LariatTom

That's what I mean, he reigned supreme in WRC and shattered records at his first attempt up Pikes Peak and will most likely win the WTCC at his first attempt barring some bizarre turn of events. Oh, and he finished second in the world's greatest motor race in 2006, beating factory Audi entries. It goes without saying that he's one of the greatest drivers of his generation.

Blancpain GT Series is 12 round GT championship, with two seperate championships within: The Endurance series and Sprint series. Endurance races typically run to three hour rules, though they also run a 1000km race at Nurburgring in September and the Total 24 Hours of Spa at the end of July. Sprint races last an hour (taking over what used to be the FIA GT3 Championship). The 12 round concept is a new one for 2014, so it remains to be seen just how well they cross over. I imagine some teams will focus only on the Sprint series and some on the longer races, though hopefully plenty go for the full 12 rounds. For my money, it's the best GT3 championship running at the moment (though Pirelli World Challenge in the USA is pretty bloody good and British GT returns next weekend after their best season in years) and they've got the BOP absolutely spot on. They had a field of 40 cars yesterday, but they've had fields as big as 50 or 60 entries at some rounds which looks unbelievable.

This is a short highlight video of the race, worth a watch.

If you've got three hours to spare, I really do recommend sticking the race on and giving it a watch. As I say, they're all on Youtube through the GT1World channel.

Without wanting to sound like a dull, cynical bastard, Loeb is driving a Citroen. That car is stupidly quick and seemingly miles ahead of the competition making this as good as the World Touring Citroen Championship. To be honest, it would be much more of a surprise if he didn't come out of the blocks winning races. Loeb is a ridiculously quick driver and probably one of the best of his generation. I'm disappointed that his LMP2 squad pulled out of Le Mans since that could have been a fantastic opportunity for him to get in the car and I don't believe he's actually involved in the ELMS entries (they've also entered an Audi R8 LMS ultra).

If you're into a bit of GT racing, Blancpain started their season yesterday with a three hour race at Monza. They stream races on Youtube for those who don't have the TV channels required which is fantastic. Great race too. The new Bentley Continental GT3 is ridiculously good. It's a Bentley...it's a big, wide car. But my word, that thing has some speed. Absolute bugger to overtake too!

I said it on Twitter, I said it on Facebook...I've never popped so much before in my life as I did last night for the end of that Rumble. It really was a moment of jumping for joy (Cheers Pat for letting me jump into your arms in sheer delight). Yes, we all knew the cash-in was coming but for those few minutes...I just didn't care. Little moments like that are why I'm a wrestling fan. Some brilliant moments to take away from the match which air_raid has already covered. I loved the Wrecking Ball spot. The Sci Fi guys had a fantastic little plan...at least, while it lasted.

Andrew text me while I was on the train to say that London's entrance (or at least, the footage he recorded which might include post-elimination) clocked in at over 40 minutes. Absolutely bananas stuff, and that needs to be a bonus feature on the DVD/Blu Ray release.

Top to bottom, another very good show. All heels with the gold in Preston at the moment, at least until Bubblegum heads to Cash Converters, so it'll be interesting to see which faces step up. Very exciting times ahead, and it keeps getting better.

We'll stick a mask on you, no one will notice. Guess I don't need to text you and find out if you're coming though.

Really looking forward to this one...Devitt vs Trav, London/Kendrick, the return of Fight Club, nothing on the card looks anything less than brilliant. I love a good Rumble and it wouldn't be a PCW Rumble without shenanigans. I've got a vague idea of what I think could happen tonight regarding the title situation, the Rumble match and Joey's briefcase...but wouldn't want to give the game away.

I imagine I'll see the usual folk in the pub later!

I've seen this three times on my newsfeed today, each time taking it seriously and applauding Facebook. I don't quite have the words to describe how baffingly stupid this is. How these three didn't even bother noticing that campains don't usually work, I'll never know.

going to the RTG weekend for my first PCW show at the end of the month - coming up alone so if anyone is about for a pint on the Friday afternoon before everything gets going in the evening let me know

 

Wellington about 4.30pm onwards is where's best to meet, usually 20ish peeps in there. plenty of forumites as well

I'll skip my afternoon sleep from last time and be there instead since I believe I've got a friend coming with me for the Friday show. It's about time I had this infamous burger anyway.

