Sporting autobiographies on the front and back pages – it must be October

LAST year it was Sir Alex Ferguson. This year it’s Kevin Pietersen and, to a lesser extent, Roy Keane. Yes, it’s that time of year when sporting autobiographies take centre stage.

It seems that the established PR and marketing advice when it comes to such launches is as follows. Launch your book in early October, spend a week serialising the juicy bits in national newspapers and making copious appearances in the media and make sure it gets on everyone’s Christmas list.

It’s a tried and tested formula, and one I can’t really knock. I’ll be hoping to receive both Pietersen and Keane’s books come December 25.

Pietersen, who clearly loves being centre of attention, has had a field day this week. Claims of bullying within the England team, his departure from the England set-up and clashes with coach Andy Flower and team-mates have been the talk of the airwaves.

Lines have been drawn and people within the game have been picking their sides.

It all sounds very interesting, but I can’t help but think that by time Christmas comes around, all of the juicy stuff will have been talked about so much that the book may not be worth reading.

Of course, most books need a controversial element to give them an edge when it comes to marketing, but I can’t help but think that plenty of equally interesting but less headline-grabbing stuff may be missing.

How many words, for instance, has Pietersen dedicated to what I still think of as his most memorable innings, the one that secured the 2005 Ashes? I would think he could write an entire chapter on that day. The mood in the dressing room, how he felt when it was his turn to bat, what it was like to face Shane Warne on a fifth day pitch.

It would be compelling and fascinating stuff, and I’m sure that real cricket aficionados could think of many other innings worthy of similar treatment. However, I’m afraid that sort of stuff may cut down to make way for more media-friendly angles.

Basingstoke Gazette:

Jules Bianchi crash highlights safety issues in Formula 1

I GOT up early to watch the Japanese Grand Prix last weekend. A good race made my early rise worthwhile, but sadly, Lewis Hamilton’s excellent win, and particularly the move he made on team-mate Nico Rosberg, will soon be forgotten.

As I’m sure you are aware, the race was stopped early after Marussia driver Jules Bianchi crashed and suffered a serious head injury. He remains in a bad way in a Japanese hospital.

It’s an incident that could easily have been prevented, but probably not under Formula 1’s current regulations.

To recap, a tractor was inside the safety barriers recovering the car of Adrian Sutil when Bianchi lost control on the same corner, colliding with the tractor.

When I saw the tractor near the track, especially considering the track conditions, my first reaction was that the safety car would be needed.

The marshals decided this wasn’t necessary and the race was allowed to continue, but with drivers given plenty of warning in the area around the incident.

That now looks like a pretty bad call, but even if they had put the safety car on track, Bianchi’s accident may still have happened. It’s unlikely that he would have caught the safety car up before the point at which he crashed, and I suspect he would have been going a similar speed, so the incident may still have occurred.

It seems that a change in the rules is needed, with recovery vehicles not allowed inside the barriers until all cars are behind the safety car.

It’s a move that might lead to the safety car being deployed more often, which is always a bit annoying, but driver safety must come first.

Basingstoke Gazette:

A bad time to be a Wasps supporter – if you live in their traditional heartland

Earlier this week, rugby club London Wasps announced that they had bought a 50 per cent share of the Ricoh Arena, in Coventry, which is to become their new home.

The club began life in north London, before spending many years in Middlesex. The last few years have seen them play at Loftus Road, before they moved to Wycombe in 2002, sharing with the town’s football team.

The club argue that moving to a bigger ground in Coventry is key for their survival, though it remains to be seen how many people in Coventry are interested.

The city already has a rugby club. I’m sure they are not too happy that they now have a Premiership rival on their doorstep.

When football club Wimbledon moved to Milton Keynes, there was uproar from all quarters, and I’m slightly surprised that the rugby community hasn’t been more vocal.

To some degree, you have to admit that those are different cases, but the people I feel really sorry for are Wasps’ current season ticket holders. The move looks set to happen in December, meaning that if season ticket holders wish to continue watching the club, they will have to travel 80 miles.

The club does appear to have some plans to cater for this, but surely it would have been more sensible to move next summer, giving people the full facts before they decided to buy season tickets.