Sri Lanka v England, 26th March 2011, Colombo

Got it! Sri Lanka's Tharanga becomes his side's second centurion as they easily dispose of England in Colombo

England lose in the quarter finals. Again. After an abject performance where they were outclassed in almost every department, England are eliminated. The players looked tired, the management didn’t seem to know what their best team was, and before long they’ll be jetting back home to Blighty to the inevitable inquiry with everyone, from players, commentators and fans alike wondering how on earth it all went so desperately wrong.

And no this isn’t a delayed reaction to the England football team crashing out of the World Cup last year in South Africa. This was the England Cricket team’s turn to dash a nation’s hopes and dreams!

The defeat to Sri Lanka in the 4^th quarter final of the 2011 World Cup was so savage that by the end of the match, the home team’s opening batsmen were only worried about rotating strike to ensure both of them got centuries before they ran out of runs and, oh yeah, won the game – by a mile!

Conversely England’s footballers beat Wales 2-0. Alanis Morrisette would have loved that.

Sri Lanka bowled 35 over’s of spin. For the duration of this World Cup, it has been evident that spin would win most games, and Sri Lanka knew only too well how rotten most of England’s batsmen are at facing spin. Sure, they can defend it, they can block it, they can “nurdle” it around the park for ones and twos, but they can’t score big against it.

In Kevin Pietersen’s absence, Eoin Morgan is perhaps the only England player who can and although he was dropped several times in his innings, he did well for his 50 off 55 balls. Prior also did well coming in at 7 (Swann at 6; why?) Ironically Prior was the only England bat who scored at better than a run a ball – great decision to bring him in down the order then?

England’s bowling, a couple of half-chances notwithstanding early on, was just ineffective. I wouldn’t say it was poor per se, just impotent. Swann bowled well enough but didn’t get the breakthrough England craved. Even if he had, there was so much batting talent to come that defeat would surely still have followed. Sri Lanka had 4 spinners on their bowling card. England had just 2.

But we’re splitting hairs. England’s whole One Day mindset has been off this winter. The Ashes was the focus, rightly, but no planning was put in for the ODI’s that followed, or this tournament either.

We’ve done the “Crazy to play all those One Dayer’s after the Ashes” debate to death, but it must be a factor, not least because of the injuries that occurred during those 7 matches.

But more obvious than that was the lack of basic planning for the ODI’s in Australia, leading into this World Cup. I think there was an expectation that England would do well-ish in Australia, and a winning team would emerge from the experience, but it didn’t happen that way and as a result, players have been in and out of the team, just trying to stumble upon that winning formula.

Simon Davies, remember him? He opened in the first ODI in Australia. Prior was then called up to the squad with an eye on the World Cup, and replaced Davies at the top of the order, only to then go to the World Cup and himself be demoted to 6 and Pietersen take over instead. Now granted KP did look good up top before injury curtailed his participation, but a lack of a clear plan thought processes can certainly be identified there.

Taking both Tredwell and Yardy, when neither seemed to be that fancied, was curious too. Surely the need for spinners was known in advance of arriving in the sub-continent, so why not take some spinners you’d back from the start? Tredwell was given a go in the do-or-die match against West Indies, got 4 wickets, and was suddenly seen as the missing link in the team. Again, England it was a stroke of luck, rather than a cunning plan.

To win in these conditions, a team needs to take some pace off the ball, like England did so well in the game against South Africa, where Bopara and Pietersen both bowled and helped restrict the Proteas to a low total that led to a good England win.

Whether Strauss will continue as captain after the World Cup, who knows? He looked all at sea in the first few over’s against Sri Lanka, not knowing whether to use his feet and attack, or defend, and it was Dilshan, a part time bowler, that got his wicket. Tactically, he was slow to use spin to open the bowling, and was conservative in the field more often than not.  

It’s impossible though to look back at the winter as a failure. The Ashes were won in Australia and that was a massive achievement. But Test and One Day cricket are mutually exclusive forms of the game and there is no doubt that, whilst we are a good team in Test cricket, we are some way behind in the One Day game. Things will change, investigations will be launched, but can you be successful in all three cricketing codes at the same time?

The next World Cup in 2015 will be played in Australia and New Zealand. Perhaps we can co-inside an Ashes series with that visit and we’ll be better prepared?

