The News of the World’s revelations yesterday about “spot fixing” are devastating for cricket, and couldn’t really have come at worse time. Further opportunities to get people enjoying cricket this summer – especially after England’s poor showing in the football World Cup – slipped through the fingers of the game’s organisers eyeing up money. The novelty of Twenty20 cricket has been ruined by the ECB’s desire to cash-in on its popularity and similarly an overkill on test matches and one day internationals have left grounds three-quarters full instead of packed out.

And all at a time where the national team is playing some of its best cricket.

News yesterday of Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif bowling no-balls, allegedly on the orders of fixer Mazhar Majeed, tears up any interest many people have in the game. Any thought that what happened at Lord’s last week was pre-planned – even if it is only three no-balls – shreds the game apart and further undermines the sport.

Despite allegations and lifetime bans since Hansie Cronje’s match-fixing revelations over a decade ago, cricket was just starting to get over the thought that match-fixing was a part of the game. With people’s trust now subsiding, especially with the allegations surrounding the Pakistani cricket team, it would be completely ridiculous to press ahead with the upcoming one-day international series.

That both international cricket boards want to continue playing this week, no doubt thinking about the financial loss if it doesn’t. The decent thing would be to postpone the series, get to the root of the spot-fixing allegations and restore the integrity in what is being played. Incredibly, the players at the centre of the allegations are set to be a part of the series. What a mockery of the sport it will be when just a week after the sport is dragged through the dirt, the ICC, ECB and PCB will continue as if nothing has happened.

Cricket needs to stop, group together and clobber any hint of corruption. Failure to do so, and the sport will be remembered more for Hansie Cronje than WG Grace and Sir Don Bradman.

In six hours time, England’s elder players will begin ninety minutes of career-defining football. Because for players like Steven Gerrard, John Terry, David James and Frank Lampard this World Cup is a last chance saloon for winning on a global stage. Nothing short of victory will do today – anything less, and England will be sent packing in the first round of a World Cup for the first time since 1958. Unlike then, however, the prospect of winning in eight years time is difficult to imagine – even if England’s bid to host the competition proves successful – as England’s Golden Generation ages.

For Gerrard et al, today is the crunch. England aren’t renowned for playing well under pressure but today they must – it’s inconceivable, no matter how overrated England’s team, and chances of winning, are a first round exit would be catastrophic.

It’s time to stand up and be counted.

Ah, another tournament involving England and another fortnight of hope-dashing performances, disciplinary problems, injuries, tactical quandaries and questions about whether the “Golden Generation” (GG) are actually golden. Or whether they’re actually tin with a cheap gold spray that wears off after 180 minutes of exposure to high altitude. Perhaps the nation should have sealed them in envelopes, sent them to Dale Winton and cashed them in, as their worth has dropped on a par with BP’s share prices in the last week-and-a-half.

“This is our year – 44 years of hurt will fizzle out as our boys arrive back victorious,” people keep saying. Some of the more ludicrous followers say that England drew their first game back in 1966, and indeed drew their first two games in 1990, and were still successful so it’s in the stars and we’re certain to reach the semi-finals this year. The Sun even enlisted the memory of Winston Churchill last Friday to inspire the team to victory. But the GG have failed to perform again – despite the pre-tournament rhetoric of how they’ve failed to live up to expectations in the past, but that now their time has come. Perhaps straw clutching should become our national sport.

England haven’t got the the quality in their first eleven, or in reserve, to challenge the top four teams in this competition. Nor have they got the mental strength. The Premier League is one of the best in the world because of the foreign talent, not because of Messrs Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney, Terry and A. Cole, and therefore a decent domestic league doesn’t translate to a decent national squad. Yes, the qualifying campaign was good, but against footballing minnows Andorra, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Ukraine and Croatia were disposed of, as they should have been, and we’re through to the World Cup. I’d have hoped for a good qualifying campaign out of that – it shouldn’t mean we’re semi-final certainties when the real thing arrives. But the nation, with the help of the English media, builds us up as potential winners and anything short of this is deemed a failure. Cue people calling for Fabio Capello to be replaced in the middle of the World Cup and general anger towards the players and management.

