Live To Fight Another Day

Well being an English sports supporter is most certainly not the easiest of hobbies and during this Cricket World Cup it has been even more challenging than normal and if I’m being honest I didn’t think it could get any worse than the last 3 cricket world cups which have been full of misery and offered limited moments of joy and pride to be an English cricket supporter. It has now got to the stage of being an English cricket supporter that I have absolutely no idea what is going to happen. I realise and am willing to accept that it has been hard to predict England at the best of times but at the moment it isn’t only Pakistan who can be described as unpredictable or either an enigma.

Our performances in this World Cup to have lost to Ireland and Bangladesh and then to have beaten South Africa and tie with India is a performance that I doubt even the Pakistan team would be capable of producing. To then think we almost lost to a Holland team that every other team in the group has made to look fairly ordinary shows that we aren’t exactly producing performances that will frighten the rest of the competition. Ultimately unless England suffer an incredible amount of misfortune and West Indies and Bangladesh win both of their last matches then they will have scraped through to the quarter finals.

The way things have happened for England in this World Cup I suppose it wouldn’t be totally unexpected if the improbable did actually take place and both Bangladesh and the West Indies upset the odds in their last games. I’m going to presume that this won’t happen, very brave and quite possibly very stupid but there we go I’m trying to remain optimistic. Realistically where can England get to, as soon as the group matches finishes it becomes knock out cricket and if England are going to end up winning the World Cup then they would have needed to have won 4 games in a row. They haven’t managed to win 2 games in a row since the World Cup begun so this would seem to be a very big ask. The last time they managed consecutive victories was the two warm up wins against Canada and Pakistan and then the first hard thought victory against Holland in their first World Cup match. That’s 3 victories in a row, so only one more would be needed.

Admittedly slightly more challenging opposition will need to be faced than Holland and Canada. The victory over Canada was only by 16 runs so comprehensive victories is not something that England have been achieving but then again all that is needed is a win and the fact that every game England has played has been a closely thought contest does mean that England have recent experience of dealing with pressure situations which some of the countries in the quarter finals will not have had. A game against Pakistan will be impossible to predict so I won’t even waste my time but out of the four a tie against Pakistan or New Zealand will possibly be the best bet for further progress for the English team. Now where as Pakistan are unpredictable New Zealand are equally underestimated and before the World Cup hadn’t really been setting the world alight with their one day performances especially in the sub continent where they had lost their last 9 one day internationals but they are consistent Semi finalists at the World Cup but you would still predict a victory would be much more likely against these two countries than against either a Australia side who have seemed to have recovered well from the recent Ashes defeat and two pre tournament warm up defeats or a Sri Lanka side that will load up with a stock pile of world class spinners who will be up against a set of batsman that haven’t exactly excelled against spin in the World Cup so far. You would want to avoid Australia at all costs just because it’s Australia and it appears they just don’t lose at World Cups, that record will have to come to an end and it would be an absolute dream for every English supporter if it was England that broke the undefeated record and even more satisfying if it prevented Australia from winning their fourth World Cup in a row.

Overall Sri Lanka will want to be avoided in the quarter finals, we all remember what happened the last time that England played Sri Lanka in the quarter final of a World Cup in the sub continent, England got a battering from Sanath Jayasuria. That was 15 years ago but Sri Lanka still have a strong batting unit and a bowling attack that will fancy its chances against a batting line up that is hardly what you would call consistent. England will say that they don’t mind who they get in the Quarter Final and in a way there probably correct because at this stage you can’t say there’s one absolute favourite for this tournament and any of the 8 quarter finalists will believe they can win the tournament and if England do make the quarter final stage they will have just as much chance as any other team.

They most certainly won’t be scared from the countries joining them from Group B, if West Indies join India and South Africa then England would have completed 2 victories and a tie against fellow group B quarter finalists. The way England have performed at this World Cup the harder the challenge expected the better the team has performed so maybe all England supporters should just be grateful that in the Quarter finals England won’t have to play against an associate nation.