Maccabiah cricket squad is taking shape after Lord’s day

Trials for the Great Britain Maccabiah Games cricket squad were recently held at Lord's, the home of cricket. It was great to catch up with some of the boys who three years ago came home with bronze, much to the surprise of competition organiser Stanley Perlman.

Prior to the net, which took place a day after England drew the opening test against South Africa, the boys got a glimpse of England legend Graham Gooch though we were not brave enough to get any cricket or hair tips.

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Rejection’s hard to take but I hope our golden girl returns

Talk about rubbing salt into the wound. I feel for Jo as I know how much time, effort and dedication she has put in for the only major to elude her. She now faces a period of soul-searching as she has been well and truly kicked in the teeth.

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Latest debut went without a hitch

Ahead of Tuesday night’s Maccabiah trial, my debut, second time around, for London Maccabi Vale, was something of a memorable affair. I am glad to report that I was not given a Wimbledon FC-esque initiation, such as someone cutting a hole in my clothes or setting my car alight.

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Friends reunited in the city that does anything but sleep

I have just returned from 10 wonderful days in Tel Aviv where I spent some quality time with the family. It turned out to be a mini JFS reunion as I rolled back the years with some old schoolfriends attending Joshua Sinai’s wedding. Darryl Ricklow, Steven Gordon, Paul Alexander, Nathan Gentely plus former London Maccabi Lions player Jonny Binke were on top form and could not get enough of the sun.

It was the first time my wife and kids have been to the White City and it took my missus a little while to work out that not every man there was called Ken.

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Dreaming of my 2009 Maccabiah

This week’s offering comes from beach side Tel Aviv where I’m doing my best to avoid an infestation of jellyfish. It was here three years ago I had the proudest sporting experience of my life at the Maccabiah Games and it is here I plan to be again in July 2009 when Nigel Rothband will be leading his barmy cricket army for another medal challenge.

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Sitting pretty with a Jewish Wimbledon singles champ

This time last year I was rubbing shoulders with Avram Grant at Wimbledon before he moved from Portsmouth to Chelsea. How do you improve on that, you may ask? Well, at SW19 this week, I saw childhood hero Peter Beardsley, the former England and Liverpool striker, but even better than that, a softly-spoken gentleman by the name of Richard “Dick” Savitt. Older  readers will recognise Savitt as the only Jewish winner of the Wimbledon men’s title.

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Roman hopes Big Phil can help fill his trophy cabinet

So, as predicted, Roman Abramovich has got his man. Never one to settle for second best, the jury will be out on new Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari for some time.

Strange as it may sound, taking over from Avram Grant might be harder than it sounds. Unlike Grant, Scolari has a CV to rival the best managers. But winning the World Cup with Brazil, and possibly Euro 2008 with Portugal brings no guarantee that he will improve on the foundations built by the Israeli.

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Roman could ruin his own fortress

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Chick flick tickled me pink. Now it’s time to check in the Euros

It’s a well-known fact that I’m in touch with my feminine side. By that I don’t mean I wear sarongs or my wife’s underwear but an excursion to see the new Sex and the City film was right up my street.

I thought I was keen to see the flick but former Temple Fortune player Mark Collins was so desperate to get a good seat at the cinema he took the day off work. We came away with a feel-good factor and glad that the shops were closed so that our respective other halves were not tempted to splash out on designer shoes or bags.

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Avram’s still a hero in my eyes

Well… it was fun while it lasted. Written off, ridiculed and abused. That is how Avram Grant had been treated by the national press and the football fraternity for the majority of his nine month tenure as manager of Chelsea.

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