The Week in Review: Sport

ALTHOUGH Ian Botham retired from the first-class game, elsewhere it was cricketing business as usual. That meant Graham Gooch had little to celebrate on the field on his 40th birthday. The day before, the England captain's hopes of winning the Ashes all but turned to dust at Headingley as the Tasmanian David Boon hit a century on the first day of the fourth Test, helping Australia to a convincing total in their first innings.

England's women cruised past Denmark in the women's cricket World Cup. However, their next opponents, New Zealand, were more accomplished. A 25-run defeat left England having to beat the favourites, Australia, to entertain winning a place in the final.

As the cyclists in the Tour de France tackled the mountains, the anticipated attacks on Miguel Indurain by Claudio Chiappucci, the King of the Mountains in the previous two years, failed to materialise. Indurain's grip on his third succesive title tightened, while Tony Rominger consolidated his position as the likely King of the Mountains. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov was virtually assured of the points leader's green jersey when Laurent Jalabert withdrew.