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Talking on Sky TV, the U.S. charge d’affaires here, Barbara Stephenson, mentions the black ribbons worn by London Marathon runners as a mark of respect for the three killed and 170 injured in the Boston Marathon bombings. Jolly-looking Ms Stephenson said an official at No.10 told her this demonstrated perfectly the ‘special relationship’ between Britain and the U.S. Might the well-intentioned gesture also demonstrate our growing addiction to American-style public displays of sentimentality? These are useful from an official point of view. They take away the focus from what happened before and after an act of terrorism. American-style public displays of sentimentality: Black ribbons were worn by London Marathon runners as a mark of respect for the three killed and 170 injured in the Boston Marathon bombings Such as, in this case, how were the Tsarnaev brothers able to bomb the Boston Marathon while the elder one, Tamerlan, 26, was supposedly under FBI surveillance? This is th

Operation Yewtree began in October 2012 as an investigation into the abuse of young people by the disc jockey Jimmy Savile, who died in 2011 Now a ‘TV comedy legend’ is being investigated by police from Operation Yewtree, which is pursuing alleged ‘historic’ sex crimes by the famous. He has been placed ‘under caution’ while they decide whether to arrest him, according to a report yesterday.  The ‘household name’ denies the allegations. I wonder how ‘historic’ they are on this occasion? In another Yewtree investigation, they date from 1966. Presumably, the crimes alleged are either rape or indecent assault. Serious offences, no doubt about that. Especially if the victims were underage.  But what if you were the victim of a serious assault in the past which was not sexual in character — a mugging, or a savage beating, say, by a famous person which took place in 1966? Would the police begin proceedings against the celebrity you say was responsible? A QC friend of mine thinks not. E

Don't speak too soon: When Nigel manages to win a Parliamentary seat, that might be the moment to talk about re-aligning British politics. At present, he's running before he can toddle After his party’s success in the local elections, UKIP leader Nigel Farage went fishing for bass off the South Coast. Did he use a hook, a net or a stick of dynamite? Saying he’ll consider an electoral pact with the Tories ‘as long as David Cameron is no longer leader’ isn’t fishing subtly for support in the Tory ranks. It’s inviting the Conservatives to commit suicide on UKIP’s behalf. When Nigel manages to win a Parliamentary seat, that might be the moment to talk about re-aligning British politics. At present, he’s running before he can toddle. Most of us didn’t bother voting in the local elections. The minority who did vote last week weren’t concerned about re-moulding politics. They either voted for the party they usually support, on the basis of tribal affiliation. Or they voted for

Why will David Cameron be  in Washington  on Wednesday ‘having talks about Syria’ while as many as 100 of his own MPs plan to vote against him in the Commons? Because the U.S. trip was pre-arranged, of course. But it’s fortuitous, too. Being out of the country means he’ll suffer less personal embarrassment from his party’s revolt. The amendment in question — framed by angry backbench Tories — regrets that a referendum on the EU wasn’t announced in the Queen’s Speech last week. Cameron's absence this week carries a risk that one of his ministers might jump ship and join those voting against him Labour and the Lib Dems will vote against the amendment. They don’t want a referendum. They fear the public would take advantage of the opportunity to vote against remaining in the EU. If the polls had suggested voters were warming to the EU — instead of making it clear we’re massively opposed — Labour and the Lib Dems would be urging a referendum to settle the matter once and for all

Winston Churchill's Tories were in coalition with Clement Attlee's Labour Party for the duration of World War II. Although there were many rows, it held together from 1940 until 1945 Those who grew up during the Hungry Thirties, and fought in World War II, were called ‘the greatest generation’ in a 1998 book by U.S. author and broadcaster Tom Brokaw. They were ‘the greatest generation any society has ever produced’ he said. Winston Churchill’s Tories were in coalition with Clement Attlee’s Labour Party for the duration of World War II. Although there were many rows, it held together from 1940 until 1945. Now it’s suggested that Tory David Cameron’s 2010 coalition with Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats won’t last as long. In an interview, the PM mentions the possibility of it ending prematurely, and facing the new circumstances ‘in whatever way we should’. In 70 years, have we gone from the greatest to the weakest? In 1943, our coalition government was threatened by a German

Losing another toss like that must have been a real kick in the teeth for England, so to respond the way they did by taking seven wickets on the first day was an outstanding effort. There really wasn’t much in the Eden Gardens pitch and it is to Alastair Cook’s credit that he has quickly learnt from his mistakes in the first Test and has used his bowlers intelligently. Cook made sure Jimmy Anderson was fresh enough for when the ball was reversing and still had enough energy to strike late on with the second new ball. Not up to the pace: Sachin Tendulkar struggled against Jimmy Anderson Anderson was excellent. Long gone are the days when we used to say that he was only the man for the job if the ball swung conventionally. Now he has great control and variations and gave us a reverse-swing masterclass. Jimmy is all over Sachin Tendulkar at the moment and not many people have been able to say that over the years. He’s almost playing with the great man and the ball he got him with

The first time I saw Alastair Cook was during one of my many spells when I was struggling to score runs as England captain. I wanted to clear my head, get back to basics, so I asked my former coach Keith Fletcher if I could play for Essex seconds. I turned up at Colchester and was quickly dismissed so I went for a walk round the boundary edge with Fletch, the wise old ‘Gnome’, to ask him what I could do to get my game right. Suddenly Keith stopped, pointed to the middle and said: ‘That lad is going to be one of the greats.’ I couldn’t see it to be honest. All I saw was a left-hander whose head fell over when he played his shots and was full of nudges and nurdles. His name was Alastair Cook and he scored his 23rd Test hundred, more than any other Englishman. At the time I just said to Keith: ‘That’s all very well, Fletch, but I’m worried about my game here, not him!’ Eye on the ball: Alastair Cook takes a catch at the launch of the Under 15 World Cup at Lord's in 2

