England - Top of the World
Saturday 13th August, an historic day. After being the laughing stock of world cricket for so many years, after the countless false dawns the England Test Match Cricket team are finally the number one ranked side in the world. As many of you will know, I have been a massive cricket fan as long as I can remember. My first memories are of the Atherton years, when England lurched from defeat to defeat, caused by poor management, mediocre players and inconsistent selection. Nasser Hussain and Duncan Fletcher brought in some success (including beating the West Indies in 2000 and Pakistan and Sri Lanka in 2000/1) at the turn of the century, but this was short-lived. Michael Vaughan scaled a huge peak in 2005 in regaining the Ashes after 18 years, but that proved to be the end of the road for a promising side, as injuries and retirements pulled the team apart. Only now does England have a real squad, have achieved a series of successes and look like the genuine outfit. I am thrilled that England have finally made the summit, and hope that they can maintain that ranking.
Rather than continuing in that bland fashion, I felt that I should share something that I first wrote in January 2000. At that time, a teacher at St John's Primary School in Ipswich encouraged my love of cricket and happily discussed it with me, and I wrote him these England Cricket Alphabets. It is very obviously written by an eight-year-old, but it does sum up the "bad old days":
At the moment the England team are:
Abysmal
Beaten
Collapsing
Dire
Emergency
Following-on
Graceless
Horrendous
Idiots
Jokes
Knocked-out
Losing
Miserable
Nuisance
Outrageous
Pessimistic
Quitters
Resigned
Stupid
Terrible
Useless
Victims
Weak
eXhausted
Yielding
Zany
I would like the England team to be:
Accurate
Brilliant
Collosal
Determined
Excellent
Fantastic
Great
Heroes
Inspirational
Jubilant
Kings
Lucky
Magnificent
Noble
Optimistic
Passionate
Qualifying
Run-scoring
Strong
Terrific
Unstoppable
Victorious
Winning
eXciting
Youthful
Zealous
I think, eleven-and-a-half years later, we have finally got there.
