Social media entered into the public domain amidst a frenzy of expectation that a direct line between us, the public, and the sports stars, actors, world leaders and general elite, was now a reality.
Author: Isabelle Westbury
The Roar: Fans deserve better than cricket’s conflicted commentary teams
Features, Print, Sport, The RoarSport, by its very nature, is a partisan affair.
Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch, required reading for any sports fan, reassures us that the transformation from upstanding member of society into fanatic irrational mob is a common occurrence – that we are not alone.
Sports Integrity Initiative: Mamadou Sakho – Dommages collatéraux dans une ère de dénonciation publique
Doping, Sports LawLe footballeur de Liverpool, Mamadou Sakho, a été blanchi plus tôt cette année suite à une enquête de dopage imparfaite. Sa carrière reste dans la balance, tandis que l’AMA, l’organisation qui a si peu contrôlé l’affaire, n’a pas encore été tenu de rendre des comptes.
The Roar: Sex, drugs and cricket – coping with addiction
Features, Print, Sport, The Roar“Can you just rock and roll that?”
The advent of the decision review system has undoubtedly enhanced international cricket, not least by introducing us to this now trademark phrase. Its distinctiveness lies not only in the ease with which the words slide off the tongue but in the irony that the sport of cricket, burdened by a stiff and traditional stereotype, should ever be associated with such a dramatic turn of phrase.
The Roar: We’re all feminists now – a fuss about nothing
Features, Print, Sport, The Roar“We want you to comment on the pregnancy thing with female cricketers.”
“I think it’s a fabricated gender issue.”
“It was a bit over the top wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
The Roar: A women’s bash, growing up gracefully
Features, Print, Sport, The RoarOn a lazy day in February only last year, the rumours became fact. A Women’s Big Bash League, in some shape or form, would be staged the following season.
The announcement’s timing was discrete, jammed into one of the few rest days during the month-long Cricket World Cup that was unfolding across the country.
Sports Integrity Initiative: Mamadou Sak-who? Collateral damage in an era of name and shame
Doping, Sports LawThe Liverpool footballer, Mamadou Sakho, was exonerated earlier this year following a flawed doping investigation. His career remains in the balance while WADA, the organisation that so ineptly policed the affair, has yet to be held to account.
The Roar: Cricket’s not dead yet – the hyperbole raging through Australia
Features, Print, Sport, The RoarIn February this year, Hillary Clinton was odds on for a clean run to the White House, Brexit was the name of a breakfast cereal and Leicester’s claim to fame remained a long-deceased monarch buried under a few rusting Ford Fiestas.
Australia, the dominant force in global cricket for the past couple of decades, had also just reclaimed the number one Test spot. Normal service hadn’t resumed – it had hardly faltered.
The Roar: The evolution of the minnows – hear them roar
Features, Print, Sport, The RoarOne of the delights of sport, and one with such longevity and steeped in such history and tradition as Test cricket, is in watching the peaks and troughs of various teams throughout the years, decades, centuries even.
The dominant West Indian side of the 1980s and early 90s, who soon fell away to the Australian superstars of the early noughties, who in turn succumbed to a resurgent South Africa, bouncing back after years in apartheid wilderness.
The Roar: Katich and Clarke – Professional sportsmen acting like… professional sportsmen
Features, Print, Sport, The Roar“I am here because I worked harder than anyone else.”
Perhaps it’s because I never quite reached the top. Perhaps I’m just cynical. Perhaps I’m wrong. Whatever the reason, this expression, of unequivocally attributing one’s success to unparalleled hard work, has always been a bête noire.
Isabelle Westbury 