World Cup 2007

I have been struggling to garner any real enthusiasm for this world cup. The first 43 matches played have offered up some minor moments of interest but hardly enough to encourage me to set my alarm for the ungodly hour required to watch many of the matches live.

This morning though was different and match 44 had a refreshing buzz. A do or die game for England and South Africa played in front of an energetic crowd had contrived - for the first time this tournament - to create a sense of occasion worthy of sacrificing some serious sleep for. The fool in me even believed that England were saving their best performances for when the chips were down and that victory was a realistic possibility.

What a fool I am. England were blown off the park like fag ash off a shirt sleeve, outmaneuvered every step of the way by a team with more desire, tactical nous and - dare I say this of a South African side - nerve.

Where England’s batsmen nervously prodded and poked, South Africa by contrast grabbed their opportunity by ripping into the Poms like a cheetah tearing the flesh off a felled zebra.

There is a noisy band of commentators - most of them ex England players - offering a quick tinker with the batting order as the fix to England’s atrocious form. I have no confidence that such a tinker would change a thing. For the reality is, that quite simply, this England side is not very good at all.

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