The third day of a Test is about setting things up and England were excellent again at Eden Gardens. Since losing the toss they have barely put a foot wrong. You know in India that, barring the completely unexpected, you will get five full days, so there really was no rush for England on Friday morning. Runs need to be made in the first innings on the subcontinent, while you wait for the pitch to deteriorate, and that’s what England have done. If they had made a quick 400 before being bowled out, England would have let India back into the game, so it was important that they managed to bat on into day four, which again they managed to do expertly. Rare mistake: Cook was run out on day three PICTURE DISPUTE We are unable to carry live pictures from the third Test in Kolkata due to a dispute between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and international news organisations. The BCCI has refused access to Test venues to established picture agencies Getty Images and Actio

India have big questions to answer in the aftermath of the Kolkata Test and the biggest surrounds the attitude of their near  god-like top names. When the likes of MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir and the rest went back to their hotel rooms after that defeat in the third Test, how much were they hurting? How much hunger for the long-haul form of  the game — with its mental and physical demands — have these multi-millionaire players still got? Are they thinking, deep down, ‘Never mind’, and prioritising instead the fun, glamour and huge financial rewards that come from the Indian Premier League? Plenty to ponder: India captain MS Dhoni (left) and Gautam Gambhir (right) That is the crux of the issue now for India. The last thing their cricket needs, really, is a win in Nagpur and a share of this series because all that would do is paper over the cracks. They would believe everything is OK. India left Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh out of their squad for the final T

Negative outlook: MS Dhoni opted for caution in Nagpur (FILE IMAGE) England went into the fourth Test promising they would be ruthless but they were not as clinical as they might have been on the first day and ended it having left the door slightly open for India. India picked the wrong side —they really needed two seamers on that pitch — and lost the toss but England failed to take full advantage and will have been just the unhappier of the two sides going into the second day. Yes, that was a very difficult pitch to score on and MS Dhoni immediately went on the defensive, which didn’t exactly help, but was it a hard pitch to survive on? Was it a difficult pitch to play spin on? Not really. If the tourists had lost three or four wickets to reverse swing I would have understood but the truth was that they gifted India three and Alastair Cook will be thinking that the close score could easily have been 200 for three. Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell will both be disappointed with

Just look at the names of the three players Jimmy Anderson dismissed yesterday: Sehwag, Tendulkar and Gambhir. That is the sort of treble that Alastair Cook could only dream about when he threw him the ball. Anderson was outstanding again. His control of length and line was immaculate from beginning to end. Piyush Chawla may have ended up with four wickets for India but Anderson was unquestionably the bowler of the day. Out again: Tendulkar has fallen to Anderson nine times in Tests On an up-and-down pitch like that a captain will tell his seamers to bowl straight with a split field  but the danger, as Ishant Sharma discovered when he was clipped to the leg side by Kevin Pietersen, is that they will stray to a line around middle and leg. Where Anderson was different is that he never strayed from around off and middle. It was said that the ball which did for Tendulkar kept low but it was no lower than the bulk of the others in the context of this game. It was late mov

The time has now come for the ICC to stand up to the Indian cricket board and say: ‘Enough is enough. We are using the decision review system in all Test matches.’ This series has provided all the proof needed that the game is categorically better off using technology rather than relying totally on the men in the middle. Controversy: England captain Alastair Cook was given out caught despite the ball traveling well wide of his bat Surely the world game’s governing body can now go to India and say, ‘we have  listened to your reservations and we respect them, but just  look at what has happened in a marquee series when  technology hasn’t been used. Big mistakes have been  made on both sides and your players have misbehaved because of it’. All the boards bar India now seem to want the system in place. Spectators want it and, judging by his reaction to a decision yesterday, India  captain MS Dhoni wants it. And sitting in the Indian dressing room is the man who invented DRS, their

The first Test in Ahmedabad may have seen England beaten heavily but the second innings there proved a turning point both in this series and in the future of this team. Without it things could look very different now. Just look at what had gone on before then. The high of going to No 1 in the Test world last year was followed by a 5-0 one-day thrashing in India, then a 3-0 Test hammering by Pakistan in the UAE followed by a convincing Test series defeat by South Africa last summer and then a very poor performance in  spinning conditions in the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka. All the good vibes about the England cricket team were starting to be questioned. Ruthless: Stuart Broad was gone from the side after two poor tests       More from Nasser Hussain...   Nasser Hussain: New Zealand have bowled very well to Cook, but he plays at bal

England have beaten India, and Ashes fever is starting to hot up. Surrey announced that they have already sold out all five days for next summer’s final Test, the first time an English Test has ever been entirely sold out before Christmas. With the oldest enemies in cricket meeting in back-to-back series next year, Sportsmail columnist Nasser Hussain, a veteran of many an Ashes battle as England batsman and captain, ran the rule over both teams with the countdown to the big battle now under way... Three's a charm: England aim to win their third consecutive Ashes series next summer... and travel to Australia in winter The captains We have two phenomenal players here who seem to have been inspired to new heights by the captaincy and increased their potency since rising to high office. I think Alastair Cook is much more likely to score runs in Australia than Michael Clarke is in England, with the English seamers fancying their chances of him nicking the ball to wi