Three lions, three cheers?

Last Saturday saw all three England teams in action at the same time and whilst the results were all positive the manner of the victories could not have been more contrasting.

England’s rugby, cricket and football teams are all at different stages of their respective competitions and consequently the manner of performance is important to assessing progress and prospects.
First up were the cricketers who after a thrilling match last week, albeit a defeat saw them go into the final match of seven tied at 3-3 with an Indian team filled with star players and a very good one day record.
Losing the toss England bowled extremely well, especially to Ganguly early on, and restricted the opposition to 187 which was never going to be enough on a good wicket.
England chased the runs down with little fuss and finally won a series for the first time for what seems like an age. Collingwood’s replacement of Vaughan has enabled this team to move on and, although it is too early to suggest that they will be a top side, at least they are showing a degree of promise that is cause for optimism.
The team now go into the 20-20 World Cup in South Africa with enough confidence and experience in this format of the game to put up a good showing. Australia will be the side to beat again but this young team know how to win now and this is probably the key ingredient that has been missing in the past 10 years.
Meanwhile, McClaren’s football team go in to tonight’s match with Russia at Wembley on the back of a 3-0 win against Israel on Saturday.
It now looks like the destiny of who qualifies with Croatia has come down to a two leg match between the two sides. Given that the Russian leg will be played on an artificial pitch it is imperative that England win.
Gus Hiddink, the Russian coach who turned down the FA when they were looking for Eriksson’s replacement is a world class manager though and they will provide a totally different level of opposition compared to an unadventurous Israeli team short on quality.
It is not difficult to make a case for an England victory but it is difficult to get excited about a side that saw a recall for Emil Heskey and found Phil Neville on the pitch again.
How the Everton player has amassed more than 50 caps for his country spanning four managers remains a mystery and Heskey’s early blaze over the bar only reminded onlookers of his inadequacies too.
With injuries to crucial players there is some sympathy for McClaren but I can’t help feeling that whatever happens in these two games we should never have been in this position in the first place. He may well earn a stay of execution but the thought of him taking this group of players on to win a major championship is a dim and distant prospect.
This though would be a good place for the rugby team to be in as they have started their World Cup campaign and there is no prospect of them retaining the trophy they won four years ago.
With emphatic wins by New Zealand and Australia earlier in the day ringing in their ears England put in a performance against the mighty USA that was nothing more than a horror show. The Americans actually drew the second half 7-7 which beggars belief given the nature of the two squads in terms of quality and experience.
Coach Brian Ashton was at a loss to explain the performance citing “a lack of composure…and physicality at the tackle area” as the main concern.
Very few sporting teams are able to put right fundamental problems right once a tournament has started and there is really no reason to believe that this will be any different. It is easy to see how they will get through their group but the idea of this side beating the All Blacks, or any other top nation, is just fanciful.
Winning a World Cup as England proved last time is about a three or four year process of development and planning which the current England team is at least two years behind.
 This is not Ashton’s fault as he has only been in charge for the past year and it would be a surprise if after this tournament he is not scathing of what he picked up following Andy Robinson’s period in charge.
Ashton himself is in a no lose situation, that is as long as performances improve, but lose they will and the only hope is it is not too humiliating.

By Patrick Cummings
patrick.cummings@blueyonder.co.uk