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Music: Generation iPod
The Times July 9, 2005 The iPod generation may be paying too high a price for the lonely pleasures of technology. Ed Smith wonders if we shouldn’t join our mates down the pub IF LEISURE TIME IS ALWAYS...
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Music: Is that an oboe in your pocket…?
One of the excellent points made in Mozart in the Jungle, the oboist Blair Tindall’s account of orchestral life, is that classical music can stand on its own two feet. It doesn’t need to be sexed up or...
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Music: Review: Everything is Connected by Daniel Barenboim
The maestro has stepped too far beyond his podium, finds Ed Smith Idealistic, brave and charismatic, Daniel Barenboim has reached beyond his roles as a virtuoso pianist and conductor. As a Jew and...
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MindGames: Overpowering professionalism is such bad form in sport
You’ve just finished the biggest game of your life. Still wearing the scars of battle, now imagine that instead of a pat on the back and an encouraging word, you’re given a form to fill in, demanding...
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MindGames: Usain Bolt and the paradox of sprinting evolution
Usain Bolt, the triple Olympic gold medallist, promises he can run faster. It is quite a claim. At Beijing, Bolt broke both the 100m and 200m world records. So how much faster can Bolt run? And how...
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MindGames: Kevin Pietersen's self-belief for England a help and hindrance
How many international newcomers have the phenomenal self-belief to return to the homeland they have shunned, with boos ringing around the stadium, and score not just one century, but three hundreds in...
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MindGames: Harold Pinter's stroke of genius
If English cricket’s recent captaincy saga suggests a great deal about the fault lines on which English sport is run, the death of Harold Pinter tells us much more about how deeply the game runs in the...
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MindGames: Unchartered territory for King Federer
A great sportsman isn’t just a player – he is a presence and a brand whose reputation can easily mask a dropping off in form. But as an opponent, it takes deep confidence to say to yourself, “Allan...
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MindGames: Will the IPL fast-track talent?
Who’s afraid of the Indian Premier League? Almost everyone who is English, it seems. The IPL is explicitly threatening because it exposes our elite players to a demanding tournament – and with...
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Sport: Sport is about big spirits, not big spenders
The record-breaking prices paid at the Indian cricket auction might suggest sport is recession proof. It isn’t – and that may be no bad thing, writes Ed Smith. Exorbitant salaries may be under the...
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MindGames: Kevin Pietersen proves fortune favours the brave
Both sport and life revolve around the concept of risk. Pass or kick? Demand a pay rise or settle for job security? Declare and risk losing, or bat on for a boring draw? Buy shares or stuff it under...
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MindGames: Weak bosses using players to do dirty work
“Hi Didier, it’s Roman calling. I know Scolari left you out of the team quite a bit this year. What do you feel about sacking him? You know, bringing in a new guy… Yes, great, thought you’d agree?”...
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MindGames: Strauss is now a leader by example
The disappointment of not forcing victory in Antigua Test should not obscure what a massive boost this Test was for Andrew Strauss. His first innings 169, made under huge pressure, signals the way...
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Sport: What the KP saga tells us about Englishness
Kevin Pietersen was made England cricket captain because of his un-English fearlessness and self-confidence. And yet these same qualities saw Pietersen deposed six months later. His brief tenure tells...
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Sport: Why my sport is now in the line of fire
The Lahore terrorists targeted cricket because they see it as a symbol of Western modernity by Ed Smith There is nothing new in the realisation that sport can be hit by stray bullets from the terrorist...
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MindGames: England pay penalty for failing to entertain
Sitting on the high moral ground is all too easy for us rugby fans. There’s always football to look down on – all those overpaid prima donnas pressurizing the referee and perpetrating professional...
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Economics: Goal-hangers and Glory-hunters
The finances of sport, the sport of finance: both have been in the news recently. While two England cricketers netted £1.55 million for six weeks’ work in the Indian Premier League, the newest form of...
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MindGames: Innocent targets caught in terrorist crossfire
Sitting in my study as I write, I am surrounded by tokens of the things I care about. An Npower stump and a player’s medal are scraps of memorabilia from a life in cricket; the shelves overflow with...
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Sport: We need leaders with Brian Clough's character
Our risk-averse society is turning its back on eccentricity, says Ed Smith Where is Brian Clough when you need him? The England and Wales Cricket Board has announced that the next national coach must...
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MindGames: "The razor's edge of luck"
Fifteen years ago I played in an England Schools trial match that included four future first-class cricketers. Andrew Strauss, Rob Key and myself were not selected for the final XI. Elliott Wilson was...
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