Roger Alton

Roger Alton is an executive editor at The Times. He writes the Spectator Sport column.

Farewell to rugby’s King John

10 February 2024 9:00 am

My sporting questions for 2024

16 December 2023 9:00 am

English cricket doesn’t travel well

11 November 2023 9:00 am

It’s a tricky old time for cricket. The collapse of England’s World Cup white-ballers – and how they have managed…

It’s a blessing that England didn’t make the rugby World Cup final

28 October 2023 9:00 am

In the days when Spitting Image was funny it featured a song called ‘I’ve Never Met A Nice South African’.…

Simone Biles is in a league of her own

14 October 2023 9:00 am

Has there ever been an athlete, male or female, quite like Simone Biles, the greatest gymnast of all time? She…

Will the US catch the birdie at the Ryder Cup?

30 September 2023 9:00 am

At last the Ryder Cup is here – well, in Rome – and with it Europe’s biennial chance to stick…

The man who won’t go away

16 September 2023 9:00 am

‘What are you still doing here?’ joked Daniil Medvedev to Novak Djokovic after their US Open tennis final – a…

England need to look alive to have a shot at the Rugby World Cup

2 September 2023 9:00 am

So the end is near… or it certainly will be soon if England’s rugby players carry on trying to do…

England’s rugby World Cup has disaster written all over it

19 August 2023 9:00 am

England’s preparation for the upcoming rugby World Cup is beginning to look like a slow-motion car crash, after two pathetic…

Stuart Broad would make a great politician

5 August 2023 9:00 am

And they said Test cricket was in its death throes! This epic, attention-grabbing, emotion-wringing Ashes series ended in the last…

Cricket, tennis and the Women’s World Cup: what a summer

22 July 2023 9:00 am

Great sport needs great rivalries, and that is why anyone with a pulse must celebrate being in the throes of…

If you thought Lord’s was rowdy, get ready for Leeds

8 July 2023 9:00 am

Shouldn’t we all just calm down a bit after Lord’s? Once prime ministers decide to intervene, you know things have…

Why we all need an Ollie Robinson

24 June 2023 9:00 am

It’s a long way from Edgbaston to Karachi, but that’s where my thoughts were turning after Australia’s last-gasp victory in…

Football bosses must carry the can for players’ bad behaviour

10 June 2023 9:00 am

If you couldn’t watch the Europa League final between Sevilla and Roma, then you should count yourself fortunate. It was…

Is Uefa just useless – or is it worse than that?

27 May 2023 9:00 am

It’s not clear how many readers of this journal will be affected, but anyone planning a stag weekend in Prague…

The parallels between Anna Kournikova and Emma Raducanu

13 May 2023 9:00 am

Who can turn lying on a hospital gurney into a photo op? Emma Raducanu can, of course – beaming as…

Harry Kane is many things – but he’s not a leader

29 April 2023 9:00 am

What’s not to love about David de Gea? Manchester United’s goalkeeper might appear to have it all: a humongous salary,…

Football’s growing shame

15 April 2023 9:00 am

It would take a brave man to pick a fight with Roy Keane, and nobody could quarrel with his view…