Published Date:
09 June 2009
"All credit to the Netherlands, they were better than us on the day."
It is the kind of response to a defeat you may expect from a football side, possibly a cycling team or competitors at a speed skating championships.
But this was the England cricket captain Paul Collingwood talking after Friday's humiliating World Twenty20 defeat to the Dutch at the home of the game, Lord's.
England have since gone on to redeem themselves with a crushing victory over Pakistan to make it through to the 'Super Eights'.
But it was all looking rather less than super when Stuart Broad tried to throw down the wickets after bowling the final ball of the game and giving Holland the overthrow they needed for victory.
The game proved two things:
Firstly, if you take any opposition for granted you could come a cropper.
And secondly, even professionals can panic when the pressure is on.
I had spent all afternoon at my children's primary school helping get the cricket team ready to play in a tournament.
And one of the big things I wanted to get across was that they should not be panicked into throwing the ball wildly at the stumps when it may cost more runs than it saves.
Surely someone had told Broad that at some time during his cricketing education.
Australia football captain Lucas Neill believes the 'Socceroos' are ready to become a genuine power in the sport after they qualified for their second successive World Cup.
It might be regarded as an impressive a feat the in some parts of the footballing community, but it is difficult to take his thoughts seriously.
In the past, the Aussies have just had to make sure they were better than New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and American Samoa to be within a game of getting to the finals.
This time it was a goalless draw with that other football powerhouse Qatar that clinched their place in South Africa.
Australia may be a big fish in Oceania and Asia, but world power?
I don't think so.
'Ferdinand out of Andorra contest' was hardly the kind of headline to send shockwaves through England's football fans.
Andorra are ranked 196th in the world and have not won a single point in qualification.
I am not sure we will need any defenders at all to ensure an eighth successive win and almost certain qualification for next summer's finals.
In any case, Ferdinand plays so little these days that it might be a good time to start contemplating life without him.
Want to buy a football club?
You can have Newcastle United for £100million after owner Mike Ashley put the club up for sale for the second time.
There is no doubt that someone will want to take control of a side with no real pedigree and little prospect of breaking into the trophy-winning elite in the forseeable future.
Seems a bit daft to me, though.
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Last Updated:
09 June 2009 8:21 AM
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Source:
n/a
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Location:
Halifax