THERE are times when it is hard to escape all the hype around sporting occasions.

Football’s North London derby for instance doesn’t amount to much outside… well, North London.

The Ryder Cup is hardly likely to get the pulses racing if you are a South African or Australian golfer.

And even a boat race along the Thames between two universities gets the sort of coverage that sets it apart as the most important rowing event the world has ever seen.

So, how is it that when the third-ranked team visits the one placed fifth in a list of only 10 it is hailed as a clash of sport’s fiercest rivals?

Cricket lovers will know the answer – this is the Ashes.

In this new age of instant smash and big hitting slogathons, of one-dayers and T20s, Test matches are being shunted into sidings of world cricket.

The West Indies, once the world leaders, struggle to raise a team good enough to beat Bangladesh or Zimbabwe; Pakistan have been playing in exile, and even the world’s best, India, often turn out in near empty stadiums for a five-day game.

But this is England in Australia for the Ashes, which starts this week and that, as they say, is a whole new ball game – or more accurately a whole old ball game.

It’s the real deal – Test match cricket.

Nobody ever remembers who wins any T20 series for more than a week; and the five one-day internationals at the end of a three-month trip just offers a brief feel-good factor to the winners.

A Joe Root century in the Boxing Day Test in front of a 100,000 Australian audience in the MCG will linger a lot longer in the memory than anything a One-Day International can offer.

A 40,000 crowd is expected on the first day at Brisbane on Thursday, and Johnny Bairstow has already likened it to a World Cup.

There are just two downsides to a series that can save Test cricket from becoming a side issue and silence its critics.

There is no Ben Stokes in the England side – a Kiwi winding up an Aussie while playing for England would have been worth watching – and, even worse from a fan’s point-of-view, even if you are willing to stay up through the night, you will have no chance of seeing any of the action unless you are a contributor to BT Sport.

Hiding away an occasion that is worthy of all the hype is a neglect of duty to those who made the decision.

ANOTHER week, another sacking, another defeat for West Ham and another new boss for Sunderland. Nothing moves faster than the managerial merry-go-round that is modern football.

Tony Pulis had been around the game long enough to know that his time at The Hawthorns was drawing to a close before Saturday’s 4-0 home defeat by Chelsea.

A run of just two wins in 21 matches, and only nine league goals all season, would get most managers the sack and November is the second-highest month (behind December) for Premier League sackings down the years.

Now, it’s step forward Gary Megson to take charge until another can join the growing list of managers who will one day be sacked.

Who will be next to join the five other Premier League bosses on the unwanted list?

Down at the London Stadium, David Moyes must already be wondering what he has walked into as the new boss at West Ham.

He pulled no punches after the Hammers were beaten at Watford, challenging players to show him why they have big reputations.

“I can only try to get wins that will make the fans feel better,” he said. “I did not enjoy the performance.

He was not the only one.

The former Everton and Manchester United manager hardly received an open-arms welcome from West Ham fans, but they went a bit far by making 999 calls about the situation. It’d not that sort of emergency just yet.

Meanwhile, Chris Coleman became the 12th manager in 10 years up at Sunderland.

Big challenge, huge club, 40,000 fans, nothing ever comes from the comfort zone – just a few views of the former Wales manager. No doubt, they have all been said before but nothing much has changed at the Stadium of Light.

THIS would not normally be the place to start if you were looking for sympathy for Australian rugby players, but this might be the time to make an exception. Only a minor one, of course,

The Wallabies were soundly beaten by England at Twickenham on Saturday, but the poor souls must have wondered if the world was conspiring against them.

They could point to three decisions to back up any conspiracy theory. In the first half, they had a try disallowed for offside that needed outside help before the referee could make a decision.

In the second half, they had another ruled out, but only after England’s Owen Farrell convinced the referee that, not only was the ball not touched down, there was also a good case for calling an obstruction.

And thirdly, an England try after a kick ahead appeared to touch the line before Elliot Daly touched down. A possible 21-point swing in a 30-6 result.

If the match had not been televised, there is every chance that the on-field referee’s decision would have been different.

So he called in the Television Match Official (they call it the TMO instead of the video referee so that it doesn’t look as though they have nicked the idea from another sport) and justice was seen to be done.

Perhaps it was a bit hasty to suggest we should have some sympathy for the Aussies.