Cricket World Cup - Quarter Final Preview

So after 84 group matches filled with intrigue, suspense and drama if you followed England, tedium, boredom and monotony if you watched anyone else, we now know what we pretty much knew way back on 19^th February, essentially the teams that will contest the Cricket World Cup quarter finals.

That may sound patronising to teams such as Bangladesh and Ireland, who gave so much to this World Cup In truth however, the way the competition is structured, it was always going to end up with India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, South Africa, England, Australia, New Zealand and the West Indies contesting the Quarter Finals, and so it has proved.

So who’s in with the best chance of winning the World Cup on 2^nd April 2011? Are England genuine contenders, or are they just a tired beast, waiting to be put out of their misery and put to bed by their mummy after a marathon winter of cricket?

Well let’s have a look shall we?

Pakistan vs West Indies, Wesnesday 23rd March 2011, Mirpur

It’s usually Pakistan struggling to qualify, flattering to deceive and putting their fans through every emotion known to man, the role assumed by England this time around. This time though they have topped their group and have just beaten Australia, as build-ups go, you don’t get better then that.

They have Shahid Afridi, the leading wicket taker of the tournament so far, who has 17 wickets for only 11.47. Their batting hasn’t been as reliable so far, in fact they were bowled out by Canada for just 184, although they did go on to win that game. They also have Kamran Akmal, their wicket keeper who dropped 2 of the simplest catches of the whole World Cup, off Ross Taylor when he was on 4 and 8 respectively. Taylor went on to make a century in a match Pakistan lost. In the knockout stages, mistakes like that could cost them.

West Indies are almost as ragged as England on the other hand. They have the potential to be a top side, with big-hitters like Gayle, Sammy and the humungous Keiron Pollard, and in Kemar Roach they have a genuinely exciting fast bowler, who has 13 wickets at 12.00 so far in the tournament. They also have the chirpiest wicket keeper in the game in Devon Thomas, who is hilarious. A personal favourite of mine in this World Cup!

This should be a straightforward win for Pakistan on the face of it. However, if Chris Gayle, Darren Sammy et al are in the mood, they may just bludgeon the West Indies to victory, but I can’t see it, I think it will be Pakistan who progress.

India vs Australia, Thursday 24^th March 2011, Ahmedabad

India play Australia in front of their home crowd, with the locals convinced this is their year to lift the Cup. There are signs however that the players are beginning to feel the pressure a tad lately. They have been bowled out in their last 2 games, against South Africa in a game they lost, and West Indies, who they went on to beat, and although they have good batters down to Pathan at seven, and even Harbhajan can score a few at 8, India do have a tendency to crumble quickly when wickets start falling.

Their fielding also is lousy, and if they bat first and Australia have half a chance in a run chase, you wonder whether India will be able to halt the flow of runs.

Australia though are not feared in the way they once were. In the bowling department, Brett Lee is starting to show his age and Tait is temperamental at best. Mitchell Johnson I think we covered sufficiently in the Ashes (“He bowls to the left….” Etc!), and Ponting and Clarke have barely scored any runs between them this tournament, so on the face of it, you wouldn’t give the Aussies a chance in India would you?

Well Australia are one team that you never bet against. Their fielding will be sharp and that will save them runs. They will also keep the pressure on India as long as there’s a chance of victory; India will know they’ve been in a game whether they win or lose. For me, I think India will sneak it, but it should be a cracker.

South Africa vs New Zealand, Friday 25^th March 2011, Mirpur

South Africa had a mini-choke against England but otherwise have looked pretty impressive thus far….but that’s half the problem with them usually isn’t it? Flattering to deceive early on, only to crash out in the latter stages. This may be a little too early for them to bow out though; I think they will have too much for New Zealand in this match.

New Zealand just don’t have enough to trouble South Africa; the Saffa’s have an impressive batting line up with particularly De Villiers and Amla shining in the group stages, and their bowlers, particularly Peterson, have produced the goods consistently too.

New Zealand have a few top performances such as Ross Taylor, Brendan McCullum and obviously Daniel Vettori. They also impressively beat Pakistan during the group stages, but I just feel South Africa will have too much for the Kiwi’s.

England vs Sri Lanka, Saturday 26^th March 2011, Colombo

In Sri Lanka. England are going to be destroyed aren’t they?

