News

Today, Monday 23rd April, is a special day for England in more way than one. Not only is it the day of the country's patron saint- St. George, but it also marks William Shakespeare's birthday. With national excitement already growing for the summer's Olympics, there are a number of events happening to commemorate Shakespeare and St. George as part of the Cultural Olympiad.

St George's Day

St. George is the patron saint of a number of different countries, including Russia, Bulgaria, Egypt, India, Greece and Portugal amongst many others. Each year on the 23rd April, they all celebrate St. George's Day. According to tradition, St. George was a Roman soldier in the third century AD. According to legend he killed a dragon to rescue a princess, and in doing so he converted the grateful town's inhabitants to Christians.

As part of our Cricket Fortnight, we are releasing a number of blog posts about the great English sport. Cricket is one of the most the most misunderstood sports in the world, with a set of rules so complicated even experts struggle. However, the basics are not all that difficult to understand. We have created this basic guide to the rules of cricket for anyone who says it is too complicated to understand.

Don't forget to also enter our brilliant competition for your chance to win four tickets to watch the England cricket team play at Lord's. Enter here.

As you may have heard, the Olympics are being held in London this year, and today marks the start of the 100-day countdown. As the day of the London 2012 opening ceremony draws nearer and nearer, we look at today's events celebrating the landmark.

Perhaps the most important news to come out today is the revealing of the official London 2012 slogan. And the slogan is...(drum roll please)... "Inspire a generation". Head of the organising committee Lord Seb Coe explained that the typically dull slogan "should come as no surprise as it is the heartbeat and DNA of the London Games".

Oxford University is the latest high profile voice to condemn the changes in visa regulations, whilst welcoming Indian students to continue applying. With changes making it harder to gain a post-study work visa, Oxford Vice-Chancellor Andrew Hamilton wanted to urge potential students form India not to be put off.

The new regulations kicked-in at the start of April, meaning that only a handful of international students will be able stay on and work after their studies in the UK. Since these changes were announced last year, there have been figures from throughout higher education criticising them.

"Confusing and Off-Putting"

Most recently, speaking to the BBC Asian Network, a number of Oxford students, graduates and professors all questioned the motives and effectiveness of the new visa regulations. There are more than 350 Indian students at Oxford University, making them the sixth largest group of overseas students studying there. University heads want to maintain this popularity amongst Indians.

England cricket team players Alastair Cook and Tim Bresnan have both been included on the prestigious list of Wisden's five cricketers of the year. The pair both excelled as part of the England team that took top spot in the world rankings in 2011.

The Five Cricketers of the Year have been chosen annually by the editor of Wisden (a cricketing magazine and almanack) ever since 1889. The list includes the players who have had the biggest impact on English cricket in the previous 12 months, though no-one can be chosen more than once.

The Winners

Alastair Cook is England's opening batsman and scored 927 runs in 10 Test matches- all of which England won, in the last year. Similarly, Tim Bresnan took 21 wickets and chipped in with some invaluable runs throughout the year.

The other three players named on the list were Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakkara, Lancashire county captain Glen Chapple and Worcestershire county bowler Alan Richardson. Sangakkara made an amazing 2,267 international runs last year (including a century in England), Chapple lead his team to their first County Championship in 77 years, and Richardson was leading wicket taker in the competition with 73 wickets.