The week in numbers: w/e 27/11/11

Gary Speed, 1969-2011. RIP (image courtesy of Wikipedia)

42 – Age of Gary Speed, the Wales manager and former Leeds, Everton, Newcastle, Bolton and Sheffield United midfielder, who hanged himself at his own home at the weekend. Speed made nearly 700 appearances for his various clubs, was the first man to play in 500 Premier League games and was capped 85 times for Wales, more than any other outfield player. Appointed manager of his country in December last year, he won five of his ten games in charge, including four of the last five. He is survived by a wife and two sons.

2 – In the third Test in Mumbai, India and the West Indies played out only the second ever match (in 2,019 completed Tests) to finish as a draw with the scores level (also Zimbabwe vs England, 1996). Ravichandran Ashwin, who had scored 103 in India’s first innings, was run out attempting what would have been a winning second run on the final ball of the match as India finished on 242/9 after being set 243 for victory. (There have also been two tied Tests, where both teams completed both their innings with their total scores equal.)

My sporting month: May 2011

The month of May is arguably the most exciting in the sporting calendar in terms of the variety of major events which occur during this period. Of course, most of the major football league titles will be won or lost this month, not to mention the showpiece events of the FA Cup and Champions League finals. But we also have the first of the year’s three cycling Grand Tours, the second tennis Grand Slam event and the two most glamorous dates on the motor racing calendar, which this year take place on the same day to provide an incredible double-header for petrolheads everywhere.

It’s going to be quite a month, so here are my top five events for May.

1. Giro d’Italia (7th-29th)

2010 winner Ivan Basso is unable to defend his title because of injury, but his absence will be amply compensated for by the presence of 2008 champion and three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador (currently racing despite being the subject of a combined UCI/WADA appeal into a positive doping test at last July’s Tour). With eight mountain-top finishes in its 21 stages – including the climb of the active volcano Mount Etna – this year’s route is one of the most gruelling ever and is sure to result in spectacular and unpredictable racing. The Tour de France may be the most prestigious cycling race on the 2011 calendar, but the Giro d’Italia looks set to be the most punishing.

2. Manchester United vs Chelsea (8th)

Arsenal‘s win over Manchester United earlier today threw the Premier League title race open again. Although United remain favourites for an unprecedented 19th championship, a win by Chelsea at Old Trafford will move them to the top of the table on goal difference, with Arsenal potentially three points back ready to pounce on any further slip-ups. It’s a big if, but it really is that close.

3. French Open tennis (starts 23rd)

Rafael Nadal will arrive at Roland Garros in search of a win which would move him up alongside Björn Borg as the only six-time winner in the Open era. (Only Max Decugis, who claimed eight French titles between 1903 and 1914, has won more.) But the imperious Spaniard will face stiff competition, particularly from Novak Djokovic, who has been unbeatable so far in 2011 and has won his last 29 singles matches.

In the ladies’ competition, world number four Francesca Schiavone will seek to defend her title, the only one she has ever won in either a Grand Slam or a WTA Tour event. Already in 2011 she has reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open for the first time in her career, a run which included a 4 hour 44 minute victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova, the longest ladies’ singles match at any Grand Slam tournament in the Open era.

4. Champions League final (28th)

With both Manchester United and Barcelona holding 2-0 leads from last week’s away legs against Schalke 04 and Real Madrid, it appears likely that these two teams will meet in the final at Wembley at the end of the month, in what would be a repeat of the 1991 Cup Winners’ Cup final (which United won 2-1). It is only the second time the final will be held on a Saturday (as opposed to its previous midweek date), and a United vs Barça showdown would result in the winner lifting the trophy for the fourth time in their history. Even as an Arsenal fan who has a plethora of reasons to dislike both clubs, it’s a mouth-watering prospect.

5. Monaco Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500 (29th)

Although it is in many ways Formula 1‘s most boring race – overtaking on the narrow twists and turns of the principality is nigh on impossible – Monaco remains the most glamorous race on the calendar, with many of the temporary circuit’s landmarks – Casino Square, Loews hairpin, the tunnel – instantly familiar to even the most casual of fans. Defending champion and current championship leader Sebasitan Vettel has never won here, although last year his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber took the chequered flag. Michael Schumacher, a far less likely winner, would also dearly love to claim a win on the streets of Monaco which would move him level with Ayrton Senna as the only six-time winner of the event.

