The Gardeners' World Blog

The season already feels like it’s several months old. The November-like weather (in London at least) may have something to do with it, or perhaps it's just that the games are coming thick and fast.

Full league programmes at the weekends, Premier League fixtures last midweek and internationals this Wednesday just gone.

I likened pre-season friendlies to listening to opera singers gargle the other week, and while no game between England and Germany is ever meaningless, the only really important result this midweek was the one which took Northern Ireland back into a Euro 2008 qualifying position.

I know it's been a lousy summer, but you can bet the sun will be shining at 1500 BST on Saturday - in North London at least.

That's because it's Challenge Cup final day back, after an eight-year gap, at its spiritual home - Wembley. And any rugby league fan will tell you the sun always shines on this day, well ever since the famous "Water splash" final of 1968 anyway.

Forget the cost, forget that it's still a mess outside, forget that there's no parking, forget that it's seven quid for fish and chips, the north will descend on this hallowed venue with a communal smile to walk up Wembley Way, raise voices for "Abide With Me" and cheer the homespun heroes of the world's greatest game for 80 minutes that will not disappoint.

New York, LA, London, Moscow, Sydney…Over the next three months, David Beckham is embarking on a world tour which Posh and the rest of the Spice Girls would be proud of.

Take the middle of October for example: four crucial games in nine days, travelling across 20 time zones, more than 24 hours in the air and barely the chance to draw breath - let alone recover - in between.

Beckham is going to be doing more flying than Superman. And the fear for Steve McClaren and England is that American soccer’s newest super hero is heading for a fall.

Is it really tenable for a 32-year-old to play in Minnesota, then London, then Moscow and 33 hours later back in Los Angeles - all in the space of nine days (October 10th to 18th)?