BBC F1 - Another broadcasting chapter ends

NOT only does the 2011 FIA Formula One world championship ends this weekend, but it will also feel like the end of an association for many Grand Prix petrol heads.  Television viewing changes next year and the BBC is taking a backseat from its coverage of one of the most colourful and glamorous sports in the world.  2011 has been the final season where you will be able to watch every single Grand Prix on free-to-air television.  From next season, Sky Sports becomes the home of Formula One racing.     

     Under the controversial new deal, signed at July’s Hungarian Grand Prix, Sky subscribers will get extensive previews to races, plus live coverage of every single practice, qualifying and race event from the currently 20 scheduled events in next year’s championship.  The deal runs until 2017.  The BBC has had to scale back its coverage, due to sweeping budget cuts.  It decided to do this, despite recently renewing deals for the Six Nations and the Wimbledon tennis championships.  However, they will still screen ten live weekends next year of all sessions, plus delayed highlights of the other ten events it will not show live.  Monaco, the season finale in Brazil and the British Grand Prix will be definitely covered in the agreement by the BBC, while there is still an announcement pending over the other seven races.  Pundit teams have also yet to be revealed, although we do know that Jake Humphrey will still be fronting BBC’s coverage, whilst Martin Brundle is debating over taking over as the lead commentator for Sky Sports, or staying on as the leading anchor for the BBC.

       The BBC has a prestigious history of screening Formula One, even if that is not so much in recent times.  They began showing live coverage of the entire Grand Prix season from 1978 onwards.  ‘Grand Prix,’ became the home of F1 for 18 years, until 1996.  They showed the drama of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna's dramatic collisions in successive years at Suzuka, Nigel Mansell's spectacular tyre blowout that robbed him of the 1986 championship and Damon Hill's popular title success in 1996 which had Murray Walker literally with a lump in his throat.

    In 1997, ITV outbid the BBC to take the rights away for 12 seasons.  Although the levels of extensive coverage improved from BBC’s output, especially in the early days, its later years were seen as a massive letdown for fans.  Commercial breaks during some huge moments in events, including the embarrassing faux-pas at the 2005 San Marino Grand Prix added to the mounting frustration.  In March 2008, ITV announced their F1 exit for commercial pressures; three years before their current deal was due to expire.  The BBC took back the rights for 2009 on a new five year deal.  Formula One was coming home!

      Jake Humphrey was preferred to Steve Rider in taking over the hosting duties.  He was joined in the paddock by Eddie Jordan and newly retired David Coulthard, who have certainly added plenty to the coverage, especially Eddie’s horrific choice of shirts!  Jonathan Legard, who had previously covered F1 for BBC Radio 5 Live became lead commentator, whilst both Brundle and Ted Kravitz switched from the ITV team to the BBC crew.  Lee McKenzie, an experienced motorsport presenter from A1GP and GP2 joined Ted in reporting from the pitlane and the legendary voice of Formula One, Murray Walker, has been part of the team too, previewing, reviewing and answering burning questions from fans on a regular basis.

        The BBC era started brilliantly and in a way, they took over from where ITV left off, with a British world champion.  Jake and the team did magnificently to interview Jenson Button in a massive media scram only moments after he had clinched the championship in sensational style in Brazil.  They took coverage to a new level, with every session on the red button and all qualifying and race events on BBC One, with a prime time highlights package on freeview station BBC Three.  BBC built on this in 2010 and has also given plenty of time for analysis from the action, which has included the popular F1 Forum.  The forum lasts an hour online and on the red button after every race.  Blogs from the presenters on the BBC F1 website, Ted Kravitz’s behind the scenes report from the pitlane and features such as Classic F1 have only added to the experience. 

