Heart-Breaking Champions Trophy Loss Is Lesson To England

England appeared to be on the cusp of an unlikely Champions Trophy victory on home soil. They were placed at 110-4 with more than two overs remaining and with Ravi Bopara and Eoin Morgan at the crease, batting well and already having posted a 64-run partnership.

It truly looked like England's long wait for a first ever 50-over international trophy was over. Ishant Sharma was bowling and had just been dispensed for a six by a Morgan who looked like he was just finding his stride.

Then what Morgan scooped a slower ball bouncer to mid wicket. It was a poor shot and a poor decision. However, it still felt only like a mini hiccup. The talented Jos Buttler came to the crease, and this is a team with a later order that includes some useful bats in Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad and James Tredwell. Not to mention that Bopara had been looking imperious on 30 not out.

Next ball banished that comfortable feeling in an instant. Bopara - slightly unfortunately - nailed Sharma straight to square leg. Suddenly, India felt that they were back in the game and England looked on seriously shaky ground.

The next over confirmed most people's fears when Buttler fell first ball played an ugly shot and missing Ravindra Jadeja. Bresnan was then inexplicably run out and at 113-8, it always looked like there was a little too much for the remaining bats to do. Broad and Tredwell managed to add 11 runs. England had lost by five runs.

Alastair Cook expressed the team's devastation in post-match interviews. There's no doubt that this loss is a significant blow to an ODI team that is trying to develop ahead of the 2015 World Cup and a significant blow to England ahead of the summer's Ashes series.

It should be remembered of course that this was a strange tournament for England in many ways. They struggled earlier in the summer against New Zealand. However, victories over New Zealand and Australia in the group stages assured them of qualification for the semi-final stage.

A difficult match-up against South Africa was negated by a superb bowling and fielding effort led by James Anderson and Tredwell. They held the Proteas to a weak total and chased it down comfortably.

Against all the odds, England were somehow in the final against the team most consider to be by far the best ODI outfit in the world: India.

Things didn't go well initially. Rain delayed the start of play and reduced the game to 20 overs per side. With a top order featuring Cook, Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott and Joe Root, England were hardly perfectly prepared for a shortened game. However, they bowled and fielded well to restrict India to just 129 off their overs.

The fact is that winning big tournaments is very much about dealing with pressure and playing well in tight situations. England may have been fortunate to get where they did. However, they were in perfect position to seal a confidence boosting Champions Trophy triumph.

In future tournaments, this England core will need to utilize the lessons learned at Edgbaston on Sunday. If they do, then they've shown that they are figuring out how to be successful in ODI cricket.

Ashes 2013: Australian Discipline Problems Continue

Every single Ashes series between England and Australia is intense, every single series is hyped and valuable. It's possible that the 2013 Ashes will be the least hyped in recent memory. That has perhaps been best revealed in recent weeks where the biggest story-lines have circulated around ill-discipline and off the field issues, rather than being focused on the match-up.

It's perhaps a little surprising that this series isn't receiving more media attention. England have shown signs of fragility in their past series drawing with an inexperienced New Zealand during the winter and then beating them this spring, but showing signs of significant weakness as well.

Still, there simply isn't a lot of belief that the young Australian team can upset expectations. England have won three of the past four series including a remarkable whitewash in Australia in 2010/11. In many ways Australia have only become weakened as a team since that series with many of the country's great players departing including Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey.

The Australian line-up is full of inexperience, it isn't necessarily especially inspirational with unlimited levels of talent and for most of the touring party, this will be their first ever test match series in England.

Perhaps the discipline discussions are reflective of the dismissal of this Australian team as a serious threat in the upcoming test series. Australia pioneered the transformation of international cricket into a highly professional and disciplined professional sport. They were able to dominate for more than a decade thanks to the development of talent, the grittiness to the line-up and the ability of the cricket board's organisation to drive through and absolutely maximize the talent at their disposal.

Incidents like the one that occurred this week when David Warner was accused of punching an England player (believed to be Joe Root) in the face during a night out in Birmingham. Warner was dropped for the Champions Trophy match against New Zealand and faces a disciplinary hearing.

This isn't the first problem with discipline that Australia have had. Vice-captain Shane Watson and a group of other players were suspended for a test match during the recent test series in India after failing to complete a piece of 'homework'. The concept of completing homework as an international cricketer may seem ridiculous, but the incident absolutely reflected the breakdown in this team.

The 2013 Australian Ashes squad has a lot of talent. They have some world class players including the currently injury plagued captain Michael Clarke, who has arguably been the best batsman in the world over the past two seasons. England have also shown themselves very capable of 'losing' a series. However, people can perhaps be forgiven for not hyping up this series right now considering the disarray in the Australian camp.

