Tuesday 7th October  2:42 am Good Morning

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Nelson's Column June New Balls, Please 24th June 2005 Does Andrew Murray Have the Guts to Face English Expectation? Everyone’s imbibed numerous glasses of Pimms, decided they want to pick up a racquet and start playing and all the British hopefuls have fallen by the wayside. Yes, we find ourselves mid-way through Wimbledon once more. This year’s All England Club Championship - more than any other in recent years – has managed to show just how fickle (and cruel) the British sport-watching public are. Our habit of disregarding the sport for fifty weeks of the year, then, when June comes round, prattling on about the 'greatest Grandslam of all' and claiming to be experts on a bunch of players we first heard of in the newspaper supplement last weekend, is forgivable, perhaps even admirable. However, the criticism our British players receive can reach ridiculous proportions. Henman bumbled toothlessly out in the second round, not even kindling the foolish expectations his perennial trip to the later stages usually generates. British interest was re-ignited as Andrew Murray, the eighteen-year-old Scot, was drafted in to take over the ageing Oxfordshireman’s mantle. The British number one has been subject to more and more stick every year that he has failed to fulfil our hopes. Once we had discarded Jeremy Bates (remember him?) Henman was our new saviour, poised to win glory for the first time since Fred Perry in 1936. The public are nothing if not consistent. He has received remarkably similar treatment to the England football team – wildly inflated hopes, deteriorating into disappointment, sinking into bitter sniping. Fred Perry 1936 is to tennis what 1966 is to football. However, a football team can bring in a few new players or get a new manager and all is forgiven. Tennis being an individual occupation, Henman hasn’t had the same opportunity. Ten years ago the prospect of a Brit getting past the second round was enough but expectations have risen. Over the years, as Henman has improved and come closer to that elusive final, people have begun to pick apart his ability, temperament and personality. Andrew Murray has it all to look forward to. He has a bright future but now, after only seven professional matches, the weight of the nation lies upon his shoulders. He’s got time to improve out of view of the expectant British public as nobody will watch any tennis until next June. This year everyone was very forgiving, excusing his defeat against former finalist Nalbadian, saying he did very well for a ‘young lad’ and that he lacked experience. Fair point. But it won’t be like that forever. Hopefully one day, there will be more than one British contender at a time, so the pressure and expectation can be shared. A Home for Shakespeare's Travelling Players The Royal Shakespeare Company has confirmed it will hold its regular London season in one of the West End’s three Delfont Mackintosh-owned theatres for the next five years. The contract means that the RSC will have a permanent home in the capital for the first time since 2002 when they abandoned their Barbican base. Teir plays will be performed in the Novello Theatre (formerly The Strand Theatre) the Albery Theatre on St Martin’s Lane and the Gielgud Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue. Young, Free and a Single to Trafalgar Square, Please Under 16s will travel free on London buses and trams from September, thanks to a new scheme initiated by Mayor Ken Livingstone. 14 to 16-year-olds will have to apply for an Oyster card in order to be included in the scheme. Children are being encouraged to apply for their cards as soon as possible. Anyone receiving a card before 1 August can use it immediately - giving an extra month's free travel. City Reaches New Heights Plans for a 1,008ft skyscraper in the City have been submitted to the Corporation of London. The Bishopsgate Tower would be the tallest building in the City, totally eclipsing the NatWest skyscraper (now Tower 42), which at 600ft currently holds the title. September 2008 23rd September Chips too Chavvy for Chelsea 16th September The London Restaurant Awards August 2008 26th August No Smoking, No Ducks, No Barbecues 20th August The Olympics July 2008 24th July Sandwiched Out 17th July The Show Ain't Over 'Til the Fat Lady's on Page 3 June 2008 26th June Love All at Wimbledon 16th June Miller Puts the Heat on Tennant May 2008 27th May Booze Banned on Buses 20th May Same Again? April 2008 23rd April By George 11th April Back to the 80s March 2008 28th March How do You Solve A Problem Like Medea? 20th March Flight Fantastic February 2008 20th February Dark, Satanic Turnmills 6th February A Diamond in the Drink January 2008 21st January People Wanted for Plinth 14th January Boo! Hiss! December 2007 28th December Tate That - A Hirst for Art 20th December Christmas Shopping November 2007 27th November Mind the Gap 26th November London On A Tray October 2007 26th October Leaving the Station 14th October The Sky's the Limit September 2007 26th September The Play Within A Play 19th September Fashion, Frocks and Celeb Shocks 12th September Saying Tanks for the Mammaries August 2007 24th August Heathrow under Siege 17th August Gormless 10th August Losing Face July 2007 24th July Are We Reaching Boiling Point Yet This Summer? 13th July Red Ken versus Blonde Boris June 2007 22nd June Last Orders at the Fag Machine 11th June London the Musical May 2007 21st May What Lurks Beneath 10th May The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of April 2007 27th April London’s Walk on the Wild Side 20th April Stand Behind the Yellow Line 13th April Like Water for Chocolate March 2007 23rd March So, Another Magazine 16th March Avoiding iContact February 2007 23rd February Sex and Art... 16th February C-Charge Protest Fails to Bring Down Government 9th February Live Earth London January 2007 26th January A Vote for Shilpa is a Vote for Britain 18th January Carriage on up the West End December 2006 29th December Food for Thought 22nd December A Poisonous Marketing Campaign 15th December In for a Penny, In for Five Pounds November 2006 17th November Big Department Stores Leave Santa Out in the Cold 10th November Failing to Save the World October 2006 27th October Frozen Prawns and Melting Icecaps 20th October Predatory Pelicans and Happy Woodland Folk 13th October Hope at last for east end of Oxford Street September 2006 16th September Lite the Blue Paper and Stand Well Back 9th September Of Poles and Twiglets August 2006 25th August Free Fares For the Fat and the Fashionable 11th August London Friendly 4th August Archway To Organic Heaven July 2006 21st July London - Celebrity Frat House 7th July Out of the Galleries into the Streets June 2006 23rd June Mayors, Nightmares and Marias 16th June Downright Rude in Paris and London 9th June Enter the Inferno May 2006 26th May Curvaceous Border 12th May Vegging Out April 2006 21st April The Camden Crawl 17th April Down the Pan 13th April I Want to Break Free 9th April Big Brother seems to have been left in a bar somewhere 7th April Don't Box Me In March 2006 24th March Political Correctness Reaches New Heights February 2006 24th February A Stadium's Tale: Cup Final Goes West 17th February Modern Musicals are Rubbish 10th February The City-Side Alliance January 2006 20th January February Sales 20th January Moby Sick 13th January Glass Half Full 3rd January Three Cheers for the Tube Station Workers December 2005 22nd December January Bites 16th December A Remarkable Year November 2005 25th November And a Partridge in a JCB 11th November Driving Miss Sadie 4th November Spam, Spam, Spammity-Spam, Shakespeare, Zorro, Chico and Rasputin October 2005 28th October Trick or Treat? 21st October We Don't Mind a Little Delay... 14th October Final Resting Place for Young British Artists September 2005 16th September Just a small urn for me, please barman 9th September DRINK! DRINK! DRINK! 2nd September The Free Tenor August 2005 30th August Samba Rhythms Breaking Out All Over The Stadium 20th August Getting Behind the Iron Farce 10th August Mystery Play is No Sell Out July 2005 29th July Moving On From 7/7 22nd July Get loaded in the park