SWANNY'S WORLD OF SPORT: Another awful week for English cricket, Rooney would struggle stateside, I was wrong about snooker, lucky Liverpool

The proposed new ‘The Hundred’ tournament took another baffling turn this week with the revelation England’s star names like Joe Root and Ben Stokes probably won’t play, even though their faces will be plastered all over the tournament literature, even though the fools organising this competition claim their new target audience won’t even recognise them.

And my heart sank when I read the all-too predictable news that Indian skipper Virat Kohli has been given a two-month contract to play for Surrey this summer. Kohli brings his Indian team to play Test cricket in England later this year so it’s pretty unhelpful of Surrey to let him acclimatise to conditions that have always caused him problems.

Surrey’s top man is Alec Stewart, an English patriot. It’s all very sad.

ROONEY TO STRUGGLE IN STATES

Wayne Rooney’s performed at such a poor standard for two seasons now, standing out in United States soccer will probably be beyond him.

LIVERPOOL’S LUCK CONTINUES

Referees on their side, favourable draws and now Real Madrid’s superstar is injured. Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp must deliver in the Champions League final. They won’t get a better chance.

FINAL PROVES ME WRONG

My timing was excellent as usual. Just as I wondered whether or not snooker was finished as a TV spectacle, winner Mark Williams and John Higgins delivered a quite brilliant World Championship final. Both attacked which helped and both were fearless. It was a great watch.