Sport

Her cover drive and how she ran
are now haram
under the rule of the Taliban

Can she stay in? For sure she can
She can't be out without a man
in ancient, new Afghanistan

She'd tackle assumptions and she'd score
but won't be playing any more
She's fallen foul of holy law

If England is an island
Is Wales an offshore reef?
Is Scotland an Atlantic bay?
What's Ian Botham's beef?

Is Hadrian's Wall a seaside prom?
Is Offa's Dyke a coast?
Does Botham know where the boundaries are?
Or has he missed the post?

Published in Women's Fightback 26, Autumn/Winter 2021

More info about our cricket team here.

We're Lewes Lightning
We're a little bit frightening
We're hitting up a storm

We roar like thunder
Over and under
When we are on form

We're young and older
Fierce and bolder
Than you might have thought us

- a villanelle about this.

Kids needed somewhere safe to swim
so locals raised funds for a pool,
got sponsor forms and filled them in

Again they shook donation tins
to keep aquatics at the school,
to keep the children safe to swim

We only needed a draw.
We didn't even need to score
unless we let one in.
We didn't even need to win,

Just make sure they didn't.
The point the draw would have given
and the two it would take away
from the rivals we happened to be playing that day

would have been enough.
Surely an ask that's not too tough.
Surely a task even we couldn't fluff.

Published in Solidarity 589, 21 April 2021.

Europe’s richest football clubs have announced an exclusive Super League, but have met with near-unanimous opposition.

This article was published under a different title in Solidarity 587.

Nicola Adams

Is dancing with Madams

Instead of with Misters

Ten points for the sisters

Referring to this.

You've won the Women's Ballon d'Or
You dribble, tackle, shoot and score
But do you twerk?

You strike a hard and well-aimed ball
Around a wide defensive wall
But do you twerk?

Top scorer in the Champions League
But one thing fills me with intrigue:
Do you twerk?