The Big Interview

Evening Standard

'By winning the world title I proved that even when the chips are low, I can still come back and deliver the goods,' says Lewis. Image courtesy of Evening Standard

For a man who has become world darts champion for the second year running, Adrian Lewis could be forgiven for resting on his laurels. But, as we meet in a pub near the Bank of England, the 27-year-old exudes the hunger that Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank, would like to see in this country’s entrepreneurs.

“I want to help England win the World Cup and be No 1 by the end of the year,” he says. “I have won two world titles and I want to win many, many more. I’ve got respect for everybody I play but I don’t fear anybody. Nobody causes me sleepless nights.”

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Evening Standard

'England made me,' says Mouritz Botha. Image courtesy of Evening Standard

Mouritz Botha is so relaxed about his South African origins that he can even joke about his name. “Be sure to spell my name correctly,” he says. “Mouritz, not Maurice, otherwise I would sound really English. Then I might even have to be called Maurice Botham.”

There’s no danger of confusing the lock born in Vryheid, KwaZulu Natal, with Beefy. But the 29-year-old likely to face Scotland in the Calcutta Cup at Murrayfield on Saturday week will wear the England shirt with just as much pride as England’s most celebrated all-rounder.

“There is no extra pressure on me because I was not born in England,” he insists. “I enjoy living here and am very proud to represent this country. England has a unique and renowned culture that had a massive influence on South Africa. I adapted to the culture. I find it wrong when people move to a country and cling to all the things from their country of origin.”

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Evening Standard

"One of the benefits (of the spot-fixing cases) is that there is a real desire among the players to stamp it out," says David Collier. Image courtesy of Evening Standard

When David Collier moved in to Lord’s in 2004, Australia were ruling cricket while England were among the chasing pack.

Now the roles are reversed, with Andrew Strauss’s men looking to cement their place at the top of the rankings during the three-Test series against Pakistan which began in Dubai today.

Australia claimed a series victory over India on Sunday, a result the Baggy Greens could not have envisaged a month ago when their first home Test defeat to New Zealand in more than a quarter of a century sparked headlines such as ‘Aussie cricket crisis’ and ‘Lowest of the low’.

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Evening Standard

'I'm not sure whether I'm good for Leeds these days,' says Preston chairman Peter Risdale. Image courtesy of Evening Standard

Peter Ridsdale will not be at Emirates Stadium tonight to see Leeds play Arsenal in the FA Cup. Just as well for Leeds given that, since leaving the club in March 2003, his record is: watched five, lost five.

“I’m not sure whether I’m good for Leeds these days,” says Ridsdale.

Leeds fans concluded long ago that Ridsdale was never any good for their team, holding him responsible for the disastrous slide from Champions League heights to League One anonymity. But, since leaving Leeds nearly nine years ago with the club £79million in debt, the former Elland Road chairman has reinvented himself as the man clubs in trouble turn to.

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Evening Standard

Lord Coe: 'The 2005 master plan for the Olympic Park has legacy sitting centre stage'. Image courtesy of Evening Standard

There is much that Lord Coe can feel satisfied about but for all his considerable achievements on and off the track, none would match London having a successful Olympics.

I am talking to Coe in his office in Canary Wharf just as he has come back from Moscow, where he returned to the scene of the first of his two Olympic golds. While standing in the Luzhniki Stadium he could not help but reflect on that moment in 1980 when he beat Steve Ovett in the 1,500 metres just six days after losing to his British team-mate and great rival over his favoured 800m.

“That moment was massive for me,” says the chairman of London 2012. “It defined the way I think about the world, the way I do things. But I don’t kid myself that this is a more profound moment. This collective effort to deliver the Games will inspire people long after they have forgotten I was a runner. Most people do not even know I ran. They think I am an event organiser.”

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