England Won't Top World Cup Qualifying Group

I was a believer, or at least I really wanted to be a believer. I believed that Roy Hodgson and this England team could take care of business in an interesting Europe World Cup Qualifying Group H. I believed that despite the talent that this team had lost and the fresh memories of being completely dominated by Italy in the Euro 2012 quarter-finals that this team could still be competitive and should make short work of reaching the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. I have to admit now that I was wrong. I do not see England winning their Group H anymore placing their World Cup place in the balance.



Of course there are reasons we can find to stay optimistic and not to get pessimistic. Hodgson's team play three of the final four group matches at home, including a crucial tie against current group leaders Montenegro. There will also be those that point to the fantastic and dominating first half display against Montenegro on Tuesday as evidence of the sort of football this team can play.

The problem is that none of this, absolutely none of this aligns with what we have all been witnessing on the field with this team.

England have won three games in Group H so far and drawn three. The three wins have come against San Marino (twice) and Moldova by a combined score of 18-0. Those results demonstrate without any doubt that this is a team that can get on top of teams and has the skill and talent to dominate teams when it gets on top of them.

However, their other three results have all been disappointing 1-1 draws. First, they needed a desperate late penalty to draw with Ukraine at Wembley Stadium. They were then outplayed in Poland by Poland and potentially can consider themselves fortunate to have escaped with a 1-1 draw there as well. Finally on Tuesday night after arguably playing their best football of the competition so far, they played a poor second half and were lucky to hold on for a draw after being dominated by Montenegro.

England will probably thrash Moldova again at home in September, but does anyone really believe they can go to Kiev and get more than a draw against Ukraine? That leaves a pair of home games against Montenegro and Poland to decide their fate in October. On paper that looks do-able, but the evidence we've seen so far suggests it just isn't likely.

Hodgson's England are guilty of doing what just about every England team has done for more than a decade. They play the big games and the big moments as if petrified by fear. The aggression and furious pace they played with in the first half Tuesday was a clear sign of what a young side could be capable of. Yes, Montenegro made some strong adjustments,but England also responded negatively to it. They didn't attack the battle in midfield, they squandered possession and lost the incisiveness in their attack.

Perhaps the biggest concern is that there really hasn't been any formal recognition made by members of the team that changes need to be made and specifically that playing style and tactics are at the core of what is wrong with England right now. Until those admissions are made, it looks like England will need a playoff game to book their place in Rio.

Rio Ferdinand's Recall Symbolises England's Stagnation

When England football manager Roy Hodgson announced his squad for World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Montenegro, taking place next week, there was one notable surprise inclusion and that was Rio Ferdinand. It's hard to imagine an announcement that could have better symbolised the complete and utter failure of English football to take any sort of step forward over the past few years.

The 'golden era' of English football was effectively pronounced dead after receiving a 4-1 trouncing at the hands of Germany in the 2010 World Cup last 16. Fabio Capello and just about everyone involved in English football discussed the idea of making a move towards younger players and attempting to change the culture of the national side.

Besides the appalling alliteration involved in the name 'golden generation', the name doesn't stand up to too much scrutiny either. Since reaching the semi-finals of the 1996 Euro Cup, England have qualified for seven of eight major international tournaments reaching the quarter-finals on four occasions, but never advancing further than that. It's actually somewhat surprising that there is so much reminiscence over the most recent generation of the English national team.

Even excluding Ferdinand's place in the squad. There are plenty of signs in Hodgson's squad that this isn't an England team that has 'moved on'. Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard could well both make it into the starting line-up as Hodgson continues to take on the greatest dilemma of the past decade trying to figure out how to get two of the best central midfielders in the world to play well alongside each other.

The main reason for the bewilderment over Ferdinand's recall is routed in his exclusion from England's Euro 2012 squad after alleged friction between him and John Terry. That episode saw Ferdinand first excluded from the initial squad and then further snubbed when Martin Kelly received a call-up to the squad ahead of him.

Hodgson's testimony that his decision to leave Ferdinand out of that squad was purely for footballing reasons is unlikely to have withstood much interrogation from any of the greatest TV detectives, but he stood firm by it. Equally his assertion that Terry's international retirement had nothing to do with opening up a spot for Ferdinand is a little hard to believe.

Potentially, that is just the side story though. The real story with the England squad preparing for these qualifiers, which includes a critical trip to top of European group H Montenegro, is a team that really hasn't moved on.

England haven't moved on in terms of playing style. Expect them to at best press early against Montenegro and then drop back, at worst they will be dogmatically defensive from the very beginning. Moreover, they still haven't moved forward in terms of personnel.

Ferdinand's inclusion means that he is likely to feature in the starting line-up as the main marshal of a defence after Hodgson stronly hinted in his press conference that he would start.