Maybe the nation should lower its expectations of the national team succeeding, instead of clinging onto false hope of it being “1966 all over again”. If we beat Slovenia and progress, then awesome. If we go further, then even better. But this team isn’t a Golden Generation and nor is it one of the best in the world. It is players like Messi, Villa, Torres, Alonso, Tevez, Forlan, Van Persie, Podolski that are worth their weight in gold.

This afternoon’s 3-1 defeat of Arsenal  by Manchester United had shades of their Champions League semi-final victory of May. A surprisingly comfortable victory, lethal counter-attacking football and a winger orchestrating the goals. In May it was Ronaldo, today it was  Nani. A quite superb all round performance as Sir Alex Ferguson got it spot on tactically – should Wayne Rooney have another man up front with him? Should Ryan Giggs have started in place of Scholes? Ferguson rightly called no and when things weren’t quite working, moving Paul Scholes further up produced United’s devastating spell of dominance in the first-half, one that set up an important victory.

Final of the Carling Cup, and now one point behind Chelsea at the top of the Premier League – as the old saying goes: never write off Manchester United.

Chelsea and their manager Carlo Ancelotti have backed under-fire defender John Terry and reinforced his position as the club’s captain, despite allegations this weekend of an affair with Vanessa Perroncel, once girlfriend of England and former Chelsea team-mate Wayne Bridge. Ancelotti is quoted as saying: “The players will never lose their trust in him.” Well, why won’t they? The whole episode centres around trust – trust between Terry and his wife Toni, Terry and his then best friend Bridge and Terry and his club, his supporters and the footballing world. Any trust emanating from John Terry is now gone. But trust Chelsea to back their biggest financial asset and one of their highest-paid stars – only a player revolt could turn the club’s scandalous decision around now.

Fabio Capello shouldn’t take any risks on the other hand. Playing for England is a great honour and by captaining your country you have to set the highest standards both on and off the field. Millions idolise the game’s biggest stars and anything of this kind must be punished – in this case by removing the England captaincy. A leader on the field inspires his team to play with passion and desire and play with a team – problems now caused with Wayne Bridge undermines his ability to do this. A leader off the field is an ambassador for the game and for his country – this weekend’s news has a worldwide effect and could prove detrimental to England’s World Cup build-up. Change has to come fast – Terry’s selfishness shouldn’t leave a scar on the rest of the team and only a quick reaction from Capello can limit the damage. The captaincy of England is held in the highest regard – it is far more important than one player.

Jenson Button’s fifth place finish in Brazil on Sunday was  exhilarating, the drive of a World Champion and the culmination of a difficult journey for his Brawn GP team. In January this year, after Honda had pulled out of Formula One, it looked as though Button, the engineers and everyone involved in the team would be out of a job and the toil of the previous years would all be in vein. But what a turn around this season has been.

Button has always been unfairly criticised – predominantly for a “playboy” lifestyle – but the talent has always been there even when the right car hasn’t. Two years of hard work on a Renault car ended when owner Flavio Briatore replaced him with Fernando Alonso and six years of loyalty in a weak Honda car (2004 and 2006 aside) produced an avalanche of criticism about his abilities. But given the right car and button has proved to be an exceptional driver.

It doesn’t stop here, however. When the celebrations die down Button will need to turn his attentions to next season. A World Champion wins one title, a world-beater wins two or more. What Button and his Brawn GP team have achieved is remarkable but any sentiments should stop there. Button has been incredibly loyal in the past and if Brawn can deliver another quick and reliable car for 2010, then he should sign again. But if they cannot, and the opportunity arises to move into a quicker car, he must take it – because victory again and he will become a British great.

