1. Aside from football, sport in Britain is still a game for the elite (Guardian)
Britain alone expects privilege-perpetuating schools to take sole responsibility for developing young sporting talent, writes Peter Wilby.
2. Praise to the man who beat about Mr Bush (Times) (£)
Gore Vidal dazzled in his early novels and essays, but gradually turned into a mildly unhinged isolationist, writes David Aaronovitch.
3. Fantasies of power in muddle-along India (Financial Times)
Behind political desperation lies institutional decline, writes Ramachandra Guha.
4. Let the Games inspire us to a new vision for all schools (Independent)
State schools may lack the facilities and length of day but why accept the status quo, asks Anthony Seldon.
5. Gore Vidal: Sharpest tongue in the west (Daily Mail)
Gore Vidal was entitled to claim that he was the wittiest and most elegant writer of his time, says Roy Hattersley.
6. Don't laugh, politicians deserve pity not ridicule (Independent)
There is no call for satire when leaders dance around a cluttered stage, head in hands, caught in darkly absurd situations, says Steve Richards.
7. A revolution on the wards that could heal our public services (Daily Telegraph)
One Cambridge hospital shows what can be achieved by ending the curse of state monopolies, argues Sean Worth.
8. Euro crisis: holding out for Super Mario (Guardian)
The expectations that have been heaped on the head of the European Central Bank are so outsize that it is impossible for any official to meet them, says a Guardian editorial.
9. No one would be cheering for Team Europe (Daily Telegraph)
The patriotic emotions stirred up by the Olympics are the basis of real democracy, argues Daniel Hannan.
10. The new environmentalism: where men must act 'as gods' to save the planet (Guardian)
For the neogreens, science and business will provide while nature can adapt, writes Paul Kingsnorth. It is a messsage gaining traction.