The 34-year old probably does deserve his place in the starting line-up given his experience and recent form. The reality is that he along with several of England's older stars are never likely to be a part of a national side that makes a serious run in a major international competition.

Hodgson hasn't been able to usher in a new era of English football. Instead, it seems that he is becoming ever more reliant on the 'old generation' just to overcome every hurdle. Even when that hurdle is playing away against Montenegro in a World Cup qualifier that Hodgson's team really cannot afford to lose.

The 'golden generation' may no longer exist conceptually, but the same personnel are still needed to keep England's respectability as a footballing nation intact.

England Have Battle To Beat Wales For Six Nations Grand Slam

.England travel to face Wales next Saturday at 5 o'clock in the Six Nations finale with the hope of winning their first Grand Slam since 2003. However, a difficult home game against Italy, while Wales put in an impressive performance against Scotland away has many wondering whether this England team can even avoid losing by the eight-point margin that Wales need to gain for the title.

England won the Six Nations in 2011, but they haven't won a Grand Slam since 2003. Ireland, France and Wales have each won a Grand Slam in the past four years. Head coach Stuart Lancaster will know that this is a great opportunity for this English team to asset itself and gain valuable confidence as it prepares for a Rugby World Cup at home in 2015. The English Rugby program has a talented and tough group of core players and they will know that they are facing a real opportunity to build for that competition.

However, it has also become pretty clear during this competition that England is a team with issues. After a bright opening 38-18 victory over Scotland where they tallied four tries; England have managed to score just one try.

They didn't score a try in the 12-6 victory over Ireland in Dublin, they then managed only one against France, a breakdown off the opening kick-off that allowed Manu Tuilagi to run in an early score.

Still, this team still arguably entered last weekend as the favorites to win a Grand Slam. They entered a match-up at Twickenham against Italy, a country that they own a dominant 274-66 aggregate score in six Six Nations match-ups against Italy at Twickenham. The reality was that Lancaster's team produced an unsatisfying performance that wouldn't have made many fans feel comfortable. Toby Flood kicked six penalties, but this team was held without a try for the second time in this competition, and now they have just one try in the past three games.

The problem is that they face a talented Welsh team, who are only one year removed from their last Grand Slam success. Wales suffered a disappointing opening weekend loss at home against Ireland, which ended their aspirations of a repeat Grand Slam. However, since then this is a team that has gone from strength to strength.

Italy didn't look as strong defensively at the Stadio Flaminio racking up a 26-9 victory and then last weekend they set up a season ending showdown with a 28-18 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield. It is perhaps understandable why many make the Welsh favourites in the match-up in Cardiff.

England seem to lack speed on the flanks, they've struggled more than any other team in the poor weather and generally they just spilled opportunities. However, this is a team that should be pumped up. They come up against a Welsh team that has been a little erratic and they have a defence that should make life very tough for Rob Howley's team.

England's line-up has a decent balance to it right now. They have the potential to score more heavily, but they also have the opportunity to build an identity as a tough team to play against and they might actually be comfortable entering Saturday's game as underdogs against a team that will need to be aggressive to succeed.

England should have the battle to beat Wales and win a first Grand Slam since 2003

(sports) Cricket:Twenty20 World Cup Pay Difference Highlights Gender Inequality

It only received very brief headlines, but the recent controversy over the living allowance disparity between male and female cricketers at the twenty20 world cup highlights some continuing worrying trends in the world of sport as a whole.

England captain Charlotte Edwards started the ‘controversy’ when she suggested that World Twenty20 chiefs would need to review the pay divide in the daily living allowance offered to women and men. Female cricketers at the 2012 Twenty20 world cup in Sri Lanka receive a daily allowance of £37 per day. Male cricketers at the 2012 Twenty20 world cup in the same country playing in an event organised by the same governing body have been receiving a daily living allowance of £61 per day. It was also noted that female cricketers were flown out to the subcontinent in economy class, while male cricketers travelled business class.

The first striking thing about these numbers might actually be the sheer quantity of money that cricketers receive for a living allowance. £259 per week isn’t a small amount when all of your basic expenses are handled for you. Male cricketers at the Twenty20 world cup have over £400 per week to spend on food and for entertainment purposes. That isn’t a bad perk for an already very good job.

It should also be mentioned that female cricketers are probably not overly concerned about having to survive off of ‘only’ £37 per day. Edwards was quick to state that ‘Our focus is on the cricket at the moment and not on how much money we get’. Of course there is more to playing cricket for your country then how much money you make. 

However, there are also some pretty clear principles that it would be pretty sensible to follow. There is absolutely no reason that men would need a living allowance worth £24 more per day than women. It can be argued that the discrepancy in the prize money is a result of their simply being a lot more money in the men’s game in general (the winning men’s team takes home £616,000, while the women’s winner collect £40,000). That is still a questionable issue, but a more complex one at least. The difference in daily living allowances at the Twenty20 world cup can only be put down to sexual discrimination. Logistically speaking it might actually have been a lot easier to split the money up more evenly.

