There I was, about to write about what a great tournament Ravi Bopara had had in the Champions Trophy, how I owed him an apology for previously slagging him on this website and saying he should never play for England again, and how someone needed a massive pat on the back for having the balls to recall him.
I was all set to write my post, I had it all planned in my head, and then England go and choke in a manner that would have had even the most choke affected, mentally scarred South African’s laughing their tits off.
It was unbelievable, Tim Bresnan and Jos Buttler should wear disguises for the next week, their dismissals were embarrassing. In fairness to Buttler, he is a young man who should hopefully learn, but Bresnan’s run out was something else. As one commentator put it, there wasn’t even a quarter of a run there.
No excuses, as India deserved to win, but Ian Bell’s dismissal was a joke. Yes, it was probably the right decision, just! But the technology is there to give a definitive answer, not an opinion. Which is all we got on Sunday. And I would say that no matter who it was who got given out in those circumstances, English, Indian, etc, etc.
Anyway, never mind. India were by far the best side in the tournament, and deserved to win. This justifies Duncan Fletcher’s decision to ditch the old guard, and replace them with hungrier more athletic fielders. This Indian team is now the undisputed best 50 over team in the world, there can be no argument there.
From an English perspective, thank God for the Aussies. On a a day when England could have been getting panned by the media for their shortcomings, the Aussies took all the attention off England in a way no spin doctor could ever have done, with another explosion coming from their camp.
Although in fairness to them, I think this could end up being a good decision in the long run. Will it win them the Ashes this summer, only if England capitulate again.
