Back in dear old Blighty. Two weeks of sweltering heat in Alonissos, and most enjoyable they were too - it's a while since I had any blonde hair but the heat has turned my eyebrows a definite shade of yellow although the pate remains as shiny and hairless as ever!

Plenty appears to have occurred in my absence. England play Portugal soon for a place in the semi-final of the World Cup, with the nation no doubt ready to go delirious with joy or plunge into abject despair depending on the outcome. I'll stick my neck out and say that I believe England will win this one, which will undoubtedly mean an agonising defeat on penalties.

England's greatest fast bowler, the legendary (and legendarily grumpy) Fred Trueman, has died. A sad loss indeed, 307 Test match wickets in only 67 matches is an outstanding performance and although his reputation may have suffered a little in the years after his retirement as a result of his bloody-minded 'professional Yorkshireman' approach to life and modern cricket - that silky action and terrifying pace and swing, which the old black and white pictures never quite do justice to, puts him right at the top of the tree when it comes to bowlers born in these isles.

Quick footnote before the football starts - Andre Agassi's Winbledon career is over after defeat to the outstanding Rafael Nadal. Agassi will be sadly missed at the All England Club - one Championship and one runners-up spot do not really do justice to the greatest returner of serve in the game but he at least has the distinction of being one of only five men to have won all four Grand Slams. A place in the pantheon of tennis greats awaits him and rightly so.