 So, what’s the point? A difference in living allowances doesn’t seem to be a major issue compared to some of the other problems of sexism in sport, which are present at both a professional and recreational level, and start at a very young age.

Neither will simply evening up the living allowances fix these bigger problems. The point is rather that this difference is symptomatic and representative of the wider problems. It really shows a complete disregard for the equality that the sport should be striving for. If the game’s own governing bodies have sat down and produced a difference in budgeting that is a complete insult to the idea of equality, then what hope is there for improved gender equality in cricket in general?

Cricket isn’t the only sport that has this problem. Women’s football is the third largest team sport in the UK, but this is not at all represented in terms of sponsorship deals or in terms of television rights. Surveys including both genders suggest that the publicising of women’s sport via television is something that the majority of people would welcome.

The evidence from the few sports that have offered stronger support to the women’s game is that this is correct. At Wimbledon, the prize money for women and men is the same. Women’s tennis draws in comparable sized audiences both in the stands and on television to the men’s game. Does this mean that sexism is absent from tennis? Of course not, there are still problems with the perception of female tennis stars and with the general culture surrounding the sport. But the sport’s governing bodies do at least seem to be taking the issue of improving gender equality seriously.

Another example is women’s basketball in the United States. The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) runs its league throughout the summer and receives prime television time on ESPN. While there are still some serious issues with the size of contracts, especially compared with the staggering figures made by NBA players, the WNBA has forged itself as an independent and effective sports league. It is widely recognised as such and generally popular. This is mirrored in college basketball, where the women’s tournament takes place alongside the men’s tournament and is a key component in helping the period maintain its name ‘March Madness’.

The daily living allowance handed out at the Twenty20 world cup may seem like a minor micro issue that just needs to be fixed behind closed doors, but the reality is that it is a part of some far larger institutional problems. The claim here is not that the problems with gender equality in sports can be magically fixed, or that there are models of gender equality that need to be followed.

There is a huge amount of work that needs to be done to improve this situation, and a lot of it will need to be ‘bottom up’. However, it is also incredibly important that the top governing bodies take the issue of gender equality seriously, and engage with it. It’s very hard to find the evidence to suggest that they have done that so far and the difference in the daily living allowance at the Twenty20 world cup, and in fact the complete lack of real scandal surrounding it, are just further proof that serious engagement is just not happening at this time.

(Opinion) Sir Bobby Charlton England 2014 prediction: not the hardest prediction to make

There are many things wrong in football, most of it off field of play, but what is a major indicator of thing being out of order and place is when it ruling body places a nation that couldn’t make it past the quarterfinals (England) of euro 2012 over countries that did (Portugal and Italy) and places a very poor Greece national side one place ahead of five time world cup winning Brazil[1]. The FIFA world rankings have always been strange but none stranger than Sir Bobby Charlton obvious prediction that England will not win world cup 2014 in Brazil.

His observation to support his claim are the same reasons offered for every failure since England last moment of triumph in 1966 (particularly in last 20 years) such as the influx of foreign players and the lack of quality among the English ranks (almost inextricably linked to the influx of foreign players)[2]. He did throw a tiny morsel of hope citing conditions the England national team haven’t managed to reproduce since he was still playing stressing that if “the right group of players come together and stay together for a while and gel into a team, with the right manager, then perhaps it might happen, but I have to be honest and say it's a way off”[3].

Sir Bobby Charlton will have long wait for such conditions to come into fruition, a wait that unfortunately he is unlikely to survive. With a manager whose methods were innovative when Elvis was shopping for a demo deal and a team dominated by talented individuals who play like they missed a toilet break they really needed whenever against opposition south of FIFA top 100 countries and look like Sunday league amateurs when confronted by any occupants of its top 10.

In 2014, most team will blood a younger generation in a bid to win the 2014 world cup but trust England to blood the same of group who have for the most part choked when it really mattered. If Roy Hodgson is anything, he’s is consistent and will overlook new talent where is plenty, contrary to the common opinion by many football writer and pundit.

In sum, While Bobby Charlton prediction of England not winning the 2014 World Cup in Brazil will bring little in the way of disagreement. It does bring into focus the lack of quality in current England ranks and the lack of optimism in the general public over England’s prospects as England look set to add another fours of anguish to glory-famished England fans.

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[1] FIFA, 2012, FiFA/Coca Cola World Ranking,

http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/rankingtable/index.html

[2] Guardian.co.uk, 2012, England will not win 2014 world cup, says Sir Bobby Charlton,  http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/sep/04/england-world-cup-bobby-charlton

[3] Ibid