James Milton: Cherish our summer sporting traditions – Royal Ascot, Wimbledon and West Ham's search for a striker

Summer has arrived in the northern hemisphere, heralded by the first rain-affected one-day international of the English cricket season.

Tuesday's ODI at The Oval was a quintessentially British occasion – delayed by traffic chaos near the ground, disrupted by bad weather and decided on the DLS method.

England's soggy success against the West Indies felt like the spiritual start of the summer, with Royal Ascot, Wimbledon and the Open Championship among the traditional highlights.

This year, some less storied sporting events may also take root on the summer calendar.

South Africa face Australia in next week's World Test Championship final at Lord's and the Proteas have struck an early blow in the banter battle.

The Aussies assumed they had seen the last of Stuart Broad when he retired in 2023 after taking a record 153 Test wickets against the old enemy.

However, the former England paceman has been appointed as a short-term 'consultant' for South Africa, no doubt spending ten per cent of his time dispensing technical bowling advice and the rest of it explaining how to wind up the opposition.   

Perhaps you're stoking the fire pit, erecting the gazebo, powering up the floodlights and inviting the neighbours over for a series of Club World Cup-themed garden parties.

My street's WhatsApp group is abuzz with plans to hire a big screen for the Botafogo-Seattle Sounders clash, which kicks off a week on Monday. At 3am.

Of course, one enduring tradition of the sporting summer is monitoring West Ham's fruitless pursuit of a half-decent striker. 

Graham Potter is the latest Hammers boss hoping to banish the apparent curse preventing the club from finding a reliable goalscorer since the mid-1980s.

West Ham have not had a prolific top-flight striker since the days of Tony Cottee (right) and Frank McAvennieCredit: Getty Images

Tony Cottee, in 1986-87, was the last West Ham player to score 20 top-flight goals while Jarrod Bowen (13) and Tomas Soucek (nine) were the only ones who managed more than five goals in 2024-25.

Germany striker Niclas Fullkrug, who arrived from Borussia Dortmund last summer, found the net three times in six Premier League starts and 12 substitute appearances during an injury-hit campaign.

Fullkrug's most memorable contribution was a fiery interview after April's draw with bottom club Southampton in which he declared he was "very, very angry that we played like this".

Hammers fans share his frustration as the club's owners have tried out more than 50 forwards over the past 15 years, spending over £300m.

Even Michail Antonio, West Ham's record Premier League goalscorer, was a serendipitous success after starting his career in east London as a right-back.

England winger Bowen, like Marko Arnautovic in the David Moyes era, has been pressed into service as a centre-forward at times.

Big-money signings Fullkrug, Sebastien Haller and Gianluca Scamacca failed to solve the club's striking conundrum and Evan Ferguson's January loan move from Brighton yielded just 152 minutes of league action and no goals. 

West Ham do not have to look far for a shining example of how to recruit and develop attacking talents.

On the other side of London, Brentford not only had a 20-goal forward – Bryan Mbeumo – but also a 19-goal marksman in Yoane Wissa.

Both were signed for modest fees from Troyes and Lorient and Thomas Tuchel's latest England squad includes Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney – two forwards who starred for the Bees in the Championship.

Elsewhere in the Premier League, Chris Wood scored 20 goals for Nottingham Forest and Liam Delap, a £15m signing for relegated Ipswich, struck 12 times and earned a move to Chelsea.  

Matheus Cunha and Jorgen Strand Larsen racked up 29 goals in 59 starts between them for Wolves, one of the six clubs who finished below West Ham.

Newcastle ended their 70-year wait for silverware this year and Crystal Palace lifted their first major trophy in 119 years so perhaps this summer's transfer window will finally deliver a successful striker for the Hammers.

The early mood music is not hugely uplifting, though. Highly rated Celtic teenager Daniel Cummings is set to become a West Ham player on July 1 but other reported targets are Davie Selke, a 30-year-old who helped Hamburg win Bundesliga 2 promotion, and Aleksandar Mitrovic, who has spent the last two years in the Saudi Pro League.

West Ham's epic quest for their one true striker – let's call it 'Lord Of The Ings' – looks set to continue and Cottee's record may be safe for at least another year.

Read more from James:

Fearless full-backs could take centre stage in Champions League final 

Brilliant French forwards look a smart investment amid global financial chaos 

Why Jose Mourinho should stop ranting about referees and find his inner peace 

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