Gareth Barry accepts no matter how well England perform in their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign they will still have to win over a sceptical public once they get to Poland and Ukraine.
Shahid Afridi was set to lead the charm offensive in Taunton this morning, as Pakistan tried to keep the pressures of the 'spot-fixing' crisis off the field.
Rafael van der Vaart described Tottenham as "a beautiful club" after completing his £8million move from Real Madrid on Wednesday.
James McFadden claims Scotland owe their fans some early success in their Euro 2012 campaign after a disappointing World Cup bid.
Kevin Pietersen's Surrey debut attracted a crowd of almost 8,000 to The Oval but his comeback to domestic cricket ended in a heavy 90-run Clydesdale Bank 40 defeat at the hands of Worcestershire.
England duo Owen Hargreaves and Jonathan Woodgate were handed contrasting news as clubs provided the Premier League with their 25-man squad lists for the first half of the season.
Mikel Arteta's dreams of playing for England are destined to end in disappointment.
Number 10 seed Victoria Azarenka was taken to hospital on Wednesday after collapsing on court during her second-round match against Gisela Dulko at the US Open.
Peter Crouch will miss the Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland due to a back injury.
Wimbledon finalist Vera Zvonareva safely moved into the third round of the US Open on Thursday with victory over Germany's Sabine Lisicki.
Cricket's 'spot-fixing' crisis took a new twist on Thursday when the Pakistan High Commissioner cast doubt on the authenticity of evidence presented by the News of the World.
Thousands of innocent adults are being punished by constant ID checks that fail to tackle the problems of under-age drinking, a civil liberties group has said.
Community service has been criticised as a "holiday camp for offenders" by the Government's victims' commissioner after undercover footage showed criminals sitting around drinking tea and smoking illegal drugs.