Whatever you might think of Beckham, my fondest memories of him will be in that England shirt - not for his flashes of temper, leading to notorious dismissals, but for the massively evident pride with which he wore the Three Lions over his heart, the utter commitment and dedication with which he put himself about the pitch in the England cause.

England have named a 12 man squad for the first Test against New Zealand which begins Thursday at Lord's. Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann return from elbow injuries, with Monty Panesar the only man to miss out from England's last Test match, away to the Black Caps in February.

Those same voices who so revelled in the inevitability of the the San Marino rout take it in turns to lavish praise on Barca, to turn to the bottomless well of superlatives and dub them "the greatest side ever". But are they?

FIFA has opted for the GoalControl system as the technology of choice ahead of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The system, which will be trailed duri...

There is little doubt that Prior is an accomplished enough batsman to succeed as a Test number six. Whether engineering such a change would suit England is another issue. Whilst Prior's personal statistics would likely vary little, the efficacy of England's lower order might well diminish - it is probably not a risk worth taking.

England fans have been reported to Fifa for alleged racist chanting towards Rio Ferdinand and his brother Anton during the World Cup qualifier against...

Rio Ferdinand, a fully paid up member to the 'Golden Generation' that dominated the England team for most of the last decade, seems now to have followed his former defensive partner John Terry into the pasture of former England players.

Rio Ferdinand has said he's "gutted" after pulling out of the England squad to face San Marino and Montenegro. The Manchester United defender was f...

When people ask me about this England v Wales game, one of the biggest challenges for the England players is understanding how much this means to the Welsh players, to the Welsh supporters and the country as a whole.

Everyone is aware that the Italy game wasn't the performance we were aiming for, and I'm sure people could see that by the looks on our faces at the end of the game. It was a tough day at the office but we must give credit to Italy as they played out of their skins.

With Twenty20 most definitely here to stay, International cricket tours now have to accommodate all three formats of the game. There is no standard pattern for how many matches of each form are included but international cricket boards could do worse than base future tours on the current schedule being employed between New Zealand and England.

During the match I'll be on hand if any jerseys are ripped or bloodied. I tend to be up and down at least 20 times, so you don't really take in everything that happens on the pitch. I'll generally watch the recording the day after the match so see exactly how the team played!

Ahead of the game against France at the weekend, England and Harlequins winger Mike Brown, 27, gave me his views on the game, the possibilities of an England Grand Slam, his chances of Lions selection and missing Quins tilt for the title.