JUST WILLIAM: Cash of the Titans

Hello one and all!

Before this week’s column starts in earnest, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point you towards our tipping competition for our competition tomorrow ahead of the Grand Reopening! Simply pick a dog in all of the races and you could be the winner of a £200 free bet!

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Also, be sure to check out our behind-the-scenes videos, featuring some of the biggest names in the game:

OXFORD COUNTDOWN: Re-Opening Preview Videos

Cash of the Titans

An argument I’ve seen a lot of on my timeline this week has been the great cashless debate. A subject of increasing attention over the past few years – especially as many big venues have gone cashless, including many top racecourses – there appear to be very strong feelings on the issue – and rightly so given the implications of going entirely cashless, especially for those who (and yes, these people do exist) don’t have bank accounts for a number of reasons.

As someone who is mostly cashless (for a variety of reasons) I have no issue with cashless spaces in general, but I would love to know why exactly there is such a rush to go cashless only. At this year’s Cheltenham festival, I heard a tale of a man who’d won £20,000 on the Thursday – who had no place on course he could buy food or drink from. Maybe we should keep both for now….

All in the Counties

There’s a lot of debate about English cricket at the moment. The schedules, the formats, and the styles of play – along with performance – are all under the microscope and there’s plenty of talking to be done, and ideas to be shared.

I can comfortably say the worst one of those is removing overseas players from the County Championship. Who could see the struggles England have had overseas and think that home grown players not facing the best red ball talents over four days will improve things?

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/clubs-call-for-ban-on-overseas-players-in-county-championship-lpjpvp6bf

It can only be Serena

I’ll admit to not being a hugely knowledgeable tennis fan. I’d like to think I could my own with debates on almost any other sport but I also think we know greatness when we see it, and when Serena Williams finally exits stage left, we’ll all be poorer. What an icon.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/aug/31/serena-williams-beats-anett-kontaveit-us-open-tennis-third-round

RIP to Bill Turnbull

A sad note to end on this week, but I couldn’t finish this without paying tribute to the exceptional Bill Turnbull. A legend of the BBC Breakfast Sofa and a brilliant globetrotter before that, his work on prostate cancer in the last few years did a huge amount for so many and

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-59082523