Posted by 
When Tillakaratne Dilshan opened the bowling, Andrew Strauss couldn’t get him off the square. This was largely because he couldn’t make contact with the ball.
When one of the most experienced batsmen in English cricket finds himself in this position against a part-time off-spinner, you have to ask yourself whether his team could ever win a World Cup on the subcontinent? Never say never, but think the word to your heart’s content.
It may have been one of the best campaigns ever from an entertainment point of view, but cricket-wise England were like a baby deer on roller skates going down a hillside – constantly in danger of falling, with every upright second merely postponing the inevitable.
One of the main reasons why England’s World Cup efforts are always so ineffectual is because people like us aren’t particularly bothered when they get knocked out. We would have absolutely loved to have seen England in the World Cup final, but their absence from it brings virtually no pain.
It is extraordinary that England consistently made the semi-final or final for the first five world cups and has spectacularly failed to get to the semis in the subsequent five.
Not as much pain as losing the Ashes, but in my case still pain.
Pain??? We lost the ashes AND we’re out at the quarter final stage.
Admittedly most aussies would be happy with the result if it meant getting rid of Ponting but apparently he has no intention of going quietly:
“I will know the right time for me not to be playing but I haven’t found that time just yet; I guess with making runs in this last game and getting that good feeling back about my batting again might be the kick start for a bit of a Tendulkar-type rebirth if you like.”
That is pain.
Paine. He should be the new captain.
The perfect analgesic.
“I’m suffering from a bit of English post World Cup pain, doctor.”
“Ah, well here is a prescription for a course of Wolf’s Reply. It goes by the scientific name of Itcouldbeworseyoucouldbeaustralianacillin. Take two readings three times a day for a week. That should make you feel better.”
As I expected England to embarrassingly fail to get out of the group stages, I consider this campaign to be a triumph in the face of almost insurmountable odds.
This isn’t a blanket ‘Aim low to avoid disappointment’ policy, I just have accepted England are terrible at one day cricket and expect accordingly.
““I will know the right time for me not to be playing but I haven’t found that time just yet; I guess with making runs in this last game and getting that good feeling back about my batting again might be the kick start for a bit of a Tendulkar-type rebirth if you like.”
That is pain.”
Not just pain Wolf, but sounds like a nasty dose of Matthewhaydenitis to me. Better put the man out of his humiliating misery quickly – it’s the only humane thing to do.