This game has the highest run scorer in the tournament so far in Kumar Sangakkara, against the 2^nd and 3^rd highest run scorer, in Jonathan Trott and Andrew Strauss. It has one of the greatest spinners of all time, Muttiah Muralitharan, against the best off-spinner in the world right now, Graeme Swann. This promises to be an enthralling encounter.

Although it started well, England’s batting has gone a little down hill since the first few games, coinciding with Kevin Pietersen returning home injured. That said, in their last group game against the West Indies, they had a few good knocks, with JT again scoring well in particular. I personally would like Trott to open with Strauss and drop Prior down to no.6, but I fear its too late for England to change anything that drastically now, so injury permitting I think it’ll be more or less the same team that played against the Windies, a line-up that looked so much better for a second spinner, James Tredwell, being in it.

Sri Lanka have many match winners, with both bat and ball; Malinga, Murali, Jayawardene and Dilshan, and with a home crowd behind them, you would be mad to be against them, but this England side is made of tough stuff. To hold their nerve and tie against India in probably the game of the group stages, to beat South Africa, to rescue a victory against the West Indies when they’d seemingly given the game away showed cricket with balls, and if anyone could cause an upset against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka in this World Cup, it might just be England.  

It’s been a slow burner this World Cup, that’s for sure, but we’re at the business end now, and there are some exciting games to look forward to in the Quarter finals now, so let battle commence.

England vs West Indies, Chennai, 17th March 2011



Thank fook for that - although it would have been nice to go home.....England triumph against West Indies

An Australian chap I follow on twitter claimed today that this Cricket World Cup is boring, and asked “will the quarter finals hurry up?” 

England fans wouldn’t tend to agree with that viewpoint, as their team’s path to the quarters has been anything but dull. Another titanic struggle in Chennai against the West Indies today has all but secured their route to the next round of the competition, but my word it's been close! 

There were times during England’s batting today when it looked as though they were down and out. 151-6 at one stage, with Tredwell and Wright at the crease, you thought a score of under 200 was on the cards, which would have been hugely sub-optimal on a flat wicket like this. 

Thankfully though, Luke Wright came to the party, and scored 44 valuable runs off 57 balls. Bresnan also got 20, and with starts from Strauss, Prior, Trott and Bell, England had just enough to get over the line.

It all went so wrong for England when the West Indies started batting though. 243 all out; a modest total, probably 40 runs shy of a par score, began to be eaten up quickly as first Chris Gayle (43 runs off 21 balls), and then Captain Sammy (41 off 29) set about decimating England’s new look pace attack. Bresnan went for 16 in his first over, only to be replaced by Tremlett, making his first start of the tournament, who went for 18 first up. You could be forgiven for thinking it would be over in 20 over’s as they passed 50-0 in just 5 over’s!

But this isn’t 20/20 cricket, and as the ball softened, and pace was taken off the ball at both ends, England re-grouped and got back into the game. James Tredwell, also making his first start of the tournament picked up the first 3 wickets of the innings, (Gayle, Smith and Bravo) to stop the flow of runs and swing the momentum of the match.

Now, regular readers of this blog may remember that I gave Straussy a 3 point plan to turn England’s fortunes around last time out! One of them was to bring Tredwell into the team as we needed two spinners to compete on these sub-continent tracks, and certainly having Tredwell bowling so well and taking so many wickets (he finished with four), fully vindicated the decision to field 2 spinners.

Another thought was to rest Anderson and play Tremlett. When Big Chris got smashed for 18 off that first over I wondered what Jimmy could have done any better – in truth very little. West Indies are a massively entertaining team, but they are utter bludgeoners! Gayle, Sammy and the enormous Kevin Pollard can hit the ball with such ferocity and at the start of the innings, with the field in close and the ball hard; they can do some serious damage. If you can restrict them early, taking the pace off the ball as England did (eventually) with Swann and Tredwell, then you’re in with a chance.

As has been the way, England’s fielding was a little sketchy, with Bopara putting down a tough chance admittedly off Swann’s bowling – cue the now customary “Swann-scowl”. But Prior was pretty tidy and there were sharp catches by Strauss at slip and Tremlett diving to pouch a top edge off Roach from Swann’s bowling, this was a more England-like performance in the field. 

