Following the disappointment of the football world cup last year, England’s cricketers were gifted the ideal opportunity to increase the claim that cricket is ‘the nations sport’.
The success of the Ashes in Australia in the winter will have improved that cause. However, just two months later, this is followed with a defeat to World Cup minnows, Ireland. Who?
In contrast, it is like the national football team losing to San Marino – or even our Bobsleigh team losing to Jamaica.
It doesn’t feel that England have the ability to dominate at any sport - even when we invented them.
It was easy to recognise that Kevin O’Brien single-handedly took England apart with the bat. However, as more and more countries pick up on what Andrew Strauss’ side couldn’t deal with, the country appear to be in for a slogging session.
In the past, Ireland’s big cricket matches were against countries such as Kenya, in an attempt to break into the top 10 in the world. Top 10 in the world sounds promising – but the harsh reality for the Irish is that only 13 countries play International Cricket.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen it though. Win the Rugby Union World Cup in 2003 – nothing since. Win the football World Cup in 1966 – let’s not even go there.
How a team can produce remarkable performances against World Cup contenders South Africa and India, sandwiching the disappointment against Ireland is unanswerable.
On their day, the nation’s cricketers are the best in the world and the performances in Australia in the winter prove that. However, similarly to the football team, when a World Cup is taking place, we never seem to produce enough organisation during the biggest event in the respective sports.