I've not seen too many Neknominations on my timeline, mainly just ones that people have shared. Downing a pint is nothing new with students, it's when you start making ridiculous mixtures and adding shit that you shouldn't be drinking. One utter clot I go to uni with missed a few days last week because he decided to be 'a right lad' and have a few shots of bleach in with his drink. Banter~!!

Though I will say that it's been quite nice to see a handful of videos shared of people deciding against doing the drinking challenge and instead using the money to buy some food for someone living on the streets. Some good, no matter how small, has come from this stupid game.

Best Babyface: John Cena, Daniel Bryan

Best Heel: The Shield

Best Tag Team: Rollins and Reigns, Rhodes Bros.

Best Non-Wrestler: Paul Heyman

Best Moment: Daniel Bryan wins the WWE Title, Mark Henry's faux-retirement

Cook seems to have realised that he needs to be more attacking in his batting and that by taking it to the bowlers and scoring runs from them, he's able to not let them pin him down and dominate the opening. There'll be instances where that doesn't work, but going along at a decent rate with the new ball and then reigning it in could work. A good innings from him. Will Carberry make it to the West Indies series as the second England opener? He's scored 50 in this Test from 268 deliveries...watching him batting this morning was sheer torture. Root's run out was stupid and Bell played as daft a shot as we've seen in a while. KP's innings was fine, yet he gets criticised again for attacking and getting out with the tail. If everyone else stuck around long enough, he wouldn't have to play daft shots when he's got Jimmy down the other end and Panesar waiting in the wings.

We need a miracle with the ball. If there's a chance of taking a few early wickets then we might have a game on our hands. Otherwise, it's about trying to keep them from finishing the game by tea.

Oh, I'll be going to my first Test match next summer. My friend got match tickets to all five days of the Old Trafford game against India next August for something like

I don't think I'll bother watching tonight. Boycott's ranting at KP and Root for stupid shot selection within about five minutes of each other was a thing of beauty. Thing is, he's absolutely right.

Bell needs to bat at 3 in the second innings so we can anchor the innings around him. He might delay the sinking ship a while longer...

I'm not happy at missing tomorrow's show. There were some changes to my uni timetable which means they've thrown a dissertation class in this week instead of next Friday when absolutely no one will care. Not a chance I can make it to Preston without missing at least an hour of the show, at which point turning up seems a bit pointless.

Enjoy tomorrow night, I'll be hoping for updates from the usual sources. Shame too...I was going to bring my elf outfit, stick some tassels onto it and impress Danny Hope.

That game had such potential to be a good cricketing game to follow on from International Cricket, but it just sucked. I could accept them delaying the game originally until November, but I really have to wonder what they were doing.

The good news is that Don Bradman Cricket 14 (http://attackofthefanboy.com/videos/don-bradman-cricket-14-trailer/) looks nothing short of glorious. The one thing that is missing is licensing, though maybe they'll try and take that now that the Ashes game died on its arse. I'm interested by the idea of a career mode for the game and a DRS referral system. The graphics look better than Ashes Cricket and the gameplay looks rather divine.

In the real world...Ballance in at 3 for the second Test? Looked good in the tour game and I think the fact that they had him bat 3 in the short second innings is a telling sign. Keep Bell and Root at 5 and 6, let Ballance do his thing. From what I hear, Bresnan did alright in his return game too, so he must be a strong consideration for the game. Rankin and Finn managed to bowl themselves out of international cricket for the foreseeable future with some dire performances and Monty can still bowl. I think the Aussies would tear him to shreds if he gets a game though.

Jesus fucking Christ...nice to see normal service being resumed for the first Test of an England series. That afternoon session was beyond painful to watch. Part of me wonders just how much of a difference it could have made had Trott managed to drag that last over out before lunch and not give Johnson another chance at him to take the wicket. Everything just seemed to click for the Australian bowlers while the batting fell apart, so maybe it wouldn't have made a blind bit of difference.