And so a win, but again it was mighty close. My main worry is that, whilst the Australian’s, Indian’s and South African’s progress neatly to the latter stages of the competition with a pretty settled team, England are no where near so sure of their first 11. Sure, Shahzad’s injury meant he had to be replaced, but the other 2 changes were not enforced. That said, the make up of the side looks far better with two spinners, and Bopara now seems trusted by Strauss to bowl some over’s and pitched in with 2 wickets for 22 runs off 8.4 over’s today, which is very tidy indeed.

I’d still like to see Prior come down the batting order, and the more I see of Trott, the more I think he could open. Prior for me just doesn’t have the control to open an innings, but the way this crazy tournament for England is progressing, these are minor details.

So on we roll to the Quarter finals. There’s definitely a little bit of making-it-up-as-we-go-along to England in this World Cup. We sure were prepared for the Ashes, but this was a tag along we’ve had to navigate with whatever players we’ve had fit at the time, forming plans almost as and when the need arises. Still, it makes for amazingly exciting viewing doesn’t it?

And so to the next round. If we finish in 4th, and Australia beat Pakistan, then it’s a re-run of, err, the 7 pointless One Day fixtures we played against the auld enemy just a couple of months ago. Should have a game plan ready for them, then.

England vs Bangladesh, Chittagong, 11 March 2011

Prior's farcical dismissal set the scene for another enthralling yet ultimately disappointing performance by England

England’s defeat to Bangladesh in Chittagong today means that their World Cup fate is no longer in their own hands, and they could soon be heading home even if they beat the West Indies in their last group game.

Exciting yes, but England’s form in this World Cup has been erratic to say the least. They only just beat the Netherlands, chasing down 292 to win. The tie against India was an incredible match but if we are being ultra-critical, England should have won, had they been able to accelerate towards the end of their innings and during the batting powerplay.

Then came defeat to Ireland and yes, Kevin O’Brien played an incredible knock, but England have quality bowlers who should surely be able to curtail such aggressive batting. Finally the heroic victory against South Africa, heroic only because the batsmen failed so spectacularly to get a decent score and the bowlers somehow managed to save them from certain defeat.

England’s innings against Bangladesh today started badly, with Prior going in near farcical fashion on his return to the top of the order. He fairly fell out of his crease as the Bangladesh wicketkeeper, Mushfiqur Rahim stumped him, only for the wicketkeeper to make doubly sure by replicating the action whilst Prior was still out of his ground to ensure the stumping was successful. Embarrassing. Strauss and Bell followed soon after to similarly soft dismissals.

Morgan has been sorely missed by England thus far in the sub-continent. Along with Trott, he is one of the few top order batsmen England has that can accelerate the run rate when pace is off the ball, and the pair put on a century partnership that one assumed would be sufficient to lead England to victory.

Wrong. England were bowled out, again, with the addition of just 63 more runs after Morgan's wicket had fell. Alarmingly, a batting line up that looked strong and well ordered at the beginning of this tournament, scoring 300+ or so in their first 3 games, now seems in disarray.

When England triumphed in the Ashes earlier this year, each member of the side were well drilled and knew their role in the team. Conversely, in the 5 games England have played here, we’ve seen Bopara in, then out, then in again, ditto Collingwood, who is now bizarrely batting at 8, Yardy is out again, even though surely everyone knew spinners would be essential in Chittagong, and Shahzad, who has probably been our best bowler so far in the tournament has been in and out as well.

The thing England capitalised on most in Australia was that Australia didn’t seem to know their best team. England no longer know their best ODI team, and are getting more muddled by the game.

Sure the Pietersen injury was a blow, but I thought we’d tried Prior as an opener and it hadn’t worked out? Instead, Prior was given another shot when surely Bell should have been given a chance instead?

Jimmy Anderson’s form is also a real concern. He can’t seem to land the ball in the same place 2 balls running at present, and he sent down an abundance of filth today that culminated in 23 wides being bowled. Those 23 runs could have been the difference today.

Bangladesh did play well though. Kayes hit an impressive 60 to set up the victory, only for Bangladesh’s middle order to try and throw it away. A fine 9^th wicket partnership between Mahmudullah and Shafiul Islam finally saw them home, but England contrived to lose this match as much as Bangladesh won it, make no mistake.

