In a week when the British & Irish Lions won the first test against South Africa, “pinging” has dominated the news agenda, a YouGov study found that one in five Americans believe Covid-19 vaccines are ‘microchipped’ and many popular websites fell offline in a widespread global outage of service, The Weekly has again done its upmost to condense the news from the last seven days into five short quiz questions to brighten your Sunday morning.
Questions:
1. Since starting in 1844, the game of cricket has evolved markedly. This week saw the launch of the next chapter in the sport’s evolution, with the start of The Hundred. There is no question it is divisive. For some, it is just not cricket. For the ECB, on the other hand, the competition is seen as an essential part of its plan to grow the game. And to be fair, they seem to have thrown the kitchen sink at it to ensure that cricket remains a fixture on the British sporting landscape. Only time will tell whether they succeed. The early signs though are encouraging, with a crowd of 7,395 in attendance at the Oval on Wednesday, breaking the modern-day record for a domestic women's match. Big hitting is the name of the game. Sixes galore…right from the off. In the 144 years of Test cricket only one cricketer has ever hit a six off the first ball of a Test match. Can you name him?
2. The postponed Tokyo Olympics are now officially underway. Japan has had a long association with the Olympics, having hosted the Summer Games in 1964 as well as two Winter Games (in 1972 and 1998) prior to this year’s events. To promote sustainability, this year’s organisers are repurposing several of the venues used back in 1964. Moreover, ahead of the Games, people in Japan were asked to donate their disused electronic devices, such as mobile phones, to contribute to the production of the 5,000 Olympic and Paralympic medals. The drive spanned two years, resulting in approximately 78,985 tonnes of devices being collected. How many used mobile phones were collected?
3. It was announced on Wednesday that the number of homes changing hands in the UK rose to the highest level on record in June (213,120 sales), some 216% higher than the same month last year. The flurry of activity before the end of lower stamp duty rates in England, Wales and Northern Ireland made for the busiest month since the figures were first published in April 2005. The strong housing market, coupled with robust demand for land and a lack of immediate sites also saw UK greenfield and urban land values increase by 1.7% and 1.8% in Q2 2021 respectively, marking the strongest growth in greenfield land values since 2014. Tempering the residential market, however, are rising build costs and the shortage of some materials. According to the BCIS Materials Cost Index, material prices have increased by what percentage in the year to Q1 2021?
4. Savills’ Market in Minutes publication released on Thursday made for an encouraging read. Total commercial property investment volumes for the year stand at £25.7bn, exceeding H1 2020 volumes by 15% and H1 2019 by 10%.
Given the momentum in both the office and industrial markets, it is now expected that the total volume for 2021 will exceed last year’s total of £50bn. In terms of pricing, the Savills average prime yield has moved in to 5.14%, with all sectors remaining static in June aside from West End Offices, where the prime yield now stands at 3.25%, a level not seen since October 2018. Cumulative office investment volumes in the West End for the first half of 2021 reached £1.55bn by way of forty-one transactions. What percentage was done by UK investors?
5. With today being ‘National Wine and Cheese Day’, it feels entirely appropriate to end this week’s quiz with (another) question about wine. Last Sunday a single bottle of Penfolds Grange 1951 became the most expensive bottle of Australian wine ever sold. The bottle was sold to a Sydney-based wine collector, but, for how much?
Enjoy your Sunday.
The Weekly
Answers:
1. Chris Gayle for the West Indies. He achieved this feat against Bangladesh in 2012.
2. 6.21 million phones.
3. 5.6% and forecast to increase by 7.2% in the year to Q2 2021.
4. 41%, the highest percentage by any nationality.
5. A$142,131 (£76,275). However, to put this in perspective, in October 2018, a bottle of 1945 Romanee-Conti, a red Burgundy, sold for £424,000, making it the most expensive bottle of wine ever sold.