       There was a minor change to the team in 2011, when Legard was dropped from the team and Coulthard joined Brundle in the commentary box; Brundle moving into the lead role having been the expert provider since 1997.  TV ratings have always been very high, peaking regularly on raceday at between five and seven million viewers.  It won the BAFTA for Sport in 2011, thanks to its coverage of the season decider 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which saw Sebastian Vettel take the title in the first four way showdown ever.  Its impeccable coverage of the sensational Canadian Grand Prix this season, which lasted nearly five hours, means it, will be a favourite for more awards in 2012.

       This isn’t the end for the BBC and the F1 partnership, as they will still be giving us unbeatable coverage in 2012 and for the next five seasons afterwards, but on a more reduced scale which is a big disappointment to the normal viewer.  Money talks in this business and it is clear that BSkyB has this in abundance.  I have no doubt that Sky Sports has the ability to take F1 coverage to another level, like they have with the Premiership since 1992, but they will never get the same audience appeal that the BBC has enjoyed in the last three seasons.  Enjoy the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend everyone, as another F1 broadcasting chapter reaches a conclusion.

Guilty verdict for Jackson's former doctor

LAST night was a sense of déjà vu for television viewers in the United States and on the rolling UK news networks.  The wall-to-wall coverage of the ‘trial of the 21^st century’ came to a conclusion.  However, unlike O.J Simpson in 1995, there was not a ‘no guilty’ verdict.  Conrad Murray, the doctor of the legendary pop star Michael Jackson was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in relation to the singer’s tragic death in June 2009.

SILENT: Conrad Murray remained unmoved throughout the verdict

      It was a guilty verdict from all 12 jurors as the six week trial concluded yesterday; the final outcome not surprising many in the US or journalists around the world.  The always opinionated Piers Morgan gave his thoughts on Twitter; “Whichever way you viewed the evidence, #ConradMurray’s behaviour was clearly unethical for a doctor.  Right verdict!  Murray has been remanded in custody and will be sentenced on November 29 where he faces upto four years in jail and almost inevitably, the removal of his medical certificates so he can practice in the future.

      Throughout the verdict at the Los Angeles superior court yesterday, Murray remained very pensive and showed no sign of emotion when hearing his fate from the jury.  Outside the court, fans of Michael Jackson reacted in delight at the verdict.  Throughout the trial, Murray’s stance was that on the fateful day when Jackson died in 2009, he had taken the fatal overdose of the drug propofol without any consent.  Last week, Murray’s defence team announced that he would not testify himself at the trial.  The prosecution’s argument was that Jackson had died after Murray had administered him an IV drip infused with propofol.  They also believed that Jackson was fully aware of his medication levels and he could get easily addicted to painkillers, especially as he was busy at the time preparing for the London farewell concert gigs at the O2 Arena later that year.

       However, it seemed like the prosecution had a stronger case.  A number of witnesses had agreed to testify and these included Jackson’s former bodyguard, who told the court that Murray had told him to hide drug vials.  Alberto Alvarez claimed to have trusted Murray’s actions as a doctor, but told the court that Murray had told him to put vials of medicine into a bag before calling an ambulance.  Alvarez was the first person to discover Jackson unconscious on that fateful day.  They also used pictures of some damming contents inside Jackson’s home, including a syringe in his bedroom and other items such as a saline bag and a bottle of propofol in evidence against Murray.

       This verdict might finally give Michael Jackson’s family the belief that justice has been done.  For Conrad Murray, a very dark time awaits the doctor, whose actions have not only seen him lose his medical career and his reputation, but sees him face time for what he has done.

The Welsh mining tragedy

AN INQUIRY has begun into the tragic death of four miners in Wales last week.  The tragedy has not only left a community in shock, but a nation reeling.  Pictures were released this week of the four miners who perished after an alarm was raised last Thursday of trouble at the Gleision Colliery mine in the Swansea Valley.  The shaft flooded in the mine, which trapped the four victims.  Three of the seven miners working at the time managed to escape, with two of them even managing to help with the ultimately fruitless rescue mission. 

