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It’s not often that I binge on sport although I couldn’t resist the smorgasbord currently on our screens. World cups and every other sporting clash in between.

At first I felt a little guilty watching during traditional working hours, but immediately reminded myself that the thought was more a function of my age … besides, let me see what I can learn.

Football: I didn’t think I would enjoy watching women’s football, actually got there by accident but within three minutes I sensed something was different – it got my attention.

The good skills and competitive free-flowing spirit of play was refreshing as they didn’t spend an inordinate amount of time rolling on the pitch trying to fake injury.

Low pain thresholds and amateurish acting punctuate the men’s game; they can learn from their female counterparts – but will they?

Well done Spain on winning the world cup, although I was disappointed that the Lionesses didn’t get to hold it. In hindsight it was written in the stars as the repercussion caused by that infamous kiss is helping to accelerate the progress of women’s football.

Cricket: It wasn’t long into watching one of the Proteas men vs Australia cricket matches when I was reminded that psychological safety prevails wherever humans interact, even commentators are not immune to it.

A novice (not that I am an expert) wouldn’t have noticed the nuanced commentary particularly with a couple of incidents in the Durban match. The first was a mistake which led to a Protea top order batsman run-out and despite the body language screaming what was patently obvious, no mention was made of the possible reasons why the ‘guilty’ party had erred – a useful learning opportunity wasted for viewers.

The other instance was when Australia’s bowling pitch map was shown, highlighting accuracy, which was duly acclaimed by the commentary team. By comparison the Protea bowling pitch map was clearly ‘wayward’, to which the quick-thinking commentator mentioned they had adopted a different approach to their opponents!

It is sad that one cannot candidly talk about Protea cricket. Despite significant strides having been made I long for the day when the white noise surrounding its environment is no more. Ask the players, it’s difficult enough trying to perform without it.

Thankfully I don’t have to play the political game.

I am the author of Leading Self and Others (how to make a difference where you are with what you’ve got) and Teaming with ideas (life lessons in teams- from business, sport and parkrun). You can contact me here.