For all the build up, the opening day didn’t disappoint. And for all the column inches dedicated to comparing both sides, finding key player battles and producing statistics showing one was better than the other, we found that there is nothing more than a blade of Cardiff grass between them. Today was a score-draw, but England had numerous chances to get ahead. Six out of England’s top seven played themselves in, but not one pushed on to get a big score in what was otherwise a solid team showing. The biggest culprit happened to be top-scorer Kevin Pietersen whose reckless sweep may well provide an important signpost come the final day and which side wins. Pietersen’s premeditated paddle clipped his own helmet on its way to Simon Katitch to leave England on an unfulfilling 241-5. His century partnership with Paul Collingwood was incredibly important – take nothing away from him on that basis – but he was so far outside of his off-stump with this swipe that another yard would have taken him into the River Taff. Michael Holding’s said it best: Pietersen has the ability to be a great player, but great players don’t play shots like that.

It would be unfair to focus souly on Pietersen – Strauss, Bopara, Collingwood, Prior and Flintoff all made starts from which one should have made a hundred. But all were set aside from Pietersen because they fell to decent deliveries, especially Prior who was bowled by an arcking inswinger from Peter Siddle. Siddle bowled well, despite his expensive figures, but it was Ben Hilfenhaus who caused the most problems and was unlucky not to take more than two wickets. With a pacey Mitchell Johnson and a decent show from Nathan Hauritz, Australia’s bowlers looked well-oiled but a shadow of the 2005 equivalent. Brett Lee’s presence may well have punished England further today.

Today’s blow-for-blow tussle sets it up nicely for tomorrow. A score of 400 or more, although unlikely, would put England as slight favourites on a pitch that is already friendly to spin and bounce. Australia’s batting line-up have been less than convincing thus far on tour, not least Ricky Ponting who could find his captaincy under review if his poor form continues and England retake the Ashes. Mike Hussey will be England’s prized wicket, despite his indifferent form of late. His knowledge of English conditions ranks alongside Simon Katitch and Marcus North – all of whom have played for a number of county sides – and it is in those three that Australia will hope to post a sizeable response in their first innings. Tomorrow promises to be just as exciting.

The summer of cricket starts here. After a quiet series against the West Indies last month, England will begin their Twenty20 World Cup campaign later this evening. At long last the country will see the main shows this summer – the Twenty20 World Cup and the Ashes. The Windies were not even a warm-up act – such a description is all too flattering – after players arrived late because of IPL commitments, captain Chris Gayle drew the dagger into Andrew Strauss and test cricket and England comprehensively won both test and one-day series. Add into the mix poor attendances, an injury to big draw Andrew Flintoff and the scandal surrounding Sir Allen Stanford and English cricket is walking around with a hangover. Relief is at hand though – if England can comfortably beat Holland tonight, and Pakistan on Sunday then who knows what might happen. The best thing about the 20 over form of the game is that it brings teams closer together on a performance level – England are rightly long outsiders to win over the next few weeks, but do not rule it out.

I have had many disagreements about Saturday’s game and the reaction the supporters gave, so I will try and keep this short as I can. To react in the way the crowd did on Saturday was absolutely unacceptable. Last year fans were talking about whether the club was financially stable, whether it would stave off administration and whether we would even be a club. The club was facing relegation and a six successive worst league finish. Attendances were falling; people were again considering if it was worth renewing their season ticket. Many were discussing whether relegation would be the final nail in the bank’s patience. Last April was one of my lowest moments in supporting the club.

Twelve months on and we are three points from second place with five games left to play. Only the wild optimist thought we would be still with a chance of automatic promotion and an even better chance of making the play-offs. I delved into the fans online message board to find a list of where people thought we would finish (link: http://www.fansonline.net/gillingham/mb/view.php?id=39742) and as you can see, the majority say mid-table. Although I do not have the statistics to back it up, I would say the majority of clubs find it incredibly difficult to go straight back up again and with the financial restraints imposed on our club, the task was always going to be harder still. To be sitting here with four weeks of the season left and to be in with a chance of getting promoted is something to be delighted about and something to commend Mark Stimson for. The league is poor, granted, but many of our players are from non-league clubs and are still finding their feet at this level. A top seven finish in the context of our finances, the six years of guaranteed away defeats and relegation scraps, is something I welcome with open arms.