     Unfortunately, it was too late for Garry Jenkins, 39 and the youngest of the miners.  David Powell, 50, Charles Breslin, 62 and Philip Hill, 45 also died.  Throughout the week, floral tributes have been left at the site and the stunned Swansea community has pitched in to help the families of the victims.  By Monday afternoon, a fund that was set-up to help the miner’s families had already raised £50,000.  Swansea City paid respect to the miners by holding an impeccably observed one-minute silence before last weekend’s 3-0 win against West Bromwich Albion, the club’s first in the Premiership.  The Welsh rugby union team also dedicated their hard-fought 17-10 victory over Samoa at the Rugby World Cup to the miners.

      Investigations are continuing a week on into what caused the deaths.  The mine, which was privately-owned, is understood to have had problems before with flooding since it reopened in 2009.  However, Swansea’s local MP Peter Hain has admitted that he received no reports of any safety fears for the mine.  The tired, but brave workers may not be reacting with the adrenaline used in the efforts to help the trapped miners, but they continue to work hard in an effort for the investigation to give the answers into why such a tragedy could hit this community.  Specialist equipment has been brought in to help out with the investigation.

TRIBUTES: Have been left near the site of the tragic deaths

     The South of Wales is popular for its mines and the Swansea area has been steeped in tradition for generations.  For such a tragedy to occur has rocked Wales and has seen many open their hearts to the brave miners, who sadly couldn’t be rescued in time.  Peter Hain, the chief constable for South Wales summed it up when he confirmed the deaths to media outlets last weekend;

“We’ve been humbled by the community spirit that’s been shown during this most tragic of incidents.”

     My thoughts also go out to the families of the mining victims.  You did Wales proud and the community is doing you proud for the immense support that is being shown in the light of such heartbreaking tragedy.

F1 special - The Renault crashgate saga (2008-2009)

By Simon Wright (Feature piece)

AS FORMULA One returns to Singapore for its fourth night race, I thought it would be time to comment on one of F1’s deepest scandals, when cheating went to a new, ultimate low.  Years before, some had seeked technical clarifications to eliminate those trying to bend the rules.  There was the Brabham ‘fan’ car of 1978, which was banned after one race.  Benetton’s alleged illegal traction control device used during the 1994 season, but never totally proven and McLaren’s extra brake pedal at the start of the 1998 season, declared illegal after they whitewashed the opposition in that year’s season opener.  However, no-one had stooped so low to attempt at fixing a Grand Prix result.  In Flavio Briatore, Pat Symonds and Nelson Piquet Jnr, Formula One was about to go down a very unsavoury path.

BUILD-UP TO THE INCIDENT

     It is the autumn of 2008 and Renault has underperformed for a second successive F1 season.  The team may have double world champion Fernando Alonso back on their driving roster, but they are a long way behind Ferrari, McLaren and BMW Sauber in the constructors championship and struggling to hold off Toyota for fourth spot; a poor reward for the team that conquered the sport in Alonso’s previous successful spell with the team two years earlier.  Alongside the Spaniard is Brazilian rookie, Nelson Piquet Jnr.  Son of the three-time world champion in the 1980s, he struggles throughout his debut season, outqualified by Alonso in every Grand Prix and only collecting sporadic point’s finishes.  Although he picked up a fortunate second place thanks to a well-timed pitstop at the German Grand Prix, Piquet’s drive is under severe threat.  Alonso looks frustrated at the car’s lack of ability for the best in the business to test the likes of Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton, both in superior machinery and fighting for the title, but nowhere near Alonso’s standing as a racing driver.  As Formula One arrives for its first ever night race; the Singapore Grand Prix, noises from the paddock suggest that Renault are considering their long-term future in Grand Prix racing.  With a crippling recession affecting America and Europe directly on the horizon, it seemed logical to walkaway from a business that was seeing results not being delivered.