Later in the day, the fabled Brickyard at Indianapolis will host the 100th anniversary edition of the Indy 500, with two-time Scottish winner Dario Franchitti seeking to complete a hat-trick. Last year fellow Briton Mike Conway suffered a spectacular crash (see below) on the final lap in which he was fortunate to escape with only a broken leg. Conway will return to Indianapolis for the first time since then, having already won once in 2011.

The week in numbers: w/e 10/10/10

Championship leader Mark Webber

14 – After a Red Bull one-two at yesterday’s Japanese Grand Prix, just 14 points – less than a third-place finish – separate championship leader Mark Webber from his team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who is third overall in the drivers’ standings. (Ferrari‘s Fernando Alonso is level on points with Vettel.)

4 – It was Red Bull’s fourth one-two finish of the 2010 season.

20 – At the age of 20, Caroline Wozniacki today became the 20th woman to claim the number one spot in the WTA rankings. She is one of only three number ones not to have won a Grand Slam singles tournament.

Sachin Tendulkar

14,017 – In his 171st Test, Sachin Tendulkar became the first man to accumulate 14,000 Test runs. He finished Sunday’s second day of the second Test against Australia with a total of 14,017.

140,000,000 – Amount in pounds that Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr stand to lose if an agreed sale to New England Sports Ventures is ratified.

11 – There were only 11 seconds (in actual playing time) separating Nani‘s two goals for Portugal against Denmark on Friday night.

27 – After their 2-0 home defeat to Macedonia, Andorra have now lost their last 27 matches in all competitions, dating back to March 2007.

19 – Goals conceded by San Marino in their three Euro 2012 qualifiers to date after they were beaten 8-0 by Hungary on Friday night. They have yet to score in this campaign.

The Ryder Cup in numbers

1 – This was the first time in Ryder Cup history that the event required a fourth day to complete the competition.

6 – It was the sixth time the competition has ended 14½-13½, with Europe and the USA winning three each.

Luke Donald extended his excellent Ryder Cup record (image courtesy of rydercup.com)

3 – Luke Donald, Ian Poulter, Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods won the most points, with three each.

1 – Stewart Cink was the only player to remain unbeaten in the competition: he halved three matches and won the other one.

0 –  The Molinari brothers, Edoardo and Francesco, were the only Europeans who failed to win a match.

1 –  Luke Donald has lost just one of his 11 Ryder Cup matches, winning eight and drawing two.

6 – Lee Westwood has won six of his seven encounters against Tiger Woods.

9 – Tiger Woods was an incredible nine-under par for the 15 holes it took to complete his singles win over Francesco Molinari.

The Commonwealth Games in numbers

33 – As of last night, 33 countries (out of 71) had won at least one medal. 20 have won at least one gold.

Louise Hazel (image courtesy of Birmingham News Room)

6,156 – Points recorded by England’s Louise Hazel, a lifetime best, in winning the heptathlon. Her total would have seen her finish just 10th in last year’s World Championships.

10,000 – The most successful country in terms of medals per capita population is Nauru, which has won one gold medal (in the men’s 77kg weightlifting) and has a population of just 10,000. The island in the Pacific (it is near Papua New Guinea) is the world’s smallest republic, but has a history of success in weightlifting competitions.

499,515 – By contrast England, who lie third overall in the medals table, have currently won 103 medals at a rate of one per 499,515 heads of population – about one-fiftieth the success rate of Nauru.

87.5% – With two events remaining, Australia have won 14 out of a possible 16 gold medals in the cycling competition, an incredible 87.5% success rate. (Although England and Scotland were missing the winners of seven Olympic gold medals from Beijing: Chris Hoy, Bradley Wiggins,Victoria Pendleton and Rebecca Romero.)

The NFL week in numbers

14 – The New York Giants have won the last 14 games (including playoffs) in which Justin Tuck has recorded a sack (New York Giants 34 Houston 10).

29 – Atlanta won at Cleveland, 20-10. It was their first win in Cleveland in 29 years.

13 – The Raiders ended a a 13-game losing streak against the Chargers, which had been the second-longest active streak against an opponent in the NFL (Oakland 35 San Diego 27).

31 – In losing 27-24 to Philadelphia, San Francisco fell to 0-5, their worst start to a season in 31 years.

(Some statistics courtesy of @OptaJoe, @optajim, @OptaJean and NFL.com.)

My sporting month: October 2010

October is a busy month in the sporting calendar, with its opening weekend in particular crammed full of potential highlights from all over the world – two of them taking place in Melbourne.

Here are five of the events which I will be looking out for over the next 31 days, with an honourable mention to three others which will struggle to compete for my personal airtime in what looks set to be a jam-packed month of intense – and hopefully exciting – sporting action.