England now have only one more game in the group stages, against the West Indies in Chennai next Thursday. It is a potentially vital game for both sides, with the winner taking the final place in the quarter finals. That said, it may be irrelevant, as England may already be out by then.

Before that game, England need to address a few things:

First: Prior cannot open. Put Trott in there if you don’t think Bell can do it, but Prior is a non-starter. He doesn’t have the concentration to open.

Second: We need more than one spinner if we’re to have any hope in this tournament. If Yardy is out of the question, and with KP’s part-time off-spin back home, Tredwell has to be given a chance.

Third: Jimmy needs a rest. 3 round trips to Australia over the winter, a new baby, they guy looks empty, angry, and like he’s had enough. Give Tremlett a go.

Ah, maybe it’s too late already. We came here looking like we were making it up as we went along, and so it still seems now, a far cry from the Ashes.

Get over it already! Ok I will!!

England v South Africa, March 6th, Chennai

England secure dramatic victory over South Africa, having flopped with the bat in the first innings.

Bottle. A strange, ambiguous, slightly mythical commodity in sport, that champions have and wannabe's strive for. Normally for example we hear about how much bottle Manchester United have in the football. Today they lost 3-0 to Liverpool.

Who can doubt Tiger Woods is a golfer with tremendous bottle, yet he's a man who hasn't won a major for almost 2 years since he was outed as a serial, Er, love maker, so perhaps his bottle left him at the same time his wife decided to walk out and call time on their marriage?

Then there's those you wonder whether they have any bottle at all: Colin Montgomery, Andy Murray, and Newcastle United in the mid 1990's to mention just a few familiar failures.

South Africa's team are often put into that category, great potential but not quite the stomach for the battle. Today they produced one of those performances that threatened to dispel the myth, but which ultimately only served to compound it further. True it was a tough wicket to score on, and it seemed to get harder the longer the game went on, but when England posted 171 all out in their innings, you felt South Africa only had to bat sensibly to secure victory.

It started so badly for England. Graeme Smith had a masterstroke and gave the ball to off-spinner Peterson to open up the bowling and in his first over he had Pietersen and Strauss marching back to the pavilion almost as quickly as they'd arrived out to the middle. 3/2 after one over was not the way it was meant to start for England who, despite some pretty poor displays in the field have been pretty good with the bat thus far in the World Cup. When Bell went at 15/3, you feared an avalanche of wickets and a battering for England.

But Jonathan Trott, Mr consistency, got another half century and the recalled Ravi Bopara hit 60 to give England something, albeit not very much, to bowl at.

Now given that England's seamers haven't seemed to know the meaning of terms like "line" and "length" up till now in the World Cup, defending so few runs didn't seem possible at half time, but when Graeme Swann stepped up and took South Africa captain Smiths' wicket, followed by Broad taking Amla soon after, it was suddenly game on.

This England team has been anything but dull in this World Cup. Every game so far has gone to the wire, tying with India and losing to Ireland in such dramatic fashion, and when 3 wickets tumbled in Chennai with the score on 124, you felt maybe, just maybe, this game was still alive.

In tight moments like this, bottle comes to the fore. Against Ireland, after Kevin O'Brien's innings and with about 50 runs for Ireland to get to secure victory, you could see in England's players faces they weren't going to do it. The game was lost already. The players looked stunned, embarrassed, and like they wanted to get the hell away from the Paddy's before the humiliation killed them. They lost their bottle

I'm not sure the Saffa's looked quite so scared here, but you definitely felt the momentum was with the English with South Africa 7 wickets down. Steyn and van Wyk then put on 30 for South Africa's 8th wicket, and needed only 11 more runs to win, you kinda felt the Saffa's could manage it.

Not so much.

Up stepped Bresnan to take van Wyk, the 8th wicket, shortly followed by Stuart Broad, who claimed 2 wickets in 3 balls to complete victory.

A superb victory for England and much needed after the loss against Ireland. England were sharp in the field, Strauss played a blinder rotating his bowlers - he bowled Pietersen for 8 overs who did well, keeping the run rate low, and also brought Bresnan on later on who got a wicket at a vital time.