     Alonso is mighty around street circuits and looks quick in Singapore all weekend.  In fact, his strong practice times suggest he has a great chance of qualifying in the top three for only the third time this season, on a genuine fuel load.  However, a fuel line works loose and his car coasts to a halt in the opening moments of the second qualifying session.  The reaction of the Spaniard when he climbs out of his broken down car speaks volumes.  A great opportunity has just gone and rather than take on Massa, Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen for the race win, Alonso is doomed in 15^th and set for a long race behind the likes of Sebastian Bourdais’s Toro Rosso and Jenson Button’s Honda.  With Piquet being eliminated in Q1 and starting one position behind Alonso, Renault’s chances of any success in Singapore are looking bleak come Saturday evening.

THE INCIDENT

The race begins and Alonso has been placed on a light fuel load by Renault’s director of engineering, Pat Symonds.  Symonds believes that a standard one-stop will get Fernando nowhere on raceday and going aggressive on the strategy might put him in contention for some solid points.  Although he moves up to 12^th on the opening lap, Alonso gets stuck behind the ridiculously slow Toyota of Jarno Trulli, who is on a heavy fuel load and lapping five seconds slower than the race leaders.  Piquet made a dreadful start and runs 18^th, gaining a place when Bourdais has an early spin down an escape road.  On lap 12, Alonso comes in for a scheduled pitstop, relegating him to the back of the field.  All hopes seem to be lost until two laps later.

COWARDLY: This crash sparked a chain of ugly events for Renault

     At first, it seems like just a normal racing incident, just another crash for Nelson Piquet and another blemish on his dismal first season in the sport.  On lap 14, he gets out of shape at turn 17 and hit the barrier on the outside.  As I’m watching the race live on ITV, even I think it looked a rather elementary mistake to make.  However, I quickly dismiss it as a mistake because the driver involved had made several driving errors which had seen him chalk DNF’s up.  The car looks a mess, but the impact with the wall is fairly light.  The Brazilian is thankfully unhurt, but his car needs a crane to be removed, so the Safety Car is dispatched.  Both Red Bull’s and Rubens Barrichello’s Honda have pitted in time, but lost track position to Alonso.  With the pitlane closed until the pack forms up, the frontrunners will face a similar consequence.  Once Trulli and Nico Rosberg pit, Alonso moves into the lead and dominates proceedings from there.  He beats Rosberg and Hamilton to the chequered flag to score an unlikely win from 15^th on the grid.  Once out in front, he drove superbly like a champion and after the year he has had, he deserved some fortune.  It is Renault’s first win since the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix, also won by Alonso and the Spaniard’s first since Monza 2007. 

TAINTED: Alonso's victory was lucky to say the least

    In the cooling down room to the podium ceremony, Alonso is joined by Renault team principal, Flavio Briatore.  Alonso brings up the subject of the Safety Car, admitting his surprise at the success and he got a lucky break.  Others such as Nick Heidfeld, who finished sixth for BMW Sauber already, suspect something amiss with how Alonso benefited, because of Piquet’s crash.  For now, the incident is put to bed, but a year on, the actions of three men come out into the open and this incident will go down as one of the biggest cheating scandals in sporting history.

THE REVELATION

The summer of 2009 sees the Renault team struggling again for results.  When Alonso loses a wheel and drops out of the Hungarian Grand Prix, TV images catch Briatore, who manages the career of Nelson Piquet Jnr catching an early flight home.  This is seen as an insult in Piquet’s lack of race performance.  He finishes 12^th in Budapest and still has yet to score a championship point in ten outings during 2009.  On August 4, the Brazilian is dropped by the Renault team for the rest of the season, to be replaced by GP2 frontrunner, Romain Grosjean.  In a statement on his website, Piquet blamed Briatore square on for his abrupt departure;

“The conditions I have had to deal with during the last two years have been very strange to say the least.  There are incidents that I can hardly believe occurred myself.  A manager is supposed to encourage you, support you, and provide you with opportunities.  Flavio Briatore was my executioner.”

