Something From The Weekend: Strauss and Trego; Argentina; Jose Canseco's dirty linen

The Good, the Bad and the Odd

Sunday 17 July 2011 19:00 EDT
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The Good

Strauss and Trego

The England captain, playing for Somerset in an attempt to rediscover his better self, clubbed a quite uncharacteristic hundred. His innings of 109, from just 135 balls, was brisk enough. But his partner, Peter Trego bounded his way to a Gilchristian 85 from 57. Between them, Trego and Strauss put on an unbeaten 129 from just 15.1 overs, hitting Amit Mishra for 123 from 14 overs. The combination was perfect; Somerset authenticity pairing well with the sort of well-heeled London tourist so often blamed for buying up homes in the west Country. But their partnership was a thrilling, if uncharitable, welcome to England for this summer's Indians. Mishra will be relieved to face only Strauss at Lord's.

The Bad

Argentina

The best forward line in world football, except for when it matters. Argentina stumbled out of the Copa America on Saturday night, losing on penalties to Uruguay after drawing 1-1 against 10 men. Angel di Maria, Sergio Aguero, Lionel Messi and Gonzalo Higuain all started; Javier Pastore and Carlos Tevez came on. And yet they could not free themselves from the trap of penalties. Even then, their front line ought to have been good enough to convert. But Tevez witlessly hammered his at Fernando Muslera, and Argentina went out. And so that ludicrously talented stable of forwards, even now liberated from Diego Maradona's clumsy influence, have again failed to impact a major tournament. At least El Diego was entertaining.

The Odd

Jose Canseco's dirty linen

There are few less wise ways to deal with sensitive issues than on Twitter. Particularly when you're a baseball legend with nearly 400,000 followers. But Jose Canseco, six-times All Star and twice World Series winner, still decided to bemoan his separation from his girlfriend and give advice to others. "Be careful with woman who show off there tits and ass and think that's a career," he warned. "I will never forget or forgive what u said to me leila ur evil," he insisted. Canseco even posted his former girlfriend's phone number, prompting some of his 398,931 followers to bombard her in solidarity with the former first baseman. Suddenly Rio Ferdinand's witterings look rather tame.

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