A hat-trick for starters

Along with a grandstand full of plump jockeys, blown-up sumo ballerinas, a gaggle of beer-swilling nuns, and of course the odd super hero or two (“I’m Hong Kong Phoey, you know, the crime-fighting dog,” explained the man carrying four pints in karate dog attire to the bemused and then happily enlightened security guard), I witnessed one of the sporting sights of the summer yesterday, a Stuart Broad hat-trick against India at Trent Bridge. The venue, the world’s third oldest Test match ground, was resplendent in the long summer sunshine, and a suddenly awakened mid-afternoon crowd erupted when the Notts and England bowler took his three wickets in successive deliveries. Beer was spilt, super heroes soaring, jockeys jumping, sumo ladies bouncing. ‘Blowers’ on Test Match Special, his first live commentary on a hat-trick apparently, was later to announce that Broad’s afternoon spell contained five wickets for no runs in 16 balls. This was the extraordinary performance of a new sporting hero for the benefit of a sunburnt Saturday crowd, an act long to be remembered by statisticians, sizzled supporters and those who simply love a good story.

Sport and story-telling goes hand in hand. It has natural poignancy, drama, lows and highs, exultation and despair, recurring themes, sub-plots and sometimes the completely unexpected. Earlier this month, I was fortunate to be named as one of the official BT London 2012 Olympic Storytellers, joining 99 others in telling the story of the Games over the next year through text, audio, photography, video and other creative approaches. While Broad’s sporting triumph at Trent Bridge will not ever feature in the columns of Olympic coverage, it was a feat of ‘Olympian’ heroics, the work of sporting legend, and it took place at a venue that will play a small role in the Games themselves. The Olympics archery competition takes place at the ‘home’ of cricket at Lord’s next August and Trent Bridge is set to be used as a warm-up venue for the summer arrow shooting season. This will be a time for local heroes like Larwood and Voce, and Swann and Broad, to take a back seat to the worldwide descendants of Robin Hood and his Merry Men and Women of the archery discipline.

In my role as an Olympics storyteller, I will be writing about sporting stories for the next year, covering my own attempts at sporting activity (running and cycling), others who have a more professional purpose, and highlighting all there is to look forward to about the Olympics in London and the regions in weeks and months to come. If you are involved in sports, whether through participation, coaching, supporting or simply watching, and wish to highlight your interests, please let me know via the Storytellers website. For me, this is the first few steps of a story-writing marathon and all your support, through Tweets and Likes and other comments will be much appreciated.

It’s story time…

It’s about one year until the launch of the London 2012 Olympic Games and it was very pleasing to hear this week that I had been selected as one of BT’s Official Storytellers for the Games. While still learning about my role, which is set to include producing a series of blogs, tweets and photos during the build-up to next summer, it looks like I will be joining others from around the country in telling the story of the “world’s greatest games”. Great news indeed – it will be even better if I hear my application this week for volleyball tickets (from the selection of either football, volleyball or wrestling) is successful. There’s more information on this initiative from the official Olympics website and from BT. Looks like the Storytellers website launch will take place on July 14.

Further information from this writer on the Nottingham PR website www,pwpcomms.co.uk