     On September 4, 2009 – the following statement was released on the FIA website, which suggested that Renault were in serious trouble;

"Representatives of ING Renault F1 have been requested to appear before an extraordinary meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Monday, 21 September 2009.  The team representatives have been called to answer charges, including a breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code, that the team conspired with its driver, Nelson Piquet Jr, to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix with the aim of causing the deployment of the safety car to the advantage of its other driver, Fernando Alonso."

    Four days after his sacking by Renault, Piquet had given evidence to the FIA about his part in the race-fixing scandal.  He said that he had crashed on purpose in Singapore to bring the Safety Car out, having been told to do so by Symonds and Briatore.  He claimed he did what he was told, as it would assure his seat at the team for the following season.  A Brazilian TV station made allegations about the claim during August’s Belgian Grand Prix.  At the next race in Italy, Alonso claimed that he knew nothing about the ‘plan,’ whilst both Briatore and Symonds claimed Piquet had made it up as a pack of lies.  On the Monza weekend, Renault who had initially declined to comment until the WMSC hearing were furious to find out that Piquet’s damming statement had been leaked to the worldwide media.  Briatore announced he would be launching criminal charges against the two Piquet’s.’

"I feel really, really upset and sad.  What you see today - everything was against Renault, and there was a big damage already for us.  This takes the sport into disrepute.  I feel Nelsinho is a very spoilt guy, very fragile.  We tried everything.  All I wanted from him was only performance.”

     Four days after the Italian Grand Prix, Renault confirmed that they would not be contesting the charges put against them from the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.  They also confirmed that both Briatore and Symonds had left the team, effectively admitting their guilt to one of the most outrageous fixes ever seen in sport.  It beggared belief that someone could even think of hatching a plan like this, especially when you consider the threats of safety to other drivers, track marshals, photographers and spectators.  F1 2009 had already gone through a bumpy ride, with Lewis Hamilton having been disqualified from the Australian Grand Prix for lying to the race stewards in Melbourne.  A threatened breakaway in the summer had taken the sport to the abyss, Massa had suffered head injuries in a freak qualifying crash in Budapest and BMW had become the latest manufacturer to withdraw from F1.  This was the latest line of dark stories to batter its reputation and by far, the most damming and ugliest.

THE VERDICT

BACK: Pat Symonds is still playing a minor role in the Virgin team

On Monday 21 September 2009, Renault was given a two-year suspended ban from the FIA Formula One world championship.  There was no fine for the team and with no immediate expulsion; it felt like the team had got off lightly.  Pat Symonds was given a five-year ban for his role in the incident and is still serving that, although he is currently allowed to be working as a consultant away from the racetrack with Marussia Virgin Racing.  Flavio Briatore was given a lifetime ban from all forms of motorsport, which has since been quashed in the appeal courts.  Although he has been seen fleetingly in the paddock since 2009, it is unlikely that Briatore, who has now also relinquished his position as main owner of Premiership club Queens Park Rangers will ever return to the sport.  Remarkably for giving evidence to the prosecution, Nelson Piquet Jnr was granted immunity and would be allowed to race in Formula One again.  However, no team has ever found the runner-up in the 2006 GP2 series worthy to race in the sport again and rightly so.  Renault lost Alonso to Ferrari at the end of the 2009 season and the team reduced its stake in the team, selling up to Genii Capital and handing former DAMS boss Eric Bouillier the opportunity to rescue the ailing team.  Three major sponsors, including Dutch insurance company ING, pulled the plug on lucrative deals as they didn’t want to be associated with a team that clearly had produced an act of recklessness. 

MY VIEW

SORRY: Piquet regrets his actions, but his F1 career is over

Formula One has moved on from this dark incident gladly and the politics have died down in recent seasons.  I still can’t believe that a plan could be hatched to produce such desperation to win a motor race.  Although Renault and Alonso have moved on, Nelson Piquet’s career ended for his idiocy, whilst the memories and trophies that Briatore and Symonds won in their time together at Benetton and Renault will always be tarnished.  The Singapore Grand Prix lives on and is still one of the most dramatic and glamorous races on the calendar, but I doubt it will ever shake off its unfortunate tag of the race that saw a sheer act of cynical behaviour in risking the lives of hundreds to win a race!  I just hope no-one would ever think of doing something so cowardly again.  

