“According to Deloitte, 74.5 million tickets for professional sporting events were sold in Britain in 2017.” Want to play?


Richmond Park has two courses, one shorter and slightly easier than the other. www.glendalegolf.co.uk/richmond-park-golf- course


Dukes Meadow has a nine-hole course as well as a teaching academy. www.dukesmeadows.com/golf


St Andrew’s – the home of golf. www.stan- drews.com.


Holland Park Golf School – learn to play golf in the middle of London. www.hollandparkgolf.co.uk


NETBALL


Netball is without a doubt a sport unique to Britain and countries with strong his- toric British ties such as Australia and New Zealand. It’s hugely popular in schools here so if you have a child in a British school, chances are she’ll be playing netball at some point. But it’s not just for kids and it’s more


than just a school sport. It’s one of the fastest growing sports among women who loved the game growing up and have been spurred on by the success of the English national team. Tey won Commonwealth gold last year and there’s great excitement for them at this year’s World Cup held in Liverpool. Despite its image of being a “wimpier


version of basketball” because of the whole not being allowed to move with the ball thing, netball is not for the faint hearted. It’s actually a fast and vicious game now. According to one committed player, the


NETBALL IN A NUTSHELL


A match is split into four quarters of 15 minutes


Tere are seven players who each have their own position and can only move in certain areas of the court


Only two players – the goal shooter and the goal attack – can score and they must be inside the goal semi-circle


Players are not allowed to run when they are in possession of the ball


With contributions from Gary Griffiths, Stella Williamson and others www.focus-info.org FOCUS The Magazine 7


only downside to playing netball for years is “you can never have nice nails. Tey have to be short and are checked by um- pires every match.”


Want to play?


Check out the North London Netball League for 27 clubs with teams of all levels playing Broomfield Park London N13 from September to May. www.nlnl.co.uk


Netbusters runs leagues and teams all over London. You can join as a team or as an individual. www.netbusters.org


CRICKET


Cricket is the only sport in the world that breaks for tea in the middle of a match. Tat alone surely qualifies it as quintessen- tially British. Te sport originated in Britain in a 13th century ballgame and spread around the world thanks to Britain’s imperial past. It’s now a dominant sport in


Commonwealth countries from Pakistan and India to Australia and the West Indies. Te language around the game can be as baffling as the multitude of matches and tournaments. Tere are test matches, county cricket, international one days, lim- ited overs and Twenty20 cricket. And that’s before you get to the terminology. Te spiritual home of cricket is the


MCC, or Marylebone Cricket Club. It’s the world’s most active club and the guardian of the games rules. Te MCC’s famous grounds are Lord’s in St John’s Wood and on important match days you see throngs of men in distinctive red and yellow club ties marching along to the ground. London’s other major cricket ground is the Oval, home of Surrey County Cricket Club. Te Ashes is cricket’s biggest competi-


tion in this country and it’s played every two years. Te term originated in a satirical British newspaper immediately after Australia beat England at the Oval in 1882. Te paper ran spoof obituary stating “English cricket had died and the ashes taken to Australia.” Te Ashes became as- sociated with the match between England and Australia and is one of sports oldest ri- valries between two nations.


BIG EVENTS THIS SUMMER July 2–31 Women’s Ashes


July 14 Men’s Cricket World Cup final July 12–21


Netball World Cup, Liverpool July 18–21


Te Open golf championship


August 1–September 16 Te Ashes August 6


Kia Super League women’s cricket


The Ashes


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