Cipriani: the Italian fashionista

I greatly enjoyed Jim White’s take this morning on Danny Cipriani‘s apparent disregard for concerns of his increasing celebrity lifestyle superseding his rugby priorities. Clearly moving in the right circles during Milan fashion week, Cipriani and his ‘equally lens-wary’ girlfriend found themselves seated in close enough proximity to absorb the glamorous and successful aura of Golden Balls Becks.

Surprise guests: Kelly Brook and Danny Cipriani sat front row alongside David Beckham at the Emporio Armani men's collection in Milan yesterday

Mind, the chippy young London Wasps fly-half should note: until they reach the dizzy global heights of Brand Beckham, he may want to focus on his goal-kicking abilities and she on retaining a job for more than six days.

Jim White’s comments were worthy of replication in full I felt:

So much for Cipriani resisting siren call of celebrity.

David Beckham has insisted all along that his move to Milan is nothing to do with fashion. The fact that he was spotted in the front row of Giorgio Armani’s show during the city’s fashion week was mere coincidence. But who was that alongside football’s most assiduous clothes horse, just beyond where Mrs B had stationed herself in the line of camera fire? Why it was Danny Cipriani, with his equally lens-wary partner Kelly Brook. Good to see England’s best rugby player has taken to heart all that advice about resisting the siren call of celebrity and concentrating entirely on his game. Mind, if he is seen out and about any more in Milan, it can only be a matter of time before Manchester City put in a bid for him.

English cricket hits the headlines for six

Photograph: Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty Images

Not since England’s Ashes glory of 2005 has the British press devoted such column space to cricket this week.

And understandably so. While the continuous Breaking News ticker rolling across Sky Sports News may have displayed the hyperbolic phrases of ‘crisis’ and ’chaos’ with characteristic indiscriminate abundance, it cannot be denied that English cricket is enduring a state of turmoil.

I do not wish to add my own twopence-worth to the volumes of commentary on the subject, but would rather highlight some of the more quotable and insightful words of wisdom expressed by some of our best sports journalists this week:

Gideon Haigh, in Thursday’s Guardian:

From an Australian perspective it all seems a uniquely English muddle, everyone just being first a little too polite, then rather too panicky.

Too true.

Andrew Miller likened the whole situation to a Shakespearean history plot in his creative piece on Cricinfo. Lawrence Booth’s outline of the divisions within the England camp created the impression of a high school common room more than a national side’s dressing room. And Jim White’s hilarious depiction of KP placed in Celebrity Big Brother merely emphasized what a farce the whole mess has become.

The schoolboy cliques that had been allowed to develop and divide the ranks were also named in The Times on Thursday – including a small posse, amusingly named (for obvious reasons) ‘The Young and Blonde’. This sat alongside Patrick Kidd’s hilarious introduction of the current situation in the England camp, dramatizing the storyline as all our favourite American drama series introduce the next episode with ’Previously, on…’:

Kevin plotted against Peter but ultimately may have lost his job because Andrew doesn’t get on with Kevin and made sure that Hugh, who has long been a buddy of Peter, knew that he didn’t like Kevin…Michael and Kevin get on but could Michael just be using Kevin to get what he wants? And why does no one ever mix with Monty?

But above all, the most eloquent piece I’ve read throughout all the to-ing and fro-ing this week has to be Ed Smith’s summary of Pietersen’s merits that ran in today’s Telegraph. If you read nothing else on the subject, read that, and then tell me that KP won’t regain the captaincy before the year is out.