Does the X-Factor give you chart success?

By Jason Wright (Entertainment Expert)

IT IS Britain’s most watched and biggest talent competition.  However a burning issue throughout its time is that will appearing on the show really guarantee you chart success and fame and fortune?

TERMINATION: Joe's music career never really took off

     Last week, two more X-Factor graduates were consigned to the scrapheap.  Firstly last Friday, 2009 winner Joe McElderry’s contract was terminated.  He had struggled to connect a fanbase with his distinct style of music and final straw came when it was revealed that his last single reached just number 69 in the charts, selling a paltry 7,000 copies.  Then on Tuesday, Shayne Ward, who was victorious in 2005 was let go by Simon Cowell.  Despite enjoying initial success in the early stages of his career, he had been out of the public eye for quite some time and inevitably, his comeback bid last year, failed with his new album failing to crack the top 10.

     It now means that four of the six winners of the show (not counting 2010 winner Matt Cardle) have now flopped after enjoying success on the show, ironically, all of them, the four male winners of the competition.  It should be said that now that Matt Cardle must get good luck for his album later in the year, because he’s going to need it!

     Only two winners have been able to crack the formula at being successful, Leona Lewis (2006) and Alexandra Burke (2008).  Both have since also been able to make a fortune internationally as well, proving that if you’ve got the talent, you can make it.  Unlike series 4 champion Leon Jackson who never stood a chance from day one and as for the first-ever winner Steve Brookstein.  WHO IS HE?  Never heard of him, would perhaps be the reaction if you asked somebody on the street nowadays.

SUCCESS: JLS have been the big winners of X-Factor

     As seen in the past, acts don’t need to win the show to make a path of glorified success.  JLS, runners-up to Alexandra in 2008 and truth be told, are in fact the most successful act in the show’s history with four number one singles and two number one albums to their name.  Fellow 2008 contestant Diana Vickers and 2009 runner-up Olly Murs have also enjoyed moderate success.  Other acts come and go quickly like G4 (2004), Chico (2005), Andy Abraham (2005), Rhydian Roberts (2007) and Same Difference (2007) but at least can be proud of achieving a tagline of “15 Minutes of Fame.”  Others will just be in it for the money, such as 2009 twins Jedward, who will be representing Ireland in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.  They don’t care how bad they are, they just want to make loads of profit.

     These acts can though count themselves lucky that they got their opportunity whilst others haven’t been able to.  Aiden Grimshaw suffered a shock departure in week six last year but still earned a private music deal whilst it’s a different case for popular figures Laura White and Lucie Jones.  Their early exits at the hands of Louis Walsh in 2008 and Simon Cowell in 2009 respectively ruined any chances of almost-certainly successful careers in music for these girls.  2010 nutter Wagner even stands a better chance of getting material out than them sadly.

     In truth, winning or being successful in The X-Factor and being a great music artist are definitely different kettles of fish.  It’s all a question of trying to maintain a style of music and hope that it’s something your supporters will be happy with.  It’s something that both McElderry and Ward didn’t deliver and has unfortunately led to their ultimate demises.

3D - How useful is it currently?

By Jason Wright (Entertainment Expert)

IN RECENT years, 3D has been more widespread than before.  It is a clear case that this is the future of television and film but the question is how useful is it really and is it the right time now to have it in place.

     The 3D transition began in early 2009 when cinemas began to screen movies, mostly animation or with CGI technology, in the digital picture.  As with the original form of the dimension, audiences need to wear a pair of glasses to watch the presentation or risk being fazed by a blurry screen.  Although this technology has driven more people into cinemas than before, the 3D effect has yet to be seen properly with only the mega 2009 adventure Avatar being successful in digital 3D.  Despite this, cinema advertisers are still putting in their faith by beginning to pay more for transferring their advertisements into the 3D picture.