And the news today is that Pietersen will play no further part in the competition which is a blow to England on two fronts because not only has he forged a good opening partnership with Andrew Strauss, his off spin would have been handy on slow wickets like this going forward in the tournament. That said, Eoin Morgan returning gives the side a finisher, which they are sorely missing at the moment, and perhaps now Bopara will be shown the faith to contribute with he ball as well as the bat, as his medium pacers could be effective in the same way Collingwood's used to be for his country, so Pietersen's withdrawal shouldn't cause too much disruption. I would personally promote Bell to open the batting with Strauss as well.

For South Africa, well to say they choked it would be easy. They have a long tail and left them with too much to do with the bat, and they couldn't quite manage it. Was it a lack of bottle? When Smith/Amla/De Villiers got out, did they really think their team would struggle to reach 170? They did well to restrict England to 170 and they were only 6 runs short in the end. But these are the margins between victory and failure sometimes, and having that little extra belief perhaps would have seen them home. Or perhaps they were slightly complacent, assuming the next man in would do the business? Whatever, they won't win this World Cup crumbling to defeat like they did here (not that England have exhibited much more thus far in the tournament....)

Champions seem to win these games,  so bottled? Choked? Well, maybe.

The Premier League and Chelsea WIN!

Last night saw a spectacular match involving Chelsea and Manchester United, with Champions Chelsea coming from behind to triumph 2-1, thanks to goals from David Luiz and Frank Lampard.



The whole country cast an eye over last nights match at Stamford Bridge, but what about the FA Cup?

It was an enthralling game that had everything; goals, saves, a red card given that should have been, a red card not given that should have been, a penalty given that shouldn’t have been and a penalty not given that should have been. Oh, and Ryan Giggs equalled Bobby Charlton’s record of 606 league appearances for Manchester United.

We had rhetoric after the game about how this was “the best league in the world”, how David Luiz’s performance, however flawed or rough around the edges, made him one of the “best central defenders in the world”, hell, I even started thinking I was one of the best fans in the world just for watching the game. It was awe-inspiring….!

Up in Merseyside however, in front of a reasonable crowd admittedly of 29,976, Everton crashed out of the FA Cup to Championship side Reading.

A game with few chances or controversy, seemingly, it was more a case of an insipid display by the home side that gave the away side a chance, which they took. Reading go on to play either Manchester City or Aston Villa, a 5^th round tie that will finally be played tonight, on the same night as a 5^th round replay.

The FA Cup’s schedule has been all over the show this season, with 4^th round games being played on the same day the 5^th round commenced, and as with City and Villa a 5^th game being played on the same day as a 5^th round replay. Sure weather ravaged the schedule earlier on in the 3^rd round in particular, but it also underlines what a low priority the FA Cup now has in English Football’s agenda.

Little over 5000 people saw the 3rd round tie between Wigan and Hull this year

The Premier League runs elite English football. That was something that was discussed at length after the World Cup in 2010. However,  not only is the international team struggling in English football’s modern landscape, but our proudest cup competition, the FA Cup is also perishing, being badly attended and virtually forgotten about by clubs, TV producers and newspapers alike.

So what’s the reason for it? Well I believe Sky have a part to play here. They own the lion’s share of England’s domestic football viewing market, and they largely set the agenda. Remember also that the same company that part-owns Sky, News Corporation, also owns the Sun, Times and News of the World Newspapers. As a result, not only are News Corp part responsible for the broadcasting of almost all the live action from the Premier League, they can also wax lyrical about how great or otherwise it was in their papers the next day.

It’s the perfect media partner for the Premier League. Sky pay colossal sums of money to get the viewing rights of Premier League matches, which the Premier League can then pass on to their clubs to keep improving their standards, by pumping more and more money into the transfer market to buy new players.

It’s a two way relationship, because Sky, and equally News Corp can then sell their coverage to their millions of Sky subscribers, and sell further coverage in their newspapers to boot. Football seems such a vast and complex business, but when you break it down it’s really all about Sky and the Premier League.

So what can be done to save the FA Cup, and does it actually need saving?

What I would propose is to introduce Seedings to the competition, so that once the 3^rd round is drawn; you automatically get Premier League teams against minnows. I think this would heighten interest across all games and should lead to higher attendances then the 7000 at Wigan v Bolton for example. It would also give the Premier League clubs the incentive that they could get quite far in the competition, providing they avoid any slip ups.

