Adam Peaty

It’s a shame for a man who set another world record and now holds the 10 fastest times in 100m breaststroke history that he picked up his latest gold medal on a weekend when the Open, a World Cup cricket final and the Tour de France finale were all taking place. But this column salutes the weekend’s biggest achiever. I am pleased for England’s lady cricketers that the World Cup was won in front of a packed Lord’s.

I watched the final and I was rooting for them to win an exciting contest against the emerging Indian side.

But I reserve the right to criticise the standard of play and it doesn’t make me any less of a patriot.

Not for the first time in my Twitter career, my comment regarding the ‘hilarious incompetence’ of some of the play in the World Cup Final led to accusations of ‘mysogyny’ and of me being a ‘disgrace to my profession’. Cheerleading is not journalism. I was happy for Anya Shrubsole (above) to collect the playerof-the-match prize, but I could whack her bowling and I retired over a decade ago.

THE CLASSIEST MAN IN GOLF

Jordan Spieth (above) is comfortably the classiest guy in golf, and he’s not far behind Roger Federer as the classiest guy in sport. His sprint to victory in the Open defied belief and he followed it with a phenomenal speech which included no trace of arrogance. Rory McIlroy please take note. Your demeanour almost makes me support an American ahead of you.

A POINTLESS PROCESSION

Great sporting events don’t finish with a procession. Why does the Tour de France end with the leader on the last stage drinking champagne on the way round in the knowledge no-one will attack his lead no matter how slender? It’s a silly tradition that denies a huge crowd a potentially thrilling climax.