Rather takes away the cracking work that our bowlers did the first time round. We'll need that again please.

Advantage Australia, and I'd be amazed if we need a fifth day for this match.

Anyone meeting up before the pre show event or between the pre show and main show?

 

Usual suspects?

 

4pmish Wellies for Food, usual?

I'll be there...at some point. I get into Preston for about half 5 and then I'll head down to Wellies, if I can grab food in that time before doors, I'll do so.

Getting back is a right pain in the arse. Trainline don't seem to acknowledge connecting trains at Manchester heading back up to Leeds so I'm having to book a string of single tickets instead of a return which isn't ideal. Screw it, more than worth it for a show like this.

The previous chassis had been used in the series for a number of years. Dallara were then asked to build a car to suit certain requirements after a string of high speed crashes. The idea behind some of the futuristic looking parts were to stop cars going airborne in one-on-one incidents where they'd ride up on the wing and fly. Sadly, that isn't the case and we've seen a couple of accidents where cars have gone airborne. However, nothing as dramatic as yesterday's accident. There will be questions asked of the organisers in Houston regarding the chain link fencing that they were using which isn't used anywhere else for very good reason, but it was a freak accident.

They may look hideous, but they've provided some of the best on-track action Indycar has seen for many many years. Small price to pay for great racing!

A weekend of massive accidents and lucky escapes in the USA..

Massive accident during yesterday's Indycar race in Houston with Dario Franchitti being incredibly lucky to escape this one with his life. Concussion, spinal fracture that luckily won't require surgery and a fractured ankle are on the injury list for Dario, but that could have been much, much worse. Some major questions need to be asked about the catch fencing and whether it really did the job. Yes, it stopped Dario from going into the grandstand (which almost certainly would have been a fatal incident, whether for him or fans) but the fencing was hit with force to remove it and send it flying towards the grandstands

Then this accident at VIR during the ALMS race on Saturday evening with a car going airborne once again and rolling past a marshals post. This is far more of a freak accident than Indycar, but still brilliant to see everyone walk away without injury.

http://www.motorsport.com/alms/video/main-...-massive-crash/

Apparently former IWW wrestler, Pierre Marceau, has signed a developmental deal with WWE.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLZPN_A65n8...YO1CWb7gxjJbo1o - One of the more, erm, interesting promos I've heard in a while.

I can only assume someone has just watched Talladega Nights and thinks that would make a great gimmick for a wrestler. "I 'ave come here to defeat you, Ricky Booby."

Not the greatest debut for Kerrigan. I just wonder whether he could have benefited from having had some more outings for the Lions before being thrown into the Test side. He also got absolutely slaughtered by Watson not too long ago, so I imagine that was still at the front of his mind when bowling. He's been a great bowler for Lancs, and I'd still say he should have an England career in the future. It may be worth taking him to Australia still, just to get him as part of the England set-up a bit more and actually get some time working with the team. Another winter in the Lions would probably be his best bet though. Nothing to say he couldn't come back into the frame after two or three years though..

Great innings from Watson, just a bit of a shame he couldn't do something like that when it actually mattered and the series was alive.

Exactly! It's just because it's happened for once with their team being at the wrong end of the decision. As you say, plenty of occasions in history where Australian batsman should have walked and didn't. Gilchrist and Amla are the only two guys that come to mind instantly that I could be certain would walk if they knew they were out. Everyone else would, at the very least, wait for the umpire.

If you know you've hit it and you're 100% certain that you're out, walk. If there's a hint of doubt as to whether the ball carried or it didn't come off the bat, you stand your ground and wait for the umpire to make a decision.

He's on TMS now over the lunch break with Aggers. I'm mixing pictures and sound, so I saw Neville in the box with Nasser and he seemed to be enjoying himself. Decent cricket by all accounts.

Think I agree with it going to a draw, especially now Australia are batting again. I mean, if they have a massive collapse and find themselves out for something ridiculous, then there's half a chance of a result, but I see this going as a draw. My friends at the ground are confident the rain is going to miss them and there shouldn't be much, if any, delay for rain today. Tomorrow's a different story though.

