When the Sky contract ends coverage would have to return to free-to-air television

When the Sky contract ends, coverage would have to return to free-to-air television.. The Confederation of British Industry warned that as many as 14 per cent of absences may be down to the cricket. For much of the day, it hung just 400ft above the wicket, dimming Australian hopes of victory, but lighting up the spirits of England’s fans.The forecast for today is that while the cloud will hang around overnight, it will give way to clearer skies and afternoon sunshine. A full day’s play looks highly likely – bailing out the cricket authorities whose late scheduling of this Test series to make way for the “sexier” one-day game almost backfired disastrously.For those not among the lucky handful with a ticket, bosses are being urged to allow staff to follow the drama as it unfolds on the internet and on televisions. A weather system over France sent a 4,000ft-deep bank of cloud drifting across London.

Then, as that artful magician Shane Warne sneaked a wicket in his first over, ratcheting up the tension yet another unbearable notch, the September gloom descended on south London.For the 23,000 fans who had paid handsomely for the pleasure of being at the Oval, there was only one response.The two umpires consulted their light meters with the solemnity of Moses examining the tablets of stone at Mount Sinai and offered England the chance to sit out the rest of the day in the dressing room They accepted. William Hill is offering 14/1 for an England win in this Test – although given the weather a drawn match is by far the most likely outcome.According to the Meteorological Office, an even older foe than Australia provided the unlikely ally that has brought England to the brink of victory. The crowd cheered.Thanks to Flintoff’s valiant efforts and the autumnal weather, the bookies now have England at 1/12 to win the series – not bad for a team that plummeted to 10/1 after losing the first Test at Lord’s. In return, they design a small collection for Topshop, sold exclusively in its Oxford Circus store, and are paid, according to perceived status. These range from the more established – Sophia Kokosalaki, responsible for dressing the opening and closing ceremonies of last summer’s Athens Olympics – to up and coming names including Jonathan Saunders, Peter Jensen and Emma Cook. The store benefited from the kudos of high fashion names, and cash-strapped designers received the vital financial backing necessary to produce and show their main lines.

Today, Topshop has cornered the market where harnessing new talent is concerned. Often the names have barely left fashion college, and Topshop’s support can mean the difference between having a business or not. With this in mind, as well as the London Fashion Week catwalk show and after-show party – at Home House, incidentally, the exclusive private members club frequented by, among others, Madonna – Topshop is now responsible for sponsoring upwards of 25 of London’s young designers and to varying degrees. It was Debenhams, in the mid-Nineties, that took this process one step further, successfully introducing the Designers For Debenhams range which entailed some of British fashion’s leading lights creating more reasonably priced capsule collections This worked two ways.