England don’t fail to disappoint

Ah well. Hopeless optimism. It’s a skill and a facet of any England supporter. You have to believe. You have to want it. You have to think, that despite everything going against, that England could still prevail. You know that it’s not likely to happen, but there’s always a glimmer of hope. The latest World Cup match against South Africa was no exception. Had England won it, and beaten the West Indies, they would have progressed to the semi-finals, into a position they probably didn’t deserve. So all that was really required was one good performance, one really hard fought example of why England are a team to be reckoned with. I even went on TV saying so.

Haha. Fortunately, for the sake of the equilibrium of the world and all that is good and pure, there were no upsets. No magical performances. No inspiration. Moreorless business as usual. Except it was business as usual as if you’d just got back from a really good holiday and you were raring to go – that is, for anyone completely lost in my cryptic metaphor – England lost with such fervour and unprecedented vigour, it was almost a signal to all the loyal fans as if to say

“Seriously? You actually thought we could do this? You thought we could pull one out of the bag? Fools, the lot of you.”

England scored a miserable 155 off 48 overs. Strauss managed 46 but that was about it. Once again the top order failed to make a significant impression. Vaughan failed. Bell failed. KP failed. Collingwood failed. Flintoff failed. Bopara put up a little resistance but ran out of partners. There was a total lack of belief in anything that was done. South Africa then came out, and knocked the runs off in barely 20 overs. Can’t blame it on the pitch or the conditions. The bowling was tired and weary, the feeling cumbersome and the general demeanour was of a team that had already been beaten. The South Africans were a league above and deserved the win.

It’s about all you can say. The South Africans wanted it. England didn’t. There was a frightening sense of Deja Vu about the whole embarassing affair. At the post-match presentation, Vaughan got booed. I don’t tend to agree with that. Maybe in this situation.

Now England face a pointless match against the West Indies before they finally go home to face the wrath of the Schofield report. No doubt we’ll hear the usual guff about being disappointed, about how we’ll learn, we’ll make some changes and we’ll use it as a positive thing. The realisation should be however, is that both Bangladesh and Ireland played better cricket than England. Heck, even Bermuda played better cricket.

Pah. It’s all been said before. Can anything else be said? I love my country, and I will continue to support, but it’s going to take so much to deserve any sort of faith in the side.