Sam Munnery

A real pleasure to speak to the brilliant Paula Blasi and her DS Cherie Pridham about her stunning wins at La Vuelta and Amstel Gold and her rapid rise from promising 800m runner to one of the world's best riders (thanks in part to her car breaking down) thetimes.com/article/dff3cc…

Dembele got no rating from L'Equipe when he got hooked at half time in the last World Cup final... this felt almost as bad as that. Complete non-entity.

Tottenham Hotspur are going to be home to a World Cup winner.

@LouisePage_ Pastille Day?

France seem out of sorts. Which bodes well for my Spain bet, in case you were wondering what’s paying for the Fruit Pastille lollies tonight.

@glennebrey Tricky superpower to sell to the Marvel franchise

First goal was so key for Spain. Game management is their superpower

On the live blog for France v Spain. It's Bastille Day, what could possibly go wrong... thetimes.com/sport/football…

@LouisePage_ Well... Times style is to lower case generally and not ape the ridiculous over-capitalisation beloved by Premier League club marketing departments. We do what we want.

@SamMunnery Official Coffee Provider, accuracy please. Us sponsors pay a lot for the specifics. From an Official Chocolate Partner or Confectionery Partner or Snacking Partner, depending upon your club.

Villa finally putting an end to the weeks of speculation by nailing down their official tourism partner and official coffee provider in one fell swoop

@alexmassie Don't forget the 2005 friendly in Geneva, Alex

Just like in 1986, 1998, and 2002. Honestly, sometimes you have to be very wise to be as thoroughly daft as this.

No pressure lads

Interesting back-story to Ismail Elfath, the American referee for England v Argentina. Born in Casablanca, Elfath won a US government “diversity lottery ticket” aged 18. Left an extended family of 16 in his grandfather’s house (his mother died when he was 8), arrived with $200 at University of Texas at Austin. Studied mechanical engineering, played decent standard locally (striker for Austin Lightning in USL League Two) and complained about refereeing standards so decided to become one. Continued playing until tackled badly from behind, over-reacted, sent off, and argued with ref, grabbing the red card, on way off. Briefly suspended, so decided to focus on reffing. Got a job in IT (useful for VAR) while climbing refereeing ladder. Not that well-known, mainly MLS, but did Qatar 2022, upset Cristiano Ronaldo by disallowed a goal for an apparent foul, and a lucky omen for Argentina – fourth official in the 2022 final they won. Now 44, and a naturalised US citizen, Elfath has spoken candidly to his local Austin American-Statesman newspaper about being Muslim after 9/11, talking of the abuse but also of the great kindness of Austin people. Role model for US refereeing and his faith. #ENGARG #FIFAWorldCup

Pau Cubarsí and Borja Iglesias respond to the xenophobic remarks made by former Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

@patrick_kidd Is Folarin Balogun going to be allowed to play for England in their semi-final?

He’s either standing down as president to fight a by-election against a man with a wellington boot on his head or he’s persuaded Infantino that the World Cup final should be a playoff to decide who faces the US for the title

One of the best photos of Messi we've seen at this World Cup 🏟️🇦🇷 (📸 Julian Finney)

@edwardobanano @englandcricket Quite telling that you avoided both the questions I just asked. Yeah, the prestige of the board has *everything* to do with men's cricket - because Eng women had been afforded (by men of the MCC) only 18 ODIs, 5 t20s and 0 Tests at Lord's. That's. Why. It's. Exclusively. Men.

@SamMunnery @englandcricket You obviously have your extremely media trained and woke position that there is no difference between the sport and that the prestige of the board (your words) has nothing to do with the history of men's cricket despite the fact it's exclusively men. So, good luck to you

The first ever English woman on the Lord's honours board, pretty special ✨

A message of relief from me today. We had the news that our ammendments have been accepted by the Government with carve outs removed. We now have legislation worthy of the name. #TheHillsboroughLaw #JFT97

@edwardobanano @englandcricket Not even sure where to start with this. Why do you think the women's game is "living in the shadow" of the men? Anything/anyone that might have restricted its growth in the last 200-odd years? The women's game is trying to *emerge from* the shadow of the men, not live under it.

@SamMunnery @englandcricket It isn't the same. And if they truly believed it was equal billing you'd give them their own board to mark an historic occasion. They will never make money as long as they try and live in the shadow of men's cricket. Embrace your differences and write your own history

@pinkpunks_ Bit of a weird thing to be curious about isn't? You might want to get help.

@SamMunnery @White_Collar420 @englandcricket hey sam, just curious, are you still being breastfed old chap?

@edwardobanano @englandcricket Men's board? This is *the* board. The prestige is association with the history of the game, not with men - if more women had been afforded the chance (by men) to play at Lord's, it wouldn't look like a "men's board". Giving them equal billing isn't "spoiling" anything.

@SamMunnery @englandcricket Your arguments completely contradict themselves. I've already asked why it's more prestigious to be on the men's board, you dismissed that and now you're saying it's more prestigious. Likewise comparing achievements easily, which can no longer be done - which is my point

@Ian4cricket1 @White_Collar420 @englandcricket No, I'm not missing the pretty obvious misogyny, but it's no wonder you agree with him looking at the other things you've retweeted. Oh, and it's "you're".

@SamMunnery @White_Collar420 @englandcricket Your missing the point

@edwardobanano @englandcricket Not sure I am. You don't even seem to know what a footnote is. She's named on a historic board, with equal billing. Being stuck in her own on a new board would be less prestigious. And bowlers/batters are categorised so they can compare achievements easily. It's pretty simple.

@SamMunnery @englandcricket She's a footnote because she doesn't stand out as she would as the first on a new board. Why even have a board separating batsmen and bowlers? Home and away sides? It's a categorisation of association. You're being deliberately obtuse to ignore the difference