Secondly, I would award the 4^th Champions League place to the FA Cup winners. I don’t disagree with 4^th place in the League getting into the Champions League per se, but it would definitely provide much more gravitas to the FA Cup, if its victor would qualify for Europe’s elite competition. It would also mean teams throughout the leagues in English football could potentially qualify for Champions League action, and what’s wrong with that? They would be, after all, a champion of a competition.

But perhaps the answer is simpler. Perhaps Sky should take on the broadcasting of the FA Cup? I know the competition is considered Heritage in England, but so were the home Cricket test matches, and they have since gone to Sky and the success of the English Cricket team of late should show you that for all the hyperbole that accompanies their coverage, Sky do get games and competitions talked about – it’s not so much that the FA Cup is dull, it’s just that everyone forgets it’s on until the semi-finals.

India vs England – Bangalore, 27th February 2011

Planes Trains and Automobiles: A great film. But planes and other such transportation can’t half get in the way of good sporting drama!

A few weeks ago I missed Wayne Rooney’s wonder goal against Manchester City as I sat, without signal, on a train from Southampton to London.

On Sunday, I boarded a flight from Jersey to Southampton as thousands of miles away in Bangalore, England were batting their way into a winning position against India in the World Cup group game, only to end up drawing a superb contest as I drove home from the Airport. Damn I need to plan my travel better in future!

Little Master crafting his magic

Before the flight, I had watched as India, and in particular Sachin Tendulkar, had batted nicely and accumulated a decent total. They ended up all out for 338, which actually seemed a little light, given the fact they lost a number of wickets late on, a total closer to 360 may have been on for them if they’d been a little more savvy late on.

Tendulkar played another showcase innings which underlined yet again why he is one of the best technical batsmen of all time. His placement, timing and body shape when he hits the ball are all of the highest order, but if there is one criticism on Tendulkar it would be that he seems more worried about his own score rather than the teams’ position in the match, because India could really have done with him going on and getting a few more runs in the first innings here, like Strauss went on to do for England.



Main Man? Bresnan in top form

Bresnan bowled beautifully for England, as did Swann and Yardy, who more than justified his inclusion in the team at the expense of the unlucky Ravi Bopara. England looked more balanced with a second spinner and it meant more importantly that Kevin Pietersen didn’t get the chance to turn his arm over!

There’s no doubt Bresnan is a huge part of this team though, he offers a decent option with the bat, and is a genuine strike bowler as well now, making him an integral part of this One Day team.

The same can’t be said for England’s premier fast bowler, Jimmy Anderson. He looks really short of confidence, stamina, and of ideas’ at the moment, which is unbelievable considering how good he looked in Australia recently.

That said, the boy has been back and forth from Oz 3 times during the tour Down Under to be at the birth of his daughter, so it’s little wonder he looks jaded. He just isn’t bowling “clever” to get wickets or to keep things tight, so perhaps a break, maybe against Ireland on Wednesday, when Stuart Broad could come back into the team in his place, bowels permitting, would do him good?

Broad may offer a better option in the sub-continent then Anderson anyway, with his height and bounce useful on these dry, lifeless wickets, as well as better batting ability, so it may come down to a straight choice between what was the first choice pairing at the start of the Ashes. How times change.



Massive forearms...Struass was hitting big in Bangalore

Batting wise, Struassy’s knock was superb. Seldom have I seen him run down the wicket looking to hit bowlers over the top as much as he did in this innings, although that said, the Indian fielders in the deep are so slow, perhaps it was a calculated risk worth taking?

The Captain will be disappointed therefore that the rest of the team couldn’t get the team over the line after his wicket fell. Similar to India, there was a succession of wickets and in the end, if it hadn’t been for Swann, Bresnan and Shahzad, England could have lost a game they looked destined to win.

I thought it was interesting what Ian Bell said after the game, that previous England teams may have struggled to reach that total, and I think he’s right. Scoreboard pressure did phase England in the past, but this team is made of sterner stuff.

It showed good resolve for Swann, Bresnan and Shahzad to grind out the draw in the end, but with 10 overs to go victory was there for the taking against India, one of the favourites in the tournament, and that would have been a huge boost for the team to beat them.

England don’t appear to have quite reclaimed that ruthless streak they had throughout the Ashes, which went missing before the ODI’s out there started. They will need to rediscover that if they are going to progress into the latter stages of this competition.

However, there’s still time in the group stages to perfect that you feel.