Here are the goods and bads of July so far:
Good
Tom Grossi
At time of writing, he's well on his way to raising $1.5m for charity after a month-long adventure, documenting many brilliant and vibrant people along the way - lovely.
The abolition of the Mayo curse
75 years, the 11 All-Ireland Final losses along the way, the many close calls that came to nothing over multiple generations. On 26 July 2026 it all came to an end. Mayo for Sam.
Not every game was a classic, but it never really is in ICC events, and it did feel like every team had their day at some point. Australia won deservedly with that dominant showing in the Final to seal it all nicely.
Women's Test at Lord's
It shouldn't have needed a wait until 2026, but the 'home of Cricket' has finally hosted a women's test - and well done to India!
Tadej Pogačar
Thorough dominance throughout the Tour, never really showed any form of weakness or clinging on.
The final stage of the Tour De France
I'm not even going to detail this, just watch it. INCREDIBLE!
Bad
WAFCON organisation
The CAF have named Channel 4 as the UK broadcaster for this year's WAFCON, which is apparently news to C4 who didn't show either of the opening day games. Another avoidable mess for a tournament which seemingly hasn't done much promotion in Morocco judging by attendances. The players deserve better.
Tour De France UK coverage
Thank you to S4C for providing free live coverage, but it's a rotten deal that for english language coverage in the UK you're expected to either pay £31 for the month or watch a Channel 5 highlights show that's a huge downgrade on the previous ITV4 operation.
Commonwealth Games
Pretty much the same TNT nonsense as above applies to the Commonwealth Games. BBC Alba offered some form of coverage, but unlike the TDF I just haven't touched it, and I'm far from the only one.
Gianni Infantino
Nothing will change because the basic membership structure of FIFA lends itself nicely to backroom deals, but yeah, the man and his minions are increasingly bad news for the sport.
Most things about the World Cup Final
Pre-game? Crap.
Half time? Awful.
Post-match? Bloated beyond belief. From the scheduled kick off time to the trophy lift it was about 3h45m.
The team that won was by far the better one on the day, the team that lost just made themselves look utterly mundane during the game and classless aftwerwards. World Cup Finals are usually poor watches (barring 2022), but this felt poorer than typical.
ITV having Sam Matterface as the #1 commentator
I hold ill will against the guy, but any major game being on the BBC is a huge upgrade purely for having Guy Mowbray involved instead of him. With Matterface the big lines always feel so scripted and forced, occasionally going against what's actually happening out on the pitch - to me it's all a bit jarring. Between TV, Radio, streaming and the abundance of games/leagues broadcast in the UK, surely there's an alternative?
Grey area
The Hundred
2026 has brought a fair few changes as a result of a chunk of each club being sold off, primarily to consortiums that already own IPL teams.
I like going to Old Trafford and seeing family audiences that haven't typically attended before, with kids audibly asking "why's that not out, why's that not a six?" and so on. It seems to genuinely be bringing about interest in the sport similarly to me with the launch of the T20 Cup and the 2005 Ashes. There's also the huge interest its brought to the Women's game, with brilliant stories like Davina Perrin.
That said, I hate the rebrands. Not dislike, actively hate.
• Manchester Super Giants, with an elephant logo and a kit that looks like they've let someone loose on a Crystal Palace jersey with gold foil - it's not for me. I plan on going to a game or two each year for the giggles, but I'd be lying if I said I planned on ever buying any merch, it just actively puts me off as a brand and it's a shame because the previous Originals concept really worked.
• The team formerly known as the Northern Superchargers renaming themselves to Sunrisers Leeds (with a name that is both tacky and alienates a fair chunk of Yorkshire).
• Oval Invincibles was a lousy name in itself, but they're now MI London (full name Mumbai Indians London) and insist on it being pronounced 'My London' – feck off with that.
Add to that a number of teams abandoning their unique colour schemes to wear red and/or blue, and yeah, it does feel like its lost something this year.
I want it to work because of both the Women's game aspect and the fact it does appear to be boosting youth participation, but after the cash injections of the new ownership groups are spent, I believe people will look at 2026 with hindsight and have a few regrets.