1. AFL Grand Final replay (2nd)

For only the third time in the history of Aussie Rules, last Saturday’s Grand Final between Collingwood and St Kilda ended in a tie, 68-68, after St Kilda overturned a 24-point second half deficit.

Tomorrow’s replay of the final at the MCG promises to be equally tense. It is a long time since either club has enjoyed the privilege of being reigning Premiers – Collingwood’s last Grand Final win was in 1990, St Kilda’s in 1966 (when they defeated Collingwood in the final).

Philippe Gilbert

2. UCI Road World Championships: Men’s road race (3rd)

Cycling’s annual championships in Geelong and Melbourne actually started on Wednesday – Great Britain’s Emma Pooley won the women’s time trial – but the highlight will be the closing event, the men’s road race, which takes place on Sunday. The riders will tackle a 262.7 km course with a tricky uphill finish which may favour Classics strong men over pure sprinters like Mark Cavendish.

Belgium’s Philippe Gilbert, winner of this year’s Amstel Gold race and of two stages in last month’s Vuelta a España, will feature among the favourites for what promises to be an open race.

For further analysis of the contenders for the race, read Jack Sargeant’s preview over at The Sports Review.

3. Premier League: Chelsea vs Arsenal (3rd) and Man City vs Arsenal (24th)

After last weekend’s shock home defeat to West Brom, Arsenal face two tough Premier League away trips this month, travelling first to Chelsea on Sunday and then to Manchester City, who dealt the champions their first defeat of the season last week.

Arsène Wenger‘s side suffered heavy losses in both these fixtures last season. After these two games we will have a good idea whether they are in better shape to mount a credible title run this year.

Championship leader Mark Webber

4. Formula 1: Japanese GP (10th) and Korean GP (24th)

With a potential 100 points still available from the four remaining races and just 25 separating current championship leader Mark Webber from fifth-placed Jenson Button, there is still everything to play for as one of the tightest F1 seasons of all time approaches its climax.

Ferrari‘s Fernando Alonso currently has the greatest momentum, having won three of the last five races (including the last two). By contrast, Lewis Hamilton will be desperate to reignite his title challenge, having crashed out of the last two races.

Meanwhile, the entire F1 circus will wait with bated breath to see whether or not the new Korean GP will actually go ahead as planned, with the organisers struggling to get the new track complete in time.

5. San Francisco 49ers vs Denver Broncos (31st)

After an unbeaten preseason, the 49ers have started 0-3 and already parted company with their offensive co-ordinator. Mike Singletary‘s team will need a good run over the next four games if they are to arrive for the NFL‘s fourth regular season game in the UK with their playoff hopes still intact. Their opponents at Wembley, the Denver Broncos, are 1-2 after a difficult start, so both teams will desperately need to win this repeat of Super Bowl XXIV (which the Joe Montana-led 49ers won 55-10).

The game will be covered live on Sky Sports, with highlights shown on the BBC. 80,000-plus fans will be there on the day; I’ll be one of them.

I have omitted (at least) three other major events from this month’s list, which I will at least follow in some capacity. Golf‘s Ryder Cup runs from today through to Sunday at Celtic Manor in Wales. The 19th Commonwealth Games, despite its much-publicised problems and the withdrawal of many competitors, will nonetheless start in Delhi on the 3rd and continue until the 14th. And finally, baseball‘s World Series is scheduled to start on the 27th.

Like I said, it’s a jam-packed month. Enjoy.

Related Articles

• It’s still neck and neck after 44 years (theage.com.au)
• AFL final replay chaos for rival sports (news.theage.com.au)
• Replay forces sport switches (theage.com.au)
• AFL replay robs cycling race publicity (news.theage.com.au)

The week in numbers: w/e 26/9/10

England captain Andrew Strauss (image courtesy of HNM_1977)

8 – Andrew Strauss‘s 68 in last Monday’s fourth one-day international against Pakistan was the eighth time he has passed 50 in ODIs in 2010, more than any other batsman. England went on to win the series 3-2.

68 – Points scored by both Collingwood and St Kilda in Saturday’s AFL Grand Final, after St Kilda recovered from a 24-point, third quarter deficit to level the scores with just 1:31 remaining. The teams will replay the final next Saturday.

3 – It was only the third tied final in AFL history, and the first since 1977.

0.293 – In seconds, Fernando Alonso‘s winning margin over Sebastian Vettel at yesterday’s Singapore Grand Prix.

