sport. And, to be clear, rugby league is not unique in world sport.

And the sooner we all realise that having Australia as our biggest market is a key reason why rugby league's international footprint on a global scale is so insignificant. Having our biggest games as being a battle between two parts of a small market (globally) obviously isn't fixable quickly, or possibly at all, but until it is then league will remain small time.

Fewer international opportunities is a bad thing.

He's been on Soccer AM before.

Because I like to check such things, if you go on the Measuring Worth website you can see that, roughly, that £65,000 would be about £250,000 now. No wonder they couldn't afford it.

A couple of pretty incredible crowds in local non league. Yesterday, Hastings drew 2,017 people for their Isthmian South Eastern Division game and, today, Bexhill of the Southern Combination got around five times their average with 406 in for the game against Eastbourne Town. I was at the latter.