If they pick the younger players, they need to stick with them and not drop players after one game. Keep faith in the players, even if they're not winning matches at the moment and once they start to grow then fortunes will change.

I guess this is what happens when you've got a group of fantastic players who all retire from international cricket within a year or two of each other...you get a massive influx of new players and if you don't have confidence in them to deliver from the start, you find yourself picking anyone and everyone who can hold a bat the right way around.

The way the league is structured over here means that the season is already over. The Bundesliga Nord final is today with our first team playing, and then German champions will be decided by a match against the winner of the other league next month.

We've got two more games in the friendly league next month, so my name is down for those and hopefully I can play those. I seemed to impress with my bowling yesterday and now that I'll be training twice a week, I can keep building on that (as well as getting even more batting practice) and earn my spot on the team.

I saw the squad for the next Test has been announced. Finn is dropped with Tremlett coming into the side and Panesar being a second spinner option for what will probably be a turning Old Trafford wicket.

Finally made my debut in German cricket today as part of the 35 over friendly league that was set up a few years ago. Played against Schwerin on a lovely wicket, bone dry and very pacey outfield so anything decent went off for four. Lost the toss and in 34 degree heat, there wasn't any question about whether we'd be made to field first. Jeeeeesus...that was hard work! Bowled a few overs after the first drinks break, should have taken a wicket with my first ball had we been a bit luckier, but took one with the last ball in my first over with a brilliant catch. Set up perfectly, teased the batsman into playing a shot a few times and then watched him hook it straight to the man on the boundary. Second over was tighter, but the batsman just played a straight bat.

Anyway, having been set 245 from our 35 overs, we had a cracking run chase that featured needing 91 off the last 10 overs and making it home after some beautiful big hitting. I wasn't needed to bat (thankfully!) but it was good to play, even better to win and quite satisfying to take a wicket...especially after fearing that I'd damaged my knee at training last night. It's still not 100%, but initial fears at the time that I'd possibly done a knee ligament seem to have been put to rest.

Great game, played in good spirit and looking forward to getting a few more games before I need to go back to England.

If Compton comes back in, do you move Root back down the order or have Compton come in further down? Either way, I hope he doesn't come back in...Taylor has been on the fringes for so long and hasn't done much to suggest he wouldn't deserve a chance. I'd give him the nod over Compton. Ballance could be a great shout, but I suspect he might be one for the winter series.

The pessimist in me says that Cook is going to throw away a win here by not declaring this morning. Even if we just batted for the first session and declared at lunch, that gives us five sessions to bowl and all it takes is for one Australian to remember how to play cricket and they could find themselves able to batten down the hatches and steal a draw. It shouldn't happen, but that could be a worst case scenario. If this is about letting Root get to 200, I'd say he's got the first hour at the most (which should be plenty given he's on 178 overnight) and then get bowling before lunch.

No game for me today after a late night phone call from the skipper saying Kiel had forfeited the match at the last minute. Apparently, they were in the same position as us with most of their team unable to play because of Ramadan...but unlike us, they don't have a bunch of Englishmen, Australians and South Africans in the team too. Such is life. My fixtures list tells me we've got another friendly match next weekend, so maybe that'll go ahead. Still, at least it means I get another day of listening to TMS.

I didn't quite understand the reasoning behind not enforcing the follow-on. I would have thought that even if we didn't get it to an innings victory for complete demoralisation of the Australian camp, there's no way they're going to giving us a chase of 200. As mentioned, the bowlers should have been relatively fresh since it was a fairly short innings and Swann bowled a lot of overs. The wicket might deteriorate tomorrow and on Monday, but I would have still backed our players to chase down 150.

Let us know how your match goes on, Tom. Try and get a few photos together for one of your matches, I'd love to see what the facilities are at an average German club cricket ground!

Will do! To give you a vague idea, we're the only team in North Germany who actually have a grass wicket with everyone else having some form of artificial wicket laid down on match day. From watching a few games as 12th man/scorer, they seem bloody difficult to read as you can have two identical balls sent down by a bowler...one will bounce up onto the bat and the other will pretty much stop and keep low. I know our South African was filming some bits from a game the other week, but I'll take my camera down tomorrow and get some pictures.