25 – The points difference between F1 championship leader Mark Webber and fifth-placed Jenson Button, equivalent to the points available for a single race win. There are four grands prix remaining (assuming the Korean Grand Prix goes ahead).

31 – Age of Terry Newton, the former Wakefield and Great Britain rugby league star, who was found hanged at his home near Wigan yesterday afternoon. Newton had been serving a two-year suspension after testing positive for human growth hormone (HGH).

Ronnie O'Sullivan

10 – Ronnie O’Sullivan scored a record tenth career 147 break at the World Open in Glasgow last Monday. He had to be asked to pot the final black for the benefit of the crowd, having stopped at the pink in protest at the lack of a sizeable prize for a maximum break.

1 – Australian Neil Robertson defeated O’Sullivan 5-1 in last night’s final to confirm his position as the new world number one. He has now won all six of the world-ranking finals he has contested.

1997 – West Ham‘s 2-1 victory at Sunderland was the first time they had won a League Cup tie against top-tier opponents since 1997.

6 – In each of Wednesday’s six Carling Cup third round ties, the team scoring first ended up being knocked out of the competition.

69 – League positions between Liverpool (16th in the Premier League) and Northampton Town (17th in League Two) when the teams faced each other at Anfield in the Carling Cup. Northampton won on penalties when the match finished 2-2 after extra time, advancing to the fourth round for the first time since 1966.

30 – By winning 4-3 at Stamford Bridge, Newcastle ended Chelsea‘s run of 30 home domestic cup ties without defeat.

The Premier League week in numbers

Carlos Tevez

6 – Carlos Tevez has scored six times in his last five Premier League appearances against Chelsea. In scoring the only goal of the game on Saturday, he raised his record to 25 goals in his last 29 league appearances.

0.70 – Goals per Premier League match conceded by Manchester City (27 games, 19 goals) since Roberto Mancini took over as manager. Under his predecessor Mark Hughes, they conceded goals at exactly twice that rate – 77 goals in 55 games, or 1.40 per match.

2 – Since the start of the 2009/10 season, Chelsea have failed to score just twice in the Premier League – against Birmingham last season and at Manchester City. The opposing goalkeeper on both occasions was Joe Hart.

5 – By drawing 0-0 at home to Everton, Fulham became only the second Premier League side to draw five of their opening six league games of the season, after Ipswich in 1992/93.

6 – Fulham are unbeaten in their first six games, their best ever start to a Premier League season.

Samir Nasri (image courtesy of arsenal.com)

3 – Samir Nasri has scored all three Arsenal goals in West Bromwich Albion‘s two visits to the Emirates Stadium. His two goals on Saturday were his first at home in the Premier League since scoring two against Manchester United in November 2008.

18 – Their 3-2 win at the Emirates ended West Brom’s run of 18 consecutive Premier League away games without a win (four draws, 14 defeats).

5 – Manuel Almunia has saved five of the last six Premier League penalties he has faced at the Emirates Stadium. (He saved Chris Brunt‘s first-half spot-kick on Saturday.)

2 – West Ham, who won their first league game of the season (1-0 versus Spurs), have collected exactly two yellow cards in each of their six Premier League games to date.

21 – Birmingham‘s goalless draw with Wigan extended their run of unbeaten home league games to 21.

2 – Six games into the Premier League season, there are now only two undefeated teams – Manchester United and Fulham.

1 – West Ham’s victory over Spurs means Everton are now the Premier League’s only winless club.

The NFL week in numbers

Tom Brady (image courtesy of Keith Allison)

22 – Consecutive home starts won by New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (New England 38 Buffalo 30). Brady passed for 252 yards and three touchdowns.

22 – Consecutive road losses by the Detroit Lions, tied for the third-longest streak in NFL history (Minnesota 24 Detroit 10).

2 – Seattle‘s Leon Washington returned kickoffs 101 and 99 yards for touchdowns, becoming only the tenth player in NFL history to record two kick return TDs in a single game (Seattle 27 San Diego 20).

3 – There will be just three undefeated teams in the NFL after week three. The Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers are both 3-0, and the Chicago Bears take on the Green Bay Packers tonight, with both currently 2-0.

5 – Conversely, there are five teams still looking to record their first win (Buffalo, Carolina, Cleveland, Detroit and San Francisco).

(Some statistics courtesy of @OptaJoe, @optajim, @OptaJean, @StatManJon and NFL.com.)

Related Articles

• Terry Newton found dead at home, aged 31 (telegraph.co.uk)
• Rugby league mourns Terry Newton (news.bbc.co.uk)
• Saints and Pies in a draw (theage.com.au)