So why is it that our manager had to be escorted from the dug-out on Saturday by a steward, trudging past another line of fluorescent-bibbed shepherds who were keeping the crowd at bay? In the 15 years I’ve trekked down to Priestfield, I can only remember Neil Warnock needing this treatment. And what has Stimson done? He took off Andy Barcham, who it turns out was not in perfect shape, with 15 minutes to play and tried something different. Richards being sent up front was hardly comparable to David James playing as a striker for Man City now, was it? As desperation kicks in, we tend to send the ball long and Richards was probably a better shout for the job than Mark McCammon – somebody needed to ruffle up Gary Breen. It almost worked too, Richards had the best chance of the game with a couple of minutes left. Unorthodox, maybe, but not something that should turn thousands of fans against their manager. In the greater scheme of things, Stimson has cleared out the aging and over-paid players, many of whom did not want to play for our club, has lowered the wage bill, brought back the possibility of us winning away again and has taken us to a position many thought was unrealistic before August.

There are still a number of antidotes to all of this. The performance against Barnet was poor, I would completely agree. Very disappointing, but not “the worst I’ve ever seen” as many have labelled it (our home defeat to Brighton four or so years ago sticks in the mind) and certainly not a game that should lead to the home manager being ushered off like that.

Stimson has been accused of being very rough in getting rid of players – although this may, or may not, be true, nobody knows the full story. If it has gone on, then it’s obviously not on but at the moment it is only word of mouth and accusations. Former players quite often have an axe to grind, especially senior pros who would have seen their place taken by a young non-league player. Simon Royce, Nicky Southall and Mark Bentley are still with us…

I’m not going to try and argue Stimson’s record last year – I can sympathise with those that say he was the man in charge of a relegated team last season, although I do not necessarily agree blame should be attached to him and him only.

I will say I am not trying to paint a fine canvass as to why Stimson is incredible and what a Herculean job he has done. Not at all. What I am saying is that the reaction on Saturday was unjust and undeserved and can only sap the confidence from the players at such an important stage in the season. The jeering supporters should be grateful for where we are and stop reminiscing about the Championship days. We’re not going to win every game, we’re not going to play irresistible football every week and we’re not going to walk this league. I just hope the booing on Saturday won’t hinder our chances of climbing our way back up to League One.

Alan Shearer’s short-term appointment as Newcastle manager brings with it a number of questions. Firstly, will he be good enough? After all, he has no experience as a coach and is taking on a difficult task, but track record is not important. We won’t find out how good a manager he is until he takes on a permanent managerial post and with only eight games to go this season, the lift he will give the Toon’s beleaguered squad will be enough to keep them up. The squad are good enough, the support is good enough and although he will play Chelsea, Liverpool and Aston Villa in those eight games, there are enough winnable games to avoid relegation. In this sense, the odds are stacked in his favour – as Paul Hayward wrote in today’s Guardian, Middlesborough and West Brown are likely to fall to the Championship and there are plenty of clubs above who are faltering. Hull, for example, have only won one Premiership game since Phil Brown’s half-time centre circle rollicking on Boxing Day. Stoke, despite an impressive home record, are still to win away and look to be struggling to beat the drop. Shearer’s heroic status will surely bring a renewed optimism and results to match.

Secondly, how instrumental was he in Dennis Wise’s departure? Very, you would think. Timing is everything and it is not difficult to make a link between Wise’s departure yesterday and Shearer’s arrival today. Shearer has been critical in the past about Wise’s role as executive director and may well have made it a condition for his return to Newcastle. Iain Dowie has been brought in as his assistant, an experienced coach who will do the leg work in training leaving Shearer to do the analysis, just not on the sofa this time.

Finally, will he stay any longer than those eight games? It looks unlikely if this afternoon’s press conference is anything to go by. Shearer was adamant he will leave after this season and with Joe Kinnear still in the picture, do not expect Shearer to be the manager there after. There’s little doubt that there will be a clamour for Shearer to stay, but he looks content for now to return to the BBC next season. But then again, Guus Hiddink appears to be softening towards a longer contract at Chelsea…