     As for 3D television, this began by the launches of 3DTV sets last summer.  At first, this could only be used for Blu-ray discs with a 3D disc copy but in October, BSkyB jumped on the 3D bandwagon by launching Sky 3D.  The service is commonly used to simulcast sports events and movies in the format.  However, this effect only works in dark light, making the service seem pointless and confusing most times.

DODGY: It hasn't been a great start for the Nintendo 3DS

     Gaming has recently begun moving into 3D.  Nintendo launched the first console in 3D, the 3DS, based on their popular DS handheld.  It claims to portray 3D images without the need for glasses but this just doesn’t seem to work half the time.  Several people have called for refunds as it makes them feel unwell.  It won’t be too long however, until the next generation of consoles are released utilizing 3D technology.

     The answer to whether 3D is useful today in technology can’t be a straightforward answer.  However, it depends whether it is capable with the technology in hand.  Maybe we have to give 3D a year or two more at least before we can see whether this is the future of technology.

Freddie Says Goodbye To The Cricket Arena

Whilst the County Championship was being settled on Thursday afternoon, one of England’s greatest ever Cricket players was announcing his retirement from the game.  Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff has retired from the Cricket arena, on the recommendations of doctors and surgeons, due to a constant knee injury, that has plagued him ever since the Ashes triumph of 2005.

Flintoff’s career came to an end as it turned out in August 2009, when he played a minor role in helping England regain the Ashes last summer against Australia.  This was despite a fantastic five-wicket haul at Lord’s, and more memorably, running out the Australian captain Ricky Ponting on the final afternoon of the series at The Oval.  He bowed out of the test scene there and then, but he hoped to carry on playing 20:20 cricket for England, county championship action for Lancashire and in the fast-paced Indian Premier League for the Chennai Super Kings.  However, after two more surgeries required in the last twelve months, both unsuccessful, Freddie has decided to make the right decision and call it a day at the age of 32.  Bookmakers are already slashing odds on Flintoff appearing in some form of reality show like ‘I’m A Celebrity, Get Me out of Here,’ before the end of the year.

Rather than facing the press about his decision, Flintoff chose to tell the world via a released statement:

"The decision to end my career came yesterday after consultation with medical advisers."  "I was told that the problems I have been trying to overcome in rehab for the last year following the latest in a series of operations would not recover sufficiently to allow a comeback.  "I will now be taking a break before deciding which future direction to take."

In his charismatic career with England, Flintoff took 226 test wickets and 169 wickets in the one-day form of the game.  He played 79 tests, scoring nearly 4,000 test runs, averaging 31.77.  This included five flamboyant centuries, including a crucial century in the Trent Bridge test of 2005, that helped England earn the crucial 2-1 series advantage against Australia to win the coveted urn for the first time in eighteen years.  He was captain of his country for the doomed defence of the Ashes in Australia, losing 5-0 in the winter of 2006/07.  His Ashes exploits also earned Flintoff the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award for 2005.  Off the field, Flintoff was known to like a cigarette, and didn’t set the greatest examples of professional behaviour to youngsters on occasions.  Most memorably, he slurred through several interviews, having knocked back many in the 2005 Ashes celebrations.  He was also stripped of the England captaincy during the 2007 Cricket World Cup, for escaping from the team hotel and crashing a pedalo, whilst drunk. 

However, nothing can take out his dramatic effect on the game and although England have moved on fairly well since his departure from Test Cricket, his missing presence in this winter’s Ashes series will be felt, by both sides. 

After all, the remarkable Ashes Series of 2005 was truly the summer where we fell in love with the game of Cricket, and that was all down to the remarkable, outstanding Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff.

Britain's Got Talent - Where Are They Now?

Two weeks into one of Britain’s biggest TV shows and as the talent search continues throughout the country, it is time to see the success stories of Britain’s Got Talent from the previous three series, and where have they ended up since they found fame on the ITV hit-show.

Paul Potts (Winner) 2007

Paul Potts life was completely changed when he stormed through to win the inaugural show in June 2007.  Since then, the opera singer, who before the success, worked as a mobile phones salesman with the Carphone Warehouse has gone onto to sell 3.5million copies of his debut album, One Chance.  Now, he is working on a third album and under the guidance of Simon Cowell, Potts is only bound to get better and better.

Escala (Finalists) 2008

Classical artists Escala are a fresh and friendly face to an industry, which has always been way in the shadows of other established music genres.  Their final performance in 2008 was the beginning of something big, with their first album, titled ‘Escala’ last year, turning into a hit with many.  They have signed a £1.5million record deal with Sony and fronted the advertisement for Sky Sports football coverage in the 2008/09 season. 

Stavros Flatley (Finalists) 2009

Who can forget Lagi and Demetri, the Greek father and son act, who wowed the judges and audience last year with those incredible and breathtaking performances.  They are on course to become millionaires and are turning into a very popular act, with bookings already taking them up to Christmas this year.  Their book ‘How to be Greek,’ has sold over 10,000 copies and they have appeared on the BBC cooking show, Ready Steady Cook.

Susan Boyle (Runner-Up) 2009

What an unbelievable year Susan Boyle has had.  Quite possibly, the best audition ever on Britain’s Got Talent, certainly the most popular, in regard to those millions of hits on the video-sharing site, YouTube.  Boyle has made £4million from selling over 8million copies of her debut album, ‘I Dreamed a Dream,’ last November.  It went onto to become the biggest album seller of the year, and she has taken America by storm, which is where her future career could take her.

Damon Scott (Runner-Up) 2007

Despite still living with his parents in the UK, 2007 runner-up Damon Scott is still raking in a bigger income than ever before.  His popular performances with the puppet ‘Bubbles,’ have been a major attraction at a variation of European car launches.

Faryl Smith (Finalist) 2008

At 14 years old, Faryl Smith has immense talent and could well turn out to be one of the biggest successes in Britain’s Got Talent History.  Despite only finishing 4^th in the 2008 climax, Faryl signed to Katherine Jenkins classical label and has already released two classical albums, selling more 200,000 copies.  From Kettering, Smith has also performed with the likes of Michael Buble and sang ‘Abide with Me’ before the 2009 FA Cup Final at Wembley.

George Sampson (Winner) 2008

Street dancer George Sampson was turned away by the judges Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden in 2007, but came up stronger than ever, and was a deserved winner of the tightly-contested 2008 final.  Since his ‘Singing in the Rain,’ performance, which won him the crown, Sampson has appeared in the West End, signed a £1million deal with the bank NatWest and is soon set to appear in the BBC drama, Waterloo Road.

Diversity (Winners) 2009

The winners from 2009, with a show-stopping performance that even Susan Boyle couldn’t live with have had a slow, but steady success on their rise to fame.  Currently, the 11-strong dance troop group are undergoing at tour of the UK, which is coming to a conclusion very soon in London.

Connie Talbot (Finalist) 2007

Aged six when she blew us away with the ‘Over the Rainbow’ performance in the first series, Connie Talbot has released three albums, and has launched a range of children’s jewellery.  The West Midlands starlet’s income is thought to be around £100,000, which for a nine-year old, is impressive statistics.

Signature (Runners-Up) 2008

Madhu and Suleman’s audition was the most memorable of 2008 and their Michael Jackson tribute act has grown in popularity, even more so since the death of the ‘King of Pop.’  They’ve managed to crack America since their runners-up status two years ago, and have also performed infront of the Prince of Bahrain.

As you can see, Britain’s Got Talent has opened up a load of doors and avenues for many, the class of 2010 have a lot to do, if they want to meet these high expectations.